SERIES: Major Profit from Minor Prophets
The Prophet of Hope and Glory
SPEAKER: Gene Moniz
Note: This series, done in the summer of 1999, involved one sermon each on the Twelve Minor Prophets. Obviously, since these books are of varying lengths, from one chapter to fourteen chapters, these sermons are focused on the key message of each prophet, rather than a detailed examination of their words. This sermon was given by Associate Pastor Gene Moniz.
Introduction: What is in a name? Do you know what your name means? Does it even matter to you? Hebrew names meant something. Take for example the name Methuselah, which signifies, “When he is dead, it will be sent.” When Methuselah died the flood came, just as his name prophesied. In our introduction to the book of Zechariah we encounter three names that are very significant. Zechariah 1:1: “In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.” The first name is Zechariah which means “God remembers.” The second name is Berekiah, Zechariah’s father, which means “God blesses.” The third name is Iddo, Zechariah’s grandfather, which means “At the appointed time.” That happens to be the theme of the book of Zechariah. “God remembers and God blesses at the appointed time.” It is a book of encouragement to the people of Israel.
As pastor Jeff told us last week, Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. You remember, “good cop, bap cop.” Haggai was the “bad cop” whose basic theme is clear: the people must reorder their priorities and complete the temple before they can expect the blessings of God upon their efforts. Because of spiritual indifference they failed to respond to God’s attempts to get their attention. Through some tough exhortation Haggai brought them to an understanding that their lives can become difficult when they place their own selfish interests before God’s. They were building houses for themselves and neglecting the rebuilding of the temple (God’s House). On the other hand, when they put God first and seek to do His will, He brings His people joy.
Although they were back in Jerusalem, rebuilding the temple and the city, they were still subject to the Gentile nations around them, without much hope for the future. This was a discouraging, depressing time, and a spirit of dark pessimism gripped the people. Zechariah comes to them with this announcement that is wrapped up in his name and ancestry: “God remembers and God blesses at the appointed time.” What an encouragement those names must have been!
The difference between the two prophets seems to be this, that while Haggai’s task was chiefly to arouse the people to the outward task of building the Temple, Zechariah sought to lead the people to a complete spiritual change, one of the fruits of which would, of necessity, be increased zeal in the building of God’s House. Four years later he would witness the completion of that task.
This book divides nicely into three sections, which can be found in Zechariah 1:2-3: “The LORD was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
1. God’s displeasure with His people (1:1-6): “The LORD was very angry with your forefathers.”
2. God’s deliverance of His people (1:7-6:15): “Return to me, declares the LORD Almighty.”
3. God’s desire for His people (7:1-14:21): “and I will return to you, says the LORD Almighty.”
God’s displeasure with His people (1:1-6) “The LORD was very angry with your forefathers.” (1:2)
Zechariah 1:1-6 {1} In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo: {2} “The LORD was very angry with your forefathers. {3} Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty. {4} Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. {5} Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? {6} But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.'”
Zechariah invited the people to look back and recall what their forefathers had done to provoke the Lord to anger and judgment. The Jewish people who had returned to the land knew their nation’s history very well. They knew that God had sent prophet after prophet to plead with their forefathers to turn from idolatry and return to the Lord, but the nation had refused to listen. Isaiah had warned the leaders that God would discipline the nation if they did not change their ways. Jeremiah wept as he warned Judah and Jerusalem that judgment was coming from the north (Babylon) and that the Jews would be exiled for seventy years. There is no need to belabor the point; God is always displeased when His people turn from Him.
God’s discipline and judgment always have the same purpose in mind—to bring about repentance so that fellowship with God can be restored. Remember this, because it will help you understand God’s dealings with His people throughout history. Zechariah is wanting them, and us, to learn from the mistakes and bad choices of the past.
God’s deliverance of His people (1:7-6:15) “Return to me, declares the LORD Almighty.” (1:3)
This section reveals to us a most remarkable vision, one that is divided into a series of eight visions, all of which are given to Zechariah on the same night. Because our time is limited, we will only look at the first four.
The man among the myrtle trees (1:7-17). Look at verses 8-12:
{8} During the night I had a vision—and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses. {9} I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.” {10} Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth.” {11} And they reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”
This vision raises the question among God’s people, “Why are things not going well for us when they are going well for those around us?” They were in distress while the rest of the world was at peace.
God’s answer is given in 1:17: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” This vision reminds the people of their current situation.
Four horns and four craftsman (1:18-21). “Then I looked up—and there before me were four horns! {19} I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” {20} Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. {21} I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
The horns represent the forces that stand against God and His purposes. The craftsman will defeat those forces and God’s people will be restored. In this vision we see God reveal His commitment to overthrow Israel’s enemies.
A man with a measuring line (2:1-13). “Then I looked up—and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand! {2} I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.” {3} Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him {4} and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. {5} And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will be its glory within.’
God is going to bless His nation so much that Jerusalem will become a city without walls so that it can contain all of God’s people. This vision shows that God promises to dwell in Jerusalem and Zion (Israel) and to use them to be a blessing to all around. We also see a promise of the coming Messiah in Zechariah 2:10-11: “Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the LORD. {11} “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.”
Clean garments for the High Priest (3:1-10). Let’s read the first ten verses of chapter 3.
“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. {2} The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” {3} Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. {4} The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.” {5} Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by. {6} The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua:
{7} “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. {8} “‘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. {9} 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. {10} “‘In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”
God here promises to restore the priesthood in preparation for the coming of “The Priest.” In another beautiful picture of the Messiah we read, “I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.” In Hebrews 10:11-12 the fulfillment of this promise is offered: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”
Jesus, the Messiah/Priest, did remove sin in a single day with His death and resurrection and sat down because He was finished/done. God, through Zechariah has just revealed to Israel what will happen in the future to provide for their deliverance. We already know it happened just as Zechariah said it would. This vision shows that God’s discipline was given to bring about repentance so He could bless His people.
God’s desire for His people (7:1-14:21) “I will return to you, says the LORD Almighty.” (1:3)
When we talk about God’s desire for sinners and God’s desire for His children, we usually think they are very different desires. But are they really? When it comes to God’s desire for sinners, we usually think God wants them to repent and turn from their sinful ways, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. But, when it comes to God’s desire for His children, we usually think God want them/us to obey and enjoy our salvation. I believe Zechariah presents us with evidence that God wants both sinners and His children to repent and turn from their sinful ways and trust Him, either for salvation or in their salvation.
God rebukes His children for their hypocrisy (7:4-7) In chapter 7 Zechariah makes it clear that His covenant people need to repent.
“Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me: {5} “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? {6} And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? {7} Are these not the words the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?'”
Zechariah here reminds the people of the way their forefathers routinely practiced their religion but failed to hear God’s Word and obey it in their hearts. That was the reason Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. Their “religion” and its tradition were, for the most part, just an irrelevant aspect of their lives. They could go to the temple and piously present their prayers and sacrifices, but then leave the temple to break God’s Law, worship idols, and abuse other people. God wasn’t interested in their sacrifices and prayers so much as He was in their hearts.
We can see the danger of “religious tradition” easily turning into “religious traditionalism.” An old theologian said, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” Traditionalism means going through the outward motions instead of honoring God from our heart; it means participating in a religious event but failing to have an inner spiritual experience.
God calls His children to repentance (7:8-9). “And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. {10} Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.”’”
This is what God is calling His children to live up to, and this kind of living comes from the heart not from outward religious living. To encourage His children to repent and to obey from the heart, God reviews His commitment to Israel and reminds them of the coming of the promised Messiah. Zechariah is second only to Isaiah when it comes to prophecies about the coming Messiah. Let’s look at some of those prophecies now.
The Prince of Peace. Zechariah 9:9: “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.”
The Shepherd Rejected. Zechariah 11:12: “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.”
The King of Kings Over all the Earth. Zechariah 14:9: “The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.”
Conclusion: Zechariah 1:2-3: “The LORD was very angry with your forefathers. {3} Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.
God was angry with Israel because they turned to idols instead of to Him. He disciplined them by sending them into captivity for 70 years. While in captivity, some came to their senses and repented. After 70 years God sent a remnant back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple. The people became discouraged and quit building the temple, working instead on their own homes. Haggai exhorted them to quit being so self-focused and get to building God house. Just two months later Zechariah begins to encourage the people to learn from their fathers’ mistakes and to repent from their own hard hearts. He encouraged them by reminding them of God’s promises and that God would fulfill them.
What can we learn from Zechariah? Are we not just like the people of his day, doing our religious thing but not always from the heart, outwardly looking good but inwardly rebelling? We come to church and maybe even serve in some ministry here, but we are often living in rebellion to God and His Word.
In a crowd this size I believe it is safe to say some are hooked on pornography, some are stealing from work, some are having sex outside of marriage (whether fornication or adultery), some are abusing drugs and alcohol, some are gossiping, some are lying, some are wasting God’s resources on themselves, some are not treating their spouse as God commanded, some are not treating their children as God commanded, some are not obeying their parents as God commanded. I’d better quit before someone gets mad at me. Oops too late!
What is God saying to you today through Zechariah? STOP rebelling, repent, and return to Me, and I will return to you. It is not too late. I know you feel it is, but it is not. If it is too late, then God is lying and He cannot do that. Turn your heart back to the one who knows you best and loves you most. Doing things your way hasn’t worked out so well, so why not give God a chance? He’s giving you one.
If you are not a Christian, today would be a great day to know the love of God in your life. Won’t you trust Him and quit trying to find peace outside of Him?
DATE: August 29, 1999
Tags:
Hope
Glory
Divine anger
Repentance
Hypocrisy