Will Vaus

Today in our journey through the 66 books of the Bible we are visiting the book of the minor prophet, Haggai.   Author   The book of Haggai gives us no personal information about the prophet whose name the book bears. Were it not for references to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah in the book of Ezra, we would not even have reason to link these two contemporary figures. Neither prophet mentions the other, though their work must have brought them together in the small town that was postexilic Jerusalem.    Haggai’s name is derived from a Hebrew word that means “to make a pilgrimage”. The goal of his life seemed to be that of rebuilding the Temple that was the destination of all ancient Jewish pilgrimage.   So, what do we know about Haggai from the book of Ezra? We know that Haggai was a prophet who, along with Zechariah, encouraged the returned exiles to rebuild the temple. (See Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14.) Haggai 2:3 suggests that the prophet may have witnessed the destru...

The story is told of a young boy many years ago who wanted a wristwatch for Christmas. He kept pestering his parents about it so much that they finally said to their son, “If you mention that watch one more time, you will be sure not to get it!” The young man was frustrated, but he really wanted the wristwatch and so he went on dutifully, keeping his mouth shut. The family had a habit of a devotional time before supper every night and each member of the family would take turns reading a Bible verse. Finally, the boy’s turn came, and he chose for his Bible reading Mark 13:37… “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” It just goes to show that there are Bible verses suited for every occasion. And today our lectionary reading happens to be Mark 13:24-37. Listen for God’s word to you… “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened,      and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky,      and the...

Today in our journey along Route 66 we come to the book of Lamentations. In Hebrew the book is called “ekhah”, which translates into English as “alas”, which is also the first word of the text of Lamentations. This book commemorates the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.   Author   Internal evidence does not ascribe this book to any author. However, ancient Jewish and Christian tradition ascribes the authorship of this book to Jeremiah. This is based partly on such texts as 2 Chronicles 35:25 which refers to Jeremiah composing laments. There are also references to lament in the book of Jeremiah (7:29; 8:21; 9:1,10,20). The traditional attribution to Jeremiah is also based on the similarity of vocabulary and style between the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. And finally, since Jeremiah was a witness to the destruction of Jerusalem, it seems reasonable to conclude that he might be the author of the book that so vividly describes that event.   However, modern sch...