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Blazingson -> RE: Come build with me. (6/26/2008 9:27:02 PM)
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quote:
Yeah, call us wimps and run will he.... RUN!? HA! I've been busy all day. Some of us have obligations to fulfill, appointments to keep, promises to honor, duties to perform and...uh...stuff. I've been out of town on business all afternoon and haven't had the time log on and post on this thread. I was logged on for a very short time this morning before I left but hadn't read Haggai yet for the day. I haven't even caught up on what everyone else has posted since I was on last. Boy, I tell you what...a guy turns his back for an afternoon and they attack you from behind. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a job. I'm like Eddie Murphy in "Beverly Hills Cop", "I'm a bidness man. I got deals going down alla time." [sm=biggrin.gif][sm=biggrin.gif][sm=biggrin.gif][sm=biggrin.gif] This is the closest I could find to a rapberry smiley. [sm=frog.gif] Anyway, returning to the topic at hand: If you will recall my thoughts on the first part of chapter one. I was given the impression that the remnant had ignored the Lords Temple while overindulging themselves to the point they were allowing crops to rot in the fields I appears that as a result of their gluttony and their ignorance of the House of the Lord, He cursed their crops. "Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth it's crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on the people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands." They had to pay the price for their selfishness and for thinking more of themselves than they should've. But they were also a repentant people: "Then Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the peole obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord." I believe the word "fear" in this instance means, "respect" or "honor". Not "being afraid of" Because of their return to God, He tells them: "Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: 'I am with you', declares the Lord." Reassuring them of His presence. It goes on to say, "So the spirit of the Lord stirrred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month." Then it was three months later to the day that this message was given to the remnant through Haggai. "From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Give careful thought; Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. From this day on I will bless you." God didn't wait for the entire temple to be completed, He lifted the curse on their crops and labor once the foundation was completed. He gave them enough time to show they were sincere in their efforts to rebuild the temple. This also gave them a crop to take a tithe from to return to God and for offerings to support the work of the temple priests. It seems to me that there will be times when we will have to show our sincerity before the blessings return to us after we fall away. (I'm not gonna scan for typos 'cause the cat keeps walking on the keyboard. But I think it's coherent.)
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