Lesson 2: Starting with the Bible
Why Haggai?
Before we review this lesson in the next step, here are three reasons why I chose to explore Haggai in this course.
To concentrate your efforts
We could have looked at the contexts of many different passages in many different books of the Bible. But interpreting a passage in context requires hard work and stick-to-itiveness. Focusing on one book will cultivate these virtues. To switch metaphors, if you want to build a solid foundation, digging deeply in a small area is better than digging shallowly over many square miles.
To make mastery manageable
Haggai’s small size makes grasping a whole book more manageable than if we chose one of the Major Prophets or one of the four Gospels.
To help you face the difficulties specific to interpreting and applying the Old Testament
Reading and applying the Old Testament has some specific difficulties. It is more challenging to see where Christ is revealed and the gospel proclaimed in the Old Testament than in the New, because of the nature of progressive revelation and the distance we feel from ancient Israel as 21st-century moderns. Yet it is vital that we read the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. It is vital that we apply it to our lives accurately. This course will help you do that.