The Bible OverBrew - Bible in a YearSample

Week 26. Day 1. Haggai.

Introduction to Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

The final three books of the 12 were written after the exile, and the very existence of these prophecies show that the return from exile was not the complete fulfilment of all God’s promises. The people were still sinful and needed cleansing. They needed to return to God spiritually, and God still needed to come personally to his people to dwell amongst them—as the temple references in these final prophets point to. These books close the prophets (and close the whole Old Testament in our English Bible order) but they are not a conclusion, rather they are pointing ahead to a future yet to come.

Haggai

1:1 When is Haggai speaking? What is the historical situation?

Darius was on the throne of Persia (formerly Babylon) after Cyrus. Cyrus is the one who told the people to go back home from exile (recounted in Ezra 1—see notes there in week 36). The people have returned home from exile, but they need to rebuild the temple.

1:1-15 What does Haggai call the people to do? How does this relate to the Bible story so far?

2:1-9 Look for references/allusions to the Exodus and following events.

This history is being retold to remind the people of God's faithfulness in the past - and to encourage the people themselves to respond in faith.

NOTE: Days 1-5 of each week contain the scripture reading for that week. Day 6 has just the 'key chapters'. If you want a briefer version of this plan that still takes you through the whole Bible, you could just read the key chapters featured on day 6. Day 7 has the podcast video where we discuss the week's reading.