Mapperley Monday Mail - Haggai 1
Yesterday we began a new short series in Haggai. It's one of the less-famous books in the Bible, but it's still got a really powerful message for us today. It helps to understand the context. For hundreds of years, God's people had been an independent country, living in the kingdom of Judah, with its capital at Jerusalem. The Temple (as built by Solomon) was the centre of their society – it was where they met together to hear God's word; it was the one place on earth where God had promised to be; it was where they went to pray; it was where the sacrifices happened so that they could be put right with God when they had messed up; it was at the centre of all their festivals as well. Because this was before Jesus, it was much more important even than church is today. But then in 587BC, disaster struck. Nebuchadnezzar, emperor of Babylon, captured and destroyed Jerusalem. The temple was in ruins; the people were deported to Babylon – a period know...