Zechariah chapter 14. Zechariah chapter 14 and we'd
like to read beginning with verse 16. I do want to thank those
who filled in for me when I was absent. Remember Jennifer and
the boys down there in Florida if you would. Zechariah chapter 14, we're approaching
the end of this glorious gospel according to Zechariah, and there's
some wonderful things to be said. Zechariah, as he is used to close
out this book, but in verse 16 it says, and it shall come to
pass that everyone that is left of all the nations, the remnant
that is left from all the nations which came against Jerusalem,
at one time they were not friendly folks. They were put out with
the gospel. They were put out with the people
that knew the gospel. And it says here, but against
Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the king. So something greatly has happened
to these folks, something God intervened on their behalf. God
revealed his son to them because they're going to come up and
worship the king, the Lord of hosts and keep the feast of tabernacles. Now let's go to verse 17 and
we'll come back there and mention a few things. of all the families of the earth
unto Jerusalem, to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even
upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go
not up, and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague,
wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen, Now, the Feast of
Tabernacles is mentioned over in the books of Moses. And if
we look at the Feast of Tabernacles from our standpoint, as anything
else but pictorial. If we look at it efficacious,
we do not understand the gospel. Now, turn with me to a passage
of Scripture in the book of 2 Corinthians. It helps us understand this.
In the book of 2 Corinthians, remember when it is recorded
here in 2 Corinthians about Moses going up on the mount? Well,
there's a result that is brought out continuously even today as
we read here in the book of 2 Corinthians 3. 2 Corinthians 3 and verse
14. 2 Corinthians 3. Don't tell me. 2 Corinthians
3 verse 14. I'll get it. I need a Bible. Off the front pew. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 14. Well, let's back up to verse
13 here. It says, And not as Moses, which put a veil over
his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly
look to the end of that which is abolished. but their minds
were blinded. For until this day remaineth
the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament,
which veil is done away in Christ." Now if you'll notice there with
me, we find that that veil of reading the Old Testament and
taking it from a literal standpoint, we're still under the law, we
still have these feasts, we still have these things to do, these
sacrifices, then there is a veil that is over our eyes. And this
veil, it goes on there in 2 Corinthians 3, 2 Corinthians 3, and this
veil is done away. Now read it with me here, nevertheless,
verse 16, Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the
veil shall be taken away." So there is a veil in reading the
Old Testament that is there, and it is over our eyes. But
when God reveals Christ to us, we're not going to be depending
upon those feasts. We're not going to be depending
upon those sacrifices. We're not going to be depending
upon those things, because we're now able to see the fulfillment
of all of those. We'll see the fulfillment of
the Feast of Tabernacles. We'll see the fulfillment of
the Passover. We'll see the fulfillment of
all the sacrifices. And it goes on here in verse
17, Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. So we have liberty in Christ,
and He reveals these truths to us. He reveals the benefits of
the true Feast of Tabernacles. Now there is a time recorded
in the book of Nehemiah. You'll turn with me to the book
of Nehemiah. We have some words here with
regard to the great rejoicing that took place and there was
reason for this. In the book of Nehemiah chapter
8, Nehemiah chapter 8. We have this Feast of Tabernacles
brought up here in the book of Nehemiah. They had neglected
it for a long, long time. They had not performed it. They
had not gone through it. And so here in the book of Nehemiah
chapter 8, now this is after they've been in 70 years of bondage. This is after they've been released,
after Cyrus, after the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah.
that they would be released and permitted to go back to Jerusalem. Here in the book of Nehemiah,
Ezra and Nehemiah share with us much the same. But here in
the book of Nehemiah chapter 8, and there in verse 13, it
says this, And on the second day were gathered together the
chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests and the Levites,
unto Ezra the scribe, even to the understand the words of the
law. And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded
by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths
in the feast of the seventh month, in the feast of tabernacles.
And they that should publish and proclaim in all their cities
and in Jerusalem saying, go forth unto the Mount and fetch olive
branches and pine branches and myrtle branches and palm branches
and branches of thick trees and make booze as it is written.
So the people went forth and brought them and made themselves
booze. Every one upon the roof of the house in their own courts
and in the courts of the house of God, in the street, the water
gate, in the street of the gate of Ephraim, And all the congregation
of them that were come again out of the captivity made booze,
and sat under the booze. For since the days of Joshua
the son of Nun, until that day had not the children of Israel
done that, and there was very great gladness. There was gladness
to once again perform this ceremony. Once again, gladness to see what
this represented, that God had commanded that the children of
Israel dwell in these booths and remember that they had once
been prisoners down in Egypt and that they'd been set free
and that they were now dwelling out here in the wilderness. But
we find that even that is not enough God did not intend for
us to continue with that because it was fulfilled in Christ. Here
we find that to every day of a believer's life is reminiscent
of the spiritual application of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Now, we find out that that Feast of Tabernacles shares with us
some things about dwelling in a booth, dwelling in some place
that we commonly don't do, and that is what truly Christ did
when He came down to this world. He dwelt in a body prepared for
Him. We look at the Feast of Tabernacles
and we see that the God of heaven is dwelling in a booth. He's
dwelling in a body that was provided for him. We see in the Feast
of Tabernacles that Jesus Christ is our true Feast of Tabernacles. He's the fulfillment of the Feast
of Tabernacles. He dwelled in flesh that God
provided. In fact, we find in the book
of Galatians that in the fullness of time, He came born of a woman,
born under the law to fulfill the law for us. So He truly,
and we celebrate that every day. A believer celebrates the incarnation
of Jesus Christ every day. And there is a man sitting at
the right hand of the Father. We have a Savior, Christ the
Lord, sitting at the right hand of the Father. He gave up the
glory that he had with the Father before the world was, came down
to this sin-cursed earth, did all that was required in obedience
to the law, and now because he fulfilled it and paid for our
sins in full, he can, to all that he has ever called into
Christ, can have total righteousness imputed to them. So we celebrate
this Feast of Tabernacles. We also find that this Feast
of Tabernacles is a picture of gospel worship. Turn with me
to the book of John, if you would. In John chapter 7, this is a
time when the Lord was upon the earth that they were celebrating
the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, three, two million, five hundred
thousand. a hundred thousand people in
Jerusalem that are all in booths. That would be quite a sight to
see. And yet, as we look here in the
book of John chapter 7, this is what was part of the Old Testament
law, came down to the Lord Jesus Christ era when He was upon this
earth. And in John 7, verse 2, it says,
now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. Now, the Lord is
going to be a witness to this, and He's going to be present
for this, and He's going to share some truths about Himself at
this Feast of Tabernacles that is so true about Him in our everyday
life. During this time at least, there
seems to have been some water taken out of the pool of Siloam
and presented. And the Lord Jesus Christ uses
this experience to share with us that He is the true living
water. Whatever was taking place here,
Christ is so much better than that. If you drink of this water,
you're gonna thirst again. But the water that I shall give
you. Now notice as we follow down through the seventh chapter
of the book of John to verse 37. John chapter seven, verse
37. In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. Now can you imagine the stir
that he caused? Here, celebrating the Feast of
Tabernacles, this one person stands up and says this, If any
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. But this he spake of the Spirit.
The Lord Jesus is speaking of the Spirit. Out of his belly.
There's going to be such a tremendous in this spiritual feast of tabernacles,
and that is the glory of the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the glory of the gospel, and he imparts that to us, gives
that, allows us to hear the glorious gospel about him. That great
day of the feast, he stands up and mentions this about himself.
I am the living water. The Savior stands and declares
this about himself. I am that water. And then, if
we look at the Old Testament again in the book of Joel, we
find one of the fulfillments that Christ makes on the behalf
of His people is that there will be water. In Joel, Joel chapter
3. Joel chapter 3, and there in
verse 18. Joel chapter 3 and verse 18. The gospel produces this. The literal Feast of Tabernacles
doesn't produce this. There is some things about that.
Those people, they never came up with that feast on their own.
The Lord gave it to them. They never grew the boughs and
branches to produce those booths. The Lord gave that. They didn't
understand that there was a thing to do with this until the Lord
revealed it unto them. They're going to have this feast.
And the same is true about us. We can hear about the gospel. but we will never hear the gospel
until it's revealed to us. And that's what this feast does.
Okay, here in the book of Joel, chapter three, verse 18, it shall
come to pass on that day that the mountain shall drop down
new wine, and the hill shall flow with milk, and all the rivers
of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth
of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Shittim.
This again speaks of that fountain that we read about in Zechariah.
There shall be a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's
veins. This Feast of Tabernacles has
much to do with that. And as we go on here, we find
out that those who do not come, that's the serious part. Those
who do not come to the Feast of Tabernacles. What does that
mean? Those who do not come to Christ. Those who do not come
to God's salvation. Those who do not come to His
appointed way. Those are the ones that will
have no reign. And we'll read that in just a
moment. The picture of the grace of God in His salvation, this
Feast of Tabernacles shares with us. He came incarnated. He came in the flesh. He came
for the suffering of death. He came to put sin away for His
people. Also, it signifies to us that
it is the gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us, nothing
else. We don't need anything else.
We need that gospel. And it's the gospel of the truth.
that is in Jesus Christ. It is the Savior that actually
saves. It is the Redeemer that actually
redeems. It is the water of life freely
that He gives. And that is what this Feast of
Tabernacles is representing. In the days of Nehemiah, yes,
they did come. Yes, they did build booths. But
in our day, it is nothing. In fact, I had a man ask me not
too long ago about having the Passover and having the Feast
of Tabernacles and having some of the other feasts. I said,
it's nothing but idolatry today. nothing but idolatry. You're
saying that Christ is not sufficient. That you still want to go under
that. That's a real problem that we have in today's world. Feasts are more important than
Christ. All right, going back to the
book of Zechariah chapter 14 again. Zechariah chapter 14.
We find here in this glorious gospel, according to Zechariah,
as he comes to the conclusion, he's sharing with us the very
blessed thought about coming to the Feast of Tabernacles,
coming to Christ. You know, the other day I was driving somewhere and a
thought struck me. How many times in the New Testament,
and I didn't look anywhere else, in the New Testament is the word
hell used. A few times in the gospels, not one time under the
preaching of Peter, not one time in Paul's, one time in the book
of Acts where it says that he shall not leave his soul in hell.
So we don't have the New Testament preachers preaching that because
scaring people does not bring them into the kingdom. Preaching
Christ brings them into the kingdom. All that are appointed to be
brought in shall be brought in. So we don't preach hell. We preach
Christ and Him crucified. Now, we do know the results of
those who do not come to Christ, those whose names are not written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. And that's what Zechariah is
going to go on and share with us in these last few verses of
Zechariah chapter 14. It tells us here in Zechariah
chapter 14 in verse 17, And it shall be that whoso will not
come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship
the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. Now throughout the Old Testament,
the subject of rain is a subject of blessings. There shall be
no blessings. God's blessing is not upon them,
spiritual blessings. Now we know that God sends rain
upon the just as well as the unjust. God sends the Son on
the just as well as the unjust. But when it comes to spiritual
blessings, He sends spiritual blessings to His spiritual children,
and that's it. He does not send spiritual blessings
to anyone else. So as we look at this, we'll
find that those who will not come up God's way to His Christ,
to His Savior, and to His salvation, they will not have blessings
from God, spiritual blessings. Now, the church has every spiritual
blessing or all spiritual blessings, but as it tells us here, there
will be no rain. Now, when we look at the Old
Testament, we find some wonderful pictures about this very subject
of rain. Do you remember what it says
over there in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 11 about raising water
with your feet? One of my favorite passages of
scripture here in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 11. Deuteronomy
chapter 11. Jesus said to a whole group of
people, He says, I sent you, ye shall die in your sins. and ye shall die in your sins."
Now over here in the book of Deuteronomy we have a comparison
between the way they did things in Egypt and the picture of the
way they're going to do things in the promised land. In the
book of Deuteronomy chapter 11, verse 10 and 11, Deuteronomy Chapter 11, verse 10 and 11. Notice these verses with me.
Verse 10, it says, For the land whither thou goest in to possess
it is not as the land of Egypt. Now we have a comparison here.
The land where you're going is not the land of works. Never
has been, never will be. Christ is never attached to works. It's His work. And we are His
workmanship, but it's not based upon merit. From whence ye came
out, you came out of Egypt, I brought you out of Egypt, there in Egypt,
where thou sowest thy seed and waters with the foot, as the
garden of herbs. Now this has made mention of
the foot wheel, that they spun with their feet and brought water
out into their gardens and watered it. Now, that's a lot of effort
that went into it, and it just reminds us of being in religion.
There's lots of effort that goes into it, and the work is never
done. Once you get off and let someone else take it, you come
right back and you're still doing it. Well, look at the next verse. In the next verse, as we think
about that rain from heaven, there will be no rain. If you do not come up to the
Lord of hosts, to Jerusalem, And notice, or pay attention,
or participate, or are in the Feast of Tabernacles, from a
gospel sense, you will have no rain. Now notice this next verse.
But the land, whether you go to possess it, here you're going
to a land. We've taken you out, God's taken
you out of Egypt, and down there, if you're gonna raise a garden,
you're gonna have to do it all by foot. You're gonna have to
raise the water by your own works. Well, the wonderful thing about
being in Christ, it says, this place is the land of hills and
valleys and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. Now, it comes
down. It doesn't have to be raised
up. This rain is the blessed rain of God, the blessed blessings
of God. And so, as just as it is in the
days of work, work, work, work, Never done, never done, and you're
never sure where you are. There's where the word hope has
the wrong meaning. I hope I make it. Well, in Christ,
hope means there's security behind it. And here we find that there's
going to be rain, and it's going to be from heaven. And we don't
have to produce it. We don't have to send up an airplane
and send out some kind of mercury to make it rain. It happens. And so that's the way God was
going to take care of the water. And it's such a picture of the
gospel. It comes down to us. It's always flowing on our behalf.
and it's not work that produces it. Well, as we go back here
to the book of Zechariah, we find that if they do not come,
if they do not come to the Lord, the Lord of hosts, do not come
to Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, if they do not come to Jerusalem,
where the gospel is, they do not come to the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, there shall be no blessing, there will be
no rain. They will worship, if they will not worship at Jerusalem,
at the only place assigned. Now, Jerusalem is where the gospel
is. It's just a significant statement
about where the gospel is. If you will not come to the gospel,
if you'll not come to the feast that declares the gospel, then
there is no water for you. promise of God, there will be
no mercy, there will be no grace, there will be no bloodshed by
the Savior, there will be no welcome, there will be no understanding,
there will be no enlightenment, there will be darkness, and it
will not be removed, and as the Lord said, ye shall die in your
sins. Now thank God the sins of the
church have all been taken care of and he died for our sins. Zechariah chapter 14 and verse
18. Notice that with me. And if the
family of Egypt will go not up and come not that have no rain,
there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen."
There shall be the plague. Now, I found it interesting as
we look into this that what happens if someone never hears the gospel? I brought that question up to
Pastor Mahan. You know what he did with it?
He herded it right back into my face. That's not the issue,
Norm. It's just like the woman at the
well wanting to bring up religious things. Our fathers say in this
mountain you worship, you say down in Jerusalem is to worship.
Now nobody's right, are they? Well, in the book of Acts, Keep
your finger right here, we're gonna be right back here. In
the book of Acts chapter 16, an interesting event took place.
One of the missionaries, one of those sent by God Almighty
to preach the gospel to lost sinners, to lost sheep of the
house of Israel, and I use that word Israel to speak of the church,
they are lost. In Acts chapter 16, verse six,
Acts chapter 16 and verse 6, this missionary had an interest
in his heart to go preach the gospel in a place. Now notice
what it says here. It says, now when they, verse
six of Acts chapter 16, now when they had gone through Pergia
and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost
to preach the word in Asia. Can you imagine a God that would
refuse, forbid the preaching of the gospel in Asia? Now there's
only one reason, well, two reasons. God already sent someone else,
or there was no sheep there. Now, it doesn't tell us which,
but Paul was forbidden to go there. Now, just follow this
down through there just a little bit, but more. And after they
were come to Mycenae, they wanted to go, they had said to go into
Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. The Holy Spirit suffered
them not. The Holy Spirit prevented them. Now, why? Well, we find in the
next verse that he had a vision at night from Macedonia come
over here and he brought the gospel into Europe. Now, we can
say hallelujah for that. Because it greatly affects us.
But just for a thought that the gospel was prevented, forbidden
from going into Asia, forbidden from going into Bithynia, and
was pleased to go, God was pleased to go into Macedonia. So what
about the folks that never hear the gospel? A missionary was
never sent. What are we gonna have to say? I was told that it's better off
not to have them hear anything because they will be less punished. I'm sorry, that's not Bible. What about the folks that never
heard Paul in Asia or Bithynia? We know this, that if there were
lost sheep there, there would be the gospel preached there. Someone else went, or there was
no lost sheep. But if you know one was sent,
no one heard the message of Christ and Him crucified. If they don't
hear that, if they never hear that, God is just in not giving
them rain, not blessing them. Why? Because they're sinners.
They're no less sinners than we are. We're thankful that the
grace of God came. We were permitted to hear it. By the grace of God, we were
permitted to hear it. Jacob have I loved. Only one
reason he loved Jacob. His sins were paid for. Esau have I hated only, well,
there's probably many reasons, but one reason is his sins were
never paid for. And if sins are not paid for,
God deals with that without rain, without blessings. All right. Since they came not, back here
in verse 18 of Zechariah chapter 14. If the family of Egypt go
not up, and come not that have no rain, there shall be the plague,
wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up
to keep the feast of tabernacles. There shall be the plague. Now, we're quite familiar with
that in the book of Numbers. just two times I'm going to read
about here in the book of Numbers, and that's in Numbers chapter
14 and verse 37. God has given us some idea what
this means. They shall have a plague. God's
justice shall be there. Numbers chapter
14. Numbers chapter 14, and we read
here in verse 37. Now, we are just, it makes us
more thankful for grace when we hear what the Bible has to
say about those who do not get grace. They will not come. The Lord said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. You will not come. Why will people
not come that they might have life? Well, the reason they will
not come is that they already think they're okay. They're okay. I've done enough. I'm not as
bad as other people are. I'm better than most people are.
I'm a member of this church. I've had the ordinances. I've
done this or that. And they will not come because
they have no need to come. They've already, in their heart,
believed that they're okay. Well, when the Lord reveals that
we're not okay, we're caused to flee to Christ. He's brought
us to Christ before we realize we're fleeing. But here in the
book of Numbers chapter 14, here is that word plague. Same word,
chapter 14 verse 37. Even those men that did bring
up the evil report. Now it hasn't been that long
ago here in the book of Numbers, we looked at those 10 spies that
came back with an evil report. Well, we found out when we were
there what happened to them, but just to review, that men
that did bring up the evil report upon the land died by the plague
before the Lord." Now, that's the kind of plague that God's
talking about here in the book of Zechariah. If they will not
come, not only will they not have rain, but there will be
a plague. Well, that plague is serious. It's mentioned when
there's those on the right-hand side and those on the left-hand
side. and everyone that we hear about on the left-hand side,
I don't need you because I'm okay already. I'm religious. Well, one more time here in the
book of Numbers chapter 16, Numbers chapter 16, this plague. There
is a plague. this plague of God. He showed
us and demonstrated on a minute scale here in the Old Testament
that that is a plague that He will pour out on those who will
not come to Jerusalem to the Feast of Tabernacles. Not to
some literal feast, but to the gospel. Will not come to Christ.
Will not come to the one He's appointed. Will not come. Here in the book of Numbers chapter
16 verse 48, Numbers chapter 16 and verse 48, he stood between
the dead and the living and the plague was stayed. These are
those who came up against Moses and Aaron and said, you've killed
innocent men, Korah. Now they that died in the plague
were 14,700, besides them that died about the manner of Korah. And Aaron returned unto Moses
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the
plague was stayed. How has the plague stayed for
us? It's put on Christ. That's the
only way. He took the plague. He took our
sin. He took He took the no rain. He took the plague. And therefore,
that is the only way that we have freedom. That's the only
way we have salvation is the plague has been abated because
it's put on someone else. And the rain, the blessings of
the rain was taken away from someone else and given unto us.
So here in verse 19 of the book of Zechariah, verse 19. This
shall be the punishment of Egypt. These 17, 18, and 19. Blessings
to those who come. Blessings to those. Blessings
to those. They saw something there. God
shared something about that feast. He shares it today. It's the
gospel. Come to Christ. Come to Christ. You will not come, but those
who come. are fed, those are blessed, the
plague is taken away. Here in verse 19, but this shall
be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations
that come not to keep the feast of the tabernacles. Here's the
punishment, no rain and plagues. How is that abated for the church?
The plague went on Christ, the rain falls on us. He was without
blessing, we are blessed. He took the plague, it doesn't
fall on us. And so these who would not come,
what's Zacharias saying? Come not to Christ, come not
to the gospel, come not his way, come not through him, you are
in a terrible situation. There is no hope, there is no
hope whatsoever. This shall be the punishment.
This shall be the punishment. Now, just look with me in the
book of Lamentations. This particular word for punishment is found one time in the book
of Lamentations and twice here in the book of Zechariah 14.
Lamentations chapter 14, verse 19. Lamentations of Jeremiah. Chapter 4, verse 19. Lamentations chapter 4. Chapter 4, verse 19. It says, Well, one more time. I think it is in verse 22. The punishment of thine iniquity
is accomplished, O daughter of Zion. He will no more carry thee
away into captivity. He will visit thine iniquity,
O daughters of Edom. He will discover thy sins. Punishment
is accomplished for Zion, and it is carried by the daughters
of Edom. You will not come to me, Christ
said, that you might have life. How come people come? When He saves us, He gives us
to understand the great need. You are the Savior. Why did the
leper come to Christ? Because he was a leper. Why did
the blind man come to Christ? Because he was blind. Why did
the woman of an issue of blood come to Christ? Because she had
an issue of blood. Those who have no need will not
come. And the judgment is you will
have no rain and the plague shall be upon you. Thank God for grace. Thank God for grace. Thank God
for grace. Well, there are two verses left,
I believe, there in the book of Zechariah, and we'll continue
there next time. Verses 20 and 21. Holiness unto
the Lord, even on the bells of the horses. Before we're dismissed,
are there any other word? Prayer requests? All right, Brother Mike, if you
will dismiss this please.