Zechariah (6)

Here is another installment of our small group study in Zechariah. Are you participating in the rebuilding and restoration of the Temple?

Our text is Zechariah Chapter 6.

This chapter is the conclusion of Zechariah’s series of visions which began in 1:7 (remember there were no chapters or verses in the original OT and NT documents).

After reading Chapter 6, please review the material in 1:7 – 5:11 and do your best to identify similarities between that material and Chapter 6.

What do you see that is interconnected?

What appear to be the main themes in 1:7 – 6:15?

What do these themes have to do with Jesus Christ?

How is God revealing Himself in these passages?

How might God’s revelation (self-disclosure) of Himself influence the way we live?

Influence our priorities (what’s important to us, what we invest ourselves in)?

Note how the vision begins (1:8) and how its conclusion is introduced (6:1).

Note the correspondence between 3:8 – 10 and 6:11 – 13.

Note 4:9 and 6:13. In 4:9 the focus is on Zerubbabel (of Judah), the head of civic authority completing the rebuilding of the Temple. In 6:13 the focus is on Joshua (of Levi) the high priest completing the Temple. But notice this comment in 6:13, “…Thus he will be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” (Translations might differ, but this should be close to what all translations say).

This is a picture of the offices of ruler and priest being combined in one person. Notice that the image of the Branch is back in 6:12 (remember 3:8). What we have here is an image of the Messiah in whom we find our King (ruler) and our Hight Priest. All Scripture points to Jesus Christ, again and again and again.

What happens on earth is a reflection of what is happening in the heavens. The rebuilding of the earthy Temple gives us a picture of what the rebuilding of the heavenly Temple on earth looks like. In the OT the high priest did not wear a crown (symbolizing ruling authority), but here we have an exception and the exception is prophetic, it is an image of the Messiah, who is Priest and King – it is a vision of unseen reality in Jesus Christ.

Think about our study of Hebrews and the prominence given to Melchizedek. Take a look at Hebrews 7:1, “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High…” Here we see the merging of King and Priest in one person, who is an image of the Person of the Messiah (remember the importance of Psalm 110 in the book of Hebrews).

I hope we see the interconnectedness of the Bible, the flow and interchange of the Holy Spirit throughout the Scriptures. This mighty Mississippi has many tributaries; the headwaters of this mighty River flow from the Throne of God and the River leads us to Jesus Christ (Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:15).

The rebuilding of the Temple is all about Jesus Christ – and it is about us living in Him and Him living us - all to His glory.

How are we seeing Jesus Christ in the book of Zechariah? This is really the main question…this is always the main question. And how are we responding, in obedience, to what we see of Christ? This is pretty much always the second question linked to the first question.

Pondering Proverbs 10:3

“Yahweh will not allow the soul of the righteous to hunger, but He will reject the craving of the wicked.” Proverbs 10:3

Our economy is based on craving and would collapse without it. We are conditioned to crave. We condition our children to crave. Many of our churches are conditioned to crave. We want more, then more, then more. We think that if we have just a little more that we’ll be satisfied, but of course that is a mirage.

The more our souls consume of the things and values of this world the more they crave – we are obese with poison. God rejects these cravings. Yes, He will “give us up” to them, He will allow us to consume what we crave and to be turned into those very cravings – we will become what we crave and worship. That is a hideous picture, but it is beautiful to those who crave it – yet a Day will come when that beauty will turn to dust, when the hideousness of our idols will be revealed for all to see.

The word we see the most in the Bible for these cravings is “lust” – and lust is styled as idolatry. We may not have idols in the sense that the ancient world had them, ours are more sophisticated – our images tend to be those which have been marketed to us. We open our wallets and pay homage to the idols. We open our minds and hearts and invite the idols to live within us. We raise our children as offerings to the idols.

And as for our children, like fools we then boast about what good jobs we have done in raising them in the image of the idols…conforming our children to the values and desires of the idols of wealth, prosperity, influence, fame, materialism, and pleasure.

The cravings of the wicked are never satisfied. We were not created to desire these cravings. We were not created to be conformed to them. We were not created to be their dwelling places. We consume them and they consume us.

Yet the soul of the righteous will not hunger. Now here is a healthy tension. While it will not hunger it will hunger, for our Lord Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” So we hunger but we don’t hunger. Those who have tasted that Christ is good want more of Him, and the more we have of Him the more we want.

Yet again, in the Incarnate Son of God we see that His food is to do His Father’s will (John 4:31 – 34). And who is the Righteous but our Lord Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ says, “My soul has become troubled…” (John 12:27). “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38).

When we are one with Jesus Christ we are one with the Righteous One and we participate in the Incarnation. Christ lives in us and we live in Christ; He lives out His pilgrimage in us and we live out our pilgrimage in Him.

The Father will not allow the soul of the Righteous One to hunger. We hunger for our Lord Jesus and in Him we find rest and food, the Bread of Life and Living Water. We hunger for more, we hunger to see Him more clearly. We hunger to taste the Bread of Life more deeply, for our palates to become more sensitive to Him, to enjoy and discern the taste of our Lord Jesus, the true Manna from heaven.

The fact that our souls hunger speaks to us of Someone greater than we are. The fact that we have desires to fulfill speaks to us of the transcendent, of that which is greater than ourselves. Our bodies hunger because they need food. Our souls hunger because they need their own food. The question for us is which table we choose to eat at – if we eat at the table of the Wicked we will never be satisfied.

If we eat at the Table which our Good Shepherd has prepared for us, if we partake of His body and His blood – of His life – we will know the joy of tasting that the Lord is good, we will know the satisfaction of living in the deep love and grace and mercy of the True and Living God.

No matter what our circumstance, our kind and gracious heavenly Father desires to feed our souls; He gives us His Son Jesus Christ and in Christ we will never hunger without being fed.

Zechariah (5)

Here's the next installment on Zechariah. 

Our text is Zechariah Chapter 5 – more visions!

Definition: an ephah is about a bushel, or a cubic foot – so we can think in terms of a bushel basket and not be too far off.

In 5:1 – 4 is a vision of judgment on those who “swear falsely” by “My Name”. As with many images in Zechariah the image of a scroll is found elsewhere in the Bible: Revelation 10:1 – 11; Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:3; Revelation 5:1 – 2.

I think there is a sense in which the “whole land” in Zechariah 5:3 is likely the land of Judah/Israel rather than necessarily the “whole earth” in a global sense. I think this because of the emphasis on swearing falsely by the Name of the Lord – that seems to narrow it down to those who are aware of the God of Israel and His Law and Covenant. It also is in line with God holding His Covenant People (whether that is Israel or later the Church) accountable.

Peter makes the point (1 Peter 5:17) that “judgement begins with the household of God”. And of course in Revelation chapters 2 – 3, Jesus holds the Seven Churches accountable and speaks judgement to five of the seven – God does hold us accountable – if we pollute His Temple, His Church, we will be judged. God’s Temple is not some kind of religious frat house. 

The land of Shinar is the land of Babylon; we see Babylon, Babel, Shinar throughout the Bible, beginning in Genesis 10:10 and 11:1 – 9 and culminating in Revelation 14:8, and Revelation chapters 17 and 18. Babylon, as portrayed in the Bible, is much more than a city or a land or a nation – it is a religious (Revelation 17) and economic (Revelation 18) system that prostitutes itself that is found in generation after generation and which Christ will destroy. It seduces God’s people, it deceives the nations, and as it is styled in Zechariah 5:8, it is “Wickedness”.

In Zechariah Chapter 5 and in Revelation Chapter 17 we see a woman associated with Babylon. Please read Revelation 17 – how is the “woman” characterized?

Why might a woman be used to characterize Babylon and not a man?

If you go to Bible Gateway or use a concordance you’ll see Babylon mentioned a number of times in the Bible – it really is a major Biblical thread. In one sense we can think of Babylon as a Satanic system that is the opposite of the Church. The Church is the Bride of Christ, Babylon is the Great Whore of Satan. The Church is called to be monogamous with Christ, Babylon’s goal is to have us prostitute ourselves. When we do prostitute ourselves we are unfaithful to our Husband, Jesus Christ.

Babylon is always trying to seduce the Church and to bring it into captivity – this was the case with ancient Israel and Judah and this has been the case with the Church. Remember, the epistles were written, in part, to correct heresy, unfaithfulness, and spiritual prostitution.

Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah…these books were written, in part, to show us what it can be like to leave Babylon and rebuild the City and Temple of God. But note the opposition that God’s people encountered, and note that no sooner had they returned from Babylon that many of them once again were prostituting themselves with the surrounding idolatrous culture. It seems to never end.

Because the dance of Babylon is usually seductive, we often don’t know when we’re falling under its influence…because it appeals to our egos and desire for more, more, more; it appeals to our desire for the easy way as opposed to the Cross of Christ; it makes us think that we’ll feel good if we just go with the flow.

Babylon presents us with many temptations, including economic temptations – just take a look at Revelation Chapter 18 – when money is the arbiter of life, both for the individual and for a nation, we are probably in the arms of Babylon…just saying.

When the professing-church cares more about economics and feeling good than about a pure relationship with Jesus Christ, a sacrificial relationship with Jesus Christ, about its mission to the people of the world…well then…we’re probably in Babylon.

When the professing-church no longer is in submission to the Scriptures, when we are no longer reading and learning and praying and sharing the Scriptures, when we allow the surrounding culture to interpret the Scriptures…then we’re probably in Babylon.

When we make Jesus Christ into our image, when we accommodate Him to the world and to our lusts, our wants, our desires; when we make Jesus our sugar daddy…then we’re probably in Babylon.

And note that in Revelation 17:2, 7 and 16 the Whore has a relationship with governments of the earth but that eventually they will destroy her as wickedness reaches a crescendo. We ought to be careful…very careful…when we see religious leaders and their followers prostituting themselves with centers of political, economic, and military power. Are we citizens of heaven or lackeys of the world?  

Please read Proverbs Chapter 9 – what do you see? How does Proverbs 9 help us think about the Bride of Christ and about Babylon? (You might also want to read the lead-up chapter, Proverbs 8).

Have you experienced Babylon in your life? How? How do you guard against it? How can we help one another guard against it? How can we help our churches guard against it?

Love,

Bob

Cheese to Avoid

In this world of chaos there are no Liberals or Conservatives, no Republicans or Democrats, no Tories or Labour - there are only those who know and follow Jesus Christ and those who don't. Only those who are proclaiming Jesus and those who aren't.

Taking the cheese of identity politics, taking the cheese of any identity other than that of Jesus Christ. springs the trap!

Pondering Proverbs 10:2

“Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.” Proverbs 10:2.

I’m not sure that we believe the above, after all, so much of our society and economy is based on spin and illusion and image and creating dissatisfaction in order to induce people to part with their money. The one thing we can’t possibly have is a society in which people are content with what they have – the economy would collapse. We are slaves to consumerism, slaves to borrowing, slaves to dissatisfaction.

We do not recognize wickedness because we live in it – anymore, I suspect, than a fish recognizes that it lives in the ocean.

Lying is wickedness. Adultery is wickedness. Stealing is wickedness. Sexual promiscuity is wickedness. Rejecting the image of God is wickedness. Traducing the Gospel is wickedness. Trampling the poor and needy, and stranger and foreigner seeking refuge is wickedness – yet we think little of any of this.

We trade morality, ethics, and righteousness for treasure – we justify anything and everything for treasure in the here and now. How foolish. We live in moral and spiritual death and justify it.

Paul writes:

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” Romans 2:6 – 11.

There are those who obey unrighteousness, and then there are those who obey righteousness – seeking for glory and honor and immortality. The former will continue to live in death and the fulness of that death will be manifested as the fulness of tribulation and distress come upon them. The latter will be as the sun, shining brighter and brighter until the fulness of that Perfect Day rises within them and upon them.

The glory we seek is the glory of God and from God. The honor we seek is the honor of God and from God. The immortality and peace we seek is the immortality and peace of God and from God. Righteousness does indeed deliver us from death, both now and forever.

But this is not our inherent righteousness which is in and of ourselves, but rather the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ – for by His righteousness we are justified, and our Father looks at us as if we have never sinned and as if we have always obeyed His Holy Law – but this is not a fiction, in Christ this is a fact – a fact beyond our comprehension, a reality that we cannot fully understand…or perhaps even begin to comprehend. It is also a righteousness that is implanted within us as Christ lives within us, ingrafted within us – for as Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, so in Christ we find ourselves being transformed into the image of the Incarnate Son of God, partaking of the Divine Nature in and through Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:2 – 4). The Incarnation continues in the Body of the Son of God.

The only righteousness that delivers from death is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2).

There is a better Way to live than seeking the treasures of wickedness, a better way to live than by being caught up in the slavery of consumerism, materialism, earthly power, ego, illusionary images, and the like – and that Way is Jesus Christ.

Zechariah (4)

This are the reflections our group is using for our fourth week in Zechariah:

Our text is Zechariah Chapter 4.

The imagery continues! We’re given this imagery, as all imagery in the Bible and in creation, to draw us from earthly to heavenly things; giving us glimpses of the Triune God and His glory. I don’t think we can ponder this imagery and say, “Oh yeah, this is what it means” and simply leave it behind and not think about it again. This isn’t a McDonald’s fast-food meal that we eat and then forget about – it is much like the Eucharist, which we partake of as a way of life. The imagery, the sacrament, isn’t so much something we consume, but rather something that consumes us. It begins a “work” in us and continues that work. We don’t own the “Word” of God, the Word of God owns us.

When we see the number “7” we often see an image of perfection and completeness. In Zechariah 3:8 - 9 we see a Branch and a stone with even eyes. We can relate this image to Isaiah 11:1 – 5 where we see the “branch” of Jesse (King David’s father, and an image of the Christ/Messiah), having the “Spirit of Yahweh” resting on Him – the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and the fear of Yahweh and so forth. Isaiah lived much earlier than Zechariah; we see a continuity in sacramental imagery – this is true of the entire Bible.

In Zechariah 4:10 we see the image of “eyes” which link us back to Zechariah 3:9. We also have the idea of the LORD seeing what is going on throughout the earth which links us to Zechariah 1:10 with horses patrolling/walking through the earth. It is as if we are viewing a collage or looking in a kaleidoscope.

What do we see about the “eyes of the LORD” in the following passages? 2 Chronicles 16:9; Psalm 11:4, 34:15; 66:7; Proverbs 15:13; 22:12. How might an awareness of these passages influence how we live?

 Note the description of Christ’s eyes in Revelation 1:14, 2:18. What is this image communicating to us?

Note Revelation 5:6 and compare with Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10.

Compare Revelation 4:5 with Zechariah 4:2 – 3, 10.

As we move back and forth from Zechariah to Isaiah to Revelation and back to Zechariah we see the interplay of imagery; it is cosmic and it is transcendent. What I mean is that it moves us beyond the veil of the “seen” into the “unseen”, it moves us from our own “time” into the past, into the future, and into the eternal “now” in Christ. This should not surprise us because our lives in Jesus Christ are meant to be supernatural, we are called to be children of another world (John 15:19; 17:14) There are reasons why we are taught “not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed” (Romans 12:1 – 2). Frankly, we have so adapted and conformed ourselves to the world (this present age) that we no longer know who we really are – we often apologize for Jesus Christ and His Way when it is the world that should be apologizing and repenting.

In Zechariah 4:9 God gives the promise that Zerubbabel will complete the Temple. Since Zerubbabel is an image (an earthly reflection of the heavenly reality) of Christ, this image says that Jesus Christ will complete the building of His Temple, which goes back to the promise in Haggai that the latter House will be greater than the former house – the Church-Temple-Body-Bride of Christ will be greater than anything and everything that has gone before it (when we read the NT book of Hebrews this is a theme). Note the progressive image in Ephesians 2:19 – 22; 4:11 – 16; this is hardly a picture of defeat and retreat.

As I look around me I often see professing-Christians in ghetto mode, retreat mode, defeat mode – this is what Satan loves, to see us cowering and looking for ways to escape and be taken away. As Paul writes in Romans 8, “We are more than conquerors.” As John writes in his first letter, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” We are called to be overcomers (Revelation chapters 2 – 3), not those seeking a fire escape to retreat from the fire of conflict and suffering. The same fire that will destroy the wicked will purify the saints.

Which gear are you in? Are you here to overcome in Christ and help others overcome, or are you hunkered down and not taking risks in sharing the Gospel and living for Jesus Christ?

Consider the question of in Zechariah 4:10, “Who has despised the day of small things?” There is an old saying, “Little is much when God is in it.” I seem to be prone to forget that – what about you?

The interpretation of the lampstand is given in Zechariah 4:6 – 7.

In Zechariah 4:7 we see that obstacles as large as mountains will not stand before Zerubbabel. Are there mountains in our lives and in the lives of our churches that we need to see removed?

Finally, I’ve saved Zechariah 4:6 for last, “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the LORD (Yahweh) of hosts (armies).” This reminds me of Psalm 127:1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” How does Psalm 127:1 relate to Zechariah 4:6?

How might Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:6 – 8 and John 15:1 – 11 relate to Zechariah 4:6?

What does the working of the Holy Spirit look like in our lives? In the lives of our churches?

What is the practical-truthful reality in our lives and the lives of our churches? Are we living in the Holy Spirit? Making decisions in the Holy Spirit? Being directed by the Holy Spirit? Being led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14)?

Or are we substituting our own wisdom and understanding and agendas for the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the empowering of the Holy Spirit? Are our churches more like any other earthly organization rather than reflections of the Kingdom of God and heavenly realities in Jesus Christ?

How, by God’s grace, can we close the gap between heaven and earth in our lives and the lives of our churches?

Pondering Proverbs (1)

“A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.” (Proverbs 10:1, ESV.)

In one sense there is only one Wise Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. However, in another sense, those who live in Him, those who are His brothers and sisters, having the same Father (Hebrews 2:10 – 13), partake of Him and His wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; Colossians 2:1 – 3) and are therefore called to be wise sons and daughters. In a third sense, collectively in Christ, the Body of Christ is that Wise Son – for as is the Head so is the Body (as Augustine would say).

So I first think of Jesus Christ; I then ponder my own life and whether Christ is indeed my wisdom; and I further ponder us all together in Christ, the many-membered Son – drawn into the fellowship of the Trinity in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And the “foolish son” and the mother? Might the mother be the Church? It may or may not be – but certainly foolish children are a sorrow to the Church. There is much foolishness in the professing church, there is much wickedness and evil.

Well, at any rate, it is my prayer that my Father might find joy in me as I live in wisdom; not my own wisdom, but in the only source of true Wisdom, the Wisdom of Proverbs Chapter 8, begotten of the Father, True God of True God – Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Note that they are “hidden” – we will not know them unless we know Christ, learn Christ, obey Christ, speak Christ, abide in Christ as Christ abides in us.

I pray that our Father may find delight in all of us…in Jesus Christ.

Seeking the Face of God

This are Augustine’s closing remarks on Psalm 38:

“Depart not from me. Make haste to help me, Lord of my salvation” (ver. 22). This is that very “salvation,” Brethren, concerning which, as the Apostle Peter saith, “Prophets have enquired diligently,” and though they have enquired diligently, yet have not found it. But they searched into it, and foretold of it; while we have come and have found what they sought for. And see, we ourselves too have not as yet received it; and after us shall others also be born, and shall find, what they also shall not receive, and shall pass away, that we may, all of us together, receive the “penny of salvation in the end of the day,” with the Prophets, the Patriarchs, and the Apostles. 

For you know that the hired servants, or labourers, were taken into the vineyard at different times; yet did they all receive their wages on an equal footing. Apostles, then, and Prophets, and Martyrs, and ourselves also, and those who will follow us to the end of the world, it is in the End itself that we are to receive everlasting salvation; that beholding the face of God, and contemplating His Glory, we may praise Him forever, free from imperfection, free from any punishment of iniquity, free from every perversion of sin: praising Him; and no longer longing after Him, but now clinging to Him for whom we used to long to the very end, and in whom we did rejoice, in hope. For we shall be in that City, where God is our Bliss, God is our Light, God is our Bread, God is our Life; whatever good thing of ours there is, at being absent from which we now grieve, we shall find in Him. 

In Him will be that “rest,” which when we “call to remembrance” now, we cannot choose but grieve. For that is the “Sabbath” which we “call to remembrance;” in the recollection of which, so great things have been said already; and so great things ought to be said by us also, and ought never to cease being said by us, not with our lips indeed, but in our heart: for therefore do our lips cease to speak, that we may cry out with our hearts." (Italics mine).

I am reminded of Psalm 27:8, “When You said, Seek My face, my heart said to You, Your face, O Yahweh, I shall seek.”

Also of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Ought we not to pray every morning, “O Father, teach me to seek Your face”? And should we not seek His face in our Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not in Christ that we see the glory of God unveiled?

  

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”, do we realize that God is speaking? Do we see that our hearts are not only cleansed by Christ, but that when we see Christ that we see God? Christ cleanses our hearts so that we might see Him, and in seeing Him we see the Father (John 14:9).

I think of my friend and brother, George Will, who I first met in 1966 and who now is, I think, “with the Lord” for I have not heard from him for about three years and his phone is not in service – when I first met George, Hebrews 12:2 was constantly on his lips, “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith…”; as I spoke to him at varying intervals throughout the years “Looking unto Jesus” continued to be on his lips and in his heart – it was George’s North Star, the center of his life. Ought not “Looking unto Jesus” to be on our lips and in our hearts continually?

Ought we not to be seeking the face of God? Ought we not to be seeing “the glory of God in the face of Christ” throughout our lives? Ought this not to be our daily exercise, our way of living? Seeking the face of Christ in the morning, the afternoon, the evening, through the night?

Christ draws us to Himself, He reveals Himself to us, through all of life – through the Scriptures, through His Body, through creation, through circumstances, through our desires; He is continuing unveiling Himself and drawing us, preparing us for greater and more complete unveilings of Himself…preparing us for the Great and Glorious Day that Augustine writes about when we will behold the face of God in a glory that surpasses all that we can imagine – His face and His glory will overwhelm all of our desires – enveloping us in the glory of the Trinity.

Zechariah (3)

This is our group's third week in Zechariah:

Our text is Zechariah Chapter 3.

You may have noticed the term “the angel of the LORD (Yahweh)” in our reading, I will mention that there are folks who think that this term is used to designate the Second Person of the Trinity, the Preincarnate Christ, in the Old Testament. I’m not going to delve into this but I mention it in case you want to ponder it. However we want to approach this, I do think that we see the Trinitarian mystery of God throughout the Bible – often veiled in the Old Testament and unveiled in the New Testament.

Zechariah 3:1: Compare with Job 1:6 – 12; Revelation 12:10.

3:2: Compare Jude 9

3:4: Compare Isaiah 6:5 – 7; Revelation 3:4 - 5; 6:11; 7:9; 19:7 – 10.

3:8: Compare Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Revelation 5:5; 22:16

3:9: Consider Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; Psalm 118:22 – 24; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11 – 12; Ephesians 2:19 – 22; 1 Peter 2:4 – 8

3:10: Compare Micah 4:4 – a sign of peace and rest.

A look at the above passages should remind us of how expansive the Scriptures are and how consistent their narrative, spanning centuries – and moving from the visible to the invisible. Throughout the prophet Zechariah we see the veil that separates the seen from the unseen (2 Cor. 4:18) pulled back. Can you see a link between Zechariah 3:6 – 7 and Hebrews 12:1 and Hebrews 12:18 – 24?

We are part of a transcendent and universal fellowship in Christ, whether we realize it or not. What we see concerning Joshua the high priest in Zechariah Chapter 3 takes us beyond the visible into the invisible, it takes us beyond the material into the spiritual.

What do our lives look like in terms of the visible and invisible? Are we worshipping God in spirit and in truth? (John 4:23 – 24). Are we “seeing” the invisible (Hebrews 11:27)? Is the Master able to use us in His House as He used Joshua in Zechariah (2 Timothy 2:20 – 21)?

Our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit desire to draw us deep into the Trinity, together in the Trinity – our Lord Jesus prays that we will see His glory (John 17:20 – 26). If we ask our Lord Jesus to open our eyes He will, if we ask Him to teach us to see Him and His glory He will. And note that in John 17, as throughout the Bible – we are in this together – we need not only our Lord, but in Him we need one another. The Bible is a book about one another in Christ. What does this look like in our lives?

In our congregations? Are we truly living as one another people? Churches? (John 13:34 – 35; 15:12 – 17).

In Ephesians 3:10 Paul writes that through the Church God’s wisdom is being manifested to entities in “the heavenly places”. In 1 Cor. 4:9 Paul writes about the apostles being made a spectacle to angels and to men. My point is that the visible and invisible are closer than we think but that we have had our sense of the invisible and spiritual educated out of us. God hasn’t changed. Spiritual realities haven’t changed. But we have changed and have lost our spiritual sight, our spiritual vision. What we’re reading in Zechariah may be foreign to us, but it would not necessarily have been foreign to the people who first read Zechariah’s words, nor to those who continued to read them for centuries afterward.

Let us ask our kind heavenly Father to open our eyes to see Jesus and His glory; to share that glory with one another, to bring others by His grace to know Him.

Charity - Freezing or Burning?

"The freezing of charity is the silence of the heart; the burning of charity is the cry of the heart." St. Augustine in his sermon on Psalm 38.

In this sermon Augustine quotes Jesus in Matthew 24, "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." 

What is my charity like? Is is freezing, chilling not only my own heart but the hearts of others? Or is it burning with desire to serve and bless others? Is my charity warming the lives of others - giving them hope and respite and shelter and safety in a world descending into the frigidity of uncaring selfishness in which "me, and my and mine" is the arbiter of life?

I am reminded of James 4:17, "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin."

Perhaps we have forgotten Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31 - 46, when He says to those on His left, "I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, naked and you didn't clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn't visit me." Have we forgotten that these people were not judged for what they did - but rather for what they didn't do? Their hearts were frozen.

What about the heart of our nation?

The heart of our professing-church?

My heart?

Your heart?

Zechariah (2)

Here's are the reflections our group is using for Zechariah Chapter 2:

Our text is Zechariah Chapter 2.

2:1: This is a continuation of the “word of the LORD (Yahweh)” that begins in 1:7; to get a sense of how this “Word” is ongoing, how it keeps coming, please look at the phrasing in 1:7, 2:1, 4:1, 5:1, 6:1.

2:8: Compare with Psalm 17:8; Deut. 32:10; Acts 9:4

2:11: Compare Matthew 28:19 – 20; Acts 1:7 – 8; 2:1 – 11; Ephesians 2:11 – 3:10; Revelation 5:6 – 10

2:13: Compare with Habakkuk 2:20; Zephaniah 1:7

During our journey through the Minor Prophets we’ve read a lot about God’s judgement on both His people and on the nations. However, we’ve also read a lot about God’s enduring faithfulness to His people – and as Paul makes clear in Ephesians 2:11 – 3:10 (see reading above), God’s Grand Design is to have One People in Jesus Christ – this was (and is) being fulfilled.

Therefore, the promises we find in Zechariah should be particularly encouraging for us because we see that Yahweh, the Covenant God, will not only preserve His People, but that He will ensure that His People in Christ will be victorious.

Look at the joyful promise of Zechariah 2:10; “I am coming” I will dwell in your midst”. Christ has come and He is now living within His Temple, His Church, His People (Ephesians 2:19 – 22). Much of the Upper Room Discourse (John chapters 13 – 17) has to do with the Trinity living within us, the People of God…and with us living in the Trinity.

These promises should be a present reality in our lives and in the lives of our congregations; granted that the reality is unfolding, but nevertheless it is a present reality in our inheritance in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we are called to be a people of joy, of compassion, of encouragement, of faith; a people loving as Jesus loves. Jesus has called us, as He called Joshua and Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah – to particulate with Him in building His Living Temple. As Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” (John 17:18; 20:21).

What does rebuilding the Temple look like in our lives?

Zechariah (1)

My Tuesday group is in Zechariah, here is our first week:

This will be our first week in the prophet Zechariah. Let’s please keep in mind what we’ve read in Ezra and in Haggai (as well as Nehemiah if you’ve read that…it’s never too late!), remembering that all of these books form an integrated whole. Haggai and Zechariah worked together in prophesying and giving direction to Jeshua/Joshua (High Priest), Zerubbabel (civil authority leader), and the remnant of Judah returning to rebuild the Temple and the City.

Zechariah is similar to Daniel in that they both contain lots of images, and in this sense they are both similar to the Apostle John’s Apocalypse (Revelation). In fact, Revelation is pretty much the compilation of imagery found throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis through Malachi. This means that a reader of the Apocalypse who is not familiar with Old Testament imagery and narrative is at a distinct disadvantage.

Zechariah and the Apocalypse defy straight-line thinking and reasoning, they are not linear but rather multi-dimensional (which is really true of the entire Bible). They dance from before time began to after time, as we know it, is concluded. It doesn’t appear as if the Holy Spirit is interested in dumbing things down but rather in raising us up to see things in Christ that we’ve never seen before. As the Church Fathers taught, Christ became as we are so that we might become as He is (see John 17).

When pondering Zechariah it can be a challenge to figure out when a group of visions and experiences start and when they end, we just need to do the best we can and not get caught up in the weeds. For sure it is all connected, both within the book of Zechariah itself and within the Bible as a whole. Let me assure us that “scholars” often don’t agree about these things, and after all, the important thing is to see Christ and to grow in Christ, being transformed into His image…and to bring others to Christ.

So then, the first movement is Zechariah 1:1 – 6. What is God saying? How are the people responding? Remember that Zechariah is prophesying during the same time that Haggai is prophesying (Ezra 5:1; 6:4).

What role does repentance play in our churches today? Do you sense that the American church is grieved over its sin? I’m not speaking of the sins of the world, I’m thinking of the disobedience we see within the professing church.

Or is confession of sin, when we do express it, more perfunctory than anything?

What do we see in 1:7 – 11? I’ll mention that there are times in the Bible when tranquility and silence are a prelude to God’s judgment. (Revelation 8:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). This is one reason why we cannot gauge the times we live in by military success or economic prosperity or other “natural” indicators. God’s ways are not our ways.

1:12 – note the seventy years, a reminder that Zechariah is tied to Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and of course Haggai. Zechariah is part of a larger picture.

1:13 – 14: What is the message given to Zechariah?

1:15 – why is God angry with the nations who He used to judge Jerusalem?

1:16 – 17 – The image of a measuring line is used elsewhere in Scripture; Zechariah 2:1-2; Ezekiel 40:1 – 4 and beyond; Revelation 11:1; 21:15. What does this image of a measuring rod convey to you?

1:18 – 21: What is the image of the horns meant to convey? Why horns? Please find some other examples in the Bible of this image and how it is used. It is a fairly common Biblical image.

What are the four carpenters/craftsmen meant to convey?

If Jerusalem is speaking to us of the people of God, then what can the church learn from Zechariah Chapter One?

What can we learn in terms of warning?

What can we learn in terms of hope?

How should we view the world surrounding the church based on this chapter?

How should we view our calling, our purpose on earth, based on this chapter?