The Lord Remembers
Zechariah 4:1-14
October 9, 2016
As you know we are working our way through the book of Zechariah,
And not just because of its eschatological implications
But also because it contains such an important message.
The prophet’s name means “The Lord Remembers”
And this is such an important reality for us to grasp in our own lives.
It certainly was for these refugees.
All you have to do is bring to mind their recent history and you can see why they needed to know this.
• The Nation split after Solomon died
• Half the nation was carried off into exile
• God’s glory left the temple
• The rest of the nation was carried into exile
• The temple was destroyed
• God’s people lived in a foreign land for 70 years
• Now returning, only a small portion returned
• And rebuilding the temple has proven difficult
Have you ever been bombarded by one trial after another after another?
You feel like you’ve endured your fair share and yet before one lets up another hits?
That must have been how these refugees felt.
God’s message to them is that He remembers them.
They are not forgotten, and they are not abandoned.
This was the primary ministry of Zechariah.
To remind Israel that God has not forgotten them.
And that in and of itself is AN IMPORTANT REALITY
That we have yet to touch on fully.
Have you ever pondered the phrase?
“The Lord Remembers” or “The Lord remembered…”
It is what theologians call an “ANTHROPOMORPHISM”
It is when God speaks as though He were a human.
Of course God has no need to literally remember since God never forgets.
God can’t forget for He is omniscient, He knows all.
So in one sense to ascribe the need to remember to God
Could almost be construed as a heretical application.
Except for the fact that the Bible says that God remembers.
Noah
Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.”
Lot because of Abraham
Genesis 19:29 “Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.”
Rachel
Genesis 30:22 “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.”
The Slaves of Egypt
Exodus 2:24 “So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Psalms 105:37-43 “Then He brought them out with silver and gold, And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed, For the dread of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to illumine by night. They asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock and water flowed out; It ran in the dry places like a river. For He remembered His holy word With Abraham His servant; And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout.”
Hannah
1 Samuel 1:19 “Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.”
Over and over the Bible reiterates
God remembering a person or group of people.
Psalms 98:2-3 “The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
Psalms 106:44-46 “Nevertheless He looked upon their distress When He heard their cry; And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors.”
And because we know that God is omniscient and never forgets
We understand that this phrase DOES NOT indicate that there are times
When we slip from God’s mind until He reads the post-it note on His door
Actually it is a phrase that indicates
God’s faithfulness to always keep His promises.
You could almost think of it as God prioritizing His will.
• He will always do what He determined to do.
• He will always remember the promises He has made.
And this should be a very comforting reality to God’s people.
James Boice – “The hope is not in reasoning that God is aware of all things and is therefore aware of you. That is true, but not always helpful. The hope is in knowing that God will act again! And in the meantime, your job is to go on in faithful obedience to what he has already shown you — however long ago that may have been.”
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/the-bible-study-hour/read/articles/remembered-by-god-11789.html
In short, if you are a beneficiary of God’s sovereign promises
Then you can go forward in absolute faith and assurance,
Regardless of the difficulty,
Knowing that God will always remember to keep His promises.
God will do what He said.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
And this is really the point of the book of Zechariah
To these down-trodden refugees.
GOD IS GOING TO DO WHAT HE SAID
BECAUSE GOD ALWAYS REMEMBERS.
Proving that to these refugees has been
THE MAIN THRUST OF THESE NIGHT VISIONS WE HAVE SEEN.
The Vision of the Angelic Patrol – God reminded that He is jealous for Israel and is angry at the nations who afflicted them.
The Vision of the 4 Horns and 4 Craftsman – God reminded that He will punish those nations that afflicted you.
The Vision of the Surveyor – God reminded that He still considers Jerusalem to be His possession, He has not forgotten the city where His name dwells.
The Vision of Joshua’s Atonement – God reminded that He has chosen Israel and plucked them from the fire and will therefore certainly atone for their iniquity and forgive their sin.
All of these visions are summed up in the reality that
God remembers His covenantal promises to Abraham and to David
And that He will surely keep His word.
GOD WILL DO IT
And that really seems to be the main point of this 5th night vision.
• God is going to do what He said.
• In fact, He is doing it.
• And He is the One doing it through you!
TONIGHT THE MAIN THRUST OF THE VISION
Stems from the difficulty they are having rebuilding this temple.
It is a hard task.
Building the temple would be hard enough, but consider the added difficulties.
• Limited man power – only a few actually returned to Jerusalem
• Hostile natives – they’ve already stopped them once
• Skeptical Rulers – currently sending word to Darius to find out if this is ok
• No Security – remember there is no wall around this city where they are working
• Critical analyzers – as you will see again tonight many of the people who watched them rebuild were critical of how much less impressive this temple was than the old one.
This was a hard task.
God shows up to remind His people that
He has not forgotten His purpose and He will do what He said.
In fact, He IS doing what He said.
So let’s look at our text tonight.
There are 4 things I want you to see in this chapter.
#1 A DISCOURAGED PROPHET
Zechariah 4:1
What we find here is that angel comes to give Zechariah another vision.
But this time, unlike the previous,
We learn the condition in which the angel finds Zechariah.
He says the angel “roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep.”
“roused” here in the Hebrew is UR (oor)
And it means “to stir up”
1 Chronicles 5:26a “So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away into exile…”
2 Chronicles 21:16 “Then the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians;”
You read that and you realize what God is doing.
He, through the work of His Spirit, is causing men to do His will.
It is a very Spirit-driven type of reality.
What you should also know is that
God has been doing this very thing regarding this project of rebuilding His temple long before He did it here to Zechariah.
Ezra 1:1-2 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”
Ezra 1:5 “Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.”
God has been doing this and now He is doing it to Zechariah.
“as a man who is awakened from his sleep”
That doesn’t mean that Zechariah is just sleepy.
The implication here is that Zechariah
Had either grown apathetic, or discouraged.
Being asleep in Scripture often pictures a person who isn’t as focused and ready as they should be.
After giving the practical expectations of Christian living, Paul said:
Romans 13:11 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”
Paul wasn’t implying that believers were spending too much time in bed,
But rather that they were not paying attention,
That they had grown apathetic and complacent.
And it is very likely that Zechariah found himself there.
He knows what God wants – He wants the temple,
But rebuilding this temple is hard.
And one has to wonder if Zechariah really thought they could pull it off.
You have to wonder if anyone in Israel really thought they could pull it off.
The temptation is to get discouraged and seemingly give up.
Zechariah here has fallen into discouragement.
• But the angel wakes him up.
• The angel confronts him and tells him to get on the alert.
A Discouraged Prophet
#2 A DIFFICULT VISION
Zechariah 4:2-5
So the angel wakes Zechariah up and gives him a vision
That he at least partly doesn’t understand.
“I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold”
This was not uncommon, and it symbolized that at least in part
Israel was the light of the world.
It ultimately and perfectly pictured Christ who would be the light of the world.
“with its bowl on the top of it”
This is a little different.
This lamp actually worked on a gravity flow system.
The bowl containing the oil was set on top of the lamp
So that oil would flow down into the lamp and keep the lamp burning.
“and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it;”
So this is a large lamp with a total of 49 flames.
Here is where the difficult part came for Zechariah.
(3) “also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.”
So now we not only have a lampstand, but we also have a bowl on top,
And here we find that beside the bowl, we have two olive trees.
The figure is that there is a NEVER ENDING SUPPLY of oil
Running from the tree, into the bowl and feeding the lamp.
SOMETHING IS SUPPLYING POWER TO THE LIGHT
Now it is obvious that Zechariah understood the lamp, the bowl, and the 49 spouts, but he did not understand these trees.
(4) “Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, my lord?”
(You’ll seen realize that Zechariah’s lack of understanding
Is what is fueling his discouragement)
And the angel even seems a little surprised that he doesn’t know.
(5) “So the angel who was speaking with me answered and so to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
So we have A Discouraged Prophet, A Difficult Vision
#3 A DIVINE REMINDER
Zechariah 4:6-10
(6) “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”
Now I love what God is doing here.
The message is for Zerubbabel, but who is it given to?
It is given to Zechariah, he is in turn supposed to relay it to Zerubbabel.
(Zerubbabel is the governor, he needs to hear this)
But the other person who needs to hear this is Zechariah.
(That’s why the angel appeared first to Zechariah and not straight to Zerubbabel)
And notice the message he is supposed to render.
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” says the LORD of hosts.”
And we know what he means.
• This project you are working on.
• This difficult project…
• This project that isn’t running as smoothly as you would like…
This project will not be done in your own “might”.
This project will not be done by your own “power”.
This project will only be accomplished “by My Spirit”
Only God can accomplish this great project. – we understand John 15
BUT THROUGH GOD IT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED.
(7) “’What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”‘”
Zerubbabel faced a mountain – it was a figurative mountain.
The mountain was his project, it must have seemed impossible to move.
But God promised this mountain was coming down.
And WHEN this temple will be built,
(That is what God means by “he will bring forth the top stone”)
And as the temple is finished there will be “shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”
NOW WHY GRACE?
Because all will realize that GOD DID THIS by His divine power.
And so when it is built, He will get the glory.
Now, for a moment let’s rest in that truth.
• We face our mountains don’t we?
• We face our impossible missions.
But Jesus has always told us
Where the power to pull down a mountain comes from.
Matthew 17:20 “And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
It doesn’t take strength to move a mountain, what does it take? FAITH
God pulls down mountains by the power of His Spirit.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of the Spirit of God,
He is the One who makes impossible missions possible.
AND THIS IS A LESSON WE HAD ALL BETTER LEARN.
• You can’t be the spouse you need to be by your own power…
• You can’t be the parent you need to be by your own power…
• You can’t be the employee you need to be by your own power…
• You can’t be the Christian you need to be by your own power…
Everything must be done in the power of God’s Spirit.
That is what Jesus meant in John 15 when He told us to “abide in Him”
Saying “apart from Me, you can do nothing.”
And that is what God just told Zechariah to go tell Zerubbabel.
But that is not all that God has to say.
(8-9) “Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.”
This part of the message was not for Zerubbabel, this was for Zechariah.
It is apparent that Zechariah, along with his discouragement,
Was having a few doubts.
He was doubting whether or not he had heard God correctly.
REMEMBER these refugees had already stopped building once.
• It was Haggai and Zechariah’s preaching that caused them to start again.
Ezra 5:1-2 “When the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them, then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them supporting them.”
Zechariah was largely responsible for spearheading this project.
When things are hard who do you suppose they questioned?
When they hit snags who do you suppose they looked cross-eyed at?
IT IS THE PAIN OF LEADERSHIP.
• People will follow a leader, but you had better know he is also the very first person they’ll blame when things get tough.
Don’t think for a second that Zechariah wasn’t carrying a huge burden.
His life and reputation and ministry
Depended on the success of this project.
And what if…he had not heard God correctly?
I promise you at times Zechariah questioned the whole situation.
That is easy to do.
• When you hear from God and you move forward
• And then it seems like nothing is going according to plan,
• You can sure wonder if you really heard from God or not.
And so God has a little confirmation for him.
“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.”
You may remember when God called Moses to go back to Pharaoh and lead his people out, Moses was a little apprehensive.
God had proof for him.
Exodus 3:12 “And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”
It was a confirmation after the fact.
That is the same type of thing God does here for Zechariah.
I am the one speaking to you.
You just trust Me, and when it is done, you’ll know it was me.
That is what God is doing for Zechariah.
And yet God has one more thing to tell him.
(10) “For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel — these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.”
And here we find another reason Zechariah was a little discouraged.
He was preaching to get the temple rebuilt,
But not only was their opposition from outside Israel,
But there was also scorn from within Israel.
In fact Ezra tells us that the people alive now who had seen Solomon’s temple
Were weeping over had pathetic this one was.
Ezra 3:12 “Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,”
Haggai also recognized their scorn.
Haggai 2:1-9 “On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet saying, “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying, ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? ‘But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’ “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘ Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.”
Haggai heard their scorn as well, but promised this temple would have more glory than Solomon’s. It did too – Jesus would preach in this temple.
But that is the scorn Zechariah has faced.
To many of the people this was “the day of small things”
And so even the negative and skeptics inside Jerusalem
Were discouraging this mission.
And it is apparent that their mocking had gotten to Zechariah too.
He was listening to the grumblers who mocked his mission.
But God said, “For who has despised the day of small things?”
That is to say, “Who do they think they are?”
Furthermore, “Why does their opinion matter?”
They may despise this mission, “But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel – these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.”
God tells Zechariah that there may be some
Who despise what you are doing, but not God, He is glad.
And really, if God is pleased with the mission
Does it matter what anyone else thinks?
And that is the Divine reminder that God gives here to Zechariah.
Zechariah was discouraged because he didn’t know how this mission would ever be accomplished, God said it will be by My Spirit.
Zechariah was discouraged because he wasn’t sure he had heard God correctly, God said, when the mission is accomplished you’ll know for sure.
Zechariah was discouraged because there were some who opposed his mission, God said, don’t fret them, this mission makes me glad.
YOU MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN, BUT GOD REMEMBERS
God can do it. God will do it. And God will be pleased with it.
A Discouraged Prophet, A Difficult Vision, A Divine Reminder
#4 A DIRECT EXPLANATION
Zechariah 4:11-14
Zechariah still hasn’t forgotten about those two trees.
Now, the angel did answer, Zechariah just didn’t understand the answer.
(11) “Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?”
But apparently the Angel thinks he should know by now
And doesn’t answer.
(12) “And I answered the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?”
Again he asks, who are these branches that carry the oil?
And the angel almost seems surprised that he doesn’t know still.
(13) “So he answered me, saying, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
It’s almost like the angel said, “You still don’t know?”
(14) “Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.”
These two branches that let oil flow through them to the bowl that supplies the candle, these are the “two anointed ones”
These are two selected, spirit-filled men that God has chosen.
They are also faithful men for they “are standing by the Lord”
They are Zerubbabel and Joshua.
They are men that God has filled with His Spirit.
They are men that are faithful to God to fulfill His word.
And here then is the point.
• You have a lamp that must shine, but in order to do so it needs oil.
• You have a source of oil in the tree,
• But notice that the oil is flowing through these two branches, namely
Zerubbabel and Joshua.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
God is accomplishing His purpose, by His Spirit,
But He is doing it through His people.
The fact we are reminded of?
God uses His people.
His people can’t do it on their own,
Their own power and strength won’t cut it.
But when God’s people are filled with God’s Spirit and are faithful to God, He can move mountains through them.
SO…
• God has remembered His people
• God has remembered His promises
• God has remembered His city and His temple
And God is working to accomplish it.
The real point?
You need to remember.
• Remember that God is faithful, don’t get discouraged
• Remember that God is faithful, don’t be put off by difficulty
• Remember that God is faithful, don’t think you walk alone
• Remember that God is faithful, and thus abide in Him
He knows what He is doing in your life
Even if the circumstances you are in have caused you to question that,
And He is faithful to do what He says.
Now after reading all of this, let me ask you:
Who was rebuilding this temple?
God was – He was doing it behind the scenes by His Spirit.
(Don’t you love when you see God move like this!!!)
1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
