Zechariah 01 - 02 Visions - Part 2 - Lesson 03
INTRODUCTION
1. Last month we started our studies of the prophecies of Zechariah
a. We looked at message that God will respond to His people when they come to Him and repent.
b. God reveals how He prepares His people, Israel, for the coming of the Messiah.
2. This book begins with God giving His Jewish people 7 messages
a. Messages about His power, love, wisdom and holiness,
b. God wanted them – us - to be prepared for the greatest event in all of creation.
c. God wanted His people to be ready for the coming of the Messiah
3. In the first 6 chapters we are presented with 8 visions
a. All of which were seen on the same night
b. These were visions, not dreams;
c. Zechariah was fully awake when God gave him these visions.
5. The FIRST vision is of a man among the myrtle trees
a. God’s people were in fear from the nations surrounding them
b. They had some very powerful enemies trying to oppress them
c. But God is assuring them that He is in charge of the affairs of all nations.
d. God is not a distant creator.
i. He did not make this world and the universe as we see it,
ii. Then populate it with vegetation, fish, animals, insects and people
iii. Then walk away and leave it to get on by itself.
c. God is directly involved.
d. God is a creator God who cares for and loves His creation.
e. This is something that the children of God need to remember
a. Israel is surrounded by many powerful enemies: Egyptians, Syrians, Iranians and Palestinians (Hamas)
b. Their enemies stretch out throughout the world.
c. God is saying to them ‘Yes, be on your guard, but do not fear. I am in charge of all the affairs of the nations. They cannot do anything to destroy My people.’
Zechariah 2:13 (KJV) Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
f. We too are surrounded by powerful enemies, both physical and spiritual
a. We are constantly warned about terrorists.
b. The politicians are raising our awareness of the problems with Iran and the North Koreans in their development of nuclear weapons.
g. We need to heed the words of Paul and put on the whole armour of God
a. Are we prepared for the daily battle with Satan ?
b. We may say that we have peace in our land.
3. What happened in the FIRST vision? (1:7-17)
a. Zechariah saw a man and group of riders in some myrtle trees.
b. Many writers believe the man to be Jesus
c. The myrtle tree is a symbol of Jerusalem.
d. The "ravine" symbolizes Israel’s position among the nations.
e. Amongst those riders is one on a red horse, who reports
Zechariah 1:11 (KJV) 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.
a. This is not good news.
b. The Messiah will return during times of great trouble, not times of peace as proclaimed by Haggain (2:6-7)
f. How long will God withhold His mercy from Jerusalem? Let us look at the second vision.
3. The SECOND vision is of four horns (1:18-21)
a. The four ‘horns’ represent the nations that had come to devastate Israel.
b. The horns represent power.
c. These nations were like bulldozers plowing their way through the land of Israel
d. Most commentators put the four carpenters along with the four horns
a. They are very similar
Zechariah 1:18-21 (KJV) Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the LORD shewed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.
e. The four carpenters are other pagan nations God uses, to destroy the ‘horns’,
f. The ‘horns’ and the ‘carpenters’ are used by God to punish unrepentant Israel
4. The THIRD vision is of a surveyor (2:1-13)
a. Next we see a man who is going to measure Jerusalem.
a. Again later described as the Angel of the Lord – Jesus
b. Zech. 6:12 Zechariah describes Jesus as a man – Hebrew ‘ish’
b. Zechariah would have known that the city had grown;
a. It had become so large and secure that it had grown beyond the city walls
b. It had no fear.
c. Did it need to fear?
a. No, because God would be:
Zechariah 2:5 (KJV) For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
b. The Jews who had not yet returned from Babylon could return in safety.
c. The exiles should return to Jerusalem
a. Jesus is saying the same thing He said to Abraham
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Zechariah 2:6-7 (KJV) Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.
Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
d. HO HO - Those of us who have drifted away from our faith in Christ can return.
a. God will forgive all those of us who repent and seek His forgiveness.
b. He will not send away any repentant sinner;
c. He will welcome each one, with love.
e. But, there is more.
a. God promises that there is a future,
b. That there is a time when He will live among us,
c. Remember the horns and carpenters, 1 and 2nd vision
i. Babylon – 1st horn –destroyed by the 1st carpenter – Medo Persa
ii. Medo Persa will become 2nd horn, destroyed by 2nd carpenter Greece
iii. Greece, 3rd horn, destroyed by 3rd carpenter – Rome
iv. Rome 4th horn was not destroyed from outside
v. Revived Rome will be destroyed by Jesus Himself
Zechariah 2:10-11 (KJV) Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
APPLICATION
1. This first message to the People of Israel is of encouragement.
a. God has great plans for His people, Israel.
b. He will overrule the affairs of the nations;
2. We, as those chosen by Christ to be co-heirs with Him, are counted amongst God’s people of Israel.
Romans 8:16-17 (KJV) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Galatians 3:29 (KJV) And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
a. God has brought we - gentiles - into union with Israel to make one Holy Israel, one Kingdom of God
Ephesians 3:6 (KJV) That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
3. These visions are an encouragement to us.
a. God has great plans for us
b. No nation of the earth can change God’s plan
c. Why? Because God will overrule the plans of our enemies
i. Whether they are earthly or heavenly enemies.
ii. God will always reach down and pick up His children
4. Came across a story of a traveller who fell into a deep pit and couldn’t get out.
a. Several persons came along and saw him struggling in the pit.
The sensitive person said, "I feel for you down there."
The reflective person said, "It’s logical that someone would fall into the pit."
The aesthetic person said, "I can give you ideas on how to decorate your pit."
The judgmental person said, "Only bad people fall into the pit."
The analytical person said, "Help me measure the depth of your pit."
The curious person said, "Tell me how you fell into the pit."
The perfectionist said, "I believe you deserve your pit."
The evaluator said, "Tell me, are you paying taxes on this pit."
The self-pitying person said, "You should have seen my pit."
The specialist in meditation said, "Just relax and don’t think about the pit."
The optimist said, "Cheer up! Things could be worse."
The pessimist said, "Be prepared! Things will get worse."
Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the miserable pit.
5. God is always there
a. God is involved in judging the nations that try and harm Israel.
b. God gives them authority for a season and then takes it away.
c. At the time of our lesson tonight, Zechariah is under Media-Persia authority.
d. He has seen two of the four horns
i. Two of the oppressive kingdoms.
e. God is trying to tell him that He has history under His sovereign control
6. God is directly involved in world events
a. Ultimately there is no authority except by God.
Romans 13:1 (KJV) Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
7. God will set up a kingdom in the last days that will never end.
a. His kingdom is the rock that became a mountain that fills the whole earth
Daniel 2:35 (KJV) Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
b. One day the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms over the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints.
Daniel 7:27 (KJV) And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
8. It doesn’t matter what people throw at us in life, Jesus is there to lift us like that man, out of the pit and put us back on the road.
a. God will gather all His people into His Jerusalem
b. God is in control, all the time.
c. God rules over all the affairs of the nations.