Highs and Lows in Jerusalem

Highs and Lows in Jerusalem

Series: The Minor Prophets

Text: Zechariah 6:9-15; 7:1-14

Introduction: (What?)

After the ending of the 8th night vision, God once again spoke to Zechariah with some very specific instructions. He named names and commanded actions. His declaration set the stage for the establishment of the temple, but also set the stage for the coming of Messiah. Yet, as sometimes happens after a high spiritual experience, the people sank to a new low.

Examination: (Why?)

1. Crowning the Branch

Zech 6:9-15 “The word of the Lord came to me: “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take silver and gold, make a crown, and place it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Armies says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; he will branch out from his place and build the Lord’s temple. Yes, he will build the Lord’s temple; he will bear royal splendor and will sit on his throne and rule. There will be a priest on his throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two of them. The crown will reside in the Lord’s temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah. People who are far off will come and build the Lord’s temple, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen when you fully obey the Lord your God.””

Not all of the Israelites who were in bondage in Babylon. Only about 50K of the over 1 million went back with Zedekiah to rebuild the temple. However, evidently others came every once in a while to check on the progress. That is the case in this passage. Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah came from Babylon and brought gifts of silver and gold from the exiles who were still in Babylon. From these gifts Zechariah was instructed by God to make a crown to be put on the head of Joshua, the high priest. This was a symbolic gesture that identified Joshua as an “illustration of the future coronation of Messiah (the Branch) who will unite the two offices of priest and king”. (McArthur Study Bible) Another commentary suggests that this also established the priests as divinely appointed leaders of the people.

In vv 12-15 the description is of the coming Messiah. We find out several things about Him.

He will come from Israel (His place)

He will build the temple (the millennial temple)

He will be glorious (think of John’s description in Rev.)

He will be both the king and priest

He makes peace (1,000 years)

He opens the kingdom to the Gentiles (people who are far off)

He will verify the truth of God’s Word

He demands obedience.

Notice that Joshua doesn’t keep the crown. Once the temple is built, the crown will be placed in it to memorialize the men who brought the silver an gold from the exiles in Babylon. Remember in Zechariah 4 the Lord told them not to despise the “little things” when the people were upset that the temple they were building was smaller than Solomon’s Temple? The gesture of these men bringing the gifts could have been considered a “little thing”, however God wanted it to be remembered. So often people in the church say, “Well, I can’t do much.” One of my ensembles used to sing a song with the line “Little is much, when God is in it”. Pastor and author Mark Batterson wrote about a women who gave someone $100 so that a young couple could attend a missions conference. As a result of that conference the couple went into mission work. Eventually they impacted the life of Mark Batterson as a young pastor. He said, “That woman’s gift, given years ago, impacted my life, and thus the lives of the thousands who attend or have attended National Community Church in Washington, DC.”

You “little” is like a pebble thrown into water. The eddies flow out from the point of impact to infinity.

2. Forgetting the Reason

Zech 7:1-7 “In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to plead for the Lord’s favor by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?” Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me: “Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me? When you eat and drink, don’t you eat and drink simply for yourselves? Aren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure, along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited?””

Every year around Christmas you will see yard signs that read “Jesus is the reason for the season”. Those reminders are to off-set the secularization of what was, and should always be a time of remembering when God put on an earth-suit and came to earth as a baby.

For 70 years the Jews had held fasts in the 4th, 5th, 7th and 10th months to commemorate the destruction of the temple and other catastrophes. Now that they were to have a new temple, they questioned whether or not they should continue the fasts. Zechariah had to remind them of the initial reason for the fasts. Then God directed Zechariah to ask some pertinent questions. One of those questions was, “Did you really fast for Me over these last 70 years, or has it become something you do for yourselves?” We could ask the same about Christmas. I always think that it is interesting that on the celebration of the birth of Jesus, everyone gets gifts but Him. We, like the Jews, have taken something with deep meaning and made it into something to gratify our own desires. We teach our children at an early age that Christmas is all about them. How many times are they asked, “What do you want for Christmas?”

God told Zechariah to remind them that it was not the ritual that was important, but rather obedience to the message that God had spoken through the prophets. When they were obedient, the experienced great joy, peace, and prosperity.

3. Result of disobedience

Zech 7:8-14 “The word of the Lord came to Zechariah: “The Lord of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear. They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore intense anger came from the Lord of Armies. Just as he had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of Armies. I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.””

Rather than rituals that have lost their meaning, God told Zechariah to tell the people that He had rather them “make fair decisions, show faithful love and compassion to one another and to cease oppressing widows, orphans, resident aliens or the poor.” God had previously spoken through the prophet Samuel in 1 Sam 15:22 “Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.”

Then through the prophet Micah In Micah 6:8 “Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” This is often called the “Micah Mandate”.

God reminded them that when their forefathers forgot these mandates, the result was severe discipline from God. He said “Just as He had called and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen, says the LORD of Armies.” Perhaps the reason we sometimes sense that our prayers don’t go beyond the ceiling is because we have turned deaf ears to the Word of God and He has chosen not to hear our prayers. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isa 59:1-2 “Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.”

Disobedience is sin, and sin causes God to turn a deaf ear toward our prayers. The only prayer that God hears from the sinner is a prayer of confession and repentance. The reason we have a time of silent confession each Sunday morning here is so that you can remove the blockage that keeps God from hearing your intercessions.

Application: (How have I missed the point of worship?)

God is more interested in your obedience than in your money.

God is interested in your surrender more than in your service.

When you tell God, “this is what I will do for you” that is arrogance.

Do you need to surrender to Christ today? Then do it!