Zechariah - Talk 1

‘The Prophet and the day of small things’

Introduction
Time
520BC – mightn’t jump straight to mind as being a postcard moment in your life, so let’s go back a bit. In around 1000 BC the Great King David’s Son Solomon, built the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, and it was massive and impressive and you can read about it and its dedication in 1 kings 7 and 8.

But it all went down hill from there for Israel, because when Solomon died two of his sons fought over the throne and the Kingdom was split into two regions. Jeroboam became king over the northern kingdom of ten tribes called Israel and Rehoboam became king over two tribes in the south called Judah.

In 722 BC the Northern Kingdom was invaded by Assyria. Assyria was in turn invaded by Babylon, and some 150 years later in 586 BC the Southern Kingdom of Judah fell to them and people were taken as captives to Babylon. In time Babylon fell to Persia.

According to the prophetic messages of the Old Testament and particularly of Jeremiah, God would take his refugees to resettle back from Babylon to Jerusalem, the promised land. And this happened in about 538 BC

Zechariah’s message is dated at 520 BC 18 years after the return, and two months after the prophet Haggai had started his ministry. In short, the refugees are back, but they are struggling.

Place - Well the place is Jerusalem mark two with the refugees from Babylon. But the particular focus of the book of Zechariah is the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. The story behind Zechariah is the story of the Temple.

People
Zechariah - is the prophet to whom God spoke. His name means Yahweh remembers. He authenticity as a prophet of God is shown in his prediction of Zerubbabel finishing the temple, which we will see in chapter 4.
Darius – Is the Persian King who wants the temple of God to be rebuilt and his family to be prayed for. He is the historic yardstick we can work out the timing of events from.
Zerubbabel – Is sent to be the governor of the new Jerusalem region called Yehud. He brings some expectation with him because he is a descendent of King David.

Joshua – Is a priest who figures prominently as part of God’s purposes, but mostly in chapter 3 which we don’t have time to look at, but he also appears as part of a prophecy that we will see in chapter 4.

Yahweh of Hosts or the Lord Almighty – God’s name, which is translated Almighty in the NIV, can also be translated ‘hosts’ in other English versions, has great significance for the presentation of God in the book. Hosts is a term referring to a military commander, the General of the Ranks, the commander. The Expression ‘the Lord of Hosts’ appears some repeatedly in the verses of Zechariah. God is the warrior who will ensure the cause of the people.

The book itself
Consciously sees itself as prophecy, It is 14 chapters long and divided under three headings specified by time markers relating to Darius
Intro section is from 1:1-6
2nd Section is from 1:7 to the beginning of Chapter 7 and includes 8 visions that come to Zechariah from the Lord with the help of a messenger or angel
3rd Section begins at 7:1 and includes two oracles of God

The main theme of the introduction section of 1:1-6, which is in fact something of a main theme for the entire book of Zechariah is;

The time of judgment is over, are you ready for the celebration to begin?

Zechariah 1:1-6
In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2 "The LORD was very angry with your forefathers.
3 Therefore tell the people:
This is what the LORD Almighty says:
'Return to me,'
declares the LORD Almighty,
'and I will return to you,'
says the LORD Almighty.
4 Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed:
This is what the LORD Almighty says:
'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.
'But they would not listen or pay attention to me,
declares the LORD.
5 Where are your forefathers now?
And the prophets, do they live forever?
6 But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers?
"Then they repented and said,
'The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.'"

In chapter 1 God calls for his people to be ready for his return. Zechariah is to proclaim the prophetic word of the Lord to encourage the people, that they have been returned by God from their exile in Babylon, and now they are to get ready for God’s presence amongst them.

The time of God’s judgment is over as 1:12 conveys, the 70 years has passed and this ending of judgment is the grounds, for the Israel’s new confidence that God really will return. As surely as God was faithful to his word in judging Israel, he will be faithful to his word in his return.

Now, Verse 3 can make God’s return sound like a conditional promise in the way it is translated, 'Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty.

But this probably doesn’t quite capture the certainty of God’s return that is seen throughout the rest of Zechariah’s message, such as 1:16
Zechariah 1:16 "Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,' declares the LORD Almighty.

The idea is clear that God’s coming is immanent, so be ready!

God had physically brought them to place where they could meet with him, so in a real sense they had ‘returned’ to God, but we learn that they hadn’t returned wholeheartedly. What the prophets Zechariah and Haggai as well as Ezra tell us, is that the people struggled to get on with living in a way, that was right before God.

We learn that there were two things in particular they struggled with: Firstly, the building of the temple (which we will look at in a moment when we discuss chapter 4) and, Secondly, there was an issue of intermarriage with unbelieving peoples who lived in the land.

The people had be returned to the land and were on the verge of a great act of God towards them, but they suffered from both Doubt and Compromise.

In Zechariah’s day God had drawn near and the people needed to ready themselves for his immanent arrival at the temple. God wants his arrival to be a day of celebration and not a day of judgment like last time.
They appeared to be where they were supposed to be, but they were in danger of not being wholehearted in their relationship with God ( as we see from the discussion of sacrifices).

So what does Zechariah’s message to the returned exiles mean to us today?
Two Things: Be Glad and Be Ready!
Be Glad!
The time of judgment had passed for the people returned from Babylon and the time to get ready for the impending celebration had begun. The specter of judgment had passed for them and so they could celebrate.

How much more can we celebrate and be glad, and prepare for the celebration with God to come, because our judgment, the ultimate judgment of God has also passed.
How much more is this true for us because of God’s promises – Rom 5:8 Gospel

Romans 5:5-8 God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Be Ready!
Zechariah’s message to the returned people was, Don’t be overwhelmed by the events of this world, even in some of the extremely hard situations, God the Lord of Hosts is in control and trustworthy.

Zechariah reminds them that they are on the edge of something special, don’t get complacent or anxious now!! A complacency or anxiety that would inhibit you from doing the Lord’s work and preparing the way for him to return.

Or as Paul would put it, The night is nearly over and a new day has dawned!
Romans 13:11-14 The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. .. 14 .. clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

So Be Glad and Trust God’s word of promise judgment has been dealt with and Be Ready because the time of celebration is here!

Well, for Zechariah and his hearers the judgment is over and the celebration is to begin, but well the celebrations aren’t exactly millions of dollars of fireworks or even an APEC conference, they are in fact they are pretty uninspiring indeed.

Ezra 3:8-13 .. 10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.


God is not ashamed to have ‘small things’ bearing his name!

4:6 So he said to me,
"This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:
'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,'
says the LORD Almighty.
7 "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of
'God bless it! God bless it!'"
8 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
9 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it.
Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.
10 "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

Clearly the heart of this passage is seeing that God will achieve his goal of dwelling with his people in the reconstructed temple in Jerusalem. Zerubbabel is the divinely appointed agent of God’s decree, but the Spirit of God is the source of the decree’s power. The temple will be completed for the return of God as guaranteed by God’s own spirit. It will be a great day of celebration for both God and his people.

Spirit/flesh
It seems to me that Some Christians today can feel that for something to be done by the Spirit of God, means it is the opposite of works of human hands. The spirit works in a direct and miraculous way that bypasses ‘natural’ means. And certainly in Paul’s writings we see that there is a proper place for talking about the spirit and the flesh being in opposition to each other.

But this isn’t the only way that spirit and the flesh interact in the Bible, our bodies are not totally evil, but they are totally fallen. What I mean is, our natural born inclinations are to oppose God, but the body is still able to be renewed and used by God. Just like the rest of creation, which is also fallen, God used it to provide rain and food.

God has determined that by the power of his spirit, we can serve his means, in the physical bodies he has given us. God is not ashamed to use the small things of this world to represent him and carry out his purposes.

If the body was fit enough for the Lord Jesus to use it to reveal very God himself, then our renewed bodies are fit to serve God in the power of his Spirit.

SO! What about the vision of the lampstand? What’s that all about? Well as I said earlier there are eight visions in Zechariah, and they all have their little difficulties for us to understand. The main thing with these visions is to not get too hung up on the details and the general sense of them is clear.

So quickly, for my two cents, what do I think the vision of the lampstand is about?
The lamp is a ‘menorah’ which is a Jewish lampstand found in the temple, and in this vision it seems to represent the presence of God in his temple, God really will return!
The two anointed ones in verse 14 that are the olive trees in the vision, it seems are most likely to be Joshua the high priest we read about in chapter 3, and Zerubbabel the governor who is from the line of David. God really will use these two men and the works of their hands to establish his presence in his temple amongst his people.

God really will use these people and the works of their hands, but make no mistake, primarily and decisively this work is a great spiritual work of God, ‘not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says the Lord.’

In spite of great political opposition, In spite of the complacency of the people, God will do a great work and Zerubbabel will complete the temple. God is not ashamed to use ‘small things’ to bear his name, whether a governor of a small back water, a small temple or a small and troubled people. God can and will, and indeed is pleased, to use them all.

So let me ask, What is it you despise?
What small things about the Christian faith you deem to be beneath God?

Does the unimpressiveness of it all get to you enough, that you sometimes feel like giving up on it all? Let’s face it, it really can be unimpressive at times can’t it.
It’s pretty easy to despise the small things of Christianity, lets face it, there are lots of things about the church and its’ people that can drive us a little insane and look silly by the worlds standards.

I mean look at our church building, it is hardly an ode to great 20th C architecture!

I mean our church doesn’t even have a television show, and the churches that do have a TV show produce such uninteresting content even I’m not impressed and I’m a Christian!

But of all the small things that seem so unfit for God to be associated with, surely its easy to despise ourselves most. WE all know how week and feeble our bodies can be. Who else knows the depths of our hard and stubborn hearts, who else knows the pettiness and hostility we all store up inside.

Well God does. God knows and he knows enough that he sent his son to heal the sick, not the healthy. We may feel inadequate and unimportant by any of the worlds standards, or even our own standards, but by the grace of God, we are loved and forgiven. We may often be ashamed of ourselves, but God is not ashamed to use us, as broken as we are this side of heaven, but as saved as we are this side of the cross. We are part of the kingdom of God that is being revealed.

God is not ashamed to use the small things of the Christian faith, the unwise by the worlds standards, and we see it most clearly in the Bible in 3 ways.
The Small Messiah:
Zechariah 9:9 9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The king of the World coming into his kingdom on public transport!

The Small Gospel Message:
1 Corinthians 1:17 - 2:13 ..18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." .. Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 26

How can God’s death be a message of wisdom, much less God’s death like a pitiful, penniless thief upon a cross? How can this message be the power of God?

Romans 1:16 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.


The Small Christian People:
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." .. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

God is at work in his work through small things, broken things like you and me, who he is not ashamed to call us his children. God has given us the small things of a gospel message, about a small thing of a crucified messiah, to achieve the salvation of many, indeed to the ends of the earth.

As surely as God’s word of return to Israel was shown to be true when Zerubbabel laid the capstone, God’s promise of salvation will be shown to be true. Don’t loose heart now, and don’t get distracted from serving God now. Because
..it is not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord.