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 12:9-14 (12/31/14)
On That Day
Benham Brothers
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!