Zechariah: Spiritual Revival and the Future Kingdom

Download the Zechariah Bible Journal Outline

Open your Bibles if you would the Book of Zechariah. That's the second to last book in the Old Testament. And if finding all these books is new, there's a list in the front of the Bible under the Pew there with page numbers, and you can find it there.

The title of the message is "Spiritual Revival and the Future Kingdom," "Spiritual Revival and the Future Kingdom." Hopefully, you got one of these Bible outline journals, this will help you take notes, and has a little bit of the outline of the book in there. And you can write down the point of the message and what you learned about God and maybe a prayer request for this week. So I hope that is a blessing to you as well. All relationships take effort, do they not? It's kind of like the guy that said, after 40 years of marriage, his wife spoke to him. And she looked at her husband, and she said, How come you never tell me that you love me anymore? And he said, Well, I told you when we got married, and if anything changes, I'll let you know. That is not the kind of effort we're looking for. That would not be a solid marriage. We must seek to draw closer to our spouse every day. In relationships, you know, if you don't call somebody for a week. If you, you know, don't communicate with them on whatever myriad of social platforms you utilize. They they the relationship grows distant and grows cold. And it seems like you could be going through the motions a little bit. And this is especially true in marriage, where there's this bond. The wife must cultivate an interest in her husband, and the things that he is interested in. She must pursue him and work towards pursuing him. And the things that he likes to do, that you don't like to do. The husband must cultivate a loving relationship with his wife, he must set his mind on her and her alone. Quite simply, those who have the most trouble and marriage normally lose the battle of the mind. They lose the battle of the mind and that they they are thinking all of these sinful wrong thoughts; and they never subject them to the Word of God and say, Lord God, take this thought from me and give me a right thinking. But those marriages and relationships that thrive are the ones that invest and the other person, you know, this if you're single, and you invest in your good friends, you cherish that relationship. You pray for them. You are concerned about them. You communicate with them. You're not just efficient, like giving a birthday card on a birthday. That's efficient, that's not special. That's efficient, right? You go out of your way to bless that person. Relationships that thrive are indeed a two way effort, though. It is a two way effort. And when we come to the Book of Zachariah, once again, the Israelites are in a little bit of cruise control mode. Now I'm going to preach an overview of the whole book. Today, hopefully in about the next 50 minutes or so. There's 14 chapters. And so I'm going to give you an overview at times and at times we're going to dive in to pull out significant truths. But the Israelites were in cruise control. God had brought them back to the promised land. They had spent many years under Babylonian control. They were taken captive and exported to a foreign land. And now they have been given permission to come back and they are under multiple kings. Kings have come and gone and now they're under King Darius; and locally in Jerusalem, they are just kind of doing what they're supposed to but you know, their heart's not really in it. You know, that phrase when the feet are slow, the heart's not in it. Right. So that's kind of where we find them, but God desired, still desires a deep relationship with his people. God will not settle for just a casual relationship, he will not settle for status quo. I told you I loved you a long time ago and nothing's changed. He wants to move forward every single day in his relationship with you. And so when the Israelites, year after year, century after century, have hearts that get warmed up and grow cold God over and over again, pursues them, oftentimes through the prophets. And Jesus is going to come on the scene in this book in an amazing way. But here God is going to make them an offer. And it's found in chapter 1, verse 3, he says this, "Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts." Now that capital LORD in your Bible is the memorial name of God, it's Yahweh. It's just for consonant letters, Y, H, W, H. And it is the name that God wants to be known by. And you notice there it says, the Lord of hosts. That means he is God, and he has an army, he is not alone, he commands those who follow him. God had bigger plans for the Israelites than they could ever imagine. And he was about to paint a picture of a revived relationship with them, and such spiritual renewal that they would never forget. In fact, he was counting on this because this is the second to last book before about 400 years of silence, until the New Testament starts with John the Baptist. So we're at the end of the Old Testament now. Zachariah is the second to last Prophet. Prophesying after captivity. They've returned to their land. They're starting to rebuild a little bit. They're getting permission to rebuild. They're getting all the materials, and yet God wants more. So let me give you a little context here. Zachariah overlaps with Haggai, what was preached last week. Those two prophets overlap, and they're preaching to the people. Haggai was mostly about a physical renewal. He wanted the temple to be rebuilt. So God pushed Haggai to preach to them about getting about the work. Remember, they were lax for about 16 years; they had stopped working on the temple and he wanted their hearts to match their feet and their hands and to get to work. So Haggai works to have them to start rebuilding, Zachariah as a whole, is more focused on spiritual renewal, and encouragement. So it's not just about the work, but it's about is your heart in it. And he's going to paint these amazing visions to them, which we'll get to in a minute. And he's going to just really give...give pictures and portraits of his relationship with them and what he's going to do that he's never done before. But he wants to draw them to Himself. God is always interested and drawing us to Himself. And that message starts with the same thing, from Genesis, when they sinned in the garden, all the way to the new millennium in the book of Revelation. It starts with the same message.

Let's look at Zachariah chapter 1 and see what that message is. "In the eighth month, and the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the Prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah son of Iddo, saying, The Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them thus declares the LORD of hosts, returned to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Do not be like your father's to whom the former prophets cried out. Thus says the Lord of hosts, returned from your evil ways and from your evil deeds, but they did not hear or pay attention to me declare is the Lord. Your father's, where are they? And the prophets? Do they live forever? But my words, and my statutes, which I commanded my servants, the prophets, did they not overtake your father's. So they repented, and said, As the Lord of hosts purpose to deal with us for our ways in our deeds, so he has dealt with us."

Friends, there are a lot of sermons going on this morning that want to skip this step...that want you to feel like church is all about you. The last couple of weeks, I've been analyzing the biggest churches in America, and their websites and what they say and what they promote. And it's all about come join us and, and come be a part of this great party. Everything we do is about you, everything we're going to say is customized just to you. And they kind of skip the the main part here. This is the best part, the turning from what will destroy you. That's repentance. And God here has called these people through Zachariah to repent, that is to turn from sin to to have a mental disposition that affects your body, not just a mental disposition, that leaves you where you were. That's not helpful. But something that says you're over here, and I need you over there. You've been going this way, and I need you to go that way. That is what repentance is. It's not just a turning from sin to some kind of moralistic life. It is a turning to the Lord God. So he calls them to repentance. And they demonstrate what real repentance looks like, very subtly here and Zephaniah. But they submit fully to God's call. And they say this, "as the Lord of hosts has purpose to deal with us for our ways and deeds. So he has dealt with us." Notice what's not in there? The complaining...the, "Oh, you don't understand. I just did that because life was so hard. I just did that, because I'm having such a rotten time, I decided to feel better." No, they say we got what we deserved. That is what a repentant heart looks like, friends. Is that the kind of heart that you have before God? I remember my my grandfather on my mother's side, you'd say hey, how are you? And he was an old school guy. And he was a sailor and came to faith later in life through the evangelistic outreach of his church and men knocking on his door and just giving him the gospel. And he had asked him, "How are you doing, Mr. Jones?" You know what he'd say, "Better than I deserve?" And he meant it. And you could see that in his life, you can see that and how he treated his, his wife, his son-in-law, right? You can always tell how do they treat the son-in -aw, or the daughter-in-law? You know what I'm talking about. And he treated them that way, because that was what was in his heart. His heart was fully after God. And when he what we would say, fell prey to Alzheimer's and Dementia and didn't know what was going on. Guess what, His disposition didn't change because there was nothing in him to come out that he was hiding. That's just who he was. Repentance is a turning to God from sin. And I want to ask you, if you hear nothing else about this message today, have you done that? Have you left aside your sin? And the things that you found comfort in before you you came to an understanding of God? Have you cried out to him and confessed your sins to God? And can that be evident and seen in your life day after day after day? Can others look at you and say that person loves God? She has a heart after the Lord. He has a desire and a diligence to pursue God above all else. I beg you to consider asking God for complete forgiveness. And he says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will will be saved. Repentance is a willingness to follow God and all his ways. And that's what sets our hearts right. He changes us. He does this by a work of his grace and praise God. They were ready to follow God. See you finally got to a minor prophet, a small book where they were actually repentant. This is it. This is the book we've been. We've gone through 12 others, and they were all bad the whole time and barely survived and well, here it is. This is your book of joy and encouragement. And it starts out with the mantra we got what we deserved. Every repentance as Leupold writes, that's a commentator, "every repentance, and every return unto the Lord is imperfect at best." That is why, another reason why we say, salvation is of grace. Salvation is of grace. Repentance is an expression that requires deepening. It must be done more sincerely and thoroughly. Now, when you come to faith in Christ, you are saved and born again and made new and sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption. Okay, you're not going to lose your salvation. Why? Because it's a work of God. If we could lose it, we would. Okay, all of you would, I would. But since it's a work of God, and since it's sealed by the Holy Spirit, you cannot lose your salvation. He will bring us to the place of joy and comfort and knowing that God has sealed us and we will one day be with him. That is the joy of our salvation. So you don't need to repent and get saved over and over again. Now there is a turning to God and a deeper relationship with him. And that's not just a New Testament concept. It's. it's an Old Testament concept, that our hearts need to follow after God. So how do you know if you're repentant before God? What does a repentant heart look like today? Because I want you to see this book is incredibly practical. Well, one, as we see just from that one verse, where they say, We got what we deserved, you must be convicted about your sin. If someone says to you, you know, brother, I'd like to pray for you. And it's somebody that you trust, and it's maybe a sister talking to a sister, and I would like to pray for you. And what are you working on in your life? What, what sin are you struggling with, that I can bring before God's throne? You should say, "How long do you have?" That should be your response. If you can't think of one you come see me. I'll give you a long list. You see, it scripture says he who says he is without sin is what? A liar. And the truth is what? Not in it. Jesus doesn't really mince words. This it's all about you. And it's a big giant party. That's later. Right now we're broken vessels coming to the one who can fix us. Right, so we must be convicted of sin and agree that it is indeed sinful. A second thing is that what's our attitude of service of joy and diligence? Right? There are those who serve with such joy and such diligence, it's overwhelming at times. I remember really first running into people like this. And when I was a little kid, I could see that and the church I grew up in. Like who's serving in the nursery? Well, so and so. And if you've ever gone to the church, I grew up in, from about 1984 till now, there would be one person who served in the nursery until she was physically unable every single Sunday.

Just this joy like I'm there, I'm gonna serve I'm going to do what is best for God so that others can be blessed. And I would see that in other services. In California when I went out there to churches, it's like, well, who's working? And the tech ministry? You know, the behind the scenes ministry...the ministry that supports everything. Well, so and so is working again. Weren't, Weren't they just here at rehearsal? And weren’t they just here early on Sunday? And, and making everything happen? Yeah, they were. They do so with joy and diligence, not the, not the serving with complaining; not the serving with the moaning, but the serving with the smile. Right? It all comes with a smile. I've been to churches, where it's almost you feel like are you at Chick Fil A or church? Because you say something. And they're like, my pleasure, right? I remember this church, there's so many people working at this Grace Community Church in California, and you're like, well, thank you so much. You know, when somebody goes out of their way to help you and support you and love you, and they say it's a joy for me to serve. They all say that. You kind of like, I must have missed the memo. I guess I'm supposed to start saying that. No, you're supposed to start living that, right. So if you're truly repentant, you're going to have a few signs about you that you're convicted about regular sin and that you're joyfully serving other people it's a get it done attitude. The Israelites had a somebody else's going to do it attitude, and they kind of needed a little pushing. So he starts on with a little bit of, of repentance. And that happened if you're if you're a timeline person that happened right before Haggai 2:10. Okay, if you're following the timelines, so now we fast forward three months later, after this agreeing that they should repent that they got what they deserved, and that they're still working on the temple and they need their hearts to get right. Where do we find them now? What are they doing? Well, this is where in the Book of Zachariah, these eight visions come in. And it starts in chapter 1, verse 7. And God gives him these eight visions in order to encourage them. And at the risk of overwhelming you with too much information. I'm going to teach through some of these visions. One, so that you can know that visions aren't just for crazy people to try and figure out okay. They are understandable. That's the perspicuity of God's word that it is knowable and understandable. When it says it's a light into your path that actually does show you the way to live and what's coming. But also that your hearts might be encouraged. You see you've got the same heart as these people in Israel. A longing to love God more than you do. A longing to know God more than you do. A longing to, "Lord, my feet feel like they're in cement. I need your help." And that's exactly where they were. And I think these visions are actually quite incredible. The first vision is in chapter 1, verse 7, and he gets all of these all in one night. Another preaching path. They're right, they're getting them all. Now, we can get some of them. Now, these visions are interactive. It's not just like this movie picture turns on in his mind. Okay, these visions are interactive, where he is going to talk to people in the vision, and those people are going to talk to him and they're going to dialogue. Okay, so here we go. Let's look at a few of these visions because I think it's going to encourage you. The first one, and Zachariah chapter 1. It starts out with a man and for horses, who've patrolled the earth. The these horses have gone out over all the earth and they they symbolize part of, remember, it's the Lord of hosts, that symbolized part of the army of God, who was looking over all the affairs of the entire world. And then we see an angel of the Lord come about and you can see that repeated over and over again in this, this chapter here. There's an angel of the Lord who is talking. And this word for angel is also the word which we get messenger. And most people think that well, most conservative scholars think that this would be what's called a pre-incarnate Jesus. So this is Jesus appearing in bodily form before he was born of a virgin. Okay, so this word angel doesn't mean that he's actually an angel. I think it could be better translated as just simply messenger. But an angel is nonetheless one who speaks for God. And they have this discussion. Right? So you've got Zachariah here, you've got an angel of the Lord, you've got this guy standing among trees with multicolored horses, and he's wondering what is going on. And then this angel, and he have a discussion. And the angel of the Lord looks to Yahweh and says, "How long are you going to be angry with Jerusalem? How long are you going to be angry with them? How long have you going to not be merciful?" That person should have been must have been in a right standing before God to say something like that. And it was out of compassion for the people of Jerusalem. And Yahweh answers in verse 13, of chapter 1. "And the Lord answered, gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. So the angel who talked with me said to me cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion, and I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease. For a while I was angry, but a little they furthered the disaster. Therefore thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts, my cities, shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion, and choose Jerusalem." What's the message? What's the first vision that Zachariah gets? I am angry with your enemies, and I am jealous to bring you mercy. I am a God who brings you comfort, says in the Lord again will again comfort Zion, the whole city will be comforted. I will choose Jerusalem at the end of verse 17. He says in verse 16, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy, my house, the place where he dwells, the temple, he's calling my house, My house shall be built. Remember, the people were still building the temple and it would take years. And so they needed some encouragement to know the job would actually get finished. The future is bright. Sometimes it seems even the work of the Lord will never get done, doesn't it? Like Lord, I've been praying about this sin. I've been praying you take it from me, been praying you take these doubts from me and and yet here I am, Lord. Rest assured, God's ultimate plan and purpose for you will come to pass. He will see it through. And though we are feeble, and sometimes fail, and other times are running, and it seems like with ease and great joy, God's plans will come to pass and they are merciful, and they are comforting. That's the first vision. We're going to skip Division Three, Look in chapter 2. And here we see a very familiar phrase and Zachariah 2:8. And it says this, "For Thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who serve them, then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. Nations are going to join you in praising me. And I'm not going to be distant. I'm going to be there with you. What do you have to fear?"

You see, he was giving them a glimpse of their immediate future where the temple would be rebuilt and he would dwell with them there. But also a of another future where it nation after nation would come and also worship. This is cause for singing and rejoicing. Not that their enemies would be overthrown, but that they would be with God. Do you ever think about that day when you would stand with Jesus Christ? When you would look into his eyes, and he would shower you with love? When you try and remember the sin and he says, "It's forgiven." When you try and say, "I'm not worthy," he says, "That's okay. You are saved by my grace." When you say, "my life doesn't measure up," and he says, "That's okay. You can have my righteousness, it is full and complete." When you say, "I am not worthy," and he says, That's, okay, Worthy is the Lamb." Do you ever just think about being with God? Do you ever just think about and talk about what is life going to be like, with Jesus Christ? You see Zachariah and the people needed a bigger vision of God. They needed to dwell on the fact that they would be with him, and he would be with them in their midst. Is that what you came here today for this to draw closer to God? If you're a believer, then that phrase, the apple of his eye applies to you? Is God the apple of your eye? Is God the one that your heart desires? Do you yearn for God? Do you long for him? Let him draw your hearts closer to him. So far, what we've seen in these visions is that God is going to come and bring mercy on his people, he is going to bring comfort, and he is going to bring himself. Yet, as you know, over time when people mess up and sin over and over and over again, maybe you know someone like that. God has to punish them over and over and over again. And they get discouraged. Why? Because instead of turning to Jesus Christ, now they just keep turning, you know, to the filth that they left behind. And these people, the people of God, here, they have left since the time of Solomon, any corporate praise as a nation to pray and to serve God. They kind of go in and out of serving and loving him. And so at this point, they may be thinking, well, our track record isn't very good, what's going to change? You and I may start to think that God's desire to forgive us has maybe faded, or that our sins are somehow justified, and maybe we'll get to heaven, but we're going to have to crawl into the back and hide somewhere. Maybe you just think it's Satan, who is constantly accusing you before God. And of course, he knows all things that you are doing if he's watching you, and you just think I am so doomed when I stand before God. Well guess what the fourth vision is exactly that. And it's a vision of for it's a vision of forgiveness to Joshua. This vision opens up and chapter 3, verse 1, and we see that it's Satan actually standing before the angel of the Lord, before God accusing him of sin. The high priest nonetheless, being accused, down in verse 4. Notice, they didn't disagree. But they had another plan. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, "Removed the filthy garments from him." In other words, yeah, he's full of sin. But guess what, we're taking that away. And he said to him, "Behold, I have taken away your...I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." You will be pure before God, that if you are saved, if God has forgiven you, you have been forgiven fully and can completely and you can stand before a holy and righteous God. That is amazing. That is cause for great rejoicing. God is saying, I forgive you, and I forgive you completely.

When Satan remind you in whatever way he can, of just how unworthy you are, it's time to rejoice that Jesus Christ has paid for your sin. It's not time to have a dialogue with Satan. Okay? That's some other church. Here, what the Bible says, is rejoice because you're forgiven. There's no dialogue with Satan here. It's just rebuke to Satan. Chapter 3, verse 8, "Hear now Oh, Joshua, the high priests, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch." How is this forgiveness on the way? I'd like to know that. He says, "I will bring my servant, the Branch," and the focus here is not on who exactly the Branch is, or the stone as he's called in other verses, but on the role of the Branch. It's on the role of the Branch. What's the significance of the Branch? Chapter 3, verse 9 at the end, "I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day." When did that happen? When Christ paid for sin, on the cross. Atonement in a single day was foreign to their minds. Right, they had to, according to Leviticus 16, offer sacrifices continually, day and night, once a year, a great sacrifice for the sin of all the people that would, it says, quote, "Atone for their sin," but it was not a permanent atonement. Atonement means the setting aside of the sin, to change and to make different but now, this this Branch is going to atone in a single day. No mention of repetition. No mention of reoccurrence. From Hebrews 7:27. It describes the sacrifice that Jesus made it says, "He has no need, like those high priests, this offer sacrifices daily for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. Since he did this once for all when he offered up himself." Once one, one sacrifice. Wait, there's a Branch and there's a single sacrifice; there's an atonement that's going to be complete and made for everyone in a single day. This is blowing their minds. So far, the visions talk about bringing mercy about God bringing comfort and dwelling with them. And about bringing forgiveness in chapter 3, verse 9, even forgiveness on the whole land, not just for the high priest himself. So now you are humble. You are comforted by God. And you are forgiven. Do we have any more questions than that? Well, of course we do. Our questions are endless. So we are thankful that we are now humbled right repentant, that was the first chapter. And now we're comforted by God and he's speaking kind words to us and, and he's even forgiven us. He's given us a new set of clothes that are pure vestments. In other words, you're seen as being right before God and and then you go, Okay, well, I still kind of feel weak about the work. Thank you for all those things. But I still feel like I'm running close to empty and the engine sputtering a little bit. Vision number five, addresses that, chapter 4 verses 1 to 14. And I'll just kind of summarize this. Zerubbabel is the one to whom this vision is given. And he was the governor who was supposed to rebuild the temple. And like I said last week, right, they had a bunch of people building a temple who had no idea how to build the temple. So as you can imagine, probably things were falling apart a little bit on them. The people did though, finally begin to work, but they needed to know something very important. And it's this verse and chapter 4 verse 6, that is taken out of context so often it's tempting to preach a sermon on it. But we need to understand this verse in its context. chapter 4, verse 6, "Then he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." Wait, I thought we just got to use that whenever we wanted. Right? It's just, I'm just working for God. It sits by His Spirit, not by my mind, but by His Spirit, right? That's what that means. Well, this verse was given to a specific people. And it was told to them in a way that would be unique. The visions here is there's this golden lamp, there's bowls above it. And there's all these little things coming down into the bowls. And it's going to sustain this, this light. Okay? And what you'll see by context at this is actually the work of the Holy Spirit to sustain what is going on. It's not by might or power, but by my Spirit. So you've called us to work. You've called us to repentance, those sounds like things we do. You've called us to build. That sounds like me building. But you're saying it's not by my power? It's by what the Holy Spirit? Yes, now you've got it, right. You see, most people burn out in the Christian life, when they're not working by the power of God, they're just working. The temple would be finished, and it was going to be finished by the power of the Holy Spirit. There wasn't a whole lot about the Holy Spirit specifically working in people, they knew stories of it coming on King David and giving him strength and, and coming on others and giving them power and, and soothing people and, and giving people a word of understanding and prophecy but but now he's also going to give us the strength to do the work of the Lord. You see, Zerubbabel needed encouraged. Like anyone else, the people needed encouraged, the high priests needed encouraged, and Zerubbabel their governor needed encouraged. You know, you might have different ideas of what political leaders are doing. But they need to be encouraged. And if we don't encourage them with the truth of God's word, then who will? And Zerubbabel needed to know that God was going to bless the work and finish it. Maybe you have a situation right now where you can't really see the way forward. You know, you are supposed to finish what you started. But the task seems daunting. But I want to offer this, that maybe we trust the Lord in his work. And we trust the Lord to do it by His power. You see, I have a great desire, as I know many of you do, to see many people reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I wish it were quicker. I wish it would go faster. And I wish more people would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But we need to be satisfied and content that we do his work in his way, by His power and strength. The guys who are teaching Grace equip looked at me and needed to understand this like you want us to do what? Launch 12 new classes this year, with all the other things we're doing, and the preaching and the teaching and let alone the men's Bible studies and the guys teaching that and the women's Bible studies teaching that? And you go Yeah. We need to work by the power of the Spirit of God. And we need to set our task and our hands to the plow, and not look back and teach the entire council of God. See this the sermon series to to go do an overview of the whole book isn't just a neat idea. I feel the conviction that we need to have taught the entire council of God's Word and the Spirit is going to help us to do that. Chapter 4, verse 9, says that his hands, that is Zerubbabel, would complete the work...that God would sustain him. And he will sustain you, so long as you are doing God's work as well.

So you go, Okay, so now, we're humble, right? It tells you they're humble. They're not humble, but we're humble, right? We're comforted by God. We're forgiven. And we're empowered by the Spirit. What other problems do we have? What other problems are we going to bring before God and say, I've got those four things. I'm good with that. But what about this? Well, we're good at that. So they say, "Well, what about our enemies?" Well vision six and seven in chapter 5, take care of the enemies, this flying scroll and the woman in a basket and all these interesting visions, it's basically saying that wickedness is going to be put in their place. Okay, so now you're humble, you're comforted by God, you're forgiven, you're empowered by His Spirit, and God's enemies are put in their place. And you're like, Yeah, that's great. But I've got another question. Right? We do this with God, we say, but what about the future? What about the future? I don't know what the future is going to bring. But God you do. What about the future? That's the last vision and the rest of the book. chapter 6, verse 5, has this little phrase at the end of it. And it kind of gives a knowledge and an understanding that we all need to know it is this, that He is Lord of all the earth? What else about the future? Do we need to know? Like, well, I've got lots of questions about what that means. When is that going to happen? Who's going to rule and reign? Is it like really the whole earth? Or is it just like, kind of part of the whole earth? Or is it just some of like, the whole Mesopotamian region like what we could see in the Promised Land? Or is it the whole earth? Chapter 6, verse 13, "Remember the branch that is on the way, he shall sit and rule on his throne." This looks beyond Joshua...beyond Joshua. So they go on this knowledge for a couple of years. They're working on the temple. And God knows that through these six visions, that he is going to really encourage them and broaden their future. But the rest of the book happens a little bit later. And in chapter 7, we pick up two years later. So after getting this great vision of comfort and forgiveness, and God ruling and reigning on all the earth, and what are they up to now? Well, chapter 7, looks back on what they did and what they used to live like. And chapter 8, sets out what God's going to do in the future. And he gives them these phrases to work on and cause them to love truth and peace and justice and take care of, you know, the widows and the orphans and be about the work. And then there's this crescendo of of Messianic prophecy in chapters 9 through 14. And there's no way to deep dive into this at all, right now. But I just want to tell you that this is an amazing section of Messianic prophecy. In other words, it sets forth who the Branch is that's going to come. It tells us what is going to happen to him. It tells us what he's going to be like. It tells us what he's going to do. It tells us where he's going to rule and it tells us what are going to happen to the nations around. And I think you're going to recognize some of these prophecies about the Lord Jesus Christ. Zachariah is the second most quoted book in the New Testament only after Isaiah. Most of the prophecies that are quoted in the New Testament come from this section. Okay, so it's worth our time looking at chapter 9, verse 9. You'll recognize these words, "Rejoice greatly. Oh, daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, oh, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Of course First, that's Matthew 21. It happens 400 years later at the arrival of Jesus Christ. But there is so much about Christ in Zachariah and some we've already read. I want to review some of this because it all brings it brings this whole book to a point. And I think once we get through with this in the next five, six minutes or so, you'll have an idea. Oh, that's where it's all headed. So Jesus in Zachariah, chapters 1 through 6, that angel of the Lord. That's Jesus Christ. I believe that's a pre-incarnate Christ. That would be 15 times he's mentioned more than 15 times chapter 3, verse 8 and chapter 6, verse 2 mentions the man whose name is the Branch. Well, how do we know Jesus is the Branch and it's not just a branch? Well, Jeremiah 23:5, "Behold, the days are coming declares the Lord, when our raise up for David a righteous Branch," that's not a stick for David to hold, "he shall reign as king." So this Branch is a king, and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. And we just read, right that the Branch is going to sit on the throne and rule and reign over the whole earth. So there's one king is coming, whose name is the Branch prophesied in Jeremiah, fortold more and Zachariah and he's going to rule and reign. That's Jesus. As we just said, chapter 9, verse 9, Palm Sunday when he came on a colt. Chapter 11 Verse 13, talks about the 30 pieces of silver, and Judas selling him for the price of a slave, quoted in the New Testament. Chapter 12, verse 10, "Look on him whom they have pierced." That's Jesus on the cross. Chapter 13, verse 7, "Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter." That's quoted when Jesus was taken and his disciples fled on the night he was betrayed. Chapter 14, verse 9, "The LORD will be king over all the earth," that's Jesus ruling and reigning on Earth. In chapter 14, verse 16, year after year, people will come to worship the King. That is him sitting on his throne, accepting that worship of the nations. But there's more. There are other things which had to be fulfilled by Jesus and Jesus alone. And I've alluded to them already. One is chapter 3, verse 8, where the iniquity of the land is removed in a single day. Chapter 13 verse 1 talks about a fountain that is brought forth used to cleanse from sin. Jesus is the One Who removes our sin. And then in chapter 14, it's just an amazing picture. We have a battle between Jerusalem and all the nations that's supposed to be Mount Olive splitting half, if you ever wondered what that was. That's what that's supposed to be. The Mount of Olives will split in half. That's chapter 14, verse 4. Not just like a little split, the whole valley is going to become a plane. Jerusalem is anything but a plane right now. There's valleys and mountains and hills everywhere, it's going to be flattened. God of hosts will be with him. Water will flow out of Jerusalem to the Eastern Sea and the Western Sea. Out of Jerusalem, are going to be rivers of water that flows to the sea. Jerusalem is set on a hill, but the whole valley is pretty low. Okay, so this is going to be a miraculous undertaking - a reshaping of the land. How does it all end? Where does all this culminate...all these prophecies about Jesus Christ? It ends in worship. It ends in worship. Chapter 14, verse 6, "Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem, shall go up year after year," to what? "To worship the King, the LORD of hosts." Friends, when the battle of Armageddon takes place and all the dust settles, those who are left are going to worship God. Worship is where it all ends - the worship of the one true God. And you say, where is this reference to the one true God, chapter 14, verse 9, "And the LORD will be king over all the earth and on that day the Lord will be one and his name one." The culmination of our God will bring unhindered worship, in one day will reign and in one day in the future will reign over all the earth physically.

There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and those who love God and are called according to His purpose will worship him. Praise God. Praise be to God the King of kings and Lord of lords. There is nothing better in this life than the praise and worship of God and Zachariah is trying to paint this magnificent picture that we need to get in line with God's program and be part of those who worship him. Praise be to Yahweh. Let's pray.

Dear Lord God, there is so much for us to ponder and consider. But it all boils down to this. Are we forgiven? And are we fully submitted to you? Lord, for those who know you their sins are forgiven and put as far as East is from West? I pray that would be a great encouragement to them today. For those of us who are called by your name. And yet, Lord, maybe there are some here who may be just playing church or never been to church or don't know you. Lord God, I pray that you would do a mighty work in their hearts. I pray they would give their lives to you right now. Lord God, we thank you for the coming reign and rule of Jesus Christ.

Friends, let's just spend a moment to get our hearts right with God and set our minds on his future plan.

Father, we thank you for this magnificent book. We thank you that is full of your words. And these things will come to pass. And we pray Lord God that you would bring us in line with your will. In your precious Name. Amen.