By His Spirit (Zechariah) Parts 1 & 2

Formal Elements / Descriptive Data

Text: Zechariah

CIT: There remains a future for God’s people, when the King returns in power and glory

Proposition: Attempt great things for Christ: by His Spirit and in light of His Coming

Statement of Purpose:

(1) MO – Consecrative

(2) SO – I want my hearers to rely on the Spirit as they live for God while waiting in hope for Christ’s Second Coming

Title (Topic/Name): But By His Spirit

Informal Elements / Rhetorical Data

Introduction

Proverbs 29:18 KJV 1900

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Note - Zechariah = “The LORD Remembers”

Quote – “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love.

Note - Explain how the visions of Zechariah were given to encourage Zerubbabel and the people of God to repent and renew their walk with God. Contrast the ministries of Haggai & Zechariah:

Zechariah is the longest of the Minor Prophets. He preached a message of encouragement to the temple rebuilders who had returned with him under the leadership of Zerubbabel in 536 b.c. At the time God began to reveal to Haggai the message he was to proclaim, Zechariah was serving the Lord as a priest. But soon, the Lord called him to the ministry of prophet as well. While Haggai had both feet firmly planted in the present, Zechariah and his message gaze toward the future. Haggai prods the people to use their hands; Zechariah encourages them to open their hearts. Haggai is concerned about the physical dwelling place of God—the temple in Jerusalem; Zechariah’s passion is for God’s spiritual abode—the hearts of his people. [Irving L. Jensen, Simply Understanding the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: World Wide Publications, 1990), 163.]

Note - Describe the importance of Zechariah for believers today:

One thing that makes the book of Zechariah significant for the Christian is its use in the NT. The last part of Zechariah (chs 9–11) is the most quoted section of the Prophets in the Gospel Passion narratives, and, other than Ezekiel, Zechariah influenced the book of Revelation more than any other OT book. [Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 1325.]

Body – Development – Outline: (See Moody Bible Commentary & Meredith Kline, JETS 342:2)

I. Visions in the Night – Attempt Great Things for God in the Power of His Spirit (Zech. 1:1-6:8)

EXP -

A. A Call to Repentance (Zech. 1:1-6);

Zechariah 1:1–6 KJV 1900

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, And I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. 4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: But they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, Did they not take hold of your fathers? And they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, According to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

B. The Comfort of Israel (Zech. 1:7-6:8):

1. First Set of Night Visions –

a. Rider on the Red Horse (Zech. 1:7-17),

Zechariah 1:7–17 KJV 1900

7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. 9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. 12 Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? 13 And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. 14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: For I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, And a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. 17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, And shall yet choose Jerusalem.

App: If you are an Israelite, mention of anything ruddy in context of Myrtle trees would imply that this Rider is connected to David somehow, in fact, may I say that I believe this is none other than a vision of the Son of David Himself?

b. Four Horns & Carpenters (Zech. 1:18-21),

App: Horns speak of judgment and tearing down, while carpenters describe building again, this is what the Son of David will one day do in ultimate fulfillment of what Zerubabbel and Joshua represent here for the returned Remnant.

c. Man with Measuring Line (Zech. 2:1-13);

App: The man with the measuring line is Zerubabbel in the immediate context, who is charged with the responsibility that what is built for the Lord is done right.

Ill: My Papaw with his level checking the framers building his house.

App: When Christ comes, what He builds will that which makes the crooked things strait and the mountains (impassable areas) plains, but friend, to that end, we must all come through Christ, the way, the truth, the life.

2. Sub-Hinge – Messianic Priest – Joshua (Zech. 3:1-10) –

a. Joshua Cleansed by the LORD (Zech. 3:1-5),

b. Israel Cleansed by the Messianic Priest (Zech. 3:6-10);

Zechariah 3:6–10 KJV 1900

6 And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, Then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, And I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, And thy fellows that sit before thee: For they are men wondered at: For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. 9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; Upon one stone shall be seven eyes: Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, Shall ye call every man his neighbour Under the vine and under the fig tree.

3. Second Set of Night Visions (Zech. 4:1-6:8) –

a. Candlestick & Two Olive Trees (Zech. 4:1-14),

Zechariah 4:1–14 KJV 1900

1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, Saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; His hands shall also finish it; And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10 For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. 11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

App: note the order is important, Zechariah saw the spiritual/religious emphasis here (Zerubabbel = civic leadership; Joshua = religious leadership). The Temple had to be rebuilt before true worship could be carried out. God’s house must be built by physically engaging in His Work, so that we can bring the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and offerings to Him.

b. The Flying Roll & Woman in a Bushel Basket (Zech. 5:1-11),

App: The roll pictures how God’s Word would travel forth to the world as His people carried out His work to rebuild and restore; the Woman here reminds of another woman I read about in the Book of Revelation, and the bushel basket makes me think of fruit-bearing. One day, when Christ comes for Israel, having already received His bride (the Church), His chosen nation will again take His Word to the ends of the earth and Israel will again bear spiritual fruit for His glory. Many of them, witnesses like unto the apostle Paul, 12,000 from every tribe, will witness for Him, and of those, many will do so at the price of their own blood due to persecution of the Saints of God.

c. Four Chariots (Zech. 6:1-8)

App: Chariots remind me of armies, war, and traveling. One day, as promised, Jesus will come, and the chariots of the host and armies of God will be with Him, and I’ll be behind Him, and you, if you are saved, will be behind Him on white horses, when He comes to lay waste the enemies of God as John saw, the rider on a white horse, where Zechariah saw a red horse (Calvary first? Crown second?) but John described that His vesture was already dipped in blood, and the battle of ages will culminate with the blood of the nations, the heathen that rage, up to the horses bridles.

ILL: Straddling the Missouri

Almost two hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to find the source of the Missouri River, and from there to discover a relatively easy water route west to the Pacific. Such a waterway, they discovered, doesn’t exist. But they did succeed in mapping the Northwest. And fifteen months after pushing themselves upstream, they found the headwaters of the mighty Missouri River near the Montana-Idaho border: a tiny little rivulet, which a member of the expedition, Private Hugh McNeal, straddled, thanking God that he had lived to put one foot on either side of the mighty and heretofore deemed endless Missouri. At its source, the Missouri looks a lot different from the powerful current that flows into the Mississippi River near St. Louis. Likewise, in the kingdom of God, many great things start out small. —Marshall Shelley, “Broader Pastures, More Breeds,” Leadership (Fall 2000) [Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 39.]

APP: As God gave Zechariah great vision to put before His ordained ministers (Zerubbabel & Joshua – Civil & Spiritual leadership), so today our hope in Christ’s coming should renew our vision of His future plans and stir us on to attempt great things for His name’s sake both in the civil and spiritual arenas of our lives. Many great things come from small beginnings, and if attempted by our strength alone will fizzle, but with the Spirit’s power, the things that are done for Christ shall stand the test of eternity.

TS: Where there is no vision, the people perish, but vision with Spiritual power wields great things for God’s glory.

II. Everything Hinges on Christ: The Messianic Priest-King (Zech. 6:9-15)

EXP:

A. Joshua Crowned – a Symbol of Messiah (Zech. 6:9-11);

B. The Branch - Priest-King (Zech. 6:12-15)

Zechariah 6:12–15 KJV 1900

12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; And he shall grow up out of his place, And he shall build the temple of the Lord: 13 Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; And he shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule upon his throne; And he shall be a priest upon his throne: And the counsel of peace shall be between them both. 14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 15 And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

ILL: Zechariah illustrates that God is not finished with the Jews. He longs for their fellowship and has a part for them in His plans for the future Kingdom of His Son. One day, His presence will be with them in the Land of Promise, and He will use them again to bring the world to reconciliation with Him as His Good News encompasses the earth.

TS: God’s plan is still that all the nations of the earth be blessed through Abraham’s Seed. His administration of grace may be different today, as He seeks to save the lost through the Body and Bride of Christ, the Church, but make no mistake, we too must work by the power of His Spirit or we will fail. We serve the Son of God by faith through the Spirit of God to take the Word of God to the world. What is our vision for the future? Looking unto Jesus, it all hinges on Him.

III. Weight of the Visions: Understand the Burden of the LORD (Zech. 7:1-14:21)

EXP:

A. Burdens Introduced – A Call to Righteousness – Fasting Q&A (Zech. 7:1-8:23):

1. Questions (Zech. 7:1-3),

2. Repentance & Ritual (Zech. 7:4-7),

3. Righteousness & Religion (Zech. 7:8-14),

Zechariah 7:8–14 KJV 1900

8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, 9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, And shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; And let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, And stopped their ears, that they should not hear. 12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, And the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; So they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts: 14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: For they laid the pleasant land desolate.

4. Restoration & Rejection (Zech. 8:1-17),

5. Rejection & Remorse (Zech. 8:18-23);

App: Note they were fasting, weeping and praying not because of their sin, but because they had gotten caught. They were in a loathsome place of self-pity that the Lord never ordained. Like a spoiled kid in the candy isle, they had lusted after their idols, and when they had their desire, and the judgment came because of their departure from Jehovah, they then cried over their rotted teeth because the taste of the shallow sugar idol worship had worn off, and now they were living with the cavities of their own carnality. They weren’t crying because they loved God as much as they were weeping over their hand getting caught in the cookie-jar. Turning over a new leaf did nothing to change their attitude toward the God they hurt. Rectifying their sinful ways could do nothing to take away the black blot of their iniquities that separated between them and their God, which hid His face from them.

B. Burdens Declared – The Coming of Messiah (Zech. 9:1-14:21):

1. The First Burden – Israel’s True King Will Come (Zech. 9:1-10:12):

a. The Nations Judged (Zech. 9:1-8),

b. Messiah’s Coming (Zech. 9:9-10),

Zechariah 9:9–10 KJV 1900

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, And the battle bow shall be cut off: And he shall speak peace unto the heathen: And his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, And from the river even to the ends of the earth.

c. Israel Delivered (Zech. 9:11-10:12);

2. Sub-Hinge – Christ’s Rejection Foretold (Zech. 11:1-17);

a. The True Shepherd (Zech. 11:1-14) –

1) Consequences of Rejection (Zech. 11:1-3),

2) The Rejection Itself (Zech. 11:4-14);

Zechariah 11:4–14 KJV 1900

4 Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: And they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: And their own shepherds pity them not. 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: But, lo, I will deliver the men Every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: And they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. 7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. 10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

b. The False Shepherd (Zech. 11:15-17);

3. The Second Burden – Restoration of Israel Under Messiah (Zech. 12:1-14:21) –

a. Oracle: Jerusalem’s Future Deliverance Described (Zech. 12:1-13:6),

b. Poem: A Survey of Israel’s Destiny (Zech. 13:7-9),

Zechariah 13:7–9 KJV 1900

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, Saith the Lord of hosts: Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, Two parts therein shall be cut off and die; But the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, And will refine them as silver is refined, And will try them as gold is tried: They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: And they shall say, The Lord is my God.

c. Oracle: Jerusalem’s Future Renovation Detailed (Zech. 14:1-21)

ILL: The End of the Day

“At Evening Time it Shall be Light” (Zech. 14:7)

Zechariah 14:7 KJV 1900

7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, Not day, nor night: But it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

When the crimson sky at the setting sun

Proclaim to the world that thy work is done,

May you walk serenely through the twilight gray,

Go Home and rest at the end of the day.

[AMG Bible Illustrations, Bible Illustrations Series (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2000).]

Conclusion

That the Lord will return is no cause for idleness or slumber, but for patience, watchfulness and willingness to put the hand to the plow on the part of those who look for Him.

Truly our hearts can rejoice with God’s people of all ages when we realize that Christ the Messiah did come two thousand years ago and accomplished a perfect redemption for Adam’s hopeless race. Yet we wait with the same urgent expectancy, as did the Israelites of old, for the piercing of the clouds—His second advent, when victory over sin and death will be final. [Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1982), 179.]