“You have said harsh thing against Me,” says the Lord.  “Yet you ask, ‘what have we said against You?’”  “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God.  What did we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?  But now we call the arrogant blessed.  Certainly the evil-doers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’” (Malachi 3:13-15)

In times of trouble and apostasy, it is easy for God’s people to begin to think that they don’t count for much.  Evil is prospering everywhere and wicked people seem to get by with murder and stealing.  Even those in the church who are complacent seem to be getting by.  What profit is there in going to church and serving God anyway?  This was a question of the people in Malachi’s day.

“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.  A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.”  “They will be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day I take up my treasured possession.  I will spare them just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Malachi 3:16-18)

There were some who continued to trust God.  They met together and encouraged one another to stay strong.  God was listening to them and making a note of each person!  It is encouraging to know that God is interested in the faithful!  He is a God of encouragement and hope and lets the faithful know it!  (Romans 15:13)  God promises help for the faithful!  They will escape the coming judgment.  There will be a visible difference between the righteous and the wicked on that coming day!

“‘Surely the day is coming;  it will burn like a furnace.  All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble and that day that is coming will set them on fire,’  says the Lord Almighty.  . . .’But you who revere My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.  . . .Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet when I do these things,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Malachi 4:1-3)

The last chapters of Zechariah are devoted to declaring what God is going to do.  Many times the prophet announces that God says, “I will”.  God’s word is forever settled in the heavens.  Because He does not lie, what He says must come to pass.  Many of Zechariah’s words from God that have been fulfilled but others remain standing for future fulfillment.

“The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:  ” I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.  Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:1-2)  God was going to use Jerusalem to punish the peoples of the earth who refused to come to God.  God would save Jerusalem and strengthen His people but destroy all the nations that set out to attack Jerusalem.  (Zechariah 12:8-9)

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.  “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty.  I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.” (Zechariah 12:1-2)  God foresaw the cleansing of the land of Israel from idols and false prophets.  His people had struggled with idolatry but would be totally set free in the last days by a cleansing fountain.

“I (the Lord) will gather the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.  Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.  Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.” (Zechariah 14:2-3)  Zechariah saw God fighting the nations that had overrun Jerusalem.  He would be victorious!

“The Lord will be King over the whole earth.  On that day there will be one Lord, and His Name the only Name.” (Zechariah 14:9)  The rule of God will come to all the earth.  He has a Name above every name!  There is no other King but Jesus Christ!  He defeats the nations and establishes peace on earth.  Praise His Name!

Greetings on another day of rest and reflection!  We have covered most of the Old Testament and many of the minor prophets.  Their message has been one of coming judgment and hope for God’s people.  They spoke of the coming King who would rule to the ends of the earth and destroy the wicked.  They called God’s people to seek Him humbly and to walk by faith, encouraging them with the promise of eternal rewards and a time of everlasting peace.  The ‘day of the Lord’ was a common theme in many of these prophet’s ministries.

As I reflect back on the past week, a scripture from Zechariah comes quickly to my mind!  “So he 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 Almighty.”" (Zechariah 4:4)  As we think of all the happenings of the coming end times and the day of the Lord, we can become overwhelmed by how we are going to make it and be ready.  We see the work yet to be done in reaching this world with the Gospel and think how difficult it is.  Zechariah was given a word of God by an angel who spoke to him.  This angel relayed God’s encouragement to His people of all generations.  We are not to rely on our own strength or power to accomplish the work of building the temple any more than Zechariah and his people were told not to!  God, Himself, by His Spirit will empower His people.

This is good news for us today!  We need to be reminded that God has everything under his control.  He is bringing about His plans and His purposes are established forever!  (Psalm 33:9-10)  Those things that look like mountains will become level by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is building His Temple and by His Spirit it will be accomplished!  We must be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in the Spirit and we will have nothing to be concerned about!  God bless you and your family!

In His Love,  Pastor John

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.  He will proclaim peace to the nations.  His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9-10) (Matthew 21:1-9)

Zechariah had amazing insight given to him by God!  From over 500 years before the coming of Christ into Jerusalem, Zechariah described the event with amazing details.  He saw a King coming into Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey.  He saw this King having salvation for those who would receive it.  He also saw this King proclaiming peace to all the nations and that His rule would be extended to the ends of the earth!

“From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler.” (Zechariah 10:4) (Matthew 21:42-46)  Zechariah correctly saw that it would be from Judah that God would raise up the cornerstone of His new temple.  Judah would bring forth the tent peg that would support the weight of His people.  Judah would bring forth the ultimate warrior who would win the victory and rule!

“I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.”  So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.  And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”–the handsome price at which they priced me!  So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.” (Zechariah 11:12-13)  (Matthew 27:1-9)  Zechariah saw a person who would be paid thirty pieces of silver for the price of a person.  This person was then told to throw it into the house of the Lord to be given to the potter.

We know today that Jesus Christ and Judas fulfilled these prophesies over 500 years after they were given.  God is in control and knows all things.  He alone can declare the end from the beginning!  Our King is still coming!  He will rule over the nations and rule to the ends of the earth!  Are you ready to meet Him?

In Zechariah’s day, the people were fasting in four different months.  They had started this practice during the exile as a sign to God of their mourning over sin.  Now that they were back in Jerusalem, they sought to know whether they should continue this practice.  (Zechariah 7:2-3)  God spoke to them by asking them some questions: “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past 70 years, was it really for Me that you fasted?  And when eating and drinking, were you not feasting for yourselves?” (Zechariah 7:5-6)  God knew that their religious rituals were not done from the heart but in form only. He tried to get them to admit this and repent.

God is after real heart change.  “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor.  In you hearts do not think evil of each other.’” (Zechariah 7:9-10)  True fasting produces results in our daily lives.  (Isaiah 58:6-14)  It is demonstrated by mercy and compassion on those who are broken and wounded.  The widows and fatherless are of particular concern to God as well as the alien and poor.  His people must not judge or speak evil, but work to build up and encourage those who are hurting.

God’s people did not respond earlier and because of their hardened hearts, He judged them by sending a whirlwind and scattering them among the nations.  God put the blame on His people for their failure to respond to His word through the prophets.  (Zechariah 7:13-14)

But God was now restoring Jerusalem and would again come and dwell among His people.  They were to pay heed to His word and live a truly fasted life of compassion and service to their fellow men.  God would bless their city, land, and personal lives as they obeyed.  This required courage and a life consecrated to God.  “Do not be afraid.  These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts, do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely.  I hate all this,” declares the Lord. (Zechariah 8:15b-17)  True fasting is worked out in our lives each day.  It is the state of a heart consecrated to God.

God gave Zechariah a vision of a giant flying scroll.  God told him that this scroll was the curse going out over the land coming against all who were thieves and liars.  This curse would destroy them and their houses.  (Zechariah 5:1-4)  The second vision was of a measuring basket,  full of the iniquity.  When Zechariah looked into the lead-covered basket, he saw a woman whose name was “Wickedness”.  Then two women with wings lifted the basket and carried it to the country of Babylon. (Zechariah 5:6-11)

God’s word contains a list of promised blessings for those who obey God’s law and a list of curses for those who break God’s law. (Deuteronomy 28:1-13) God promised the blessings would run after His people and overtake them if they were obedient and faithful.  The curses would also run after them and overtake them if they were disobedient.  (Deuteronomy 28:15-68)  What Zechariah saw  in his vision of the scroll was the curse coming upon the land and bringing judgment and destruction because of their lying and stealing.

The woman in the basket taken to Babylon was also a reminder to God’s people about the consequences of idolatry!  Babylon, the land of Shinar, was the site of the tower of Babel where idolatry had it’s beginning and God judged the people.  (Genesis 11:1-9)  Babylon was also where God sent His people for seventy years of captivity because of their disobedience.  (Jeremiah 25:11-12) God’s people were called out of Babylon, the home of “wickedness”!  (Jeremiah 51:6) (Revelation 18:4)

God next told Zechariah get some of the silver and gold that had been brought from Babylon by the exiles who had just returned.  He was to have a crown made and was then to set it on the head of Joshua, the high priest.  This word from God was to be spoken: “Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.  It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and He will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on His throne. And He will be a priest on His throne.” (Zechariah 6:12-13a)  This King/Priest is none other than Jesus Christ!  He is the “Branch” of King David who is our High Priest and King forever!  He is the foundation for the true Temple!

Zechariah’s prophesies are a rich source of encouragement for believers of all cultures and times.  It is amazing how Zechariah, speaking about 500 years before Christ, foretold so many details about His life and reign.  In today’s reading, Zechariah picks up on two terms used by other earlier prophets to describe the coming Messiah.

“Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come; I am going to bring My servant, the Branch.  See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua!  There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord Almighty, and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.” (Zechariah 3:8-9)  Zechariah told the high priest, Joshua, that he and his associates were symbolic of things to come in the future.  God would send a future servant, “the Branch”, who would also be a high priest!  According to Isaiah’s prophesy, the “Branch” would come from the stump of Jesse.  He would have the seven-fold Spirit of God upon Him.  (Isaiah 11:1-4)   According to Jeremiah’s prophesy, this “Branch” would be from the line of David and He would do what was just and right.   Under His leadership, Judah would be saved.  (Jeremiah 33:15-16)

Looking back from our perspective, Jesus Christ did come from Jesse’s stump, because  Jesse was the father of King David!  Jesus is the cornerstone of the new temple composed of those who by faith put their trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. (Matthew 21:42)   He was filled with the Holy Spirit of God and manifested that Spirit as He lived and ministered on earth. (Luke 4:1)   Jesus Christ offered Himself as the final sinless sacrifice for the sins of Judah and the whole world.  In one day, God did away with sin and it’s penalty through the sacrifice of His own Son!  God installed Jesus as our High Priest of a new order and He ever lives to intercede for us!  (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Zechariah wrote down these descriptions to help us know that God’s plans are sure and always come to pass.  “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit’ says the Lord Almighty.”  God’s power will bring to pass every promise in His word.  Make sure your life is placed on the Stone with the seven eyes!

God considers those who belong to Him by faith to be the apple of His eye.  Sin had caused the scattering of Israel to Babylon for seventy years, but God had earlier promised a restoration.  (Jeremiah 25:12)  He would shake the nations and cause His people to return again.  The seventy years captivity was a result of God’s word overtaking the people.  When people violate God’s commands, the promises of judgment will surely come true.  If they would obey God, then promises of blessing and protection would surely overtake them, for God watches over His word to perform it!  (Jeremiah 1:12)

God promised to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the people to their land.  (Zechariah 1:16-17)   The rebuilding of the city would be unusual.  It was to be a city without walls because of the large number of people and animals!  God, Himself, would be a wall of fire around the city assuring its protection.  God would also be the glory within the city. (Zechariah 2:4-5)   Jerusalem would be the dwelling place of God!

God’s people were to flee from Babylon and return to Jerusalem.  God was going to punish the nations that had plundered them.  They were among the most powerful on the earth, but all would know that the Lord was God when He avenged His people!  (Zechariah 2:6-9)

“”Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion,  for I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord.  “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become My people.  I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.”" (Zechariah 2:10-11)

The prophet declared that the Lord, Himself, was coming to live among them in Jerusalem.  There would be great joy when this happened and many nations would be joined to the Lord in that day and become His people.  This is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ coming to live with His people.  His life and ministry caused a great stir and much joy for those who believed in Him.  He lived among His people and they beheld His glory!  (John 1:14)  His coming brought light to the Gentiles and many nations were drawn to Him. (Matthew 4:12-17)  His miracles and teaching confirmed that He was the Messiah, sent from God!  We are truly the “apple of His eye”!

Haggai had been sent by the Lord to speak to His people who had returned to Jerusalem after the exile to rebuild the city and temple.  Haggai had the people’s respect because he obeyed the Lord and spoke for God plainly.  (Haggai 1:12)  The people he spoke to feared the Lord and received the word brought to them.

One of the problems with the returning exiles was misplaced priorities.  They came back to Jerusalem and found a mess.  The walls were broken down and houses and vineyards were overgrown with weeds.  They got their eyes off fixing the city wall and the temple and began working on their own houses.  (Haggai 1:2-11)  They focused on themselves and their own needs and neglected God’s plans and His house.  This resulted in drought on the fields and poverty in their lives.  They could not get ahead.

The remedy for this was to refocus on God’s house, placing Him first!  God promised them that if they did this, He would be with them and bless them.  They obeyed and began the work.  Some of the workers were depressed because the rebuilt temple was not nearly as beautiful as the original temple that they remembered.  Haggai had to speak a word from God to help them stay focused.  “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,” says the Lord Almighty. “And in this place I will grant peace,” declares the Lord Almighty.”  (Haggai 2:9)

God would bring even greater glory to His house in the last days.  God would shake the nations, and the desired of the nations, Jesus Christ, would come and bring glory to the Temple.  He would sacrifice Himself for the sins of the people of all nations, enabling them to be forgiven and adopted by God into His family.  They would be able to receive the Holy Spirit, a deposit of God’s glory.  This glory would be within each believer, which now makes up the new temple of God. The glory of this later house would be greater than the former!

We, too, must check our priorities.  Are you seeking to put God’s kingdom first in your life?  Have you prioritized building His temple over building your own bank account or business?  Put the Lord first and He will bless you!

Greetings on this first day of a new week!  Today we have a new opportunity to gather with God’s people and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ!  What a privilege we have to gather without fear and worship freely!  Many around the world must meet secretly and watch closely for fear of punishment or death.  They are always aware of the cost of following Jesus Christ and are also aware of how quickly and suddenly they could stand before Him.

This is something that American Christians may be missing.  We are so complacent about gathering together for worship and many excuses keep people from church.  Some like to sleep in because it is their only day off.  Others place sports, pleasure, recreation, or family ahead of meeting with God’s people.  Some just don’t feel like making the effort and rationalize that they can turn on the TV and hear a message that will take the place of going to church.

A common theme in this past week’s readings has been complacency.  The warning of these minor prophets called God’s people out of this deadly sin.  Amos cried out, “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria”. (Amos 6:1)  Micah warned of prophets who told fortunes for money to people who claimed that God was among them but showed no fruit of repentance.  (Micah 3:11-12)  Habakkuk cried out for revival when God revealed His coming judgment on a complacent people.  (Habakkuk 3:2)  Zephaniah warned God’s people of the sudden coming of the day of the Lord when money would not save people, only His mercy would be of help.  (Zephaniah 1:14, 18)

Jesus Christ also warned His people that the day of the Lord would come like a thief in the night.  (Matthew 24:36-44)  God’s people must be ready!  We must keep our focus and realize that that day might be today.  Have you prepared to meet God?  Are you living in known sin?  Are you complacent in your walk with God and neglecting to gather with God’s people?  Take time today to reorder your priorities!  “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

In His Love,

Pastor John