Bible Journaling: Book of Haggai

In this book of Haggai, we discover a short example stories with three partners: the prophet, the people, and God. See if you can mark these three speakers throughout the book using different colors. How do these partners interact with each other?

For a broader view of this book of the Bible, we encourage you to watch this video:

Bible journaling tip: 

An important aspect of prophetic literature that we can learn from is asking questions and waiting for answers. When you are reading your Bible and you have a question, write it down in the margin of your page. It’s a good idea to keep track of the questions we ask God so that we can also be aware and listening when He answers. I once heard that we can make a list of the things we pray for, and then we make a separate list “prayers answered”. This builds our faith and reminds us of God’s past faithfulness!

LOOK UP(information): encounter God through the Scripture 

Author:

The prophet Haggai received a message from God that it was time for the people to rebuild the house of God. See if you can identify where else in the Old Testament we have heard about the house of God? What was the significance of the Temple or the Ark?

Audience:

The remnant that we read about in Zephaniah is the audience here as well - they are the ones who were called to rebuild God’s house. Think about your own life, are there any spaces where God should dwell that are in shambles. Sometimes we are quick to fix all the other areas of our lives, but we keep the areas of God in the dark because we don’t want to see how broken they are. God shows us in this book how he wants to cast a light onto those hidden places, and how he will give us the wisdom and skill to be able to rebuild it. 

History:

Draw a timeline of the history of the ‘house of God’ that we read about in this book. 

Genre:

This book is part of the minor prophets. Try to create a mindmap about the book of Haggai and see what stands out about this book - what makes it truly unique?

LOOK IN(revelation): contemplate / reflect on our own lives

Key verse:

Haggai 1:14 NIV

“So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God.” 

Inspiration:

In this verse we read that God stirred up the spirit of His people which led them to begin the work for His glory. Can we do anything in God from our own goodness? Or does God always stir us to do the things He has for us to do? What does this say about when we feel like we need to summon the strength to do a certain thing? Won’t God give us the appetite and drive for the work He has in store for us?

LOOK OUT(transformation) - respond with creative worship action  

Drawing prompt:

In Haggai 1:6 it says "You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." 

Think about the five images used in this verse, and then illustrate them with drawings / paintings. Can you think of more examples of something like this? What is the meaning of this?  On the other side of the page, draw the opposite of these things - a plentiful harvest, a feast, a fountain, a wardrobe, and riches. What does this tell you about God? Does He care about these things? How does He want His children to live today?

Bible Journey with HolyJot:

Here are some questions / prompts provided by the HolyJot community. 

• What did Haggai say when he announced his second prophetic message in verses one and two? (Haggai 2:1-2)
• How did the Lord promise to help His people in verses three through five? (Haggai 2:3-5)
• What contrast was made between God’s punishment up to that point and His future blessing in verses eleven through ninteen? (Haggai 2:11-19)

Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.

 Writing prompt:

There are a lot of examples to be found in the book of Haggai of how God responds after we repent and return to Him wholeheartedly. Read and find these examples, and then write them in your own words. You can use creative writing to create a metaphor. What does God promise when we turn to Him? What happens when we do things our own way? Can you think of an example of a testimony from your own life where things were turned around after you repented?

Prayer:

God, I want to thank you for the book of Haggai. Thank you that you are always building me up into something greater than I can imagine - similar to how the house of God was built in this book. I know I am a house of God too. Let my response to this text be worship unto you!