Prophetic Perfect
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Prophetic Perfect
Big Idea: What God says He will do is as good as done.
Questions to ask ourselves:
Do we put idols over God?
Do People say “God is with them” about us?
Are we strong in the Lord and walk in His name?
In my study for our passage, I was reminded of a somewhat uncommon grammatical term that is used in theological grammar analysis. When describing grammar, we have all kinds of terms for different words or phrases. At a basic level, we have verbs and nouns and pronouns and then we go to adjectives and adverbs and so on. Beyond that, there is something we call tense. Tense is a way of explaining what a word or phrase means in regard to when the thing being said took place.
Past tense means something took place in the past. If I said I finished the laundry, this would mean I did it in the past. If I said I am doing the laundry, that would be present tense, meaning that I am, at this moment, doing laundry. If I have procrastinated and the laundry is piling up and I say I am going to do the laundry, that is future tense.
Those are the basics, and there are further descriptors that can be used such as past perfect tense and so on, but I am not interested in brushing up on all of our grammar this morning, and if I try to explain too much, I may find myself in error and trying to explain myself to one of the teachers in the congregation.
When we look at the prophetic passages in scripture, it can be puzzling. Sometimes, it is very hard to tell what the tense is, whether a thing is being talked about in the present, or the past, or the future. Thankfully, many wonderful scholars over the years have done enormous amounts of work to help us understand the tenses, and yet there is still some confusion from our perspective sometimes. Some say that anyone can read the Bible and understand what it means from a surface reading of it. That is true for many parts of the Bible, but prophecy sometimes trips us up in that regard.
As we look at our passage today, we are going to see what is referred to by some scholars as prophetic perfect tense. What this means is that God said something in the past about the future, but he said it in past tense though it has not yet happened, but because of His nature of being outside of time, it is as sure as if it had already happened. Let me say that again a little more slowly. God has said something in the past about the future, but he said it in the past tense, though it has not yet happened, but because of His nature of being outside of time, it is as sure as if it had already happened.
Big Idea: What God says He will do is as good as done.
Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.
For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.
“My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
From him shall come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler—all of them together.
They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; they shall fight because the Lord is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.
“I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.
Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord.
“I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they were before.
Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return.
I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, till there is no room for them.
He shall pass through the sea of troubles and strike down the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.
I will make them strong in the Lord, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the Lord.
3 Questions:
Do we put idols over God?
Do People say “God is with them” about us?
Are we strong in the Lord and walk in His name?
Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.
For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.
In verses 1 & 2, we see a couple of very important things to think about. First, do we ask the Lord for our provision? and if not, then question 2 is, are we inquiring of idols about our future instead of God?
Verse one talks of our seeking God, asking rain from the Lord. For the people of Israel who had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, when they arrived in the Promised Land, God had to explain to them that things are different here. In Egypt, the Nile river provides all the water. Not much rain falls; it is desert. But the Nile would flood regularly, and irrigation would be used to water the crops. The Nile was pretty consistent. Having multiple sources of water supplying it, it was very rare for the river to lack abundant water.
But the promised land did not get its water this way. There, it had to rain. And this rain was provided by God. However, He expected His people to keep his statutes, his rules. Otherwise, they could not expect rain to fall. God wants our allegiance and that means we look to Him for all of our provision.
“You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess,
and that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.
For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables.
But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven,
a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
So it is clear that the blessing of God, in the form of rain, which really indicates His provision, since without rain, there will be no food, that blessing is dependent on the promise of God and also, as we read on, dependent on the obedience of the people:
“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.
And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.
Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them;
then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.
So God has control over the weather. Other passages in scripture agree with this idea:
“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
And in our passage, the graciousness of God and HIs provision is contrasted with the worship of household gods and diviners. He says they are a waste of time. They utter nonsense. The diviners tell about dreams they never had. They lie. Before we condemn the people of Zechariah’s time, though, we need to ask ourselves this question: Do we put idols over God?
You see, these people would have had great temptation to have other options in place. Do we do that? Well, I’m depending on God, but in case he doesn't come through, I’ve got a back-up plan. For a farming society, the possibility of no rain could cause one to have a lack of faith, and this lack of faith could be depending on alternate sources. I saw an interesting article years ago, it talked about the need for money in ministry. there are generally two options ministries will choose from; Mission before money, and money before mission. Mission before money is entirely dependent on the promise of God. If we begin doing the mission we are called to do, we can trust that God will supply all our needs.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” That’s what Jesus had to say about worrying about money and stuff. The second option is a lack of trust in God and at the same time a laziness or copout. That is, money before mission. We will constantly raise money, and when we have enough to feel comfortable to do something for the kingdom, we will. The problem is, that isn't reflecting any faith at all. That attitude makes sense for a secular cause, but in God’s economy, our obedience to Him means doing the mission now, with trust that He will take care of us. One of the core values of the C&MA is faith-filled risk. This means doing ministry is a risk-taking effort. People do ministry with risk to their physical person sometimes, but this also means we do mission before money. The risk is actually only what the world sees. We see the faith and hopefully, we as a church live out this faith as we do our mission.
So the diviners and household idols that people were looking to instead of God, what were they? The farmers Almanac. At least they probably had about as much insight into the future of weather events as the Farmer’s Almanac. What do we put our trust in? sure, we may not have little idols in our homes that we pray to for help, but what do we trust in that is not trusting in God?
Do we trust in our technology? It can break or fail. That’s why we have Itechs. Do we trust in our strong economy? It could crumble. Do we trust in a degree for guaranteed employment? Do we trust in the government to keep us safe and free? Our trust must be in God. He is in control of the weather, the economy, everything. And sometimes the reason things are going badly is because He is trying to get our attention.
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning.
They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.
Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.
Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen. This means God sometimes withholds His blessing because He loves us enough to correct us. This goes against many teachings in the world about God. I realize that. Yet scripture is clear that God loves us and He sometimes disciplines us to bring us into line with His good and perfect plan for us. Discipline seems to be a bad thing to us, but love without discipline is not love. Some people think God can’t be loving if He disciplines. Not true.
It is not either the God of love or the God of discipline, but rather the God of loving discipline. His love was expressed to us through Jesus, who took on himself the discipline of the cross. Resting secure in his love through Christ, Christians should expect to be disciplined by their loving God (Heb. 12:7–11
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore the people wander like sheep;
they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.
The shepherds referred to here could be either civilian leaders or spiritual leaders. God expects all those who He give leadership to to lead well.
“My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
Here God is contrasting the bad leaders with Himself. They would not lead, so He will. the Lord of hosts cares for his flock.
From him shall come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler—all of them together.
They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; they shall fight because the Lord is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.
We are going to stay here on verse 5 for a few minutes. Notice here that they shall fight because the Lord is with them. They will put to shame the riders on horses. Here God again does what is impossible for men. He means to put foot soldiers against the cavalry. this is a reminder of chapter 4, where we learned that God’s house is built not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. He does through us what we would be unable to do ourselves.
He said to the prophet Jeremiah he had better not whine about running in a footrace, because God was going to run Jeremiah in a horse race!
“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
The Lord saves His anointed. And He will empower His people to do what is impossible to do. Zechariah 10:5 says the Lord is with them. Can people tell the Lord is with you? Do people say “The Lord is With them” about our church? We want to be recognized as people that have the Lord on their side. If we submit to Him and His Holy Spirit to guide us, we will be recognized as those whom the Lord is with.
Paul writes to the Corinthian church about two alternative hypothetical situations. Some people were proud of their speaking in tongues. But Paul said that though tongues are a sign for believers, it would be much better for prophecy.
If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all,
the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
He will worship God and declare that God is really among you. Tongues are a sign for unbelievers, but only when the tongues are in a language the unbeliever can understand! Instead, Paul says prophecy will bring them to their knees. It will disclose the secrets of the heart. And He will declare that God is really among you. What does Paul mean by prophecy? Not prediction type prophecy. Paul is speaking here of declaring the things of God. Preaching scripture. Praising and declaring God as Sovereign. Declaring Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is the prophecy Paul is talking about.
In short, Paul wants people to come away from a church service with this impression: That God is really among these people! And so that is my desire as well. As long as I have breath to do it, I will declare the words of God found in scripture and in His authority, I will declare that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Isaiah said that men of stature would say that God was in Israel:
Thus says the Lord: “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides him.’ ”
And as we learned some weeks ago, Zechariah prophecies in Chapter 8 as well, that people would recognize the presence of God with Israel:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”
Are people saying that to us? “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” That should be our prayer, that through our lives and testimony, that people would say, “God is with them over there at Oasis Church!”
Finally, are we strong in the Lord, and do we walk in His name?
“I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.
Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord.
“I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they were before.
Verse 8 is where we see the prophetic perfect sense I spoke of earlier. He says, “I have redeemed them” He says it like its already done, though it would not happen just yet. But when God says something has been done and refers to it being in the future, that isn't a problem. You see, God invented time. He started time. The clock began to tick when He said it would. He is the creator of all things. He did not need to exist within the framework of His creation, He was above His creation.
Time is a creation of God, just like the universe is. God is bigger than, greater than, and not contained by the universe. It’s the other way around. He created it and oversees it. The same with time. He created it and is not bound by it. God may do something and have completed it even though in our perspective, it has not yet shown up on the timeline. That’s how He knows the future before it happens! In fact, scripture tells us that those who make Christ their Lord have their name written in the Lamb’s book of life; in Revelation 13:8, it says those names were written in that book before the foundation of the world! Ephesians 1:4 says He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. 1 Peter 1:20 says He (Jesus) was foreknown before the foundation of the world. And Jesus in John 17:24 says the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world.
You see, God is not confined by the timeline like we are. He is above it and beyond it. So we can trust that in His holy word that when He says something is done, its done! This is why the one who has turned their life lock, stock, and barrel over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ can be secure in knowing that their salvation is assured. Their name is written in the book. Though you may stumble, or backslide, or turn away for a time, you can trust that as it says in Ephesians one that the Holy Spirit has sealed each true believer so they cannot lose their salvation. You can believe that if your name is written in the book, it cannot be erased! You can trust that no further work need to be done, because when Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” It was finished!
So in verse 8 when God says “I have redeemed them”, Even though it had not happened on the earth’s timeline, God had already done it!
Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return.
I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, till there is no room for them.
He shall pass through the sea of troubles and strike down the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.
I will make them strong in the Lord, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the Lord.
For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
Big Idea: What God says He will do is as good as done.
Do we put idols over God?
Do People say “God is with them” about us?
Are we strong in the Lord and walk in His name?
