What Does God Promise?

What should we expect from God? It is standard fare to criticize the disciples for asking if Jesus was about to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). The line of criticism is that they were too earthly minded, too focused on God overthrowing the Romans. The real problem with the question is simply that it too narrowly focused on ethnic Israel and that the disciples sought to unlock God's mysterious timeline (7). The question of the kingdom is a good one. The desire to see the kingdom of God conquer every earthly kingdom is right.

Haggai's fourth and final recorded sermon, helps to answer some of the questions raised by the hopeful ending to the third sermon. God promised, "From this day on I will bless you" (2:19). But in what way? Only by reversing his judgment against their grain and wine harvest? Of course, there is more to the promise than that.