Better than Mayberry
Notes
Transcript
Last 3 Prophets
Last 3 Prophets
Wrapping up the OT.
Why were ppl where there were.
Spiritually, physically, governmentally, socially
Preparing for the NT. What to expect.
Was Zechariah not clear?
Did Jesus catch them totally by surprise?
Should they have been surprised?
Threats
Threats
What keeps you awake at night?
There are so many threats to our safety and security.
We could drive ourselves crazy worrying about the what ifs.
The news is full of threats.
The threats are real. But, we don’t know what the chances are that they will hit us and hurt us.
We live every day with driving up and down I17.
Sara and I travel a lot up and down, friends, family.
Every week there’s an accident. Will it be one of us?
Coronavirus.
It doesn’t seem too bad right now. But, the threat is how bad will it get? Only a few in the US right now.
Wear a mask? Not unless you’re sick. Wash your hands.
Is the president un-cooking this?
Is the media over-cooking the threat?
At our age there are a number of medical and health threats.
Cancer. Carcinogens in the air, water, and our food.
Heart issues. Silent killers like BP and cholesterol. Aneurisms
Economic threats. The Corona virus has sent more than a ripple thru financial markets.
But, there were several things happening in the financial world last week the contributed to the stock market falling.
How much did you lose in your retirement acct?
Housing prices. They go up so do our taxes. They go down, so does our financial security.
Recession. Dividends and interest won’t keep pace w/ inflating prices.
China.
The source of the Coronavirus.
Tariffs and economic threats. Flooding the market w/ cheap goods.
Military threat.
Russia.
Military and meddling.
Our election. Is there 1 candidate they want elected?
Trump. Bernie honeymooned in Russia.
Or, do they just want to disrupt our freedoms?
Al Qaeda is still out there.
Taliban. We have a treaty, but they are still terror threats.
John Welch, the previous fire chief told me in very clear terms our church is a prime target.
Local threats like gangs, caught in a cross-fire.
Local, small time thieves.
Human traffickers up and down I17.
Destin, FL is the primary port for human trafficking.
There’s a distribution system set up that Walmart would be proud of. Major hubs. Small towns.
Natural disasters.
Tornadoes tore up Nashville. It’s the season for it.
Earthquakes.
Climate is changing. How much and why?
Snow totals are dropping.
Sara remembers in Pinetop as a teenager during Monsoon season every day they’d get a shower.
Now, there’s a better chance of no rain on a given day.
Where are we headed? Is it getting better?
What hope do we have that we can return to Mayberry?
What would it take.
The wild west was crazy. No law. But, we made it to Mayberry.
I talked about this last week. In one of the 4 messages Zechariah rec’d he had a vision of a time when the elderly could sit on their porch, drinking coffee or sweet tea, their canes resting beside them, and they would not have a care in the world.
No fear of assault, robbery, or getting hit by a stray bullet in a neighborhood turf war.
The children playing in the street unsupervised.
Sheriff Andy, Aunt Bea, Barney, Gomer, Goober.
Opie and his friends playing baseball in the street.
A crack is home plate, or someone’s unused baseball mitt.
A door handle on a parked car is first base.
Another crack is 2nd.
A meter cover off the curb is 3rd.
Everyone watching out for cars.
But, the game would resume after the car went by.
We did it all the time. Not an adult supervisor in sight.
Will we ever get back to a time like that? Will we ever be able to relax again when a child is out of everyone’s sight?
What will our kids, grand kids, great grand kids experience?
Will there ever be a time in our future of genuine peace and security? What will it take to get there?
The answer is yes. A time is coming when we will get back to better than Mayberry.
Even Mayberry needed a sheriff and a deputy w/ a bullet in his pocket.
What’s it going to take to get there?
We each have to accept, believe in the One who can take us there.
How do we know who that is?
Will we recognize Him when we meet Him?
Zechariah offered a few clues to help us recognize the One who can lead us in a return to Mayberry. In fact, it will be far better than Mayberry.
The first clue came in ch.9
A Donkey
A Donkey
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece,
and make you like a warrior’s sword.
Then the Lord will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
he will march in the storms of the south,
and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
they will be full like a bowl
used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
The Lord their God will save his people on that day
as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.
How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece,
and make you like a warrior’s sword.
Then the Lord will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
he will march in the storms of the south,
and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
they will be full like a bowl
used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
The first 8 verses of ch.9 tell the story of Alexander the Great and his conquests to build the Greek Empire.
Zech wrote this at the end of 518 BC or the beginning of 517 BC.
Alex the Great stormed thru the area in 333 BC. So, about 200 years before, Zech described what he would do.
All the while Israel lived in the area. The Persians had let them return but oppressed them. The next empire to be built was the Greeks.
Israel had hoped that God would restore them to be the world power. But, He hadn’t yet.
They watched as the Greeks came to power.
All the while anticipating their king coming as a warrior to free them from oppression and establish them as the world power once again.
It wasn’t that kings didn’t ride donkeys. They did when they came in peace. They were on horseback when they came to fight.
Israel wanted a warrior, a general. So, they expected Him to come on a war horse the first time.
It was okay w/ them that He wanted to proclaim peace among the nations. They expected Him to impose peace as the new sheriff in town.
That’s what the Romans did in c.1, It’s not that they were a peaceful bunch,, they were just so powerful they could impose peace. If you started a riot they’d kill you.
No one dared stir anything up.
We recognize something about v.9. But, vv.10-17 are not familiar.
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
There it is. There He is.
Hardly the appearance of a conquering hero.
Gentle, or lowly. Not b/c of the donkey, but b/c He didn’t fight back this time.
He allowed His subjects to kill Him. He could have fought back. He could have called an army of angels but He didn’t.
Next time.
Sometimes in prophecy and predictions things get telescoped and either compressed or expanded.
Israel read these verses and expected it to happen all at one time. But, it didn’t see to.
The Romans still oppressed Jerusalem. Their rule extended from sea to sea.
Here, Zech compresses both Jesus 1st and 2nd coming. The two episodes are mixed together.
He doesn’t rule now from sea to sea, but He will.
When Babylon exiled Israel and took them into their slavery they were like prisoners in a waterless pit, but they had hope.
God had promised it would only last 70 years.
And, He has promised one day that Israel and all believers will occupy the PL, Jesus will dwell among them, and all the wealth of the world will be held in the region.
When Jesus came the first time, He released us from the confinement in the pit of sin b/c of the covenant agreement.
It is the covenant of blood, his blood, that atoned for us and set us free. His blood did what the blood of animals could not do.
So now, when we return to the fortress, find our refuge in Him, we find a place of strength and security.
At His second coming the trumpet will blow and every believer will gather in the land. Those who’ve died will be raised join the rest in a place better than Mayberry.
Zech had given them this clue. They missed Him the first time. They should have known. But their leaders misled them.
The next clue had to do w/ their leadership.
God will remove their bad leaders and replace them w/ One good leader.
Leadership
Leadership
Zechariah
Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
The idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
“My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.
From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler.
Together they will be like warriors in battle
trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.
“I will strengthen Judah
and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
because I have compassion on them.
They will be as though
I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
and I will answer them.
The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
and their hearts will be glad as with wine.
Their children will see it and be joyful;
their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
One of the threats, one of the issues we see today has to to w/ the climate and world leadership’s response to it.
If you see the climate changing and don’t believe in God you are left w/ only 2 options. Either, it’s natural cycles. Or, it’s human caused.
But, for those who believe and understand, there is a 3rd, much more likely and important cause.
First of all, we all need to do better by the environment.
That said, God controls the climate.
If we are facing issues regarding the climate then our first responsibility is to cry out to God and ask why He might be changing the climate.
Forever, He has been using the climate to bless for obedience and discipline for disobedience.
But, then, like now, when the climate didn’t perform the Israel’s leadership did not respond to God appropriately.
There are no other gods that control the climate. While human activity influences the climate today, God is more powerful and capable of offsetting whatever we may do, how big or little our influence may be.
So, to have leadership place any responsibility on any other reason other than God and human unfaithfulness and disobedience is irresponsible and deceitful.
When leaders lead like this the people wander in vain. No shepherd. No real godly leadership.
God will remove the bad leaders and replace them w/ One good leader. One Good Shepherd.
He will come from the tribe of Judah.
He will be a cornerstone. The first stone laid, the most important stone laid in the foundation of the temple.
Like a reference point in a major construction project, every stone laid from the foundation up will be measured and place according to the reference point.
He will be a tent peg. The first peg driven deep into the ground. Secure. Strong enough to support the entire load.
A strong defense against forces of nature and forces of men.
A strong defense ag
He will be a battle bow. Powerful general and warrior who will attack and defeat all enemies. Offensive and proactive.
He will lead a team of rulers who will serve and assist Him leading the faithful. Angels and apostles. Prophets and preachers. Under shepherds who will serve with the Good Shepherd.
Any of that sound familiar at all?
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Any clues who it might be who can lead us to a place better than Mayberry?
If it isn’t clear yet, Zech offers more clues in ch. 11.
The Price of His Life
The Price of His Life
So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
Zechariah 11:
There were 3 offices of ppl who shepherded the ppl.
Prophets, priests, and kings.
Prophets spoke to the ppl on behalf of God. They told the ppl what God told them to say. But, in time, the prophets made up their message and claimed it was from God.
Priests spoke to God on behalf of the ppl and atoned for their sins. But, in time the priests became more concerned w/ keeping rules than building relationships.
Strict obedience to the commands meant nothing to God w/out a relationship.
Kings heard from God and were legislative, judicial, military and commerce leaders. But, in time they led for themselves and placed themselves above God in their priority and rule.
There is only 1 Prophet, Priest and King today. People don’t fill these roles any more.
The One who came to fill these roles was rejected by the ppl.
So, God broke the first staff He carried. It was called favor.
W/ this staff He graciously protected Israel from her enemies in the area. He has left Israel exposed and vulnerable.
Today they occupy a sliver of the PL and under constant threat of invasion and destruction from her Muslim neighbors.
So, according to Zech, the Good Shepherd said, “Pay me what I’m worth.” What is a life worth? What was His life worth?
30 pieces of silver. In that day, it was a pittance. It was what the law required paid if a slave was gored by another’s ox.
The Savior valued comparable to a slave.
God was not impressed so He said, throw it to the potter.
The potter was the lowest of the labor class. He made clay pottery, and much of it used in the temple. Easily and frequently broken. Not real high quality stuff.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.
What was Jesus’ life worth to Judas and the chief priest?
A pittance. The price of slave, certainly not a king.
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.
Clue after clue after clue. Connect the dots.
After this, Zech wrote that God broke His second staff called unity. There was division among Israel.
Civil unrest and division led to the dispersion in ad 70.
Israel was divided over Jesus, Church, law, and tradition.
He was rejected. Sold for 30 pieces of silver eventually thrown on the ground for the potter.
Who is it then who can help us face the threats and thrive in the midst of them.
Who protected Israel from invasion, famine, and disease for centuries and who protects us now?
We’re all going to get sick. We’re going to have accidents. We’re going to face life-threatening and life-taking events in our lifetime.
If we don’t live to see the rapture, our lives, and the lives of those we love are going to be taken.
Mayberry is never returning to the earth.
But a place far greater than Mayberry exists and awaits us.
The only way we can there is by believing in, accepting the One God sent to lead us there.
When you meet Him, will you have a clue Who He is?
You’re not alone if you miss Him. In fact, a majority do.
But, Zechariah, and others, left us plenty of clues to recognize Him when we meet Him and let Him lead us to a place better than Mayberry.
Applications
Applications
Value
Value
What’s a Savor’s life worth to you?
Some of your stuff? Most of your stuff? All your stuff?
Including your life?
Is there something you are holding onto that you need to let go of that you have placed a higher value on than Jesus?
The HS will let you know right now. Let it go.
Leadership
Leadership
Who are you letting lead you?
Who influences you? And what influence are they having?
Who are you leading? Where or to whom are you leading them?
When you leave a conversation, meeting, party, activity you should be leaving everyone you met there a little closer to Jesus.
Including giving Him credit for all that He’s done and doing, not taking it for yourself or anyone else.; and not blaming Him for something He didn’t do.
All the time ppl blame God for decisions and action ppl make.
Let me and others lead you closer to Jesus. And you lead the ppl around you closer, too.
What do you need to do to do that?
Attitude
Attitude
Rejoice. Your king rode into town on a donkey.
There is nothing that can happen to you that’s worse than He faced when He arrived in Jerusalem.
And, b/c He rode into town that day, a week later He made it possible for you to spend eternity in place better than Mayberry.
So, no matter how bad you may have here now, a time is coming when your life will be a lot better.
The world around you may be trending down, but your life is trending up.
Find joy in your life.
Will there ever be a time in our future of genuine peace and security? What will it take to get there?
The answer is yes. A time is coming when we will get back to better than Mayberry.
Even Mayberry needed a sheriff and a deputy w/ a bullet in his pocket.
What’s it going to take to get there?
We each have to accept, believe in the One who can take us there.
How do we know who that is?
Will we recognize Him when we meet Him?
Zechariah offered a few clues to help us recognize the One who can lead us in a return to Mayberry. In fact, it will be far better than Mayberry.