Zechariah

These are notes collected from studying with brothers in Christ. Anything good comes from the Lord. Everything else is from us!

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Love the book of Zechariah!

We see a lot of similarities in Revelation as well. The main theme of the book is completing God’s temple at a time when they felt pretty defeated. This is pretty much spot-on the theme of Revelation as well, only the temple envisioned there is God’s people / bride. I think Zechariah points to this ultimate truth as well.

Zech. 1-3

• Chap. 1 I was struck by the incompleteness of the first prophecy. It didn’t really instruct the people a ton except to say, your fathers disobeyed and God’s word prevailed. It wasn’t until a few months later that more revelation is given. Makes me think about being content to receive only partial messages from the Lord. We want the whole picture, but maybe He only shows us a part and we will get in trouble for extending it beyond that.
• Chap. 1 I was also struck by the horsemen and horns that patrol the earth, with special attention to the lot of God’s people. It seemed the earth was pretty much at rest for 70 years, then they realized it needed to be shaken up because this would ultimately help God’s people prevail and God’s temple be rebuilt. What a word for our time! It’s been 77 years since WWII…the earth has seemed pretty at rest. But now things are starting to shake up with Russia-Ukraine. Hopefully it won’t be a full-blown war, but if it is, I’m thinking ch. 1 of Zech…God is stirring up the nations for the sake of growing his church.
• Chap. 3 Love the picture of Joshua given new garments when accused by Satan (“The Accuser”). Also, love the reference to sins being forgiven in a single day. This goes so deep, and God shows us that when He talks about the men surrounding Joshua as signs that speak to things WAY BEYOND Joshua. He references “the branch” which, I believe, is a title for Messiah who would come later (see Jeremiah and Isaiah). I think we can all see where this is going — there is 1 Person who will stand against the accuser and give us new garments of righteousness when He puts away sin in 1 day. OH…and if that’s not clear enough, in ch. 6 God shows that the name of the One would later come matches the name of Joshua. Think about that for a moment…”Joshua” is the Hebrew form of “Yeshua” in Greek. Which is “Jesus” in English. Pretty incredible stuff here!!

Zech. 4-6 ~

Wow, again, I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I know I need to limit what I share, but it’s tough to choose–it’s all so good. Here are some highlights:

• ch. 4 – for about 15 years now, this chapter has captivated a lot of my thoughts about what it looks like to partner with God in building up his church. It shows me that it’s not size or numbers that matter, nor is it human power that gets it done. Instead, it happens with the Spirit’s power and God’s grace as we work together.
• ch. 5 – I love the visual for how sin is being totally subjugated and stuffed down, and left in Babylon (thus, the Israel’s leaving Babylon is like a new start…maybe like a baptism, if you will)
• ch. 6 – I believe this chapter is a very rare and precious gem that I don’t hear many people talking about. But the gist is that there is a prophetic sign here. Namely, there will be a Messiah who will function as king and priest simultaneously (which only Jesus did). And His name will be “Joshua” (in the Hebrew). Which corresponds to “Yeshua” (Greek) / “Jesus” (English). So Jesus’ office and name was known 400+ years before He was born!!!! Only God could write this!!!! Even more, He will be exalted as king by people taken out of captivity. That’s all of us, brought out of our captivity to sin (just like the picture in ch. 5).

I just find these pictures so powerful. So much depth in so few words. Kind of like the parables of Jesus.

God’s Will

Looking this morning at 7:8 “render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil in your heart.”

And then….

8:16: “speak truth to one another; render in your gates judgment that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

Sometimes we think God’s will is so elusive but verses like these spell out very clearly what he desires and what he hates. Maybe His will is not so elusive after all?

P.S. I know we often hear as believers “at least we know how it ends”…. This book really highlights that for me. The end of the book is amazing! 14:11 “and it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.”

Similarly…I’ve thought a lot about how people want to know God’s will for their job, their spouse, their location…things like that. Yet God spends so little time talking about these things. He cares WAY more that our hearts are right before Him, and we honor Him in any job, spouse, location we have. I think the problem with people looking for “God’s will” in their life is that their priorities don’t start from Scripture. Start with God’s priorities, and you’ll realize He’s said A LOT on the things that really matter to Him. And He wants us to start thinking more about those things, and less about the things He spends little time mentioning.