Chizuk Emunah Under the Microscope: Chapter 34

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.’” (Haggai ,2:9)

The dispute between Troki and the Christians of his day is what made the glory of the Second Temple greater than the glory of the first temple. In the Talmud, tractate Bava Batra discusses the issue.

Greater shall be the glory of the latter' house than the former. [The word 'greater' was interpreted differently by] Rab and Samuel [or, according to another report, by R. Johanan and R. Eleazar], one referring it to the size and the other  to the duration; and both are correct. (Bava Batra 3a-b)

There were five things in the first temple which differed from the second: the ark, the ark-cover, the cherubim, the shechinah, the Holy Spirit, and the Urim and Thummim (Yoma, 21b)

Rashi writes in his commentary that the first temple stood 410 years while the second temple stood 420 years. In reality, the first temple stood from 957-586 BCE (371 years), while the second temple stood from 516 BCE to 70 CE (586 years).

Interestingly enough, although not surprisingly, Troki rejects the explanation given by Bava Batra. Instead, he conflates the prophecies about the ultimate peace in the end of days with the glory being fulfilled. Troki believed that Haggai 2:9 has not yet been fulfilled, and argues that this will only take place in the days of the third temple. This is very hard to swallow, considering that Haggai called the second temple "this house" as though we was referring to something that existed in his time. Troki also rejected the idea that Jesus could have brought glory since Jesus, in Troki's view, brought about the destruction of that temple.

Remember that Haggai lived during the time when the second temple was being built, which is why nearly all biblical scholars reject the idea that "this house" would be the third temple. He did refer to the first temple as "this house" in order to draw a comparison between the temple he saw and the temple that stood on the same spot. Also, the term "latter" means the latter glory, not the latter house, as in verse 3, Haggai refers to the term explicitly.

It also seems unlikely that a slightly bigger temple or one that stood longer would have greater glory, especially with all the Shechinah glory of God himself now departed from it. It would take a visit from God himself to equal that level of glory, and therefore only through the visit of Jesus, who is Yahweh in the flesh, could such a prophecy be fulfilled. The second temple is now destroyed, so either this prophecy was already fulfilled, or Haggai was wrong. Jesus, again, is the best candidate for this prophecy's fulfillment.