Zechariah
Major Messages From the Minor Prophets • Sermon • Submitted
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· 24 viewsAn overview of Zecharaiah showing that God is always faithful and is coming again so we need to get the temple (us) ready
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Well because of Thanksgiving and missions, we took a couple of weeks off from our series, Major Messages From the Minor Prophets, but today we are going back to it once again with our penultimate prophet , and the largest of the 12 books, the book of Zechariah
3 weeks ago we look at Haggai and we talked about how he spoke a word of encouragement about rebuilding the temple to those Jews who had chosen to return to Jerusalem after the 70 year Babylonian captivity
We saw how under the new covenant, we, the children of God, are now the temple, and so we were encouraged by his message to continue in our efforts to build ourselves up in Christ until the day that He returns or calls us home
I remind you of that word of Haggai this morning because we find a lot of similarities between Haggai and Zechariah
In fact you may recall that Zechariah was an old man of around 90 when his 4 messages were preached over a 4 month period
Well half way through that time, after Haggai had preached his second message, is when the much younger Zechariah shows up
Zechariah’s message can be divided into 3 categories, first there’s the 8 night visions that he received from God, then there’s the 4 messages that he preached to the people and finally there are 2 oracles, or special Words from God that this prophet/priest speaks
Zechariah had been born in captivity in Babylon and had returned to Jerusalem to serve as a priest in the anticipated new temple and was undoubtedly in the audience for Haggai’s impassioned plea
Like I did with Haggai, instead of trying to exegete all 14 chapters or even just a portion of it, this morning I would prefer to do an overview of this book and how it relates to us almost 3000 years after it was written
So moved was he by what he heard that in seeking God about this God spoke to HIM as well
In fact God spoke to him more than a dozen times as this book includes details about 8 “night visions” that Zechariah had, 4 messages that he preached to the people and 2 “oracles” from God Himself
These visions were so much more than just about the building of the temple
Theologian and author, George L. Robinson calls Zechariah “the most Messianic, the most truly apocalyptic and eschatological, of all the writings of the O.T.”
Those are big words that simply mean that there is more prophecy about the Messiah and about the end times than in any other book in the O.T.
I bet you didn’t expect that from these 14 little chapters, but listen to this
In 6:12 Zechariah prophesied Christ’s lowly birth as a human, 11:12-13 that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, too many things about His ministry to list today, but jumping ahead to 14:4 he prophesied that Christ would return in glory and finally that He would establish enduring peace and prosperity under His rule
As for the apocalypse and end times, Zechariah prophesied about the final seige of Jerusalem, that initially Israel’s enemies will be victorious but that God Himself will come to the defense of Jerusalem, that He will judge the nations and bring about that final ultimate Kingdom of God
That is certainly a lot of information in one little book and, if you read it for yourself, you will see that I have only begun to scratch the surface
As another author put it, “the book as a whole teaches the sovereignty to God in history over men and nations - past, present, and future.”
It’s this theme of the book that I want to concentrate on this morning rather than the many different topics that Zechariah covers
The reason for that is because I believe that as a church we are standing at a place of intersection, a place where the past and future are converging in the present, just as Zechariah believed the same for his people
Let’s begin right where Zechariah begins, with the past
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 Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 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. Do not be like your ancestors, 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. Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?
“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’ ”
When it comes to the past, whether it be for Israel or for FGt there are two words that instinctively come to my mind, “His plan”
Just in case anyone has the misconception that this church being here is a fluke or that it is something that just happened, I want to make sure that you understand that nothing could be farther from the truth
Before a sermon was ever preached, before a nail was put into a piece of wood, before a brick was ever set into place, God had a plan, a plan to establish a local gathering of believers, a local church, that could meet the needs of the people in our community and could shine the light of the gospel to a people in darkness
Remember what Jesus said to Peter after his confession that Jesus was the Messiah?
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
That was the plan, that’s why God put together this group of believers that eventually became Frankford Full Gospel Tabernacle
To understand this let me take you to the formation of the church back in Acts
Acts 2
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The four fold plan for the church: 1. Bible teaching 2. fellowship 3. Lord’s supper 4. prayer and that’s what the people did and God moved and Frankford was forever impacted
In fact all of Canada and the rest of the world was impacted as people from this church were called to ministry and to service to God
God was and is faithful to His plan and His Spirit still rests upon this church for the same purpose for which He first called it
Which, of course, brings us to the present and the two words that come to my mind as I consider the present are this, “Our Prayers”
Now prayer is and always will be an important and integral part of this body of believers
I mean I love the fact that when the were building this building prayer was enough of a consideration that they built a prayer room
Prayer IS important which is why we try to provide as many opportunities for prayer as possible
There is Sunday morning prayer before the service from 9:45-10:15, Monday there’s a prayer time at the youth center, Wednesday we have the seniors prayer and share, Thursday we meet for prayer in the sanctuary at 6:30 before Bible study
And should Jesus tarry prayer will continue to be an important part of who were are
But in this context when I say “Our prayers” I’m not talking about our different prayer times
What I am actually talking about the many many different prayers that have been spoken by people in this church over the years that have seemingly remained unanswered
I would like to share with you this morning 2 different words that were both shared with me over the previous several months one a dream and the other a vision
I have shared these with the board but have not shared them publically until now
Just for clarification these were not shown to me by God but were given to others who then told me about them
The first one was a dream and as it was explained to me it was an image of the church basement, the original basement, looking from west to east when all of a sudden the floor started to bubble, almost foaming like
As the person walked across the floor they could tell that it was water bubbling up through the concrete
Now at this point I stopped them and told them that with all of the water problems we have had I didn’t like where this was going
But they continued and said that as they walked the water that was at first bubbling began to break through in great fountains coming up through the floor and filling up the building
I was relieved when they told me that God had explained to them that the water represented the blessings of God
That these very blessings were part of the foundation of the church, that they were built into who we are by God and that for years in His faithfulness they have always bubbled up
But the day is here that God wants to explode His blessings upon us, to pour them out like we have never seen
To have not just our cups but to have everything overflowing because of what He is going to do
Now as the Pastor here I was excited to hear such a word
Believe it or not it is not everyday that someone gives me a prophetic word about our church
Now imagine my reaction when, that very same day, someone decided to share with me a vision that they had while standing here in our sanctuary right back there by the sound booth
They saw 2 large angels standing in Heaven directly over top of our church and in front of each of these angels was a huge Biblical style water jar
At God’s command each of these angels tip over their jars so that their contents poured out over the church like a large waterfall
I have to admit that my first thought was, ‘O great now we have water coming from below and above’
But my trepidation turned to excitement as the vision was explained that these two jars in front of the angels were filled with the answers to prayers prayed by people from FGt
Not just you and I but generations of people who were part of this church, fence sitters and prayer warriors alike and at the command of God these answers to prayer were all being poured out over us
Great-great grandmothers who were praying for generations that had not yet even been born would have their prayers answered
People who prayed that the Spirit of God would fall upon our community would have their prayers answered
In we have what has become known as the Hall of Faith, a listing of many of the great men and women of God from the Old Testament
Twice in that chapter the author points out that none of these men and women received that for which they longed and prayed while they were still alive
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” Verse 13
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Now I understand that this is talking about the the fulfilment of the Old Testament promise of salvation through the new covenant formed through Jesus Christ but there is a principle here about God always fulfilling His word to His people
God wants to respond to the faith of those who have gone on ahead of us whose prayers were not fully answered!
There are unfulfilled promises here, there are unanswered prayers here and God the Father wants to square up with His people before the great day of the Lord happens
Because that is the third point the future which is characterized by the 2 words “His Promises”
Zechariah goes into great detail about the day that is coming when God will make all things right, when He will avenge His people and judge His enemies
On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
Zechariah 14:6-
I think that some of you might be stuck on the “no cold, frosty darkness” phrase
And that’s okay God included it in there so that we would be excited about the fulfilment of His promise to return and set up His kingdom
And in our excitement that we would keep ourselves prepared for His return
Listen to the words of Jesus spoken to His disciples,
“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Luke 12:35-
The book of Zechariah is a reminder of the faithfulness and sovereignty of God - past, present, and future
Not just for Israel and those who had returned from captivity but for us here today in Frankford
The past represented by His plan
The present represented by our prayers
And the future represented by His promises
Let’s pray