DAILY REMINDER – Today, September 28’s Bible reading is Haggai 1-2.
NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 29’s Bible reading is Zechariah
1-7. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.
The book of Haggai is so named after its
author whose name means festive or festival. Haggai prophesied during the end
of the Babylonian captivity in the second year of King Darius reign. The Jews
began rebuilding the temple in 538 B.C. after King Cyrus had
given the decree for the Jews to return to their homeland. Unfortunately, the
work of the temple came to a halt due to opposition from their jealous
neighbors who made it difficult for them to continue. The work restarted after
King Darius began his reign and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged
the exiles to restart the rebuilding process. Some biblical scholars believe
that Haggai witnessed the destruction of Solomon’s temple which possibly put
him at the age of eighty years old during the time of his ministry. It is
believed that his ministry was around 520 B.C. Haggai’s message included the consequences of
sin, a call to rebuild, and the promises of God.
HAGGAI MOMENT – (28SEP19)
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘These people say, ‘The time has not yet come
to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: ‘Is
it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this
house remains a ruin?’” (Haggai 1:2-4). The Jewish nation was
finally allowed to return to their own land. They had started rebuilding their homes,
planting vineyards, and becoming comfortable in their homeland. While they were
busy getting their own houses together, the Lord’s lay in ruins. The temple
work had begun during the reign of King Cyrus, but it was abruptly stopped due
to opposition from their enemies. Now that Darius had come to power, the Lord wanted
the work on His house to be completed. God gave Haggai a message to give to the
governor of Judah, the high priest as well as the remnant people. He had
withheld some of their blessings because of their failure to rebuild His house.
Therefore, the Lord wanted them to give attention to the rebuilding of His
house and then their blessings would be restored. The people listened to the
prophet and obeyed the Word of the Lord.
The Lord does not
want us to be neglectful in honoring Him. The Children of Israel had put
themselves first and placed the things of God on hold. As a result, they had
not received the fullness of the Lord’s blessings that He wanted to bestow on
them because of their lack of regard in placing Him above all else. It is easy
for us to place work, school, family, and just life in general above all else, but
the Lord does not like being put second. He always wants us to place Him first
in our lives. The Bible says: “But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). When we put God
first in our lives, He is all too willing to give us the desires of our heart
in accordance to His will. An example of this is with the story of the widow who
fed the Prophet Elijah first before feeding herself and her son with only the
promise that God would provide – and indeed He did. “As
surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a
handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few
sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat
it—and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you
have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and
bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
For this
is what the Lord, the
God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil
will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” She went away and
did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the
woman and her family. For
the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping
with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah” (1 Kings 17:12-16). The widow took care of the man of God and in return, the Lord took
care of her. Something to ponder…
QUESTION
OF THE DAY - (28SEP19) “This
is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says:
If someone carries
consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread
or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”
The priests answered, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by
contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.” Then
Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares
the Lord.
‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled’” (Haggai 2:11-14). The Lord had Haggai to pose two questions to the priests so that
the people would understand the difference between what was consecrated and
unconsecrated. The people had made the mistake in thinking that just because
they offered sacrifices on an altar, it was okay for them to neglect the
building of the Lord’s house. The Lord was calling them unconsecrated even
though they considered themselves as doing consecrated things. The two did not
mix just like oil and water. Their lack of putting Him first meant that they
had placed Him second in their hearts. The Lord wanted them to learn the
important lesson of having a heart dedicated to Him and not just doing things
out of ritual. This was the mistake that Israel failed to learn from times’
past, so God did not want His remnant to make the same mistake as they had
before their exile. The Lord reduced their blessings until they understood this
important concept. After which, He allowed His blessings to flow upon their land.
No comments:
Post a Comment