{"id":78955,"date":"2020-08-18T16:18:04","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T13:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78955"},"modified":"2020-08-18T16:18:04","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T13:18:04","slug":"a-prophetic-message-of-encouragement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-prophetic-message-of-encouragement\/","title":{"rendered":"A Prophetic Message Of Encouragement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"78955","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49926,"related_cahpter":"549","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"You can do this!\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The book of Haggai marks a shift in the context of the books of the prophets. All the other prophets up to this point take place either during the reign of the Kings of Judah and Israel, or during the early years of the exile. Haggai and his contemporary Zechariah are prophets of the Return to Zion, from the early years of the reign of Darius, which was around twenty years after the initial wave of migration back to Judea. The tone of Haggai\u2019s message in this chapter is supportive and encouraging, meant to help and empower hesitant leaders and a hesitant population.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His first task in doing this is to tackle the naysayers. In the decades since the Return, there had been significant pushback from locals to the rebuilding of the Temple (see Ezra 4). Haggai\u2019s message shows that this pushback had been internalized by the Jewish community as a feeling that \u201cThe time has not yet come for rebuilding the House of the LORD\u201d (v.2). The prophet is here to remind them that that is, in fact, one of the main reasons why they returned. He wants them to be reflective: you\u2019ve been here for a while, you\u2019ve been working hard, now is the time to think about God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be hard to get out of a mindset that has become ingrained in you; it can be even harder to understand that that mindset has become ingrained in you. Haggai approaches this problem by addressing the people\u2019s problems. \u201cConsider how you have been faring\u201d says Haggai (v.5); think about your problems, your struggles: what is their source? The returnees\u2019 problems are all incongruities: their farming, eating, drinking, even their clothing, aren\u2019t producing results, aren\u2019t satiating, aren\u2019t protecting them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is all this happening? Why isn\u2019t anything working properly? Because, says Haggai (v.4), \u201cIs it a time for you to dwell in your paneled houses, while this House is lying in ruins?\u201d You are only taking care of yourselves, only looking after your own physical needs. You have forgotten God\u2019s needs, you have forgotten your spiritual well-being. Until you take care of that, the rest of your life will be unfulfilled.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This could be a harsh message, a message of failure and despair. But Haggai knows, God knows, that the message the people need is one of encouragement. They haven\u2019t forsaken God, aren\u2019t acting out of malice or apathy, they simply don\u2019t know how to be any other way. So, the message is gentle, is one of encouragement: you can do this, and (v.13) \u201cI am with you\u2014declares the LORD.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":78957,"id":78957,"title":"hag1-encourage","filename":"hag1-encourage.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hag1-encourage.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-prophetic-message-of-encouragement\/hag1-encourage\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hag1-encourage","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78955,"date":"2020-08-18 13:17:51","modified":"2021-11-12 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