Against Those Who Think Only Of Their Own House

Hello! and good Thursday to all of us; and, it's just 92 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Today's first-thing-first:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (24 September 2015)

"In the second year of the reign of  Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, a word of YAHWEH was directed to the prophet Haggai for the benefit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

So says YAHWEH of hosts:  This people claim that the time to rebuild the House of YAHWEH has not yet come.  Well now, hear what I have to say through the prophet Haggai:  Is this the time for you to live in your well-built houses while the House is a heap of ruins?  Think about your ways:  you have sown much but harvested little, you eat and drink but are not satisfied, you clothe yourselves but still feel cold, and the laborer puts the money he earned in a tattered purse.

Now think about what you must do:  go to the mountain and look for wood to rebuild the House.  This will make ME happy and I will feel deeply honored, says YAHWEH." - Haggai 1:1-8 

 

(Haggai is the first of the postexilic prophets.  These three:  Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi proclaim the Word of GOD in an entirely new age.  The former prophets denounced Israel's sins and announced the imminent Judgment.  Now, after the trial of the destruction of Jerusalem and Exile in Babylon, the Jewish community must rebuild the nation, and this is when the prophets demand that first, the Temple must be rebuilt.  It is a fact that the Jews [and this is true for us, too] had to serve GOD before asking HIM for the solution to their problems.)

 

Haggai, The Rebuilder-Prophet