Zechariah chapter one, and we're
going to begin with verse seven tonight. Verses one through six
have been the first prophecy or the first message that God
gave to Zechariah. He is no more, no less than a
preacher of righteousness. He's like Noah, a preacher of
righteousness. He has the gospel. He knows the
gospel. He knows the grace of God. He
is not a special person in any other sense except for the grace
of God. And that's the only thing that
makes the church special is the grace of God. It's not of our
merit, but it's the grace of God. And Zechariah, somewhere
along the line, heard the gospel. And somewhere along the line,
the Lord gave him the new birth. The new birth is as active in
the Old Testament as in the New Testament. We can't differentiate.
Those in the Old Testament, the Bible says, Abraham believed
God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. And there's
impossibility for a natural man to believe God unless we have
been given the new birth first. We are contrary to God. Well,
beginning with verse 7, we have another date given, so there's
a separate time between this first part in verse 1 it says
the 8th month in the second year and in chapter 1 in verse 7 in
the 4 and 20th day of the 11th month which is the month Sebat. Now I'm thankful that we don't
have to wait three or four months for a message. But here Zechariah
is in Jerusalem after a group of people have come back from
Babylon and they're in the building of the temple. Most of it has been halted by
the people's lack of interest in doing it. I read somewhere
that that first group that came was the chaff, and the second
group was the wheat. Well, whether that's true or
not, I see some pictures and types and shadows of believers
in that group. Whether they were or not is up
to God now. So let's look here in chapter
1 and verse 7 and we're going to read down through here and
apparently there's a vision. Now it's sad to say that most
people who find this passage of scripture when they comment
on it, the first thing that they do is make it apocalyptic. The
other day, a man was making a comment about the apocalypse, and most
people look at that as end times. If we look at it from a strictly
scriptural standpoint, the word apocalypse or apocalypto means
an enlightenment. So it doesn't have anything to
do with end times. It has to do with enlightening
the people of God. The Lord Jesus was a light to
lighten the Gentiles. And that word lighten there is
the same word that we find for revelation in Revelation chapter
one, and it is the word apocalyptus. So to get that, wash our brain
of that thought that apocalypse is some future event that everybody's
scared of, it's reality, it is Jesus Christ revealing himself
to his people in time. And that's what's gonna happen
in this passage of scripture. Now we're gonna have four horses
and they're different colors and you know, people immediately
jump on the bandwagon and say, this is the apocalypse, it's
talking about, no, it's not. It's not talking about the apocalypse
in that sense. It's talking about the revelation
of Jesus Christ, the revelation of God. And he uses pictures,
types, and shadows to do that. So here in verse 7, upon the
4 and 20th day of the 11th month, which is the month Sebat, in
the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zachariah. So whatever follows. is the word of the Lord. Remember that. May I remember
that. Whatever follows, the word of
the Lord came to Zachariah. This is God's gracious word. This is God's word of grace. That passage of scripture over
in the book of Luke where it says that they were astonished
at his gracious words. Well, that means words of grace,
and if you believe in words of works, you're gonna be upset
with words of grace, and we follow that, see that carried out in
that passage in the book of Luke. Well, there's gonna be some people
upset with the word of grace that God gives to Zechariah.
Here it says, in the second year came the word of the Lord. Now,
notice that word Lord is all capital letters. This is just
another time that this word Lord could have been translated Jehovah. That's the word here, Jehovah. That's the name that's used here.
Jehovah came unto Zechariah. Now Jehovah is the revelation
of God, just as Jesus Christ. They're synonymous. The son of
Berechiah, the son of Ido, the prophet Sain. Now when we saw
that up in earlier in verse one of this, we find out that God
shares with us that Zechariah is simply another man. Here's
his limage. and we could go far enough and
Zachariah no doubt could take his lineage back to Abraham.
If you get to Abraham, you can go back to Adam. If you get back
to Adam, you found out we fell in Adam and our sin is imputed
in the fall of Adam. So we're sinners by nature and
he's just another sinner saved by grace. He is a sinner. Here's his lineage. It's not
a particularly glorious lineage. It's a lineage right back to
Adam. and in Adam all die. I saw by night." Now apparently,
he's going to see a vision. We mentioned this last week that
someone asked me not long ago what I thought about visions
or those things we have at night,
nightmares. I said, there's only one place that you can take a
vision or a dream and count on it, and that's in the Bible.
Now God used visions and dreams in the Bible and oftentimes just
like here, he's going to give what it means. He did that to
Daniel, he did that to Joseph, he did that to several others
in the Old Testament. They were given a dream or they
were given a vision and then they were allowed to describe
what it was. Well, my dreams, I don't want
to have any meaning to them because they're so stupid. But the dreams
we find in the Bible, people may look at them as frivolous,
but there was great significance to them. The dream that Joseph
was given by the Pharaoh, he interpreted it and it was the
truth. God gave him the revelation about it, gave him the apocalypse,
the enlightenment about it, seven years of great plenty, seven
years of dearth, and that's the way it turned out. So we find
that happening. Well, goes on and tells us, in
this dream, I saw by night, in a vision, in a dream, however
God appeared into him, and behold, a man riding on a red horse. And he stood among the myrtle
trees that were in the bottom, or in the ravine, or in the valley.
And behind him there were red horses, speckled, and white. Then said I, O my Lord. Now that is small letters, and
that's the word Adon, which we get the word Adonai from, which
is another name for God, and it means master. Zechariah recognized
that this guy that he is next to has more information about
it than he does, and Zechariah really shares with us in this
passage of scripture that he has a humble acknowledgement
that I don't know everything. I appreciate Zachariah. Because he said, what is this? What does this mean? And I cannot
tell you the number of times that I've read the scriptures
and I've asked the Lord that very same thing. What does this
mean? Now sometimes he is pleased to
share another passage of scripture that goes with it and it opens
it up. There's a revelation, there's
an understanding about it. And sometimes he is not pleased
to do that at the time and it's still, what does this mean? But
it's better to ask a question of what does this mean than make
a foolish statement about something we don't understand. So he says
here, This question, it gives us a great deal of knowledge
about Zachariah. It's an acknowledgement of his
own ignorance and earnest desire to be informed. I like preachers
like that, an earnest desire to know and acknowledgement I
don't know everything. And he's not asking this to satisfy
his curiosity. He's not asking this that he
might have any of those things, but I can feel here Zachariah
wants to know this so he can comfort God's people. What does this mean, so I can
comfort God's people? Now we're going to go down here
just a little bit further, and we're going to find out that
as it unfolds, this vision unfolds, that there's a rest in all the
world except in Jerusalem. So Zechariah is dealing with
some folks that are having some problems. And the rest of the
world, it appears there's nothing going wrong in the world. And
we'll read a passage about that in just a moment. that we know
what Zacharias saw was not just filler for this book. It's not
filler for the Bible. Whatever he saw, whatever part
of it we're able to understand or not to understand, was not
just put there to fill space. There is significance to it because
it is the Word of God. Sometimes like what we hear the
Apostle Peter say about Paul's writing, some things are hard
to be understood. Some of the things that Daniel
wrote, he couldn't understand. But we have better understanding
because he's speaking about the Messiah coming, and we look back
on that. And we say, hallelujah, the promise
of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 has been fulfilled. Jesus
Christ the Messiah has come. He has taken care of sin at the
cross. And we say hallelujah over that.
Hallelujah, yes. We know that Zachariah saw it
was not just to fill up space. is not just a worthless story
or a dream, but there is great significance mentioned here in
what the Lord is sharing with us in this dream. This is the
word of God. Now, notice here, it says, I
said, oh my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with
me said unto me, the words we want to hear, I will show thee
what these be. Can you imagine what Zachariah
felt when he asked, what does this mean? What are these? And
the one he's speaking to says, I'm going to tell you what they're
about. I'm going to tell you what they are. Now, the man that
stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, these are
they whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro through the earth. What is recorded here? We find
that Zachariah saw a man riding on a red horse. A man stood among
the myrtle trees in a ravine or valley. Behind this man on
a red horse, there was red horses, speckled, and white horses. And
now, he asked that question, what are these? And the answer
has come. Let me tell you about it. Now,
would you turn with me over to the book of Luke chapter 7 right
now? Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter
7 and verse 40. Now right here, we're jumping
into the middle of a wonderful passage of scripture about a
lady and an alabaster box of ointment. Now I'm looking forward
to the time when our Bible class teacher gets to this point. But
I'll wait till we get there. But let's look at this for just
a moment. I just want to read verse 40. And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. Now, I like Simon's
answer. Jesus said, I have something
to tell you. And Simon answered, Master, say
on. Now that's kind of what we have
over here in the book of Zechariah, chapter one. Lord says to Zechariah,
I want to tell you what it is. And Zechariah says, oh, please
do. Please do. Now, let's go back
over to the book of Zechariah. And here we find that the prophet
Zechariah is asking this question, what does this mean? And then,
I'm going to show you the man that stood among the myrtle trees
answering said, these are they whom the Lord has sent to walk
to and fro through the earth. Now we're going to find out in
this vision, there's a lot of figurative language, but it means
something greatly significant about our relationship with the
Lord and who he is, what we think about him. They answered the
angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees and said,
we have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the
earth sits still and is at rest. Now, does God need to send people
out, or beings out, or horses out, or riders out to find out
what's going on in the world? Absolutely not. This is a picture. This is a picture of what God
knows and does in this world. These are not real beings that
go out and come back with a report of what's going on in New Guinea
and a report of what's going on in Russia, because the Lord
is omniscient and knows all things, and these beings and these horses
are symbols of His omniscience. that he knows everything that's
going on. And he shares with us in that
verse 11, we have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold,
all the earth sit astill and is at rest. All the Gentiles
are at rest. All the Gentiles, looks like
everything is going wonderful with them. And then it says,
in the very next verse, Then the angel of the Lord answered
and said, Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy
on Jerusalem, on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast
had indignation these threescore and 10 years? All the world looks like it's
at peace, and yet there is one place. that God is dealing with. Now, I looked at this and I said,
you know, that all the rest of the world that's being talking
of, those are all Esau's. And it looks like they're just
getting along fine. They're getting what they want. They have a plenty.
Turn with me, if you would, over to, I believe it's Psalm 73,
but let me look here. Psalm 73. Psalm 73, we have some of the
same thoughts brought up over here when the omniscience of
God reports to us in Zechariah chapter one and says, all the
Gentile world is at peace, they're settled down, things are going
well with them. But Jerusalem and the folks there,
God has had his thumb on them for a while. Well, let's look
here in Psalm 73. because there is an issue that
came up that sometimes traps us. And that is, truly God is
good to Israel, even such as are of a clean heart. Now only
Israel, spiritual Israel, have clean hearts because they've
been given a new heart. He's talking about the church here.
He's talking about God's people here. But as for me, and here
is one of those folks, My feet were almost gone, my steps had
well nigh slipped. Why? For I was envious at the
foolish when I saw the prosperity of Esau's. Over here in the book
of Zechariah, the Esau's are all at rest. These nations that
have come up against Israel, against Jacob's, they've had
their way. God has permitted them to have
their way with Israel, with the church. The church is the only
one of all of those folks, though, that God has any interest in. The Esau's, they're at peace,
but his interest is towards Israel, towards the church. towards his
people. All right, let's go back over
here to Psalm 73. It says, for I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there is no bands
in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble
as other men. Oh my, let me tell you about
the trouble I've been in. The trouble we have. My goodness,
the church seems to be in a constant trouble. One of the reasons is,
This is not our home. This world is not our home. We're
just passing through. We're strangers and sojourners. Goes on to tell us, they are
not in trouble as other men. Neither are they plagued like
other men. It looks like they're just having a glory day. The
Esau's. We sent out our investigatory
casseroles. And they came back, nobody's
having trouble over there. But look at Jerusalem. Look at
Israel. And they're the only ones that
God has an interest in. He knows. Therefore, pride can
passeth them about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than they could wish. They are corrupt and speak
wickedly concerning oppression. They speak slothfully. They set
their mouth against the heavens and their tongue calls through
the earth. I will not have this man rule over me. And if there
be a God, let thunder or lightning come down and strike me dead.
Well, God is gracious. Goes on, it says, verse 13, verily I've cleansed
my heart and vein and washed my hands in innocency. For all
the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning.
Do you know what it says in the book of Hebrews? If we're not
chastened, we're not sons or daughters. Now, He's not punishing. He's
training. The rest of the world don't need
to be trained. They're Esau's. All they are is hewers of wood
and drawers of water. They don't need God's chastening. There's two places, there's two
places where God's wrath is going to be poured out. On Jesus Christ
on the cross for all Jacob's and at the judgment, the final
judgment upon all Esau's. There's only two places. For
the church, for the elect, it was at the cross. And that's
the only place God's judgment will be against the church, is
in Christ. And then upon all the Esau's,
his wrath will be poured out in the second death. So two places. Goes down through here and says,
14, for all the day long I've been
plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak thus, behold,
I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought
to know this, it was too painful for me, until I went unto the
sanctuary of God. What is the sanctuary of God?
Is it a place? No. It's a person. This is a
nice auditorium, but it is not a sanctuary. Jesus Christ is
our sanctuary, our hiding place. Jesus Christ is the place where
all of God's people hide. And it is here. Until I went
to the sanctuary of God, then understood I their
end. Surely thou did set them in slippery
places. Now he thought he was in slippery
places, but God set the Esau's in slippery places. They're satisfied
with where they are, they're satisfied with what they're doing,
and they don't have a problem. Well, as we go back over here
to the book of Zechariah, keep it in mind that the world sits
at ease, the world sits at rest, and the church, a picture here
found as Jerusalem. It says there, the angel of the
Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou
not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah against
which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? What? did God demonstrate by
this, His utter faithfulness. His utter faithfulness to the
church. He had promised that there would
be 70 years of Babylonian captivity. to Jerusalem, to Judah, and they
did. And He could not do anything
else but do that. Every word of God will be carried
out to its fullest extent. Either it will be placed upon
the Son or it will be placed upon people. And here we find
that the Lord Jesus Christ is spending His entire attention
on the church and the rest are just having their field day.
We're going to find out that the Lord is going to be gracious
to Jerusalem. No, He didn't have to be. And
I'm talking about Jerusalem, New Jerusalem, Heavenly Jerusalem,
the church. He didn't have to be. But in
the covenant of grace, he must be now because he's going to
demonstrate grace to the church. He's going to demonstrate, I
will release you from Babylonian captivity. And he does release
us from the effects of the fall, and allows us to see Christ,
and bring us to God, and to have friendship with God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When we realize that
all three are intimately involved in our salvation. what glory
it is that he would have attention paid to the church of the living
God, to the people of God. This picture reveals that God
knows all the conditions of the world. All the earth sits still,
and with Jerusalem and Judah not so at rest. These few verses
share with us that God is knowledgeable about what is going on every
place in the world all at the same time. He knows the number
of hair on our head. If that doesn't boggle you, He knows our thoughts. He knows
our sitting down times. He knows our rising up times.
The Bible is filled with passages of scripture that share with
us that God is all knowledgeable about all things, about us individually,
about what is going on in our life. In fact, he has purposed
what's going on in our life. He just doesn't know it. He has
purposed it to go on. So he's not punishing the church.
He's demonstrating a care that he never had for the rest of
the world. Let them sit in their ease, in
their slippery places. Let them just go ahead with the
rest of their life. But I'm going to pay particular
attention to a people that I love with an everlasting love, and
I had their names written down in the Lamb's Book of Life before
the foundation of the world, and Jesus Christ on purpose came
down to this earth as a God-man to lay down his life, a ransom
for them, Go to the grave, spend three days and three nights there
and come forth from that grave victorious over every enemy of
the church and every enemy of God, and is now set down at the
right hand of the Father victorious. Mission accomplished. and he's
paying attention to all his people. He knows where all his lost sheep
are, and he knows where all his saved sheep are. He knows where
the gospel must be taken, and he gets the gospel to that place
just as surely as he said, I must needs go through Samaria. He must needs go through every
place where his lost sheep are, bring them the gospel because
he cares about them. The rest of the world, they're
at ease. They're doing their thing. Yet,
he has particular attention over a number that no man can number
out of every kindred nation, people, and tongue. His omniscience
lets us know that. Esau's. Eat, drink, and be merry, because tomorrow you'll meet
me. Jacobs. I've loved you with an
everlasting love, and I'll pull you out of the deepest pit. I'll
bring you out of the rock. Remember the rock you're hewn
from. I care about you. I've eternally cared about you,
and my attention is on you. My omniscience lets me know my
attention, lets us know his attention is upon the church. Join me,
if you would, over in the book of the Psalms. Back up to the
book of the Psalms, if you would. Psalm 139. Those going to and fro through
the earth are just a picture of God's omniscience to the church. He knows all things. All things. He knows all things ever I did.
Is not this the Christ? He told me all things ever I
did. Is not this the Christ? So he's omniscient. Here in the
book of the Psalms, Psalm 139 and verse 1. Psalm 139. And verse one, O Lord, thou hast
searched me and know me. Wow, that's just what Zechariah's
talking about. Esau's, you're just there, you're settled
in your own mess, but I care about the church. O Lord, thou
hast searched me and know me. Thou knowest my down sitting
and my up rising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou could passeth my path and
my lyin' down and aren't acquainted with all my ways. For there's not a word in my
tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. I have
knowledge of what you have need of before you ask. I can't get my arms around that
tree. Here he says, there is not a word in my tongue. I haven't
even, there's not a word that I've ever thought of that you
didn't have knowledge of before. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. That's the church speaking. Oh
my, our God, what a wonderful God. He would care, he would
care, he would care about the church. We heard that message
on Sunday. I was just overwhelmed. I was just blessed by that message
Brother Bill brought. I mentioned, what would it have
been like if there's no interruptions? We were blessed even though there
was interruptions. That narrow, that straight way. You know what? God is so interested
in all of His lost sheep that He makes them find that path. That straight way. He herds them into it. He hedges
us about to it. He brings us to it. He brings
us to Christ, that straight way, that narrow way. He doesn't leave
us out there languishing trying to find. If you've ever been
lost in the woods after dark, it's not comfortable. It's not
a comfortable feeling. but to have this almighty God
who is all-knowing, omniscient, has all knowledge, herding his
people to the straight gate. This is too much for me. It's
overwhelming. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me, it is high. I cannot attain unto it. I just,
I'm overwhelmed. What a blessed God. Alright,
Psalm 147. Would you turn there with me
to Psalm 147? Psalm 147, and there in verse
one again. Psalm 147, verse one. Praise ye the Lord, for it is
good to sing praises unto our God. For it is pleasant, and
praise is comely. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts
of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart.
He bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the
stars. He calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord
of great power. His understanding is infinite. It says there, he telleth the
number of the stars, he calleth them all by their names. Abraham
was told to look up and see the stars. That's the number of your
descendants by faith, a number that no man can number. Can you
just imagine that God knows all those stars, all those people,
and he calls them all by their name. He calls and we come. There was
no voice like my mother's voice when it was time for supper.
It didn't matter whether we were a mile away or 50 feet away. We knew it was mom's voice and
we came. It was the effectual call. The effectual call. God calls,
we come. I just appreciated that message
so much on Sunday where it says, follow me. What was he to do? If God is
omnipotent, then he's going to follow. If God isn't omnipotent,
I may think about it. Well, we know what happened.
He's omnipotent and he came. Levi followed him. That's what
happens. He's omnipotent, omnipresent,
and omniscient, and he knows all the things that are going
on in this world all the time. Besides that, He's purposed all
things. Join me over in the book of Isaiah,
Isaiah chapter 40. Would you turn there with me
to Isaiah chapter 40? Isaiah chapter 40, as we think
about going to and fro, in just a couple chapters, three chapters
in the book of Zechariah, it says that the Lord is like eyes
going through to and fro throughout the earth. He knows what's going
on. All places, at all times, he's
almighty. Isaiah 40, verse 28, the scripture
shares this. Hast thou not known, hast thou
not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary. There
is no searching of his understanding. Never come to the conclusion
of what God knows. He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the
youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fail. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and
not be weary. They shall walk and not faint."
That doesn't mean we can walk from here to Dufferin back in
a day. That means that God takes care of us spiritually. My goodness,
what a great God. To find out, his omniscience
came back and said, the world's at rest in themselves, but my
people, my people Jerusalem. my people, the church. That's
who I'm going to pay attention to. When that time was ripe,
when that time was over, God released these folks from Babylonian
captivity by coming into the mind of a pagan king and say,
let these folks go home. I'm sure that his counselor said,
what are you doing? These folks are our slaves. He
said, what I have spoken, I have spoken. We're going to let him
go back to Jerusalem. Why? Because God told the prophets
70 years and Cyrus will let him go back. Some 50 years later,
we find out that another king said, let the rest of these folks
go home. And besides that, I'll give them all the gold, enough
wine, enough oil, enough salt, enough of everything for them
to take care of their worship services once they get there.
And put that on my tab. Talk about a great God. Everything
about our redemption has been taken care of by God and nothing
has been left to chance or left to us. He's taking care of it
all, every bit. So, His omniscience lets us know
He knows everything that's going on. Those guys over there, they're
rich beyond compare, living like Devils and look at me just trying
to eke out a living. Do you think he doesn't know
that? He knows that. But then when we go to our sanctuary,
when we go to the Lord and see therein, we say, I'm richer. There's no comparison to the
wealth of riches that I have in Christ Jesus over what they
have in their paltry little bank account. So we're thankful for
God Almighty that lets us know that He is a God that knows all
things, and He's carrying out His business just as He's always
carried out His business, and nothing will thwart His purpose,
nothing will thwart His hands, and He will bring every one of
His lost sheep to the fold on time, at the right time, And
then he'll fold this up as a tent. And I drove by a field today
and I looked out there and I saw something I'd never in my life
seen before, a flock of sheep with a bunch of goats in them.
And it reminded me of that passage of scripture over there in the
book of Matthew, as a shepherd does divide the sheep from the
goats, that's what he's gonna do. And those on the left hand,
We'll say, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. Those on
the right hand, welcome to the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world. He's omniscient and knows all
things, and we are thankful. Well, as we go through farther
into this great book of Zechariah, we're going to find many types,
shadows, and pictures that glorify our Lord. We are not going to
go down the path of apocalyptic trivia. We're gonna stay on the
high road. Head towards Christ, head towards
Christ, and you'll never be an heir.