Haggai the
prophet shared how the LORD wanted the people of Israel to consider
as they expected twenty measures from their heaps, they only found
ten, and when they thought they would receive fifty vessels from
their winepresses, they only received twenty. The LORD sent “blasting
and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of “ their
“hands”. In
chapter two and verse eighteen of his prophesy, the LORD through
Haggai tells the people to “consider”
“from the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid”
where we read:
Consider now from this day and upward, from the four
and twentieth day of the ninth month, even
from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid,
consider it.
The verse begins, “Consider now
from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the
ninth month,...” Haggai
began with the word, “Consider”
which means “put, set, lay upon, direct, extend, ordain, establish,
find, appoint, constitute, determine and fix” “now
from this day”
or “” “and upward”
which means “to the higher part, above and on higher ground than”
“from the four and twentieth
day”
or the “twenty-fourth day” “of
the ninth month”
which was “ninth as an ordinal number”. From this “twenty-fourth
day of the ninth month”
of “the second year of
Darius' reign”
the “LORD” wanted
the people of Israel to direct their attention toward what He is
about to declare.
The verse
continues, “...even
from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid,
consider it.”
Haggai
added, “even from the day”
or “time as defined by evening and morning or a working day”
“that the foundation”
which refers to “established, appointed, ordained, founded and laid
place” “of the LORD's”
or “Yehovah or Jehovah” whose name means “the existing One”
and “the proper name for the one true God” “temple”
which
refers to “palace, nave or sanctuary” “was
laid
consider it” which
again means “ put, set, lay upon, direct, extend, ordain,
establish, find, appoint, constitute, determine and fix”. From the
day the “foundation”
of the temple of the LORD was laid, the people of Israel were to have
them in their minds.
When
we think about Haggai's words, we begin to understand how important
it is both to the LORD and the people of Israel for them to have He
and His temple first in their lives. As they thought through their
lack in their sheaves and their winepresses and the “blasting,
mildew and hail”,
they would begin to redirect their attention to the LORD. Like the
LORD was with Israel, when we consider that Jesus Christ desires us
to make Him our priority, perhaps we should think about the
“foundation”which
was laid in our lives. As we do, may the LORD help us understand the
importance of attending to His kingdom first.
Next
time the LORD by Haggai the prophet asks, “is the seed yet in
the barn”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment