The First and Second Coming — Oswald J. Smith

Some weeks ago, when I was speaking on Wednesday nights, you remember I dealt with the book of Zechariah, and I brought expositions from that book in your hearing. Then I said that when I spoke again on another Wednesday night, I would conclude the study of Zechariah.

Well, there are really two more studies in Zechariah, and I'm going to take the second to last one tonight, and then the Lord willing, when I speak again on a Wednesday night, I'll bring the final one on the final chapter.

I'd like to ask you now, if you will, to turn to the book of Zechariah, if you have your Bibles with you. Zechariah is the second to last book in the Old Testament. Just get Matthew, and all you have to do is to go back from Matthew over Malachi, and then the next book will be Zechariah, the second to last book in the Old Testament Scriptures.

If you have your Bibles with you, I'd be so glad if you would turn to these passages that I'm going to expound tonight, because I'm afraid you'll not get very much from them unless you have the Word of God before you.

Zechariah 9:9 and the First Coming of Christ

Turn to the ninth chapter of Zechariah. We dealt with the first eight chapters. Now I want to commence with the ninth chapter, so turn, if you will, tonight to the ninth chapter of the book of Zechariah, and the ninth and tenth verses of this chapter.

Now the remarkable thing about this prophecy is that sometimes the prophet writes about the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and immediately after, in the very next verse, he writes about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's exactly what happens here in the ninth chapter of Zechariah, verses 9 and 10. In the ninth verse, he speaks about the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then in the tenth verse, the very next verse, he speaks about the second coming, or the return of Christ.

Look at that ninth verse, if you will, for a moment. "'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion' -Zion, of course, is another name for Jerusalem 'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, Behold, thy King cometh, the King of Jerusalem, the Lord of lords, the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, behold, thy King cometh unto thee.

He is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.". Now, you know as well as I do the story in the New Testament scriptures, when this prophecy was fulfilled, Jesus sent his disciples to get this donkey upon which he was going to ride triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem, and the multitude, you remember, got branches of palm trees, threw them down on the road in front of him, and he rode on that donkey.

His disciples walked along with him, and the multitude gathered, and he entered the city of Jerusalem. Now, all that was prophesied between five and six hundred years before it took place. It was prophesied in this verse.

Here it is very plainly stated, more than five hundred years before it happened, "...rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem," and you remember how the people shouted, and you remember how they rejoiced as Jesus rode on the donkey into the city of Jerusalem, "...behold, thy King cometh," thy King, the King of Jerusalem, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, "...behold, thy King cometh unto thee.".

He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. How are you going to explain that unless you accept inspiration? How could any of the prophets living five or six hundred years before the event, how could they write all about it, definitely about it, five hundred years or more before it was going to take place?

If you want proof that the Bible is the Word of God, all you have to do is to turn to the prophecies of God's Word, and you'll find that the predictions are clear and unmistakable, and that they were fulfilled, a great many of them, when Jesus came the first time to this earth of ours.

Jesus did ride upon a donkey, the multitudes did rejoice, there was singing as they entered Jerusalem, and this verse was literally fulfilled when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey.

Zechariah 9:10 and the Second Coming

Now, when you come to the tenth verse, you have something entirely different. Between the ninth and tenth verses there is a period of two thousand years or more. Two thousand years or more between these two verses.

The church age is not seen in the Old Testament scriptures. Nothing is said about the church. Therefore, the prophet skips over the church age, and he speaks about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, his return, as though it happened immediately after his first coming.

Look at what it says in the middle of the tenth verse. Start in the very center of the verse, and he shall speak peace unto the nations. He shall speak peace unto the nations. I think perhaps in the Authorized Version it reads, unto the Gentiles.

I'm not sure, but in the Schofield Reference Bible, the word nations is used. He shall speak peace unto the nations, and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Now, that has nothing whatever to do with his first coming. The other verse, verse 9, has solely to do with his first coming. The next verse, verse 10, has nothing to do with his first coming, but has everything to do with his second coming.

Two thousand years or more have gone by before the second verse, verse 10 at least, is fulfilled. Then it says, when Christ comes again, he shall speak peace unto the nations. I do not need to tell you that there will be no peace on this earth until the millennial reign of Christ.

There will be war, and rumors of war, and disturbances of all kinds, and there will be no peace whatever among the nations of this world until Christ gets back. Two thousand years have passed already since he was here, or almost two thousand years.

Now when he comes back again, the first thing he'll do will be to speak peace unto the nations, and for a thousand years there will be peace. There will be no more war for one thousand years while Jesus Christ takes over the reins of government and rules and reigns in millennial splendor and power and glory.

He shall speak peace unto the nations, and his dominion, his reign, shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. In other words, it's going to be a universal reign. He'll reign over the entire world for a thousand years.

He'll dominate every nation, and he'll be the ruler, and there will be peace in this world, and Christ will sit on the throne that his father gave it, and he'll reign in power and in glory. Now turn to the tenth chapter, and again verses 9 and 10.

Zechariah 10:9–10 and Israel's Dispersion and Regathering

Isn't it strange that we have those same verses in the ninth chapter? We have dealt with verses 9 and 10 in the ninth chapter. Now we turn to the tenth chapter, and in this chapter we also deal with verses 9 and 10, the same two verses.

What do these two verses say? These two verses present the twofold ministry of our Lord, just as the other two verses did. For these two verses tell about Jesus Christ coming again and reigning upon this earth, and this is what it says in verse 9, "'And I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember me in far countries, and they shall live with their children and turn again.'.

Here you have the dispersion of the Jews as a nation. Now when you come to the next verse, you have the regathering of the Jews in these two verses, the dispersion in the first verse, the regathering in the next verse.

Let me read that first verse again, verse 9, "'And I will sow them among the peoples.'. Did that happen? Was that prophecy fulfilled? Were the Jews dispersed among the nations of the world? You know they were.

You know that after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A .D., the Jews were dispersed among all the nations of the world, and I doubt if you can find a single country on the face of this earth where there are no Jews.

They're in every country throughout the world. That's what the prophet says here, 500 years or more before it happened, "'I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember me in far countries, far countries.'".

Look at the number of Jews there are in the United States of America. America is a long way away from Jerusalem. It's a far country. Look at the number of Jews there are in Russia. Russia is a long way away from Jerusalem.

It's a far country, and yet you find the Jews in Russia, you find the Jews in America, you find the Jews in Canada, you find the Jews in England, you find them in all the countries of the world far away from Jerusalem.

How did the prophet know that? If it wasn't given to him by God, how could he be so sure about it? How could he tell us that the Jews were to be dispersed among all the nations of the world, and they shall remember me in far countries, and they shall live with their children and turn again?

Then in the very next verse, following the dispersion, you have the restoration, the regathering of the Jews. Verse 9 has been fulfilled. Verse 10 is yet to be fulfilled. It has not yet been fulfilled.

It's the restoration, the regathering of Israel. Verse 10 reads like this, I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt. They were brought once out of the land of Egypt when they first came to Palestine.

God says he's going to bring them out again. All the Jews that are in Egypt will be brought out again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria, and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, back in their own land, their own country, and place shall not be found for them.

There will be so many Jews when they're regathered that it's going to be difficult to find places for them even in their own land. They will go back in great multitudes. So in these two verses, you have first the dispersion of the Jews, and then you have the regathering of the Jews.

Back in the ninth chapter, we have first the coming of Jesus Christ as a babe. In the next verse, we have the return of Jesus Christ in glory, both comings of Christ in the two verses. In the tenth chapter, we have the scattering of the Jews, and we have the regathering of the Jews.

Look at verse 12, "'And I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk up and down in his name,' saith the Lord, so that when the Jews come back, it will be a great and glorious experience. They'll come back strong, strengthened in the Lord, walk up and down in the name of the Lord.'.

Zechariah 11:12–13 and the Thirty Pieces of Silver

Now we turn to chapter 11, and again there are two verses, just as in chapter 9 and 10. I want you to look at these two verses in chapter 11, verses 12 and 13. This is what it says in verse 12,. "'And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price.'.

Now, the prophet is speaking here, Zechariah. "'If it seem good, give me my price, and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.'. Now, you know when this was fulfilled in Christ.

You know that he was sold by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. Will you tell me how Zechariah knew this five hundred years or more before it happened, and how he didn't make a mistake and say forty pieces of silver, or twenty-five pieces of silver?

Why did he say thirty pieces of silver? If this isn't God's Word, if this isn't revealed by God, if this isn't given by the Holy Spirit, then how is it that it's so true and so exact and so right? It was thirty pieces of silver that were given for Jesus Christ, and Zechariah writes of it way back here in the eleventh chapter and the twelfth verse.

"'If ye think good, give me my price, and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver, and the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, a lordly price that I was priced at of them.

And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.'". Now, do you remember how Judas came back to the priest and how he wanted to return the thirty pieces of silver when he found that Jesus was actually arrested and was going to be crucified?

He never dreamed it would happen. Jesus had worked so many miracles, Judas thought he could easily work another and escape from the high priest and the other priests, but this time he didn't escape, this time he didn't work a miracle, this time he allowed himself to be taken.

And Judas sold him for thirty pieces of silver, and here it is all predicted, prophesied in the eleventh chapter of Zechariah, verses twelve and thirteen. Let me read them again, "'And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price, and if not, forbear.

So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver,' not twenty-five, not twenty, not forty, but thirty, "'and the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter.'". Well, that's what Judas did. When the priest would not take the money back, he just threw the money down on the floor.

The priest said, "'We can't keep it, it's the price of blood, we'll have to give it to the potter.'. And so they went out, and they bought the potter's field with the thirty pieces of silver, and they cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.".

A prophecy literally fulfilled more than five hundred years before it happened, showing conclusively that this is the word of the living God, and that God Himself, through His Spirit, has spoken. All right, now you turn to the twelfth chapter, and we're going to look at a very, very wonderfully important verse, another prediction literally fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

Zechariah 12:10 and the Piercing of the Messiah

The twelfth chapter of Zechariah, and the tenth verse again. Isn't it strange that this verse should be the tenth verse, just as in the ninth chapter one of the verses was the tenth verse, and here in the twelfth chapter, again it's the tenth verse.

"'Thy will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication.'. Now God is speaking here, and He is saying that there's a day coming when, "'I'll pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced.'".

Crucifixion had been a Jewish custom. Then we might understand it. We might then say it was a good guess, but there was no such thing as crucifixion so far as the Jews were concerned. They did not crucify their victims.

Crucifixion was a Roman custom, and the Romans dispatched their victims by means of crucifixion. If this verse is not by the inspiration of God, then how did the writer know that the hands and the feet of Jesus Christ would be pierced, that He would die by crucifixion?

They didn't know it. God revealed it to them, and in this verse you have the revelation, "'They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced,' and you remember how they gathered round the cross, how they stood engaged at Him as He hung there on the cross between the two thieves, looking upon the one who had been pierced, who had been crucified, and they mourn for Him.

They shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only Son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one that is bitterness for his firstborn.'". When the Jews see Jesus Christ again, when they see the nail prints in His hands, the mark of the spear thrust in His side, the nail-pierced feet, when the Jews see Him again as He now is, they'll remember that two thousand years before, they pierced Him.

They caused those wounds. They demanded of Pilate that He be crucified. The Romans, in obedience to the wishes of the Jews, crucified Him. His feet and His hands were pierced. How did they know, the prophet?

How did he know that this would be the way that the Messiah would die? Only because it was revealed to him by God. And so this verse says, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, this will be in the day when He comes again, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look upon Me, whom they have pierced, the Lord Jesus Christ.".

Now, this is still future. He hasn't come yet again. When He does come, they'll look upon the One they pierced, the One they crucified. They shall mourn for Him as one mourner for His only Son, and she'll be in bitterness for Him as one that is in bitterness for His firstborn.

This prophecy will be literally fulfilled when Jesus comes again. Now, the thirteenth chapter and the first verse,. "...in that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David," in other words, to the Jewish nation, "...and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.".

Yes, when Jesus comes again, He is going to cleanse the Jewish nation. "...a fountain will be opened by Him, and the Jews as a nation will be cleansed from their sins as they look upon the One they pierced, and they'll bow to Him and recognize Him as their Lord and their Master.".

Zechariah 13:6–7 and the Smitten Shepherd

Now look at verse 6,. "...and one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.".

Now look at this wonderful seventh verse,. "...awake, O soul, against my shepherd and against the man who is my fellow.". The remaining portion of Dr. Smith's message. Please turn this tape over. "...and sometimes upon his second coming.".

It's very easy to distinguish between the two. This verse has to do with his first coming when the shepherd was smitten, crucified, put to death, and his sheep, his disciples, were scattered. Do you remember how it was literally fulfilled?

They all forsook him, the New Testament says. And the Roman soldiers arrested him. It says about his disciples, "...they all forsook him and fled.". Not even Peter remained. They all forsook him. They all fled.

The sheep, they were scattered. Zechariah tells us more than 500 years before it happened, that it was going to take place. He says here, "...awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, the swords of the Romans, and against the man who is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd.".

Jesus Christ was smitten. And the sheep will be scattered, and the disciples were scattered. They all forsook him and fled. The New Testament fulfills this prediction right to the letter. The sheep were scattered, and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.

The Coming Study of Zechariah 14

Now when I speak to you again the next Wednesday night I preach, I'm going to take the final chapter of this great prophecy of Zechariah, because the last chapter is the greatest chapter in the book, and the entire chapter is a detailed prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we'll take this chapter when we meet again and see what Zechariah has to tell us about the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, what he has to tell about his first coming, what he has to tell about his second coming.

And the last chapter is so interesting, so striking, so amazing, that you cannot study it without realizing that God gave to the prophet the prediction of what was going to happen in the days ahead. Some of these things have already happened now, happened when Jesus Christ came the first time.

Others will happen when he comes the second time. But they're all going to take place. They're all going to be fulfilled right to the letter. I hope when we meet again, you'll be here with your Bibles, and I wish you would read the 14th chapter very carefully, word for word, before I expound it, when we gather once again on a Wednesday night.

Shall we bow together in prayer? Every head bowed and every eye closed. Let us pray.