Zechariah Overview/ The Lord Remembers
Minor prophets • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsOverview of the prophet Zechariah - The Lord Remembers
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Zechariah Prophecy is dated almost at the same time as Haggai, his opening words are dated as 520 B.C. Zechariah is in a time when Israel has gained its freedom, after years in exile or captivity they are now free from Babylon rule. Some have stated that Haggai was the ignition of the charge for Israel to return to God, repent and rebuild the temple, and Zechariah was like the cheerleader keeping them fired up and headed in the right direction. Zechariah like prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel was a priest and likely a member of the great synagogue which later became the ruling elders of the nation the Sanhedrin.
Basics of Zechariah
ZECHARIAH, longest book of the Minor Prophets has been referred to as the Revelations of the old testament. Chapters 1–8 record Zechariah’s visions encouraging the exiles to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Chapters 9–14 are anonymous visions about a more distant future in which nations rise up against Judah and Jerusalem, the Jews are redeemed by the Messiah, and God establishes His kingdom on earth. The latter chapters of Zechariah provided the source of New Testament descriptions of Jesus as a humble and suffering Messiah.
As we near the finish line of the prophets Zechariah is really a turning point in the prophets .In Zechariah we see that God’s Judgement and wrath are there but not the key focus, the Messiah is the central figure. In his first coming or first advent he came as a suffering savior, who was primarily rejected by Israel as the Messiah; Then in his second coming or the second advent where he comes with power and authority and Israel looks up on him who they pierced and mourns greatly for him. Those two points or events in time is where we will key in on tonight.
Zechariah 1:1–6 (ESV)
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’ ”
There is a key phrase that we see in Zechariah that is repeated throughout the book. “1.
1. The Lord of Host”
In Zechariah - 1:3 Zechariah 1:3 (ESV)
3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.
This is a name of God used mostly by the old testament prophets.
IT appears 285 in the OT prophets.
The hosts are heavenly powers and angels that are at the Lords command. This is important, this is the resources of Angels and other heavenly powers that is at God’s command to fight his battles and bring about his purposes.
It is critical for us to see that God in no way needs us to fight his battles, but we in every way need God to fight our battles.
We see because of the miraculous signs he was doing in John 6:15 that the crowds were eager to try and make Jesus King by force, them thinking that he needed their help. Jesus always directs otherwise because it is not yet his time and he does not need their help to accomplish his purposes
John 6:15 (ESV)
15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
This is the Lord of hosts who commands the armies of the Lord who has all the angles and heavenly powers at his disposal.
2. The Call to Repent
Where does the call come from - Verse 1 chapter 1, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. Through the prophets we see they make it very clear at the start of their messages, that this word, this prophecy is coming from the Lord.
This is very important for a couple of reasons
first to indicate the author and authority of this prophecy is God himself.- This is not coming from me i am but an Instrument for God to speak through and use.
Second it gently points us to God’s sovereignty - Prophets are saying Listen up what i am about to tell you is from the Lord and he knows all things and is in control of all things past, present and things to come and he is going to lay it all out for you.
The call to repentance Began with a warning - The Lord was angry with your Fathers, do not be like them. They heard the prophets of past but they did not listen, in fact they killed many of the Prophets including Zechariah. Matthew 23:37 time and time again God offers but they do not listen.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Then in Verse 3 We see this wonderful offer from God where he offers Grace - Return to me, and I will return to you.
God is longing for his people to return to him and he wants to offer them every chance. Don’t be like your fathers, see they didn’t listen to my call and suffered the consequences that i warned them in advance, but they would not listen.
This would be a good place for an application question. Where are you believer child of God, how is your walk with the Lord,
Are we elevating God to the proper place in our hearts,
Is there sin in your life that you have not repented of?
How is your prayer life, how is time in God’s word, your sanctification process going? is God calling you to repentance? is he saying return to me and i will return to you?
It is so easy to get caught up in things of this world and even important things and put God on the back burner or not in first place. If this is the case he is calling us to return to me and i will return to you.
Do not be one who refuses to listen,.
3 . The Messiah
Zechariah is Second only to Isaiah In the depth of writing about the messiah.
Zech 9:9
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 2:10-12 ; Matthew 1:23 - the Messiah will dwell in our midst
10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”
Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord -This shows the desire of the lord for all nations and peoples.
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Emmanuel God is with us, Will be with us reminiscent of the garden where he walked with Adam and Eve.
Zechariah 3:8-9 ; 6:12-13; Isaiah 11:1; Luke 20:17-8 - symbolism of the branch and the stone.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
Zechariah 12:10 ; John 19:33-37 - the promise of his second coming where they will look on the one whom they pierced and mourn.
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
Zechariah 13:1; 1 John 1:7, - Pointing to Jesus cleansing of sin.
“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
1 John 1:7
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Zech 9:9
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
4. On that Day
Like the Lord of Host , In that Day is repeated quite often in Zechariah, 16 times on that day is mentioned in the last 3 chapters of Zechariah. That day again is referring to different days at times and is not necessarily meaning one literal day but a space in time when God is doing certain things or certain events are happening. The day i will be focusing is the day that Israel is restored
The Messiah has come into the world as a suffering servant and they rejected him.
Read Chapter 12 Time allowing
Zechariah 12:1-14 Zechariah 12:1–14 (ESV)
1 The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:
2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah.
3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.
4 On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.’
6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.
7 “And the LORD will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.
8 On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them.
9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
12 The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves;
13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves;
14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.
Zechariah 13:1 Zechariah 13:1 (ESV)
1“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
8 On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. 9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
This is a time when the entire world is coming against Israel and there appears to be absolutely no hope, Israel is even believing there is no hope. But God supernaturally empowers them it says even the feeblest will be like David, and the house of David like God.
What we can see from Zechariah is, our God is able to deliver us and he is faithful to deliver us.
Does it seem there a mountain standing in front of you’ and there is a army standing opposed to you.
Is there a sin that has you in chains, return to me and I will return to you
We can be encouraged that we will win why because we no God wins.
We can be encouraged because God is faithful
We can be encouraged because God knows best
We can be encouraged because God is sovereign and he is in control.
We can be encouraged because God has promised that those whom he saves he is preparing a place for us.
4. Just as Zechariah is pointing Israel to Jesus the Messiah, He is pointing us.
Matt 23:37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Don’t be one who is unwilling to hear the call of the Lord.
