Haggai

The prophetic ministry of Haggai unfolds, as the author of this book states, amidst discouraging circumstances stemming, it seems, from a prolonged drought that ruined harvests, financial disasters, and a lack of commitment to the purpose of returning from captivity. Such circumstances caused desolation, despondency, frustration, and demoralization, and dangerously impacted the spirituality of God's people.

Very attentive to the social context in which the prophet Haggai's message was recorded, the analysis and interpretation of the text that the author offers us invites us to bear in mind that the very reason for being of God's people—Israel in the past, the church in the present—is the Glory of God. But when the church is overcome by indifference, yielding to the temptation to pursue priorities far removed from God's will, becoming content with success and the comforts of the present, and sowing much but harvesting little, it is necessary and urgent to return to God's message expressed in Haggai's words.

• What were the priorities of God's people in Haggai's time, and what was the consequence?
• How had God's people failed by not being consistent with the purpose for which they were allowed to return from captivity?
• What will be the destiny of all human activity and organization carried out apart from God's will?
• How does Haggai's message apply to our day?