The first chapter of Haggai falls into 2 parts:
- The command to build God's house (v1-v11)
- The people's obedience (v12-v15)
In the first part we see Haggai boldly explaining the situation to the Zerubbabel (Z.) the son of the governor of Judah and to Joshua (J.), the son of the high priest. He makes it clear that it is time to work on God's house instead of putting all the effort in building their own houses. v6 especially spoke to us:
'You have sown much, and bring in little, you eat, but do not have enough; you drink but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.
In the second part we see that the power of this confronting message impressed Z. and J. and the people and they aboyed the voice of the Lord and the words of Haggai as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared (respected) the presence of the Lord. After the step of obedience Haggai spoke God's next message to the people emphasizing that God was with them (v.13). In the last part of this chapter we see that God awakens/arouses/opens their eyes and they started to work on the temple.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Haggai
For our first cafe bible study we choose to turn to one of the prophets of the old testament called Haggai. It's a small book about the rebuilding of God's temple around 520 B.C. and is full of encouragement for a people who had been discouraged, dissatisfied and disinterested in putting God's will first in their lives.
Author: Haggai (meaning festive), was a prophet after the exile out of Babylon and lived during the same time as Zechariah. Haggai was a good encourager whose word was in tune with the hearts of the people and the mind of God, he was the Lord's messenger, bringing to discouraged people the assurance of God's presence.
Date: Haggai's ministry covered a period of slightly less than four months during the second year of the reign of Kind Darius, who ruled Persia from 522 BC to 486 BC.
Background: Haggai joined the exiles who had returned to their homeland in 536 BC to rebuild the temple of the Lord. They had started well, building an altar and offering sacrifices, then laying the foundation for the Lord's house the following year. Construction ceased however, as enemies mocked the builder's efforts. But the ministry opf Haggai and Zechariah caused the people to rally and complete the task within 5 years. The rebuilt temple was dedicated in 515 BC.
Source NKJV
Author: Haggai (meaning festive), was a prophet after the exile out of Babylon and lived during the same time as Zechariah. Haggai was a good encourager whose word was in tune with the hearts of the people and the mind of God, he was the Lord's messenger, bringing to discouraged people the assurance of God's presence.
Date: Haggai's ministry covered a period of slightly less than four months during the second year of the reign of Kind Darius, who ruled Persia from 522 BC to 486 BC.
Background: Haggai joined the exiles who had returned to their homeland in 536 BC to rebuild the temple of the Lord. They had started well, building an altar and offering sacrifices, then laying the foundation for the Lord's house the following year. Construction ceased however, as enemies mocked the builder's efforts. But the ministry opf Haggai and Zechariah caused the people to rally and complete the task within 5 years. The rebuilt temple was dedicated in 515 BC.
Source NKJV
When and where do we meet?
We try to meet up twice a month in a cosy cafe in Brussels where there is space to read and discuss the Word of God. Our next meeting will be at Cafe de l'Opera situated in the centre of Brussels right next to the opera house near the Brouckere.
Our next meeting will be on Friday April the 16th at 8pm at Cafe de l'Opera
Our next meeting will be on Friday April the 16th at 8pm at Cafe de l'Opera
Our aim
Our aim is to go deeper into God's Word as 'the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart' (Hebrews 4:12, NKJV).
We want to welcome you to join us if you have a desire to learn more about God through His Word. You can join us by coming to the cafe bible study or you can join us online through this blog. We will post the readings and the comments from the bible study and you can join us by reading the same chapter at home and adding to the discussing by using this forum.
We want to welcome you to join us if you have a desire to learn more about God through His Word. You can join us by coming to the cafe bible study or you can join us online through this blog. We will post the readings and the comments from the bible study and you can join us by reading the same chapter at home and adding to the discussing by using this forum.
What do we do?
We meet up in a enjoyable environment, take our bible with us and order a drink and maybe some food and then dig into the Word of God.
We long to have insight into God's Word and at the same time we want to keep it easy-going and maintain a relaxed atmosphere. We enjoy sharing with one and other because God speaks to all of us in different ways and as we listen to eachother we gain a bit more insight into who God is.
So... what do we do exactly? Well, we choose a book of the bible, do some digging around in it (Who's the author? What's the background? When was it written and why?...) and start by reading 1 chapter. Afterwards we share what has spoken to us in that chapter and any questions we might have or certain words that come back etc.
In order to get more insight into His Word we do some prepatory work at home so that we have already spend some study time in this chapter before coming together. We also advice people to go to BibleGateway and print out the chapter we will be discussing. In that way people can bring their own structure to the text, underline and highlight some words/phrases that stand out to them.
We recommend people to read the chapter that we discussed again at home and read the next chapter in preparation for our next meeting. If more insights or questions arose in the mean time, people are welcome to share them at the meeting or on this blog. In order to leave comments on the blog you will have to register by creating a gmail account.
We long to have insight into God's Word and at the same time we want to keep it easy-going and maintain a relaxed atmosphere. We enjoy sharing with one and other because God speaks to all of us in different ways and as we listen to eachother we gain a bit more insight into who God is.
So... what do we do exactly? Well, we choose a book of the bible, do some digging around in it (Who's the author? What's the background? When was it written and why?...) and start by reading 1 chapter. Afterwards we share what has spoken to us in that chapter and any questions we might have or certain words that come back etc.
In order to get more insight into His Word we do some prepatory work at home so that we have already spend some study time in this chapter before coming together. We also advice people to go to BibleGateway and print out the chapter we will be discussing. In that way people can bring their own structure to the text, underline and highlight some words/phrases that stand out to them.
We recommend people to read the chapter that we discussed again at home and read the next chapter in preparation for our next meeting. If more insights or questions arose in the mean time, people are welcome to share them at the meeting or on this blog. In order to leave comments on the blog you will have to register by creating a gmail account.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)