Would you join us tonight in
your Bibles, in the book, The Gospel According to Zechariah.
Zechariah chapter 11. I was thinking today, and yesterday,
and the day before when I was preparing this, we are getting
through the book of Zechariah. The book of Zechariah chapter
11. Last week we spent some time
on verse 8. We discovered that throughout
the Old Testament, the Lord had used three groups of people to
be shepherds for the people. There were the prophets, the
priests, and the kings. And in this verse of Scripture,
we find out that those shepherds the Lord was going to cut off
because they were not faithful. Very few. We do have 16 that
we know were faithful. And then another prophet was
told by the Lord that I have 5,000 that have not bowed the
knee to Baal. So we have those throughout the
scriptures and I'm convinced that even today there are people
that we have no idea where they are that hold to what we believe. And they're the same with us.
They have no idea. Anyway, verse 8 of Zechariah
chapter 11 three shepherds also I cut off in one month." In a
period of time the Lord is going to do this, and my soul loathed
them. Now he loathed them because of
their lack of responsibility towards the people of God, or
lack of responsibility towards Israel, and we find that they
were sinners, and they had no, and they just out and out practiced
that. There weren't even good Pharisees
about it. That Pharisee said, Lord, look
at all the good things I'm doing. Well, we know the heart of people,
and there was kings, and there were prophets, and there were
priests that were just out and out bad people. They were bad
for the people of God. They were bad for the people
that weren't of God. They had no love for the gospel
and so forth. And in every respect today, we
just find that in religion today, that they are false shepherds. I just heard of a man who was
elected to a high position in a church order today that said,
well, he's not He knows he's not a Calvinist because he knows
God loves everybody. And you know, when a man makes
a statement like that, he's just not a good shepherd. He doesn't
have any understanding about the gospel and about the God
of the gospel. Now, we have to say sometimes,
as Paul reminded us in the book of Romans, is there sin with
God? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. We just don't want to go there.
We're not going to step into that, because God does everything
on purpose. All right, and then it goes on
here, and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred
me. So we found out last week how
often those shepherds abhorred the Lord, and abhorred his word.
They didn't want to have a thing to do with it. Verse nine, then
said I, I will not feed you, that dieth, and let it die. And that that is cut off, let
it be cut off, and let the rest eat, and every one's flesh of
another. And I took my staff, even beauty." Now notice who
did this. He, the owner of the staff, cut
it asunder, that I might break my covenant, which I made with
all the people. And it was broken in that day.
And so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that
it was the word of the Lord. Now there's several very interesting
things brought out in this passage of scripture. But one of them
is that God stopped a covenant. God cut off
a covenant. And then it tells us in verse
11 that the people who knew God knew that it was the word of
the Lord. Well, we probably won't get to verse 11 today, but I'd
like to spend some time on the subject of that God cut off a
covenant. Now, you know, I was stewing
around, how you do? Stewing around a bit about that?
What in the world? Because I know this, God will
never cut off his everlasting covenant. No matter what the
church does, if they're God's people, He will never cut them
off. He will never cease His covenant,
everlasting covenant, blood-bought covenant with His people. So
we have a covenant that is being cut off. Well, this covenant
is brought out a number of times in the Old Testament as well
as the New Testament that the Lord Himself said, I regarded
them not. Now this is a covenant that He
made with national Israel. and the position of National
Israel. It is amazing what National Israel
had as a result of a covenant that they agreed to keep with
God. Now, one of the things that is
really interesting to follow out, that God allowed that covenant
to go on for some 600 years. He could have called it over
that quick. The moment he said, keep this, and they said, we
will, and they didn't. It could have been over right
then, but he went on. Now, we're going to find out
that there was some elect in that nation that God intended
to save. He had a purpose to save. The
everlasting covenant, that which was brought out, covenanted before
the foundation of the world, needed to be carried out among
these people. Well, turn with me, if you would, over to the
book of Exodus chapter 19. the position that national Israel
had when God made a covenant with them. He delivered them
from slavery in Egypt. He delivered them from the water
of the Red Sea. He delivered them from the Egyptian
army. Now they enter into a covenant
relationship with God. And it is they that are entering
into a covenant with God. He said this and they said they
would. Well, that covenant is brought
out here in the book of Exodus chapter 19. Would you turn there
with me? Exodus chapter 19, and we read
in this passage of scripture, verses one through eight is what
I'd like to read, says, in the third month, when the children
of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same
day came thee into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed
from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had
pitched in the wilderness, and there Israel camped before the
mount. And Moses went up unto God, and
the Lord called unto him out of the mount, saying, Thus shalt
thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel,
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear
you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore,
if ye will obey my voice, and deed, and keep my covenant, then
ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for
all the earth is mine. and ye shall be unto me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which thou
shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And then it drops
down here in verse seven, the Moses came and called for the
elders of the people and laid before their faces all these
words which the Lord commanded them. And all the people answered
together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses returned the words
of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear
when I speak with thee and believe thee forever. And Moses told
the words of the people unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto
Moses, Go unto the people and sanctify them today and for tomorrow,
and let them wash their clothes. A number of other things are
mentioned here, but the Lord spoke to Moses from Mount Sinai
and said, go down and talk to these people. Now, whether it
was representative or everybody had a vote, I don't care. It
doesn't matter. Because those people said, we
will keep what God says for us to keep. Well, if we follow this
out, we find that in Chapters 20, 21, 22, and 23 is the covenant. This you shall do. And they answered
a number of times. Now God has set them up for us
to be able to see them as an example. Because we're gonna
follow God through here and he is going to provide everything
they need. Physically. Physically. Everything they need. Food, water, shoes, clothes. everything they need. The manna
provides every nutrient that they need for traveling through
the wilderness. The quail, the meat, their clothes didn't wear
out, their shoes didn't wear out, they had water given to
them, everything was provided to them physically. Now God's
only request to them was you follow my law. Well we have in
this an example of what even if the holy god puts his hand
around us physically and provides everything for us physically
and we have no cares no concerns and our heart is not changed
we will have an attitude towards god that it's not enough it is
not enough and they rebelled against god how many times well
in exodus chapter 24 Exodus 24, verses 1-3. Would
you turn there? Exodus chapter 24. It's not enough. That's the complaint. We had more back in Egypt. It's
not enough. You're not doing enough for us.
And they came against Moses time and time again, and they had
already promised, we will keep the law. We will keep the covenant. Let's just put it that way. God
made a covenant, and they said they'd keep it. So we have a
covenant between two people. Almighty God and the children
of Israel. Two entities. God made a covenant, and they
agreed to it. Now, I'm so thankful that when
we get a little further into the everlasting covenant, the
human element is kept completely out of it. They are the recipients
of it, but the participation, they are not involved. It took
place before creation. It took place in the council
halls of eternity. It took place before man was
created. It took place before there was
any of God's elect ones born on the face of the earth. And
in that covenant of grace, the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit determined that they would do something for lost elect people
and it would be carried out. Now, even today, we as born again
believers have a great deal of trouble keeping straight. We can't stop sinning. We just can't. And yet in this
covenant of grace, God said, I have forgiven all your sins. I have put them as far as the
east is from the west. They're not going to be brought
up again. I will not remember them again. And we go, thank
you, Lord. Because if we, if he, if he counted
our sin, who should stand? Who should stand? Nobody. All
right, Exodus chapter 24, verse one, two, and three. Let's look
at this. And he said unto Moses, come
up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the
elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone
shall come near the Lord, But they shall not come nigh, neither
shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people
all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the
people answered with one voice." Now, I've used a term about national
Israel that has been used in the trade world, favored nation
status. They were a favored nation. Not
one word was ever brought to the Hittites or the Hivites or
the Egyptians. And nobody has a problem with
that because it's Israel. But he chose
out this one nation. He chose out Israel. He set them
free. They come to Mount Sinai. They
spend some time there. And we've been spending some
time there in the book of Numbers because that's where they built
the tabernacle. And that's where the sacrifices are going to take
place. And here we have them out there. They are an example
of God taking care of a group of people so closely and still
they don't have a heart to love him. And he's going to bring
that out. All right, it goes on, Moses
came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all
the judgment and all the people answered with one voice and said,
all the words which the Lord has said will we do. You know, that's what people
who are attempting to keep the law today are saying in their
heart. We will keep it all and God will
be turned in our direction because of it. Well, he was turned against
them for that here. Goes on in verse four, and Moses
wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning
and built an altar and under the hill of 12 pillars according
to the 12 tribes of Israel. And on it goes. All right, turn
with me, if you would, just a little further. As we look at this subject
of God shutting off a covenant, God putting a covenant aside,
over here in verse eight of this same chapter, and Moses took
the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, behold,
the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning
all these words. Now we do find out in this covenant,
the blood that was sprinkled is not God's blood. This is animal
blood. and all of those animal sacrifices.
When we get to the New Testament, there were some people in the
Old Testament that understood this quite clearly, that it's
not by the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. It's not possible. They're animals,
and their blood has no atoning value at all. Moses took the
blood and he sprinkled the blood, and then if you'll turn with
me to Deuteronomy, the book of Deuteronomy chapter 31, Deuteronomy
chapter 31. We are dealing with the Old Testament
covenant. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy. In Genesis, we have the family
that's going to be set aside for this covenant. In Exodus,
Numbers, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, we have the
law given to them, and we have their agreement about this. God is sharing with us how These
people, put into this place, all agreed to keep this covenant. And then we're going to find
out, after this many years, God said, enough is enough. And He
shows with us that that's not the covenant of grace. It's not
the covenant of grace. Alright, here in the book of
Deuteronomy, chapter 31 and verse 20. Chapter 31 and verse 20,
it says, for whom I shall have brought
them into the land which I swear unto their fathers, that floweth
with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves,
and waxen fat, then will they turn unto other gods, and serve
them, and provoke me, and break my covenant." Now God's just
not speaking here. He's saying this is going to
happen. This is going to happen. This is the inevitable, but it's
also the purposeful. This is going to show that even
with the kindest care and the complete care that God gave them,
they're going to worship other idols. Well, it doesn't take
us very far going backwards to find out that after many of them,
after they got out of Egypt, they built a golden calf. And
right in the middle of that's Aaron. Just like we find a lot
of folks are right in the middle of sin in the Old Testament and
yet because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That's our only
hope is blood and righteousness. All right. And Joshua chapter
7. Would you turn there to the book of Joshua chapter 7. Joshua
chapter 7. This theme continues on after
the children of Israel get into the promised land. They're still
national Israel. They still have this part of
the covenant, even though these many times they have turned against
God and said, you're not doing enough. Here in the book of Joshua
chapter 7 and verse 11, The scriptures share this, Israel have sinned. They have also transgressed my
covenant, which I commanded them. For they have even taken of the
accursed thing, and also have stolen and dissembled, also have
put it even among their own stuff. Now this is Achan and the trouble
at Ai, but they have broken my covenant. That's what he said,
and he keeps bringing this up. You know, over and over, this
is mentioned in the Old Testament. Now, I would like to go back
to the book of Deuteronomy for just a short read because here
we find even if we live in America and have all of the food that
we could possibly eat and a nice home and good transportation
and on and on, the benefits go, if God does not do something
for us, it is all in vain. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter
29, verses 1-4, there is a good reason, God brings it out here,
and it is a reason that still stands. Why don't people flock
to the Gospel? Why don't people, when the Gospel
is preached and the end of the Gospel is eternal rest with Jesus
Christ, Why is it that people will not come? Because when the
preacher of the gospel shares, he's took care of the sins of
all of his people. We would naturally think that
they would flood in. Oh, this is the best news I ever
heard. And yet, we can't pry them out of their seats. We can't
get our own to come. Have we been a bad example? Maybe. But that's not the real reason.
Here's the real reason. These are the words of the covenant
which the Lord commanded Moses to take, make with the children
of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he
made with them in Horeb. And Moses called unto all Israel
and said unto them, ye have seen all that the Lord did before
your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, and unto all his
servants, and to all his land. Remember. Go back for just a
moment and see where you were. See the conditions you were in
and see who set you free from that. The great temptations what thine
eyes have seen, the signs and those great miracles. Yet, this
is one of the largest yets in the Bible. Yet, the Lord, here's
the reason, Jehovah. capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. The Lord hath not given you a
heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this
day. You know, we could flog them
all we want to about you should have, you should have, you should
have. And I don't know how many people have said when they read
all of this about national Israel in the Old Testament and their
inability to keep the covenant and be right in the eyes of God
would say, if I was back there, I'd sure done different than
they did. We're not doing any different now. My goodness. It wasn't for salvation. This
covenant was not for salvation. It was to illustrate the most
monumental point. By nature, we are enmity with
God. And even with the greatest of
favor, the greatest of favor. We probably have it better here
in the United States right now than they ever had it. Because
they had to walk everywhere they went. And we still haven't learned
a thing. And who is it that turns aside? Who is it that comes and hears? Who is it that says, oh, wretched
man that I am? the ones that the Lord has given
heart to perceive. What do we call that from a New
Testament standpoint? The new birth! I didn't give
you the new birth. That's why you didn't do all
this. And we can beat them and flog them all we want, but that's
why they did not come to God. That's why they could not keep
that covenant. And that's why God said, I have
something else. It's much better than that. And
I'll reveal that to my True Israel. I'll reveal this covenant to
my true Israel. The words of the Lord to national
Israel, the covenant was broken by Israel. Enough is enough. I read, and you know all of these
numbers are subjective or whatever it is. They're not so accurate. But I read where Israel started
in the wilderness in 1450 BC. And Zechariah is writing in 525
BC. That's 900 years. And Zechariah is writing that
God said, I'm gonna cut this rot in two and break my covenant. Now it was prophesied by Jeremiah. Jeremiah was in the circa of
600 BC. So 75 years before Zechariah
comes on the scene, Jeremiah is saying, this is what God's
gonna do. Now he brings up that covenant
that we just all depend on. The covenant between the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The one that promises to put
away our sin. The one that took care of sin.
So if you will turn with me to the book of Jeremiah, chapter
31. This is 75 years approximately
before the time of Zachariah when this covenant is going to
be ceased. Here in the book of Jeremiah chapter 31. Now we refer
to this quite a bit because it's mentioned twice in the book of
Hebrews. Covenants are mentioned there
and this one is brought up twice there in the book of Hebrews
chapter 8 and chapter 10. Here in the book of Jeremiah
chapter 31 verse 31. I'm in Deuteronomy. Give me a
moment here. No wonder I couldn't get that
last verse to come up. Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. Just remember, as we read this,
what rich, physical blessings God gave to national Israel.
They were so much better off than all of the peoples around
them. And yet, given the opportunity,
they adopted every one of those gods, brought them in, built
groves to them, built sanctuaries for them, had priests for them,
and still had their temple still had their priests, still had
their prophets, and still had their kings. Those shepherds,
well, we say they should have known different, but we have
a problem. They didn't have a heart. You can't expect sight out of
a blind man. Alright, here in the book of
Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 31, it says, Behold, the days come
saith the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah. Now Paul spent a great
deal of time in the New Testament and there are some people in
the Old Testament that understood this principle that not all Israel
is of Israel. Moses could see that. Joshua
could see that. What are you doing? How could
you go over there, 10 of you, go over there and spy out this
land and come back lying like you're doing? How could you do
that? Joshua and Caleb says, the Lord is able, the Lord is
able, the Lord is able. And 10 of them come back and
says, no he's not, no he's not, and no he's not. And those two
guys knew they were lying. Not all Israel is of Israel. Here's the example. 20% at this
point. And the rest of them died in the wilderness as a result
of this. God revealed unto Joshua and Caleb, God opened their heart,
whatever we want to talk, gave them the new birth and they could
see the God of heaven, how glorious he was and he keeps his word.
So here we go. not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant
they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord." I
was a husband to them. I took care of them. I provided
for them all of their temporal blessings, and I put them in
a position that I could show them by type, shadows, and pictures
the true Savior. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will
write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall
be my people, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall
all know me. What a rich blessing we have
as a result of the new birth. God's people know God. God's
people know Him as the Father. They know the Son. They know
the Holy Spirit. They know the activities of these.
From the least of them to the greatest of them, there's not
going to be great big eyes and little youths. Everybody is going
to have the same revelation. It's going to be, there's going
to be knowledge of God and the greatness of God. saith the Lord,
for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth
the sun for light by day, and ordinances of the moon, and the
stars for light." What's he saying? I am the Almighty God. That's
what the Almighty God says about this. So there's going to be
a covenant that's going to be given. Now this covenant is,
some people, sometimes we call it the new covenant. But it's
more clearly declared as the everlasting covenant. It was
in effect in the Old Testament for everyone that was ever saved. The Lord will never disannul
His covenant of grace, because it is not made with man. It is made between the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Where was the weak link in the
old covenant? Man. God wasn't weak. It was weak because of the flesh.
It was weak because of man. There in verse 32 of that 31st
chapter of Jeremiah, it says, Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, and I'll make a new covenant. with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. And they broke that old covenant
over and over and over. Well, I grew up on a small farm in
extreme northern California, and I was responsible for several
years of keeping the fences up. I never, ever got to use a brand
new roll of wire. Dad would get wire from a neighbor,
or he'd have wire in a pile, and you'd go out and mend it.
Now that's what they did with that old covenant. They never
were given new. It was always old wire and they
couldn't get out of the hole they were in. Now there's only
one that can get us out of the hole. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is new to us. It is a
new covenant. It is an eternal covenant. The
covenant they broke. Israel broke. Constantly broke.
Zechariah mentions the cancellation of this covenant. there as we
read in the book of Zechariah. Would you turn there with me
again in Zechariah? Zechariah chapter 11. And I took my staff even beauty,
verse 10, and cut it asunder that I might break my covenant. Zechariah shares with us that
this covenant, now I looked up the word covenant and only picked
out the book of Jeremiah. I was astonished at the number
of times the word covenant is just mentioned in the book of
Jeremiah, because that's where we read about, I'm going to have
a new covenant. I'm not going to have the old
covenant. They broke it. It's no longer in effect. I don't
have to keep it. A covenant between two and one
breaks it. It is not a covenant anymore.
And so, National Israel is no longer an entity before God. Now, to the religious world,
it still is. But to God, it isn't! I don't
have any worship of Israel, national Israel, and I'm not anti-Semitic. I'm just simply saying the gospel
needs to go out to everybody or anybody in order for them
to be saved, Jew or Gentile. They're not going to be saved
on some special auspices by God. They're going to be saved by
the grace of God just like the rest of us are. In the book of
Jeremiah, chapter 34, Going back to the book of Jeremiah, there's
something happened here in the book of Jeremiah that really
illustrates the point that God wants to make with Israel. Why
he is doing away with this covenant in Jeremiah chapter 34. Jeremiah
chapter 34. Now, in the book of Leviticus,
it talks about the year of Jubilee. And the year of Jubilee, if you
had a servant or a slave, you were to release them. Now, it was every 50 years, so
if you got one at the beginning of that 50 years, or you got
one halfway through, or you got one at the last year, it doesn't
matter, you're going to release them. And here in the book of
Jeremiah, chapter 34, verse 13, Thus saith the Lord, the God
of Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day
that I brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of Bonman, saying, at the end of seven years let
ye go every man his brother and Hebrew which hath been sold unto
thee when he hath served thee six years thou shalt let him
go free from thee but your fathers hearken not unto me neither incline
their ears isn't that just religion to the core you're supposed to
let him free I can't why not because the economy depends on
him The economy depends on him. I can't let him free. I got to
keep him in bondage. I got to keep him under my thumb.
I got to keep them under the law. I got to keep... Well, it
goes on. And ye were now turned and had
done right in my sight. Oh, let me see. At the end of
seven years, let him, every one, go. But your father's heart could
nodded to me, neither incline their ear, And ye were now turned,
and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every
man to his neighbor. And ye made a covenant before
me in the house, which is called by my name. But ye turned, and
polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every
man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure
to return, and brought them into subjection to be unto you for
servants and handmaids. That covenant, God said, I regarded
not. It's over. There's no more. The old covenant was between
God and all Israel, and all Israel said, we will do. And then they said, we're sorry,
when they didn't. The judges, look at the judges. The everlasting covenant is made
between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they
will keep that covenant, and in that covenant, sin is put
away. Sin is taken care of. And he
will never, ever say to any of his children, I regarded it not. The Lord changes not, therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. So the promise of the father
about this Now going back to Zechariah for just a moment,
Zechariah chapter 11, verse 11. And it was broken in that day.
That was that covenant. It was broken in that day. And
so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was
the word of the Lord. The church knows something about
this. The people of God knew something about this. Well, we
get to the book of Hebrews in the New Testament and this covenant
is brought up again and reminded as there were those people who
wanted to get other people under the law again. What was the Galatian
problem? Hebrews, get them under the law
again And the writer of the book of Hebrews writes twice, inspired
writing twice. I regard that covenant null and
void, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah after those days. I
will take care of the sin issue. What's that mean? I'm going to
give them a heart. I didn't give them a heart, but I'll give my
church the heart to believe. And so God kept that promise. He cut that one staff in half
and broke it in front of them and said, the covenant's over.
Well, it's just about like the children of Israel in the days
when that great veil was ridden twain from top to bottom. Historians
tell us those priests went back in there and sewed that up because
we're not through with it. We're not through with it. God's
through with it, but we're not through with it. And that's putting
people under the law, which we cannot keep. Christ kept it perfectly. We are trusting the blood and
righteousness of Christ, for He is the true Lamb of God. All
those other lambs are symbolic. He is the true Lamb of God, and
He will put them to sin forever. Man.