The rest of the stories

Intro: It seems like there is never enough time to hear the rest of the stories our grandparents wanted to tell us. Sure, some of the stories we heard over and over again. Some of the stories had similar themes but were different times or places, and some of the stories were just hard to keep straight. However, most of us never took the time to listen to the rest of the stories.

Today we want to finish the rest of the stories/visions of the Prophet Zechariah. His visions had big spiritual implications wrapped up in small packages. Through all the visions we see that

THEME: God has a standard and is fighting at our side to help us live up to His ways.

Review:

Yahweh Remembers

God is King over all the earth.

Intro / Visions / Messages / Prophecy

Last week Josh gave us the message of Chapter 4 : Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit”

This is exemplified further in chapters 5 & 6

The vision of the flying scrolls

Zechariah 5:1 ESV

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll!

A.Scrolls were the books of the day

They recorded important information.

These scrolls are flying to show unrestricted and swift movement. God’s Word should be that way in us!

The birds do not often follow roads, but we have to.

B.The message of the scrolls is that it is time to get read of sin!

The message is seen as a curse because to ignore the warnings has harmful consequences.

Zechariah 5:3 (ESV)

Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. . .

2 things are picked out

One is against people around us and is found in the 8th commandment

The other is against God and the First commandment

Grace requires we live properly and R.A.R.E

C.Sin consumes people and rots them from the inside.

Zechariah 5:4 ESV

I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.”

Sin does not pay! Even if you think you get away with it. Even if those with power and might are complicit - sin never makes us better in the long run.

The Vision of the woman in the basket

A.Wickedness is getting taken out.

Zechariah 5:6 (ESV)

And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.”

Wickedness pops its head out to spread its ways.

B.Notice, the “Wickedness” is dealt with by the angel.

Zechariah 5:8 ESV

And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.

Once again, in spiritual warfare God and His hosts, as grace to us, do much of the fighting and we never even see it!

He not only puts wickedness back in its place, but also firmly secured the heavy lid.

C.Wickedness will be worshipped in this world, but it should not be so among God’s people.

2 angels come and take the basket away in verse s9-11

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Shinar)

Shinar: Name for a district of Babylonia ... comprised the region approximately from modern Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.

Zechariah 5:11 ESV

He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

Wickedness was given a place far away. There it will be worshiped.

Remember, they were being told to return from the places they were scattered and not go back. So to place this wickedness over there was a warning and more.

God is full of grace to helps us in the spiritual warfare against our desires!

When we confess and name our sins, to God and others, He helps us drive it out of our lives.

Think about John the Baptist, they came confessing and he baptized them. The Pharisees did not confess and were not baptised. Mt 3.6, Mk 1.5

In Acts 19.17-19 people were confessing after becoming believers. They had been practicing magic arts. So they dealt with it.

The Apostle Paul wrote frequently about confessing to God in Romans 10, 2 Cor 9, 1 Tim 6 and more.

James 5:16 ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

We covered this verse in a recents mid-week Bible study. The healing here is not physical - that would require a different Greek work. It is a Spiritual, social and mental healing that so many people need right now.

Twelve Prophets, Volume 2: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi The Sixth and Seventh Visions

In the seventh vision, the prophet reveals the depths of the divine concern for the moral state of the nation. It is not just evil acts that matter; the spirit of wickedness, ever threatening to break out in a plague of further evil, must also be mastered.

The vision of the 4 chariots

A.Like vision #1, this vision has horses.

In the opening vision, we saw them come to report, and in this vision we see them going out to continue spiritual warfare.

Zechariah 6:5 ESV

And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

Zechariah 6:7 ESV

When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth.

B. While the previous vision ended southeast of Jerusalem, this is to the North - a different direction to again demonstrate God is King over all the earth.

Zechariah 6:8 ESV

Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.”

Twelve Prophets, Volume 2: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi The Final Vision: Four Chariots

God was and is sovereign in human history. And though the hand of God must always be difficult for the ordinary mortal to discern, we can share the prophet’s faith that the passage of history is not a random process, but moves somehow towards the fulfilment of God’s purpose in the world.

The task to endorse godly leaders.

A.The visions are done and it is now time to act.

He does not say this is a vision and he lists names and places and so we see this as events in history and not as directions given in a dream.

Zechariah 6:10 ESV

“Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah.

So we find chapter 6 closing out with a set of instructions for Zechariah to fulfil, and a direct message to the people.

B.The Crown is for The Branch.

Zechariah 6:12 ESV

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.

Christ explained the The Branch in John 15, Is4.2, Jer. 23 & 33. Israel may have been the stalk, But Christ established His church through the Branch.

By God’s grace, We are the Temple of God as Christians. The “Temple of the Lord” mentioned at the end of the verse.

1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

C.The Crown for the Branch was to be in the temple.

Zechariah 6:14 (ESV)

And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a reminder ...

Throughout History the combination of government and religion has had some very harsh impact on the people of those countries. For that reason many are for what is known as “the separation of Church and State.”

God should be out King as He is over all the earth

Here we see the church and government connected

In the end times we will see them united under God.

Conclusion: God is gracious to all who follow Him. As King of all the earth, He wages spiritual warfare on our behalf and help us deal with sin.

God is at work. He is working what is best for us according to His divine plan.

1.Do we give God his proper place in our lives?

2. Do we ask for God’s help in dealing with our sin?