Sermon Tone Analysis

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!! INTRODUCTION

 

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*A preacher’s **first sermon is usually difficult to deliver, but in Zechariah’s case, his first message was doubly difficult because of the theme—**repentance.

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God commanded His young servant to call the discouraged remnant to turn from their wicked ways and obey His Word.

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Zechariah boldly proclaimed what God told him to say - the Lord couldn’t bless His chosen people until they were clean in His sight.

*2 Chronicles 7:14 *If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

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Our Lord’s last word to the church is ‘Repent.

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It’s one thing to ask God to bless us but quite another to be the kind of people He can bless!

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*Zechariah, =  “/whom Jehovah remembers/,”*

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Son of Berechiah, =  “/Jehovah blesses/,” #.

His father was the son of Iddo, =  “/the appointed time/.”

i.

God REMEMBERS and BLESSES at the APPOINTED time.

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Zechariah was a young man at the time of these visions

 

*Zechariah 2:4 *And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited /as/ towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:

#. */Zechariah/ was a COMMON name among the Hebrew people *

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Twenty-eight Zechariahs are MENTIONED in the Old Testament #.

Some say Zechariah of this book was KILLED 

 

*Matthew 23:35*  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

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Jewish Targum says a Zechariah was KILLED in the sanctuary and that he was both PROPHET and PRIEST.

i.

Josephus (/Wars,/ iv. 5, 34) REPORTS of  the MURDER of a ‘Zecharias, the son of Baruch,  

                                        ii.

If that was the case, he certainly had a difficult life, we just don’t know

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We have acquired a mindset that if you are a Christian, i.e. saved, life will always be nothing but a bed of roses                                           i.

Yet the Bible is full of examples of God’s children suffering

                                        ii.

Yes, suffering often comes with the walk 

 

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*Zechariah’s PROPHECY practically CLOSES the Old Testament*

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It is next to the FINAL book  

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*The prophecy was written in 520 b.c.

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Zechariah was CONTEMPORARY with Haggai 

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*Ezra 5:1*  Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.

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*Yet Zechariah was the OPPOSITE of Haggai.

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They KNEW each other

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They prophesied to the same PEOPLE at the same period of TIME.

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Yet their prophecies are just about as DIFFEERENT as any two could be

 

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*Zechariah spoke from **visions received of God*

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HAGGAI was entirely PRACTICAL.

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Both SPOKE for God

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Both spoke to the same PEOPLE

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Both spoke during the same TIME

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Both spoke about the same PROBLEM.

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*God still uses many **ways to **communicate His message*

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For example,

                                          i.

We see this is the styles of preaching

                                        ii.

We see this true the different personalities of preachers

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Yet, thru it all God is glorified

 

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*In a single night Zechariah saw a series of visions*

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Each were interpreted by an angel #.

Each described the future of the nation Israel.

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God’s spiritual blessing set forth in the visions bridges centuries

                                          i.

From the rebuilding of the temple in Zechariah’s day

                                        ii.

To the restoration of the kingdom to Israel under the Messiah  

 

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*Our understanding of the teaching of Zechariah is helped when we recognize that the prophet gives pictures of the future in snapshot fashion *

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The pictures are not in any particular sequence.

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When we read a passage, we see only what is happening in that snapshot,

                                          i.

Not how it relates to other snapshots.

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*the vision of the red-horse rider among the myrtles (1:7-17)*

 

*Zech.

1:1  In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying *

 

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*“/In the EIGHTH month/**/, in the SECOND year of Darius/”*

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This is the period of the RETURN of a remnant of Israel BACK to their land AFTER the seventy-year captivity in Babylon.

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There is NO king in either Israel or Judah now.

i.

The line of David is no longer on the throne

 

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*“/The second year of Darius/” is would be the same year in which HAGGAI prophesied.*

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Remember, BOTH Zechariah and Haggai prophesied to the same people during the same period of time.

*Zech.

1:2  The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers *

 

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*Zechariah is tells them that the REASON they had been in captivity was that “/The Lord hath been sore /**/displeased with your fathers./”

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Their fathers had SINNED against God, and

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Zechariah is WARNING the returned remnant NOT to follow in the footsteps of their pre-Captivity fathers.

i.

He is WARNING them against making the SAME mistakes.

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Message is still loud and clear

                                          i.

Repent or Perish!

 

 

*Zech.

1:3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts  *

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#. *“/Thus saith the Lord of hosts/.”

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It occurs FIFTY-TWO times in this book #.

The word */hosts/* =  “/service/” or “/strength/” or even “/warfare/.”

i.

SPEAKS of the boundless resources at His command for His people

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Just think of the resources available to us today

                                          i.

Love, Joy, Peace

 

 

*Zech.

1:4 Be ye **not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did **not hear, nor **hearken unto me, saith the Lord *

 

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*Look at this WARNING.*

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God is saying, “/Your fathers paid no attention to the prophets whom I sent to them.

I sent Hosea.

I sent Joel.

I sent Amos.

I sent Isaiah and I sent Jeremiah.