Let us turn again to God's Word
in that portion of Holy Scripture that we read in Zechariah. I'm directing you this morning
to words that we find in chapter 14 and verses 6 and 7. Zechariah 14,
6 and 7 and it shall come to pass in that day that the light
shall not be clear nor dark but it shall be one day which shall
be known to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to
pass that at evening time it shall be light. In Zechariah chapter 14, 6 and
7 A while ago of course we were
looking at those words that we find in the following book of
Malachi and there in Malachi 4.2 concerning the Son of Righteousness
who arises with healing in his wings and here we read of a day,
a strange day, known to the Lord not day nor night but it shall
come to pass that at evening time it shall be light, we read
in verse 7. Now the text is not an easy one,
in fact there's little that we can say is easy to be understood
or interpreted in much of the writings of these minor prophets.
However, this is part and parcel of the Word of God and it's our
folly if we ignore to attempt to look into such scriptures
as these. I know that where there is difficulty
in understanding and interpretation, often men come to God's word
and they speculate. And there are a number of ideas
with regards to what is meant here at the end of the book of
the prophet Zechariah. Some would say that what we have
at the beginning of this 14th chapter is a prophecy that was
fulfilled in the days of the Maccabees, that is the period
between the close of the Old Testament and the beginning of
the New Testament, a period of probably three or four hundred
years when there was no prophetic voice heard at all in Israel
until the coming of the Lord Jesus. And it was then that the
Maccabees ruled. It was a period when the land
of Palestine was very much under the influence of the Ptolemies. after the death of Alexander
the Great, that great empire that he established, the Grecian
Empire, was divided into two parts, the Ptolemies and the
Seleucids, and it was the Ptolemies who were there, very prevalent
in Egypt and had great influence over Palestine. We can probably
recall hearing of Queen Cleopatra she was one of the Ptolemies
and it was one of those a man called Antiochus Epiphanes who
was responsible for that great desolation the desolation of
abomination as he'd spoken of in Daniel when he burn swine's
flesh in the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. And some say that
the Maccabees who were fighting against those wicked Ptolemies,
there's a reference to them in what is being said here at the
beginning of this 14th chapter of Zechariah. The words that
we have in verse 4 concerning the Mount of Olives being cleaved
in the midst toward the east and toward the west and a very
great valley. They say that that was or is
a reference to a great deliverance that was established by the Maccabees
against the Ptolemies. Not that the Mount literally
split in two, but there was a way of escape. They were victorious,
the Maccabees, in their warfare against the Ptolemies. But then
others say, with regards to what we have at the beginning of this
chapter, that these things were really fulfilled after the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were fulfilled in the year
70. In the year 70 we're told of
how Titus, the Roman general, laid siege to Jerusalem, and
destroyed the city there was a great slaughter and some would
say that the prophecy here concerns those particular events the words
of verse 2 I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to
battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and
the women ravished and the half of the city shall go forth into
captivity and the residue of the people shall not be cut off
from the city." They say that that is a particular reference
in the prophecy to events associated with the sacking of Jerusalem
by those Roman legionaries under Titus. See, there are different
ideas and different interpretations. There are some who say that the
chapter is really speaking of the end of time. the second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, those things that he spoke of
when he sat on the Mount of Olives, there in Matthew chapter 24. And then again, there's an interpretation
by a Lutheran theologian, Theodore Leitch, who speaks about much
of this prophecy was fulfilled in the Roman papacy. He speaks of verse 2 referring
to the church under the name of Jerusalem, I will gather all
nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be
taken. Now, Rome came into such an ascendancy
and then there was the Dark Ages and then after the Dark Ages
of course the coming of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation,
and Leitch reckons that what we have here in the words that
I've read as our text, it shall come to pass in that day, that
the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it shall be one
day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night,
the dark ages as it were, but it shall come to pass that at
evening time it shall be light and the dawning. of the great
day of the Protestant Reformation. That's how that man understands
and interprets the Word. There are then these different
ideas, and men will speculate in the Word of God. But surely,
when we come to any scripture, we must seek to understand it
in a spiritual sense. We remember the words of Paul
in Romans 15, when he says that whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience
or endurance and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. We come to God's Word that we
might find something for our soul, some spiritual good, something
to establish us. And is it not true that really
here in these last two chapters of this prophecy Zechariah is
speaking of the day of grace? Look at chapter 13 and the opening
verse. In that day there shall be a
fountain open to the house of David of the inhabitants of Jerusalem
for sin and for uncleanness. Isn't that a reference to Christ
is coming? and that great sacrifice that
he has made the shedding of that precious blood or there is a
fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners
plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains and so
as we have it there in chapter 13 so also here in chapter 14
behold It says, The day of the Lord cometh. And then at verse
8, It shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea, and half of them
toward the hinder sea. In summer and in winter shall
it birth. Is there not a similarity between
the chapters here? the fountain opened, the fountain
of that precious blood but here also the living waters that flow
from Jerusalem does it not all together speak to us of the Lord
Jesus Christ and so as we come to consider the words that I've
read for our text here in verses 6 and 7 this morning I want to
take up the idea of the day of grace, or rather the method,
God's method of grace. God's method of grace, as we
have it set before us in the imagery that is employed in these
two verses. It shall come to pass in that
day, that is the day of grace, that the light shall not be clear
nor dark, But it shall be one day which shall be known to the
Lord, not day nor night, but it shall come to pass that at
evening time it shall be light. Remember a sentence that I read
somewhere in J.C. Philpott where he says we can
only understand the true spiritual meaning of God's Word by some
experience in our hearts. can only understand the true
spiritual significance of anything then as the Lord is pleased to
open these things up not only in His Word but in the experience
that He brings us into by and through His Word. And as we take
up this theme then of God's method of grace I want to divide what
I say into some two parts really. First of all we have to recognize
that there is a mixture in the way in which God has dealings
with his people. And then, secondly, to observe
how there is a great mystery in all of those dealings of the
Lord. First of all then, what I'm calling
the mixture in the ways, the dealings, and the methods of
the Lord, even now in this day of grace. Here then, in verse 6, we have,
as it were, the beginning of light. It shall come to pass
in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it
shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord. It continues
there in verse 7, the beginning of light. Or the gospel day comes. Now, remember how the gospel
day is spoken of. We have that that comes as it
were to the Gentiles when the Lord Jesus begins his ministry. It is there in the northern regions
of the land of Palestine and there is significance in
that as we see in the Gospel account, in Matthew's account
there in Matthew chapter 4 Verse 12, we read of Jesus leaving
Nazareth. Rather, verse 13, he's leaving
Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the
seacoast in the borders of Zabulon and Naphtali, those tribes that
occupy the northern region of the Promised Land. that it might
be fulfilled, which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
The land of Zabulun and the land of Naphtalim, by the way of the
sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which
sat in darkness saw great lights. And to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. The beginning. of the Lord's own ministry, the
light shining in the darkness. He comes, of course, as that
one who declares himself to be the light of the world. I am the light of the world,
says the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that Son of Righteousness
that arises with healing in His wings. Now the day slowly begins
to dawn. Peter speaks of the day dawning
and the day star arising in your hearts. And when it comes to
the experience of the people of God is it not also in some
measure like that? When God begins with us Yes,
some people experience remarkable conversions. We think of the
Apostle Paul, for example. How suddenly the light shines. It's a great dawning in his soul.
People speak of how his conversion was like seeing the light. Sudden
dramatic, although it's probably not as dramatic as some imagine,
because we see clearly that when at the martyrdom of Stephen,
that man was a man probably under some conviction, although a persecutor
of the people of God. But with many, it is a gradual
dawning, the day dawning, the day star appearing. the Son of
Righteousness beginning to arise, beginning to appear, as it were,
over the horizon, a new day about to begin. And we see how that
some find themselves for a period, as it were, groping in a sort
of semi-light. Isaiah speaks of such characters. Isaiah 59 10, we grope for the
wall, he says, like the blind, and we grope as if we had no
eyes. We stumble at noonday, as in the night. We are in desolate
places as dead men. When the Lord begins with us
and we first have some awareness of what we are, our true condition,
we are those who have sinned against Him. And what can we
do? How can we eradicate ourselves from these sins? We have to learn
that we can do nothing for ourselves. but it doesn't all happen at
once. Though there is that gradual method which the Lord is pleased
to use time and again with his children even all our days really
according to the language of what Paul says to the Corinthians
there in 1st Corinthians 13 12 now we see through a glass darkly
then face to face Is he not speaking really of the day of grace as
that period when we're seeing through a glass darkly? We don't
see things always clearly, but then in heaven, why there we
will know even as we are known of the Lord. And so we see that
even in this world as the Lord is dealing with in the day of
grace there is truth. in what the prophet is saying
in the words of the text in that day in the day of grace the light
shall not be clear nor dark there's nothing that is perfect
we soon discover that can remember after I was baptized I thought
well now I must never ever sin again in my naivety that was how I
thought I thought well I've now made an open profession of the
Lord Jesus Christ I must be careful now that I never sin against
him again and yet well of course within no time at all one was
discovering that sin was still there in the old nature and how
quickly one had to repent over fresh sins how we find it even in this day
of grace there's so much opposition without there's an alluring world
all around us there's a wicked adversary in Satan who's walking
about seeking whom he may devour and how all he delights to come
and to assault those who have made that profession of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's not only that opposition
without, there's all those corruptions within. And we see then how that
there is a mixture. And there's a mixture in the
way in which the Lord is dealing with us. Here in this day, which
we call the day of grace, this gospel day, this day of salvation. Look at the language that we
find in the book of Ecclesiastes, the words of the preacher. Ecclesiastes
11 and 8, he says, If a man live many years and rejoice in them
all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall
be many. And that's part of the wisdom
literature. At home we've been reading through the book of Proverbs,
those remarkable verses, the wisdom that God gave to his servant
Solomon. And there Ecclesiastes, of course,
is but another part of that wisdom literature. And the truth of
what Solomon is saying in that verse that we just referred to,
Ecclesiastes 11.8. But if a man live many years
and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of
darkness, for they shall be many. Oh, there is a mixture. It's
not all days of darkness. There are days of light. The Psalmist can say, I will
sing of mercy and of judgment. Mercy is the day of light, surely
it is. But when we sing of judgments,
that's when God is dealing with us, chasing us, correcting us.
This is the way of the Lord. This is the mixture of His dealings.
think of the language that we have in that lovely hymn the
sands of time are sinking Rutherford says with mercy and with judgment
my web of time he wove and I the Jews of sorrow were lusted by
his love I'll bless the hand that guided I'll bless the heart
that planned when thrown where glory dwelleth, in Emmanuel's
land. It's then, it's at the end, it's
when we come to that great light at evening time, it shall be
light. What are we to do as we consider
this mixture, this strange mix in the way in which the Lord
is dealing with us? Well again, the language of the
wise man, the preacher there in Ecclesiastes 7.14, he says,
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider. God also hath set the one against
the other. Whatever the day is, whatever
comes to us, we're to look to God and we're to desire that
we might discern something of the ways of God and the dealings
of God. It's that strange life of the
Christian. We need our souls to be fed.
We're likened to sheep, are we not? Look at the language of
the Lord Jesus as he teaches his disciples there in the tent
of John. He is the Good Shepherd who gives
us his life for the sheep. He is the door to the sheepfold.
But what does he say concerning those sheep? They go in and they
go out and they find pasture. And that's how we find the pasture,
there's that going out as well as that coming in. There's all
that variety. It is of the ungodly man, it's
the unbeliever that has no changes according to the language of
Psalm 55. Or there the psalmist says, because
they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. Do we not
learn to fear God in all His strange dealings with us? We
sang it just now in that hymn of hearts. Our soul to us is
such a riddle. But how are we to come to terms
with these things and to understand this great mixture in the Lord's
dealings? Well, we're to recognize that
God's purpose is always being executed in all the myriad of
circumstances that we find ourselves being brought into. Here in these
two verses that I've announced as our text, six times we have
the word shall and it shall come to pass in that day that the
light shall not be clear nor dark but it shall be one day
which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night, but it shall
come to pass that at evening time it shall be light." Now
doesn't the language, the very vocabulary, indicate to us the
sureness, the certainty of the purpose of God? He says, I will
establish my covenant and thou shalt know that I am the Lord."
I will, says God. Thou shalt. And what do we see? Well, again the Psalmist tells
us quite clearly He says, the day is thine, the night also
is thine. Thou hast prepared the light
and the sun that will set all the borders of the earth. Thou
hast made summer and winter. Everything you see is under God's
hand. Everything is subject to the sovereign will of God. Day
and night, summer and winter. and not just in a very real and
literal sense, but when he comes to the Lord's dealings with us. Or are we not to recognize that
fact? He says to his people of old, I know the thoughts that
I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to
give you unexpected ends. Or there is God's purpose, and
that's our confidence. We have to look to the Lord Amidst
all the vicissitudes of our lives, whatever comes to us, we are
to look to Him, we are to look to His sovereign purpose. And
there is a blessed harmony in spite of all this strange mixture
that we find in the ways of the Lord. What does it say here at
the beginning of verse 7? But it shall be one day. or as the margin says the day
shall be one but it shall be one day which
shall be known to the Lord you see God's decree is really singular
I know if you read any theological books the theologians like to
speak of the decrees of God in the plural and of course Because
God is fulfilling his great purpose here in time, there is a network
and there's a sequence to all the events that God has predestinated. But really, God doesn't dwell
in time. God dwells in eternity. And we
have to recognize that God's decree is really singular. It is one and it is simple. And that's what we're told here
in verse 9. The Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that
day there shall be one Lord and His name one. All the blessed
simplicity. What is God's decree? God's decree
is really His own glory. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. That's what the scripture tells
us. God's purpose centers in himself, centers in his own glory. But the glory of God is also
the good of his people. Are not those who are his people
united to him? Are they not those that he has
set his sovereign love upon? how the Father has chosen them
in the eternal covenant, how the Son has come and redeemed
them by the shedding of His precious blood that is purchased possession,
has not the Holy Spirit come and dwells in their hearts? We know then, says Paul, that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the cause according to His purpose. Oh, there is
a blessed harmony in all the Lord's dealings with us. All will lead up to this the
glory of His name and the goods of His chosen. But besides that harmony that we see in God's
purpose Let us also observe this, that there is a certain brevity
with regards to those troubles that believers come into. That's our comfort, is it not?
It speaks here of one day. But it shall be one day, which
shall be known to the Lords and how quickly the days come and
go why how quickly the weeks come and go even the months and
the years we look back coming across just now with Helen I
remarked in the car row that tomorrow is our grandson William's
ninth birthday it seems impossible to me that nine years has passed
so quickly and you know As we grow older, the years come and
go so fast. Our lives hasten to God. What
is one day? But we're told concerning the
strange dealings of the Lord. This strange day, known to the
Lord, not day nor night. But it is a promise that shall
come to pass at an evening time. It shall be light. Or there will
be an end to these things. The troubles come, yes. There's
trials and tribulations. That's the lot of God's people.
There's no avoiding it. We must, through much tribulation,
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. That's the language of God's
Word. We must. We cannot avoid these things.
But what does Peter say? Now, for a season, if need be,
you are in heaviness through manifold temptation. Now we need
sometimes to ponder the Word of Scripture and to look into
the Word of God and to meditate in these things. Now, he says.
What does that mean? It means just now. It means this
very present moment. And the moment's gone. Now, for
a season, that's just a little while. A short period of time. If needs be, it says. It's only
as and when it's necessary. Oh, there's a blessed brevity
to all of these things. And in the midst of it all, of
course, there's this gracious promise of the presence of God
Himself. The day shall be one day, and
it's known to the Lord. It's known to the Lord. The Lord
knoweth them that are His. says the Apostle. The Lord knows
his people. That's how he has chosen them.
He has a foreknowledge of them. He has set his love upon them.
It's a peculiar, it's a special knowledge. He has a knowledge
of all things. But he foreknows his people,
you see, because these are the ones he has chosen to delight
in. and as he knows them so he knows
everything about them like as a father pitieth his children
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him he knoweth our frame that's what the psalm says he
remembers that we're dust he is the one who has made us he
knows all about our frailties and even when he comes to those
temptations he makes a way of escape that we may be able to
bear it. He knows what his people are
able to bear. And so even Job is brought to
that, the remarkable experiences of that man. Oh and Al, he knew
such a mixture in all the ways of the Lord. But he comes to
acknowledge, he knows the way that I take. He knows. he knoweth
the way that I take when he hath tried me I shall come forth as
God and so whatever situation God's people find themselves
in there is that assurance of the Lord's presence it is known
to the Lord yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me says David There's the believer's consolation. We have to look
to the Lord in the midst of all this mix. It shall come to pass
in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it
shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord. And there's
our comfort, friends. We have to look to Him. We have
to trust in Him. They looked unto him, says the
psalmist, and were lightened. This is how God deals with us. It's God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, shining in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Oh, it's in Him, it's in the
Lord Jesus Christ. and we have to be looking to
Him and calling upon Him and ever seeking after Him. It's that part of the just. It's
the shining light, shining onto the perfect day. That's what
we're longing for. That's what we're to be looking
for. Even the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, look at the language of
the Psalm. The 112th Psalm, verse 4, unto the upright it says,
there arises light in the darkness. There are many days that are
dark days, difficult days, trying days. No two days the same in
the experiences of the people of God. But if we are those who
are the upright, if we are those who know the grace of God, if
we are those who are righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ, what
are we to do? or were to look to the Lord himself,
there ariseth light in the midst of all the darkness, and that
light is in the Lord Jesus. I am the light of the world,
he says. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life. We recognize here then, in the
day of grace there is this strange mix But also, secondly, we have
to recognize there is a mystery. That, I suppose, follows quite
naturally when we think of this peculiar mixture. It is a mystery,
God and the ways of God. There's a hymn in the book that
I think really is the best commentary on the words of our text this
morning and you can read it yourself 722 what am I and where am I
strange myself and paths appear says William Gadsby in the opening
words of that hymn but read the whole of the hymn I don't know
that it's suitable for public worship but it's certainly a
book a hymn rather to to read and to and to meditate upon and
I think it's a a good commentary, the best commentary
really upon the words of the text and in those few verses
I think Gadsby says so much more than ever I could say in a sermon
of 40 or 45 minutes read that hymn 722 the mystery of God and
the ways of God and the dealings of God we know that there is
a paradox in the experiences of God's people Here it says
it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. Well surely it should say at
evening time it shall be dark. The evening is the end of the
day. The dusk and that is followed by the darkness of the night.
But this is a mystery you see. And you know how it's brought
out time and again in Paul, we've referred so many times to the
language that the Apostle employs when he writes, defending his
ministry to the church at Corinth. For example, there in 2 Corinthians
6, in verse 9 he says of himself, unknown and yet well known, as
dying and behold we live, as chastened and not killed, as
sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,
as having nothing and yet possessing all things, these apparent contradictory
experiences. That is the mystery of God. Paul
could say furthermore, when I am weak, I am strong. all the weakness is in himself
all the strength is in the Lord is God and so with God you see
it's like this it's light in the evening when things seem to be coming
on and it's going to grow darker and darker why? now the Lord
appears oh this is the God that we have to do with this is our
Our great favor, our great blessing that we should have dealings
with such a one as this God. I think also of that sermon of
Mr. Philpott on Isaiah 18, winter
before harvest. I know I've mentioned it before
but it's remarkable to me. What he brings out in that particular
sermon And he makes the point that in nature we know the order,
it's spring and summer and then the autumn. The end of summer,
the time of harvest and then after the harvest is gathered
in comes the winter and we're looking then for the coming of
the next spring, the growing of the crops through the summer
months and then the harvest in the autumn. But he says it's
somewhat different with regards to God's dealings in the soil.
There is a little season that comes before the harvest. There's
a winter, winter before the harvest. And so here you see, it's evening
before it's light. That's the mystery of God and
the ways of God. Oh, and to the upright there
does arrive that light in the midst of darkness. The Lord Jesus, that one you
see, who is the light. The light shineth in the darkness,
says John, and the darkness comprehended it not. All the strange and mysterious
ways then of God in all of his dealings with us. And don't throw
these words at the end of verse 7r when we think of conversion. when God really begins his work
in our souls. He brings to us that realization
of our sinnership. He brings to us a certain measure
of the conviction of our sins. Some have a deeper experience
of conviction than others. With some that conviction might
be deepened later in their Christian life. But there is, at the beginning,
some realization of what we are, some feeling of what we are.
Moses says, turn us, man, to destruction and say us, return,
you children of men. Isn't that true? God brings us
to the end of ourselves. And then he says, return. At
evening time. It shall be light. We have the
sentence of death in ourselves says Paul. Though we should not
trust in ourselves but in God. That's what the Lord is doing
when he brings us then to that that here is referred to as the
evening time. The harbinger of the darkness
and yet not so because at evening time we're assured it shall be
light all we brought then to know him who has declared himself
to be the great I am that one who has said I am the light of
the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but
shall have the light of life all the Lord groaned then that
we might know Christ that we might be those who in all the
Multitude of our experiences, whatever they are, are constantly
brought to look to Him, and to cry to Him, and to call upon
Him. This day, this day of grace, what a day it is to live in,
what a favoured people we are, that we should live in these
last days, the day of the Lord. It shall come to pass in that
day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it shall
be one day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night,
but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. Amen.