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.
