Well, good evening and welcome
to our continuing study of the book of Zechariah. This is our
51st lesson from this book. And I hope you didn't follow my last
comments last week that we'd be in Chapter 8. We will be in
Chapter 7 tonight. Chapter 7. And it's a wonderful
chapter. It's a wonderful declaration
of God's good, mercy, and grace to us. And I want to read this
entire chapter. It's 14 verses long. While you're
finding that chapter, Would you take the other fingers and go
back to 2 Kings chapter 25? We're gonna be there in just
a moment, 2 Kings chapter 25. There is a reason for the verses
in the Bible. And as we read this, we're gonna
go over there and look at two reasons for some months that
were celebrated by the Jews in Babylon. So in Book of Zechariah
chapter seven, and it came to pass in the fourth year of King
Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the
fourth day of the ninth month, even Shiloh. Now, if you remember,
we've already ran into a date that is used in the scripture
in the book of Zechariah, and if you'll back up to chapter
1, verse 1, we have this note. that when God spoke, when God
revealed Himself, His Word to Zechariah, in Zechariah 1, in
verse 1 it says, So we have a The reason that Darius is mentioned
here is they often numbered the length of time by the reign of
a monarch. And so Darius is no different.
When we read about Nebuchadnezzar, we find that time was measured
by the year of reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Well, here's Darius. And in the
second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah.
And over here, we find that it's in another year, in chapter 7,
verse 1, it's in the fourth year. So, we've had two years take
place between chapter 1 and the end of chapter 6. Beginning of
chapter 7, we have that beginning of a new year. Well, one other
time in this book, We have a date that is mentioned with Zacharias,
or Darius' name here. And I believe it's the, yes,
it's verse seven of chapter one. Upon the fourth and 20th day
of the 11th month, in which the month is Zebat, the second year
of Darius. So we've had a short period of
time between verse one and verse seven. And we just find that
God's grace is ever present. that God would continue to write
to Zechariah. And we're going to find that
as he goes through this book, that God's blessing to write
the Word, to write the Word to the people. So here it is, the
second year, a different month, came the Word of the Lord unto
Zechariah, the son of Beershia, the son of Ido, the prophet saint.
So here's the measurement we have, this length of time. Well,
we find in our own time, thank God, that His Word comes. And
we can say, it came to me at this time. Now, it used to be
very important that you knew exactly the day that you asked
Jesus into your heart. That's not the issue. The issue
is, God gives us a new birth. And we may not remember the day,
we may not remember the year even. But God works a work of
grace, and that's the important thing. We don't worship a day,
we worship the Lord. Now, here in the book of Zechariah
7, verse 2, it says, and their men to pray before
the Lord, and to speak unto the priests that were in the house
of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should
I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these
many years? And then the word of the Lord
of hosts came unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of
the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned
in the fifth and seventh month, Even those 70 years, did ye all
fast unto me, even unto me? Now, keep your finger right there
and turn back to that passage in the book of 2 Kings. Now,
there's a reason that there was fasting going on on the fifth
month and the, what was that other one? the 5th month and the 7th month.
All right, over here in the book of 2 Kings in chapter 25 and
verse 8, notice this with me, and in the 5th month of the 7th
year, 7th day of the month, which is the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, came Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, the
servant of the king of Babylon into Jerusalem and burnt the
house of the Lord. Every fifth month for 70 years,
these people had a day of fasting. Now, most fasting, as the Lord's
gonna bring out here in the seventh chapter of the book of Zechariah,
is hypocritical fasting. It is done out so people can
see it. And we remember the words of
the Lord and I cannot help but believe that all through the
scriptures when this subject was brought up, the Lord insisted
through his prophets that this is something between you and
God and it's not you and all people to know about. He told
those people in Matthew chapter five that when you fast, don't
go around like the hypocrites do and cover your face with white
stuff and moan or groan because you're on a fasting service.
Fasting with the Lord is between you and the Lord. So this mostly
is hypocritical. Our temple was burnt today. a
year ago. Our temple was burnt today, two
years ago, for 70 years. They went through this formality.
Now remember, in Zechariah's day, the temple has been rebuilt
and they can't get anybody to come serve us. So all of that
stuff was just, was fake, was hypocritical, was, well, let's
just look here in the same chapter, in verse, chapter 25 and verse
23, we find out what happened there. And when all the captains
of the armies They and their men heard that the king of Babylon
had made Gedaliah governor. There came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
even Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johan, the son of Chariah,
and Zeriah, the son of Tehalimeth, the Nethanimatite, and Jezemiah,
the son of Makatiath, they and their men. and Gedediah swear
to them and to their men and said unto them. Now, in the New
Testament, this guy would be called a tax collector. What's
the word in the New Testament for a tax collector? A publican. He is a Jew and he has been influenced
by Babylon to go back over there and take control of those guys
that were left there. Now, What happens to this guy? He becomes a martyr. In the next
verse, it came to pass in the seventh month. So we're gonna
have fasting in the fifth month because the temple was burnt,
and we're gonna have fasting in the seventh month because
the people that were left in Jerusalem and in Judah, they
got raised up and killed the guy that Babylon put over them.
And now they go off to Egypt. Well, notice this. We're going
to have to have a festivity because we have a high day, a holy day. A man that was a publican was
killed by a bunch of Jews. Well, it says it came to pass
in the seventh month that Ishmael, the son of Nethemiah, the son
of Eliamah, the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote
Gedaliah, that he died. And the Jews and the Chaldeans
that were with him at Mizpah, and all the people, both great
and small, small and great, and the captains of the armies arose
and came to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. Well,
now we have two holy days to add to the rest. We have the
day that the temple was burned, and every year on that day. Now, what were they doing the
rest of the time? What were they doing on the first
month, and the second month, and the third month, and the
fourth month? They were not worshiping God,
by and large. But on the fifth month, we have
to have a holy day because this is the day that our temple was
burned. And then on the seventh month, hallelujah, God sent somebody
to kill that guy that came down and tried to rule over us. So
that's why we have Zechariah mentioning these two days. And
let's go back to the book of Zechariah chapter seven, and
it tells us here that they did it even for those 70 years. They fastened to me. When you
did this, did you fasten to me? Even me? God's asking the question
through Zechariah. And when you did eat and when
you did drink, did you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? Should you not hear the words
which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets? When Jerusalem
was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round
about her, when men inhabited the south of the plain, God sent
his prophets when you were in profitability, when things were
going good. And what did you do to them?
And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh
the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, show mercy and
compassion every man to his brother, and oppress not the widow nor
the fatherless. Now, why in the world would God
give these instructions to people? Because it was happening. This
is what they were doing. Why did he give the Ten Commandments?
It wasn't because nothing had happened yet. It was because
this is what is happening. Well, he goes on to say, and
oppress not the widows, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor
the poor. Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your
heart. But they refused to hearken. and pulled away the shoulder
and stopped their ears that they should not hear. Yea, they made
their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law
and the words of the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit
by the former prophets. Notice that in the Old Testament,
when God sent his prophets and they preached the gospel, it
was by the same spirit that he does it today. It is by his Holy
Spirit. And it mentions that there in
verse 12. Therefore came great wrath from
the Lord of hosts. Therefore it has come to pass
that as he cried, and they would not hear, so they cried, and
I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts. But I scattered them
with a whirlwind among all the nations, whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after
them, that no man passed through nor returned, for they laid the
pleasant land desolate. This is some really intense preaching
by Zachariah. He has been given the word of
the Lord, and this man was faithful enough to proclaim just what
he received. He did not try to make it better. He just pointed out what had
taken place, that they had a charade going on when they were down
in Babylon, and fifth month and seventh month, we're gonna have
some celebrations here, because these important things happened
in Israel at that time. Well, You know, I just have to
go back to verse 1 and say, what a glorious day. What a glorious
day that God would once again come. That God would send his
word again. You know, from the book of Genesis
to the book of Revelation, God has been faithful to give his
word over many years. Faithful to declare the gospel
to these folks. He never intended for anybody
ever to be saved by the keeping of the law. It was always by
the shed blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus. Now, what a gracious
day that the Lord would speak again. You know, he could have
just cut it off. But we're thankful that's not
what his purpose was, because he had lost sheep down through
every generation, and God's word must come to them. So he was
faithful. He was faithful to once again
declare the word of the Lord. In verse seven of this seventh
chapter, it says, should ye not hear the words which the Lord
hath cried by the former prophets? Well, we can just back up and
we find former prophets, and former prophets, and former prophets,
and former prophets, and former prophets, and former prophets,
and former prophets, and former ministers, and former, and former,
and former, declaring the same thing over and over in their
generation. I like what is said about David
in the book of Acts. He was faithful in his generation. And that's the only generation
we can be faithful. We can't worry about yesterday and we
cannot take care of the future. But we are to be faithful in
our generation. Faithful to God in our generation. Now, we can't figure out what's
going to happen in the next generation. We pray about it and we pray
for them. I've mentioned many times that I used to be really
concerned what's gonna happen when I'm gone. I don't have to
worry about it. I'm just gonna do the best I
can while I'm here. And after that, it's in God's
hands just like it is right now and it was yesterday. All right,
in verse seven, should you not hear the words that were brought
by the prophets? And then in verse 12, notice
that. Verse 12, yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone. lest they should hear the law
and the words which the Lord of hosts has sent in his spirit
by the former prophets. Therefore came a great wrath
from the Lord. You know, it struck me as I was
going down through here how wonderful it is that God does not take
our first reaction to the gospel as our last reaction to the gospel. God to his people, God to his
lost sheep, bring that word again even though our first reaction
to it may have been, I'm not going to have this. It's not
for me. It's for weaklings. It's for
religious people. It's for someone else. And yet
the God is faithful to his own to continuously bring that good
word to them and to acquaint them with the Lord Jesus Christ
through the new birth. Yea, he hath made them. They
pulled the shoulder away. If God left us like we were. Now, in this one book of Zechariah,
the word of the Lord appears 13 times. In 14 chapters, the
word of the Lord. Now, we can just take it to the
bank. that every word we read here is the word of the Lord,
but he emphasizes from time to time, this is the word of the
Lord. Don't lose sight of this. When
you go from chapter to chapter, remember, this is the word of
the Lord. And the Lord called out a prophet
by the name of Zechariah to deliver that word. The same is true when
we read the book of Jeremiah. This is the Word of the Lord. When we read the book of Isaiah,
this is the Word of the Lord. And I have had Jeremiah bring
it to you. I've had Isaiah bring it to you. I've had Daniel bring
it to you. I've had all, we call them minor
prophets, Obadiah, One chapter, I've had him deliver the message
unto you. Here in the book of Zechariah,
13 times, almost every chapter has something to say about that
very thing. Now when the Lord is not displaying
the heart, now he shares with us a great deal about the natural
heart of man in this chapter. He says, I sent my prophets to
you, and they came expecting you to change. I love reading
about Isaiah, he said, how long? How long do I declare this? How
long? Till I'm through with it. When
the Lord is not displaying the heart of natural man with regards
to the words of the Lord as in Zechariah chapter 7 verse 11,
look at there, verse 11, what a verse. They refused to hearken
and pulled away the shoulder. and stop their ears that they
should not hear. This last Sunday we celebrated
Tim's birthday and it was almost comical when we sang happy birthday
to Tim, Sam put his fingers in his ears so he didn't hear it. You know, that's our natural
inclination towards the word of God. pull our shoulders away
and stick our fingers in our ears. I will not listen to this. Well, that's what God's dealing
with. When he brings his gospel in any generation, he is bringing
that. This is the condition he's dealing
with. Now, I'm so thankful that God doesn't leave us there. I
will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. Now, I love that
passage of scripture, but whom I will, I'll harden. I will have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy." Well, they refused to hearken,
they pulled away the shoulder and they stopped their ears that
they should not hear. When he's not bringing us verses
like that, and there's several here in this seventh chapter,
when he's not bringing us verses like that, when he's not bringing
us the natural heart condition, when he's not bringing us the
condition of natural man, we find that he is bringing the
great statements about he demonstrates his power to save. Here's the condition. It is so
bad. that there's nobody that will
pull their fingers out of their ears and nobody will stop their
shoulder against this. Have you ever considered what
it would be like if that was the end of God's efforts? If God came one time and our
natural reaction is, no. And God said, that was your opportunity. Now, religion teaches us that's
what it is, that that's it, that it was up to you. Well, if it's
up to us, we will never unplug our ears and never stop putting
down the gospel. What if he called and no one
answered? What if a person had the power
to eternally pull away the shoulder from God's call? Well, the answer
would be no one would be saved. That is, so we're looking at
the Lord of Hosts in this book. We've mentioned how many times
the Lord of Hosts is mentioned in this book, and it is found
in other, the other gospels, Isaiah, Jeremiah, we have the
Lord of Hosts mentioned. Why? Because God wanted those
people to know, just as he wants us to know, that God is not a
quitter. God is a sovereign God, and he
accomplishes everything according to purpose. By nature, everyone
resists God. That's our natural inclination.
Turn with me over to the book of John chapter three. This is
just prior to Nicodemus coming in John chapter three. This is
just prior to the Lord saying, ye must be born again. In John
chapter three, he said this about our natural condition. We got
our fingers in our ears and we've got our shoulder pulled back.
I'm not going in that direction. Well, here in John chapter 3,
we have what the Lord says about the condition that we're in.
John chapter 3 and verse 19, it says here, and this is the
condemnation that light is coming to the world. Well, instead of
saying hallelujah, This is the condemnation, that
light is coming to the world and men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. Now, what's that the
outcome of? That's the heart. The heart is
evil. The heart is wicked. So that's
the natural. That's the natural. And Zechariah
is dealing with natural man there. He's preaching to natural man.
You're so religious that on the fifth month and the seventh month
for 70 years down there in Babylonian captivity, you had a fast. You
had a fast to remember when the temple was burned and you had
a fast to remember when that guy came up there and said, I'm
going to rule over you. And some guys went up there and
killed him. And then they ran down to Egypt. He was an interloper
put there by Babylon and he was taken care of and we're gonna
say God was watching over us. Well, that's not good enough
for celebration. He calls, He does His work, He
does His ministry. The teaching of the scriptures
is the God of the Bible as He tells us in the book of Zechariah
and all of the minor prophets, all of the major prophets and
from Genesis to Revelation. We see a God that is able to
do things. We see a God that could send
Zechariah. And he sent him again. He came
to him at a certain time of Darius's reign, and he says, take this
word to them. And a short time later, take
this word to them. And two years later, he says,
take this word to them. Why? Because there's a lech there. There's chosen ones there, those
who have names written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. And
they may be resisting me now, but I will overcome them. Turn with me, if you would, back
to the Psalm, Psalm 115. In Psalm 115, verse 3. Psalm 115, verse 3. This is fulfilled
in the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. We see it so clearly there,
but it was clear through the Old Testament. Psalm 115, verse
3. This is who the people are dealing
with. They're not in control of this. There's God, but God. Psalm 115, verse 3, but our God
is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Now he's done that backwards
from us, and he will continue to do that. We as humans can
see that happening in history. We cannot see it in the future.
We don't know what is going to happen in the future, but we
can by faith believe that God is going to work all things according
to his purpose. Here, as it says here, whatsoever
he hath pleased, he did it today, he did it yesterday, he will
do it tomorrow, and he will do it next year, and he will do
it two years from now, and he will do it until the last day
that is upon this earth, until the last person is saved, God
will continue to do what he pleases. You know what, for eternity,
he's still gonna do the same thing. whatsoever he pleases. Now through eternity he's going
to be pleased to keep his promise that he will not lose one for
eternity. God's grace by God overcomes
our resistance. That's the only hope that Zachariah
had when he preached to those folks is that God will work a
work of grace in some That fasting that they performed
over there in Babylonian captivity over those 70 years. Now there's
not very many of the folks that were 70 years prior to this that
were there in Jerusalem at this time. Those people that were
there that saw the original temple are up in years. 70 years have passed. If they
were one, they're 71. If they were 20, they're 90. They're old. There were some
that saw the original temple and wept because this one wasn't
near as nice as it. And yet, we find that the prophet
Zechariah said, this one will have more glory than that one. Why? Solomon was around that
one. Christ will be in this one. He'll
be here during this time. Well, as we look here in the
book of John chapter 6, John chapter 6 and verse 44, we have
the same hope that Zechariah had. Zechariah could only trust
that God would do what he said he would do, that his preaching
would not be in vain. Now, the preaching of the gospel
is never in vain, even if we don't see anything happen. It's
pleasing God. Here in the book of John chapter
six and verse 44, you probably have this underlined. You probably
have a double underlined. You probably have it circled.
You probably have it colored. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me, draw him. But you know what? When he does that, he said, I'll
raise you up in the last day. I'll raise you, I'll resurrect
you. You're not gonna be stuck in
the dirt. Now, nobody's gonna be stuck there, but this is gonna
be a resurrection to righteousness. This is a resurrection of the
just, not the unjust. They're gonna be raised at the
same time, but this is a promise that you will be with me for
eternity. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me draw him. No one can do that. So, And in the book of Acts chapter
13, the book of Acts chapter 13, in the book of Acts chapter 13,
we have that wonderful passage of scripture. Now this is what
Zechariah is going on to. This is what Isaiah went on.
This is the only hope. These people that Zechariah is
preaching to are Jews. They are supposed to know better.
They've had the truth brought to them. They've had the prophets
brought to them. Which of the Hittites had that?
Which of the Hivites had that? Which of the Jebusites had that?
God sent these prophets to them. And he demonstrated that unless
God gets involved, nobody, even these that are supposed to know
better, none of them will ever be saved. Well, we say hallelujah,
because God saved other folks. Ruth Amoebitus, a Canaanites
woman. You know, there was a servant
of David. I wonder about him. Bathsheba's
husband? A Hittite. Thank God he moved to the Gentiles. Here in Acts chapter 13 and verse
48, after Paul did a preaching and those Gentiles said, please
come say something to us. Well, we have the results of
it. And this is the same thing that was pleasing to God in the
book of Zechariah. Here's a whole bunch of them
that are celebrating all of these events by having fasting, don't
know the meaning of any of it. And here are those that here
in Jerusalem right now and in Judah right now, they'll plug
their ears up when Zechariah's talking to them. Well, thank
God for this, for it tells us here in Acts chapter 13 and verse
48, And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. Don't stop there. Don't stop
there. That's good news. It's wonderful
that the Gentiles heard this and they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. But this is the reason. and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. That's the reason. That's the reason that they could
be glad and that's the reason that they glorified the word
of the Lord. The God of heaven gave them the new birth and they
could delight in what God's word said. They can delight in the
God of the Word. They can delight in the preaching
of the Word. They were glad when they heard these words that the
Apostle Paul brought to them. So this is who God is dealing
with over there in the book of Zechariah. We got a bunch of
people, stubborn folks, Are they any different than anybody else?
Any different than any Gentile? No way. Came out of the same
cloth. They came out of the same stone
quarry that everybody else has come out of. And if it was not
for God and His working grace and bringing the gospel, there
would not be anybody that would ever be able to say, our Father
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Nobody would know Him
as the Father. The new birth enabled us to believe
and to trust God. Now, over in the book of Exodus
and in the book of Numbers, there's two interesting events. One of
them is just after the children of Israel get across the Red
Sea, and Moses is up on a mountain, getting the Ten Commandments,
the law. And it tells us there that they
began to dance around a golden calf, and you know what they
said? This be the gods that brought us out of Egypt. be the God that brought us out
of Egypt?" A preacher wrote, even that which
is totally irrational. Now, we visit with folks after
we've been... I visit with my family. I visit
with my sisters, my brothers. I visit with them. They have
the most irrational thoughts about the Word of God. Irrational. Even that which is totally irrational
will be embraced if that is what an unbeliever wants to believe. They will believe the most irrational
stuff if that's what they want to believe. God has turned them
over to a reprobate mind, it seems like. Well, we're thankful
for His elect. He gets in there and intervenes
on their behalf. Now, I want to go back to the
book of Numbers, chapter 14, because we're in the book of
Numbers, and we won't be here for a while, but I want to go
over here to the book of Numbers, chapter 14, and show the irrationability
of these Jews. Kadesh Barnea when God said,
go in, take the land. These 10 spies came back and
they plugged their ears and pulled their shoulders away and in the
book of Numbers chapter 14 and verse 4. After that all happens
and now, you know, there's nothing like human repentance. Godly repentance is totally different. God provides the repentance.
That's a change of mind about God. But human repentance, my
goodness, that will go in any direction. Now, here's some people
that after they heard what they were supposed to do and didn't,
now this is their words for it. Numbers 14, verse 4. And it says, and they said one
to another, let us make a captain. And what? and let us return unto Egypt." Two years of watching God in
the wilderness, and this is the conclusion that their hearts
came to? When God said, you're not going
to go into that land now? Well, let's vote on this. Let's
have some people run, and we'll vote and see who will be a captain
take us back to Egypt? How irrational is that? Well,
it's as rational as an unbeliever can come up with. It's irrational
thought. The only rational thought that
we'll ever have is after we've been born again and we get to
see God. This irrational. Now, the new
birth enables us to believe and trust God. That's what Zechariah's
doing. He's preaching. The new birth
enables us to love God. Turn with me to the book of Jeremiah
31. Jeremiah chapter 31. This is
Old Testament, but it's New Testament truth. just as we find Zachariah
preaching. It's New Testament truth. It's
New Covenant truth. It's everlasting covenant truth.
Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 31. Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 31,
it says, 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, a whole bunch of people
got the idea that this is going to be, again, with national Israel.
God never said that. He said, this is spiritual Israel.
I'm going to make a covenant with. He's always had a covenant
with spiritual Israel. Eternal covenant. Covenant, blood-bought
covenant. And then Paul straightens this
out just like we find it straightened out in the Old Testament. It's
not a Jew which is one outwardly. It's not a Jew that's gonna have
a fast on the fifth month because their temple was burned down.
That's not a Jew. A Jew is one inwardly, in the
heart, when God makes us that. All right, goes on to tell us
here in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 32, says, not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers. Now we can go
back to the book of Exodus and read about that. We can go back
to the book of Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and find
out they couldn't keep that law. Never intended to keep that law.
And when we get to the New Testament, we have some preachers that say,
why do you want to put a burden on these folks that us nor our
fathers could keep? Paul is preaching grace. Leave
it alone. That's the only hope we have. Well, it goes on here
and said in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 33, but this is 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 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, from
the least of them unto the greatest of them. saith the Lord, for
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more. Now that's the covenant. That's
the everlasting covenant. That's the covenant of grace.
Sin would be put away. They'll no longer have the problem
with their fingers in their ears, because I'll unstop their ears.
You know, when we get to the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews,
there's quite a list there. And there's some folks that are
not even named. They're not named. Down towards
the bottom of that chapter, they're not even named. They're called
the prophets. All the rest would testify, just
as those did, that they were sinners saved by grace. Now, some people want to say,
well, Abel, he was just a little smarter than Cain was. No, not
in any way. Cain would never say that. Enoch
would never say he was just smarter than everybody else, that's why
he followed God. They would all go to one place and that was
Christ. That's where things started fresh. Noah, he found grace in the eyes
of the Lord like he was doing something marvelous and God noticed
it. God did something wonderful and Noah noticed him then. We
just dropped down through there. These all are identified in the
book of Ephesians chapter 2. Would you turn there with me?
These are the folks that God's dealing with through Zechariah.
They want their fingers in their ears. They don't want to hear
the truth that God is the Savior. God is salvation. In Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 12, we have these words recorded for us to
rejoice in because this is where he brought
us from. Ephesians 2 verse 12, that at that time, ye were without
Christ. Yes, we were. Being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel, having no part in all the good things
of God. Strangers to the covenant, didn't
even know there was an eternal covenant, a covenant of grace.
Covenants are promised, having no hope. without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
So, this is what makes the difference. Save people delight in God's
great ability to disarm our resistance and unbelief. and cause us to submit to his
irresistible grace. Now gladness is our response. Gladness that God would do what
he promised. Glad that he would save his people
from their sins. Now there in that seventh chapter
of the book of Zechariah, we see some folks just like every
folk that's ever been saved by the grace of God. Folks that
want to stop their ears. I don't want to hear this. Family,
friends, relatives, and strangers alike. I don't want to hear this.
I don't want it. Why it's so uninviting. Can you
imagine anybody? Yes, everybody. Everybody. Not wanting what God has. And
it takes the grace of God. the preaching of the gospel,
the new birth, for us to appreciate what God has done for His people,
for what He's done for us. For it tells us in there, there in verse 7, should you
not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former
prophets? When Jerusalem was inhabited
in prosperity, things were going good, it looks like. Prophets
came, things are going to go bad. Things are going to go bad. And nobody believed the prophets
except those who were revealed. This is the truth. God has spoken
the truth. And verse 12, yea, they made
their hearts like an adamant stone, lest they should hear
the law and the words which the Lord of hosts has sent in his
spirit by the former prophets. Therefore came a great wrath
from the Lord of hosts. A physical wrath came upon them.
Initially a great spiritual wrath will come upon them. This is
a physical wrath taken off into captivity. Great picture of God's
wrath against sin. God's wrath against his son on
the cross on our behalf. So we're just thankful that God
doesn't stop with the first word. with the first come, with the
first invitation. He does not take that as the
end. He will lose none of his people. So we're thankful for the prophet
Zechariah that would raise up again as he's encouraged by the
Lord to bring the rest of the book. 14 chapters here. We're just not
quite halfway through the rest of the book. And we're going
to find out the great things. They will look on him whom they
have pierced. And that's only believers can
look that way. I pierced him. Unbelievers could
care less. Believers look on whom they have
pierced, the Savior. Well, thank you. We'll look some
more at this seventh chapter next time as the Lord prospers
us.