Day 112 – January 25, 2024: Jonah 1-4 and Haggai 1-2

This is fairly easy reading. It allows us to fall into the reading as a spectator, but not too far lest we assume that we already know what is going to happen. Jonah is one of those stories where we assume we know it, only to find that he was swallowed up in a whale in order to go preach repentance. They repent, we know this part already. But then what we might forget is the attitude of Jonah because God saved the Ninevites. He is angry! It would have been better if you had killed me than to make me the prophet in history who saved the Ninevites. The people of God hated the Ninevites because they were cruel and a sworn enemy. Can you imagine a Jewish person who single handedly saves the Palestinians who are seeking harm againt Israel today in Gaza? How would he be viewed. This is a similar reality. I don’t want to be known in history as the one who saved these terrorists, take my life, it is better this way. God scolds him and saves the Ninevites.

Haggai is the command the encouragement to build the temple. God says basically that when you build the temple your prosperity will change. You are now struggling because you live in your own houses but the house of the Lord has been destroyed and you aren’t doing anything about it. Rebuild the temple was the command under King Zerubbabel from Judah, which we saw in Kings.