Let's take our Bibles and turn
back with me to the book of Zechariah 1. And what I'd like to do in
the conclusion of this chapter is to pick up where we left off
concerning the comfort of God's people as they realize now that
in this world, The Lord is with us. The Lord is going to feed His
people with the gospel. And they hear it. They faithfully
hear it. They've got to hear it. They've
got to be told of His mercy and grace to them again. He's in
the midst. He sends preachers. And here's
the third word of comfort. beginning in verse 12, we have
an interceding Savior. Verse 12 says, Then the angel
of the Lord answered, that is, the angel of the covenant, he
that is in the midst of the myrtle trees, answered and said, O Lord
of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and
on the cities of Judah? against which thou hast had indignation
these threescore and ten years." Seventy years. The nation of
Israel was in Babylon. And here Jeremiah sees, by the
inspiration of God's Spirit, the Lord Himself interceding. Here we see the omnipresent Christ
who is on earth, in the midst of his people, and in heaven,
pleading before God's throne. Here is our great high priest,
he who ever liveth to make intercession for us, truly the angel of the
covenant. He pleads for mercy that is absolutely
given for His name's sake. And He prays for His people,
Jerusalem, Judah. He prays not for the world, but
for those that the Father had given Him out of the world. That's
what our Lord said in His high priestly prayer, John 17.9. I
pray not for the world. I pray for those who have given
me. Interceding for them. Oh, my brethren, we have not
only an interceding Savior, we have also, fourthly, a merciful
and gracious God that answers. This amazing thing. Here is the
God-man mediator praying to Jehovah God. God Himself. God interceding with God on behalf
of God's people. Here's the Lord Jesus, our elder
brother, one with us in nature. God. Man. He who earned the right as man
by His obedience to plead His own merit as man, and God Almighty
hears him. Now here's the comfort. In the
midst of what we're going through, let me tell you something. Our
Lord ever liveth to make intercession for us, pleading Him, His merit
on our behalf. And here's what Almighty God,
verses 13 and 14 says, Jehovah Himself answered the
angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
So the angel that communed with me said unto me, cry thou saying,
thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and
for Zion with a great jealousy." Here's Jeremiah, and he sees
prophetically, he sees the Lord interceding And he hears what
the Lord says, the Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. He hears
Him interceding before God, His Father. And then the Lord of
glory, who has a word from God, good and comfortable words, and
then the Lord of glory Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, says,
this is what God said. You cry and say, thus saith the
Lord of hosts, I'm jealous for Jerusalem, for Zion, with a great jealousy. Jeremiah 29, 10, 11. Let me read you this. Here's
these words. Here's the good and comfortable
words to those who are captive. You can read it. Jeremiah 29,
10, 11. For thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished
at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward
you in causing you to return to this place. For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, sayeth the Lord, thoughts
of peace and not evil, to give you an expected end." Saints
of God, our Lord knows. He's aware. He's in our midst. He sends preachers to tell us
what He has to say. And He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. And His intercession is always
heard. And God Almighty always answers
with good and comfortable words for His sake, for Christ's sake,
to His people. Soon He's going to come back.
He's going to come back in the clouds with power and great glory.
And when these things come to pass, look up. Lift up your head, your redemption.
Draweth nigh. Good words. Comfortable words.
This is what He said. I'm jealous for you. I'm jealous
for you. Holy jealousy. My affection for
you. Our Lord expressed it this way
in the Song of Solomon. You've ravished me with one of
your eyes. I love you. You're mine. You've stolen my heart. Oh, what
comfort here in the midst of all that's going on around us.
And here's the tender love and affection expressed by Jehovah
for His people. And the Lord of glory It sets
forth that God Almighty is jealous right now. He's always been jealous
for His people. He's always desired their love. He's going to have it. He's not
going to allow her to eternally go astray. He's not going to
allow her to perish. He's not going to allow her enemies
to destroy her. Why? He's jealous for her. Going
to watch over her. And if he chastens his people
because of their just deserving, if he chastens his people because
of their disobedience, if he chooses to use the hand of her
enemy and to spew out on her chastisement. If Almighty God
is pleased to use whatever means He's pleased to use, He's going
to do it for her good and for His glory, and then He's going
to judge those that He used. How dare you put your hand on
my neck? God Almighty put His people in
Egypt. And He left them there over 400
years. And He taught them. And He kept
them. And He preserved them. And He
increased them. And when God was pleased to take
them out of Egypt, He sent a preacher. And that preacher went to Pharaoh
and said just what God has to say. And that Pharaoh stood in
rebellion against God, and God told Moses, I hardened his heart. Now you go back and tell him
I said this, and he's not going to believe you. And I'm going
to use him. For this reason I raised you
up, that I might make known my power. And when God was pleased,
God took them out. God used those Egyptians and
used them to bring His people to Himself. And he brought them
out of Egypt. And he brought them to the Red
Sea. And God caused Pharaoh's heart to be hardened against
God's people. And Pharaoh went after them.
And God sent him. God sent him. And then God opened
up the Red Sea. and caused his people, as he
calls them, mighty wind to blow on the bottom of that Red Sea
and dried it out. And they walked across on dry
ground. And God sent the Egyptians to
go after them. And then when Almighty God got
all of them across the other side, those Egyptians went in
there. And Almighty God said, How dare
you! He touched my people. How dare
you speak against my people?" And he closed up the Red Sea
on them and swallowed them up. Listen to Jeremiah chapter 30.
Jeremiah 30 and verse 16. Tell me if that's not exactly
what God is saying right here. Jeremiah 30 verse 16. Therefore,
all they that devour thee shall be devoured, and all thy adversaries,
every one of them, shall go into captivity. And they that spoil
thee shall be a spoil. And all they that pray upon thee
will I give for a prey." Almighty God will use whatever means He
is pleased for the good of His people. To cause His people to
come to a knowledge of themselves and to need Him. And to call
on Him. Rebels against God may be the
means of God's chastisement toward His own, but I'm telling you
the truth, they're going to smart for it. You touch not mine anointed. You do my prophets no harm. You'll be of good cheer. God
Almighty is jealous for His people. That's what the Lord told Jeremiah.
He said, you tell my people. God's jealous for you. Here's
the proof of it. Verse 15-17, For I am very sore
displeased with the heathen that are at ease. For I was but a
little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore,
thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My
house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of Hosts. And a line
shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem, the line, the standard,
the straightness of the gospel of Christ Himself. Cry, yet saying,
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, My cities through prosperity
shall yet be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion
and shall yet choose Jerusalem. The Lord may allow us to think
that He's forgotten, but He hasn't. He hasn't. These things that
we're going through right now, let me tell you something. These
are God's means. It's the Lord. Let Him do that
which seemeth good to Him. Our Lord and our God. He is absolutely perfect. You know that. In His hand of
help. In the hour of His people's need.
And then the Spirit of God revealed to Zechariah the last of the
comforts. Just think, oh Lord, how thankful
I am. Lord, is this what's really going
on? Yeah. Yeah. In all the midst of chaos, Lord,
You're here. That's right. Lord, do you ever
send preachers to preach the gospel? The gospel which is the
power of God unto salvation? Yes. Lord, do you ever intercede
for your people? Yes. And the Father always hears
you? Yes. And what does the Father say?
He said, I've got good words and comforting words for you.
I'm jealous of you. I'm not going to leave you. You're
not going anywhere. You're not going to perish. Verse 18. Then lifted I up mine
eyes, and I saw and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel
that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These
are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the Lord showed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these
to do? And he spake, saying, These are
the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift
up his head. But these have come, these carpenters
he's talking about, these have come to fray them, to frighten
them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles which lifted up
their horn over the land of Judah, to scatter it. Here he's proving.
What he's saying is this. I will use whatever means I'm
pleased to use. to cause my people to see their
need of me." Now, the Lord, in closing here, is giving these
comfortable words, good words. And He's prepared the prophet
to understand what God Almighty is doing for His people right
now. This is not in the time of Zechariah.
This is right now. What are these? What are these
horns? These, verse 19, are the horns. These are the horns. And every
time you find in Scripture, now let me say this almost every
time, horns always speaks of power. Power. But in this sense
right here, they're taken in an evil sense. How do you know? It says, well, verse 19, these
are the horns which have scattered Judah. First part of verse 21,
"...then said I, what come these to do? He spake, These are the
horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his
head." Oppression. Oppression. Oppression. What
are these horns? What are these? What are these?
These horns, in an evil sense, speak of pride and strength. The strength of pride against
God's people. Psalm 75, 4 and 5, I said unto
the fools, deal not foolishly to the wicked. Lift not up the
horn. Lift not up your horn on high. Speak not with a stiff neck.
These horns of arrogance and pride and resentment before God
Almighty, these horns, that God uses, that God sends to cause
His people to see their need of Him. These horns represent
anything that God is pleased to use. Remember this, whatever
comes our way in pride and arrogance against God's people, God sent
it. God sent it. He worked it. All things after the counsel
of His own will. What are these? These horns that
have scattered Judah and Israel and Jerusalem. I was talking
a while ago about Egypt, when Egypt oppressed God's people. Horns. Horns. But what happened? Well, in that
latter part, he said, I saw some carpenters Carpenters. Verse 20. The Lord showed me
four carpenters. There were four horns of arrogance
and pride and resentment, but four healers. Healers. Constructors. Carpenters. Workmen. Tradesmen. Four carpenters. What are these?
Well, these are the horns that scattered Judah. But these, latter
part of verse 21, but these are come to fray them, cast out the
horns of the Gentiles. Whenever God sent the horn of
oppression of Egypt, or Babylon, or sickness, or whatever, whatever
the horn, four of them, always on four sides, always around. But every time that God sends
a horn to cause His people To find their need, seek their need
of Him, God sends a carpenter to fray them, to frighten them. The Lord, whenever He sent the
horn of oppression in Egypt, the Lord raised up the carpenters
of water to blood, lice, frogs, darkness, hail, death of the
firstborn in Egypt, when Elijah, was there and Almighty God allowed
the horn of Ahab and Jezebel. God sent that horn. But what
did God do? God raised up the carpenter of
a raven. He gave him bread as a brook. Here, drink. Almighty God protected
and kept the horns of sin and self and Satan in this world.
They all oppose God's elect. They're all going to be that
which God Almighty is pleased to send to oppress God's people
for their good, for their good, for their good. I need that.
I need that. And Lord, You sent it for my
good. Lord, help me to remember that.
But whenever God sends a horn, Almighty God is going to send
a carpenter. Almighty God. Oh, the precious carpenter of
His grace and mercy to His people. The carpenter of the gospel.
The carpenter of hearing that blessed truth preached. The Lord raises up at His appointed
time carpenters of mercy. But I want you to notice in closing,
Zechariah didn't even see the carpenters until after he saw
the horns. He saw the problem first. God sent the horns. But the Lord said, this is for
your good. But I'm going to take care of you. I'll send the carpenters. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. But the Lord delivereth him out of them all. What's going
to come my way? Whatever God sends. What's going
to happen? God's going to use it for my
good and His glory. And then God is going to deliver
me out of it. He is not going to let me perish. Whatever is
sent by the Lord for the restoration, the healing, the comfort of God's
sheep, whatever is sent, no matter what, no matter what, whatever
is the means to draw me to Him is a horn. And God's going to
deal with it. He's going to use it to cause
me to cast myself upon His mercy. And then whatever He uses, He's
going to deal with it with a carpenter. And it's going to be a carpenter
of His good choosing. It's going to be perfect. And
we're going to see His honor. And we're going to see His glory.
Are things out of control? No. Nope. Nope. Things are not out
of control. Almighty God is on His throne.
And He rules. And He reigns. And you know what? I pray He'll teach me that. I
pray He'll teach me that. Lord, help me. You know what?
I could sure settle down if I'd listen. Listen to what God has
to say. Has He ever forsaken His people?
You know better than that. Lord, these horns of oppression,
they're Your horns. And Lord, You that sent the horns,
sends the carpenters also. Lord, teach me this for Christ's
sake.