Zechariah chapter 10. Zechariah
chapter 10. And we're going to read verses
8 through 12. And we spent some time on verse 8 last week and
we'd like to go over it again because you know the more we
look the more we find sometimes the Lord opens up and I just
found some things that were a real blessing and I want to share
those with you. So let's read verses 8 through
12 of Zechariah chapter 10. I will hiss for them. and gather
them for I have redeemed them and they shall increase as they
have increased. I will sow them among the people. That's a planting word. I will
sow them among the people and they shall remember me in far
countries and they shall live with their children and turn
again. And I'll bring them again also out of the land of Egypt
and gather them out of Assyria and I'll bring them into the
land of Gilead and Lebanon, and the place shall not be found
for them. And he shall pass through the
sea of affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and
all the deeps of the river shall dry up, and the pride of Assyria
shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart
away. And I will strengthen them in
the Lord, and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith
the Lord. I want to remind myself, as well
as you, that this was originally written as a poem. Now their
poetry and our poetry may be different, but it was written
in verse. And it's metaphorical language,
it's pictorial language that he is using here and we do not
want to interpret it literally, but we want to see if we can
find some things that speak to us from a spiritual standpoint.
There in verse eight, last time we looked at it a little bit,
and we noticed that there is the word hiss that is used there.
It is found a number of places in the scriptures, and this word
has been translated in different translations. I will signal for
them. I will whistle for them. I will blow for them. I will
cause my people to come to me. That's what it means. When he
hisses, he will cause his people to come to him. He will call,
they will come. His people will hear his voice
and they will come. My sheep hear my voice and they
come. I will call or cry for them. And the allusion to this is the
cry of a shepherd. A shepherd's voice, or a shepherd
sometimes in this period of time used a pipe or a whistle to call. And it saved the voices. But
that's what it means to hiss, is to call. And this was a sound
that the sheep, the shepherd had trained his sheep to hear
this voice, this pipe, this whistle. And they came and gathered around
him. So I will hiss for my people. It means they are going to come.
It denotes the call of the gospel, which is the voice of Christ.
We hear the voice of Christ in the gospel. It's such good news,
too, that this, it's a soft and it's a sweet and it's melodious.
You know, the law has nothing but sharpness in it, but the
gospel has nothing but sweetness about it. It has nothing but
melodiousness about it. It is the sound of love and grace
and mercy. It is of peace and pardon and
life and salvation. There's no greater words to be
heard than to be to hear the word pardon when we find ourselves
completely guilty. And we understand that God is
just in finding us not only guilty, but punishing us for that guilt.
And then to find out in the gospel, the Lord has already been punished
for that. He's already taken us away. We
are pardoned. We're set free. We're at peace.
When He says, my peace I give you, it is a serious peace that
He gives us. We're settled. Looking for other
things. We're not looking for another
pasture. So I have redeemed them. The Redeemer declares this. And I have purchased by paying
the debt. I have redeemed them. Now, I've
mentioned this, and I think one of the places that we truly understand
this, if you've ever had to use a pawn shop, I used to work in
one. People would come in and hawk
something that belonged to them. And they were given a certain
amount of time to come back and pick that up. And they would
come in, and it was called redemption. Here's the redemption price,
and here is what you're going to redeem, and you're the redeemer.
And they'd come back in and pay the price, plus interest, and
they could take it home. They redeemed it out of the pawn
shop. Well, the Lord redeemed his people,
paid for them completely with full interest. In fact, he says,
double I paid for you. And that's an illusion. Anything
that could possibly be thought of has been taken care of. Sins
past, present, and future. He paid for all our sin. So he
is the one, as it tells us there in verse eight, For I have redeemed
them, and they shall increase as they have increased, and I
am going to have them grow. What a wonderful blessing it
is. Now, sovereignly, he gives to everyone as he sees fit, but
everyone is going to have some growth given to them by the Lord.
They're going to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now if we look here in verse
9 it says, I will sow them. I will sow them. Why does God
have people in all parts of the world that he has saved? Because
he put them there on purpose. You know, I will sow them among
the people. It may seem that we scattered
ourselves indiscriminately. Sometimes we went after a job.
Sometimes we want to be with family. Sometimes we did this,
sometimes we did that. And we just sometimes looks like
it's indiscriminate. You look at some of the people
that come through there where the Statue of Liberty is, Ellis
Island, that came through there. They're trying to escape things
or trying to get away from things or trying to have a better life.
And they come to the United States, and they settle in places, and
lo and behold, by the grace of God, some of them got to hear
something they would have never heard in their land. And God
does it on purpose. We are where we are, every step
that we've ever had in our life, where we were born, where we
grew up, where we moved to, has always been on purpose by an
almighty God. He doesn't waste our time, and
surely He does not waste His time. He is on purpose. He has order in it. We may think
we're moving indiscriminately, but He has order in it. Turn
with me to a wonderful passage of Scripture over in the book
of Deuteronomy. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32. The
book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32. We find here, beginning with
verse 1 of this 32nd chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. Old
Testament declaring New Testament true. If we look at the Old Testament
with New Testament eyes, what a glorious thing. What a glorious
passage of scripture. And God allows us to look over
all of that legalism and see the glory of Christ in the Old
Testament. Here, well in Luke, excuse me,
Deuteronomy chapter 32, beginning with verse one, he says, give
ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak and hear over the words
of my mouth. My doctrine, my teaching, shall
drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, as the showers upon
the grass. Because I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock,
His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment. A God
of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. There is
no God that fulfills all of those things. He is the only God that
fulfills all of those things. He is the rock. And it says,
they have corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of
his children. They are perverse and crooked
generation. Do ye thus requite the Lord,
O foolish people and unwise? It is not he, thy father, that
hath bought thee. Hath he not made thee and established
thee? Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father, and he will show
thee. Thy elders, and they will tell
thee. when the Most High divideth the
nations, their inheritance, when he scattered the sons of Adam,
he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the
children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his
people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in
a desert land, in a waste, howling wilderness. He led him about,
he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." Did
you notice verse eight there? We have almost the same verse
over in the book of Acts. We're going to read that in just
a moment. But he, when he separated the sons of Adam, now it's the
Lord that separated the nations. It's the Lord that moved the
people through all the known world and throughout the world
that we didn't even know about for a long time. He put people
where he wanted them. He says, I will sow them. You
know, we sow indiscriminate. Even in the parable of the sower,
the sower went forth to sow. And you know, we think that we're
wasting time by having it scattered among the thistles and the rocks
and where the birds can get it. Well, God has his purpose even
in that. But when he sowed his people, he put them exactly where
he wanted them. And he will have them hear the
gospel exactly when he wants them to hear it. And he will
bring his people out of those lands just like he tells us there
in the book of Zechariah chapter 10 where we've been reading.
It says here, he separated the sons of Adam. He set the bounds
of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
He set their bounds. He put them where he want them.
He sewed them. like him, reaching down in a sack of seed, only their people,
and he scattered them out, and they fell exactly where he wanted
each of them to fall. They're born where he wants them
to be born. They live where he wants them
to live. and we die where He wants us
to die. Alright, let's look at this same
theme in another place, in the book of Job. Job chapter 14,
and then we'll go to the book of Acts chapter 17. In the book
of Job chapter 14, we have Job... I had a lot of conversation with
somebody today about the devil. And I just told him, the devil
is God's devil. And Job illustrates the point.
He couldn't do anything without permission. He is not omniscient,
he's not omnipresent, and he's not omnipotent. He can't get
into your mind. It's impossible. There's only
one that can. Alright, Job chapter 14. Job chapter 14. Verse one, man that is born of
a woman is a few days and full of trouble. It's just our depravity. We just can't do anything else. He cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes
upon such a one and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? What a statement. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? The answer, not one. See in his days are determined. The number of months are with
thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. What a statement we have here.
He's appointed the bounds and we cannot pass. We think we're
doing We think we are moving, we think we're doing it, but
there's already been a prescription made and a purpose made by God
to put us in the right place. It was a wonderful thing to discover
that I was in the right place to hear the gospel. There were
times I didn't want to be in that place, but it was on purpose
that I was there. All right, travel with me over
to the book of Acts chapter 17, and this is up again. Paul is
visiting in Athens. He's visiting that great temple
and he's speaking at Mars Hill. In the book of Acts chapter 17
verse 22. I'm about ready to get some pictures
printed of our trip and I want to show you where Mars Hill is.
It was interesting to see just a knob of a rock. just below
the Acropolis there, a knob of a rock called Mars Hill, where
judgment was taken care of. Well, here in the book of Acts,
chapter 17, verse 22. Chapter, Acts 17, verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things ye are too religious, superstitious. For as I pass
by and behold your devotions, I found an altar with an inscription
to the unknown God, whom therefore ye eagerly worship, him declare
I unto you, God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth. What a wonderful statement
the Apostle Paul is sharing with the Athenians. He has made heaven
and earth. and all that dwell in. And he
dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needeth anything. God doesn't
need anything, and He doesn't need anybody, but He is pleased
to have the church cry out, Worthy is the Lamb. He is pleased, seeing
He giveth all life and breath and all things, and hath made
of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the
earth, and hath appointed the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation." So as he declares to us over
in the book of Zechariah chapter 10, he said, I've sown you. The one who sows the real seed
knows where the seed is and needs to fall. He knows where his sheep
are. He knows where they are. They're
not unknown to him. He's not discovering something
when they finally raise their hand. He knows where they are. Let's go back over there to Zechariah
chapter 10 again. Zechariah chapter 10. He says,
I will sow them among the people. He sowed national Israel among
the people. He sowed his spiritual Israel
among the people. That's where he finds us. And
among every tribe, nation, people, and tongue. People that can't
understand, people over here, but they understand the gospel
when it's revealed to them. It says, and they shall remember
me in far countries, and they shall live with their children
and turn again. Now, the Lord in his great mercy. We're scattered out there, and
it just reminds me of the fall of Adam, that he went into a
desperate situation. He went into desperate darkness.
He went into desperate hatred for God. He just went to the
most worst possible position anybody could ever be in and
passes that on to us. And yet in all of that, God knows
His sheep. Even in their darkness, He knows
where they are. He sowed them where He puts them.
And He's planted them where He intends to have the gospel go
find them. And then it says here in verse 10, I will bring them
again. What a promise. I sowed them,
I will bring them. I'm going to bring them, and
it says, I'll bring them also out of the land of Egypt and
gather them out of Assyria. Now, if you read much in the
Bible about Egypt or Assyria, you find that neither one of
those places have a whole lot going for them. Both of them are used as a symbol,
a type of a shadow. A desperate place, sinful place,
are very very nature it represents that and none of them are good
we're going to find that same term in verse 11 there it says
uh the latter last phrase it says in the pride of assyria
shall be brought down in the scepter of egypt shall depart
away so god's going to deal with those places that we've been
scattered it's just like i'll bring them out of the worst possible
place that they could ever find themselves that's what the apostle
paul said chiefest of sinners I'm in the worst possible place
by nature, chiefest of sinners. There's not a good thing in me.
There's not a good thing about me. And yet God has said he sold
me and he's going to find me and bring me out of that place.
He's going to bring me out of Egypt, just like he did with
the children of Israel. He brought them out with a high
hand, it says. He took them out of that place. They were in prison. They were in slavery, but he
took them out and did not leave one of them there. and not even
a dog barked when they left. And they left exactly the right
day. To the day, it says. They were
there 400 years to the day. Well, thank God that in His good
purpose, to the very day, when it pleased God, He brings us
out of Egypt and Assyria. He brings us out of that place.
I will bring them out. We would have just been as satisfied as
we could be as that young man who left his father, took all
of that he owned, took his inheritance, went down to a far country, gathered
himself with a guy that, after he'd spent everything, to a guy
that raised swine and fed them and then eat the swine food.
You know he'd have still been doing that if God hadn't got
involved with him? If God hadn't given him a mind
to see where he was? He was pleased with that. And
if God is pleased to leave us in Egypt or Assyria, we'll be
just as happy as clams there. We may think we're in the worst
place possible, but it's okay. I'm home, and I got my family
around here, and I built a house down here. And I got a few garden
vegetables out there in the back. Well, that's what we find. Look,
turn with me, if you would, to Luke 15. Luke 15, verse 15. We remember this son, the lost
son, Sometimes we call him the prodigal son, but he's really
the lost son. He's just lost. There's a lost
coin here in this passage, lost sheep here in this passage. Here's
the lost son. Luke 15, 15, it tells us there,
and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country,
and he sent him into his fields to feed swine, and would Thane
have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat? No man gave unto him. And then
when He came to Himself, we're so thankful that the Holy Spirit
deals with us, quickens us, brings us. He went home then. Well, we find
the same thing. Turn with me, if you would, back
to the book of 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel, there's a place called
Lodibar. I don't find any word here that
this grandson of Saul had any interest to go see David. It's
the other way around. Second Samuel, chapter 9. We have David inquiring about
Mephibosheth. David's inquiring about him.
Is there any left of the household of Saul, of the household of
his friend? In 2 Samuel 9, verse 3, the king
said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may
show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame in his feet. And the
king said unto him, Where is he? Now, our king knows where
we are, because he sowed us there. David is showing interest to
show that God has an interest in His people. Now, this guy
lived in Lodibar. This is not a good place to live,
but you know what? I don't have a record one that
he was looking to leave. He's home. And in fact, when
it came time for him to leave, he was fetched. He was brought
out. David got involved with him.
Now he couldn't walk, we know that. He was dropped when he
was a young boy. But it says here that he was
in Lodibar. He said, verse four, the king
said unto him, where is he? And Ziba said, the king, behold,
he is in the house of Makar, the son of Amiel, in Lodibar. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Makar, the son of Amiel, from Lodibar. How gracious is our God to bring
us out of Egypt and Assyria, out of Lodibar and the Pigpen,
where we are by nature, and we can't get out of there. We can't
leave. We don't have a passport. Brother
Wayne was sharing with me that after he preached the message
some time ago, just recently, one of the men of the church
came up and says, we just don't have anything to offer at the
table, do we? Exactly right. We don't have a thing to offer
at the table. And he's brought to the king's house to enjoy
the food of the king. What a blessing. So I will bring
them. I will bring them out of Lodibar.
I will bring them out of the pig pen. I'll bring them out
of Assyria. I'll bring them out of Egypt.
I'll bring them out of the worst place possible. We won't find
many positive words in the scriptures either about the place of Assyria
or about Egypt. There is, but he will bring us
out. And it tells us there in Zechariah
where he brings us to. That's just as important as being
brought out. In the book of Zechariah chapter
10, he brings us out to a place. Zechariah chapter 10. Look here,
where does he bring us? I'll bring them into chapter
10 verse 10. I'll bring them again out of
the land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria. I'll bring
them out of the worst possible places, the most oppressive places. Sin is oppressive. Death is oppressive. I'll bring them out. I'll gather
them. I will bring them into the land
of Gilead and Lebanon. The place shall not be found
for them." Now, it's interesting. to read
about these places of Gilead and Lebanon. I thought they were
more like countries. But the definition of their name
has something greatly significant about why he would bring us to
that point. Now there's two times that Gilead
is mentioned in the book of Genesis that is very important to us.
So we're going to go back over there to Genesis chapter 31.
We have a discussion between Laban and his son-in-law His
son-in-law said you've changed my my wages ten times And I really
wasn't interested in the wife you gave me to begin with but
I didn't give her back to you I took the other wife too and
here we have this discussion in Genesis chapter 31 and verse
38 now they're going to make a covenant and Laban and his
son-in-law are going to make a covenant. It's an agreement
between the two of them. Now we're going to see here that
the Lord brings us to a place of a covenant of grace. We're
not here by a covenant of works. We're here by a covenant of grace.
There was an agreement by the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit on the behalf of the church, on the behalf of those sown into
a far country, those that are brought out from those places. We call them as pictorial, Egypt
and Assyria, place of great servitude, great... well, they're just awful
places. And he brings us to Gilead and
to Lebanon. Now here in the book of Genesis
chapter 31, Genesis 31 and verse 38, we have this word Gilead.
The original word Gilead is used here, and this is what it means.
One, Laban uses the term that is for... It was their language, his language. Aramaic, and then the other one
is Hebrew. But let's look here. Genesis 31, verse 38. It says
here, This twenty years have I been
with thee. Thy ewes and thy she-goats have
not cast their young, and the rams of the flock have not eaten.
That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee, I bear
the loss of it, and my hand did thou require it, whether stolen
by day or stolen by night. Thus I was in the day of the
drought consumed me, the frost by night, and my sleep departed
from my eyes. Thus have I been twenty years
in thy house. I have served thee fourteen years
for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle, and thou
hast changed my wages ten times. Except the God of my father,
the God of Abraham, and the Pharaoh of Isaac, had been with me, surely
thou hast sent me away empty. God hath seen mine affliction,
and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday night.
And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my
daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle
are my cattle, and all that thou see is mine. And what came I,
can I do this day unto thee, my daughters, or unto their children,
which they have borne? Now therefore, come thou, let
us make a covenant, I and thou, and let us be a witness between
me and thee. Now there's a covenant going
to be made here, but this covenant is not near as important as the
covenant of grace. But when God calls us out of
Egypt or Assyria and brings us to Gilead, he's bringing us to
covenant mercies. He's bringing us to the covenant
of grace. And he goes on to tell us here,
now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou,
And let it be for a witness between me and thee. And Jacob took a
stone and set up a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren,
gather stones. And they took stones and made
a heap. And they did eat there upon the
heap. And Laban called it that word. But Jacob called it Gilead,
a place of a covenant. The Lord brings us to Gilead. He brings us to the covenant
of grace. He brings us to the blessings
of the covenant of grace. He doesn't bring us to a covenant
of works. He brings us to a covenant of grace, and it's his grace,
all his grace. He would bring us out of Egypt
and Assyria and bring us to Gilead to a place of covenant. Well,
this goes on to tell us, I think it's in verse 48, and Laban said,
this heap is a witness between me and thee. This day, therefore,
was the name of it called Gilead. What a blessing we have. This
name where God is going to bring his people to is a name which
means an agreement, a covenant, a heap of stones here to mark
the place where this covenant agreement was. And now we have
the Lord bringing us to that place. And then it says he brings
us to Lebanon. Now this word is used twice,
once in the Psalms and once in Isaiah, and I'd like to read
both of those because it's very important. Where Lebanon, what
it means, it means whiteness due to the snow that was generally
in the mountains. But this word is used in Psalm
51. Would you turn with me to Psalm
51? For our benefit, this Psalm 51 is a whole lot. It is more
than just snow in the mountains. It is. What does it say here
in Psalm 51 and verse 7? Psalm 51 and verse 7. He brings
us to Lebanon. He brings us to a place of whiteness. Well, it's quite apparent here
what he had in mind when he said he'd do that. I'm going to bring
you to a place of the covenant of grace. I'm not leaving you
over there in Egypt or Assyria. I'm bringing you out, but where
I'm bringing you is a very important place. It's the benefits of the
covenant of grace, the blood of Christ, the righteousness
of Christ, the word of God. I'm bringing you to that place.
And then here in Psalm 51 and verse 7, it says, purge me with
hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. How clean is the Lord's cleaning?
It's Lebanon clean. Whiteness. There is no after. It's taken away. It's washed
away. And this word is again used in
Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 18. Come now, let us reason together,
though your sins be as scarlet. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18. So, He has sown us out into the
world. He has promised to bring all
of His sheep out of that, out of what he called Egypt and Assyria. Very harsh places. Sin is harsh. Judgment is harsh. The law is
harsh. He brings us out of that. But
he brings us to an agreement between the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. All that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. A promise. And then we find the
results of coming. He said, I'll clean you up. In Isaiah chapter 1, let me get
over there. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 18. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 18.
We have this recorded. He says, Come now and let us
reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. That word is again Lebanon. Though
they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool. White, clean,
pure. I'll wash away your sin. I'll
pay your sin debt. I'll take care of it. Washed
in the blood of the Lamb. So, when He brings us out of
those places, He doesn't leave us like we were. We're brought
to a covenant of grace. And we're brought clean. He's
cleaned us. He's washed us in His own blood. He's paid completely for all
our sin. Now, He left us in this state
that we're in But all the sin has been paid for. There is no
charge against the elect of God. Who shall bring a charge against
God's elect? No one, for it is God that justifies
it. Well, we shall want for nothing. There'll be no wants. And then
verse 11. Nothing will destroy the pride
of Assyria. Going back to Zechariah chapter
10, verse 11. Zechariah chapter 10. There in
verse 11, it says this. And he shall pass through the
sea of affliction and shall smite the ways in the sea and all the
deeps of the river shall dry up and the pride of Assyria shall
be brought down and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away. Nothing
will destroy the pride of Assyria and the scepter of Egypt like
God's salvation. We are at home in that with self-righteous
works. Pretending we're making our way
out. And God brings us out and settles
us into the covenant of grace and full payment for our sin.
And He said, I will destroy the pride of Assyria. I will destroy
the pride. You know, He brings this up.
Keep your finger for here just a moment. Turn with me over to
the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. He brings this subject up
about having pride. When he saves his people, he
destroys that. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
29, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 29, this whole thing that he
has to say about choosing somebody, he doesn't choose these because
they're smart or intelligent, but he chooses them because they're
nothing. He says, verse 29, that no flesh should glory in his
presence. The pride of Assyria, I will
smash it. And then he says, but of him
are you in Christ Jesus, who is of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. What? That according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. So
the pride of Assyria, he's going to take care of. All that we
had down in that former place that we live, and it might be
right here where we're living, but he's taken us out of Assyria
and Egypt and settled us in Lebanon and in Gilead. Settled us there and taken and
smashed all that. We no longer depend on anything
else but the blood and righteousness of Christ. He is all our salvation. He is all our hope. He's taken
away all that pride that we had. All the pride of Assyria. And he's taken away the scepter
of Egypt. You know, there's a number of
places in the New Testament that tells us death reigned. Death reigned. Death reigned. Death reigned from Adam to Moses.
And it tells us in the book of Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter
5. Just back up a little bit there
to Romans chapter 5. In our natural state, if the
Lord had not intervened by His covenant of grace that He had
purpose before the foundation of the world, death would have
reigned and that would have completed the situation. The dead that
die without Christ suffer the second death. This is the second
death. It says, well, here in the book of Romans, chapter 5,
verse 14, the scripture says, nevertheless, death reigned Adam
to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude
of Adam's transgression who is the figure of him that was to
come and then it tells us in verse 17 for if one man's obedience
for if by one man's offense death reigned by one much more than
which received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ And then in verse 21,
that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
What's he going to do with the scepter of Egypt, the reigning
of death? Put it aside. Oh grave, where
is thy victory? What a blessing it is that when
God saves his people, brings them out of the place. He actually
sewed them there. He knows where they are. He put
them there on purpose. They shall not move. He brings
them out, settles them down in Gilead and in Lebanon. He takes
care of them by his covenant of grace, washes them and makes
them as white as snow. And he says, besides that, I'll
take care of all the pride and I'll take care of death. I'll
put it away. It shall no longer hang over
you. Now we're going to face death physically. That's just
minor compared to what we should have got. Spiritual death for
eternity. So he takes care of all of that.
What a blessing. That he should break Assyria. He should put Assyria down. Isaiah
prophesies about this. Physically, God took care of
Assyria. Pictorially, spiritually, he
took care of Assyria for every one of his sheep. They no longer
will rule and reign over him. It tells us in that last verse
of Zechariah chapter 10. And I will strengthen them. Zechariah
chapter 10 verse 12. I will strengthen them in the
Lord and they shall walk. What did He tell the man? He
just couldn't get down in that pond. Would you like to walk? Well,
nobody's there to carry me. And then He says, take up your
bed and walk. Now he had to answer some questions
before the Sanhedrin court, and he didn't even know how it happened
until the Lord met him later. But when the God of heaven strengthens
us, we shall walk for His glory. One passage found in Micah chapter
4, and with this we'll close. Book of Micah chapter 4. Micah
chapter 4. Micah chapter four, beginning
with verse one. But in the last days, and here
we are, gospel days, it shall come to pass, did you know what?
Abel had gospel days. In the last days. That the mountain
of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of
the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and
the people shall flow into it. Speaking of the church, coming
out of the places where they've been, Many nations shall come
and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and
to the house of God of Jacob. When did that young man go? Back
to dad, when the Lord gave him a mind to go. And he will teach
us his ways and we shall walk in his paths. He will strengthen
us and we shall walk, walk in his paths. For the law shall
go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And
he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar
off. And they shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more." This is spiritual. God takes away that fight out
of us, our anger towards God. And then he says, they shall
sit every man under his vine and under his big tree and none
shall make them afraid. For the mouth of the Lord of
hosts has spoken it. For all people will walk everyone
in the name of his God. And we will walk in the name
of the Lord our God forever. You know, you notice that people
that are walking in religion, they're walking after their God.
But we will walk in the name of the Lord Jehovah our God forever. In that day, saith the Lord,
will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is
driven out, and her that hath afflicted. Look who the Lord's
going to gather together. The maimed, the halt, the blind. And I will make her that halteth
the remnant, and her that cast far off a strong nation, and
the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth
even forevermore. I will call you out of Egypt
and Assyria. I will settle you in Gilead and
Lebanon, and here's what I'll do for you when you're there.
I will have spoken. You shall walk in my counsel. You shall walk with me, and I
will reign over you forever and ever and ever and ever. What
a blessing the Lord has for us. We shall take up our bed and
walk, crippled in feet, but we shall walk. Well, Lord willing,
next time we'll look at chapter 11 of the book of Zechariah and
see if we can find some more there that shares with all the
rich blessings of grace. God calling his people out of
a far country to a place where grace is.