Don’t Settle For Babylon
Zechariah 9:1-17
February 19, 2017

Tonight we move into a new section here in the book of Zechariah,
And it is one that begins to deal even more so
With the future plans which God has for Israel.

God knows exactly what He has in store for them
And now He begins to reveal it
That they might be motivated to take hold of it.

Certainly you are familiar with the setting.
• After 70 years in Babylon, God moved in the heart of Cyrus to issue a decree that Israel could return and rebuild the temple.
• However when they got back they found themselves surrounded by pagans and very much discouraged, so they quit.
• God stirred up His prophets to get the temple project back on track, and that is what they are doing.
• You also have some who have returned from Babylon who are less than impressed with this new rugged and frontier way of life.
• They are discouraged and discouraging to others.
• And you have a multitude of Jews who simply chose to remain in Babylon instead of braving the wilderness; and God has repeatedly called them to come.

And the first question is:
WHO KNEW IT WOULD BE SO DIFFICULT TO GET THE JEWS TO LEAVE BABYLON AND COME BACK TO ISRAEL?

And the answer is: WE DID!

How did we know that?
Because we see it all the time (mostly in our own lives)

We see people who are willing to trade
The promise of future reward for present comfort.

We are those who are continually promised a kingdom and an inheritance
And are told to make sure and store up treasure there instead of here,
But for some reason we have great difficulty doing that.

We tend to sort of read over the words of Jesus:
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

And yet IF WE ARE HONEST you and I both know that
We tend to still be quite preoccupied with what we can store up here.

Savings accounts and retirement funds and college funds
And whatever else actually seem to be very important to us.

But it does us good to be reminded that
Eyes of faith do not look to the current situation, but to the future reward.

We saw all throughout the faith chapter when we studied Hebrews.
Hebrews 11:8-10 “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

Hebrews 11:35 “Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;”

You get the idea.
Those who had faith were more than willing
To endure present difficulty and hardship if it meant a better future.

Paul said it like this:
Romans 8:18-25 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

And yet we all know that living that way is easier said than done.

So when people wonder why these Jews had such a difficult time leaving their established homes in Babylon in order to return to the wilds of Israel?

I think we actually have a pretty good understanding why.

But didn’t God command them to leave?
Yes, and He commanded us not to love the world either.
But didn’t God tell them that Babylon was going to be destroyed?
Yes, and He tells us repeatedly that this world is passing away.
But didn’t God remind them that He would take care of them if they would just walk out in faith?
Yes, and He does the very same for us.

SO YOU GET IT WHEN I TELL YOU
ABOUT THE STRUGGLE THEY WERE ENDURING.

Well God is addressing that struggle here
And He is doing it in such a gracious way.

He gives them a message solely meant
To inspire their faith, to build their hope, to calm their fears,
And to encourage their obedience.

It is a message meant to inspire people
To step out of a place which will not last and into a place that will.
In short, God is asking them to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem.

And to do that God has 4 truths He is going to reveal here.
#1 A BURDEN WITH A PROMISE
Zechariah 9:1-8

The chapter begins with this statement:
“The burden of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach, with Damascus as its resting place…”

Many guess Hadrach to be a city in northern Syria,
They certainly understand Damascus to be a city of Syria.

But the main point is that God is clearly against them here.

And the reason is given “for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD.”

That is to say, since Israel is looking to God for help.

You already know that the inhabitants of the land
Have not made Israel’s return and easy one.
Now we find that since they have looked to God for help,
GOD is now responding.

And it’s not just the Syrians whom God will deal with, but also, the region of Tyre, and Sidon, and Philistia.
(2-4) “And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. For Tyre built herself a fortress And piled up silver like dust, And gold like the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And cast her wealth into the sea; And she will be consumed with fire.”

Not only is God promising to deal with Syria,
But also with Tyre and Sidon.

Despite her self-confidence in the fact that she has “a fortress” and is very wealthy, God has promised that she will be brought low.

Incidentally this is one of those prophecies which we easily see the fulfillment in history.
• Tyre and Sidon were well fortified.
• Shalmanezer of Assyria tried for 5 years to topple them.
• Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon tried for 14 years.

They had reason to boast of their defense.
• However, Alexander the Great toppled them in 7 months.
• He commanded his men to throw stones and rubble into the sea thus making a
land bridge which he used to then march out and destroy them.

God dealt with them just as He said.

God also promised to deal with those south of Jerusalem;
Namely the Philistines.
(5-6) “Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited. And a mongrel race will dwell in Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.”

Though he is not mentioned here, it was Alexander the Great
Whom God used to fulfill all of these judgments.

The burden here revealed by God is that
Upon seeing that Israel was looking to Him for help,
God intervened and took care of those neighboring nations
Which had made their return so difficult.

Partly God did this through DESTRUCTION,
But God also took care of their neighbors through ASSIMILATION.

(7) “And I will remove their blood from their mouth And their detestable things from between their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant for our God, And be like a clan in Judah, And Ekron like a Jebusite.”
Removing the blood from their mouth and the detestable things from their teeth has to do with their idolatry and pagan practices.

The message from God was that through His judgment poured out upon them He would ultimately rid these pagan nations of their idolatry.

And after they were purified, God revealed that “they also will be a remnant for our God, and be like a clan in Judah, and Ekron like a Jebusite.”

• The Jebusites were the original inhabitants of the region that is now Jerusalem.
• David conquered them and eventually they became forced laborers in Israel.
• They were absorbed.

God is revealing that this is what He is about to do with these nations
Which are causing such difficulty for Israel.

God is going to bring upon them a judgment, which will certainly kill many, but the remnant will then be purified and assimilated into Israel.
That is the burden.

But I told you that God here reveals a burden with a promise.

Here is the promise.
(8) “But I will camp around My house because of an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no oppressor will pass over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes.”

Though God is about to raise up a burden throughout that entire region,
God is also declaring that this burden will not touch Israel.

And indeed it didn’t.
Alexander the Great passed through Israel twice and left them alone.

But hopefully you understand the message which is being delivered here from God to all those in Israel and to all those who have yet to return.

• There is certainly hardship and difficulty in returning to Israel, but God is about
to deal with it.

• He is about to address those nations which have caused you grief and all the
while will protect you in the midst of the storm.

• Those nations which oppressed you will have a remnant of survivors but even
they will be subjected to Israel and her God.

In short, God is about to move and do great things in Israel.

That was the burden with the promise.
#2 A PROMISE WITH A HOPE
Zechariah 9:9-10

While the prophecy given in the first 8 verses was of an immediate nature,
God also wants Israel to know of His long-term plans.

And certainly those plans involve the arrival of Messiah,
Who will lead Israel to peace.

God commands them to “Rejoice greatly” and to “Shout in triumph”,
Not because things were currently easy,
But because God had promised a better future.

That future was that “your king is coming to you;”

He will be a king who will walk in justice and who will bring salvation.

And He will be “mounted on a donkey” which was an indication of peace.

• His arrival will signify the end of war.
• No longer will chariots be needed
• Or bows

For “He will speak peace to the nations;”

And of course you know who this is.
Matthew 21:1-5 “When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.'”

Jesus was making an obvious declaration
When He entered Jerusalem on that donkey.

He was saying that He is the One whom Zechariah spoke of.
He was the king coming to bring peace.

Now obviously this was a prophecy
That wasn’t perfectly understood by Israel when Jesus did arrive.

For we have Jesus saying things like:
Matthew 10:34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Or
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

The reality is that Jesus came first and foremost
To bring peace between man and God,
Which He perfectly accomplished through the blood of His cross.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Ephesians 2:13-18 “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”

Colossians 1:19-20 “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

The peace which Christ brought was peace between man and God
And peace between God’s people.

Worldwide peace will be the result of His kingly reign
Which has been postponed due to Israel’s rejection of her Messiah.
But even this peace is coming one day.

But for the sake of the sermon in Zechariah,
We can see clearly what God is doing.
He is seeking to give hope to those who have returned
And to those who are contemplating it.

He is remind them that He has great plans for Israel, both near and far.
He is going to deal with their enemies and He is going to send their king.

And so you see that God is working to instill hope into these people.
They need to see that their future lies in Israel.
They need to see that there is hope in the midst of their discouragement.

So we have a burden with a promise and we have a promise with a hope
#3 A HOPE WITH AN EXPECTATION
Zechariah 9:11-12

The reason God goes to such great lengths to establish their hope
Is because hope comes with an expectation from God.

In many ways hope is like faith,
And that is that it is made apparent by action.

• It is hope that allows us to obey even in difficult circumstances.
• It is hope that allows us to move forward even when the path is dark.
• It is hope that allows us to endure even when the end is hidden.

Consider this passage on hope:
Romans 4:18-22 “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

This was of course Abraham.
Who allowed his hope to drive him to obey and trust God
Even when the situation looked otherwise hopeless.

Genuine hope produces obedience.

And this is why God has revealed these truths to Israel
• He has revealed the truth to strengthen the hope
• And He has strengthened their hope that He might expect their obedience.

What particularly did God desire?
For them to leave Babylon and return to Israel.

(11-12) “As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.”

In verse 11 God reminds all those in Israel that He had in fact
“set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”

“waterless pit” is a phrase meant to speak of an empty cistern
That is used as a dungeon.

It was a figurative picture of their exile in Babylon.
And God here reveals that He had set Israel free from that.

He reveals that He did it “because of the blood of My covenant with you”

Because no specific covenant is mentioned, it has caused speculation
As to which covenant God spoke of here,
Specifically whether it was the covenant with Abraham or the covenant with Moses.

But I think the answer is obvious.
• It was the covenant with Moses that landed them in Babylon; namely because
Israel broke that covenant and received the penalty of their disobedience.

• The reason God brought them back is not because they suddenly became
flawlessly obedient in Babylon.

• The reason God brought them back is because He had made irrevocable
promises to Abraham.

It was always about God’s grace as revealed in His sovereign election.
He had chosen Abraham
He had made promises to Abraham
And even though Israel had certainly earned a period of punishment because of her rebellion, God was in no way about to cast them aside.
He never forgot Israel.
He always remembered.
And in that remembrance He has set them free from their slavery in exile.

The expectation of course is that they will seize that opportunity.
(12) “Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope;”

If the truths I have revealed have succeeded in giving you hope for a better day, then by all means act in faith and move.

COME BACK TO JERUSALEM.
“This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.”

You can hear there how after establishing their hope, God is now asking them to act upon it.
• I want you to see My great plans for Israel.
• I want you to see that My king is on His way.
• I want you to see that I have set you free.
• And I want you to seize that which I am offering you.

RETURN!

Burden with a Promise, Promise with a Hope, Hope with an Expectation
#4 AN EXPECTATION WITH A FULFILLMENT
Zechariah 9:13-17

That is to say that if Israel would seize their hope and act upon it,
They will not be disappointed.

Look at what God promises.
• These verses speak of Israel’s coming victory over Greece.
• After our study of Daniel you are well aware of the atrocities that occur after the death of Alexander the Great.
• You will remember how his kingdom was split amongst his four generals and how eventually one of those kingdoms did much harm to Israel.
• That was through the man Antiochus Epiphanes.
• History tells us that this hardship led to the Maccabean Revolt which was led by a man named Judas Maccabaeus and under his command Israel won her independence from Greece.

(Incidentally that is what the Festival of Lights or Hanukah celebrates.
It is the re-dedication of the temple)

It is this feast that is mentioned in John 10:22
John 10:22 “At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem;”

Anyway, the point is that God promised that He would “stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece;” and God most certainly did.

God granted the strength to overcome and defeat
The much more powerful Seleucid army.

The result would be Israel gaining independence
And living within her own land.

(16-17) “And the LORD their God will save them in that day As the flock of His people; For they are as the stones of a crown, Sparkling in His land. For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.”

So what we have here is God promising that those who act on their hope and return to Israel will not be disappointed.

He will grant them their hearts desire.
And all of these desires would be fulfilled
In their coming King and Messiah, Jesus.

Now again, the problem was that when Jesus came offering the kingdom, Israel didn’t want it.

Jesus required repentance from sin and removal of self-righteousness to inherit this kingdom and so Israel rejected.

But for the sake of the message being preached here
I hope you understand the point.

God is reaching out to those who have thus far
Refused to leave Babylon and come home to Israel.

They are currently choosing present comfort over the opportunity of God.
God is seeking to reverse that by showing them how great their hope is,
And that they have no future where they are.

Now again, it is easy for us to set back and read this sermon, and look at Israel and say, “Well you idiots! Pack up and leave! Why in the world would you stay invested in Babylon when you know that everything God has planned for you revolves around you dwelling in Jerusalem? Can’t you see where your future is?”

We can see that easily in their lives.
We seem to have much more difficulty seeing it in ours.

But you should know that in many ways the apostles preached this same message.
TURN TO: Philippians 3

• Now you are familiar with this chapter because it begins with Paul warning the Philippians not to listen to those who put confidence in the flesh.
• Putting confidence in the flesh will only end up in condemnation.
• And then of course Paul gives his own personal testimony about this.
• He talks about how he was very religious, but then how he turned to Christ.

What you find is that Paul willingly left everything that was of value to him
Paul left everything that was seemingly beneficial to him.
Paul left everything that made his outlook comfortable.

He forsook it all and threw all his chips in on Christ.
(READ 7-11)
• You don’t read there about a man full of regrets, nor do you read about a man who was coerced.
• You read about a man who was offered a hope in Jesus Christ and he willingly jumped on it.

Now we also find that Paul realizes that
THIS HOPE HAS NOT YET BEEN FULLY REALIZED.
That is to say he has yet to fully own the righteousness that he seeks.

(READ 12-16)
• Paul has certainly been declared righteous in God’s sight, but it is also clear that Paul is still longing for that righteousness to make a perfect appearance in his life.
• He is already positionally righteous, he longs to be practically righteous and he will willingly suffer the loss of all things in order to achieve this hope.

They real hammer blow of the chapter comes in the final 5 verses.
(READ 17-21)

Do you hear Paul’s anguish?
• He longs for all of God’s children to share his hope and his desire.
• He longs for all of God’s children to follow his example and to set their mind and desires solely on the hope that is found in Christ.

“For many…” Paul says don’t.
• Instead they are focused only on the present day comforts of this life.
• Their “god is their appetite”
• They “set their mind on earthly things”

And this should not be “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now let me ask you, how is Paul’s message to us there
Any different from Zechariah’s message to the refugees?
It isn’t.

• Get your mind off of the comforts of this world…
• Understand the promises God has made to you…
• And let that home motivate you to obey…

Get out of Babylon and your race to acquire more of it
And set your mind instead to focus on the things of God.

You see it don’t you?

Friends, this is our call.
• How hard must it have been to walk out of all the comforts and securities of Babylon?
• How difficult must it have been to return to that ravaged land of Israel?

But this is what God asked for,
Because this is where their hope was found.

Let me encourage you again not to love the world
And not to strive to obtain more of it and to store what you get.

That would be like the Israelites continuing to buy land in Babylon.
That would be like the Israelites burying their riches in their Babylonian back yard.

They would have been much better suited to invest in Israel,
And the same is true for us.

Jesus said it better than anyone.
Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

A Message For All People
Revelation 14:6-13
February 19, 2017

As you know we are in the middle of this
Parenthetical section of the book of the Revelation.

It is a section meant to illustrate the fact that Christ reigns and that there is not a thing the enemy can do to stop it.
• We’ve already seen the Child Satan couldn’t stop
• We’ve already seen the Battle Satan couldn’t win
• We’ve already seen the Woman Satan couldn’t kill
• And we are currently looking at the Throne Satan can’t keep

Satan has fallen to earth and done his best to set up his earthly kingdom.
• He has placed his own kingly puppet on the throne
• And he has empowered the false prophet to run the press for him
• He is also succeeding in killing off all those who worship God while he temporarily takes care of those who will worship him

For all intents and purposes it appears like Satan is winning.

This is why John has continually called for Perseverance and Wisdom.
Just because it looks like Satan is winning and just because it is easier to follow him doesn’t mean that is what a person should do.

• Instead a person should be wise enough to know better than to trade eternity
for immediate comfort,
• And they should be willing to persevere through momentary affliction for the
sake of eternal blessing.

These are the things we are learning.

Last week we actually saw the Satan’s dominion is nearly over as the Lamb returned and was standing on Mt. Zion with His faithful standing beside Him.

And we spent a little time talking about why they were able to survive.

The next chronological event that is going to happen
Is the battle known as Armageddon.

If you want to take a sneak peak at chapter 19 I can show you the events.
TURN TO: Revelation 19:11-21

That is what is now about to happen.
And it is the event which is also described at the end of this chapter where we see the blood running up to the horses bridles for a distance of 200 miles.

I just tell you that so you can fill in the timeline and see where we are.
Chronologically speaking we are right at the end.

But before we get to that event, we have 8 verses that once again demonstrate to us the tremendous heart of God.

• Even now…
• Even here…
• In a world that is as opposed to God as at any time in history…
Before this final judgment comes we find God doing
What is so consistent with His nature.
God operates as a Savior.

These 8 verses almost serve as a pause within the pause.
The Lord Jesus has returned and He’s about to slay the wicked,
And yet before He does we get one last preaching of the gospel.

This passage does a tremendous job of helping us see just how far God’s mercy will go; and the answer is, right to the end.

Even as Jesus has returned as just about to slay the wicked,
Even then He is giving one last opportunity to repent and trust in Him.

Make no mistake, it is a merciful God whom we serve.
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

So here we are, at the end, and let me show you the message that God has preached to the whole world.
#1 A MESSAGE OF SALVATION
Revelation 14:6-7

Here John says, “I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;”

Now obviously we like the fact that
This angel is preaching the gospel to those on the earth,
But let me tell you some other things that I love about this verse.

We already know that we are dealing with the events of the end;
• And what we find is that even at the end…
• Even at times of great peril and deception…
• IT’S STILL THE SAME MESSAGE!

This angel is still preaching the “eternal gospel”.

If it was the message at the beginning
And it will be the message at the end,
Then it leaves little doubt to us what the message today should be.

The world may have changed a great bit from the days of Paul unto now,
But the message has never changed.

The message has always been the “eternal gospel”

Furthermore, I love the fact that this same message is preached “to every nation and tribe and tongue and people”

Why is that significant?
Because it reminds us that the gospel transcends all contexts and cultures.

There is enormous research done and pressure applied to churches today
About the need to be “culturally relevant”
Or to understand “the contextualization” of the hearer.

I just read a Facebook post this past week about how millennials are dropping out of church, and what things the church needs to do differently in order to reach them.

Today we have hipster churches
Cowboy churches
Country churches
Mega churches
Biker churches
Etc, etc, etc

But it is extremely encouraging to me to know that
The message of the gospel transcends all of that.

The apostles took this message of the gospel
Across hard cultural lines with distinct language barriers
And not one time did the message or the method ever change.

It didn’t matter if Paul was in Judea, Italy, Asia, Greece, Spain, or on the moon you find him always doing the exact same thing; he preached the gospel.

It is the single message which is always relevant to all people everywhere.

I’ve always particularly loved what Paul said to the people of Athens.
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

That is what you call a universally relevant message.
The gospel has always been, and will always be,
Perfectly relevant to all people of all nations at all times.

I love that even here at the end, it’s the same message.
Gives us great clarity in what must be preached doesn’t it?

I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love;
I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true,
It satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.

I love to tell the story, ’tis pleasant to repeat,
What seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet;
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest;
And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

Here at the end the gospel still remains.

Well, what exactly is being preached by this angel?
(7) “and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water.”

The message here is a message
Which requires humanity to submit themselves fully to God.

That message has not changed since the dawn of time.

“Fear God”
• Which of course speaks of the reverence that He deserves.
• It is to recognize who His is in all His might and splendor.
• It is to call men away from their rebellion against their creator and to begin to consider exactly who He is and what He can do.

“and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come;”
• Giving God glory is the acknowledgment of what He deserves.

This angel first calls the earth to consider who they are dealing with
And then to ascribe to Him the credit or respect that He rightly deserves.

“worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”
• Worship here implies submission to Him.

James taught us that it is more than just giving God the glory He deserves; even demons do that.

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

Even demons “fear God”, even demons “give Him glory”,
But that of course does not indicate that they are found pleasing to God,
For while they give Him credit, they REFUSE TO WORSHIP.

What then is this “worship” which we are commanded here to give?
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

The first time the word “worship” is used in Scripture is found in:
Genesis 22:5 “Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”

Abraham is there referencing the coming execution of his son Isaac.

Job gave us great insight as to what “worship” is.

On the day that Job lost all of his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, children, and all but 3 servants, here is how Job responded:

Job 1:20-21 “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Worship then is when we recognize
Who God truly is and what God truly deserves
And then fully submit all that we have and all that we are and all that we hope into the full sovereign will and desire of this deserving God, for His pleasure and glory alone.

It is quite literally us giving God everything.
Because we understand that He deserves everything.

Furthermore, worship is the only suitable response
Of a person who truly fears God and desires to glorify Him.

If you don’t give God worship then you don’t really fear Him
And you don’t really think He deserves glory.

SO THE ANGEL HERE is calling all the earth to
Not only recognize God and what He deserves,
But then to fully submit their lives to His control.

WHY IS THAT SUCH A BIG DEAL?
Because you are aware of the cost of making this type of decision.

Have we not read what happens to those
who refuse the beast and choose to worship God?
They are martyred.

But God is calling for worship regardless of the difficulty.
And that too is a reality all men must get past.

When God calls for worship He does so with the understanding
That worshiping Him may in fact be costly.

• Listen to Jesus repeatedly tell us to count the cost…
• Listen to Him declare that it may bring division in your family…
• Listen to Him tell us that the whole world may hate us…

Nowhere in the Bible did God promise that
If you worship Him everything in this life will go well for you.
(In fact many times He promises that it won’t)

God knows that suffering is the fate of those who worship Him
And yet He calls for it anyway.

EVEN IN OUR DAY
• God knows all about the dangers of Islam
• God knows all about the feminist movement
• God knows all about the gay and lesbian movement
• God knows all about the push for tolerance

But that doesn’t change the command to submit all that you are to Him.
The command is to worship Him anyway.

THAT MESSAGE HAS NEVER CHANGED AND IT NEVER WILL.
Here, during earth’s final hour, God is still preaching salvation.

A message of salvation
#2 A MESSAGE OF JUDGMENT
Revelation 14:8

Here we have another angel who preaches “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

• This is a message announcing the fate of the wicked world system.
• This is a message announcing the fate of the kingdom of Satan.
• Incidentally this reality is also the subject of Revelation 17 & 18.

It is a message preached here to show the world that
The kingdom they have been trusting in
Is a kingdom which will not endure.

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

This system won’t last forever.
2 Peter 3:7 “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

This whole world and its system will not survive.

To that Jesus even asked:
Matthew 16:26-27 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

SO…
• To everyone who has rushed after the beast…
• To everyone who thought he was winning…
• To everyone who has thus far done everything they can to gain the world…

This angel is announcing that they should stop and forsake that pursuit.
YOU WON’T WIN!
BABYLON WILL FALL!

Even at this final hour God is still pleading with sinners
Who are determined to go down with the ship.

A message of salvation, a message of judgment
#3 A MESSAGE OF TORMENT
Revelation 14:9-11

If those first two message weren’t enough
Then this one should really shake you to the core.

“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and who receives the mark of his name.”

Let that sink in.

We have already established that God is demonstrating great mercy here;
BUT DO NOT ALLOW THE PRESENCE OF HIS MERCY
TO CAUSE YOU TO DOUBT THE CERTAINTY OF HIS JUDGMENT.

God is merciful to all who repent of their sin and worship Him.
For all those who refuse to repent…they receive torment.

And this angel even goes to great lengths to describe that torment to us.

They “will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger;”

God’s wrath mixed in full strength distributed in the cup of His anger.
It sounds terrible.

Here God announces that there will be no diluting His wrath.
Sinners will receive it in its full un-mixed reality.
This will not be one of those “This hurts Me more than it hurts you” moments.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL…
This angel says that those who receive this wrath “will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

I remind you again that Satan is not in charge in hell; Jesus is.

Someone would ask, “Why would Jesus watch such a thing?”
• Why would He just to sit there as sinners are being tormented with fire?
• How could He watch?

I’ll tell you how, because He is holy!

Remember the parable of the vineyard?
The one about the men who rented the vineyard but who never produced the fruit and eventually beat the slaves and killed the son who was the heir?

Let me remind you how that parable ended:
Luke 19:27 “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

When Paul said that every knee would bow to Jesus, he wasn’t joking.
But many knees will bow to Him from the agonies of hell.

And in His fury He will not only pour out judgment,
But will satisfy His righteous indignation
As He watches them in torment.

Does that surprise you?
Did you think Jesus wasn’t offended by sin?
Did you think it really didn’t bother Him?
IT DOES…

Because of His great wrath, God is going to torment men in His presence.

AND THAT IS NOT ALL…
(11) “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever;”

So how long does this torment last?
FOREVER!

Everyone who enters hell gets a life sentence without parole,
And that is especially harsh considering even the worms don’t die in hell.

There is no end to this.

We’ve all read that story in Luke 16 about the rich man who went to Hades and was tormented in the flame.

That guy is still there.
2,000 years later and he’s still in agony in that flame.
Rejecting God is no laughing matter.

AND THAT IS NOT ALL…
“they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

That means there are no breaks…
There are no moments of reprieve…

NOW I REALIZE that speaking of such a God who would punish sinners in this way for all eternity is not popular sentiment today,
But that does not change the fact that this is who God is.

GOD’S MERCY IS SEEN IN THE FACT THAT
Before this judgment becomes reality
He is crying out relentlessly to all those who are on the earth
To forsake the beast, and to forsake the world,
And to worship Him with all their heart.

And I think this is worth addressing a little deeper.
I can say that the focus of this message is the unredeemed, but I think we probably need to look at that a little more directly.

I want to ask you, who this message is being preached to.
• It’s easy to say that it is to those who had not yielded their lives to Christ.
• But I think it would have also been to those who had taken the mark of the beast.

And I do want to address that just a second
To make sure we understand and defend the integrity of the gospel.

So let’s cut to it: If we say that those angels are addressing those who have taken the mark of the beast
THEN WE MUST BE SAYING THAT SALVATION IS POSSIBLE FOR THEM.

Is that true?
Can you still be saved after you take the mark?

Now many would say, and they certainly have grounds, that the answer is an emphatic “NO”
• Since verse 9 seems to make it clear that if anyone takes that mark he will drink of God’s wrath.

There certainly seems to be a definite certainty there.

But if that is true then we have to ask,
“Who are those angels preaching to?”

You say, “Well those who haven’t taken the mark, but who aren’t following Jesus either.”

So the message would be then
To those who somehow have managed to stay in limbo?
Somehow this group of people found the strength to resist the cry of the beast,
But have also managed to reject the call of salvation from Christ.

The problem with that is that we already learned that the only people who don’t take the mark are those who are the elect; chosen of God.

Remember?
Revelation 13:7-8 “It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

That verse seems to remove any notion that
There will be any group that remains just in undecided limbo.
And frankly since no one can buy food without the mark it is hard to believe that anyone who is not committed to Jesus would refuse the mark based on some sort of moral ground. The cost is just too high.

Beyond that, verse 6 makes it clear that these angels are preaching “to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;”

I think those who have taken the mark must be included in this.

The point I am making is this.
The only people who those angels could possibly be speaking to are those who have the mark.

So preacher, “Do you really think that people who have taken the mark can still be saved?”

Well, this is why I’m bringing it up.
I think this presents us an opportunity to clarify the gospel.

Let me ask you: What sin have you ever found in Scripture to be so horrific that God wouldn’t save someone out of if they repented?

• Are we saying that pagan worshipers can’t be saved? (Abraham was)
• Are we saying that Christian persecutors can’t be saved? (Paul was)
• Are we saying that Satan worshipers can’t be saved?

The only type of sinner who is listed as “unpardonable” in Scripture
Is one who refused to trust in Christ.
They can’t be saved because they have rejected the only means of salvation.

I bring this up because I want you to understand
The redemptive scope of the gospel and the mercy of God.

Now look, I’M NOT SAYING that there will even be one person who has taken the mark who will actually repent.
Scripture doesn’t say that any will.

I’m just saying that if they would repent of that sin, and remove that mark, and place their faith in Jesus,
I have no reason to believe that Christ would not forgive and save them.

That is the gospel, and it is a tremendous testimony to the mercy of God.

And I think then the call here from these angels becomes even clearer.
“You don’t want to enter eternity with that mark on your forehead.”
You’d better remove it and remove it now!

A message of salvation, a message of judgment, a message of torment
#4 A MESSAGE OF ENCOURAGEMENT
Revelation 14:12-13

FIRST God addresses those who have refused the beast,
And SECOND He addresses those who may be considering it.

First, to the faithful is that familiar message:
(12) “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

After revealing the truth about God’s judgment,
John once again reminds why endurance is so important.
You don’t want to give up on Christ right before the judgment.
You’ve come so far, you’ve endured so much, hang on!

Hebrews 10:32-39 “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

I think that is the same message here.
It is a reminder to persevere and to keep trusting.

Certainly this next message is very encouraging to the redeemed,
But I think this voice is ALSO ADDRESSING THOSE
Who are considering the option.
• Those who are presently counting the cost of leaving the beast and following
Christ.
• No food, No provision, Certain martyrdom

You know they’d be caught in limbo here,
Many of you remember the struggle.

To those people God gives a wonderful and encouraging word.

(13) “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!” ‘Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

It is true that if you cling to Christ you may die.
But if you die you are blessed!

Why?
Because you instantly leave a world of pain and suffering
And immediately enter a life of rest and reward!

Death has never been anything to fear for a believer.

Philippians 1:21-24 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.”

1 Corinthians 15:53-57 “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-2 “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,”

And that is the point of the heavenly voice here.
If you are debating whether or not to stick with Christ…
If you are debating whether or not to leave the beast…

Let me unequivocally tell you what to do!
RUN TO CHRIST!

If you stick with Christ you get death here and rest for all eternity.
If you stick with the beast you get life here and torment for all eternity.

That is the sermon being preached as Christ returns,
But as we already said, that is also the message being preached today.

Indeed that message is the eternal gospel message.
And it applies to us today.

What is it that would keep you from submitting to Christ and becoming a fully submissive worshiper of God?

What is that thing holding you back?

Well is that thing worth being tormented for all eternity?

Listen to this message which is for all those who live on the earth.
Leave the grip of the enemy
And submit yourself to worship the true God of heaven.

Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

The Coming Priestly King
Zechariah 6:9-15
February 12, 2017

Well obviously you’ve already noticed that I messed up in a royal way.
• A few weeks ago, there was a lady who listens on line ask me if I had posted the sermon Zechariah 6:9-15 yet.
• I started looking and realized that I had skipped the passage entirely, and I cannot tell you how it happened.

But, I wanted to finish the flow of chapters 7 and 8
Before I came back this text, so that is what we’re doing tonight.

Fortunately for our study this is a passage
That stands alone in the book of Zechariah.

• We already saw that the first 5 ½ chapters go together as they constitute Zechariah’s night visions.

• And we learned that chapters 7 and 8 go together as they address the issue of the delegation who came to seek God’s favor.

• But these 7 verses standalone unique to themselves which helps us overcome my mistake much easier than it could have been.

In order to introduce this segment I want to read to you John Calvin’s intro to this passage because I think he gives some really good insight to the culture of the day and to the necessity of this sermon.

Calvin writes:
“This vision was given to Zechariah that he might inspire weak minds with better hope; for the Jews found that they were hardly pressed on every side by their neighbors, inasmuch as enemies rose up against them before and behind so that there was no end to their troubles. Hence they who had returned from exile thought themselves wretched in such a state of things. They might indeed have lived in quietness among the Babylonians, and they had become accustomed to that kind of life, so that exile was not so very grievous to them. Thus then the favor of God was turned into loathing, and was almost hated by them; for they thought it better to be deprived of their country, than to be daily exposed to new assaults. And further, the possession of the land was not itself desirable, except with references to the hope given them; that is, because God had promised by his Prophets that the kingdom of David would again be made glorious, and also that the grandeur and glory of the temple would be greater than ever before. When the Jews found themselves continually harassed by their enemies, they thought that all had been promised was in vain. There is therefore no doubt but that many complaints and many clamors were everywhere raised. Hence that they might cease thus to murmur against God, this vision was given to the Prophet, in which he is bid to take silver and gold from four men, and to make two crowns to be set on the head of Joshua the high priest. The design was to make the Jews feel assured, that the state of the people would be as safe as it was formerly, when the kingly office and the priesthood flourished; for these were the chief ornaments, of the two eyes, as it were, of the body – the priest, a mediator between God and men – and the king, sustaining the person of God in governing the people.”
(Calvin, John [Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, volume fifth, Zechariah and Malachi; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2005] page 152)

If I can summarize for you what Calvin said, it is this.
• The people had grown comfortable in Babylon and exile no longer seemed to be that difficult.
• However God revealed His favor to them in that He opened the door for them to return to the Promised Land.
• Those who returned, however did not find ease, but rather hardship.
• They were surrounded by enemies who hated them.
• They were living in an overgrown set of ruins.
• They were seeking to farm overgrown land which had been overrun by wild beast
• And therefore this evidence of God’s favor in their lives had actually become something they were unhappy about.
• Grumbling and murmuring had followed and people felt like the glorious promises of God regarding Israel and her land were a distant memory.

And it is to this backdrop that Calvin says
God gave this sermon to Zechariah.

It is a sermon meant to restore their hope in the future
And to restore their faith in the sovereign plan of God;
Namely that better things were yet to come.

And I think Calvin probably hit the nail on the head here.

I certainly understand the sentiment.
It would not be the first time God gave a promise to people
And asked them to go out and claim it in faith,
Only for those people to find hardships
Which caused them grow discontented
And even angry that God ever got their hopes up.

• We know of Abraham leaving Ur of the Chaldeans to go pursue that land which God would give him, only to find Abraham flee from that land during famine.

• We know of the children of Israel crying for deliverance from slavery only seeing them continually grumble against God because His deliverance wasn’t want they expected.

• And even in our lives, there are times when God opens doors for a ministry or mission and because it also comes with difficulties we actually grow to wish God had never singled us out.

So when Calvin says that
These people who had left their comfortable life in Babylon,
And found such hardship in Israel
Were prone to grumble and needed encouragement;
I don’t have any trouble believing him.

This message then is meant to give hope back to people
Who had grown weary in their voyage to claim the promises of God.

Beyond that, it is a tremendous vision for us
As it helps us to understand yet again
That Christ is and has always been the fulfillment of all our hopes.

There are 3 main points.
#1 A STRANGE CORONATION
Zechariah 6:9-11

This setting is a little difficult to discern
Because it deals with 4 guys who are not referenced anywhere else.

So we don’t really know who we are dealing with
Or even why we are dealing with them.

Here’s what we know:
They are men who have returned from living in Babylon.
• They are called “exiles” and God reveals that “they have arrived from
Babylon.”

We also know that the message that is revealed here is as much for them as it is for anyone
• Because when this crown gets finished it is ultimately placed in the temple as
“a reminder…to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen”

Calvin sees this as proof that these men
Had a specific issue of doubt and even discouragement.

That is to say that
• God called these men out specifically because He wanted them (more than
anyone) to quit their complaining and have hope.
• This crown was to be a specific reminder to them, and their punishment was
that they had to pay for it.

And I tend to agree with him.

I think we have here a group of grumblers.
We have here a group of people who are just really good at pointing out the leaks in the boat.

• We all love those people who are better at spotting problems than solutions.
• We all love those “glass half empty” people who are more than ready to explain to us why failure is inevitable.

That is not to say that it is wrong to be a person
who spots difficulty or who is a voice of reason,
But when you have a group of people who are doing what they are doing in obedience to God, being a discouraging voice is actually sinful.

And that is what it appears that these men were doing.

So God has a plan for them, and ultimately for all the people.

(10-11) “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon. “Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.”

So here Zechariah takes silver and gold from these exiles
And uses it to make a crown.

The strange thing is what he does with that crown.
He is commanded to “set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.”

This is strange because these are offices that simply are not connected.
• God had commanded that the priests come from the tribe of Levi.
• God had specified that the kingly line was from the tribe of Judah.

Now we do have a couple of instances in the Old Testament
Where one man tried to occupy both offices and neither worked out well.

1 Samuel 13:8-14 “Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

2 Chronicles 26:16-21 “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.” But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him. King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of the land.”

I read you those to remind you that
This was a strange prophecy from Zechariah.

Yet here we have Zechariah placing a crown on the head of the priest.

The only Old Testament precedent for this sort of thing
Is found in the man Melchizedek.

Genesis 14:18-20 “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.”

• Melchizedek, who preceded the Levitical priesthood and the Davidic line was
called both the King of Salem and the priest of God.

• You’ll recall that Abraham even validated this fact by paying tithes to him.

• Furthermore you will remember form our study of Hebrews that this
Melchizedek was a prophetic type of the coming Messiah.

Psalms 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

So there was a precedent,
But not one which was very familiar to the Jews.

All they knew was that no king in Israel had ever successfully ventured into the priesthood and no priest in Israel had ever been crowned king.
THIS WAS STRANGE

A Strange Coronation
#2 A SPIRITUAL EXPLANATION
Zechariah 6:12-13

These verses then give us the explanation
As to the purpose of the drama which Zechariah just acted out.

Joshua is not going to be king in Israel.
Rather, Joshua is a prophetic picture of One who is coming.

(12-13) “Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”‘

Look at Joshua and see a priest wearing the crown.
Now understand that you will someday see this again.

There is One coming who will in fact fill both offices.
His name is “Branch”

It’s not the only time this is mentioned.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’”

Jeremiah 33:14-16 “’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’”

Jeremiah also spoke of this coming “Branch”.
• Jeremiah saw Him as One who would reign as king on David’s throne.
• Jeremiah saw Him as One who would reign with righteousness.
• And Jeremiah saw Him as One who would be the source of righteousness for God’s people.

Isaiah also spoke of this “Branch”
Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

So in one sense we understand the name “Branch”
As we see this One being part of David’s tree.
He is a descendant of David, an heir to the throne, and thus a branch in David’s line.

But even that seems a little strange.
For if we know anything about Christ we know that He existed long before David.

Christ should be called the tree and David should be called the branch.

Why is it the other way around?
Isaiah 53:1-4 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

On one hand He is called “Branch”
Because He is of the Davidic line,
But He is also merely called “Branch”
Because as such He is easily overlooked.

Zechariah gives another reason why He is called “Branch”.

“Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is;”

That is to say He will “sprout up”
He acts like a branch.

Again listen to what Isaiah said;
Isaiah 53:2 “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

That is to say He sort of sprang up out of nowhere.
He branched out where you wouldn’t have expected Him.

And certainly that is true of Jesus.
• No one could believe that the Messiah would be a carpenter’s son raised in Nazareth.

So obviously Zechariah is talking about Jesus here.
“and He will build the temple of the LORD.”

WHAT?
• I thought Zerubbabel was building the temple?
• Beyond that, I don’t remember Jesus building any temple when He came.

Some take this to mean that Jesus will build a Millennial temple from which to reign, but I think that is also missing the point.

Consider the conversation that Jesus had with the Woman At The Well.
John 4:19-24 “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus did not build a physical temple, but He did build a spiritual one.
He cut through the superficial ceremonial worship of the Jews
And instituted true worship of the Father.

Jesus came in and cut to the heart.
He looked through their giving and fasting and praying
And pushed for true devotion of the heart.

He is the King who will restore true worship.

And that is why Zechariah continues.
(13) “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”‘

Because it is He who institutes true worship,
He not only serves as King, but also as Priest.

And think about Christ for a second.
• It wasn’t that Jesus showed up and demanded a crown, nor did He demand to
be priest.
• He didn’t do like Uzziah and force His way into the temple to assume the role
of priest.

But…
This “Branch” who seemingly came out of nowhere,
Did more to lead Israel into true worship
Than any other who ever came before Him.

Thus, He didn’t receive the title because of His lineage,
He earned the title because of His work.

He was a king by birth, He was priest by merit.

In Him God saw One who could
Faithfully and sufficiently occupy both offices.

“Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”

That is to say that after Him there will no longer be a distinction.

And of course this was the whole point of the writer of Hebrews.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 10

(1-4) You will remember the absolute ineffectiveness of the former priests
(5-7) You see the perception and decision of Christ to give God what He truly wanted (obedience)
(8-10) He offered the perfect sacrifice to God (His own holy life)
(11-14) He did what no priest before Him could do, He perfected the people

This supreme act earned Christ the right to be our priest.

And that is what Zechariah is pointing to.
There is One coming who will be a king and priest extraordinaire!

He may not be the guy you’d initially notice,
But He will most certainly be the One who gets the job done.

He will “build”
He will “sit”
He will “rule”
All the “honor” will absolutely be His.

He is coming!
That is what this symbolic event was meant to reveal.

So we have A Strange Coronation, A Spiritual Explanation
#3 A SOUVENIR FOR CONFIRMATION
Zechariah 6:14-15

God is very specific to Zechariah what to do with this crown.
“Now the crown will become a reminder in the temple of the LORD”

This crown will serve the same purpose as so many other relics in the Old Testament.
• You had the Ark of the Covenant
• You had the jar of manna
• You had Aaron’s staff that budded
• You had the 10 Commandments
• You had Joshua’s rock pile
• And so on…

This is yet another souvenir
To be kept in the temple as a perpetual reminder.

When you walk in this temple and you see this crown
You are supposed to remember that the “Branch” is on His way.

And when He comes He will rule
And He will bring in true worship like no one ever before.

Specifically this reminder was for:
“Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen the son of Zephaniah.”

These men were the ones who had been a voice of discouragement,
Perhaps a voice of pessimism among the people.

• Maybe the temple was unimpressive…
• Maybe the Promised Land was too difficult…
• Maybe the struggles were overwhelming…

Whatever the issue these men had been a voice of negativity
So God singles them out first of all as the men who needed the reminder.

This land might be difficult and this temple might be unimpressive.
This nation might seem like a shadow of what it once was.
But that will all change when the real king arrives.

When He gets here righteousness and worship and glory
Will return like never before.

Then Zechariah gives another and almost strange piece of information.

(15) “Those who are far off will come and build the temple of the LORD.”

What?
I thought He said the “Branch” was going to build it.
What gives?

The Branch is going to rebuild the true temple of praise,
Here we find out who will be a part of it,
And it’s not just Israel.

Even “those who are far off” (as in Gentiles)
Will be a part of this new time of worship.

Isn’t that what Jesus told that woman at the well?
John 4:21-24 “Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

It’s not just a Jewish thing
The worship this king will institute will be the worship of the nations.
It was a foreshadow of the coming church.

“Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.”
• Which is Zechariah’s way of putting everything He has into verifying this prophecy. It is his way of saying, “If this doesn’t happen then I’m not a prophet!”

“And it will take place if you completely obey the LORD your God.”

Does that mean the promise is conditional?
No, this King is coming whether they obey or not.
What is conditional is whether or not they enjoy it.

This king is coming and He will reign
And He will lead to true worship,
But the only way you will participate in it is through obedience.

And of course we saw that play out precisely in Jesus’ day.
• Those who submitted to Christ enjoyed the worship and priesthood of this great King.
• Those who refused to submit were excluded from the blessing.

BUT WHAT IS THE POINT HERE?
We have some who are looking at the present circumstances
And the current difficulties and are losing hope.
They are discouraged and are discouraging others.

The danger of course is that a lack of hope leads to a lack of obedience.
If you lose hope that God will make it worthwhile
Then you lose your incentive to continue to obey.

So God gives a vision of hope here to let them know that
Their decision to leave Babylon and return is not in vain.

Yes, the current struggle is real, but it is also only temporary.
The King is on His way and His reign will be worth it.
You need to press on, so that when He comes you can fully enjoy it.

Calvin summarized it like this:
“We now then see what was shown to the Prophet, – that though the Jews were then exposed to many evils, to reproaches and wrongs, yet Christ would come to restore all things to a perfect order, that he would be not only a king but also a priest; and further, that his beginning would be obscure and despised by the world, and yet that he would attain without any earthly helps his own elevation; and, lastly, that his own proper office would be to build a temple to God…As the temple, then, begun at that time to be built, had but little splendor and glory connected with it, and could hardly be expected to become a better or more adorned building, the Prophet reiterates this promise, He, he shall build the temple of Jehovah; by which he means, “Let not your eyes remain fixed on this temple, for to look at it weakens your faith and almost disheartens you; but hope for another temple which ye see not now, for a priest and a king shall at length come to build a better and a more excellent temple.” (ibid, pg. 159)

Don’t look at what you see now,
Look beyond to the promise in the future
And let that motivate your hope and your obedience.

That’s a message we cling to isn’t it?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

• We look past the struggles of today and look to the promise of a greater day.
• We see that the king is on His way and His return will certainly usher in the true worship.
• And if we remain faithful to Him, it will be a day which we will greatly enjoy.

Don’t let your little temple cause you to be discouraged.
The real temple and the real worship is on its way!