Lessons From Zechariah
Zechariah 2:1-5 (12/27/18)
December 27, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* vs 1-2 - Jerusalem’s walls had been broken down and God gave Zach a vision of an angel measuring the length and width of Jerusalem. * This was showing ownership. * In real estate we measure the houses we buy - this shows ownership. * This discovers whether or not the house “measures up” to the specifications it’s supposed to. * vs 3-5 - God was not going to build a physical wall but a spiritual one. * This wall showed protection. * God was essentially saying, “Jerusalem is mine and I will protect it.” * We can apply this to our own lives. * Walls represent security. * We don’t need to find our security in anything other than God. * We are His and He will provide for and protect us.
Zechariah 3:1-4 (12/27/18)
December 27, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* In this vision God is holding court and Satan is bringing accusations against Joshua the High Priest. * Joshua wasn’t “measuring up” - that was true. * But then God rebukes the accuser. * Satan is a deceiver in the role of an accuser. * We need to recognize this and deal with it. * When we see the 3 A’s of Satan we can defeat him: * 1) Adversary - Satan is our adversary - he stands against everything God stands for. * When we make peace with God the devil declares war on us. * 2) Accusation - Satan brings accusations to us because we are made in God’s image. * He accuses us about our own sin (like Joshua) so we'll be paralyzed by guilt. * He accuses others about their sin so we become bitter toward them. * 3) Agreement - the only way Satan can defeat us is for us to agree with his accusations (against us and/or against others). * The way to win is to NEVER AGREE WITH THE ACCUSER!
Zechariah 4:1-14 (12/30/21)
December 30, 2021 • Benham Brothers • Zechariah 4
* When we treat our work as worship God gets involved in the process. * BACKSTORY - Israel’s leader, Zerubbabel, had the responsibility of rebuilding the Temple that had been destroyed. * It would not look anything like the former Temple. * But God wanted the job done, and so he sent a few prophets (Haggai and Zechariah) to encourage him to keep up the good work. * This chapter was specific to Zerubbabel. * How would God encourage this leader to keep up the good work he was doing of rebuilding the temple? * He would show him a picture of what’s happening in the spiritual world while he was busy working in the physical world. * As Zerubbabel was working on the Temple, here’s what was happening: * Vs 1-3 - God was pouring the oil of the Spirit upon him to strengthen him for the task. * Olive trees fed the oil so the priest didn’t have to. * Vs 4-5 - Zechariah didn’t recognize what was happening at first. * Vs 6 - the secret to accomplishing what God wants you to accomplish is by the SPIRIT doing it through you! * Vs 7 - when the Spirit is involved you can do the impossible. * Vs 8-9 - w/God’s help, Zerubbabel will complete the task - “you can do it!” * Encouragement is to “make courageous.” (Terri Furr with Tori - “you can do this!”) * Vs 10a - how you handle the small things can make those things sacred!! * Vs 10b - God is watching! * Vs 11-14 - the two branches represent the king and priest. * As we operate as Kings in the marketplace led by the heart of a Priest, we will accomplish all God wants us to accomplish!
Zechariah 4:8-10 (12/24/17)
December 24, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you’ve given me to do.” John 17:4 * The Israelites were back from captivity and the temple had already begun. * But it stopped for several years for fear of persecution. * The elder Haggai had rebuked them for stopping and told them to get going again. * Zechariah encouraged them to keep up the work. * vs 8-10 - God is pleased with the process. * Our work is our primary form of worship. * ** Work is everything we do. ** * ** Worship is our attempt to make God SMILE! ** * Anything we do to make God smile is worship to Him. * Enter - little drummer boy. * He was recruited by the three wise men to go see Jesus. * But he instantly thought about his lack - what he din’t have to offer instead of what he did. * This is how Satan keeps us from our work. * WISE MEN to the boy: * Come they told me * A new born King to see * Our finest gifts we bring * To lay before the kIng * So to honor Him * When we come * LITTLE BOY to Jesus: * Little baby * I am a poor boy too * I have no gift to bring * That's fit to give our King * LITTLE BOY to Mary: * Shall I play for you * On my drum * Mary nodded * The ox and lamb kept time * I played my drum for Him * I played my best for Him * Then He smiled at me * Me and my drum * Luke 2:14 (NASB) - “http://.....peace among men with whom He is pleased!” * God is pleased with those who do their work “for Him,” like the little drummer boy.
Zechariah 5:2 (12/24/14)
December 24, 2014 • Benham Brothers
Twice the angel asked Zechariah, "What do you see?" God was doing something and He wanted to reveal it to Zechariah. But Zechariah needed to see it first. We all know the song, "Do you see what I see?" It's about a shepherd boy talking to a king about something he sees, hears, and knows. Think about a few of the characters in the Christmas story: 1) Wise men - they saw it. God had placed the star in the sky to give a heads up of His kingdom coming to the earth. It was there for all to see, but only those who had eyes to see saw it. How? * They were LOOKING for it. 2) Shepherds - they saw it and heard it. The Messiah had been born - God's kingdom had now come - and the announcement came to shepherds. * They were being FAITHFUL in their duty. Faithfulness is God's litmus test for service - faithful in the little leads to faithful in the big. This was the biggest announcement in human history and a group of faithful workers got to hear it. * They wise men SAW it, the shepherds saw it and HEARD it, but when they searched for Jesus and found Him they all KNEW it! They knew God's kingdom had now come to the earth, even though it was WAY different than they had imagined. Do you see what I see? You have to be looking. Do you hear what I hear? You have to be listening. Do you know what I know? You have to be search for Him - move toward Him - go after Him - pursue Him. Looking, Listening, Pursuing - this is the key to KNOWING.
Zechariah 6:9-15 (1/2/20)
January 2, 2020 • Benham Brothers
* The Israelites were now back in Israel, home from a 70 year stint in Babylon. * God gave Zach 8 visions to warn them and encourage them to continue to follow Him. * At the end of Zach’s 8 visions, God gives him one final vision. * He was to do something symbolic of Christ’s return to reign as King/Priest over the whole world. * This was a promise for their present and their future. * Vs 9-11 - three guys would bring gold for the re-building of the temple, which God commanded the Israelites to re-build. * Josiah would be their host and let them stay with him. * God told Zach to visit them, take the gold, and use it to make a crown rather than for the temple. * Then, he was told to put the crown on the head of Joshua the priest rather than Zerubbabel the king. * * Zach could’ve been seen as an insurrectionist in that moment. * No priest was ever crowned King in Israel’s history. * * But he didn’t tell anyone what or why he was doing it until AFTER he obeyed God. * Vs 12-13 - Finally, Zach explained that the crown on the priest was symbolic of how one day God will unite the monarchy and the priesthood. * This pointed to Jesus. * * Imagine if Joshua wanted to keep the crown - bad move on his part. * All of it happened to point people to JESUS!!!! * The same is true with us - if God shines a light on you it’s not for you - it’s for Jesus! * Vs 14-15 - Zach took the crown and put it in the Temple to remind people of what was to come. * This would encourage the people throughout their history. * Fast forward to Matthew 2:11 - gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for death.
Zechariah 7:12 (1/2/14)
January 2, 2014 • Benham Brothers
Hard Head / Soft Heart - you want to please God and not man Soft Head / Hard Heart - you don't care about pleasing God and you want to please man Hard Head / Hard Heart - you don't care about pleasing anyone, God or man Soft Head / Soft Heart - you want to please everyone, God and man
Zechariah 8:14-23 (12/27/18)
December 27, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* vs 14-15 - The Israelites had fallen out of God’s favor due to their hardness of heart toward Him. * But He still loved them and sent prophets to draw them back. * God’s love is unconditional. * vs 16B - His favor is conditional upon our response to His love. * God’s favor is conditioned upon our obedience. * God wants to show favor to all of us. * But He requires us to walk within His boundaries (vs 16-19). * vs 21-23 - People all over the world would flock to the Jews because they would see God’s favor on their lives and nation. * Proverbs 22:1 (ESV) - “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and FAVOR is better than silver or gold.” * How to remain in God’s favor: * Truth - Faith - Obedience - Favor (blessing). * How to walk out of God’s favor: * Untruth - Unfaith - Disobedience - No Favor (curse).
Zechariah 9:3-8 (1/2/20)
January 2, 2020 • Benham Brothers
* Some thoughts on these verses from Warren Wiersbe: * These verses describe the march of Alexander the Great and his army through the area north and east of Palestine. * He defeated the Persians in 333 b.c., which fulfilled Daniels’ prophecy of the winged leopard. * Then he defeated leading cities of Phoenicia. * After defeating these nations, the Greek army then marched down the Phoenician coast, taking one city after another, from Tyre and Sidon in the north to Ashkelon and Gaza in the south. * Vs 3-8 - Zechariah prophesied, along with Daniel, this would happen. * But why all this concern over Alexander the Great? * Vs 9 - Because of verse 9! It was all to prepare for Jesus! * Wiersbe - “His conquests helped to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus Christ. By building Greek cities, encouraging his soldiers to marry women from conquered nations, and spreading Greek culture and the Greek language, he unified the known world, and when the Romans took over, they found an empire all prepared for them. Greek was the language of literature, and our New Testament is written in the common Greek language of the people of that day. The combination of Greek culture and Roman government, roads, and laws was just what the early church needed for the spread of the Gospel.”
Zechariah 10:1 (12/28/17)
December 28, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* Everything in creation points to a Creator. * The fact that it “just so happens” to rain each Spring when the farmers need it the most points to God. * The fact rain comes from the direction of heaven points to God. * The fact that water has life-giving principles inside it points to God. * In these verses God is showing that He is our provider and has set up the earth to produce for us only when two things happen: * 1) We do our part - we cultivate the ground. * 2) He does His part - He sends the rain. * But here’s the key - even though the rain does come God still wants us to ask for it. * Why? * So that we can remind ourselves that we must fully rely on Him. * So that we don’t forget God’s part in the process. * So that we don’t forget that HE is our provider, and apart from Him we can do nothing.
Zechariah 12:9-14 (12/31/14)
Benham Brothers
God was giving Zach a prophesy about the coming of the Messiah. He gives him insight into a few things that would happen "on that day." Put yourself in the shoes of the OT listener who heard these things - they had no idea what this kingdom or Messiah would actually turn out to be, but they had expectations. They didn't know that God's kingdom would start out as a spiritual one and the physical temple would be replaced by bodies and His Spirit would take residence inside people. God made it difficult to understand so that only those who truly searched for it would find it. We have the pleasure of reading the Bible "after the fact." A few things we gather from Zech 12: 1) God was going to do a glorious work "for" His people - He would deliver them from their enemy. We can have victory in Jesus - victory over sin and death. 2) God was going to do a glorious work "in" His people - He did this through the gift of His Holy Spirit. He would transform us from the inside out and make us new people. 3) This new work would manifest itself through mourning (vs 10-14). We will mourn for our own sins and the sins around us (nation/culture). God has to break us first and then He can put us back together. Our temperature gauge is our "mourning" gauge - how do we feel about our own sin and the sin around us?
Zechariah 13:7-9 (12/31/14)
December 31, 2014 • Benham Brothers
The kingdom of God was to be "ushered" in by suffering and "entered" in by suffering. 1) Ushered in - it would start with God's Son having to die a brutal death. When He rose from the grave He defeated satan once and for all and now humans can have power over sin and death. When Christ suffered his followers scattered. God divides before He unites, He breaks down before He builds up. 2) Entered in - the price for entering God's kingdom would be suffering. You have to be willing to pay the price - the rich young ruler was not. You won't pick up your cross unless you're willing to hang on it. WHY suffering? Just as gold is refined in the fire, so are people. When the heat gets turned up the "non-gold" is melted away. Fire can't touch the inner man renewed by Christ - it can only reveal it.