2023 - This book shows up chronologically between 2 Kings 24,25 2 Chron 36 and Jeremiah 41-45.  Need to get the MSB summary in here.

Chapter 1
Not much known about Habakkuk except that he was contemporary with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zephaniah.  So late 7th century BC probably - end of Assyria, rise of Babylon.  Book is only 3 chapters, with a simple outline.
Habakkuk asks God why (he complains) in Chapter 1, gets an answer, complains a second time.  God answers the second in Chapter 2.  Chapter 3 is all Habakkuk's prayer, outlined as Petition, Praise, and Promise.  So...Chapter1:
Vss 2-4 read much better in NKJV.  Why God, do you let violence, iniquity, and contention go on?  These three verses are worth memorizing:
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out unto thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save! 3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause [me] to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence [are] before me: and there are [that] raise up strife and contention. 4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. [Hab 1:2-4 KJV]  I like the old KJV version of it best.
This is the same question that Jeremiah was asking in Jer 12, that I did the FB post on today.

God says the Chaldean's are being raised up to conquer the earth, and in Habakkuk's day.  Here is the answer God gives in vs 5:
5 "Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. [Hab 1:5 ESV]
God says that He is about to do the unbelievable.  He is going to amaze even this prophet who knows Him so well.  We should be looking for the unexpected too.  Instead of anticipating what God will do, we should be looking for Him in the things that are happening.

In vs 11, God calls the Chaldeans "...guilty men, who's own might is their god."  God makes it clear that He is not kindly disposed to the Chaldeans, but is using them to carry out His will.  In fact, He is using them in answer to Habakkuk's prayer!
Habakkuk replies that the Chaldean's are even worse than the ones he complained about before!  Kind of a "Seriously?  You're sending them to correct us?"  And "Is that nation going to rule forever?

Chapter 2
God's second answer.  vs 1, though, says Hab expected to be reproved for his question.  This verse:
4 "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. [Hab 2:4 ESV]  Per MSB, this is contrasted with the "greed" of the haughty and the proud.  In vs 5, God "sums up" the Chaldeans, who are proud and look only to themselves.  

MSB says five woes are pronounced on them, as a way of telling Hab that though they will conquer, they will not last.  vs 6b has that first woe, because of the accumulation of what others worked for.  The "woe" is that the oppressed will eventually rise up and strike back at Babylon.  Babylon "heaps up what is not his own" by conquest and taxation.  They leverage what others build, and yet they build nothing at all of their own.  They are spoilers, not producers.  In vss 7, 8, those conquered by Babylon are called her debtors.  This probably refers to the tribute Babylon required of them.  Perhaps the required tribute was overly oppressive, leading to charges of greed beyond reason - referring back to vs 4 where the soul of Babylon is "not upright".  They were greedy for wealth beyond reason, beyond need.  Because of this national character flaw about wealth, Babylon will eventually provoke rebellion against herself.  

If you look at the first part of vs 5, allowing for the translation notes in the TCR footnote:
5 "Moreover, wine (translation says wealth) is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples." [Hab 2:5 ESV]  Translating wine as wealth seems to make a lot more sense.  Wealth is never dependable, never stable, never enough.  Like a traitor who can turn against you, or fly away in an instant.  Yet Babylon is consumed with acquiring wealth.  She is colonial like no nation before or since.  She is irrationally afraid of betrayal by what she has accumulated.  Goes on to say some will rise in the end and fight back.  In ESV it says the "debtors" will arise.  In NKJV, it says "creditors".  Debtors seems right, those they've overrun, as discussed above.  

vs 9 is the second woe.  This woe is against those who make themselves "safe" by evil means.  The Chaldean's feel confident in doing these things, because they feel their own "nest" is secure, their cities unassailable.  Like a bully with many "minions".  This could be a reference to the atrocities that Babylon committed in their conquests.  They put thousands to the sword in Jerusalem, they killed everyone who was anyone, and left only the wretched poor in Judah.  They didn't just conquer, they annihilated many nations, going far beyond "winning".  

vs 12, third woe (5x3 vss each for the woes...).  They build their nation, enrich themselves, by violence - by taking what they did not sow, by building with the labor of others - who's labor will not benefit them.  True slaver?  Ungrateful, unmerciful, users of other men's labor.  An aristocracy of despots (MSB's word).  

vs 15, fourth woe.  They shame and demoralize the conquered.  They don't just "win", they humiliate the conquered.  They will reap what they've sown.  There is also a indictment of idolatry here, saying idols won't be able to help them in the face of the cup in the Lord's right hand.  vs 17 indicates that Babylon had no respect for man or beast (nature).  they laid things waste, killed everything.
vs 19, 5th woe.  The are blatant idolators, worshiping the inanimate that has no power over anything, no breath, no voice.  But the Lord...

I am currently (2020) reading  "On Killing", a book about war and how it is carried out.  It talks about nations that force their soldiers to commit atrocities as a way of "bonding" their forces to each other with mutual guilt, and as a way of preventing desertion.  They are so guilty that the enemy will execute them if they leave.  The atrocities bring the soldiers right in under the covers with their leadership.  They cannot leave.  Perhaps that's what this fourth woe is about.  Or perhaps it just means Babylon "shames" those it conquers.  They leave no honor for the vanquished.  

Chapter 3
2023 - Note that word "Shigionoth" in vs 1.  That word is only in the Bible two times, here and in Psa 7:1.  The word "Selah" is also used in this chapter.  Habakkuk's prayer is a psalm, possibly intended for singing my many.  Yes...because the last vs of 3 says "To the choirmaster:  with stringed instruments."

Introduced in vs 1 as "A prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet..."  Asks first that God have mercy, even in His wrath.  It starts off for all the world like a psalm.  It talks about Shigionoth, and ends with Selah.  MSB confirms.  They think this chapter was a "song".
vs 3 starts a praise of the power of God, His omnipotence over all that is.  He is over nations, and over nature.  He changes the "planet's features" at will.
vss 7-12 paint a picture of an avenging God, unleashing arrows on/against the earth and sinful man.  Anomaly in the heavens is mentioned - sun/moon are still.  This God does (vs 13) "...for the salvation of your people..."  I would say this is an end times reference.  The heavenly signs seem only associated with end times.  Here is another good study.
Habakkuk, in context, is also referring to the "near" fulfillment.  He is frightened to the core at the prospect of invading Assyrians (or Babylonians?) but this verse:
16 ...Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. [Hab 3:16b ESV] or on the invasion.
Lesson:  Knowing God's plan makes us confident in our circumstances.
These vss:
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. [Hab 3:17-18 ESV]
No matter what happens, it is of God, and we joy always in Him.
A good FB post for Nov 2, the day before the election.

(Prov. 16:1-4 all go together, contrasting the discernment of man toward himself with God's perfect discernment.  We can be "certain" of ourselves, and still wrong before God.)

Chapter 1
2022 - In the chronological Bible, this book comes just before Jeremiah, just after 2Kgs 23 and 2Chron 35.
Verse 1 is very specific.  Zephaniah is a fourth generation direct descendant of Hezekiah.  He is a noble, a "royal" prophet.  He prophesies in Josiah's time.  Per MSB, it seem these prophecies come BEFORE the reforms of Josiah.  This is most likely because Zephaniah is very critical of Jerusalem, and prophesies doom and destruction.   But this could still have happened after the reforms.  Have to remember that Josiah's son turned the people easily and immediately back to idolatry.  There had to be a lot of insincerity by the reformed people for this to go back so fast.  Josiah was a good king, and the destruction of Jerusalem was delayed because of the reforms that he made.  But perhaps in national terms, the reforms were superficial.   Perhaps most people did what he said, but their hearts didn't change.  At any rate, after that first introductory verse, his prophecy starts with these words:
2 "I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. [Zep 1:2 ESV]
From this, and from vs 3, I'm guessing Zephaniah will be quite direct.  Maybe because of his heritage.  He is high up, he would not veil anything because he is high enough in the structure to be unharried by those around him.  
vs 3 says he will cut off mankind from the face of the earth.  This must be about Revelation.  God swept man away by flood in Noah's time, and won't do so again until by fire in Revelation.  MSB confirms.  This is about the second destruction of the earth, this time by fire.  The old heaven and earth will pass away.  So Zephaniah starts at the end of time, just before eternity begins.  
Then in vs 4, he focuses in on the near time, on Judah specifically.  Zephaniah not only calls Judah by name, but he gives the "current" reasons for its coming destruction.  Baal worshipers and the priests that lead this worship.  Seems that many are going up on their roofs at night and worshiping stars, moon, and likely sun.  They do this "at night" perhaps, and then in the daytime pretend to follow God's ways.  This would lend itself to a charge against those who were not sincere in obeying Josiah's command to worship God and Him only.  I think there would have been many that went through the motions just to keep the King's enforcers at bay, even though they continued to worship as they had before Josiah.

2024 - These:
4 "I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem...6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him." [Zep 1:4a, 6 ESV].  God considers it sin if 1, we do not follow him, 2, if we do not seek  him, and 3 if we do not inquire of him.    Think about that last one.  How many times in the OT do we see someone who has a decision to make inquire of the Lord.  I think if David's "Shall I go up..." inquiries.  We seem to leave this one out most of the time.  We "ask" that someone we care about would be healed, would be helped, would be delivered.  We "ask" for our family, our church, our nation. But how often to we "inquire" of the Lord, just ask him a question.  Ask him how to explain a verse that's giving us trouble or ask him what we are to do to day.  Inquire as to what may happen, or what part we are to play.  Ask him whether to turn left or turn right, to get groceries or stay home?  We do not inquire, and by not doing so we short circuit God's plans to bless us.  We need to be where he wants when he wants us there if we intend to always do his will. So maybe it's just me.  But I intend to do a lot more inquiring of God from here on.
Possible FB post for 2/22/24.

This verse:
7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. [Zep 1:7 ESV]
First use of "the day of the Lord".  MSB refers back to Joel 1:15 notes.  From that, it seems that Day of the Lord refers not to any one specific day, but to a day of judgment against someone, some nation, some time.  A more general term that we need to pin down to understand the prophecy.  Through vs 9, the prophecy is declared to be imminent.  Final preparations have been made.

vss 10-13 are about Judah and Jerusalem and what is coming there.  Specific gates in the city wall are mentioned.  This is not about Revelation now, it is about imminent destruction.  It is their day of the Lord that is fast approaching.  Local.  This verse:
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.' [Zep 1:12 ESV]  A verse for those who say God just watches what is going on, and does not get involved.  Here, God is searching out those who are not committed wholly to Him.  He is searching out those who go to church but then sit back all week and are indistinguishable from those who don't.  Such was I for so much of my life.  I think this too ties in with the reserved worship practices - following Josiah's lead, but only in ritual, not in heart.

vss 14-16 seem more like Revelation, but could be either or both.  The interesting thing to me is that when the day comes, finally, it will come suddenly, quickly.  The prophesied events will play out in a very abbreviated/accelerated time frame.  It won't take years for God's wrath to play out on Jerusalem, nor will it take a long time in Revelation for Babylon to be judged.  As it didn't take long for Ninevah to fall.  Double check these things.  Find out how long Jerusalem siege and Ninevah sieges really lasted (Ninevah was only three months in Nahum.  A very short time for such a great city to fall).
Compare with Rev 16:14-16, and the sixth bowl judgment.  The Euphrates has been dried up to make way for the Kings of the East, the three frog spirits begin recruiting the armies of earth for Armageddon.  The bowl judgments are bowls of the final wrath of God.  My how well the verses in Zephaniah and Revelation overlap.

2024 - And note that "the day of the Lord" is not something you want to see, ever!  These verses:
14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. [Zep 1:14-16 ESV].  I think we ought to think twice about wishing for the day of the Lord.  It seems from that, also, that we must separate the day of the Rapture or the second coming from the day of the Lord.  We need to wish for the first two, because the Bible says so, but not for the day of the Lord.  This message was delivered to the Jews about a time of punishment that they were to endure.  Perhaps we will wish for the rapture to take us out of the part of end time day of the Lord stuff that we are going through.  Perhaps today's troubles are nothing compared to then.

This verse:
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. [Zep 1:18 ESV]
Can we say that wrath refers to end times?  Is that what this modifier always means?   (Mostly this is right, but I think it can also refer to the prophets current time.  But I'm not sure...I had always thought before that wrath was a term reserved for the end, after the rapture.)  Notice that "complete end" is associated with wrath, and the "fire of his jealousy" is mentioned.  This would certainly seem to be about the end times.
2022 - "a full and sudden end of all the inhabitants of the earth".  Hmm.  Perhaps at Armageddon there will be an end to this entire army.  But life survivors of Armageddon - actually of Great Tribulation - will be judged by Christ at the sheep and goat judgment, and people will go into the Millennial.  Who is left on earth when the old heaven and earth are destroyed by fire?  Well...today, I cannot find the destruction of earth by fire.  Hopefully, when I do find it, I can come back and reference it here.
2024 - 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [Rev 21:1 ESV].
Come back and put in the parts where it says the earth will be destroyed by fire.  All the earth will burn up.  Here it is:
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. ... 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? [2Pe 3:10, 12 KJV].  
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. [2Pe 3:13 KJV]
I am surprised it is Peter who says this.  And he really doesn't give us a lot of context for when this will happen.  One thing though.  What Peter says fits with what Zephaniah says!

Chapter 2
vs 2 has this phrase - "the day of the anger of the Lord".  Wonder if it uses the same underlying word translated wrath in vs 18?
vs 3 gives some hope to those who still follow the Lord - so this makes this passage more about the near term.  Long term, it has already said in 1:18 that there will be no survivors.  But vs 3 has an out:
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD. [Zep 2:3 ESV]

2023 - The Asbury revival, so called, has been going on for about two weeks.  I read something this morning urging those who go to church today to with a repentant, humbled, seeking heart, asking God to spread that revival.  And now look at these verses from Zephaniah.  This is how I will approach 2/19/23:
1 Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation, 2 before the decree takes effect --before the day passes away like chaff-- before there comes upon you the burning anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the LORD. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD. [Zep 2:1-3 ESV]

2024 - Found this map to go with this verse:  
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. [Zep 2:4 ESV].  There were five "cities of the Philistines".  Gath is left out of this verse, nor does it show up in context.  Lots of well known cit names on this map.  Here is the website:
https://bible-history.com/geography/map-philistine-cities-expansion

2024 - Another thought about vs 5:
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left. [Zep 2:5 ESV].  Note that Canaan is equated with Philistines.  I couldn't remember the "ph" sound from when I had Latin.  It was a long time ago, so I looked it up.  The pdf document below is a guide from an Episcopal School as to proper pronunciation in Latin.  It has this quote:
"th, ph, and ch, sounds which Latin borrowed from Greek, were probably pronounced as strong t, strong p, and guttural c, but it is acceptable to pronounce them as modern English th, ph, and k, respectively."
https://www.esdallas.org/uploaded/faculty/steelec/Pronunciation.pdf
So Philistine, in Latin, would be something like pilistine, which is a fairly close approximation of Palestine. Now I know we already knew where the word Palestine came from and the it was the Romans who first used it.  But the point is that IN THIS VERSE, in Zephaniah's time long before there Romans, at least a portion of present day Israel was considered to be the land of the Philistines.  At least in this part of the promised land, the Philistines seem to have pre-dated Israel, and to have been driving out incompletely by Israel.  They are there because Israel messed up, and God told tells them at a later time that since they didn't finish the job, He will no longer help them get rid of the previous residents, and that they'll be plagued by them.  What is happening in Israel today is as God said it would be.  We might shake our heads at the problems, but we still ought to see them as "self - caused" by Israel.  
BUT, this verse ends with God saying that HE will destroy them until no inhabitant is left.  It appears to me from the rest of the passage that this is about the Millennial - the time when God destroys Phillistia.

vss 5-7 expand the coming violence to the seacoasts - the end of Gaza and of the Philistines.  It goes on to say that the surviving remnant of Judah will come to inhabit these lands.  Surely that did happen "near term", but look at it today.  Gaza at least is there again, and a thorn in Israel's side.  Someday, Gaza will fall again, but next time, it won't be with Israel, it will just be them.

vs 8-12 prophesy the same fate to Moab and Ammon and Cush as to Gaza and Philistia.  The remnant of Israel will possess them...though given the fate of those lands, I don't know why Israel would want it.  
This in vs 13:
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert. [Zep 2:13 ESV]
This one came to pass pretty quickly after this.  vs 15 indicates that the destruction of Ninevah may have already been in the past when this was written.

Chapter 3
vss 1-4 are about God's judgement on a city.  Seems like it would be about Jerusalem, and MSB confirms this.  It is also similar - though at a different level of detail - than the descriptions in the end times of Babylon the great.  Is that why we have such a hard time deciding what city Babylon might be?  Because it is Jerusalem???  What is going on in Jerusalem when Revelation describes the end of Babylon?

Vss 5-7 seem to be about the time just before and then into the Millennial.  They are about the peace that comes when Jesus appears and takes the throne in Jerusalem.  He will ensure at that time that the Land belongs to the Jews.  There will no longer be a place for Gaza, or Ashkelon, or any other city of the Philistines.  Their time will be over, their harassment of Israel will end.

(some very long verses in Zephaniah, as in Isaiah!)

vs 8 seems to switch back to far prophecy.  Last of vs 8 says "...all the earth shall be consumed."  This is a very long verse, but the "gathering of nations" prior to God "pouring out His indignation" seems to speak of that final battle, at the end of the Millennial, when all those who still rebel against God will gather to oppose him, and He will clear them from the earth once and for all.  Following that, the new heaven and the new earth.  Zephaniah seems to be focused very much on this time.  He is the first prophet who has said so much about that time and how it will go.  He is tied to the end of Revelation, where before it was up to and into the first part of the Millennial and then the peace of that time that was covered.  I think Zephaniah is describing the end of this time, the final destruction of the earth, and the beginning of eternity.
2022 - Seems to be about Armageddon, especially this verse:
""Therefore wait for me," declares the LORD, "for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed." [Zep 3:8 ESV]
Armageddon, or the last battle, the pre-GWT battle?

vs 9...I have seen some discussion of this verse in the MSB introduction to the book, under "Interpretive Challenges".  Here is the verse:
9 "For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord. [Zep 3:9 ESV]
The discussion was about whether this indicates that at some point in the end times, God will undo the confusion of languages that originated in Babel.  So that all can communicate, all can worship in the same language.  MSB thinks it refers to a purification of hearts and minds, not languages.  But if it is about the end of the Millennial, and the beginning of eternity in the new heaven and new earth, then I'm pretty sure there will no longer be a need for different languages.  Tongues of men and angels comes to mind.  One for each perhaps.

A very interesting verse, giving us good reason to keep an eye on Ethiopia, which is believed to be the ancient land of Cush:
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. [Zep 3:10 ESV]
God has put some of His people there, perhaps to protect them.  It says daughters, not sons, which I also find interesting.  Residents of that part of the world are also very black, and that is a good lesson for white supremacist, and for racists of all kinds.

11-13 are a reason for hope in Jerusalem through the coming dark days of that time.  Three very long verses.  Not copy/pasting them but they end with "...and none shall make them afraid."
2022 - Yes, I am going to copy/paste them:
""On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain." [Zep 3:11 ESV]
"But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD," [Zep 3:12 ESV]
"those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."" [Zep 3:13 ESV]
After Armageddon, we will have the sheep and goat judgment.  Those who wouldn't help will be removed.  Those who helped those who could not repay it go into the Millennial.  Surely this is about the Sheep and Goat judgment.

vss 14-20 I believe refer either to the Millennial or to the New Jerusalem.  They are about Israel's ultimate end.  This verse sets the tone of the whole passage:
15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. [Zep 3:15 ESV]
MSB says 14-20 are about the Millennial.  

And to think - whatever had me far from God a year ago, so that I had no notes at all on this little book - I missed all of this last time.

Really good texting conversation with Paula.  She has so many of the same worries that I do...

Chapter 1
Time stamped the 2nd year of Darius, 6th month, first day.  That would be Aug 29, 520 BC.  This is not Darius the Mede, this is Darius I Hystaspes, who followed Cambyses.  He is the great grandson of Cyrus the Great's Brother.  A prophecy for Zerubbabel and for Joshua - politics and religion.  The people say it is not yet time to build the temple.  Yet they live in nice houses while the temple is in ruins.  Then some questions well put in these verses:
5 Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. [Hag 1:5-6 ESV]
Haggai says that they are making no real progress because they are out of God's will.  Same thing happens to us today.  Good one for FB.  Short and sweet.  

Through Haggai, God says that because they look to their own houses and neglect His, the dew and rain have stopped, and so the harvest is much less.  The response from Zerubabbel and Joshua begins in vs 12.  They fear the Lord, both these two leaders and the people.  They listen.  They get to work on the temple.  This is a big change from the pre-exile nation.  Finally, they are willing to listen, and to act.

This verse:
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. [Hag 1:12 ESV]
At this point we are told that there is still a high priest in Judah.  The ancestry has been preserved, so that God and the people recognize Joshua as the high priest.  So following Babylon, the office of high priest continues, and we can believe that from there, it would have been preserved through the generations into the time of Christ.  Zerubbabel is referred to in vs 1 as the governor of Judah.  Not as Prince, and certainly not as King.

Note that God Himself stirred up Zerubbabel, Joshua, and "all the remnant" to get to work on the temple.  So it was not that they just decided.  It is that God wanted it built, and He put the willingness to do so right into them.

Chapter 2
Month 7, day 21, the word comes again.  God asks the people if any of them saw the temple of Solomon before its destruction?  There is this phrase:
4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. [Hag 2:4-5 ESV]  Another prompt, another command.  Things have improved.  God is now with them, on their side, helping them to keep going.  This is a huge contrast to the state of the leadership, the priesthood, and the people before the Babylonian conquest.
That next sentence needs some explanation.  Is He talking here about going back to the original covenant as they left Egypt where He asked only that they be his people, before the Mosaic Laws were put into place?  Or is He saying the Mosaic is once again in place?  MSB does not make any distinction here.  He refers back to 1445 BC and to Ex 33:14.  He puts quotes around "when you came out of Egypt", as if he is referring back to a specific verse.  The verse in Exodus says this:
14 And He said, "My presence shall go [with you,] and I will give you rest." [Exo 33:14 NASB]  So this is not where the quotes come from.  As I read it, the daily sacrifices in the new temple commenced in 516 BC, based on what Ezra says.  So these verses in Haggai are well before that.  The Mosaic was not in effect as the temple was rebuilt, indeed it could not be.  They didn't even have a tent.  So I would say that at this point, He is with them as He was the day they came out of Egypt, and before he required any sacrifices at all.  
I did a search for the phrase "out of Egypt".  There are 56 places that use the exact phrase.  One of them is this verse:
10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. [2Ch 5:10 ESV]  This would indicate that the covenant when they came out was what was on the two tablets, which was well before all the other laws and requirements of the whole Mosaic Law.  I think.  Maybe.  This is not what I was looking for.  There is a verse "somewhere" that says God's original covenant with Israel did not require sacrifices, but only a heart for God.  Something along those lines.  I am trying to make the case that it was this covenant - requiring only their hearts, not their sacrifices - that was about God's Spirit looking after them.  But I may be making more of this than there really is.

This is important, because it seems to me that God negated the Mosaic Law when He gave the people to Babylon.  He divorced them.  The Mosaic Covenant was undone by the lack of adherence of the people.  So to me, the promises God made under that covenant no longer stand.  That is gone.  BUT, the original covenant with them, that Moses offered them, that required only that they make Him their God, and He only promised to make them His people, that could still stand.  Therefore, the sacrifices that will be made in this new temple, up until 70 AD, are more symbolic, are more memorial, than they are efficacious.  Just as the sacrifices in Ezekiel's Temple during the end times will be, and during the Millennial.  They will not need to make sacrifices to atone for sin.  Jesus has died.  But the sacrifices in the Millennial could still be a remembrance of the Mosaic Covenant.  The only other way to look at it is to say that Jesus only died for Gentiles (this is sort of hyper-limited atonement) and the sacrifices must continue until Jesus Himself sits on the Millennial throne and judges the returned Jews (the dry bones animated) and forgives those - past and present - with hearts for God.  But this is probably a well known blasphemy...
God tells them He is there according to the covenant made when they came out of Egypt.  His Spirit is still there.  (It seems to me though that He had abandoned His temple.  It could not have been destroyed while He dwelled there.  And it is His Spirit, upper case, that is there with them now.  God can't be there, because he has no temple.  

(Hmm....I didn't see one word in Jeremiah, Lamentations, or Ezekiel about the Ark of the Covenant.  The Bible does not tell us what happened to it.  I believe the next time we see it in the Bible is in Revelation 11:19...I think that's the next time:
19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. [Rev 11:19 ESV]  This is following the 7th Trumpet, where all the kingdoms are given to Jesus.  The ark that appears is in the temple in heaven.  This is the heavenly counterpart to the ark on earth.  They are not the same.  So after digging deeper, I think the ark that was made in the desert is still missing, and we may never know what became of it.  I never shows back up in the Bible.  Where is the very last reference to it in the OT?  Found these two last references to it:
3 And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, "Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. [2Ch 35:3 ESV]  This is where the Ark was put into Solomon's temple, into the Holy of Holies.  It is never moved again.
And then this last OT reference:
16 And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. [Jer 3:16 ESV]
This verse is in reference to the Millennial kingdom.  Jesus will Himself be dwelling on earth, and there will be no need of an ark.  People won't even wonder about it in those days.  I don't think it's coming back.  We'll never see the one made in the desert.  But we'll see the one it is modeled after.)

vs 6-9 speak of the end times.  I believe this is so because in vs 6 God says "I will shake the heavens".  Only God does this.  This is often present when the end of time is in view.  It says Israel will once again rise to a position of world power.  And this verse:
9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.'" [Hag 2:9 ESV]
The last temple will be the best Temple.  Ezekiel's?  I think so.  The one that comes down from heaven will be later still, after all is remade...but it could mean that one.

vs 10 is time-stamped.  24 day of 9th month, second year of Darius.  So these prophecies are so far in chronological order.  God makes a point with questions that Haggai relates to the priests about what is clean and unclean.  God says the nation before Him is unclean, as is everything they touch with their hands.  A hard thing to hear.  But God goes on to say that now that they have laid the foundation of the temple, He is with them again, and He is blessing their land.  And the "shortages" that have plagued them are over.  Instead of "shortening" all their goods, He is making it bountiful.  He is confirming that building His temple is what He wants them to do, and He is already blessing them for it.  Contrasting the lazy years.
2020-MSB note says these two questions make two points.  Ceremonial cleanness cannot be transferred by touch.  Ceremonial uncleanness can be transferred by touch.  The point was that the people had been doing the sacrifices, but since they were neglecting the rebuilding of the temple, the sacrifices had not been accepted.  The people were "unclean" in that they neglected the Temple, and that uncleanness was transferred to their offerings.  Bringing the offerings in the first place is a "good work".  But that "good work" was not capable of making the sacrificer "clean", because of his sin in neglecting God's house while sprucing up his own.  In other words, "sin is contagious, righteousness is not".  This whole explanation is from the MSB.  This speaks also to salvation in our time.  No good works, no faithful ritual, no pilgrimage to Jerusalem, no matter how regular and devoted, can make us clean.  Only Jesus blood can do that.  Even if we are shot through with constant good works and church attendance, if we are "Sunday Christians", our works are made unclean by our impure hearts.  God sets a very high standard.  Possibly a FB post...but complicated.  Better as a paper on the Website.

There is also a second prophecy, on this same day.  This one is not what I expected.  This one is directed to Zerubbabel, himself, and to him only.  This is the last verse of Haggai:
23 On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts." [Hag 2:23 ESV]
I think this verse tells us who the prince that will make sacrifices in Ezekiel's temple is.  This will be the place of Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, as the rebuilding of the temple resumes.  He is the government in Haggai's day, and he will be the "signet" - the seal, the actor of Jesus' rule, in that future temple.  As Daniel's  allocated place is already set, so is Zerubbabel's.  This man is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than I have ever heard before.  He is in the lineage of Jesus in Matt. 1:12, 13 and also in Luke 3:27.  He is descended from David also, and qualified by birth to be a prince of Israel.

BUT, and ALSO, see the MSB note on this verse.  Long and worth pasting in here at next opportunity!  Here is that note:
On that day. The day of Messiah’s triumph (cf. Zech. 12–14). my servant. A distinctly Davidic and messianic title (cf. 2 Sam. 3:18; 1 Kings 11:34; Isa. 42:1–9; Ezek. 37:24–25). signet ring. The signet ring was a symbol of honor, authority, and power (cf. Song 8:6). It corresponded to a king’s scepter, which was used to seal letters and decrees (cf. 1 Kings 21:8; Est. 8:8; Dan. 6:17). Zerubbabel, as God’s signet ring, stands as the official representative of the Davidic dynasty and represents the resumption of the messianic line interrupted by the exile. Just as Pharaoh gave Joseph his signet ring and made him second in the kingdom (Gen. 41:41–43), so God will do for the Davidic line of kings. The preexilic signet of Jehoiachin was removed by God (Jer. 22:24) and renewed here in his grandson, Zerubbabel, who reestablished the Davidic line of kings, which would culminate in the millennial reign of Christ. See note on Ezra 2:2.

2020-I don't know if this means Zerubbabel will be resurrected literally to do this, or if it means his heir will be the bearer of the signet.  Jesus will be King in the Millennial, but there will be a prince, spoken of in Ezekiel, who owns land, and who offers sacrifices.  This prince can leave an inheritance for his children, but some restrictions.  This Prince, I believe according to these verses, will be a sort of "restoration" of the royal line descended from David, just as Christ is descended from that line.  Chirst is both priest and King.  Is this future prince both signet and priest?