Sunday, September 14, 2014

Delving into Haggai: 1st Prophetic Discourse

The 1st Prophetic Discourse:
The Call to Rebuild the Temple


a) Reluctance of the people-
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying,
This people say,
The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.
Haggai 1:2

b) The Time is now-
Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
Haggai 1:3,4

c) Consider your ways-
Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Consider your ways.
Haggai 1:5

d) Bag with holes (A message for Laodicea?)-
Ye have sown much, and bring in little;
ye eat, but ye have not enough;
ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink;
ye clothe you, but there is none warm;
and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Haggai 1:6
Sound familiar?
Because thou sayest,
I am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing;
and knowest not that thou art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Revelation 3:17

e) Reason for lack of dew from heaven-
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little;
and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.
Why?
saith the LORD of hosts.
Because of mine house that is waste,
and ye run every man unto his own house.
Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew,
and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
Haggai 1:9,10

f) That Drought (The apex of the first discourse)
And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains,
and upon the corn, and upon the new wine,
and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth,
and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
Haggai 1:11
* A Drought spiritually of the benefits of the Sanctuary plan of Redemption kept from view.
Both of Justification as seen in the outer court (The "corn" & "new wine" of His body & blood sacrifice) and of Sanctification as seen in the inner court (The "oil" of the Holy Spirit).
* It affects both the high (The "mountains") & low (The "land").
* God's Judgments affect all the earth as symbolically stating of man, animals & ground--in other words worldwide. As Paul puts it - For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Romans 8:22