Haggai 2:4

But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 29^th & 30^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The God of little Judah is the God of Moses and Joshua and the ancestors. As then, so now, “Be strong and courageous,” “Be strong and very courageous.” Then, as now, the people of God anchor their actions in the Word of God, spoken by His messengers to dispel fear and discouragement.

 

 

By oath and promise, Yahweh, the God of Israel, committed Himself to them, telling the original Joshua that the “land” they are about to occupy belongs to them because “I swore to their forefathers to give [it to] them.” When Haggai exhorts the people, using words originally spoken in Joshua 1, there is a distinct connection made between the land occupied then, and the land recovered now. What Judah is about to do in completing the new temple is to rest on the former claim of God’s promise, and “Be strong” as its ancestors had been. Judah is no different from its forebears, and the God who strengthens Judah is the same God who told the first Joshua, “Be strong!” [BN, 7]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm