Would you join me tonight in
the book of Zechariah? Zechariah chapter 10. I hope
we can share some things out of this passage of scripture
that will be beneficial. I know that for the speaker,
generally speaking, there's much more given than he can ever share. And that's where we are tonight.
In the book of Zechariah chapter 10, I'd like to read beginning
with verse 5. And we're going to read down
through, I was going to read this whole rest of this chapter,
but I think we'll just read down through verse 8 and then spend
some time in those verses. Verse 5 of Zechariah chapter
10. And they shall be as mighty men,
which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in
the battle. Now before I read another word,
I want us to remember that this passage of scripture here was
written in verse. It was written in Hebrew poetry. Now it may not have rhymed like
our verse rhymes, but it was written in verse. And one of
the things that was benefited in verse is that there's a lot
of figures of speech used, a lot of pictorial language used. And
we find that spiritual things can only be given to spiritual
folks. We read that in the book of 1
Corinthians 2 and verse 14 where it says that the scriptures are
spiritually discerned. Now, I mentioned earlier that
it's just become so right in my face how hard it was for Isaiah
to admit that he was called when he found out that nobody's gonna
pay any attention. And where are you supposed to
do it from? From the housetops. And how long are you supposed
to do it? When nobody is going to pay any attention. And he
goes on to say, except the Lord left us a remnant, a very small
remnant, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom
and Gomorrah was not that far from a historical standpoint
from where Isaiah stood as it is for us to stand. He understood
that a whole lot more than we can understand it from a physical
standpoint. Now from a spiritual standpoint,
we understand it. But from a physical standpoint,
they were closer. And then over in the book of
Revelation, chapter 11 and verse 8, if you'll turn there for just
a moment, we'll come back and finish that verse. I just wanted
to bring this up that so much of the Bible is in figurative
language, spiritual language. And people can look at it and
get a physical answer, a physical instruction, physical, legal,
or whatever. But when it comes to spiritual
things, they pass right over it. And I'm just beginning to
understand that again, more and more, how people just pass over
that because they don't have a revelation given to them. In
the book of Revelation chapter 11, Revelation chapter 11, and
there in verse 8. Now, this point is illustrated
here. Now, he tells us what this is,
where this place is. It's where Christ was crucified.
This town, this city is where Christ was crucified. But he's
using figurative language to share with us in Revelation chapter
11. Let me get over there. Revelation
11, verse 8, it says, And their dead bodies shall lie in the
street of the great city. Now, when I read this, if I'm
looking for physical things, I can say, we've got two witnesses,
their bodies are going to lay. Well, we've got to keep it in
context with this. There's some spiritual meaning
here, and sometimes we just pass right over that. What it says
here, Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great
city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. Now there's
no good thing ever written about Sodom and Egypt. And he's writing
about a place which spiritually speaking is, spiritually is called
Sodom and Egypt. Now where is this place? Where
also our Lord was crucified. So he's speaking about Jerusalem,
but he uses these figures of speech that put it into a context
that if you are a natural Jew and you don't have any spiritual
understanding, you're gonna get upset about it. And you know
that's true about the whole Bible when we're in our natural state
and we have no spiritual understanding, there's some places that are
just gonna make us upset. They're there, God's revealing
Himself, but He's not revealing it in a way that could be understood. So as we go back over here to
the book of Zechariah, chapter 10 and verse 5, we have a warfare
going on, but the Lord has never used, for the disbursement of
the gospel, He's never used physical warfare. It isn't always a spiritual
warfare, it is a people that Isaiah said, God shared with
him, they're not going to pay any attention to you. Now, how
long can you bear with this? Well, that's just the way it's
always been. People are not going to try.
They're not lining up to hear it. They'll be religious. I was religious to the core.
And one old preacher said, we're all recovering Pharisees. And
sometimes I don't think that that's the truth until you get
to the point when you say that you find out you just spoke the
truth. We're recovering Pharisees. Well, it goes on to tell us here,
because the LORD is with them, and the riders on the horses
shall be confounded." Now, what I understand for confounded and
what is brought out in this passage of Scripture from the very Word
is two different things. When this was brought up, this
word confounded, it meant being dried up. It comes to us from
a word here in the Old Testament to make dry, to wither, to be
dry, to be dried up. So the Lord is going to bring
to naught. all the opposition He is going
to bring to nothing, all the opposition that we may have against
Him and others may have against Him, it's going to dry up. He's
going to bring, the horses shall be confounded. They are just
going to be brought to a standstill. They're going to be brought to
a point where there's no value in it. Turn with me, if you would,
back to the Psalm 22. In Psalm 22, we have the words
of the Lord Jesus mentioned here in Psalm 22. What a messianic
Psalm. This is, and it's almost word
for word what we find in the New Testament in the Gospels
about the crucifixion of the Lord. Here in Psalm 22 and verse
15, Psalm 22 and verse 15, we have these words that says,
My strength is dried up. That's the word confounded over
here in the book of Zechariah. My strength is dried up. Well,
You know, the Lord brings us to a point where every resistance
that we had is brought to naught. He overcomes all of that. And
He's the one that does that. He overcomes all of the unbelief. He overcomes all of the smartness
that we have. And we are dried up before Him. But when we're brought to that
point, He gives us the wells of water that spring to everlasting
life. In that Psalm 102, we have that
same word is used, Psalm 102 in verse four. And here it's
translated withered. How the Lord withers us up, dries
us up, brings us to a position. It's a strong battle and he's
the strong man. And he is the one riding upon
his horse, the church, and he's conquering, going forth to conquer
and to conquer. He's conquering and to conquer.
So He's going to overcome. He's going to wither up all the
excuses. He's going to wither up all of
the unbelief. He's going to put it aside and He's going to give
us His. In Psalm 102, verse 4, it says here, My heart is smitten
and withered like grass. Now, it won't be long. We're going to see this in full
effect. right here in the Columbia River
Gorge. It's beautiful when it's green,
but it won't be long and that grass is going to be withered
up. dry, put to naught. Well, I'm thankful that the Lord
does that when he brings the gospel to us and he takes everything
that we are attached to and withers it up and takes it away and removes
it and it's no longer part of what we have to satisfy our own
needs. He gives us all that we need. He gives us himself. And it's
in Proverbs 17, There's another passage of scripture where this
word is used, and it's, it dryeth the bones. Proverbs chapter 17
and verse 22. A merry heart doeth good like
a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. Well, probably
all of us have been in that position at times. It's just a, well,
when it comes to spiritual things, that's the position we're going
to say God brought us to. Dried up bones. And yet the Lord
took that valley of dry bones and created an exceeding great
army. And he did it all. Well, let's
go back over here to the book of Zechariah. And we read here
in verse six and seven, some very wonderful verses of scripture. And I read that passage of scripture,
and then it's just so good to get to 29 palms. Get to the place where some palm
trees. That's what we have here. In Zechariah chapter 10 and verse
6, I will strengthen the house of Judah. I will save the house
of Joseph. Now, the insinuation is they
can't strengthen themselves and they can't save themselves. I
will do that. And I will bring them again to
place them, for I have mercy upon them." I have mercy upon
them. We find in the scriptures that
the real mean of God's mercy is His mercy is towards the chiefest
of sinners. Mercy is towards those who we
think should in no way have mercy. Can you imagine a church in Jerusalem
when mercy was talked about and they said it's not for Saul?
Mercy is not for him. We don't want him to have it.
Well, Paul goes on to talk to us in the book of 1 Timothy,
and we'll go there in a moment. He went there and said mercy
was towards the blasphemer. He was a blasphemer. Mercy was
towards a persecutor. Mercy was towards an injurious
person. the chiefest of sinners. He brings
out in the same passage of scripture. This is where God had mercy upon
him. And mercy is not needed for those
who have no needs. Mercy is only for those who have
needs. It's not for the unneedy. It
is for the needy. Mercy is for, and we think of
mercy in a courtroom, the judge having mercy. Well, before the
foundation of the world, God determined to have mercy on some
sinners. injurious persons, blasphemers,
chiefest of sinners, persecutors. He had mercy. He was going to
tend to have mercy upon them. And so, we find that this subject
of mercy that God is going to provide for Judah, for Zion,
this mercy is spoken about over here in the book of Exodus chapter
33. And Paul quotes it in Romans
chapter 9. But in Exodus chapter 33, we
have mercy talked about, but it's always in the hands of God.
He always is the one that is merciful. He is always the one
that gives mercy. This is real mercy. This is real. And it comes to us from words
that mean he has a great love for, he has a great compassion
for. But mercy generally has some
idea about have broken the law and someone is being merciful
to you. He has the right to take your life, but he shows mercy.
Well, God had the right to put all of us in the everlasting
pit, but he is merciful and he's merciful towards those he has
chosen to show mercy to. Here in the book of Exodus chapter
33 and verse 19, it says, and he said, I will make all my goodness
pass before thee. What is he talking about? Moses
said, I want to see you. I will make all my goodness pass
before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee,
and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Now, what's he saying
here? I will proclaim the name of the
Lord, and I'll be gracious. I will show you my goodness.
You know, the best goodness that God ever shows us is showing
himself in mercy. that God would show mercy to
anyone, and particularly to the chiefest of sinners, to the injurious
persons, to the blasphemers, as Paul brings out over there
in the book of 1 Timothy. So, I will have mercy on whom
I will show mercy. Now, we're not gonna wrangle
God out of that position. We may have one time wanted to
argue him out of that position, but we're not gonna argue him
out of that position. I will show mercy to whom I will show
mercy. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. But no one gets mercy just out
of saying, oh, I think I should have it. All right, injurious
person, persecutor, blasphemer, chiefest of sinner. All right,
you qualify for mercy. That's who God is going to have
mercy on, is sinners. Now, he's already put the whole
host in one flock, called Zion, called Judah, called the church,
called his elect, however you want to term it. He's put them
all in one group and said, I will be merciful unto them. And the
rest, he will not show mercy. Now, he may show some physical
mercy. The sun's far enough away that
doesn't burn us and it's close enough that we don't freeze to
death. That's mercy. But when it comes to spiritual
matters, I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. And
so we find out over there in the book of Romans, he said,
it's not him that willeth or him that runneth. but God that
showeth mercy. Now I love finding passages of
scripture that show mercy because he's gonna show mercy to sinners.
He's gonna show mercy to all those that Christ died for and
the only reason that Christ went to the cross was for sinners.
They had a pile of sin and it was placed upon him and he was
imputed with our sin and he paid and purchased us by the shedding
of his own blood. In the book of the Psalms, in
Psalm 102 again, Psalm 102, as we think about mercy, he loves,
He cares for, he has feelings towards, but it turns out that
he only has it towards a group of people that he said, I will
have mercy upon. And he's not going to change
his mind. I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. Now,
we're commanded in the scriptures to trust Christ, to repent, and
all those things. But we can only do that when
He shows mercy to us. All right, here in the book of,
let me get over here to the book of Psalms. You know, I'm about
to the point, I thought about it a long time ago, how nice
it would be just to poke a button and it'd come up on a screen.
We're almost there. We're almost there. How easy
that would be, just go bloop. Well, anyway, here in the book
of the Psalms, Psalm 102 and verse 13, it says, Thou shalt
arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favor her, yea,
the set time is come. What's that mean? The appointed
time. the appointed time to show mercy. Well, we only find God
that can make those kind of appointments. He has shown mercy, but it is
at the appointed time. That's what it means over there
in the book of 1 Corinthians. Today is the day of salvation
when God shows His mercy. And we have, I like what's been
said a number of times with regard to sending away your day of grace.
You know, I was taught that all my life. You could send it away
and well, When we die, when a person dies, that's it. They've sent
away their day of grace if they're not saved. There is not going
to be any second time, chance, or anything else. It's done.
But until that time, God has given them this day that he might
show mercy. Now, he's the only one that can,
and he knows who he will do it for, and we're not in control
of that, but it's still, there's always that We pray that God
would show mercy. Now, when He shows mercy, He's
showing mercy to a sinner. And He's showing mercy to a sinner
that Christ died for on the cross. And He's put away their sin for
time and for eternity. One other place that we want
to look at is found over there in the book of Romans 9. In Romans
9, verse 16, as mercy is shown to Zion, mercy is shown to the
church, Mercy is shown to the elect. Mercy is shown to the
sheep. Mercy is shown to a group of
people that were written down in the Lamb's Book of Life before
the foundation of the world. Not because He foresaw any faith
in them. He foresaw unbelief. That's all
God could ever see in us, was unbelief. And that's why He chose
us. We would not have chosen Him.
Well, here in the book of Romans 9, the Apostle Paul covering
some of the same ground, and it's interesting how often he
cuts people off in their thought processes, but even in their
natural state, they can't see it. Now, it's just as plain as
day to see it now. You know, are you going to call
God unjust? No way. You do as you please. I'm not calling you that, but
I know what it was to be there and call him unjust for if this
was true, then he's unjust. Well, I understand more and more
the unbelief, how it affects us. We're dead in trespasses
and sin. Romans chapter nine and verse
16. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth. But God that showeth mercy. How valuable is that? How wonderful
is that? For His mercy endureth forever. His mercy endureth forever. His
love for His people endures forever. Now he's not asking us to go
out and sin and commit great crimes. You know, I was visiting
with a dear lady today and she said, you know, it's amazing. I've never committed a murder
and I've never committed any great crimes, but my very thoughts,
my heart. I said, you are right. That's where it is. I don't know. Have you committed any murder? I don't think so. If you have,
you've kept it real quiet. Any great crimes, been in jail
for anything? No. But oh, we justly deserve
eternal damnation, but God showeth mercy. All right. Here in Romans
9, verse 16, it said that, not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. And then in verse 18,
it says, therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and
whom he will. He hardened us. That's God. I'm not asked to
understand him. I'm asked to believe it. He hardeneth. Whom He will, He hardeneth. Now
I pray it's not my brother Robert. But if it is... 1st Timothy chapter 1 as we think
about mercy, the Apostle Paul brings up himself here as an
example in fact. 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 12. 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 12
it says, For of which cause I also suffer these things, nevertheless
I am not ashamed For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him
against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words
which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus. That good thing which is committed
unto me keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all that
which are in Asia be turned away from me, I'm in 2 Timothy, no wonder.
It was a good passage, but let me get over here to 1 Timothy.
It just didn't quite read right. 1 Timothy 1, verse 12. And I thank Christ Jesus, our
Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry. Who was before? A blasphemer,
a persecutor, an injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did
it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtain
mercy that in me first Jesus might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting as a pattern. God showed mercy, all right?
Did God show mercy to you? Did God show mercy to you? He's
the pattern. We could go back to Abel. God
showed mercy to him. God showed mercy to Moses. God
showed mercy to Noah. God showed mercy to David. They're still sinners. They sinned
a whole bunch. They sinned a whole lot more
than they ever wished they had of. And yet it was God that showed
mercy and made all the difference. Now unto the King eternal, immortal. I used to read this verse of
scripture separate. It makes a whole lot more sense
when you read it with that Paul, injurious, a really bad guy. God showed mercy. Now unto the
king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and
glory forever and ever, amen. He shows mercy. He's merciful. He will have mercy on whom he'll
have mercy. Now, we can find fault with that,
and we did before God saved us. But to have God show mercy on
one, of Adam's children and then find out that there's a host,
a whole host that no man can number that he chose to show
mercy to. So the scriptures have a lot
to say about mercy. God is merciful. He is the mercy
one. Now let's go back to the book
of Zechariah for just a moment there in chapter 10, Zechariah
chapter 10. And we read in the next verse,
chapter 10, verse 8. I will hiss for them. Now there's a big difference
between hissing for them and hissing to them. This word is used a lot in scripture,
this word hiss. And it's usually translated from
the same word. It's used quite a bit. And I thought, you know,
to me, hissing was a negative term. Let's read on. I will hiss for them and gather
them. So by context, I'm looking at
this as not such a negative thing. We'll find out it isn't. For
I have redeemed them. I will hiss for them, and gather
them, for I have redeemed them, and they shall increase as they
have increased. So the Lord's sharing about Zion
something. I have hissed for them. Well,
this word has been translated by a couple of translations.
I will whistle for them, or I will signal for them, or, as the scripture
says, I will call them. Some people only hear it in the
negative sense and some people hear it in the positive sense.
That call. You know, I'm reminded of a verse
of scripture over here in the book of John chapter 12. John
chapter 12. In John chapter 12, God the father
spoke to his son. John chapter 12 verse 26. John
chapter 12 verse 26. "'If any man serve me, let him
follow me, "'and where I am, there shall also my servant be.
"'If any man serve me, him will my father honor. "'Now is my
soul troubled, and what shall I say? "'Father, save me from
this hour, "'but for this cause came I unto this hour. "'Father,
glorify thy name.' "'Now notice this. "'Then came there a voice
from heaven saying, have both glorified it and will glorify
it again." Now, that's God the Father speaking. Now, notice
the reaction of the people. Next verse, verse 29. The people
therefore that stood by and heard it. Now, it's interesting. They both heard the same thing.
Both groups heard the same thing. And some of them, how did they
interpret it? What was the hiss? How did they
interpret it? It thundered. That's how they
interpreted the words. Now the other group says, another
said, an angel spake to him. Now someone heard words and someone
heard a noise. And that's just the way God hisses. His call goes out, and some people
just hear thunder. It's irritating. Mike's mom told me one time that
she was, when she grew up, they had a lot of thunderstorms back
there, and she was extremely afraid of them. And the way to
cure her of that, her stepmother put her outside during a thunderstorm,
away from everybody else. Now that's not the way you cure,
You know, some people just hear thunder, and it's frightful. And some people heard the voice
of an angel. Now there's a lot of difference
there. So God, when he calls, it goes out, and to some it's
a hiss. It's just thunder. And to others,
it's the sound come. Come, all you that labor and
are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest, come. And you know
those who are in that condition, come. And those who hear thunder
says, oh boy, I'm gonna go home and tell my mom, there wasn't
a cloud in the sky, but I heard thunder today. Well, let's just
look at this word. It's the whistle for them, to
signal for them, a sign of calling. He is going to hiss and they're
going to come. And it tells us there in Zechariah
chapter 10 and verse eight, will gather them for I've redeemed
them." They're already paid for. I have already redeemed them.
Zechariah is writing there are some that are redeemed in his
day and Christ hasn't even gone to the cross. There is some things
about God that are eternal and this is one of them. There is
eternal redemption for His people, and there is eternal glorification
for His people. Now it says here, I have redeemed
them, and they shall increase as they have increased. I'm going
to make them increase. I'm bringing them out of every
nation, kindred, people, and tongue. The word was used for
calling the enemies. Turn back to the book of Isaiah,
if you would. Isaiah chapter five. Isaiah chapter five and
verse 26. We have here that this call goes
out, Isaiah chapter 5, verse 25 and 26. It says, Then he will
lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss... Now, ensign is Christ. He's going
to lift up an ensign. Isaiah chapter 5, verse 26, And
he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will
hiss unto them from the end of the earth. And behold, they shall
come with speed swiftly. none shall be weary nor stumble
among them none shall slumber nor sleep neither shall the girdle
of their loins be loose nor the latchet of their shoes be broken
they shall come i hissed at them now in that same thought turn
with me to isaiah chapter 7 and verse 18 God used this at times. Here in the book of Isaiah chapter
7 and verse 18, He says, And it shall come to pass in that
day that the Lord shall hiss for the fly which is in the uttermost
parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the
land of Assyria. And what's He talking about?
He's talking about their armies. He is going to bring these armies.
I'm bringing a fly and I'm bringing a bee. Well, they that they shall
come and shall rest all of them in the desolate valley and in
the holes of the rocks and upon all thorns and upon all bushes
in the same day shall the lord shave with the razor that is
hired namely by them beyond the river by the king of assyria
the head and the hair of the feet, and also consume the beard."
The Lord's gonna call these armies out, and we find that that was
actually fulfilled as He called these armies to come up against
Israel. that he hissed and they came. They are obedient to him. God is God and these folks are
obedient to him. But on the same vein, when he
hisses, he brings his people out of every nation, kindred,
and place. He brings them to himself. Many
of them just hear thunder. Some of them hear a voice. Come
unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Now, when you're in, you're heavy
burdened and heavy laden, rest means a lot. In John chapter
10 and verse 27, we find the Lord shares this passage of scripture
that we often go back to because we just find that the Lord has
something special that he does for the sheep. John chapter 10,
verse 27, my sheep hear my voice. My sheep hear my voice. They've
been endued with a faculty of hearing. That's what that word
means. To be endued with the faculty
of hearing. Now, most people are born with
physical hearing. But some people are endued with
the faculty of hearing. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. They've heard the word. They've heard me. They've heard
my call. And in chapter 10, back to verse
5, we find here, and a stranger will they not follow? But will
flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. Big
difference. They know not the voice of strangers.
Now, you know, every once in a while, things come along and
we turn our ear just a little bit to hear what that is and
we say, that just doesn't fit. That just doesn't fit. And then
we're back here. That just isn't right. That isn't
a good tune. It isn't a good sound. It's copper
plated. It's not silver. There's no real
ping to it. Well, the Lord is gracious for
us. He said, my sheep will hear my
voice. I'll send out a hiss. I'll send
out a call. I'll send out a whistle. I'll
send out whatever it is. And he does it, and he does it
quite well. For I have redeemed them. I've ransomed them. The
work of the Redeemer is to redeem and to ransom. And that word
ransom means to pay for. He has redeemed and ransomed
by His own blood. It's not by His works that He
did, but by His own blood. Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. That's what
he says in the book of Isaiah. And over in the book of Revelation
chapter 5, Revelation chapter 5 verse 9, it tells us here what
he used to redeem, what the terrible cost of redemption. And he was
most willing to do this, to go to this point to redeem His people.
In the covenant of grace, He voluntarily set Himself as a
flint towards Jerusalem. But going down to Jerusalem was
not the thing that's going to do it. It wasn't the trial that
did it. It wasn't having all those people
slap Him and hit Him with a cat on nine tails. It was the shedding
of His blood. That's what redeems us. It's
His blood. Now, it was purposed that He
go through all of that. We read that in the book of the
Acts. Everything that happened to Him
was according to God's eternal purpose. But here in the book
of Revelation chapter 5 and verse 9, where they sung a new song
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals
thereof. Why? For Thou wast slain and
hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood. out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation. He intended to ransom many."
And he's intended to ransom many. And now, the sweet word about
it is, when he does his call, to many,
the hiss is a negative thing. And to others, it's the most
melodious, We're going to get to the, to those trumpets there
in numbers, those two silver trumpets and the instructions
they went to that Moses was given to share with the children of
Israel of what every one of those tunes meant. The enemy's coming. Be at rest. Call for a, for a,
uh, a feast. Those two trumpets did it all.
Those two silver trumpets, well, that's God hissing, whistling
for us, a symbol. What a joyous thing it is to
read that God would reach us in the farthest part of this
world by just his still, small voice. And to many people, it's
nothing more than a hiss, and to others, it is the sweetest,
most melodious call that we could ever imagine. He is calling. All right, we'll stop there for
tonight, and we look forward to looking at more of this passage
of scripture in the future.