Adult Sunday School - Zechariah’s 8 Visions

Let's open in prayer Heavenly Father We to give you thanks for this day that you have given us another day to come together and worship the

Lord Jesus Christ To gather around your word to learn more about what you have given us father in the scripture

To learn how to grow closer to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ to edify and encourage one another all these things

Lord Impossible for us, but you by your spirit. We pray you would work them in us So be with us this morning even as we start

Sunday school throughout this day of worship if we ask it in Jesus name. Amen now there's an interruption happening in the series that pastor

Owens was giving on marriage and That interruption is he is ill and so we're going to take a one -day diagram

Lord willing a one -day digression into one of my favorite prophets and My favorite parts of the prophet in Zechariah Zechariah we're not going to do the whole book

We're gonna look at the eight visions of Zechariah And we're obviously if we're gonna do this and now we're not going to look at them in a lot of detail

We're gonna kind of kind of fly through and what I hope you see is how the Old Testament Points and has this trajectory towards the church that what we see in the

Old Testament without fancy footwork without reading between the lines is

Showing the ultimate purpose in Christ and his ultimate purposes in the

Gospels being taught and going forth from the church and So what we're going to see in these eight visions is a trajectory towards that towards what we are here today

But before we get there, we're gonna look at those eight visions and see how they're put together and see what they mean What did they mean to them then as much as we can like so we have an hour and each of these visions

Has books and books written about them? Some of them are little Controversial some of them are a little tough to understand like the one with the pipes going through the olive trees and where does the oil

Come from what does it represent? If you want to hear that given in some detail go back to the series

I did in Zechariah About two years ago you find it's still online We're not going to touch that today.

Today. We're just gonna look at these eight visions and see how we look at them How do we understand visions and this type of prophetic word?

How do we even approach the Bible? So perhaps you'll learn a little bit of your own Bible study and how to Do that on your own when you're looking at things that are difficult to grasp

Which is a lot in the Bible before we begin In any detail, let me just tell you that when you're in the

Old Testament And you're having trouble you're having difficulty with it. And this actually applies even to the new

The key to figuring out what you're looking at is always Jesus It's always pointing toward Jesus.

And if you think resurrection just look at it. It could be in a psalm You could be in a prophetic book. You could be in the law.

You could be in first Peter What's he talking about? Give yourself the answer resurrection and see if that brings it more into focus because usually

I find that it does Because all scripture is pointing to that great act of God in Genesis chapter 1 he speaks out existence from nothing that was and then after Jesus death is suffering for our sins, he speaks resurrection and Raises him from the dead this great act of God usually will solve a lot of mysteries

Especially if you're in the Psalms, it's like what is he talking about? Resurrection and see if that lines a lot for you, but Zechariah Tell me anything, you know about Zechariah just um

They call a stream of consciousness What do you know about Zechariah if I said tell me everything, you know about Zechariah Where's the first thing that comes to your mind?

Raise your hand or I'll point to you. Yes. What's your name? Nick, please Minor prophet and why do we call him a minor prophet?

Maybe I know Just cuz he didn't write as much as the major prophets That's why we do it.

I Really appreciate that. He gave minor prophet as an answer Because if you look at the prophets that Jesus cites most of them are minor

Jonah was the sign of the resurrection. We call him a minor prophet We get all mixed up about whales and fishes and how did he do that?

And how could he survive who cares? Jesus says that prophet was a sign of the resurrection Zechariah a minor prophet and yet John in the

Apocalypse in the Revelation Relies upon the imagery of Zechariah more than any other prophet

So minor remember it's not minor because their prophecy was minors minor because they didn't write quite as much

Their books weren't cut as long no less important. What else do you know about Zechariah? Thank you for that Nick What else do you know about Zechariah?

Where'd you get repentance? Okay, Zechariah is calling for repentance from Israel.

Yes Throw it out there any thoughts? Okay. Okay.

I'm not gonna push you anymore Raise your hand if you're gonna read your Bible and the prophets more often.

Everybody must raise their hand Okay In the eighth month in the second year of Darius the

Word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah so Zechariah if he was in the reign of Darius Was what we would call a an exilic or a post exilic prophet

Exilic meaning he was a prophet that came after the people were exiled from Judah after a

Babylon came destroyed the temple took the people captive that was 586 BC that was under Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon soon to be conquered by Cyrus of Persia, okay

Who was Darius anybody know anything about Darius? quick thoughts dream of consciousness We're just trying to get a context of this prophet this minor prophet who knows anything about Darius he was king of what land what?

Nope Persia he was the sixth he was the king who came after Cyrus Cyrus was the king of Persia who in his first year after he had conquered

Babylon and Persia is often called Babylon the people come from Babylon, but they actually came from Persia because by the time they were returned

Persia had conquered Babylon, but it's often called Babylon So what was

I just saying a second ago Darius he was a successor to Cyrus Cyrus in his first year was moved by the

Lord to release the people to go back to Jerusalem rebuild the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had sacked so that's

Darius And that's why we'd call Zechariah a post exilic prophet During the exile those are exotic prophets exilic

Psalms things written while they were there for those 70 years in that foreign land as They came back if you had a prophet as you do with Zechariah.

We're going post exotic Did he prophesy with anyone else

Did he have a partner in crime there as we like to say? Hey guy hey guy now listen in the eighth month in the second year of Darius now it's important because Whether you're a

Christian or just a secular historian you can date Darius We know exactly when

Zechariah meant when he says the second year of Darius We don't even have to look at the Bible which doesn't give us the dates

There's all kinds of historical record of Darius's reign so this would be about 505

BC If you look at the first verse of Haggai, you don't have to turn there I'll just read it to you in the second year of Darius the king in the sixth month on the first day of the month the word of the

Lord came by the hand of the Lord to Haggai So Haggai Zechariah are co -prophets

Co -conspirators in the Lord if you will they're post exotic because they prophesied during the rebuilding of the temple

The people who had been in Babylon Babylon conquered by Persia are released by Persia to go back

Now they're under Persian rule. They don't have a Judaic or a Davidic King They have a governor appointed by this foreign nation and yet God moved

Cyrus to send them back to finance the whole thing you can read about that at the beginning of Ezra how the Lord moved

Cyrus to do this or the For you visitors, I have multiple sclerosis. So I start to tip

I have not been drinking. I have no balance Okay, that's why I hang on. That's why I get a little shaky looking.

Don't worry about it I I won't fall if I do our big Deacon Albert will come and pick me right back up.

We'll get going again Okay, don't worry about it So we're talking about Zechariah and Haggai Post exotic because they're prophesying to the people who were rebuilding the temple under Persian Command really because Cyrus was moved by the

Lord to do so So we date these both in the second year of Darius now

Hey guy was in the second year of Darius in the sixth month on the first day, which would about August of 525

I said 505 of 525 BC 525 years before Christ Zechariah in the eighth month of that same year second year of Darius the

Word of the Lord comes to him So that would've been October. These are really close together when they begin to prophesy They work together these two now they have very different genres very different tones.

You can read Haggai very quickly It's only a couple of chapters Zechariah is not real long as Nick shows told us it's a minor prophet wouldn't take too long but longer than Haggai But they're very different Haggai is pretty much the

Word of the Lord coming as a rebuke to Judah to Israel And what was that rebuke?

Can anybody tell me without? Having to read it again the book of Haggai To build the temple and why is it a rebuke because they were what not building the temple?

They're paneling their own homes right so Haggai is the one who says, you know, why are you doing this?

Why are you taking care? Do you wonder why your crops aren't growing? Do you wonder why your money's not lasting?

Do you wonder why you're not satisfied with your drinking your food? So as God is holding back that blessing because he released you through Cyrus He released you to do this you committed to build the temple and here you are taking care of your own homes

Okay, that's kind of the core of Haggai Zechariah is more pure prophecy more

Apocalyptic language, there's not a lot of intercourse between God and the people

Where God is saying through the Prophet therefore you must or this is where you've gone wrong Here's how I will forgive you that sort of thing that you get in Haggai Zechariah is more pure prophecy and it's apocalyptic

Which is why the Apostle John in the Revelation or in the apocalypse relies so much upon the imagery now

I say that I'm just make sure we have time to get to the visions.

I Say that now who can think of a way that Zechariah and I know you have you didn't know Zechariah was coming but Anybody familiar enough with Zechariah to match part of it up with Revelation?

Okay in Zechariah Actually, it's the first of the visions

On the 24th day of the 11th month Which is the month of Shabbat in the second year of Darius the

Word of the Lord came to the Prophet Zechariah the son of Barakaya the son of it was saying I saw in the night behold a man riding on a red horse

He was standing among the myrtle trees in the in the glen and behind him were red sorrel and white horses

What does that remind us of right there? louder louder The four riders of the apocalypse

Okay, where you got that white horse the red horse the chlorophyll squalid horse and a black horse

They come and make war who's on the white horse in Apocalypse in Revelation Jesus a lot of people think it's it's it's something different He's leading death and all that and it can't be

Jesus. Well, Jesus is coming for vengeance It is Jesus on that white horse. There's two white horses in Revelation Zechariah is the imagery that John relies upon to make the same point

Doesn't mean he's making it up. It means that he's using that same Type of imagery they're both literally true

So we'll look at these visions There it is there's eight of them and they all come to a focus

Now without going into a lot of detail a lot of Hebrew Literature poetry historical whatever it is is in the form of a chiasm

We know what a chiasm is A Chiasm is a Hebrew technique and it's interesting to think that when they heard this

They didn't have to write it down and figure it out. They just heard it. We understood it. So in this case We have eight visions horses patrolling the earth

Four horns and four crafts and we'll read those in a minute drew some inhabited without walls Joshua the high priest two anointed people sixth vision and a seventh and an eighth and a final vision

And what happens here is the first and the eighth are similar and the second and the seventh and the third and the sixth and they sort of make this arrow to the middle and It's called chiasm because of the

Greek Chi And it's everything pointing towards this crescendo if you will

So in the middle what you find then is this vision of Joshua the high priest and a prophecy to Zerubbabel who was then the governor during the rebuilding of the temple a

Last thing I want to say before we dig into some detail here is from Ezra 6 14

You don't have to turn there. Let me just read it to you Ezra chapter 6 verse 14 Ezra was the priest who was sent from Babylon or from These are from Persia to restore temple worship

He was coincident with Nehemiah who was a governor type and he was doing the rebuilding

Okay Ezra 6 14 says and the elders of the Jews built and prospered

Through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Edom Okay, that's how we know that these two worked together

I also believe just as a quick aside that Malachi was a temple prophet during that time and We could talk about that maybe some other

Sunday if I have to jump in and and substitute But they prophesied or they they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Edom No, I say that when

I read that to you What does that tell you? about The prospering and how that happened was that tell you what did that bring to mind?

They may have any thoughts about that They prospered through the prophesying They're building the temple it had been ransacked been desecrated by Babylon some 70 years before They're discouraged.

They're surrounded by enemies They're looking to their own needs. All these things are happening. They hear the prophetic word

The apocalyptic work through Zechariah the more personal rebuke repentance kind of word through Haggai they're listening they're listening and Obeying Thank you.

You get the scholar award today They're listening and obeying when we obey the Word of God when we hear it we prosper

Now does that not relate to us today in the church? Who's building this church? The class said no the whole class said

Jesus is building the church. How is he building the church? through us Okay Who is building the temple back then?

God Jesus, but God through The Israelites, so it's

God it says in in Zechariah not by might nor by power, but my spirit by by But by my spirit says

I won't do that again. Sorry On this side, but by my spirit says the Lord so it's

God who built the temple Through the hands and the tools used by the

Israelites just as Jesus today is building his church through the hands and feet of the priesthood of all believers through us

Do you see the similarity? Do you see where you don't have to dance around and do fancy footwork and be clever about the scripture to say?

Oh, this is related to the church it is Related to the church. Okay, you're not playing games

If you show that to your family to your friends to people who are arguing with you about the scripture It's it's it's very very clear

Okay, so who are people receiving this prophecy it's the returnees the people who came back and Why did they need the rebuke from Haggai?

Because they had to get back to work. Why did they need encouragement which is what we'll find from Zechariah?

Because we all need encouragement So we're building this church. Jesus is doing it, but he's using us.

It's tough Let me tell you it's it's hard work. It's hard work as an individual to stay on track with the

Lord It's hard work as a body to stay unified and stay on one trajectory and one path together

It's hard work as a pastor when sheep bite When I'm the dumb the sheepdog,

I'm supposed to be biting you. I'm supposed to be chasing you back Okay, this is tough and we need this encouraging kind of word

So the eight visions of Zechariah were that kind of an encouragement to the people not to say by the way that Haggai Wasn't an encouragement but he was more direct more

More corrective and more more speaking directly to the people in almost a conversational way

So our first vision is those four white horses We're gonna look at that very quickly Then we'll look at vision number eight because I think vision number eight matches up to it in this chiastic way that I explained

So a man riding on a white horse, then I said, what are these my lord and I'm a lover being the angel the revelatory angel to Zechariah What are these my lord the angel who talked with me said

I will show you what they are So the man who was sitting among the myrtle trees answered These are they whom the

Lord has sent to patrol the earth and they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle Trees and said we have patrolled the earth and behold all the earth remains at rest

Then the angel of the Lord said O Lord of hosts How long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem in and the cities of Judah against whom you've been angry these 70 years now?

70 years is what I only mentioned it very very quickly. But what does 70 years relate to? Yeah No, no, not jubilee 70 years is what what the

Prophet Jeremiah prophesied say you're going to be exiled for 70 years Okay, if you line them up then at 586 when the temple was destroyed and they were exiled

It was about 70 years later when they were returned Okay, so these 70 years you were angry these 70 years you left us in exile.

That's the 70 years. He's talking about Just four different horses

I Some did every here with Christine as she has why why the different color of the horses?

You can get very allegorical Like in the apocalypse, I forget the name of it One of the horses is like a chlorophyll a greenish kind of color and people say well

That's the color of sickness or something like that. You know, people aren't getting any nutrition because the crops are gone

It's just four different horse. Just just leave it at that It's just four different horses and in the apocalypse,

I would say because I don't like allegory I like things to be plain. I would say that the white horse is

Jesus And we get that because the apart of the the the revelatory the revelator

Revelator John tells us that Jesus was on the white horse and the others brought death and destruction and economic woes and all this other stuff that Leave it at that and then you can fly through revelation

It don't don't make it allegorical White horse is probably more meaningful than the the other ones. Maybe black horse means something darker, but don't get too hung up on that Patrol there being the angel have how

I have no mercy Against what you've been angry these 70 years and the Lord answered gracious and comforting words the angel who talked to me

So the angel who talked to me said cry out thus says the Lord of hosts I'm exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion and I'm exceedingly angry with the nations that are

IDs. Let's just stop there There's no way I'm gonna finish eight visions Sorry, I like say my excuse is

I only found out yesterday I'm doing Sunday school and I haven't taught Sunday school and tried to condense teaching into an hour for a long time and you hear

How I'm just babbling away on this stuff. It shows you I don't know what an hour is anymore We type priest this afternoon

What is this telling us? What's this telling this people then I was angry with Jerusalem I was exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.

I'm exceedingly angry so exceedingly jealous exceedingly angry Exceedingly jealous for who for what?

Jerusalem and Why Jerusalem? Doesn't mean he's jealous for Jerusalem. They're supposed to be devoted to him.

They're supposed to be jealous for him He's jealous for Jerusalem. What he's telling these people They saw some of these people lived and saw the temple destroyed

It's only 70 years before They saw the temple ransacked the wall of Jerusalem Knocked down their sons killed their women ravished.

They saw this and God say I'm jealous for you, which means I'm as it were wed to you.

I meant good for you. I mean good for you I'm jealous for you in a godly pure and rightful sense well

We can talk about how all that destruction means God loves and God cares we can do that another time

That's what it means and he's also exceedingly angry with the nation's So here's what's happening here.

You have these four patrolmen That went north south east and west and they checked everything out and they came back and they report

Remember, it's a vision And we don't push the details too far because otherwise we have to find out what does the stirrup mean?

And what kind of rain did he use was it rope or leather if it just gets crazy for patrolmen And they go out and they're patrolling they come back and say the nation's are at ease

But what did God just say what I just read to you about those nations God is what?

How angry? How angry is he Indignant he's exceedingly angry.

I think in the Hebrew and I forgot to put this in front of me But I'm pretty sure it says I'm angry with anger

Sort of like back in Genesis 2 you will surely die with death. You will have death

With that that kind of Hebraic repetition, I'm exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem I'm exceedingly angry at the nation's and the nation's are at ease louder for me

Cyrus Darius was part of the rebuilding if you read in detail in Ezra and Nearby more nearby both of them have it.

You'll see how the building stopped there were there the conspirators against Jerusalem Simbala and some other

Arabs wrote letters to Darius. I said, hey, they're gonna rebel against you and he stopped the building But Darius also when they check the records is the one who said we've got to restart this

It gets very intricate, but you need to read Ezra and Nehemiah Haggai Zechariah read those all together because they're all the same period and again,

I would argue with some other Commentators that Malachi was actually a temple prophet during that time

Not important to our meanings today to what we're going through today So he's exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem exceedingly angry with the nation's the patrolman come back say the nation's are at ease

What's the problem there? God's really mad

Did you guys meet before this and pay her to give all the answers

I Know you didn't know Zechariah was coming. So it's all right.

Okay. Here's the problem Jealous for Jerusalem all you went through means that I really do love this people just like us

God disciplines those whom he loves. I Don't believe that God has a frowning providence upon his people ever because he sees us in Jesus Christ Okay, that doesn't mean they doesn't give us difficult providences

He does sometimes to correct us because he loves us. So he's jealous for Jerusalem. He loves

Jerusalem He's exceedingly angry with the nation's as jealous as he is for Jerusalem He's that angry at the nation's the patrolman come back say hey, guess what about the nation's they are at ease

They they're happy to have plundered Jerusalem to abuse your people To have brought your punishment as you sent

Babylon against your people But you're exceedingly angry. God is exceedingly exceedingly angry because they went too far.

I Ravished it says that in the Bible. I'm not making that up That's not what

God wanted The sons were slaughtered Not just killed in combat slaughtered afterwards

It's like the Germans in World War two the first thing you do to an unarmed, sir, you know, they kill him. They're terrible

It's going too far So he's exceedingly angry with those nations and those nations have no idea

Not paying any attention at all, okay turn to Zechariah 8

It's the eighth and final vision and I think it's the one that matches up with the first vision

Again, I lifted my eyes and saw and behold for chariots now for chariots for horsemen This is one of the ways we match those up And again the

Hebraic ear back then they would have picked that up Automatically when they heard that they would have gone right back to number one, two, three, they would have lined them all up It's just the way they heard

Four chariots came out from between two mountains and the mountains were mountains of bronze The first chariot had red horses and the second black horses the third white horses and the fourth dappled horses chariots different colored horses horses different colors these match up all of them strong then

I answered and said to the angel who talked Me what are these my lord and the angel answered said to me These are going out to the four winds of heaven after resenting themselves before the

Lord of all the earth The chariot with the black horses goes towards the north country the white horses go after them and the dabble ones go to the south

Country when the strong ones came out they were impatient to go and patrol the earth And he said go patrol the earth and they patrol the earth then he cried to me behold

Those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country

What's the north country? Babylon Persia the land of exile

Okay, so we have the four horsemen patrolling all the worlds at peace

Yeah, the four chariots going and what are they doing? They're gathering the people back. They're saying come back

God has made the way God has moved Cyrus this pagan violent terrible King really

Means that he's changed his heart like he moves the rivers doesn't say that in Proverbs that the Lord Yeah moves hard King as he does the rivers of water, okay, he did that with Cyrus so it's come back from the north country

These patrolling to say the nation's are at ease. God has set them at ease. It's a false peace that they have Because they're just they're just reveling in what they gained

The four chariots come back God is strong God has made the way

God has moved a king to reduce you Okay, are we okay so far do we agree that I've matched up number one and number eight

Okay, number two is four horns and four craftsman craftsmen, and this one's really kind of weird

So you saw fast we're going we're not gonna spend a whole lot of time on it there there to 18

Let me finish a little bit about the nation's at ease then we'll go back to that In verse 15,

I'll just read this to you for I was angry but a little they furthered the disaster

That's why I meant that they went too far Therefore thus says the Lord I've returned to Jerusalem with mercy My house shall be built in it declares the

Lord of hosts and the measuring line will be stretched out Remember the people discouraged surrounded by enemies look at their own said this is encouraging

Okay, this tells them get back to work. This is the way they prophesied Under the preaching of Zechariah with Haggai Okay, then to verse 18 our second vision and I lift my eyes and saw and behold four horns

And I said the angels talked to me. What are these? I said to me these are the horns of scattered Judah Israel and Jerusalem Then the

Lord showed me four craftsmen and I said, what are these going coming to do? And he said these are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one raised his head and these have come

Excuse me These have come to terrify them To cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it horns horns horns what's a horn in the

Bible, especially the Old Testament was a horn a symbol of Strength a symbol of power a symbol of authority.

So these horns are the nations that came against Judah Jerusalem Primarily, it's

Babylon Babylon had allies and other nations came and added to the disaster the

Moabites the Edomites Particularly the Moabites and Edomites come under very heavy judgment later

We're not going to touch that because those were actually brothers to the Israelites Through a lot and you can read about that back in Genesis 19 and 20

So they held to a very high level of accountability for that so Again, I'm building away.

I've got these Arabs yelling insults at me I've got some people writing letters against me to Darius and you know conspiring against me all these things happening

There's blight there's drought and I've got to keep working Was this a says God knows?

God is where God is with us and God is going to take care of those who've been against you

Those who've been abusing you that have anything to do with us today

The abuse that we take today for standing on God's Word I Think in this church, we're not obnoxious about it

We don't go thumping people over the head and saying same -sex marriage is wrong. We know it's wrong. We stand against it

We're actively against abortion on the streets But I don't think we're obnoxious about it in a way that would justify the kind of abuse that we take understand this that when

God's people are persecuted when they're abused God knows God's going to do something about it

Now they got to see it then Okay, we may not we may we may not but understand

My favorite example of this that I'm going to say is actually in Acts chapter 8 when

Jesus comes upon Saul and Knocks him off his horse and blinds him with light and was he say

Saul Saul. Why are you? Persecuting who me

Wait a second now Saul is going and putting people in jail and he says later in his own words when he's

Paul the Apostle He says I put some of them to death And Jesus says why did you persecute that good

Christian woman Barbara and her husband Paul or Mike or whatever? No, you're persecuting me

So understand this consistency in the scripture from the Old Testament to the New God is the same yesterday today and forever

These four craftsmen these four horns that God is going to take care of God knows what they did

God knows the extra abuse that they piled upon his people and God takes it personally and Jesus said to Paul or Saul Quite call himself

Paul yet. Why are you persecuting me? Understand this folks? That when we stand for Christ when we stand on God's Word and we're abused for it

It's not as he told Samuel it's not you. They've rejected per in when they wanted to make

Saul the king. It's not you they were rejected but who? God very similar here

Very encouraging if I'm the one who's swinging the hammer and tried to rebuild this thing under all the abuse that we're taking so again, this this wild vision these craftsmen and this is

The craftsmen sometimes in Greek mythology and some of called the Demiurge the builders the ones were sent out to make the creation that the deity

Wants he's just picking up on that imagery. He's not Lowering God. Okay, just picking up on that imagery

That's the second vision. The seventh is in chapter 5 God willing you'll see why we would match those up as well

Sixth that's a seventh. I think that should be six Again, I lifted my eyes and behold a flying scroll.

I said to me. What do you see? I answered I see a flying scroll its length is 20 cubits.

So it'd be about 30 feet. It's with its 10 cubits about 15 Then he said to me This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land

Everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according

It was on the other side I will send it out declares the Lord of hosts and he shall enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears

Falsely by that by my name and he shall remain in his house and consume it both timber and stones so again

What is the Lord saying to this people who's building at the temple saying

I know the lies are being spoken against you Again in Nehemiah especially read about symbolic the

Arab who led this this constant resistance against the building of the temple and abused the people with insults false

Conspiracies or lies against them to the Persian King to stop building and actually some violence

Lying Abusing and here's this curse that's going to go out.

So here I am swinging the hammer Using my trowel putting the stones back in place and I'm hearing that I'm going, you know

The Lord is hearing every word and you're not going to stop me You read in Nehemiah how they work with a sword in one hand and the trowel in the other hand

Do you know that that was certain? CH Sturges last sermon the sword in the trowel.

That was his final sermon. Yeah So here they are sword in one hand because we're not gonna put up with this

God made us able to defend ourselves. We're tough people Trowel on the other because I'm so worried about you that while you're abusing me

I'm just gonna keep working and doing the work God wants. This is the kind of encouragement it is again

We in the church Are we not encouraged in the same way? Are we not building this church?

Connelly and I have a vision actually for expanding this place physically running out of room for everything that we do here

I don't know if we'll ever have the money for it, but that's sort of the vision we have We're going to be in that same situation

Sword and trowel just like them and we're gonna need to know that God is with us and that as we go through all the trouble with permits, which are harder for churches than other places and We can prove that I mean

This church used to exist from this overhang here back and that was the whole church Okay, when it was first built here, it was under pastor

Downing some 35 Maybe close to 40 years ago that the rest of this happened. I read the

Correspondence with getting the permits well, we've got it here I could actually show it to you if we had an hour to go through the file cabins.

I could find it again We've got it and the resistance of the neighborhood. Oh My goodness, they did not want the church to expand.

We couldn't have kids. It was gonna be too noisy I say you kidding me on Sunday afternoon. We can't have kids riding around There was so much controversy over the kind of lights we could have in the parking lot

It was it was it's just crazy and it doesn't happen in a regular business, so I Need to rein myself in here

It's very similar. I believe to the resistance that the people had back then in 500

BC in building the temple and It's the kind of thing we need to steel ourselves for For anywhere this church goes whether we build physically or not

There is that resistance against us What we need to know is that as we are doing this work is

Christ who is building his church through us so sword and trowel Zechariah for craftsmen the horns

God knows and their strength this strength that dispersed them that abused them then the powers and authorities today

Ephesians chapter 6 and the spiritual warfare that we are in very similar things. Okay Okay, that was vision two and seven

Four horns and I forgot the other four

Yeah, it's all right It'll come together when we wrap up Which we're gonna have to do pretty quick Okay, oh there's the curses now, that's right the curses and he those who steal okay

God's going to curse them Eventually people who are against us only because we're

Christians you can disagree with me on a whole lot of things But if you disagree with me because I'm a

Christian there's a curse that's going to go out Jesus is gonna tell the sheep you and me

Come to the joy of your of my father come to my right side But you goats on the left to the condemnation that you deserve

Same idea the curse that goes out So chapter 2 and verses 1 through 13

Jerusalem inhabited without walls the man with the measuring line I lifted my eyes and saw and behold remember these are coming to him.

I think all in one night Okay, some commentators think it was longer period most would say and I agree

This is pretty condensed and he's having a big evening here. This is this is a moment as we like to say

I Lifted my eyes and saw and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand And I then

I said, where are you going? And he said to me to measure Jerusalem to see what is its width and what is its length?

Width and length he's measuring the city. I Just want to add

I don't want to ask because it Wouldn't be fair. I think measuring out the width and length is

Because when I'm looking at Jerusalem, there's nothing left the walls knocked down Okay, he's measuring out what's going to be

Okay, so I'm building and here's this angel sent by God measuring out Okay, so who's superintending?

God who's building the church Christ Where are you going to measure

Jerusalem? Behold the angel who talked with me came forward another angel came forward to meet him three angels very confusing

We're not gonna sort out who's talking to who who gave what and you know what this exchange is all about It would take too long

Run say to that young man Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls because of the multitude of people and livestock in it

And I will be to her a wall of fire all around declares the Lord and I will be the glory in her midst ups up Flee from the land of the north declares the

Lord you exiles who haven't yet had the confidence of strength the courage the faith To come back come back

Come back. We're building and it's gonna be like villages. What does the villages have to do with that? What would that put in your mind if you lived then?

Says measure Jerusalem shall be habit inhabited as villages without walls in that day

Yet cities Okay, and you would run to the city when you're under attack They closed the door and they had the wall person

Jerusalem had been knocked down. The villages are out there. They're unprotected Okay, you need to have some kind of a an alarm system

Because if you didn't come in in time Maybe watch Lord of the Rings Okay, I'm not guilty of using too many illustrations for me.

I love Lord of the Rings. Okay, but when they went to Helms Deep Okay, they had to leave the villages

They had lead the Hornsburg and come to that place where they closed the wall and be behind the stones Same kind of idea.

Okay, so he's telling him flee from the land of the north You could live in a village. You could live in a hut as it were

God's going to protect you. Okay, God's going to watch out Christ is going to protect us.

Christ is watching out doesn't mean it's easy Doesn't mean that some of us won't give ourselves up completely for the work

Be martyred which hasn't happened in a long time in this land in other lines people be martyred all the time

But trust God Follow the word of the Prophet come back

See what God has done. That's what this vision is about Okay, it's telling me with the sword and trowel as I'm working there in Jerusalem that my brothers my sisters my cousin my uncle

Are also being called back from Jerusalem and they're gonna live in villages and they're going to be protected

You're going to be protected God is watching out for you by his spirit and he's not going to allow anything to happen until his will is accomplished

Hey questions comments Would you agree as as I'm?

Talking these through and bringing everything to the church And I'm not fishing for compliments here

But am I being fair to the scripture when I keep bringing that to the church and to Jesus?

Do you think okay? Because and I mean that in a serious way because sometimes we can get very contrived kind of force fit things

In my mind this this stuff just flows very easy. I want you to see that Okay, which vision

I just do people have to keep me on track. I Just did the measuring line Yeah, it's the third

It's the sixth vision chapter five No, I did. Okay. I got things out of oh, yeah

I got a little out of order there, and I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get it back into order

Because I've only got ten minutes. So what I want to do. I want to go to the most important two visions Apologize for skipping some details here.

I I lost track of the numbers a bit as I was going off my little diatribes Number one number eight number two number seven number three number six all are pointing to number three and four and Again, the

Hebraic ear would have just heard this and at the end of the whole prophecy They would have understood and remembered it that way.

It's just the way they were number three Is one of my favorite visions in the whole scripture.

It's Joshua the high priest Number four has to do with the Zerubbabel the

Governor Okay, number three. Excuse me.

Number four. I would number four Joshua the high priest Then he showed me

Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing in his right hand to accuse him And the

Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke you Oh Satan the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem Rebuke you is this not a brand plucked from the fire?

Now Joshua was standing before the angel clothed with filthy garments All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags

Isaiah 66 and the angel said to those who are standing before him Remove the filthy garments from him and to him

He said behold I've taken your iniquity away from you and I'll clothe you with pure vestments And I said let them put a clean turban on his head

So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments and the angel of the Lord was standing by now

Who's the angel of the Lord? the angel of the

Lord The Lord Jesus Christ, so the angel of the Lord in Genesis chapter 19 the angel of the

Lord I don't remember the other examples. I have my mind when you read angel of the Lord It all but in all but a few cases it's

Jesus pre -incarnate Jesus Christ we know this by the way because the angel of the

Lord when it's the Pre -incarnate Christ does not say thus saith the Lord He says

I say He says I'm telling you this is going to happen He doesn't say

God sent me to tell you something. He is God It's the second person the Trinity Jesus Christ himself.

Okay, so The angel said to those who are standing remove the filthy garments from him

Only Christ would have the right to say with the filthy garments represent the sin of the people He's the high priest is the sin of the people that he brings to the high place, but he's clothed in it

There's no temple. There's been no process for all these 70 years to remove the iniquity of the people

So he's covered in it and here he is before the Lord and there's Satan standing to accuse him

Now let's just take a moment Satan's accusing him of being sinful of having a sinful people

Look at him look at this filthy brought before you Lord is Satan correct on the facts.

He's correct on the facts. I Tell people this fairly often is

You are correct, but you're not right Satan is correct

Joshua is covered in filth his own and the people he represents. He is covered in sin

Iniquity stench, it's not a pleasing aroma to the Lord Satan is correct

He's not right Because standing there is the angel of the Lord as Jesus Christ who on his own authority says you take that off of him.

I Haven't paid for it yet historically, but in terms of the eternal will of God I've paid for that That's been put on me now.

He hadn't been incarnate yet but There was not a time. I believe in all eternity when the cross and Forgiveness for sins was not in God's plan.

Okay, so that's why I say it the way I did I'm sorry.

I really love this vision. I Could spend a month here Behold I've taken your iniquity away from you and I will clothe you with pure vestments

Only Jesus can say that and I said now this is the prophet let them put a clean turban on his head now

He's seeing what Jesus is doing. He's seeing what God is working. He's saying, okay, he's clean now He's taken that bath that mikvah as they say in Hebrew.

He is cleansed. He's he's ritually Clean and able to go and stand before God for the people again

So put the turban back on said go back to Genesis or Exodus 28 and read about the priestly garments

And that's what the prophet saying. He's watching all this. He's saying yeah, I understand what's happening now dress him

Because that temples building is going to be ready and he's going to go back into the holy place

Which hadn't happened for these 70 years? and it's only Jesus Christ who could have the authority and The right and the divine prerogative to say what we just read there only

Jesus could do that So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments and the angel of the

Lord was standing by And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured

Joshua Thus saith the Lord of hosts if you will walk in my ways and keep my charge

Then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing

Here here now Oh Joshua the high priest you and your friends who sit before you for they are men who are assigned

Behold, I'll bring my servant the branch. That's Jesus For behold on the stone that I've set before Joshua on a single stone with seven eyes

I'll engrave its inscription declares the Lord of hosts I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day in that day declares the

Lord of hosts Every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree When in history was sin removed in a single day?

Jesus Crucifixion and resurrection. So one day the crucifixion is single day the resurrection when

God Sent his son. He died for our sins in a day in time in space in history

He removed our sins and Raised him for our justification Resurrected his son and Jesus even said well,

I will resurrect myself and the Holy Spirit worked in him to resurrect him So it's God the Trinity who performed the resurrection in a day our sin removed

Our high priest who never had filthy clothes on but who represented us on the cross as a sacrificial lamb

Fulfilling all the Old Testament figures of the temple and everything else Fulfills this

Yeah, thank you Teachers love it when they're told they're right what she said is yet the resurrection really does answer it and Only Jesus could have spoken those words, okay

When he's a rubable hang on saying just enough time

I'm gonna do the ruble chapter 4 and the angel who talked with me came again and woke me Like a man who was awakened out of his sleep.

I don't think he fell asleep. I think he's just overwhelmed He's just like I just got to sit down for a minute here.

There's a bit. There's been a lot I'm on overload sort of thing if we put it in 21st century kind of talk

And he said to me What do you see and I said I? See and behold a lampstand all of gold with a bowl on the top of it and seven lamps on top of it

With seven lips on each of the lamps that are on top of it And there are two olive trees by it and on the right bowl

On the right bowl and on the other on its left and I said to the angel who talked with me What are these my lord then the angel who talked to me answered said do you know what these are?

I said no my lord. I said to me. This is the word of the Lord to the Zerubbabel now Joshua the high priest

Zerubbabel the governor Okay, well, I believe he was in the Davidic line So this restoration

God's going to put things back together God's gonna raise up the tents of David that have fallen the word of the

Lord did to the Zerubbabel what I said before Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the

Lord of hosts Who are you a great mountain before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain and he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts amid shouts of grace to it grace to it stones building of the temple

The restoration of proper worship the place where God chose for his name to reside forever

It's all going to be restored and they're going to have a governor not a Persian overlord a

True governor and they're going to have worship not a temple with images in it, but the temple as God would have it and Joshua the high priest and the ones after him are going to go back to the holy

Holiest place once a year on the Day of Atonement Go Yom Kippur Yom Kippur the covering of sin

It's all going to be restored. They're going to have proper governance From the Word of God through the priest the

Word of God through the governor Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house

His hands shall also complete it Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you for whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice

And shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel It's going to be rebuilt plumb line measuring tape everything you need to design a building

I Had a thought that just came to me

I wanted to close with give me just a second. See if I go. Oh, yeah

What's the day of small things? Whoever despises the day of small things

Was that bring anything to mind? Okay It's a tough question

Coming Lord. What do you see? Is it none? Turn to Haggai chapter 2 and with this we will close

Just be a couple minutes over Haggai chapter remember Haggai is a partner with Zechariah you read in Nehemiah that when the maybe it's

Ezra One of those two books when the foundation was laid The people rejoiced so loud

That even their enemies heard the rejoicing They're just screaming with joy.

They just can't contain themselves But the ones who saw the former temple are crying so loud

That you couldn't tell which was louder the crying or the rejoicing And the ones who saw the former temple the one that had been knocked down by Babylon they're the ones who saw that glory one of the wonders of the world and Now they're weeping because this one is so much less.

I Think that that's the small things whoever despises small things now with that in mind if I'm correct about that Haggai chapter 2 verse 3 who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory

That's the Ezra or Nehemiah can't remember which one was that rejoicing that weeping when the foundation was laid

How do you see it now is it not as nothing in your eyes yet now be strong? Oh Zerubbabel declares the

Lord be strong Oh Joshua the son of Jehoshadach the high priest be strong all you people of the land declares the

Lord Work for I'm with you declares the Lord of hosts according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt My spirit remains in your midst you're hearing all the encouragement that people need to keep going

Fear not for thus says the Lord of hosts yet once more in a little while I'll shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I'll shake all the nations so that the treasures of All the nations shall come in Cyrus Required that they be funded that all the stuff from the temple that knew that Nebuchadnezzar had taken

Be returned. Okay, this did happen. I Declares the

Lord foes now listen to this the latter glory of this house The one that people were weeping over the one that couldn't stand in the same room with the glory of Solomon's temple

Okay This house the glory of this house shall be greater than the former

Says the Lord of hosts and in this place, I will give peace declares the Lord of hosts now with this We close a few minutes over time

But how could the glory of that house be greater than the glory of the one

Solomon built? Which is just covered in gold. It's almost a silver was despised

Okay What do you think? How could the glory of that house be greater than the glory of the former house?

Really close the house that Jesus built How could the for the glory of that house, which is so plain compared to the one that got knocked down?

exceed that glory Nick so it was built by Nick you get a gold star today, too

It was built by faith They were surrounded by enemies. They had no money. They had no army.

They had no governor. They had no high priest they had nothing to go on but God's Word and Trusting in him and that's why that glory was greater this temple

The final glory that exceeded Solomon's glory came when Jesus walked into that temple That's the one

Jesus walked into now here it had built it and he had done some he'd done some not refurbishing some

Expansion that's what I'm looking for So he made it look pretty glorious to the eye but his glory

Was because they built it by faith and it's final glorious because that's the one that Jesus walked into When he taught when he rebuked we turned over the the money changers tables all that That's the former glory or that's the glory that exceeded the former

So I apologize for having I got a little mixed up in the number of visions But we rushed into three and four which are the two that I really wanted to get to say louder.

Oh Thank you, I didn't pay her for that Thanks Okay, I don't even have time for closing thoughts

But you can see me afterwards if you have any comments or anything like that anything like that Let us pray heaven father. We thank you for this day that you've given us

We thank you for the Word of God that encourages us. I pray Lord that as Jesus builds the church He would encourage us by your spirit even as you did them way back then as they built that temple

I thank you father. We have the historical record that it was completed So we know father you will complete your will here in this place.