Zechariah 8- Zeal For Israel

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Again the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; With great fervor I am zealous for her.’ “Zechariah 8:1-2

One way I think we can sum up the book of Zechariah is “God is not done with Israel yet” The prophet Zechariah is being given direct revelations from God about the physical return of Christ (Zechariah 12-14) and the restoration of Israel , which we know as the Millennial Reign of Christ (Revelation 20:2-7)

These prophetic words couldn’t come at a better time, as Israel continues to be under attack by the world, specifically Iran, and antisemitism is on the rise around the world. What does God say? “I (God) am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her (Jerusalem)”

It’s very apparent God is not done with Israel (Romans 9-11) and God is very zealous for the restoration of Jerusalem which will happen with the Return of Christ

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:7

“Thus says the LORD: ‘I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain.’ (Zecharian 8:3)

God is very clear “I will return to Zion” this is the return of Jesus Christ. The Lord will physically descend from Heaven to the Mt of Olives to save and restore Israel

And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. Zechariah 14:4

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit In the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand Because of great age. The streets of the city Shall be full of boys and girls Playing in its streets.’ Zechariah 8:4-5

So what will Jerusalem look like during the Millennial Reign of Christ? (Revelation 20) The prophet Zechariah is told directly by God, there will finally be true peace, because the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) Jesus Christ is reigning from Jerusalem.  Don’t be deceived by the false peace promised by the world and Satan, specifically the anti-Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

As the prophet Isaiah also foretold

6“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. 9They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:6-9

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, Will it also be marvelous in My eyes?’ Says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 8:6

“In these days” the Millennial  Reign of Christ, it will be marvelous , the Israel that everyone longed for, so No, God is not done with Israel yet, as the Apostle Paul stated 

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; Romans 11:25-26

James 1-Quick To Listen and Slow to Speak- Sermon Notes

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So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (19-20)

If I can provide some marriage counseling for this morning…its this verse…all the woman say Amen? Listen More and Speak Less! Right? We have 2 ears and 1 mouth…

But also, when were always talking we are never listening, right? Its important that we listen to people more than we talk. Now I know this is easier said than done, but this is godly wisdom you can apply to your lives..especially your relationships

Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.Proverbs 10:19  NLT

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 NIV

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:6

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Ephesians 4:29

So as we can see in the Bible, our words are important, we need to remember to listen more and talk less….Amen?

Doer of The Word

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; -for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. (22-24)

Another challenge the Apostle James presents to us, is are we hypocritical Christians? Being Hypocritical in our daily lives, our marriages, our friendships, raising our children, our workplace…Do we do what we actually say? We talk the talk but do we walk the walk? James says Dont just heard the Word of God, actually Do The Word of God. We know alot of people who like to beat people over the heads with the Bible, but they themselves are guilty themselves…

Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. 1 John 3:18

consider what Jesus says..

24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Jesus says anyones who hears the Word of God and actually is a doer, actually does the will of God, is like a wise person who builds their life upon a solid foundation, obviously that foundation is Christ. So when the storms of life come in, trials and testing, you will be able to stand against these things. But the person who listens to the Word of God and doesn’t actually apply them , is a foolish person who builds their life upon sand, so when the trials and testing come, their faith totally collapses, because they are hypocrites. You have to be a doer of the word, by faith follow Jesus, not just a hearer of the word

False Religion

If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. (26)

Now James talks about false religion, many people can call themselves Christian, but does their life really reflect this? Again going back to James saying be a Doer of the Word and not just a Hearer. But also James goes back to our words, if you don’t keep control of your words, you deceive yourself and your religion is useless. This goes back to listen more and speak less, if we are hypocritical our religion is worthless….religion is only good if its truthful…..lets consider what Jesus said

But I tell you that for every careless word that people speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37

Here’s another scary thought, every word that you speak, you will have to give an account for it on judgement day. By your words you will be justified and condemned, that’s not my opinion, thats the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. So this should make us a little more serious about the words we speak, right? 

James then gives us an example of what true Christianity looks like…

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (27)

Help people, right its one thing to preach to people but actually practice what you preach. And to keep yourselves from this world, right resist temptation as James taught earlier….again consider what Jesus says….

35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ (Matthew 25:35-36)

45Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me 

This is what Jesus demonstrates what true Christianity looks like, we as the Church are the Salt of the Earth, the Light of the World, we are the hands and feet of Christ. Think about what Jesus said, for whatever you do for the least of these, the lowly of the people, you did it for Jesus, think about that. 

Conclusion:

  1. Listen more and Speak Less
  2. Be accountable for your words- they will condemn you
  3. Be a Doer of the Word Not just a listener- Don’t be a Hypocrite
  4. False Religion is useless- don’t just say you are a Christian- live for Christ
  5. Whatever you do for the least of these, you do it for Jesus

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

True religion is to be a doer of the Word and not just a Hearer, if we call ourselves Christians, we should act like Christ. Be slow to speak and quick to listen, love and forgive one another, because Christ loves us and has forgiven us, Amen!

Zechariah 7- The Scattering

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Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’ Zechariah 7:8-10

As we continue through this chapter of the prophet Zechariah, this is a continuation of Gods rebuke of Israel’s false religion and worship. As in my previous article, the people were asking the prophet Zechariah , what is the bare minimum they have to do to be “OK with God” (Zechariah 7:3)

This is exposing the heart of the people, they honor God with their lips but their heart is far from him” (Isaiah 29:13) This is the false religious system being exposed by God. And its still the same today, the majority of “self-professed Christians”, rely upon a works based salvational system rather than truly loving God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5) and being saved by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2)

God is telling the prophet Zechariah what true religion looks like , to love God and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39) “Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion, don’t oppress the lowly person, and don’t carry evil in your heart”! Many of these principle Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 7:11-12

Even after the Israelites came back from exile, their hearts were still hard, they still refused to listen to Gods word, The Law sent by His Spirit (The Holy Spirit) This has been the continual history of Israel, including the crucifying of our Lord, the Messiah

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Acts 7:51

This is why we need to be Born Again in Christ (John 3:3) This is why we need to be regenerated, Born from Above, with a New Heart, a New Mind, the Spirit of God put within us! (Ezekeil 36)

Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts. “But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” Zechariah 7:13-14

Because of Israels continual disobedience and hardness of hearts, God gave them over to their sins (Romans 1:24-28) They would not listen to God, so God stopped listening to them and once again they will be scattered

“This the land became desolate after them” The land of Israel became desolate after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, as Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant and religious system. However Israel had become reborn in One day as prophesied in 1948 (Isaiah 66:8) Christ has pointed his attention to the Church at this present time, however as the prophet Zechariah will reveal later, Christ will come back to save Israel (Zechariah 14, Romans 11) Christ will not lose any of His Sheep (John 10) Amen!