ZECHARIAH 1-14 THE PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Zechariah 1-14 The Prophecies Of Zechariah

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. We're going to be looking at Zechariah chapters 1 through 14 as we continue our journey through the Bible in three years, finishing up the minor prophets this coming week. Zechariah is the second to the last book, and tomorrow we start the book of Malachi.

or Malachi, whichever you prefer. And we're going to be finishing up the Old Testament this week. So pretty exciting as we finish up the minor prophets and looking at all of these things that God has for his people and then also for us as we continue to follow the Lord.

The book of Zechariah is about the ministry of Zechariah, the prophet, who ministered from about 520 BC to about 480 BC or thereabouts. We don't have exact dates for the end of his ministry. But he was a prophet who was sent to the nation of Israel.

After they had returned from Babylon. So going through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. You remember the people of Jerusalem were taken captive. Carried away to Babylon. They were captive in Babylon for 70 years.

And then Persia conquered Babylon. And through the empire of Persia, King Cyrus, they were released to go back to Jerusalem and build the temple. And so you might remember as we went through Ezra and Nehemiah, the rebuilding of Israel or the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the temple that took place. Well, during the midst of the temple being rebuilt, the people got discouraged and gave up.

Building the temple. And so the Lord sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to minister to the people who were discouraged in their building to encourage them to continue to build the temple that he might do the work in them that he wanted them to do. And so you can read about the historical parallel to these things in Ezra chapters 5 and 6.

To see what was going on with the people in that time. So Zechariah is there to encourage the people to continue building the temple. During this time the Persian Empire is the ruling empire.

Again, the people of Babylon were released by Persia to go back to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. And so there was a group of people who returned and began that process. Here's what it looks like on the timeline. In 586, Babylon conquered Judah for the final time, took everybody captive.

In 539, Persia conquers Babylon and takes the city and becomes the ruling empire of the day. It was a few years later that about 50,000 of the Jews left Babylon, went back to Jerusalem, and began that work on the temple.

They rebuilt the altar first thing when they got there. But then in 535, they stopped working on the temple. They got the foundation laid, but they got discouraged. There was some opposition. And so in 520, 15 years after they started the work...

God sends Zechariah and Haggai to call the people back to the building of the temple. And then in four years, they are completing the temple. So it's effective. These prophets, Zechariah and Haggai, are effective in their ministry in calling the people back to the work and the temple is rebuilt.

There's a couple other things on there just for time reference. Soon after that, Esther becomes the queen of Persia and then Ezra and then Nehemiah come to Jerusalem and begin to rebuild the city. So this is the time when the temple is being rebuilt, but the city walls are not yet rebuilt. That happens quite a bit later.

Here's what it looks like on our Minor Prophets timeline. So you can see it's all the way at the end. Haggai and Zechariah are there together ministering in Jerusalem to the nation of Israel. And then tomorrow as we start the book of Malachi, we're finishing the last chapter.

book of the Old Testament and it's the latest of the prophets. And then from there, there's no more prophets until John the Baptist. There's what we refer to as 400 years of silence. So we're heading towards that as we go into Zechariah. This work that God speaks calls them back to rebuilding the temple. Then there's a couple final words through Malachi and then really it's the ministry of the Messiah as we head into the book of Matthew this coming week.

Alright, so we're starting in Zechariah chapter 1. The key verse is verse 17. It says, Again proclaim, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, My cities shall again spread out through prosperity. The Lord will again comfort Zion and will again choose Jerusalem. Here as we begin the book of Zechariah, God is calling his people to repentance with a promise of great blessing.

In verses 1 through 6, he says, return to me. He calls his people to return to him. In verse 2, it says, the Lord has been very angry with your fathers. Therefore, say to them, thus says the Lord of hosts, return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. I need a drink. Hang on.

God's calling his people back to him and his promise is that when his people come back to him, he returns to them as well. So they're back in the land by God's grace. But they were continuing the sinful practices of their fathers. The things that got them kicked out of the land in the first place, they've come back and they've begun practicing those things again.

And so God's saying, don't be like your fathers. There in verse 4, he says, don't be like them. That's what got them judged. That's what got them kicked out. No, instead, return to me. And his promise is, I will return to you. And there's great blessings in that. When we return to the Lord, he returns to us and he brings complete and great restoration. He says in verses 7 through 17, I am zealous for Jerusalem.

Here he gives Zechariah a vision of horses. There's these different horses that are going about. And he explains in verse 10 that these are the ones that the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth. And they report back that the earth is resting quietly. But that's not what's supposed to be happening here.

Because God is going to bring a judgment upon the nations that inflicted such a heavy judgment upon Israel and Judah. And so he says in verse 15, I'm exceedingly angry with the nations at ease. For I was a little angry and they helped but with evil intent. God is speaking about Assyria. He's speaking about Babylon. He's speaking about Egypt.

And how God used them as instruments of judgment. Chastening for his people.

But they also went beyond what God requested or what God had commanded. And they were more cruel than what God had prescribed. And so God is now going to deal with them for their wickedness. And that's what he's saying. Their nation's at ease, but that's not what's proper because they deserve judgment for their wickedness. But he says in contrast in verse 16, I'm returning to Jerusalem because

mercy. He's brought the judgment upon Jerusalem, but now he's returning with mercy and he's going to be doing a restoration work. In verses 18 through 21, he sees four craftsmen who will cast out the nations that scattered Judah. And so here he sees a vision of four horns. Lots of visions that we see throughout the book of Zechariah.

These horns represent nations that came against Israel and Judah and scattered them. They were conquered. They were taken little by little, taken captive and scattered throughout the whole world or the known world at that time. And so...

God has prescribed four craftsmen to bring terror to the nations that scattered Israel and Judah. Now these four craftsmen, we can't say with absolute certainty what's being referred to here, but it seems likely that this is referring to the Greek Empire and Alexander the Great and then his four generals that the Greek Empire was split into.

And so a lot of these things that we'll see talked about here in Zechariah are fulfilled by the Greek Empire, specifically by Alexander the Great. So that might be the four craftsmen, the four generals that were under Alexander. Well, that brings us now to Zechariah chapter 2, verse 10 is the key verse. He says, "'Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion. For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,' says the Lord.'"

In verses 1 through 5, God says, Jerusalem will be inhabited as towns without walls. Here, Zechariah sees another vision. It's the vision of a man with a measuring line. It says in verse 2, he's going to measure Jerusalem. Now, this is interesting. Think about this, okay? Why do you measure something?

Whenever you pull out the measuring tape and you measure something, what's your purpose? If I was to go to your house and start measuring the rooms, what would you think was going on? How would you feel about me coming in and measuring out the spaces that you have? You'd probably be a little bit offended and concerned because measuring really implies ownership.

If I'm measuring it, it's mine. It's something that I have or it implies that I have some plans for it. And so if I come measuring the rooms in your house, you're thinking, you know, what are you thinking? What are you doing? What are your intentions? In the same way as this vision of this man going forth with a measuring line, this is what God's saying. This is my city. I own this.

And I have plans for it. I'm measuring it out because, well, I'm going to see what fits. I'm going to see what I can do with this city. And so it's a picture of God declaring ownership and declaring, I have a work in store. I'm not done with Jerusalem. Now you can imagine the people, they've come back from Babylon. They started the work on the temple, but they gave up. There's just a bunch of rubble. The walls are not built properly.

They probably do not have a very glorious outlook on the future of the city of Jerusalem or the nation of Israel. But God is saying, I still have a plan. I'm going to measure it out because it's mine. I have plans for it and I'm going to do a work. And so he says, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.

Now, 50,000 people returned from Babylon to Jerusalem. That was a small portion of the Jewish people who were in Babylon. So as they're back in Jerusalem, they're not thinking like, wow, we have all these people. It's a, you know, great bustling city. They're thinking, there's just a few of us. There's not much left. What hope is there? And God's saying, Jerusalem will be inhabited again soon.

There will be a multitude of men and livestock in it. In verses 6 through 9, God says, up Zion, escape from Babylon. Here he's calling his people out of Babylon. Now remember, when Persia conquered Babylon, it happened really overnight without much of a battle. The city of Babylon fell because the gates were left open in the Euphrates River and the armies marched in and just took over without a real battle.

So the city of Babylon was not conquered. The region of Babylon, there wasn't big battles there. And that's where the people of Jerusalem were taken when they were taken captive. A little bit south of the city of Babylon. But there is going to be some severe battles that are going to be hitting that area. And so God's saying, get out of there. Get out of there because I'm about to judge those nations in this area for what they did to you.

But if you're there, you're going to experience the judgment with them. It's kind of like when the angels pulled Lot out of Sodom so that he wouldn't experience the judgment. He's calling the people out because they didn't leave when they had the opportunity. So he's saying, you got to get out because judgment's coming to this nation, to this area. And you'll experience that if you don't get out of there. God's people can experience his judgment if we don't get out of the way.

That's why he says, come out from them and be separate. He calls us to be separate. He calls us to be holy and set apart unto the Lord. Well, then in verses 10 through 13, he says, seeing and rejoice, I will dwell in your midst. So he's calling them to rejoice. These things will ultimately be fulfilled in the millennium when Jesus rules and reigns for a thousand years. You can see that in verse 11.

He says, Now you can see a partial fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the Gentiles being saved. But ultimately this is referring to, he's saying, I still have a glorious future for you when the Messiah rules and reigns there in Jerusalem.

Here's a quick look at the time frame again. So in 536, about 50,000 of the Jews returned from Babylon. Now it's 520. So 16 years later, Zechariah is prophesying and there's still a lot of people back in Babylon who aren't coming to Jerusalem. They've, you know,

gotten comfortable. I mean, it's nice. They have houses there. They've been there, you know, for 50, 60, 70 years, some of them. And so they've been established. They've been settled and they're not willing to uproot themselves and move back. And so God's calling them back saying this time, get out of there because judgment's coming to this area. Chapter three now, verse one is the key verse. Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord.

And Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. Here we have a new vision given to Zechariah. It's the vision of Joshua who was the high priest at that time. In verses 1 through 5 we see that Joshua is clothed with clean clothes. This is an incredibly beautiful picture. And I would encourage you to kind of check out this passage once again when you have some time. Because here Joshua is standing before the angel of the Lord which...

Looking back at some previous work we've done, we understand that to be a reference to Jesus Christ. Joshua is standing before Jesus and Satan is there to oppose him. But it tells us here in this passage, the Lord rebukes him. The Lord, the advocate, is defending Joshua, the high priest. Now we also see in this passage, Joshua is covered in iniquity. He's covered in sin. But still the Lord defends him

He rebukes the enemy and then he gives the command that Joshua would be removed those clothes of iniquity and be clothed in righteousness. It's really a beautiful picture of what happens to us when we believe in Jesus Christ. Sure, the enemy is still out to get us. He still opposes us. He still accuses us. But as we stand before the Lord, he defends us and he removes our iniquity. We still sin. We

have those issues but he removes our iniquity and clothes us in his righteousness it's such a beautiful picture of the work that god does for those who turn to him but he also gives some commands and some conditions to joshua in verses six through seven he says if you walk in my ways then you shall judge my house so here joshua is the high priest and god is commissioning him and he's saying

I've appointed you to be a judge, to be a priest, but here's the condition, here's the command, walk in my ways. And if you walk in my ways, then you'll be able to fulfill the call that I've given to you. He goes on in verses 8 through 10 to say, I'm bringing forth my servant, the branch. And here we see a prophecy of the Messiah.

The branch is a reference to the Messiah. Going back to Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 where Isaiah talks about the rod from the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The prophecies of the Messiah, Jesus would be a descendant of David. Then also in Jeremiah, we see in Jeremiah 23, 5 and some other references too. The branch is a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

And so he says, I'm bringing forth my servant, the branch. And the result will be in verse 9. He says, I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day. The day that Jesus is crucified. In one day, sin is taken care of. The penalty for sin is paid for as the branch dies upon the cross. Well now chapter 4 verse 6 is the key verse.

So he answered and said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Here in verses 1 through 7, he sees a vision now of a lampstand and there's two olive trees next to it and there's branches and then the olive trees are feeding the lampstand with oil.

This vision that he gives, he also gives with it the explanation of what it means. And that's what we see in verse 6.

What does this vision mean? He says, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Now, Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem. So Joshua is the high priest. Zerubbabel is a descendant of David. He is, you know, of the royal line. He is the governor. If Persia wasn't ruling, he'd be the king of Israel. So he's the governor of Jerusalem.

And God's message to the governor is, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Now what is he speaking about? Well, look at verse 7. He says, who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it.

As I was reading through this and studying and preparing to teach this passage, I was really tempted to kind of throw out the rest of Zechariah and just camp in Zechariah chapter 4. But I'm not going to do that, so I'll leave that for you. There's some incredible things here for us to consider. He says, he's talking to the mountain, the great mountain. He says, who are you, oh great mountain?

Now picture Zerubbabel. He's the one who's supposed to lead the work on the temple. But all that's there is just a big pile of rubble. It's a great mountain. There's a lot to do. And they're discouraged in the work. How are they going to get this done? How are they going to be able to build the temple? And God's saying, it's not by might. It's not by any intelligence. It's not by something that you can conjure up. It's not by your strength. It's not by your strength.

But it's going to be a work of my spirit, says the Lord. And even though it's a physical problem, even though there's a mountain of rubble, God says, it's going to become a plane. It's going to be accomplished. He says, before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plane. He's going to do the work. The work will be done by the Spirit of God.

Also the work will be done by the grace of God. He says, he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace. Grace to it. The work of God is done. Whatever you want to think about. The work of God within us. The work of God in this fellowship. The work of God in your family. The work of God is done, not by might, nor by power, but by his spirit. And it's not done by works alone.

But it's done with shouts of grace. Grace. It's done by the grace of God. By the spirit of God. And even though there's a lot of work to do. I mean you can look in the mirror. I don't mean the thing in your bathroom. But you look in the mirror. And you see there's a lot of work to do. And it will be done. That's God's promise. He will bring to completion the work that he began in you. Philippians 1.6 It will be done. But not by might.

Not by power, but by the Holy Spirit. So he says in verses 8 through 10, Zerubbabel shall finish the temple. This is what this vision means. It's going to be done by the Holy Spirit and Zerubbabel shall finish. He started the work on the temple. He went with that first group from Babylon. He started the work and God says, your hands also will finish it.

But he needs to give him a message of encouragement. And so he says, don't despise the days of small things. It's interesting. You know, whenever you're facing a mountain of work, it's very easy to despise the small things, isn't it? You get so discouraged by the little things. But God says, don't do that. Check out verse 10. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice...

To see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord. Which scan to and fro. Throughout the whole earth. So check this out. Here's the temple. It's just a pile of rubble. There's a lot of work to do. It's going to take the next four years to do it. But God says. Who despises the day of small things? Who despises the small step that you take. Towards completing that temple? You may despise it.

But God says, I don't despise it. He says, look, the Lord rejoices to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. Now the plumb line, remember, that was what they used to be able to make sure when they built the wall that they built it straight, that it wasn't crooked, that it wasn't leaning in or leaning out. So Zerubbabel sees this mountain. Like, where do I start? Well, let's start with the plumb line, I guess. So he gets the plumb line.

It's just step one. It's not any grand accomplishment. And the Lord rejoices. The Lord rejoices. Now we look and we go, you know, it's just a little thing. It's easy for us to despise the days of small things. But the Lord rejoices when just the tool is in His hands. I've seen a lot of different kinds of people throughout my time as a Christian.

Different situations, different scenarios, lots of things to deal with, lots of issues. And very often in our lives, we have these kinds of mountains in our lives. And we see, man, there's a lot of work to do. I don't know how this work is going to get done. And God, first of all, wants us to know it's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit. But there's a lot of times that we get discouraged.

Because there's so much left to do and we get discouraged. Why do I still struggle with these things? Why do I still have these issues? Why do I... And a lot of times we just quit ourselves because we're discouraged. But God's not discouraged. God rejoices. When we take a step in the right direction, when we pick up the plumb line, the instrument that He's given to us, He rejoices. He rejoices. He...

genuinely gets excited about you desiring to walk with him, to seek him. So don't despise the days of small things. Celebrate the little victories, the little steps. Yeah, there's still a lot of work to do, but he's not done. When you move in the direction that he's calling you to, that step in the direction of obedience is cause for rejoicing for him. He's excited about that.

He doesn't look and say, well, you know, that's nice, but you still got a whole bunch more to do. That's what we do many times to ourselves. But God rejoices. I want to encourage you, move in the direction that God's calling you. Don't give up because you think it's too hard, it's too big of a mountain, it's too hard of a work. No, take a step and rejoice with the Lord in that step. And look to Him because it's not by your might, it's not by your power, but it's by the work of the Holy Spirit that He's going to accomplish the work.

Well then in verses 11 through 14, he explains the two olive trees are the two anointed ones. There's some speculation about what these two anointed ones specifically refer to. Generally, Bible commentators believe that these are referring to the priestly office and the kingly office or the governor. So you have Zerubbabel and you have Joshua.

And those two roles are the two anointed ones. Those anointed positions of governing and then also the priestly position of relationship with the Lord. And those are the anointed ones that he's referring to there at the end of chapter 4. Well, chapter 5 now, verse 5 says, Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, Lift your eyes now and see what this is that goes forth.

So now we see a vision of a flying scroll in verses 1 through 4. This flying scroll represents a curse that goes out upon the earth. The curse says every thief will be expelled and every perjurer will be expelled. This curse, he says in verse 4, shall enter the house of the thief and

And the house of the one who swears falsely by my name, it shall remain in the midst of his house and consume it with its timber and stones. So here God is saying, look, I'm going to deal with people who are stealing and who are claiming to be my people, but really are not. And there's a curse.

on those who claim to be children of God, but are not. But really they're about taking what they can for themselves. They're about whatever they want to do, but not what the Lord wants to do. He says that they swear falsely by God's name. So they name the name of God, but it's not a genuine conversion. It's just something that they claim.

Well, then he sees a vision in verses 5 through 11 of a woman within a basket. And this basket goes forth to the land of Shinar. He explains that the woman in the basket is wickedness. Now, that's not an attempt to say that women are wicked. Okay, just to make sure that's pointed out. Wickedness is feminine in the Hebrew. And so that's why it's referred to as a woman wickedness.

And so it's taken to the land of Shinar, which probably is a reference to Babylon. Some say that it could be northern Syria. But the idea is that when the people came back from Babylon, they came with some wickedness. They came with some materialistic...

tendencies in their hearts and some things that were not of God. And so he's, in this vision, taking this wickedness to its place in Shinar or Babylon.

Chapter 6 now, verse 13 says, Yes, he shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on his throne. So he shall be a priest on his throne and the council of peace shall be between them both.

In verses 1 through 8, we see a vision of four chariots. And these chariots go to and fro throughout the earth. The first chariot has red horses, then black horses for the second. The third has white horses. The fourth chariot has dappled horses. Some people try to work out the meanings of all those colors, but I leave that for later.

People like Dave Burnt and those who are smarter than me. So you can talk to him about all the meanings of those colors. In verse 5 it says, And the angel answered and said to me, These are the four spirits of heaven who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. And so he's describing these, you know, spirits going forth throughout the whole earth. And then in verses 9 through 15 he says, Set an elaborate crown on Joshua.

So he has his eyes watching over the whole earth. There's a whole idea. And they're going for it. The eyes of the Lord miss nothing. And so the earth is being scoped out and watched. But then he goes on to give some instruction about this gift that is brought to Jerusalem. These guys come from Babylon now with a gift. There's some valuable materials that they bring.

And he says, take those and make an elaborate crown and then set it upon Joshua. Now this again becomes a prophecy regarding the Messiah that is yet to come. Because in verse 12 he says, thus says the Lord of hosts saying, behold the man whose name is the branch. From his place he shall branch out and he shall build the temple of the Lord.

And so there's a temporary fulfillment in Joshua as he's part of the work of rebuilding the temple. But then, of course, remember that Jesus said, you know, tear down this temple and then I'll rebuild it because he was referring to himself as the temple of the Lord. And so it's a reference also to that work of the Messiah, Jesus, in becoming our access to God. So he's referring to the Messiah. He's promising that the temple...

will be completed but then he also gives a condition and this is important to note he says in verse 15 this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord there's a lot of times in the scriptures that we see God gives promises promises of blessings promises to work and we need to take care not to miss there are conditions many times with God's promises and so this was conditioned upon their obedience their diligence in obeying the voice of the Lord

In the same way, we need to be diligent. The great promise that we often hold on to, Romans chapter 8, 28, right? God works all things together for good. But there is a condition on that as well. He says, for those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. And so if you want God to work all things together for good, be diligent in loving the Lord. Be diligent in obeying the Lord.

Chapter 7 now, verse 5. He says, say to all the people of the land and to the priests, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month during these 70 years, did you really fast for me? And then he emphasizes, for me? Was it really for me that you fasted? In verses 1 through 7, he says, should you not have obeyed the words of the Lord? Now he introduces the time frame for us. This is the fourth month of the year. And they come in

To Zechariah and they ask, hey Zechariah give us some counsel. Next month we're supposed to fast. Well we've been in Babylon this time. We've been fasting in the fifth month. So we're getting ready for that. Is that what we're supposed to do? This was a new tradition that they developed in Babylon. They began fasting during the fifth month in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem and

And so Jerusalem was destroyed in the fifth month. And so they decided we're going to fast every fifth month to remember that. And God says in response, when you developed that tradition and you were fasting all those years in Babylon on the fifth month, was that really for me? God's challenging them. Did I command that? Did I tell you to fast? In God's law, in the Levitical law, he did command them to fast on the day of atonement.

But that was the only time that they were commanded to fast. It was one day, once a year, he commanded them to fast. So this was not something that God commanded. It's something that they developed. And now he's saying, was that for me? Wiersbe says, the nation was adept at developing new religious traditions...

But it was not good at obeying the word of God. And I point this out because I find this tendency in us as well. That we're pretty good at developing new traditions. We can set laws for our own selves. But what God really wants is for us to obey him.

We try to deal with issues. We try to deal with things by coming up with, you know, rituals and traditions and things. And I'm going to do this because of this. And I'm going to do that because of that. But God is saying, look, you can fast. That's interesting. But don't try to claim that that's for me. That's just your own tradition that you've developed. We need to pursue the Lord and obey Him. That's what He desires. He reminds them in verses 8 through 14 of...

Their predecessors, their fathers. He says, they refused to heed, so I scattered them among the nations. He says, what I'm looking for here is your obedience. You're coming to me wondering about your traditions. But think about where those traditions come from. They come from the people who were rebellious to the point that I brought destruction and cast them out. And that's why they went into captivity, because they wouldn't obey my voice.

He says in verse 11, they refused to heed. They shrugged their shoulders. They stopped their ears so that they could not hear. They went to great lengths to refuse to hear God. And so he says, I scattered them. So he's saying, don't make that same mistake. Obey the voice of the Lord. It's not the fast that I want. It's your obedience.

In chapter 8, verse 13 now, he says, And it shall come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear. Let your hands be strong. Here in verses 1 through 8, he says, I'm zealous for Zion. He wants his people to know, I know there's a big pile of rubble and it looks discouraging and you want to give up, but I'm zealous for

for Zion. This is, Zion is the mountain where Jerusalem sits. I'm zealous for this place. I'm passionate about this, God says. And I'm going to do a great work here. He says in verse 3, I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. He says in verse 4, there's going to be old people in the gates and they're so old they have to have their canes with them.

That's a sign of blessing. There's going to be people who live a long time and are old in the gates. He says in verse 5, the streets are going to be full of kids who are playing. Again, these are not things that they would think of. It was a hard life in Jerusalem. But God says, I'm going to do a great work. He says, this is marvelous in your eyes, but does that mean it's marvelous in my eyes? You think it's too hard for me to do this? No, I'm going to do this work. I'm zealous for Zion.

And so he says in verses 9 through 13, let your hands be strong. This is what I'm going to do. I'm excited about this. I'm passionate about this. So be strong and build the temple. Do the work that I've called you to. He says in verse 13, and just as you were a curse among the nations for your disobedience, I'm going to save you and you're going to be a blessing. So he says, do not fear. Let your hands be strong. Be strong and do good.

Verses 14 through 17, he continues to encourage them, saying, Now again, he's determined to do good, but then he goes on to say, Verse 16,

These are the things you shall do. Speak each man the truth to his neighbor. Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace. Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor, and do not love a false oath, for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord. God says, I'm determined to do good. I'm zealous. So be strong and do the work, and don't practice the things that I hate.

If you want, I want to bless you. I want to do a great work. So don't practice those things that I hate so that I can do the work in you and in your midst that I want to do. Then he goes on in verses 18 through 23. He's still dealing with the question of whether or not they should fast. He says, these fasts shall be cheerful feasts. So you developed all these fasts. They developed a fast in the fourth month, in the fifth month, in the seventh month, and in the tenth month.

Again, these are things that they developed, their traditions. God says, in the future, those aren't going to be fasts. Those are going to be feasts. Those are going to be times of celebration where you rejoice in the work that I've done. Now, ultimately, this refers to the millennium.

Again, you see that in verse 22. Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord. And so it's that time when the whole world is seeking the Lord because Jesus is ruling there in Jerusalem. Chapter 9 now. Verse 9 is the key verse. He says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. Of course, this is probably a familiar verse to you as we see this fulfilled by Jesus on the triumphal entry, the Palm Sunday, as he rides into Jerusalem.

He starts out though in verses 1 through 8 talking about the burden against Hadrach, Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ashdod. These are all cities that are around Israel and Judah and God is pronouncing judgment upon them for their part in dealing with Israel and Judah and their cruelty.

And so here's a quick look at where those fall on the map. Hamath is on the very top. Damascus, the capital of Syria. Then you have Tyre and Sidon. And then those Philistine cities there at the bottom. And so these are all fulfilled by Alexander the Great and his conquests throughout the whole empire. He comes against all of these cities and brings destruction to them.

Then in verses 9 through 10, he says, And again, that's fulfilled by Jesus. You can see that in Matthew chapter 21. Verses 11 through 17, he said, As Jesus goes in, of course, that's what he's there to do. He saves his people. It says in verse 17,

For how great is its goodness and how great is its beauty. Grain shall make the young men thrive and new wine the young women. The work of the Messiah in this salvation is going to be a great and beautiful rejoicing work. So he's giving this promise of hope and blessing to the people who are discouraged in their building of the temple. Chapter 10 now verse 6 is the key verse.

He says, Here in chapters 10 and 11, he begins dealing with and talking specifically about the shepherds as a reference to the leaders of the nation of Israel.

As we talk about the leaders, I always like to ask us and remind us, you know, hey, if we have authority in the workplace, in the home, if we have the authority that God's given to us in any capacity, these are things that we need to take heed to because God gives that authority and he gives it to us for a specific purpose.

He says in verses 1 through 2 that the Lord will give showers of rain. He tells the people, ask for rain and I will give it. And he explains there in verse 2 that the people are in trouble because there's no shepherds. There's no one really leading. There's no one who is representing the Lord for them. And so he's going to do it himself in verses 3 through 5. He says the Lord will visit his flock.

In verse 3 he says, He says, look, God's people are not the warriors that they could be because the shepherds have not been faithful.

And so God says, I'm going to come down and visit my people. I'll be their shepherd. And then they shall be like mighty men. They're going to be established and strong because the Lord is their shepherd. He says, I will strengthen the house of Judah in verses 6 through 12. Now as I was reading through this, I was once again amazed at how completely God is able to restore when people turn back to him. Check out verse 6.

He says, I will strengthen the house of Judah. I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have mercy on them. They shall be as though I had not cast them aside from the Lord their God and I will hear them. God's going to do a complete restoration as he does this work. As they turn to him, he's able to do this complete restoring work. Chapter 11 now, verse 17. He says, woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock.

The prophecies here in chapter 11 seem to be prophecies regarding the Roman invasion that happened in 70 A.D.,

And there at that time, these things are fulfilled. In verses 1 through 3, the shepherds, the leaders wail for their glories and ruins. So they were destroyed by Babylon. They come back. They rebuild. They rebuild the city. There's glorious work that happens right before Jesus comes on the scene. Jerusalem is a great city. The temple is beautiful. But then in 70 AD, the city is once again destroyed by the Roman Empire.

And at that time, the leader's wail for the glory of Jerusalem is now once again in ruins. He calls them to do a visual illustration with a flock of sheep. In verses 4 through 6, he says, feed the flock for slaughter. And so he's demonstrating this judgment that is to come.

He takes up two staffs and then he breaks them in verses 7 through 14. The broken staffs are called beauty and bonds. And he's representing here the beauty of the people, the beauty of Jerusalem will be broken. The bonds or the unity will be broken. Also you see there in verse 12 the reference to the 30 pieces of silver which is fulfilled by God.

who betrayed Jesus. There's a lot of details here I'm not able to get into for lack of time, but you can check those things out as he's representing these things of the judgment of the nation. And so he's restoring them, he's promising great restoration, but they're still not fully obedient. And that's seen by them rejecting Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

And so then in verses 15 through 17, he pronounces a woe to the worthless shepherd because again, they're not faithful to the Lord. Zechariah chapter 12, now verse 8. In that day, the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David and the house of David shall be like God and the angel of the Lord before them. Now in chapters...

12, 13, and 14, Zechariah is specifically looking towards end times events, things that we would refer to as last days prophecies. And you can see that in the repetition of the in that day phrase in these chapters. So these are things that are really not yet fulfilled, but are going to be fulfilled as we look forward to the return of Jesus Christ.

So he says in verses 1 through 6, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all peoples. Verse 7 through 9, the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And then in verses 10 through 14, they will look upon me whom they pierced. And so he's talking about in the last days, well we can already see Jerusalem is a stumbling block for the whole world.

It's amazing, you know, the nation of Israel is so tiny, but it's the subject of, you know, the news all the time because, well, it's the cup of drunkenness or the stumbling block to all peoples. But there's going to be some severe attacks upon Jerusalem, even as there already is, and the Lord is going to defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Now he makes a reference to them looking upon him whom they pierced. And so in the middle of the seven year tribulation period, we know that they will recognize that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. And so this is a reference to that. The nation in this time where he defends them will realize that he is the Lord and will turn to him.

Chapter 13, verse 2, it says, "...it shall be in that day," says the Lord of hosts, "...that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land."

So in all these promises of blessings that God has been giving to them, they're not fully obedient in what he's asked of them. And so the ultimate fulfillments are going to happen later on in the tribulation and in the millennium. And so the cutting off of the idols from the land is still yet to happen. They haven't turned to the Lord. There's still idolatry going on. He says, I will bring one third of the land through the fire.

This is a reference to the tribulation period. This fire that will come upon the whole earth. And he's going to protect his people. He says, I'm going to bring one third of them through the fire. So remember from the book of Daniel, the 70 weeks and 69 have been fulfilled. There's one more seven year period to be fulfilled. That hasn't started yet because we're in the church age. But when the church is taken out of the way...

and the Antichrist signs the covenant with Israel, then that begins that final seven-year period, which we refer to as the tribulation. And God says, I'm going to bring one-third of my people through that seven-year tribulation. There in the middle of the tribulation is the abomination of desolation, when the Antichrist sets up the image in the temple and demands to be worshiped.

And it's at that time, as we saw in the previous chapter, they will look upon the one whom they pierced and realize that Jesus is the Messiah and turn to him and he will preserve one third of them through the fire. Chapter 14 now, the final chapter, verse 9. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. It shall be, or in that day it shall be, the Lord is one and his name is one. And so here we have the glorious victory of

the completion of the work that God has been promising. In verses 1 through 2, he says, I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem. Probably a reference to the battle of Armageddon. Verses 3 through 7, he says, the Lord will fight those nations. Then in verses 8 through 11, the waters will flow from Jerusalem. Verses 12 through 15, the Lord will strike the people who fought against Jerusalem.

And then everyone shall go to Jerusalem to worship. So what he's talking about here, again, is these last times events. At the battle of Armageddon, God is gathering all nations to this battle. And as he gathers them there, that's when Jesus returns and he fights against those nations. And they are destroyed. He says he will strike the people who fought against Jerusalem.

He also sets foot upon the Mount of Olives. It breaks in half. And remember, as we looked at the temple in Ezekiel, the waters will flow from Jerusalem and it will be the living waters, the healing waters. And so that's referred to here in Zechariah. And that all happens at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

But then in verses 16 through 21, he says, everyone shall go to Jerusalem to worship. That's a reference to the millennium. When Jesus returns, he sets up his kingdom for 1,000 years and the whole world will go to Jerusalem every year, year by year, and worship the Lord there. And so he's referring to this glorious future that he has for them. Now, these are the things that he's saying to the nation, right?

And I want to kind of take you back to the beginning. He was speaking these things to the people who were discouraged. They wanted to give up the work. They had already given up the work. And God said, I still have great plans in store for you.

And they did complete the temple, but they rejected Jesus later on. There's some generations in between. But the point is, they were not fully obedient. They didn't really receive what the Lord was saying. They received it in that they finished rebuilding the temple, but they were still lacking in their generations as a whole, their commitment and their obedience to the Lord. And so the fulfillment of these things happened.

will be taking place in the millennium. But for you and I, as we consider these things, I want to encourage you. Yes, there is a lot of work to be done in your life. What God wants to do, it's going to take a lot of work. And it's discouraging. And it can be very tempting to give up. Maybe it's kind of like a New Year's resolution, you know? Every year or every season, you try again, you make a big vow, and then you fall short. And so you can just think, man, I just...

Want to give up. Why bother? I mean, sure, I could take this little step and I'll, you know, read through the Bible in three years or I'll go to church or I'll do this or I'll do that. But, you know, it's just such a little thing. It's like so meaningless compared to this work that needs to be done. And we discourage ourselves, but God rejoices. And so I want to encourage you. Don't look at the mountain and think, I should just give up. Look at the Lord. Look at the Lord.

And remember, he said, it's not by might, it's nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. And there is the condition. He offers it to us. He offers us the work. But our response determines how effective he can work, how much he can do. And so I want to encourage you this evening, and as we start this year, let's make it a year where we turn to the Lord with our whole hearts, where we allow him to

To make the mountains into plains. Where we allow Him to do what He wants to do by turning to Him with our whole hearts. By living for Him. By seeking to please Him. By seeking to honor Him. By loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. And He has great things in store for you. But you can miss out on a lot of the blessings by not responding as He calls out to you. So let's not follow their example.

Let's learn the lessons from the past and go forward in full submission to the Lord and obedience to Him. Amen? Lord, we do pray that You would help us as we go forward to be receptive to what You're saying, to be understanding the work that You want to do. And as You gave these specific instructions to the people in Zechariah's day, I pray that You would speak to our hearts about the things that You desire from us.

Lord, we know it begins by coming to you by faith in Jesus Christ, receiving that completed, finished work upon the cross. And so, Lord, help us to do that, to receive the grace and the mercy that you provide for us. But Lord, also help us to go forward in our walk with you, in the things that you'll speak to our hearts, in those things that you've already spoken but we've resisted in. Help us, Lord, to go forward, to allow you to go forward

You're zealous for us. You want to do a great work in us. Help us, Lord, to get out of the way by being obedient and submitted to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.