Zechariah chapter 12. Zechariah
chapter 12. This is a short chapter. It's only 14 verses long, but
I am going to only read down through verse 4 for our introduction
tonight. And then we're going to look
at some of the thoughts that are contained here. We find in
this chapter the great blessings of God's protective care of the
church, as spoken of as Israel and Judah. And if someone is
going to promise to do something for us and doesn't have the power
nor the authority, we probably will not see it done. Recently
I read about the first great transcontinental car race, 1909. The first place car asked for
some directions from somebody that was supposed to know, and
they didn't know because they got lost. The people got lost.
And it happened the second time. And the first car, first one
in line that could have won if they'd have had correct directions,
ended up at third place. New York to Seattle, 1909. Model
Ts. two of them first and third place. So it is very important that
we have some idea of the authority and of the power of the person
that gives us some encouragement or some directions. And that's
what the Lord does in this chapter. He is going to start right off
sharing with us that Jerusalem and Judah are going to be protected
in a very God-honoring, God-blessed way because he has the power
to do it and he has the authority to do that and he brings that
out here in verse one. The burden of the word of the
Lord for Israel, saith the Lord. Now here is his authority and
here is his power. If we're going to have someone
do something for us, it's great to know this. He said, this Lord,
this Jehovah, which stretched forth the heavens and layeth
the foundation of the earth. Now that's good qualifications. Someone, a being, God, Jehovah. who was able to stretch forth
the heavens, and also to lay the foundations of the earth,
and formeth the spirit of man within him." Three very high
qualifications and power to meet everything. And now, behold,
I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling. Now, that thought
has the idea of an intoxicating drink that is going to cause
the enemy to stupor, to be caught off. Jerusalem like an intoxicating
drink that makes nearby nations stagger. That's what that word
means, that thought. So Jerusalem is going to be used,
but Jerusalem is going to be cared for by this one that has
stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth,
and has created the spirit that's within a man. This Jerusalem
will be protected by that being, Jehovah. Behold, I will make
Jerusalem a cup of trembling until all the people round about,
when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against
Jerusalem. Now we carry forth over to the
New Testament when we find the Lord Jesus say himself about
the protective care he has over the church, the gates of hell
will not prevail against it. He is the one that has stretched
forth the heavens. He is the one that has laid the
foundations of the earth. And he's the one that created
the spirit within man. I have the power, I have the
authority. In fact, he shares with us in
the last verses of Matthew, all power or authority is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. So here we have this one that
is able to do all this. Behold, I will make Jerusalem
a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they
shall be in siege. both against Judah and Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone." Now, that
has to do with a stone that can't not be dislodged. Many, many
years ago, I worked down in Klamath County with a potato farmer.
And out in the middle of one of his potato fields was a rock
that he could not dig out. And every year he bounced across
that rock. It was a troublesome stone. Now
once he got around it, the dirt was deep enough that he never
had any more trouble. But that place, he always thought
he knew where it was until he found out he didn't know where
it was when he hit it with the machinery. So it was a troublesome
stone, a burdensome stone. That day I'll make Jerusalem
an immovable rock, a burdensome stone for all people. They will
not move it. And that's truly what we have
in Christ when he says he's lifted us out of a horrible pit and
set us upon the solid rock. It's an immovable stone. And
to the world it's a burdensome stone. And all that burden themselves
with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the
earth be gathered together against it. Raise all kinds of sand against
the church, and yet they will not prosper. And then in verse
four, In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse
with astonishment, and his rider with madness. Now there's nothing
worse for an army that's riding horses than to have their horses
smitten with astonishment and the riders with madness. So we have those who come up
against the church will not prosper. God is going to intervene. Now
we say, well, look at there. They took Stephen and they stoned
him to death. He didn't prosper, didn't destroy
his spirit. He was presented spotless before
the throne of grace. and I will open my eyes upon
the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the people with
blindness." So we have this great statement made by the Lord here
about how he's going to protect the church, about how he's going
to protect the elect, how he's going to protect the sheep. He
is in charge of this and he has the authority to do that. Now
that word that we find in verse one, that burden, that does not
mean it's a A heavy task, it means that it's a serious burden. And the Word of the Lord is serious.
The Word of the Lord is serious. And here he says, the burden
of the Word of the Lord. for Israel. This word is mentioned
ten times, I believe, in the book of Numbers, chapter 4, when
they were talking about the three groups of the Levites that were
going to be used to move the tabernacle. They had burdens
given to them. And turn with me, if you would,
to 2 Kings, chapter 8. 2 Kings, chapter 8. This word is used there too.
2 Kings, chapter 8. And in verse 9, 2 Kings chapter
8 and verse 9, this word is used here. So Hazael went to meet him and
took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus. It doesn't say what all that
was. 40 camels burden. And came and stood before him
and said, thy son Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, has sent me to
thee saying, shall I recover of this disease? So we have 40
camels of burden. But did you notice every, even
every good thing of Damascus? Now, spices, food, honey, whatever
it was, 40 camels burdens. And we find here that there was
a burden of the word of the Lord. This burden that God had given
him. The Lord... I had a note here I wanted to
read. I'll run into it later. Alright. Now, before we get too
far into this chapter, As we talk about the word of the Lord
here in our book of numbers, excuse me, in our book of Zechariah,
going back to the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 12 and verse
one, we read here the burden of the word of the Lord. That
brought up a point for me and I wanted to go to the word of
the Lord and find out what the word of the Lord has to say about
the word of the Lord. Now there's a lot of verses about
this, but there are several that I'd like to read tonight that
the word says about the word. Now there's a burden of the word
of the Lord for Israel. There is a message for Israel
and it will be delivered. And this message to Israel will
be delivered in such a way that they shall know, the church will
know that Almighty God is delivering it. He describes that when he
shares with us I am the one that stretched forth the heavens.
I am the one that laid the foundations of the earth. And I'm the one
that created the spirit of the man. So this is the one that
is giving this message. Now, probably one of those that
you can think about is over there in the book of Hebrews. Would
you turn there with me? Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter
four shares here in verse 12, shares a great deal about the
word of the Lord. And the describing words that
are here for the word of God, Now, in this passage of scripture,
it shares much about the word of the Lord, about the word of
God. The word of God is quick and powerful. Now, the problem
that I faced in religion is I could not let God actually do that. Now, when God saves us, we find
out we can let him have his power. It's not dependent upon us. It's
dependent upon him. He is the all-powerful one. So
the word of God is quick or quicking, life-giving. It's life-giving
and powerful. And then we find out that it
is able to do things that we cannot do. It is sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing the center
of soul and spirit. Now God alone can figure that
out. But his word can deal with that. He is able to deal with
that in such a powerful way and is of the joints and marrow and
is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So
when we give the word, God's word is so powerful because it
is God's word. This is the God that laid out
the heavens. This is the God that laid the foundations of
the earth. And this is the God that gave the spirit of men that
he's going to reveal his word to. He's a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. We can't describe it. Mike and I have talked several
times about early on, we thought if we could define the word or
words, the battle would be won. It's not the definition of the
word. We find out that the people we're talking to most of the
time are just dead and trespasses and syndicate. They can't understand
even the definition. So, but the word of God is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Now, if
you'll turn with me back to the book of Jeremiah, we have another
description of the word of God that shares with us again the
power of it. It's described here in the book
of Jeremiah chapter 23, Jeremiah chapter 23, This description, and it covers
so much area because we understand what a hammer is and we understand
what fire is. And there's all kinds of hammers.
And there's all kinds of weights of hammers. And there's not a lot of difference
in fire, though. One is just as hot as another.
Well, I know that there's differences, but I just prefer not to have
any of it. It tells us in Jeremiah chapter
23, verse 28. The prophet that hath a dream,
let him tell a dream. And he that hath my word, let
him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat,
saith the Lord? Is not my word like a fire, saith
the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces? Here
again, a description of the word, about the word. Is not my word
like a fire? It burns where we can't even
get to. And it's a fire that we can't
extinguish. We can't put out. And then it
says, it's like a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces. Therefore,
behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my
words, every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, he saith. Behold,
I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord,
and do tell them, and cause my people to err for their lies,
and by their lightness, yet I sent them not, nor commanded them.
Therefore they shall not profit, this people at all, saith the
Lord. What are these prophets doing? They're not having fire,
and they're not having a hammer. They're making the word of none
effect because they're not called of God. And he said, my word
has this effect. It is a fire, and it is a hammer,
and it will produce what I have called on it to produce. So it
is a wonderful, effective thing, the word of God. Over in the
book of the Psalms, would you turn with me there to the Psalms?
Psalm 119 shares with us a couple of things about the word That
this burden of the Word of the Lord, the Word of the Lord is
the only thing that we have to share. The Gospel. That's what we have to share.
In Psalm 119, and there in verse 105, Psalm 119 and verse 105,
it says, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So we have it as a sharp, two-edged
sword. We have it as fire and a hammer.
And we have it as a believer has the word is to them as light
to the feet or a lamp to the feet and a light to my path.
This is the only place we can go for instructions. This is
the only place we can go for what we're supposed to do and
how we're to serve the Lord. And we find out that his word,
the gospel, it doesn't preach. We don't preach the law. We preach
about the lawgiver, the Lord. And we don't preach self-sanctification. We preach the sanctifier. That's
what those guys were doing. They were teaching all kinds
of things that were contrary to the Word of God and contrary
to salvation of the Lord. And it's not a fact. We don't
preach works redemption. We preach the Redeemer. We don't
preach self-righteousness. We preach Him It is our righteousness,
and we don't preach rules. We preach the ruler, the one
that stretched out heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.
We preach the ruler, the absolute sovereign king. We don't preach
self-resurrection. We preach the resurrection and
the life, the Lord Jesus. Natural man would like to think
that they could raise themselves from the dead. We just find out
there's only one that can do that. And His name is Jehovah. His name is the Lord. The word
is so powerful, we find that in the scriptures. Turn with
me to the book of 1 Corinthians, if you would. 1 Corinthians. We find that the Apostle Paul
was used to write these things. They were inspired of God, given
to the Apostle Paul to write to the saints at Corinth. And
here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 2, He shares, this
is what I wanted to know among you. I didn't teach whether the
earth was flat or not flat. I didn't go into all of this
other stuff that people want to bring up. You remember the
woman at the well? Our fathers say in this mountain is to worship,
and you say in Jerusalem. Well, here. Paul says, for I
determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That's the only message I had. I wasn't going to get involved
in all of this other stuff. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And if we go back to the book
of Acts, Philip in Acts chapter 8, before he went down to the
Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8 verse 5, it shares with us
what he was doing with this word, this burden of the word. He was
given a burden to preach the gospel, and that gospel is preaching
Christ. In Acts chapter 8 and verse 5
it says that Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ unto them. He preached Christ unto them. That's all they need. And I think
if Philip was here to see, that's all I knew. We're going to look
for Christ, and we're going to preach Christ, and that's the
only thing that we have. Going back again, if you will,
to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
23. The burden of the Lord. to Jerusalem from him who has
spread heaven, laid the foundations of the earth, and has created
the spirit that's within a man. I have the authority to speak,
he says, I have the power to do what I said I would do, and
this is my word. First Corinthians chapter one,
verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling
block and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called
Both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom
of God. We preach Christ crucified. And also in 2 Corinthians, again,
this is brought up. There were those who were bringing
all kinds of stuff. Unless you have this happen to
you or you follow through with this, you cannot be saved. And
the gospel has always been preached. It is Christ alone. And nothing
added in here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse
5. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. We don't preach about ourselves.
We don't preach our lineage. We don't preach as Paul had all
of the certificates that could be found in Phariseeism. He says we preach Christ. We
preach Christ crucified. Now, going back to that passage
of scripture in the book of Zechariah, would you join me there again
in the book of Zechariah? In Zechariah chapter 12 in verse
1, it gives us that list of what the Lord was able to do, is able
to do, and continues to do as he shares with us the protective
care that he gives over the church. I am the one, as it says, which
stretched forth the heavens. You know, when we think about
that, that is just something that cannot be completely understood.
That's big. Layeth the foundations of the
earth now God had done great many things Before laying the
foundations of the earth They had their covenant of grace meeting
They had determined who is going to be saved they determined how
and These are going to be saved. They wrote their names down in
the Lamb's Book of Life. Now this is from eternity that
they did that. We can't put a date or a time
on it. It's from eternity. So we have
that the Lord has done all of this. He said, I've stretched
out the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and then he says,
and formeth the spirit of man within him. The God of the Bible
has described His activities from beginning to end. He's always
brought this to every generation. He has always described Himself
in every generation. That's how we have a Savior.
He describes what He does. He saves His people from their
sins. Now, if you join me in the book of the Psalms again,
We're going to read some of the things about our God that gives
us some great understanding about how he is able to protect the
church. How can he take what seems a
very simple and yet a thing that's not going to accomplish much
and turn it into something that will accomplish something. I'm
going to make Jerusalem like a cup of wine and they're going
to drink it and get staggered over it. Well, here we find in
the book of Psalms, Psalm 104, Psalm 104, And verse 1, Psalm 104 and verse
1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O
Lord my God. Thou art very great. Thou art
clothed with honor and majesty. Now those words could be transferred
right over to the book of Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 1. because
of what is described as, thou art clothed with honor and majesty,
who covers thyself with light as with a garment, who stretches
out the heavens like a curtain, who layeth the beams of his chambers
in the waters, who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh
upon the wings of the wind, who maketh his angel spirits, his
ministers a flaming fire, who laid the foundations of the earth,
that it should not be removed forever, Thou cover'st it with
a deep as with a garment, and water stood above the mountains.
At thy rebuke they fled, the voice of thy thunder they hastened
away. They go up by the mountains,
they go down by the valleys into the place which thou hast founded
them. Thou hast set a bound that they
may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth. He sendeth the springs into the
valleys, which run along the hills. They give drink to every
beast of the field. The wild asses quench their thirst.
By them shall the fowls of heaven have their habitation, which
sing among the branches. He waters the hills from the
chambers. The earth is satisfied with the
fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow
for the cattle. and herb for the service of man,
that he may bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that
maketh glad the heart of man, and oil that maketh his face
to shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart. And he continues
on here for this entire psalm, glorifying himself, speaking
about what he has done, what he has accomplished, and what
he is going to do for the church, as we must find there in the
book of Zechariah, chapter one, verse two. Going ahead for just
a little bit into the book of Jeremiah, another passage of
scripture that shares with us God's activity. His activity
about the earth, His activity about salvation. In Jeremiah
chapter 10, and there in verse 10, the scripture says here,
but the Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an
everlasting King. He's describing that in Zechariah
chapter one, verse one, when He says, I laid out I stretched
out the heavens, I laid the foundations of the earth, and created the
spirit that is within man. At his wrath the earth shall
tremble, and nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them,
The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they
shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens. he
hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world
by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
When he uttered his voice, there is a multitude of waters in heavens,
and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth,
he maketh lightning with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out
of his treasures. Every man is brutish in his knowledge,
every founder is confounded by the graven image, for his molten
image is a falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are
vanity, works of air. In the time of their visitation
they shall perish." We've read all the words before this and
we find out what God has done, what he's able to do, and what
he will do, and then we find out the works of man's hands
can accomplish none of this. How sound do we find the Lord
in representing himself, that he is the God over all he rules
over all and he has laid the foundations of all one of the
passage we'd like to read is found again in the Psalms Psalm
136 Psalm 136 backing up there just
a little bit and we find in Psalm 136 these words now it would
be well to read the whole chapter the whole Psalm we're not going
to I do want to read particularly verse 5 of this Psalm Every one
of these verses, his mercy endureth forever. We back up here. Verse one, I'll give thanks unto
the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. I'll
give thanks unto the God of gods for his mercy endureth forever.
I'll give thanks to the Lord of lords for his mercy endureth
forever. To him who alone doeth great
wonders for his mercy endureth forever. To him that by wisdom
made the heavens for his mercy endureth ever. and Him that stretcheth
out the earth above the waters for His mercy endureth forever.
To Him that made great lights for His mercy endureth forever,
the sun to rule by day and His mercy endureth forever, and the
moon and stars to rule by night for His mercy endureth forever.
How He demonstrates His mercy by all of His creation And truly
we find that His mercy is only known to sinners. That word carries
that with it. We can vision God of the creation
of physical and spiritual. Anything that is created, it
is because of God. He's the only one that could
take water and turn it into wine. He did that during His ministry.
And we find another place during His ministry. He was the only
one that could take a few small pieces of fish and a few small
pieces of bread and turn it into a multitude of bread and fishes. He was able to do that. He demonstrated
in his ministry what he was as the almighty God, the one that
created heavens and earth, and he's the one that rules over
all, and he's the one that promised from the very beginning, I will
take care of the church. I will overrule the church. I will be there for the church.
That is his burden. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
there's a couple of verses that share with us that as Paul is
teaching about the resurrection, he's teaching here also that
there's differences between celestial and terrestrial. And that's here
in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter
15, and there in verse 40, in verse 40. God is the creator of all of
it. We have nothing to do with the celestial and we have very
little to do with the terrestrial. We're just walking on its dirt.
Walking through this life. But here, there are also celestial
bodies. Verse 40 of the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. There are also celestial bodies
and bodies terrestrial. But the glory of the celestial
is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory
of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the
stars, for one star differs from another star in glory. So also
is the resurrection from the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. You know, we were sown in corruption
when Adam sinned, but our resurrection spiritually is sown in incorruption. And that incorruption will carry
through to the resurrection when we get to see the Lord face to
face. It was sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. Adam dishonored
God in everything that he said and that he did. He dishonored
God. When we're buried, physically,
or however we're going to take care of our bodies at the end
of our life, it will be sown in dishonor. but it will be raised
in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is
raised in power. Another statement, Adam got so
weak after he sinned, lost the light that God had given to him,
lost his love for God, lost everything, lost his family, lost himself,
died spiritually. He was in great dishonor, but
when God saves somebody, He raises them in glory, sown in weakness,
no weaker person on the face of the earth. than a person born
into this world, totally depraved, without God, to raise themselves. But this God can raise in power. It is sown in a natural body,
it is raised in a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body. We have celestial, we have terrestrial. And God is the ruler over all
things. He rules in heaven above and
on earth beneath and even under the earth as he declares it.
So he's the one that is going to deliver Israel. He's the one
that's going to bring all those outside nations up against Israel.
And he is going to confound every one of them. He's going to deliver
Israel. He's going to deliver the church.
He always will. We may walk through the water.
We may go through the fire, but he will deliver his people. Not
one will be lost. If you'll turn with me to the
book of Ephesians, we find read in this passage of scripture,
the book of Ephesians chapter two, and I've said many times,
you cannot enjoy chapter two unless you've already enjoyed
chapter one. Well, here in chapter two, the
Lord shares with us about his power, his power to raise, spread
out the heavens, His power to raise the foundations of the
earth, and He applies that to the spiritual realm on our behalf. In Ephesians chapter 2, beginning
with verse 4, He says, for God who is rich in mercy, for His
great love wherewith He loved us. He has an eternal love. It's a love that He had for the
church before the foundation of the world in the covenant
of grace. We were never unloved by God. We have always had eternal security. The church has always had eternal
security. They could never die before their
time. They could never die before they
heard the gospel. They could never die before regeneration.
Never. So we have eternal redemption. We have eternal security. We
have eternal sanctification. God has taken care of it all.
Now we didn't know about it. But it has all been taken care
of, every bit. Now notice this. Even when we
were dead in sins, before the heavens were created and the
foundation of the world was laid, even while we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved,
and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. that word quicken to be made
alive so he has made a resurrection on our behalf he that is able
to spread out the heavens and he is able to lay out the foundations
of the world and he that is able to create the spirit that is
within a man has said I will raise everyone to spiritual life
now join me for our last reading over in the book of Isaiah Isaiah
chapter 63 In Isaiah chapter 63, as we think about the burden
of the Lord, it truly is a burden. God would carry it out. His word
will not return unto Him void. He will not speak and not carry
it out. He will fulfill it. And here
we find in the book of Jeremiah chapter 63, Jeremiah chapter
63, excuse me, Isaiah chapter 63, Isaiah chapter 63 and verse 5
And I looked and there was none to help and I wondered that there
was none to uphold He that is able to stretch out the heavens
and to lay the foundations of the world has spoken He that
has created the spirit that's within a man has spoken. I wondered
that there was none to uphold therefore my own arm that created
the heavens and the earth, my own arm that spread the heavens,
my own arm that laid the foundations of the world, my own creative
arm that created the spirit within a man, my own arm brought salvation
unto me and my fury and it upheld me, my own arm. So God's activity in creating
the heavens and the earth is displayed in the salvation of
his people, his own arm. He depended on nobody, nothing
else, to stretch out the heavens. He depended on nothing else to
lay the foundations of the earth. He depended on nothing else to
create the spirit that's within a man. He has it all in control. He is the almighty God. He is
the one that laid the foundations of the heavens and the earth
And now he said here, I looked around me and there was nobody
that could save my people from their sins. Therefore, my own
arm brought salvation unto me. So that's the power of this God
that's going to save Israel. This Israel is a type and a shadow
and a picture of the church in every age. I will deliver them. Because I have the power to do
it, I have the authority to do it, and I'm able to do it. So
he said there, the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel
saith the Lord, who stretched forth the heavens, and layeth
the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man
within him, I will make Jerusalem as a cup of trembling wine. And they'll come and drink it,
and I will make them in a stupor. They've already lost the battle.
I'm in charge of that. So as we go through here, we
find out what joy it is to have a God that can take care of His
people after He saves them. He's had them in His mind from
eternity. He will continue to have them
in His mind through all their life, save them at the appointed
time, reveal Christ to them at the appointed time, and at the
appointed time, they will be raised to newness of life and
be in His presence. That's this God. That's the God
of the Bible, and God had great fault for those who said, I know
Him, but don't know Him. We'll stop there, and we'll pick
this up next time that we study the book of Zechariah.