Our text from Haggai and Revelation are found in Handel’s Messiah, below is the link where you may find it in its entirety. He wrote the Messiah in 1741, and if memory serves me correctly he did it in a very brief period of time. The second clip is the famous Halleujah chorus.
Haggai is the first of three postexeilic (big fat word for after the Babalonian captivity) prophets. So some of the people have returned to the homeland, the Temple is in ruins and they are rebuilding their homes. They appear to be free from idols following the exile, but there remains a spiritual indifference. Haggai exhorts the people to put God first!
It is amazing to me how ALL of God’s Word applies to us today…the warning and rebuke of the earlier prophets to turn from idols to the one true God; the warning against spiritual indifference, the exhortation to seek God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
If we will have eyes to see and ears to hear HIS WORD is awe striking in its relevance for our lives today. If we will listen, we learn that there is no area of life where God has not spoken.
http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/messiah.html
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts:
Yet once a little while, and I will shake the
heavens, and the earth, and the sea and the dry land,
and I will shake all nations,
and the desire of nations whall come.
The Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come
to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in, behold,
He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.
[Haggai 2:6-7; Malachi 3:1]
CHORUS
Hallelujah!
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
The kingdom of this world is become the
kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ;
and He shall reign for ever and ever.
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
[Revelation 19:6; 11:15; 19:16]
If you study the term the “Kingdom of God” you will learn that it is not a place, but it refers to the “rule and reign of God.” This is the cool part, as HIS adopted children, twice born, we are given the gift of experiencing HIS rule and reign now! HE longs to demonstrate HIS love, grace, power and peace through HIS children as HE rules and reigns in their hearts and minds. We are called to be a witness to the world of what the Kingdom of God will look like. It is a little scary… “they will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” The way we treat each other in the church is intended to be a witness to the World.
I cannot control everyone, but I can cry out to God day and night, longing for every person that I encounter to see HIM IN ME!
Pursuing HIM together.
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