The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Haggai 2:1-2,
"In the second year of King Darius, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 'Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them...'"
Haggai's vocation as a prophet of the Lord took place following the return of the remnant of Judah from their Babylonian captivity. The focus of his prophetic activity surrounded the rebuilding of the Lord's temple in Jerusalem.
The remnant returned in about 538 BC (allowed by the Persian King Cyrus). After about two years, the returnees had completed the foundation for the rebuilding of the temple destroyed by the Babylonians seventy years earlier. Following the completion of the foundation, the work lay idle for about sixteen years. The Lord sent Haggai to Zerubbabel and Joshua (son of the high priest) in 520 BC to tell the folks to quit delaying and get it done.
The thought that strikes me this morning is that the Lord could have just as easily spoken to Zerubbabel and Joshua directly, but he didn't. He used the prophet Haggai. Why did the Lord use a prophet? Why did the Lord use prophets for much of his communication with people? Why Nathan with David? Why Samuel with Saul? Why Ananias with Paul? Why did the Lord employ others to speak to people so much of the time?
One reason I am quite confident in, is that the Lord wanted to acclimate us to the process of him communicating to us all through prophets. In so many of the accounts where the Lord communicated to individuals and groups of people, he prepared us for the concept of communicating to us though the Scriptures as a vehicle. The Lord employed prophets to write the Scriptures because he had no intent of speaking to us all individually and directly. It has always been his plan to communicate to us through the Scriptures, hence, a third party is required - the prophet.
I am reminded of Peter's well-known comment on this, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
"In the second year of King Darius, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 'Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them...'"
Haggai's vocation as a prophet of the Lord took place following the return of the remnant of Judah from their Babylonian captivity. The focus of his prophetic activity surrounded the rebuilding of the Lord's temple in Jerusalem.
The remnant returned in about 538 BC (allowed by the Persian King Cyrus). After about two years, the returnees had completed the foundation for the rebuilding of the temple destroyed by the Babylonians seventy years earlier. Following the completion of the foundation, the work lay idle for about sixteen years. The Lord sent Haggai to Zerubbabel and Joshua (son of the high priest) in 520 BC to tell the folks to quit delaying and get it done.
The thought that strikes me this morning is that the Lord could have just as easily spoken to Zerubbabel and Joshua directly, but he didn't. He used the prophet Haggai. Why did the Lord use a prophet? Why did the Lord use prophets for much of his communication with people? Why Nathan with David? Why Samuel with Saul? Why Ananias with Paul? Why did the Lord employ others to speak to people so much of the time?
One reason I am quite confident in, is that the Lord wanted to acclimate us to the process of him communicating to us all through prophets. In so many of the accounts where the Lord communicated to individuals and groups of people, he prepared us for the concept of communicating to us though the Scriptures as a vehicle. The Lord employed prophets to write the Scriptures because he had no intent of speaking to us all individually and directly. It has always been his plan to communicate to us through the Scriptures, hence, a third party is required - the prophet.
I am reminded of Peter's well-known comment on this, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
The Scriptures are the Lord's communication to us and he has used the vehicle of prophets to communicate to us as they reduced their prophecies to writing. Providing us familiarity with the process through the many accounts we find in the Scriptures themselves, he has prepared us to understand how he communicates to us.
Of course, the most amazing thing is that the Creator of the cosmos communicates to us! He wants us to know about him, his agenda, what he has for us in the future, how we can become members of his family. Just astonishing!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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