Haggai 2:6

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

Yet once, it is a little while - or, '(it is) yet a little while.' The Hebrew [ 'achat (H259)] for "once" expresses the indefinite article a (Maurer). Or, 'it is yet only a little while'-literally, one little - i:e., a single brief space-until a series of movements is to begin-namely, the shakings of nations, soon to begin, which are to end in the advent of Messiah, "the Desire of all nations" (Moore). The shaking of nations implies judgments of wrath on the foes of God's people, to precede the reign of the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 13:13). The kingdoms of the world are but the scaffolding for God's spiritual temple, and will be thrown down when their purpose is accomplished. The transitoriness of all that is earthly should lead men to seek "peace" in Messiah's everlasting kingdom (Haggai 2:9; Hebrews 12:27). (Moore.) The Jews in Haggai's times hesitated about going forward with the work, through dread of the world-power, Medo-Persia, which was influenced by the craft of Samaria. The prophet assures them that this and all other world-powers are to fall before Messiah, who is to be associated with this temple; therefore they need fear naught.

So the sense is explained in Hebrews 12:26, which quotes this passage: the apostle compares the heavier punishment which awaits the disobedient under the New Testament with that which met such under the Old Testament. At the establishment of the Sinaitic covenant, only the earth was shaken to introduce it, but now heaven and earth and all things are to be shaken - i:e., along with prodigies in the world of nature, all kingdoms that stand in the way of Messiah's kingdom, "which cannot be shaken," are to be upturned (Daniel 2:35; Daniel 2:44; Matthew 21:44). Hebrews 12:27, "Yet once more" favours the English version. Paul condenses together the two verses of Haggai (Haggai 2:6; Haggai 2:21), implying that it was one and the same shaking-of which the former verses of Haggai denote the beginning, the latter the end. The shaking began introductory to the first advent; it will be finished at the second.

Concerning the former, cf. Matthew 3:17; Matthew 27:51; Matthew 28:2; Acts 2:2; Acts 2:4; Acts 2:31: concerning the latter, Matthew 24:7; Revelation 16:20; Revelation 18:20; Revelation 20:11 (Bengel). There is scarcely a prophecy of Messiah in the Old Testament which does not, to some extent at least, refer to His second coming (Sir Isaac Newton). Psalms 68:8 mentions the heavens dropping at the presence of Yahweh at the mountain (Sinai); but Haggai speaks of the whole created heavens: 'Wait only a little while though the promised event is not apparent yet, for soon will God change things for the better: do not stop short with these preludes, and fix your eyes on the present state of the temple' (Calvin). God shook the heavens by the lightnings at Sinai; the earth, that it should give forth waters; the sea, that it should be divided asunder. In Christ's time, God shook the heaven, when He spake from it; the earth, when it quaked; the sea, when He commanded the winds and waves (Grotius). Cicero records at the time of Christ the silencing of the pagan oracles; and Dio, the fall of the idols in the Roman capitol.