Zechariah

Zechariah - a few notes before we begin

very complicated to understand - not in chronological order

intro - visions - prophecy of greek emp.

OR think two parts - first: get back to work on temp. second: completed, whats to come?

ALSO! Many prophecies about Jesus are here.

lets touch on a few...

Zech 1:1 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,2 “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 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.

right away - who’s the audience? Apostates.

Specifically apostate Israel, who like America, has left the Lord and his ways.

this book is for anyone who has FALLEN AWAY from the Lord and his commands.

if you’re still breathing - you can return. It’s not too late. There is hope.

AND ISRAEL DID

God preserved a remnant, and they came back out of exile.

and they began the slow process of rebuilding, with the encouragement of the Lord and his prophets.

to seek first the Kingdom of God.

God gave Zech a series of visions to encourage them.

does this all sound familiar? An apostate nation with a remnant left to rebuild? Yeah. I think so too, so I believe we should pay close attention.

1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.

notice the man.

9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’

an interpreter

10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’

so the armies of the Lord, the angel armies, were on patrol.

why “at rest”?

because the gentiles were used as judgement against Israel, and the armies of the Lord have settled them. The judgement is over.

12 Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’

confirming - is the season judgement over?

14b - Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’”

God wielded the gentiles as an instrument of judgement, but the wicked nations took it too far… they will in turn be judged.

And God is returning in mercy to Jerusalem.

But who is it? This red-horsed rider? The one who calms the nations and brings peace and prosperity to God’s people?

if you’ve been here for a while you already know the answer here - It’s JESUS

and we should watch and take comfort here.

The church in Israel’s day was now weak, humbled, it had been kicked around by the gentile nations as judgement for it’s sins...

and the red-horsed rider’s disposition now towards them?

mercy. kindness. grace.

What a word for his church today.

Here we are, being tossed around by the world around us, desperately just trying to be a faithful witness

or maybe just learning how to for the first time

or maybe just trying to survive?

and there is Christ. With us.

If we would but return to him fully, he would bless. If we would trust his economy, trust his commands, hold fast to faith in his promises...

even though we seem down and out now, he makes a promise to us.

“seek ye first...”

and “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail...”

NOT ENOUGH TIME to go through all visions - but they are great things to study through - lets jump ahead.

Zech 9:2 Tyre has built herself a rampart and heaped up silver like dust, and fine gold like the mud of the streets.4 But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her power on the sea and she shall be devoured by fire.

Tyre was a wealthy fortified island city, about half a mile from the coast.

now, if you look up ancient tyre today, you’ll notice it’s not an island. It’s a peninsula. What happened?

Alexander the Great.

but when this particular prophecy is written, it’s before Greece and Alex has even been established.

In fact, when Alex was pillaging every nation around Israel he spared Israel - why? - legend says he was shown the prophecies about him in the Bible and was so impressed by their accuracy he bypassed them.

BUT ANYWAY - in the middle of this prophecy of the destruction of the gentiles - we have something more...

ZECH 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.

ring any bells? the prophecy of Jesus’ triumphal entry. the palm fronds. “Hosannah in the highest!”

the Messiah comes in - lowly - humble - meek - but righteous and having salvation.

9:10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River[c] to the ends of the earth.

and when he comes - he ends wars, brings peace.

and when he comes - his rule begins, from sea to sea. from the river to the ends of the earth.

AND HOW SHOULD GOD’S PEOPLE RESPOND?

REjoice! Justice has come, salvation has come, peace has come to the ends of the earth!

But Christians as a whole… we don’t. And we haven’t for at least 150 years.

whats up with that? Well, we’ll get to that in a second.

Jesus - enters Jerusalem - Hosannah the son of David! - They’re receiving their king! - but shortly thereafter they rejected him as their king when he didn’t rule the way they wanted him to.

they wanted a geopolitical ruler. they wanted to be like Rome.

They wanted to conquer with armies, to be the top dog.

Israel still had the same problem - “Give us a king like the other nations!” - and they were still waiting for that king.

So, the kingdom was given to others. The gentiles. Us.

NOW! it has been taught for 150 years or so that because of this rejection Jesus postponed his kingdom until the SECOND coming

SO IN OTHER WORDS - we’ve been just waiting for the kingdom to come that brings JUSTICE MERCY SALVATION AND PEACE

think about what that does to a person’s disposition towards the world around them? we’re just waiting...

we don’t put our hands to the task...

we play a lot of defense. we try to conserve. but we never build or advance.

When clearly according to Zech, his kingdom came the moment the triumphal entry happened in the Gospels.

IN OTHER WORDS we’ve adopted the mentality that “well, things are just the way they are for now.”

so we disengage from culture. we leave the world to the devil. we don’t voice the truths of God. We don’t engage with Gospel hope and God’s law.

at best, we engage with what the world permits us to… and no more. We only say or do what’s within the acceptable range of our current cultural climate.

which isn’t much right now...

ill: I get invited to pray at events pretty often. Board meetings, city council meetings, business openings.

folks here like that. we’re a religious community.

but I don’t get invited very often to bring the truth’s of the Bible to bear on those meetings.

inauguration story.

psalm 2 - kiss the son, lest he be angry.

10  Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11  gServe the Lord with hfear, and irejoice with htrembling. 12  jKiss kthe Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his lwrath is quickly kindled. mBlessed are all who take refuge in him.

not many clapped.

since the church has been quiet so long, when we take our prophetic role… it seems weird. out of place to the world around us. Seems provocative, unnecessary, divisive.

but many of you are here because of God’s faithful prophetic voice in your life, from a faithful believer or pastor.

And if Zech is right - Jesus’s triumphal entrance - the donkey and the palm fronds - that’s our signal.

we aren’t WAITING for his kingdom. we aren’t WAITING for the expansion.

HIS KINGDOM HAS COME.

Nowhere in Zech 9 are we informed that the kingdom is delayed.

The delay is only with us. - no more.

we have work to do.

When we started this church - didn’t want to… (story)

THE LORD DID IT.

When we started our family business - didn’t have some dream or drive - we were just trying to be faithful, and so we obeyed and built it on the Bible as best we could - and THE LORD DID IT

When we started the pregnancy center - we had no idea what we were doing - we were just trying to be faithful - AND THE LORD DID IT.

The Kingdom has come. The Lord IS WORKING.

The fields are ripe. Remember? What’s missing?

workers.

we have work to do.

“SO WHAT DO I DO???”

believe his promises. and walk day-to-day in faith.

seek ye first the KINGDOM in every step you take.

not your reputation. not your comfort. not your peace. not your bank accounts. not your safety.

seek first the KINGDOM

and the LORD WILL DO IT