God’s Vision For Israel – Part 4
Zechariah 8:18-23
February 5, 2017

In order to just get back in the flow real quickly tonight,
I would remind you where this section began.

We had a delegation arrive from Bethel and they had a specific question.
Zechariah 7:2-3 “Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD, speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

The specific fast they spoke of
Was a fast commemorating the destruction of the temple,
And certainly on one hand it seemed strange to continue such a fast
With the new temple nearing completion.

So some would say, “So what’s the question? Just stop doing it.”

That seems like an easy answer,
But it was difficult for these refugees because they were afraid
That rejecting a fast like this might incur God’s displeasure.

To be certain this fast had long run its course, but they were afraid to stop
Because they thought it might cause God to set His face against them.

To answer that question we first studied chapter 7
Which helped us understand what it really means to seek God’s favor.

• God’s favor isn’t sought through ritual and ceremony, most of the time that is
more for the benefit of the worshiper.
• God’s favor is sought when we do the things He has commanded in His word.

Beyond that, Israel was clearly failing to understand that
They already had God’s favor;
Losing it should not have been their concern.

And chapter 8 has been a tremendous chapter in which God has been revealing just how much favor is actually resting on Israel.

This chapter contains 10 revelations from God regarding His vision for Israel.
We’ve already seen 7 of them.

1) HIS PASSION (1-2) – We learned that God is jealous for Israel.
2) HIS PLAN (3) – Which is to Return, Remain, Renovate
3) HIS PEACE (4-5) – Old men and young kids will be in the streets.
4) HIS POWER (6) – God can do this.
5) HIS PROMISE (7-8) – God will do this.
6) HIS PLEA (9-13) – Don’t be afraid since God is for you.
7) HIS PURPOSE (14-17) – Understanding that redeeming Israel fit God’s purpose.

God has been saying it in extremely clear terms
That His favor rests on Israel.

TONIGHT we look at the last 3 statements from God regarding His favor.
And all three of these have to do with
His promise to REMOVE THEIR SCORN.

If you know anything about Israel you know that they are a hated people.
They have endured the scorn of the nations
Since the day God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans.

Thanks to our study in Revelation we know why.
• Satan first sought to destroy Israel because she was the woman through whom the Messiah would be born.
• Satan then sought to destroy Israel because God is determined to redeem her.

But Israel is certainly a scorned nation.

We understand that this reality is actually true for all of God’s people
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

John 17:14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

We know that being one of God’s elect
Does not come with great admiration from the world,
It comes with great amounts of scorn.

THE MISTAKE on our part is when we interpret that scorn
As a sign of God’s displeasure toward us.

And many do that.
They face a little hatred, they face a little animosity, they face a little persecution, and instantly wonder why God is so angry at them.

Interpreting scorn like that is a mistake.
1 John 3:13 “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.”

1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

We should certainly know better than to think
That scorn is a sign of God’s displeasure,
But unfortunately we don’t always remember this.

THAT IS WHERE ISRAEL IS HERE
• One of the reasons they are confused regarding whether or not they have God’s favor is because they are so hated in the world.

• They are fresh off of their 70 year exile and even know, while back in their home land have not been received well.

• This is just one of the factors that has them scared and nervous regarding God’s favor for their lives.

In His final 3 revelations to Israel God is going to reveal that
Their scorn and hatred and times of distress will not last forever.

God has a vision for that too…

We’ve seen the first 7
#8 GOD REVEALS HIS PARTY
Zechariah 8:18-19

When the delegation arrived in Jerusalem their question was simply regarding “the fast of the fifth”.

Well here find that there wasn’t just one fast that they kept which God hadn’t commanded, there were 4.
“The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months” were also observed.

WHAT WERE THESE?

If we were to cover them in chronological order, we’d see them as these:

“the fast of the tenth” commemorated the beginning of the siege against Jerusalem.

2 Kings 25:1-2 “Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.”

The tenth month was sort of seen as the day it all began.
Certainly on the one year anniversary of the day the attacks started
A fast would be appropriate.

“the fast of the fourth” remembered the fall of Jerusalem.

2 Kings 25:3-7 “On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.”

Certainly it was a heinous event that occurred in their history
And a day of tragic remembrance.

“the fast of the fifth”, as you already know, remembered the burning of the temple.

2 Kings 25:8-12 “Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.”

The siege and fall of Jerusalem, along with the burning of the temple,
Was obviously a traumatic event in the lives of those who witnessed it.

The fact that fasts arose out of those situations is not surprising.

“the fast of the seventh” was a bit different.
This fast remembered the murder of Gedaliah.

2 Kings 25:22-26 “Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.” But it came about in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.”

Now there is more to this story which you can read about in Jeremiah 41-43,
But basically the point is this:

• There were a few who were left in the land of Israel after Babylon came and went. (the poor, those hiding in battle, etc.)

• Nebuchadnezzar left them there to keep the land from getting overgrown or overcome by wild beast, and he appointed a ruler over them.

• But they rebelled against that ruler, killed him, and then ultimately had to flee to Egypt.

The “fast of the seventh month” also then
Remembered a removal from the land.

And that is, I think, significant.
This was the day when God removed all the stragglers.
• God had promised through His covenant in Deuteronomy that if Israel broke the covenant He would remove them from the land.

• So it certainly would be strange for God to allow some to stay there simply because they were poor or good at hiding.

• Through this event God perfectly fulfilled His promise and removed even the stragglers who were left behind.

That made this event also traumatic for Israel.
After this event there were no Jews living in the Promised Land.

And this fast commemorated that.

So each of these fasts represented a time of scorn and affliction for Israel.
And to remember each of these events Israel had instituted a fast.

But God here has a new message for these people
Who were continually commemorating their scorn.

“The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.”

Your fast is going to become a party!
Your fast is going to become a feast.

Instead of condemning their fasting, God simply says that
A day is coming when it will be rendered unnecessary.

There is coming a day when you will look back on those very events
Which were highly traumatic for you at the time,
Only instead of mourning about them, you will be celebrating over them.

And I think you all understand this.
• We’ve all walked through difficulties in life, which at the time caused us great grief that likely even drove us to fasting and mourning.

• However, years later, when we see the great things God accomplishes because of those hardships, we actually stop mourning those events and begin celebrating them.

This was one of the concepts behind a fast.

Think about Israel for a second.
Think about the hardship that they incurred throughout their slavery in Egypt.
• However, we don’t find them fasting in the 1st month because of it. Instead they take the Passover Feast celebrating God’s deliverance from it.

Think about the hardships associated with the wilderness wanderings.
• But we don’t find them fasting in the 7th month as they remember it. We find them celebrating the Feast of Booths as they remember hos God preserved them.

There is certainly a time for fasting, but there is also a time for feasting.

Consider this incident with Jesus.
Matthew 9:14-15 “Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

John’s disciples wanted to know what was wrong with Jesus’ disciples.
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

You spot the obvious problems with the reasoning behind what they thought fasting was for…

And Jesus really seems to give them one of those
“Are you serious?” looks.
The answer is: BECAUSE FASTING WOULD BE INAPROPRIATE.

“The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Why would they fast while I am here?

Consider this statement from Jesus to His disciples.
John 16:20-22 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE POINT.
There may in fact be a time for weeping and mourning and fasting.
But there is also a time for feasting and rejoicing.

And God reveals to Israel that in His vision for them
He sees an end to the fast and the instituting of a feast.

And then He says, “so love truth and peace.”
As opposed to religious rituals.

But you find out again that God’s favor is on these people as God reveals His party.
#9 GOD REVEALS HIS POPULARITY
Zechariah 8:20-22

These last two really go together, but let’s look at this one first.

Here we find a simple reality and that is that
There is a day coming when God will finally be the desire of all the earth.

The entire world is going to be overcome with a desire to seek God’s favor.
(21) “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.”

The desire will finally be for God.
(22) “So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.”

God sees a day coming when He is
The most sought after throughout the entire world.

Isaiah 45:20-25 “Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save. “Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. “They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. “In the LORD all the offspring of Israel Will be justified and will glory.”

Micah 4:1-3 “And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war.”

We are obviously talking about that time which is commonly referred to as the Millennium. It is that 1,000 year reign of Christ.

A time in which the enemy will be imprisoned and Christ will reign upon the earth.

And in those days the world will flock to Him continuously.

Now the obvious question is, “What does this have to do with God showing His favor to Israel?”

That is why I said these last two really go together.

We know WHY the world hates God’s people.
It is because the world hates God.

We read it earlier:
John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

So in order for God to reveal that
There is a day coming when their scorn will end,
He first must reveal that there is a day coming
When scorn for God will end.

It seems almost unfathomable now,
But there is a day coming when the whole world will flock to Christ.

And during that time God reveals a tremendous truth to Israel.
#10 GOD REVEALS HIS PEOPLE
Zechariah 8:23

The picture here is a wonderful one.
The world gravitating to God’s people
Simply so that they can have access to God.

You can see a brief picture of this even when Jesus walked on the earth.
John 12:20-22 “Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.”

The disciples almost appear to be acting like the Secret Service there.
But the idea is the same.

When people want to go to God they will go through God’s people.
And because the throne will be set up in Jerusalem,
They will go through the Jews.

“In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

And if you recognize it, that is A COMPLETE TURNAROUND
From what they were currently facing.

In their day ten people grasping the garment of Jew meant certain persecution.
In this day it will mean certain honor.

What do we call this?
VINDICATION

One of the reasons Israel struggled with God’s favor
Was because of the scorn they continually received from the world.

God reveals that it won’t always be that way.
There is coming a day when He will put His people on display.

And you should know that there is a vindication coming for all of God’s people.

Colossians 3:1-4 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

When Paul says “your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
That word “hidden” translates KRUPTO.
It’s where we get our word cryptic.

That is to say that
• Even today we are the people of God.
• Even today we are the people of truth.
• Even today we are the people who know the way.
BUT THE WORLD CAN’T SEE IT.

This causes us to be people of scorn and tribulation just as Israel was.

But Paul said this scorn should not keep us
From continuing to seek the things above
And to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to God.

For the day is coming when Christ will be revealed from heaven.
And when that happens “you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

It will be a pretty wonderful feeling when Christ returns to rule and then singles you out from the masses as the one who was genuinely His.
• The gospel you preached…which brought you scorn
• The witness you gave…which brought you scorn
• The truth you stood on…which brought you scorn
• The commitment you maintained…which brought you scorn

WILL SOME DAY BE YOUR CROWNING GLORY
AS CHRIST WILL SHOW THE WORLD THAT YOU WERE HIS ALL ALONG.

This is the same thing God is promising to Israel.
It is vindication.

They were being scorned as God’s people
And some even saw this as evidence that they had lost God’s favor.

Not true…
• Their scorn had to do with the world’s hatred of God, not of them.
• And on the day when God returns to this world, establishes His throne, judges
sinners, and is glorified in the world, then His favor for them will be
certainly seen.

You may indeed fast now, but you won’t fast forever.
There is coming a day when that fast is turned into a feast.
It will be the day of the Lord’s return and reign upon the earth.

AND THAT’S A GOOD LESSON EVEN FOR THE CHURCH TODAY.
• We also live during a time of fasting (the groom isn’t here)
• And the scorn we face can cause us to question God’s favor

But we’d do good to remember the message God gave to Israel here.
HIS FAVOR RESTS UPON THEM
• His Passion is evident in His jealousy for them
• His Plan is to return and remain with His people
• His Peace will certainly be upon them
• His Power will make it so
• His Promise guarantees it
• His Plea then is that there be no fear
• For His Purpose is to redeem
• His Party is on its way
• Because His Popularity will someday come
• And it will be shared by all His people

This favor did not rest on the shoulders of
Whether or not they were good at keeping a ceremonial fast.
This favor was simply there because of
The sovereign prerogative of God.

WE CALL THAT GRACE.

I think the words of Jesus here are certainly fitting.
Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

You don’t have to live in fear of the future.
Our future is secure in the sovereign prerogative of God.
HIS FAVOR RESTS UPON HIS CHILDREN.

Here Is Wisdom
Revelation 13:11-18
January 29, 2017

As you know we are currently in the middle of
A very informative parenthetical section here in the book of Revelation.

IT IS A SECTION WHICH REVEALS THAT CHRIST REIGNS
Despite the rebellion and the rage of the enemy.

We’ve already seen:
1) The Child he couldn’t stop
2) The Battle he couldn’t win
3) The Woman he couldn’t kill

Now we are looking at the fourth major reality of the section:
4) The Throne he couldn’t keep

Chapter 13 is all about Satan’s attempt to establish his own earthly reign.
He is seeking to set up his own kingdom.

He is doing that through his own human puppet, whom we know as:
“Antichrist”.

As we saw last time, he is a man
• Who is controlled by a demonic spirit
• And who is used by Satan to unleash blasphemy against God
• And absolute terror against God’s people.

• WE SAW how he comes to power
• We saw how he blasphemes God
• We saw how the world will love him and see him as a savior from God
• We saw how he will persecute believers
• And we saw how God will allow him to do it

And through all this John made a very important point.
(9-10) “If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

John used that horrific time as an example
To teach us what true perseverance looks like.

It is during the heat of battle that the worth of the soldier is proved.
Our faith and perseverance is proved in times of difficulty,
Not times of ease.

This morning we move on and we see that
Not only will God allow great persecution at the hand of the Antichrist,
But God will also allow A GREAT DECEPTION at the hand of the man
Who is known as “The False Prophet”
(Here is only called a second beast, but chapter 19 refers to him as the false prophet)

I told you last time that here we see Satan’s counterfeit trinity.
• Satan plays the role of the Father,
• The antichrist plays the role of the Son,
• This false prophet plays the role of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told us what the Holy Spirit would do:
John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,”

John 16:14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

These are precisely the things which this false prophet
Will do for the Antichrist.

In that sense, not only could we compare him to the Holy Spirit,
But he could also be easily compared to John the Baptist.
John was the one who came and pointed to Jesus.

Jesus said about John:
John 5:31-32 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. “There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.”

That is also a good example of what this false prophet will be.
(not necessarily a forerunner, but certainly a prophet on his behalf)

Similar to the way that John the Baptist showed up pushing men to Jesus,
So this false prophet will arise pushing men to Antichrist.

While the Antichrist is best known for blasphemy and brutality,
The false prophet is best described
Through his general appeal and deception.

And that is why under the ministry of the false prophet
WE LEARN ABOUT A TOTALLY DIFFERENT REALITY.

Under the persecution of the Antichrist we saw true perseverance.
But under the deception of the false prophet we learn about true wisdom.

In fact, I’ll go ahead and give you the spoiler…
Revelation 13:18 “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

SO THIS MORNING WE ARE LEARNING ABOUT
THE NECESSITY OF WISDOM.

SO LET’S TALK ABOUT WISDOM JUST FOR A MOMENT.
The old adage is that “wisdom comes with age”.
I wish that were true, but it’s not.
Experience comes with age, which can be valuable, but not necessarily wisdom.

Wisdom is not what you know.
Wisdom is what you do with what you know.

Let me illustrate:
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”

Both of those men had knowledge, but only one had wisdom.
Only one responded correctly to what he knew.

NOW THE BIBLE GIVES ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF WISDOM.
Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Psalms 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”

The Bible links true wisdom to a fear of God.

What does that mean?
A wise man knows that God is right and true and therefore must be obeyed even when the circumstances seem to dictate otherwise.

For example:
• A wife submitting to a disobedient husband
• A husband loving a rebellious wife
• A child obeying a foolish parent
• A missionary clinging to the gospel even without results
• A persecuted believer turning the other cheek
• A man building on the rock even when there is no storm in sight

When people obey God in spite of the circumstances
They are demonstrating the greatest wisdom there is.
It is people who act based on what God has said.

AND LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT WISDOM IS SO IMPORTANT.
It is important that you know what God has said,
And are willing to obey Him despite the circumstances.

NAMELY BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH DECEPTION AND EVIL INFLUENCE IN THIS WORLD THAT WILL SEEK TO PULL YOU AWAY.

A wise man obeys God despite the influence.
A wise man obeys God despite the deception.

That is why this passage is such a good instruction regarding wisdom.
• This passage reveals a time of ultimate deception and hardship.
• This passage reveals a time when things don’t make sense.
• And it is during those times that our wisdom is most readily put on display.

So this morning let’s look at this third person of the counterfeit trinity
And learn a little bit about the kind of wisdom that God wants us to have.

So let’s see three things about this false prophet (and false prophets in general)
#1 HIS PERSON
Revelation 13:11

John says here “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth;”

The first beast came up out of the sea, or the abyss, or the bottomless pit indicating his demonic origin.
This one comes “up out of the earth.”

The indication here is that the false prophet is a creature of earth.
That is why he is easily compared in one sense to John the Baptist,
Who was also a human used for a ministry and purpose.

Now John goes on to say that “he had two horns like a lamb”

• The Antichrist had 7 heads and 10 horns and was bombastic and
blasphemous and loud and brutal.
• This beast is not. He is gentle, he is appealing, he is soft and cuddly and
easy to love.

“and he spoke as a dragon.”
That does not mean that he spoke with brute force,
IT MEANS THAT HE WAS A LIAR.

He is the epitome of what Jesus warned us about:
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

This guy is a textbook false prophet.
• He comes looking peaceful
• He comes appearing gentle and loveable
• He comes with a great big smile and a TV show
• He is very likeable
• But his words are pure poison

The words that come out of his mouth may be smooth to the ears
But they are more dangerous than the breath of a dragon.

That is characteristic of false prophets:
Jeremiah 6:13-14 “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.”

Jeremiah 27:14-16 “So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; for I have not sent them,” declares the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.” Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the LORD’S house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you.”

That is the danger of false prophets.
They tell you a lie which will lead to unavoidable destruction.

And people say, “Then why do people listen to them?”
Because what they tell you is exactly what your flesh wants to hear.

Remember what Paul told Timothy?
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

• People want to have their ears tickled.
• People want preachers who will tell them that their sin is ok.
• People want preachers that promise them what their flesh craves.

False prophets know they are way more popular with the world
When they offer “Your Best Life Now”

THE OBVIOUS DANGER is that those things aren’t the truth
And they will lead you to destruction.

Sometime if you want an interesting study, skim through the book of Jeremiah and make note of the questions he asks.
(There around 20 of them and they are incredibly thought provoking)

My favorite is found in chapter 5
Jeremiah 5:30-31 “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”

What a great question!
Yes, you can surround yourself with preachers will preach soft and cuddly and tell you what you want to hear, and it will cause you to have a truly great and wonderful day.

But what about the Day of Judgment? What are you going to do then?

That’s the point.
• False prophets appear gentle and wonderful and appealing,
• They do so to convince you to drop your guard against the dangerous words they are proclaiming.
• That is this false prophet here. (gentle in appearance, dangerous in word)

His Person
#2 HIS POWER
Revelation 13:12-15

The overall summary of his ministry can be found in verse 12.
This is his purpose.

“He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.”

His sole objective and purpose is to get people to worship the Antichrist.
That’s it, that’s all he’s about.

How does he get people to do that?
(13) “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.”

Where did he get that idea?
I’ll tell you where he got it.
Revelation 11:5 “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.”

Remember the two witnesses who will be right here in Jerusalem preaching against the Antichrist?

While the Antichrist is spewing his blasphemies,
The two witnesses are calling men not to worship him.
And if you rebuke the witnesses they call down fire to incinerate you.

The false prophet demonstrates the same power,
Only notice he doesn’t kill people with it,
He just uses it as a demonstration of power.
(It’s all a ploy to make him look good and them look bad)

BUT THE POINT IS HE USES A COPYCAT TYPE MINISTRY.
(This is what false prophets do, they seek to act like real ones)

Remember when Moses went before Pharaoh?
God gave him two signs to perform in the presence of Pharaoh.

Moses could turn his staff into a serpent
And Moses could turn the Nile to blood.

But do you remember what Satan did?
Exodus 7:10-13 “So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the LORD had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.”

Exodus 7:20-22 “So Moses and Aaron did even as the LORD had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.”

Satan counterfeited the miracles of Moses and he does the same here.

Incidentally, that is why we do not seek out signs and wonders as the proof of our faith, and people who do so are gravely misguided.

Satan manipulates miraculous works,
They are not genuine evidence of the work of God.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

The false prophet is working miracles just like those two witnesses and the world is buying it.

(14-15) “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”

He works all sorts of signs, but the big one he uses is when he builds an image of the beast and makes the image come to life.

That is all it takes for the world
And they are convinced that this guy is the real deal.

“He must be a true preacher for who else could do such amazing works?”
“And he is telling us to worship the Antichrist, certainly he couldn’t be wrong.”
His Person, His Power
#3 HIS PLAN
Revelation 13:16-17

His plan is to secure undistracted devotion to Antichrist.

Certainly he begins by calling people to worship, but it doesn’t stop there.
He is looking to secure their decision.

Notice what he does next.
Here we find he provides a mark.
(16-17) “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

I wonder where he got that idea?
Revelation 9:4 “They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”

Remember God sealed the foreheads of His bond-servants back in chapter 7.
Well here this false prophet does the same.

Do you see how good he is at muddling the truth and mingling in his own deceptions so as to make the truth harder to believe?

• You call down fire, I’ll call down fire.
• You work miracles, I’ll work miracles.
• You seal your followers, I’ll seal my followers.
• You talk about your reigning king, I’ll talk about my reigning king

It’s just very very very deceptive.

And we already know from earlier in the chapter that he is very effective,
For the whole earth will believe in the Antichrist.
Everyone except those whom God has chosen.

HE SEEKS TO SECURE MEN IN THEIR SIN
• This false prophet actually cuts off all access to food or commodity unless you have the beast’s mark.
• If you don’t worship the beast and submit to him, then you by default mark yourself as one to be slaughtered.

It is a deceptive message with a little extra added motivation.
At this point he has basically made it impossible to be a phony believer.

THERE IS NO WAY TO SECRETLY FOLLOW CHRIST ANY MORE
You are either in, or you are out.

So, I just want to make sure we are all seeing the picture accurately.

We have now on the earth an unparalleled time of tribulation and persecution on the earth at the hands of the Antichrist.
• And John said it is here that perseverance is revealed.

Now we learn that we also have an unparalleled time of deception on the earth.
• And John says it is here that wisdom is revealed.

So let’s look at that verse that everyone always asks about.
(18) “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

Now I’ll go ahead and tell you from the outset that
THIS VERSE HAS BEEN WIDELY MISUSED.

It seems as though people read the phrase “Here is wisdom”
Then feel the need to reveal their wisdom by being able to crack the code of the mark of the beast.

And no shortage of people have tried.
• I’ve seen the numbers manipulated to say that it was Nero
• I’ve seen the numbers manipulated to say that it was Hitler
• I’ve seen the numbers manipulated to say that it was Kennedy
• I’m sure someone manipulated the numbers to point to Obama and in no time
someone will say that it is Trump.

The way they read the verse actually makes them feel like
If they have wisdom then they ought to be able to decipher the code.

Well, let me go ahead and break the news to you.
THERE IS NO CODE

I already told you that wisdom is not revealed by what you know.
Wisdom is revealed by what you do with what you know.

People ask, “Then why does it say, “calculate the number of the beast”?
“Isn’t John saying that there is some sort of hidden code here that must be deciphered so that we will be able to spot the Antichrist?”

FIRST OFF, you don’t spot the Antichrist by reason of this mark,
• You spot the Antichrist at the Abomination of Desolation.
• His revealing mark is his blasphemy against God
• And the fact that he claims to be God.

This mark is not a secret code that must be deciphered.
In fact John specifically tells you what the mark is.

“the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

Most theologians agree that 6 is man’s number,
Citing that man was created on the 6th day.

But even that is somewhat insignificant here.
For John tells you exactly what to look for.
The mark he will pass out is 666.

Well then what did John mean when he said to “calculate” it?

“calculate” translates PSEPHIZO
Let me show another place it is used.

Luke 14:28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

Obviously there Jesus wasn’t talking about
Some sort of secret code that had to be deciphered.

Jesus was talking about following Him and then told the people
That they should not just run into this decision blindly,
But instead should count the cost of their decision.

They should consider all the ramifications of the cost of following Him.

Jesus implied this same thing over and over again
Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “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.”

Matthew 10:26-33 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

If you are going to sign up to follow Jesus, then you’d better do your homework and figure out exactly what you’re signing up for.
Don’t run into the decision without calculating it.

AND NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT JOHN IS SAYING

He’s not saying that there is some secret code to crack.
He’s saying that despite the heavy pressure to take this mark,
You’d better count the cost of the decision.

Yes it’s true that if you take this mark then
The Antichrist will stop trying to kill you and food will be available to you.

And since God has allotted for this man to reign for 3 ½ years,
You are promised up to 3 ½ years of peace and prosperity.

But at the end of the 3 ½ years there is a different story.
Revelation 14:9-13 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “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 holy angels and 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 whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 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.”

So let’s make sure we understand this correctly.
• Take the mark and receive up to 3 ½ years of comfort and then an eternity of torment.

• Or refuse the mark and receive up to 3 ½ years of persecution (shorter if you’re martyred) but receive an eternity of comfort.

“calculate the number of the beast” before you receive it.

And friends I don’t mind tell you that this is TEMPTATION AT ITS FINEST.
This is what Satan always seems to do.

He offers temporary relief with an eternal cost.
He offers temporary satisfaction with eternal cost.

And don’t you think for a second that Satan hasn’t
Saturated the market with his false prophets to peddle it.

I mean come on, Olsteen even named his best seller book
“Your Best Life Now”.

Can you not see that this is precisely the message of the false prophet?
He’s certainly not offering your best life 4 years from now.

Listen to Peter talk about false prophets.
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

Do you see what the push?
“sensuality” and “greed” and they malign the truth.

They get you to trade your eternity for what feels good at the moment.
That is the message of the beast and his false prophet too.

AND IT IS HERE THAT WISDOM IS DEMONSTRATED.

It’s like we said regarding perseverance.
• Perseverance isn’t proved in an air conditioned church with padded pews.
• Perseverance is proved in moments of tribulation and persecution.

It’s the same for wisdom.
• Wisdom isn’t proved in the day when temptation is absent.
• Wisdom is proved on that day when you are tempted to escape the struggle by
denying God’s truth.

WISDOM IS THE DECISION TO OBEY GOD
EVEN WHEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES DON’T MAKE SENSE.

On that day will you walk in wisdom?
On that day will you walk in fear of the Lord?

Listen again to these passages from Jesus.
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Do you see the wisdom there?

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”
Do you see the wisdom there?

THAT IS THE POINT HERE.
Satan is doing everything he can to set up his earthly kingdom.
The two main tricks of his trade will be persecution and deception.

If anyone is to survive they must exhibit perseverance and wisdom.

AND THESE THINGS ARE NEEDED EVEN TODAY

Psalms 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”

God’s Vision For Israel – part 3
Zechariah 8:9-17
January 22, 2017

By now you’re certainly familiar with the context behind this great chapter So I don’t want to spend much time setting the stage.

We know about the delegation which came to seek God’s favor,
And we know that God is revealing to them that they already had it.

We have already seen in the first 8 verses:
1) HIS PASSION – that He is jealous for Zion
2) HIS PLAN – that He will return, remain, and renovate
3) HIS PEACE – that old men and women will sit in the streets
4) HIS POWER – that this is not too difficult for Him
5) HIS PROMISE – not only that He can, but that He will do this

Tonight we continue in this chapter as there are still 5 more realities
That God is going to reveal to these refugees
Regarding the favor that He has toward them.

Tonight, as we get back into that revelation,
I want to uncover yet another emotion that they were most likely feeling.
And that emotion is FEAR

(9) “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Let your hands be strong…”
(13) “Do not fear; let your hands be strong.”
(15) “so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!”

Based on the things God is now saying to these people,
I think it’s obvious that fear was one of their main issues.

We should also point out exactly what they were afraid of.
And perhaps this is a surprise to you,
But the thing they feared was the LORD.

Perhaps we would immediately say, “But aren’t we supposed to fear the Lord?”
And the answer is “yes”.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

But not all fear is the same.

There is the type of fear we are commanded to have,
Which deals with awe and reverence toward God.
• We are to know that God is holy and just and will most certainly punish sinners.
• We are to know that He is worthy of all respect and admiration and glory that we could possibly give Him.
• We are not to take His commands lightly or assume that He is fine with sin.

Certainly that type of fear is commanded in Scripture and is healthy.
It is like the fear a son has of his father.

However, there is also a type of fear that is not warranted.
• We should never fear that God can’t do what He says.
• We should never fear that God won’t do what He says.
• We should never fear that God will change His mind regarding us.
• We should never fear that God is working against us instead of for us.

There is a type of fear that motivates our obedience (good fear)
And there is a type of fear that destroys our hope (bad fear)

Oddly enough Satan confuses the two quite often.
He downplays the fear that leads to obedience
(for instance telling Eve, ‘you won’t die’)
And he promotes the fear that destroys hope
(whispering in our ear that God will fail)

The fear we are dealing with in Zechariah 8 is that second type of fear,
Which is detrimental to your faith.
We are talking about that type of fear that destroys hope.

Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Don’t let your fear cause you to think that God doesn’t care about you.
That is fear that destroys hope.

Matthew 8:23-26 “When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”

There it is again, it was a fear that caused them to lose hope entirely.
It is a dangerous type of fear that crushes hope and crushes faith.

Luke 8:49-50 “While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.”

Hopefully you get the point.
Some fear is good, some fear is bad.

HOW DO I TELL THE DIFFERENCE?
Good fear exists when we believe the word of God.
Bad fear exists when we don’t believe the word of God.

Does that make sense?
• When God says “obey or else” and we have that fear that causes us to obey, that’s good.
• When God says “don’t worry, I’ve got this”, but we don’t believe Him and still have fear or anxiety, that’s bad.

Good fear exists when we believe the word of God.
Bad fear exists when don’t believe the word of God.

What God is dealing with here is people with the wrong kind of fear.
(That’s obvious since 3 times God tells them not to)

Their fear was because they did not understand the word of God.

In this case they were afraid to stop doing something God never commanded for fear that God would be angry with them.

What was it that they were afraid to stop doing?
That fast on the 5th month.

They had been doing out of tradition and they were afraid to stop.
We call that SUPERSTITION.
It is fear which is not based upon the word of God.
And it is the wrong kind of fear.

Incidentally, it is a very common fear in our world today thanks mostly to religion.
• How many have met Catholics who are afraid to leave Catholicism because of some fear of being excommunicated.
• How many in the cults are afraid to leave for fear of being totally cut off.
• We see people who, in the name of obedience, threaten people with the Law, or with other ordinances, telling people if they don’t do it God will be angry.

Let me give you an example:
TURN TO: COLOSSIANS 2
These people were afraid that if they didn’t keep all these ordinances and commands that God was going to be angry.

We could most definitely throw the Galatians into this boat who were even being circumcised out of fear that they were going to anger God.

(READ COLOSSIANS 2:16 – 3:4)
The Colossians were being threatened to do things God was not commanding, and they were continually doing them out of fear of God.

That sets the stage well for these refugees in Zechariah’s day.

God had never commanded a fast on the 5th month,
But these people were afraid to stop doing it out of fear of God.
(More than that they were afraid they’d lose God’s favor)

God has been telling them not to buy into all that.
• He is jealous for them
• He loves them
• He’s got a plan for them
• He’s going to care for them

His purposes for them are for their good
And they need to quit living in fear of what is not true.

That reality is the backdrop for these next two revelations from God.

We’ve looked at the first 5
#6 GOD REVEALS HIS PLEA
Zechariah 8:9-13

I love that God begins by saying “Let your hands be strong”

We know what He means by that
Because down in verse 13 He says,
“Do not fear; let your hands be strong.”

It is a reference to a person who is shaky and weak at the knees.
They are trembling in fear.

And God says “Don’t be afraid”
As a father I certainly want my kids to have a healthy fear of me,
But I don’t want them to be afraid of my plans for them.

There is a difference.

“Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to the words from the mouth of the prophets,”

STOP THERE, because it is a good indicator about their misguided fear.

How did God describe these people?
He called them “you who are listening…”

• In other words, these are obedient people.
• They are doing what God has said.
• They are listening to the prophets God has sent.

What prophets are we talking about?
“those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built.”

What prophets spoke to get the people to rebuild God’s temple?
Haggai and Zechariah

Through those prophets God had issued a directive
That it was time to rebuild the temple,
And the people were doing what they were told.

And that is the point.
You have no reason to fear, you are doing what I said to do.

Look at verses 10-13
“For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another. ‘But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. ‘It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’”

This is so perfect to God’s point.
• You are now doing what I commanded, but that wasn’t always the case.
• Do you remember what it was like when you weren’t obeying?
• Do you remember what it was like “before those days”?

For this we look to the book of Haggai
Haggai 1:6-11 “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways! “Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the LORD. “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the LORD of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. “Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. “I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”

Haggai 2:15-16 “But now, do consider from this day onward: before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD, from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there would be only twenty.”

Haggai revealed that the reason God was angry and was punishing them
Was because they were not doing what God had commanded.

GET THIS:
• They were not fearing the LORD.
• They were not worried about His commands.

So God was punishing them.

BUT NOW, they are doing what God commanded.
After Haggai preached they got up and started rebuilding.

And the funny thing is that now, even while obedient,
They are fearing the Lord in ways that they shouldn’t be.

I punished you before because you weren’t doing what I said, (11) “But now I will treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of hosts.”

• I’m not angry at you…
• I’m not punishing you…
• I’m not threatening you…

• I’m going to make peace for you.
• I’m going to give you an inheritance.
• I’m going to make you a blessing.

There is no reason for you to fear, you are doing what you are told.

And here is the simple reality.
When you walk in obedience to God
There is no reason to have anything but hope.

Fear is the last thing you should have,
For God has promised good to those who walk in obedience to Him.

So God’s plea to these people is that they not be afraid.
• He wants them to walk in hope.
• He wants them to enjoy the promise.
• He wants them to live in personal peace.
• He wants them to rejoice in God’s favor in their lives.

Imagine if you walked in to your child’s bedroom
And they were frantically organizing the close in their closet by color.

You ask them why and they say, “Because I don’t want you to be angry with me and kick me out of the house.”

You’d respond, “Who told you that?”

And they say, “Well, my sister told me I’d better do it or else, and I know that you are an organized person and so I figured they were right, please don’t be angry with me.”

And suppose while rearranging they drop a shirt on the floor
And then run to the other side of the bedroom and ball up and are shaking in fear that you are about to grab them and throw them out of the house.

You’d do everything you could to reassure them wouldn’t you?
Don’t be afraid…You didn’t do anything wrong…

That is where God is coming from.
He is reassuring a group of people
Who have been held in bondage under faulty commands.

And so His plea is for them to not fear.
#7 GOD REVEALS HIS PURPOSE
Zechariah 8:14-17

• Just as you would take your child who is trembling in the corner and tell them to stop being afraid,
• You’d also do everything you could to reassure them that your intention is not to kick them out of the house.

That is what God is doing here.

(14-15) “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I have not relented, so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!”

Let’s break this down a little because God is again using an analogy.

First He brings up a time in the past when His purpose was “to do harm”

Perhaps your trembling child brings that up.
“I remember when you kicked my older sister out of the house for what they did wrong.”

THAT’S A FAIR POINT ISN’T IT?
How can we say “I’m not going to harm you”,
When you know I did it to your older sister?

We are here saying that God wouldn’t reject His child whom He loves,
And yet we all know that God did in fact just kick her out of Jerusalem for 70 years.

But that is really the point…it was only for 70 years.
In other words, it wasn’t permanent.

GOD’S PURPOSE DIDN’T CHANGE.
Just because discipline occurred, it did not change His purpose.

If a child walks in disobedience, then certainly they should fear the punishment…that’s the purpose of punishment; to correct bad behavior.

But even a child under discipline
Should never fear a change of God’s purpose.

And this is so easy to illustrate.
• On the day when God was the angriest at Israel.
• On the day when He was as provoked as we have ever seen Him.
• On the day when He was whistling for Babylon to come on in to Jerusalem.

Do you remember what God said to Israel?
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

What was that?
It was God saying, discipline is necessary,
But My purpose for you has not changed.

Rather, discipline is a necessary process
For HOW I plan to fulfill My purpose in you.

God’s purpose involved them seeking Him and finding Him.
Discipline was necessary to fulfill that purpose.

See, the child who is currently huddled in the corner and afraid
That you’re going to send them away like you did their older brother…
CLEARLY DOES NOT UNDERSTAND GOD’S PURPOSE.

1) They were disobedient, whereas you are not.
2) They were only sent away that I might bring them back, not that I might be rid of them

So understand that.

Beyond that I want you to understand what God is saying here.

God is making a point about how
When He purposes to do something He always does it.

In verse 14 God speaks of a time when He purposed to “to do harm” to Israel.
• That was in response to their idolatry,
• God determined to punish Israel,
• And nothing could turn Him away from that.

Let me show you how resolved God was to this once He purposed it.

FIRST, let me show you when God made the decision that He was going to harm Israel.
2 Kings 21:10-15 “Now the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. ‘I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ‘I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.'”

• Manasseh was a wicked king who led Israel into all sorts of idolatry and immorality
• During his reign God made up His mind that He was going to punish Israel.

He purposed it in his heart that discipline was necessary.

But do you remember who was king after Manasseh?
Do you remember Manasseh’s grandson?

His name was Josiah.
2 Kings 22:1-2 “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. He did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.”

In fact Josiah cleaned house of idolatry.
It started with a determination to repair God’s temple.
As they repaired it they found the book of the Law.
And when Josiah read it, it profoundly impacted him.

2 Kings 22:11-13 “When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant saying, “Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

• Then Josiah burned all the utensils of worship for Baal and Asherah.
• He did away with all the idolatrous priests in Judah
• He did away with everyone who burned incense to Baal
• He burned the Asherah
• He broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes
• He defiled all the high places and broke them down
• He defiled Topheth (which is where children were passed through the fire)
• He did away with the horses which had been consecrated to the sun
• He burned the chariots of the sun with fire
• He smashed all the pagan altars which Manasseh and the other kings had made.
• He even broke down high places that Solomon had built for his pagan wives.
• He even destroyed the altar Jeroboam had made at Bethel and defiled it
• He cleared out all the high places in Samaria
• He slaughtered all the pagan priests of the land
• He came back and commanded the people to celebrate the Passover
• And the Passover he kept had not been done since the time of the Judges
• He removed the spiritists and mediums from the land

The point is, Josiah turned Israel around like you can’t imagine.

But God had already purposed to do harm to Israel
During the days of Josiah’s grandfather Manasseh.

So let me read to you what it says after Josiah did all those great things.

2 Kings 23:25-27 “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him. However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. The LORD said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.'”

In fact, through Jeremiah, God said this:
Jeremiah 15:1-4 “Then the LORD said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! “And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity.”‘ “I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the LORD: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. “I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.”

Now what do you learn there about when God says that He purposes to do something?

You learn that He will do it and nothing can change His mind.

Now notice what He says to these refugees in Zechariah’s day.
(14-15) “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I have not relented, so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!”

Why would God say that to these refugees?
• Because He wants them to stop being afraid.
• He wants them to walk in faith.
• He wants them to rejoice in hope.

What a glorious day it is when we realize
That God has purposed to do us good.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Did you catch that “called according to His purpose” part?

It’s not about what we deserve, it’s about what He has purposed to do.
Our hope and our security rest in the fact that
God has purposed to do good to us, regardless of what we deserve.

Ephesians 1:11 “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,”

Ephesians 3:11 “This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,”

2 Timothy 1:9 “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,”

That is what God is telling these refugees here.
• I did in fact purpose to harm your fathers.
• I did it for disciplinary purposes in order to purify them.
• Now I purpose to do you good.

And I will accomplish My purposes.
Especially since you are walking in obedience.

But then comes an almost contradictory couple of verses.
(16-17) “These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. ‘Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the LORD.”

Just after God tries to quiet them down
He turns right around and gives them four more commands.

They aren’t new, we’re familiar with them.
• “speak truth to one another”
• “judge with truth and judgment”
• Do not “devise evil in your heart against another”
• “do not love perjury”

And God gives those commands with this stipulation,
“for all these are what I hate” declares the LORD.”

And we back up and say, “See! God does want us to be afraid.”
“He may say He purposes good for us, but one slip up here and He’ll be just as mad at us and will kick us out too!”

It almost reads like that doesn’t it?
Do you know why we read it wrong?
Because we don’t understand the meaning of the word “good”

In verse 15 God said “I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem”

And we take the liberty of filling in what that “good” should look like.

We say, “Aha!” It’s wealth, and health, and prosperity, and our football team will win state, and sheep will bear twins, and our cat will quit getting pregnant, etc.

But we don’t get the liberty of defining what “good” is.
Only God gets that right.

• And “good” for God does not mean comfort or wealth or even health.
• “good” for God means holiness.

Do you understand that what He did to Jerusalem when He destroyed it was good? It was because it broke them of idolatry.

God’s discipline did not change God’s purpose, it helped fulfill it.

What He is reminding these refugees of here is that they have no reason to fear because His purpose for them is always good.

Now it is true that sometimes “good” does involve punishment,
But not for those who walk in obedience.

So, “speak the truth”, “judge with truth”, don’t “devise evil”, “and do not love perjury”

It’s not because these things will change God’s purpose,
It’s just that these things might affect
How He brings that purpose to fruition.

And that is what I’d pass on to you tonight.
As part of God’s church, God has purposed to do good to us
And He has done that through Christ Jesus.

Do not fear that that will ever change.

The only fear you should have
Is that which you leads you to believe God’s word.
The fear that causes you not to believe God’s word
Is the wrong kind of fear.

God has purposed to us good.
You never have to fear that He will change His mind.

Here Is Perseverance
Revelation 13:1-10
January 22, 2017

As you know we are studying through this book of the Revelation,
And currently we are in the middle of a parenthetical section.

It is a segment meant to reveal that
Despite the rage and rebellion of the enemy,
There is nothing that can be done
To keep Christ from reigning upon the world.

Satan is a loser.
• We’ve seen the child he couldn’t stop
• We’ve seen the battle he couldn’t win
• We’ve seen the woman he couldn’t kill

The final two chapters (13-14) reveal the final defeat of the enemy, illustrated by: THE THRONE SATAN COULDN’T KEEP

We know Satan has been kicked to the earth,
And on the earth, he does everything he can to set up his own kingdom,
And that is what we see unfolding in chapter 13.

In many ways this section works as sort of an overlay of the time period we’ve already covered.

One could say we are examining the same time period
Only from a different perspective.
Having seen the events of the tribulation through the eyes of earth,
We are now seeing them through spiritual eyes.

For example:
We now know why the Antichrist makes such an abrupt change of direction at the 3 ½ year mark of the tribulation, and why he enters the temple and declares himself to be god.
• It is because it was at the 3 ½ year mark that Satan was kicked out of heaven and he was so angry, he just decided to kill everything. So, that world war which unfolds in the second seal makes perfect sense to us now.

We also understand why he unleashed famine and plague on the world.
• It was because God had protected Israel (whom Satan wanted to kill) and made her off limits from his reach. The famine and plagues were an attempt to reach and kill an otherwise unreachable woman.

So those first 4 seals that were opened make even more sense to us now.

We also now better understand that fifth seal that was opened.
Remember in Revelation 6?

Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ” How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

That seal was the martyrs revealed.
And now we understand why.

Because of what we learned last week in Revelation 12
Revelation 12:17 “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

• All those martyrs appeared below the altar because when Satan realized that God was protecting Israel he then set out to make war with anyone who had helped her.

• He killed anyone who determined to be obedient to Christ and to persevere for Him.

So you can see that we are in effect seeing that same time period,
Only from a different perspective.

This morning we enter chapter 13.

Still in that same parenthetical section,
But chapter 13 seems to better explain the final verse of chapter 12.

We learned that Satan went out to “make war with” those “who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

Ch. 13 reveals Satan’s all out attempt to seize total control of the earth and to annihilate anyone who stands in his way.

But more than just an informative section on the workings of the enemy,
It is important that you understand
THE APPLICATION THIS SECTION HAS FOR YOUR LIFE.

Typically when people ask me questions about the book of Revelation
Chapter 13 is the chapter I field the most questions on.

There are plenty of curious things in this chapter.
• Why does God allow the antichrist to kill the saints?
• What is the mark of the beast?
• Why does God allow him to get away with all of that?

So let me help you understand what John is doing in this chapter.

There are two main points that are drawn from this chapter.
Two main issues John wants to drive into the mind and heart of his readers.

FIRST we read of the attack of the antichrist and his ability to slay the saints and then John says:
(9-10) “If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

There is your first main point.
This first section is about the perseverance and faith of the saints.

THEN we read of the rise of the false prophet and him forcing everyone to take the mark of the beast and John says:
(18) “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

There is your second main point.
The second section of this chapter is about the wisdom of the saints.

We have here Satan doing everything he can
To establish and maintain his kingdom on the earth,
And it is during this time of tribulation and persecution
That we can learn the most about perseverance, faith, and wisdom.

WE BEGIN by looking at this segment
Which ends with an explanation about perseverance.

And allow me to just state for you the importance of perseverance.
As we said last week, it is one of the necessary attributes of saving faith.

If you don’t have perseverance then you don’t have faith.
We are not saying that in order to be saved you must make it to the end
As though perseverance is the means of salvation.

Perseverance is a fruit of salvation.
Perseverance is a byproduct of genuine faith.

We say, that if you have perseverance then your faith is real,
If you don’t have perseverance then your faith is not real.

1 John 2:18-19 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

These were not real believers
We know that because they did not persevere.
It was their lack of perseverance that revealed the phoniness of their faith.

WHAT IS THE POINT THEN?
Perseverance is essential.
You must have it.

This morning we see what it looks like.
And we are going to see it displayed
In the absolute darkest time in the history of the world.

SO (at this point)…
• Satan has been kicked out of heaven and he is angry
• His objective is to kill Israel and anyone who will help her
• And his means is to do so through his puppet ruler known as the antichrist.

3 main points which we need to expound on
#1 THE RISE OF THE ANTICHRIST
Revelation 13:1-4

Here we see the rise of the antichrist; we see his ascendancy to power.
And we see it from that spiritual perspective.

We’ve already seen his rise to power from an earthly perspective.
Revelation 6:1-2 “Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”

• Hopefully you will remember how we talked about this man’s rise to power.
• How he ascends to the throne without any real credential or right to do so.
• “a crown was given to him”, he didn’t earn it.
• He “had a bow” but no arrows, it was a symbolic picture of authority
• The earth puts this man in power because they love his message of peace and tolerance.

He is given a kingdom by what is called “The 10 king confederation”
Or as some refer to as “The European Confederation”

Revelation 17:12-13 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”

There is coming a day in the future
When you will have this sort of revamped Roman empire.
It will be a union of European nations (10 to be exact)
And they will all agree to give up their crowns and their thrones
And give authority and rule to this one man who can lead the world in peace.

That is his rise from an earthly perspective.

But here in chapter 13 we see it from a spiritual perspective.
(1-2) “And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.”

Here is why this man really comes to power.
Satan is behind it all.

In verse 1 we have a picture of Satan standing on the shore calling up “a beast” who comes “up out of the sea”.

WHAT?
• The “sea” is a reference to the abyss or to the bottomless pit.
• If you will remember back in chapter 9, this is the prison of demons.
• This was the place we saw opened and the demonic invasion occurred.

What you are seeing coming here is not the man who is the antichrist,
But rather the demonic spirit that will control him.

We read that he has “ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.”

The “ten horns” represent those ten kings which will give their power to the antichrist.
And now we find that the reason they will do so
Is because this demonic presence was controlling them too.

We see that he also has “seven heads” which you will remember represents those 7 nations which have plagued Israel in her history.
(Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media/Persia, Greece, Rome, kingdom of antichrist)

Which means that he was that same demonic presence
Which has been at work throughout history to influence world rulers
And to try and annihilate the Jews.

And now we also find that “on his heads were blasphemous names.”

Every time this demonic presence influenced a nation
They not only served as an attack on Israel,
But also as a blasphemy against God.

• We can listen as Pharaoh blasphemes the God of Moses.
• We can listen as Sennacharib of Assyria blasphemed God before Hezekiah.
• We can watch Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon build an idol and demand to be worshiped…
• We can watch Darius the Mede pass a law that no one can pray to anyone but him…
• We can see Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece demand worship from the Jews…
• We can see Herod in Rome take glory for the kingdom for which God caused him to die and be eaten by worms…

All of those nations and all of those rulers
Are making much more sense to us now.
They were all under Satanic control.

And the demon which controlled them is called into action again,
And he is working through this man whom we know as Antichrist.

He will hate the Jews as he always has…
He will blaspheme God as he always has…
He will persecute the righteous as he always has…

Are you seeing picture behind the scenes now?
It sheds light on what Paul told us about spiritual warfare:
Ephesians 6:11-12 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

We may see the man, but it is the devil behind him who is really at work.

And that is even further illustrated in verse 2.
“And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth was like the mouth of a lion.”

WHAT IN THE WORLD?
• Daniel was one who had much to say about this man named Antichrist.
• Furthermore Daniel was able to see the demonic influence behind him and how he affected the nations which afflicted Israel.

Daniel 7:1-8 “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it. Daniel said, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. “And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. “The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. “And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ “After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. “After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.”

Daniel saw 4 beasts also coming from the sea,
Which again speaks to their demonic influence.

The first was a lion which wings like an eagle, but one which had its wings clipped and ultimately which had a human mind given to it.
• This was Nebuchadnezzar who had been given sovereignty and power by God and authority to conquer. But if you’ll remember he was arrogant before God so God caused him to lose his sanity for 7 years and to eat grass like a cow until his mind returned to him and he worshiped God.

The second beast was a bear which was raised up more on one side.
• This was the Medes and the Persians, and the Persians were a little greater, which is why the bear was raised on one side. The 3 ribs were the 3 nations they conquered to ascend to power.

The third beast was leopard which had four wings and four heads.
• This was Greece who came to power under Alexander the Great, but which was split into four separate kingdoms after Alexander died.

Daniel predicted all of this, and history fulfilled it.

But Daniel also saw a 4th beast which was even more terrifying and it had 10 horns, and out of the 10 one little one rose up to seize control from the other 10.

SO WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
This is Daniel’s 4th beast.
This is the beast with the 10 horns.
This is the kingdom of the Antichrist.

The one who is now reigns is the most evil and destructive ruler the world has ever known for all time.

• Although it looks like he came to power because he has the answers for world peace.
• Although it looks like the 10 king confederation trusted him and wanted to give him control.
• At the end of verse 2 we find out why really comes to power.
“And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.”

NOW LET ME PAUSE AT MOMENT
AND GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE INSIGHT HERE.

Hopefully you are aware of what we call “The Trinity”.
• God the Father
• God the Son (Jesus)
• God the Holy Spirit

Well, what you are seeing in Revelation 13 is the phony trinity of Satan.
• You have the dragon – Satan
• You have the beast – (a human counterfeit)
• You have the prophet – who duplicates the role of the Holy Spirit
Satan is counterfeiting God’s trinity here.
And in this man he has his counterfeit savior.
This man is Satan’s phony Messiah.

Antichrist is the man who took the deal that Jesus rejected.
Remember when Jesus came to earth and was tempted by the devil?
Matthew 4:8-10 “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'”

Antichrist will accept the offer and he will do so ultimately to his doom.

But he is Satan’s demonic controlled puppet.
He is Satan’s counterfeit Jesus, his counterfeit Messiah.

To prove that even further,
Look at the event Satan uses to catapult this man into worldwide fame.

(3-4) I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”

Here we find that one of his heads appears to have “been slain”
But “his fatal wound was healed.”

It is a counterfeit death and resurrection.

Later in the chapter down in verse 14 we read:
Revelation 13:14 “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.”

Someone will slay this man with the sword
And Satan will miraculously deliver him.
When the world sees this they will all be enamored with him
And will pledge their allegiance to him.

But take special notice as to why they will love him.
They worship him and the dragon who gave him his authority and they will say, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”

Now let’s put that into perspective as well.
Do you remember that sixth seal which will open and how there is a great earthquake and all of the earth sees God on His throne and the Lamb and they are terrified?

Revelation 6:16-17 “and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

The earth will know that God is angry at sinners.
• Of course then we found that the trumpets started to blast
• We saw fire burning the earth
• The ocean to blood
• The fresh water made bitter
• A demonic army and all of that stuff.

But do you remember the response we saw after the 7th trumpet blasted?
Revelation 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.”

That means that on the earth we will have a helpless
And yet totally rebellious people.
(They knew they couldn’t stand, but still wouldn’t repent)

What they will want is a deliverer; a savior from the wrath of God.

And in Antichrist they think they’ve found it.
When this guy survives death (which is a major problem on the earth)
They will think they’ve found their deliverer.
AND THE WORLD WILL GO AFTER HIM.

THIS IS WHAT WE SEE AS THE RISE OF THE ANTICHRIST.

That’s the Rise of the Antichrist.
#2 THE RAGE OF THE ANTICHRIST
Revelation 13:5-7

We talked about how Christ reigns despite the rage of the enemy.
Well here is that rage further explained.

You see here that this antichrist ruler is the recipient of 4 things.
It is spotted by the phrase “given to him” used 4 times.

He is given A Message
(5a) “There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies”

He will spew off at the mouth in unthinkable blasphemy against God.

This will be part of his aura and mystique to the world.
They are looking for the guy who can overthrow God
And this guy will claim the ability to do so.

He is given A Platform from which to speak it
(5b) “and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.”

God actually allows him to speak freely for 3 ½ years
Without overthrowing him or shutting his mouth.

And so naturally this man will take full advantage of what God allows.
(6) “And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.”

This man sets out to declare war on heaven
And the God who sits enthroned there.
And the world will love it.

Daniel 7:8 “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.”

Daniel 7:25 “He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.”

He is given Power to kill anyone who opposes him
(7a) “It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them,”

There will be some on earth who will not stand for his blasphemous talk and will no doubt seek to expose him.

And God will allow him to kill those people
So that it gives the appearance that God is actually losing
And antichrist is actually winning.

Daniel 8:24-25 “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. “And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency.”

He is given the Support of the world to continue
(7b) “and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.”

This man will rule the world
And he will do so with a platform of aggression against God
And against God’s people.

And the point is that it will look like he is defeating God.
• It will appear like God can’t do anything to stop this loud mouthed persecutor.
• It will be the rage of Satan like nothing ever before on the earth.

The Rise of Antichrist, The Rage of Antichrist
#3 THE RESULT OF THE ANTICHRIST
Revelation 13:8

He will be so effective in what he does
That everyone will love him and follow him.

In fact, the only way to not fall prey to his threats and boasts
Is by the supernatural deliverance of God.

The only people who do not succumb to him are the elect.
The only people who do not yield to him are those whom God has chosen.

“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.”

• Where are the names written? “the book of life of the Lamb”
• Who wrote them there? (obviously God)
• When did He write them there? “from the foundation of the world”

The only people who survive are those whom God has chosen to survive.
To put it a better way,
It is only by grace that anyone is able to resist the Antichrist.

It falls back to what Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse
Matthew 24:21-22 “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

This man will rise under Satanic influence
And will deceive the whole world,
Except for those whom God chooses to not allow him to deceive.

Now I know people don’t like this reality, our world instantly cries,
“That’s not fair!”
And they then try to say it is somehow God’s fault then
That these people aren’t saved.

That is to totally distort reality.
THE POINT IS THAT EVERYONE WOULD BE DECEIVED
WERE IT NOT FOR GOD’S GRACE.

People say, “It’s not fair that God didn’t give everyone the choice of either following Him or following Antichrist.”
If He would have, then everyone would have followed the Antichrist.

They only reason anyone resists Him is because God intervened
(by pure grace) and chose not to allow some to be deceived.

Here we have God not allowing Satan to have total victory.

What you must understand here is that:

WE HAVE THE MOST DIFFICULT CULTURE FOR FAITH AND PERSEVERANCE THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN.
(In fact, no one would be saved where it not for God’s sovereign election)

And yet, even during this most difficult time,
I want you to see the mandate of Scripture.

(9-10) “If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

Even at this most difficult time what is it that God expects from His people?
“perseverance” and “faith”

Even in a time when God is allowing this satan-controlled maniac
To blaspheme His name and kill His people;
Even then God expects “perseverance” and “faith”.

The good news is that God is supplying strength to His people
To maintain that “perseverance” and “faith”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US?
(Remember John is recording this for your sake)

If God expects perseverance and faith from these during this time, what do you suppose God expects from you during your trials?

If God gives grace to persevere in trust to His elect even during this time, what do you suppose God will give to His elect today during their trials?

“HERE IS the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

I’ll leave you with a quote from Martin Luther:
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is more flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”
(sited in: MacArthur, John; The Truth War, Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception; [Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; 2007] pg. 26)

THIS IS WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD.

God’s Vision For Israel – Part 2
Zechariah 8:4-8
January 15, 2017

As you know we are in a section in the book of Zechariah
Which was sparked by the arrival of that delegation from Bethel.

A group of men arrived and chapter 7 says
They were seeking the favor of the Lord.
What we are learning here is that they already have it.

And we are learning that they are recipients of God’s favor,
Not because they had done something to earn it,
But because God had chosen by His grace to give it to them.

• We saw the selection of Abraham…
• We saw God’s CHECED in Abraham’s life…
• We saw God stick with Isaac and Jacob and Israel…
• We’ve seen the Exodus…
• And even now God is bringing them out of Babylon…

You’d have to be blind not to see God’s favor on this people.

But beyond all of God’s gracious benefits He has given Israel in her past,
Here in Zechariah 8 God reveals His vision for her future
And it is also full of favor.

Zechariah 8 lists 10 revelations or visions that God has for Israel’s future.

We saw the first two last week.
1) GOD REVEALED HIS PASSION

Namely that He is “exceedingly jealous” for Israel.

And we noted that “jealous” was a term previously used
Referring to God and His own glory.
He told Israel not to worship idols because He is a jealous God
And will most certainly punish anyone who gives His glory to another.

Now we learn that God has that same jealousy for Israel.
He is passionate about her.

We even looked at God’s CHECED
(kindness, loyalty, faithfulness, preference) to Israel throughout her history.

God is passionate about her.

2) GOD REVEALED HIS PLAN

In verse 3 God revealed that His plan is to:
• Return
• Remain
• Renovate

Although God initially did this in the person of Jesus and was rejected,
It still has not changed God’s passion for her
And the fact that He will return again for her.

• No sooner do we have Jesus ascending in Acts 1,
• Then by Acts 2 Peter is reiterating the promise of salvation to the Jews in Jerusalem
• And again offering them “the time of restoration” in Acts 3.

Israel certainly delayed her blessing,
But the plan to give it her never changed.

• God still plans to return…
• God still plans to remain…
• God still plans to renovate them into a “City of Truth”

So we saw God’s Passion
We saw God’s Plan
#3 GOD REVEALS HIS PEACE
Zechariah 8:4-5

Peace in Israel?
That’s a novel idea!

When you read these two verses you must admit
It brings about a certain amount of nostalgia to the heart.

“Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets.”

Zechariah highlights the fact that there will be old people in the city.
Old age may not at first seem preferential,
But in this revelation it is very positive.

“Old men and old women” only reach that status because they have survived.
They have lived a long time.

You know it and I know it,
But there is only one alternative to growing old
And that is dying young.

Here we have men and women in Israel who have survived,
They have lived a long time.

Isaiah 65:17-25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. “They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. “They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.”

And that is a remarkable promise from God regarding Israel,
Especially when you take into account the enormous amounts of persecution that they have endured as a people.

Generally speaking, life expectancy for a Jew has never been a good thing,
But the day is coming when it will.

Not only that, but the safety and prosperity of Israel is seen in the fact that “the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets.”

It sounds like Mayberry.
Friendly, safe, joyous, it’s the good ole days except way better.

And the reason is because the Lord will have returned
And renovated that place and made everything wonderful.

Isaiah 11:1-9 “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. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.”

Because God is passionate about these people
And because His favor is clearly on them,
His plan is to return and renovate that place into a city of safety
Where people live a long time and children play safely in the streets.

God clearly has a wonderful plan for them.
Ezekiel 34:25-30 “I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. “I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. “Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. “They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. “I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore. “Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord GOD.”

The struggles they currently face are not the final plan of God.
God has a prosperous future in view for them.

In fact God has always had this prosperous desire for them.
• From the day He called Abraham He was reiterating this blessing that He had in store.
• When He brought them out of Egypt He promised them a land flowing with milk and honey.
• And certainly the Messiah was coming to set all things right.

Now each and every time it has been their disobedience
Which has delayed these blessings,
But that does not mean that God won’t do it.

This prosperity; this peace and safety is still the plan
Because God has chosen to put His favor on them.

They certainly do not deserve it, but they will receive it none the less.

God Reveals His Passion, God Reveals His Plan, God Reveals His Peace
#4 GOD REVEALS HIS POWER
Zechariah 8:6

I love this one.
“If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight? Declares the LORD of hosts.”

Let’s be honest.
What God is referring to here frankly seems a little
Too good to be true and a tad bit impossible.

The thought that Israel could one day dwell safely inside her borders with no fear of those around them almost seems like a fairy tale.

The reality is…THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED.

• Abraham went there and was immediately labeled “the Hebrew” (one who crosses over; alien).
• He then had struggles with the kings who kidnapped Lot
• He had struggles with Abimelech who threatened his wife

• When Israel came out of Egypt it was one nation after another throughout the time of the Judges.
• Hittites, Jebusites, Moabites, Ammonites, Canaanites, Termites, Cellulites, etc.

• During the period of the Kings it was the same thing all over again.

• During the post-exilic period again they faced hostility from their neighbors

• Then it was Greece, then Rome

• And throughout present day history it has been England, Russia, Germany, Palestine, and on and on and on.

You are tempted to read about that reality in verse 4
About old people sitting in the streets and children playing in the streets
And it sounds like a fairy tale.

Seems like it will never happen…
Seems like it can’t happen…

And there are even theologies today which say that.

In my Old Testament class in Seminary my professor told us that he was an “Amillennialist”.

That means he doesn’t believe in a literal thousand year reign of Christ.
• So all of those promises (like the one in verses 4&5) will never literally happen.
In addition Amillennialism says that it is over for Israel.
• All of God’s promises were fulfilled in Jesus whom they rejected and so now
it’s only the church.

Point being, there are plenty of people both then and now
Who think the idea of Israel living in safety inside her land
Is impossible.

But God answers that pessimism right here.

“If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?”

“Just because it’s too hard for you, does that mean it’s too hard for Me?”
And of course the answer is NO

Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

There we see the prophetic promise of the kingdom reign of Messiah over Israel and we are even told who will bring it to pass.

“The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
God will make it happen.

By our own efforts Israel’s peace is an impossibility.
As we are learning in Revelation (Satan just won’t let that happen)
But it is well within God’s prerogative to bring it to pass.

You may doubt it that it will happen, but God can most certainly do it.

Isaiah 59:15-20 “Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.”

His vision is for peace in Israel where each man and each woman can live out their days in peace and prosperity and He will bring it pass.

So God reveals His Passion, His Plan, His Peace, His Power
#5 GOD REVEALS HIS PROMISE
Zechariah 8:7-8

And this is where it all hinges.

It all hinges upon the integrity of God to honor His promises.

We just settled the issue regarding whether or not God can do what He says.
• We believe God is omnipotent, we believe God can do it.
• We do believe that “the zeal of the LORD of hosts” is enough to bring it about.

The next issue is “Will He do it?”
• We know He can, but will He keep His promise?

We are those who believe God keeps His word,
And in this belief we find our hope.

Remember what we learned in Hebrews:
Hebrews 6:13-18 “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”

We learned through Abraham, all the way into the New Testament
That when God makes a promise you can take it to the bank.

In fact, we learned that God cannot lie.
This gives us “strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”

We believe God will do what He says.
His promises mean everything to us.

And it is that promise we are confronted with here.
“Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.”

That is the equivalent of God saying “I promise!”

Notice all the definitive words there.
• “I am going to save My people…”
• “I will bring them back…”
• “they will live in the midst of Jerusalem…”
• “they shall be My people…”
• “I will be their God in truth and righteousness…”

These are God’s promises.
And if you doubt that it will happen
Then you either have to question God’s power
Or you have to question God’s integrity.

We choose to question neither.
We believe God will do what He says.

We believe God will bring Israel back and settle them securely in their land.
Zephaniah 3:14-20 “Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. “The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts — They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them. “Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors, I will save the lame And gather the outcast, And I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth. “At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the LORD.”

Isaiah 35:8-10 “A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

Zechariah 10:8-12 “I will whistle for them to gather them together, For I have redeemed them; And they will be as numerous as they were before. “When I scatter them among the peoples, They will remember Me in far countries, And they with their children will live and come back. “I will bring them back from the land of Egypt And gather them from Assyria; And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon Until no room can be found for them. “And they will pass through the sea of distress And He will strike the waves in the sea, So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the pride of Assyria will be brought down And the scepter of Egypt will depart. “And I will strengthen them in the LORD, And in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.”

We either believe those promises or we don’t.

And I might add that salvation is found in believing the promises of God.

• God made a promise to Abraham about the number of his descendants.
• The Bible says that “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as
righteousness.”

It’s not a safe thing to go around questioning the promises of God.

We are those who believe God can and God will do what He says.
• God will bring them back…
• God will put them in Jerusalem…
• God will dwell with them…

And “I will be their God in truth and righteousness.”

This is how we know it hasn’t happened yet.
Israel has often identified with the correct God,
But they have yet to correctly identify with Him.

Someone once said that Christians and Israel worship the same God.
That isn’t true.

• On one hand we believe Jesus is God and they clearly do not worship Him.
• On the other hand even though we both claim allegiance to the God of the Old Testament, they don’t really worship Him.

Isaiah nailed them when He said:
Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

Jesus said:
John 4:23-24 “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.”

Currently Israel doesn’t really worship the correct God.
But there is a day coming in which they will.
God promised it.

They are coming back, they will be Mine, and I will be theirs.

And if you are one of those in the delegation coming to seek God’s favor,
How much clearer could He make it?

This sounds almost like a marriage proposal.
• I am choosing you.
• I am jealous for you; you are the one I want.
• I am coming to you.
• I am going to make life great for you.
• I most certainly can do it.
• And I most certainly will do it.

To me that almost sounds like a groom at a wedding ceremony.
“I take you…to protect you, to provide for you, to cherish you, forever…”

CAN YOU NOT SEE WHAT FAVOR GOD HAS SHOWN?
They should be able to.

NOW PAUSE THERE FOR A SECOND.
Let’s zoom out and look at the situation
So we can make sure we get proper application here.

• When we read these verses we are literally blown away by the generosity of God and all that He plans to do for Israel.

• We would easily look at those people and say, “Wake up man! Can’t you see God’s favor toward you? He clearly cares for your deeply!”

• We have no trouble reading these verses and seeing that.

But back up and look them…

WHAT DO THEY HAVE RIGHT NOW?
I mean what do they have that they can tangibly hold in their hand?

The answer?
A broken city, half a temple,
And piece of paper which contains God’s promise of better days.

And yet, we have no problem telling these people
How much favor they have.

Now look at your own life.
• What do you have?
• What can you tangibly hold in your hand?

A broken world, some earthly possession,
The first fruits of the Spirit
And a paper which contains God’s promise of better days.

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

1 Peter 1:3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

Romans 8:18 “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.”

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.”

Can you see that we also are great recipients of God’s favor?

Listen to me here.
We all know what a bank statement is.

We look at our bank statement because
That is where the amount of or money is recorded.

Maybe you have another list of assets which measures how much you have.

But these are NOT the places you look
When you want to measure God’s favor in your life.

• God’s favor is not measured in money…
• God’s favor is not measured in health…
• God’s favor is not measured in earthly prosperity…
• God’s favor is not measured in comfort…

HOW DO WE MEASURE GOD’S FAVOR?
IN PROMISES.

To put it in earthly terms, God writes I.O.U’s
(They aren’t really “I Owe You’s” as much as they are
“I Have Freely Decided to Give You’s” but you get the idea)

God doesn’t demonstrate His favor in earthly prosperity.
God demonstrates His favor in promises of eternal prosperity
When this life is over.

If you have God’s promises you have God’s favor.

That is what these refugees needed to understand.
• No they didn’t have a city…
• No they didn’t have a wall around it…
• No they didn’t have a king…
• No they didn’t have an army…
• No they didn’t have a temple…

But they had something infinitely more valuable, they had God’s promise.

All that was left was to decide whether or not they believed He could
And whether or not they believed He would.

And that is the same for you.

We live in a world that wants God to prove His favor every day
Through temporal blessing, and that is the wrong way to go about it.

For that leaves you discouraged
When life brings its promised disappointments.

Instead understand that God reveals His favor in His promises
And in those we are rich indeed.

2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

Though the present life may be difficult,
The payout promises to be well worth it.
This remains God’s vision for the elect.