As Haggai’s prophecy goes on to say: “‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.” (Haggai 2:8) Back there in Haggai’s day, in 520 B.C.E., did the temple builders at Jerusalem need to worry about expenses? No! Not with such a rich God.

20. How would the Creator see to it that all needed expenses were provided, and why did the builders not need to be discouraged at the unpromising look of things at the start?

²⁰ Back there, Jehovah of armies as Creator was the Owner of all the material things that the temple builders needed. He could be depended upon to provide all financial backing that was needed to start and finish the rebuilding of the temple of his worship. He could see to it also that, by His spirit, certain possessors of material riches would make contributions toward the rebuilding work. The fact that he promised to fill the proposed new house of worship with glory was a divine guarantee that the rebuilding of the house could be started in full confidence. It would be completed and to it worshipers would come. The unpromising look of things at the start was therefore no reason for the temple builders to become discouraged. Jehovah would not encourage them to start something that they would be obliged later on to leave uncompleted. The richest person in all the living universe was behind them!

22. Why did the temple builders need extraordinary faith, and what was the outlook that they needed to have?

²² When undertaking to rebuild Jehovah’s temple at Jerusalem, Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua the son of Jehozadak and the rest of the Israelites needed to exercise extraordinary faith in God, especially as the official ban of the Persian Empire was still in effect upon rebuilding Jehovah’s house of worship. Besides that, the builders needed to fight off discouragement because the humble beginning of the work appeared like nothing when compared with the former glorious temple built by King Solomon. They needed to have Jehovah’s outlook to encourage them onward. So Jehovah used his prophet Haggai to reveal what the divine outlook was, in these words: “‘Greater will the glory of this later house become than that of the former,’ Jehovah of armies has said. ‘And in this place I shall give peace,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.”​—Haggai 2:9.

24. In Haggai’s day, what was the “later house” and what was the “former” one, and how did the glory of the one become greater than that of the other?

²⁴ Back there in Haggai’s time, more than 2,490 years ago, a new and second temple at Jerusalem needed to be constructed. It would be the “later house,” whereas the destroyed Solomon’s temple was the “former” temple. Both those houses were “the typical representations of the things in the heavens.” (Hebrews 9:23) According to Jehovah’s assurance in Haggai 2:9, the glory of the temple built under the supervision of Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua at Jerusalem was to be greater than that of King Solomon’s temple. How did this come to be true? For one thing, it continued in use longer, from 515 B.C.E. to 70 C.E., or for 584 years, whereas Solomon’s temple stood for 420 years. So the “later house” lasted till Messiah’s coming, and he himself taught there. Furthermore, in the year 17 B.C.E. King Herod the Great of the Roman Province of Judea began the gradual rebuilding of Zerubbabel’s temple, expending much money upon it and making it have a magnificence that rivaled that of Solomon’s temple.