Good evening and welcome as we
continue our study of the book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter
1. We'd like to read the first three
verses tonight in our study. Zechariah chapter 1. I remember
the pastor who brought me the gospel in January of 1986 later
shared with me that God's people really want to know what the
Bible says. I think that's something that
I want to know. I want to know what the Bible
says and I've made it my ministry to share what the Bible says. And so we're going to look here
in the book of Zechariah. The first lesson or message that
we brought from the book of Zechariah was sort of a quick overview
of this book, and in it we notice several wonderful verses that
are found here, and in time we will spend our time on those
verses. Last week we noticed that this
was the word of the Lord that came to Zechariah. Notice with
me there in verse one, in the eighth month in the second year
of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son
of Berechiah, the son of Ido, the prophet saying. Now there
was three things that we attempted to bring out with regard to the
word of the Lord coming and that was the word came to the earth
and when it came to this earth it was all by grace. When the
Word came to this earth, it came to a place that had been corrupted
by sin, had been corrupted by the fall, had been corrupted
by sinners. And so God, by His grace and
by His mercy, proceeded to share with inhabitants of this sin-cursed
place His Word. And the Word came to Zechariah
at a time when a pagan king ruled much of the known world at that
time and it hasn't changed before or after that pagan kings or
pagan lords or pagan queens or pagan people usually are ruling
over vast domains of land and yet the Lord is still pleased
to have his word come and then we noticed in that verse of scripture
that the word came to Zechariah and It mentions two of his predecessors,
and if we went back far enough, if Zachariah went back far enough,
He could find out that he could trace his line right back to
Adam, just as you and I can. And it is there that we find
that we inherited, we have imputed to us the nature of Adam, the
sin of Adam, and we're all sinners by nature, we're all sinners
by practice, and we're all sinners by choice. So it is a miracle
of God's free and sovereign grace that he would ever send his word
to the place we call home, the place we call earth, and especially
to send the capital W, capital O, capital R, capital D, the
word, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God the Son,
Emmanuel, to send him to this place. It is by grace and grace
alone. Tonight it is our desire to look
at a very important name of God given some 53 times in this book
only Jeremiah and Isaiah in that order have this name given more
often and The name is mentioned in verse 3, but let's read verse
2 and 3 the Lord Hath been sore displeased. That's the message
say this as we found there in verse 1 the Word of the Lord
came to Zechariah and saying, The Lord hath been sore displeased
with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord
of hosts. And I will turn unto you, saith
the Lord of hosts. In that one verse, three times,
this name of God is used. Now that word Lord, capital L,
capital O, capital R, capital D, is the translation that we
have for Jehovah. So it's Lord of armies, Lord
of hosts, Lord Almighty, Jehovah Almighty. We have those names
put together and it describes another aspect of the Lord of
Glory. We shared last week and we shared
at other times a passage found in the book of Daniel chapter
4 Nebuchadnezzar coming out from under those seven years of inactivity
as a king and only being out in the field as a brute beast
when the Lord gave his senses back to him. It tells us in the
book of Daniel chapter 4 and it gives us a wonderful definition
of this name. Nebuchadnezzar was used mightily
to share with us, and we go to this passage of scripture oftentimes
to realize, to refresh, to review the God of heaven, the God that
created heavens and earth, and the God that is in absolute control
of all things and has purposed all things after the counsel
of his own will. Here in the book of Daniel chapter
4, Nebuchadnezzar, at the end of the days, Nebuchadnezzar lifted
up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto
me. Now there's only one that could
cause that, and that is Almighty God. And he is going to share,
Nebuchadnezzar is going to share with us a wonderful definition
of what it is in that name, Lord of Hosts, or Lord of Armies,
or Lord Almighty. It is in this verse of scripture,
after Nebuchadnezzar's understanding was returned to him, and I blessed
the Most High, and praised and honored him that liveth forever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is
from generation to generation. He is being used of the Holy
Spirit to reflect on the person of God. that we read about so
often in the scriptures, the God of miracles, the God of grace,
the God of pardon, the God of mercy, the God that would send
his only begotten son to lay down his life for ransom for
many. And in verse 35, and all the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. And notice this, he doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven. and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What
doest thou? This is a wonderful definition
of the Lord of hosts. He doeth according to his will
in the armies, among the armies of heaven, and the inhabitants
of the earth. All of the heavenly host he is
absolute commander over they bow and worship him They cry
holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty They perform his bidding
without asking why they do it out of respect for God he is
their creator and And here Nebuchadnezzar shares with us that he not only
does that in the armies of heaven, but also among the inhabitants
of the earth. Now many of the inhabitants of
the earth may ask why, and never receive an answer for it, and
yet the Lord performs his will among the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth. He doeth his will. He performs
his will. He asks no one for permission.
He does it according to his eternal purpose. The first time that
this name is used in the Bible is found over in the book of
1st Samuel. So I'd like you to join me over there in the book
of 1st Samuel as we read about the first time that this name
is recorded in the scriptures. 1st Samuel chapter 1 and verse
3. In 1st Samuel chapter 1 and verse
3 we have that there's a certain man of Mount Ephraim whose name
is Elkina. And it gives us some information
about him in verse 2. And he had two wives. The name
of the one was Hannah. The name of the other was Peniel. And Peniel had children, but
Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his
city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts
in Shiloh. Now there's something very special
about this man because he is worshiping a God of revelation. He's worshiping a God that has
revealed himself. He's the almighty God. He is the God of armies. He's the God of hosts. He is
the Lord of hosts. He's Jehovah of hosts. and nobody
truly knows him without it being revealed unto them. And it tells
us here in verse 3, the man went up out of his city yearly to
worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh.
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of
the Lord, were there. Now, as we travel down through
the same chapter, 1 Samuel chapter 1, let's go down to verse 9. It mentions Hannah. This is one
of the wives of that man that came down to worship the Lord
of Hosts, the Lord of Armies, the Lord Almighty. So Hannah
rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had
drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a
seat by the post of the temple of the Lord. And she was in bitterness
of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she
vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, She has this glorious
name on her lips because she has this glorious person in her
heart. She knows something about God. She's not an ignoramus. She's
not a cave person. She is a person that God has
revealed himself unto her, and she realizes that when she's
praying, she's praying to the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Armies,
the Lord Almighty. If thou will indeed look on the
affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy
handmaid, but will give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then
I will give him unto you, the Lord, in all the days of his
life and there shall no razor come upon his head." Well there
are several other things that are mentioned there and the Lord
comes to her and by the way the Lord blesses by His grace and
by His mercy and gives Hannah a child. But she knows that the
Lord of hosts, the Lord Almighty, is going to perform His will.
If she doesn't have a child, it's His will. If she has a female
child, it's His will. And if she has a male child,
it is His will. And when she gives birth at the
appropriate time, it is a male child. As she had prayed, it
was the purpose of God. and God raised up this person. David used this glorious name
of God when he faced Goliath. Would you turn a little bit further
here in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 17. 1st Samuel chapter
17 and verse 40 when David came with some food and news for his
brothers who were with the armies of Israel under Saul and they
were stymied by this giant Goliath and didn't know what to do and
David said he'd take care of him and and Saul put his armor
on but David was a lot smaller than Saul it didn't fit so he
gave it back and it tells us in 1 Samuel chapter 17 and verse
40, and he took his staff, David took his staff in his hand and
chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them
in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a script. And his
sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David, and the
man that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine
looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but
a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine
said unto David, Am I a dog? that thou comest to me with staves. And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods. And the Philistine said to David,
Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air
and to the beasts of the field. Verse 45, we have David coming
to this Philistine. He said, And then said David
to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with
a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of
the Lord of hosts. the God of the armies of Israel
whom thou hast defied. David uses this wonderful name
as we see him recognize who is actually in charge of this battle.
It's far above David's standard. It's far above David's ability. But the Lord of hosts is going
to deal the death blow to Goliath. David was used mightily of the
Lord from here throughout his life. And he declares unto us
that he knows the name of the Lord of Hosts, Jehovah of Armies,
Jehovah of Hosts, Jehovah of Almightiness, Jehovah Almighty. This is a wonderful statement
that David made, and we know the outcome of it. The Lord of
hosts overruled all that was going on. He overruled a giant
Goliath. He overruled the armies of the
Philistines. And David was permitted to slay
this great giant and to take his head off and to deliver it
to Saul. And this is the name that we've
read in Zechariah chapter 1. Would you turn with me back a
little bit to the book of Joshua? Joshua was met by one as he surveyed
Jericho. Remember that back there in the
book of Jericho? That Joshua is out looking at
Jericho. That's the first obstacle in
taking this land that had been promised to them. The book of
Joshua Chapter 5. I'm so thankful as I read here
that Joshua, his name is the same name that we find for Jesus
in the New Testament. One's Hebrew and one is Greek.
But they both mean Savior. And it wasn't Moses that brought
the children of Israel into the land. It wasn't under the law.
that they came in it was under grace it was under the Savior
it was under Joshua which is a picture and a type and a shadow
that the law has nothing to do with our deliverance with our
salvation it is only a statement by God to declare that he is
holy and without the holiness of God will not see God so he
must give us that holiness it must be part of the transaction
of our salvation. Well here in the book of Joshua
chapter 5 and there in verse 13 we have It came to pass when
Joshua was by Jericho. He's out there as a good captain.
He's out there as a good army leader. He's out there as the
commander of the army of Israel from a physical standpoint. And
he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, there stood a man
over against him with a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua
went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain
of the hosts of the Lord. I now come. And Joshua fell on
his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What
saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. Once Joshua understood who this
was, he was ready to bow, and he was ready to take his shoes
off, because he truly was on holy ground. This is no one else
but our great Savior the Lord Jesus in his pre-incarnate state. He is the Lord of hosts. He is
the host of the Lord's army, as he tells us here in that verse
of scripture, but as captain of the hosts of the Lord. am
I come and Joshua fell on his face I am captain of the hosts
of the Lord and as they converse here as Joshua listens and this
Jehovah of hosts this Lord of hosts begins to talk to him he
shares with him that Jericho is going to fall and this is
the way you must do it and they did it and it is so un-militaristic
It is so against the Army, it is so against the Navy, it's
so against the Marines, it's so against the Air Force. These
folks were to walk around that city and God gave them that city. In the book of 2 Kings, would
you turn there with me? in this passage in 2 Kings chapter
6, as we've seen, as we look at these verses that deal with
the Lord of hosts, His name, the meaning of His name, as we
see what He does, as we see how He is working out for His glory
and His honor and His praise, it's amazing that the church
is given this review of God, God would reveal this to us.
This is part of that great transaction that was spoken there in the
book of Zechariah, and many other books, that the Lord of hosts
spoke unto Zechariah. The Lord gave him the word. And
in this, as we find over here in the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings,
and there in chapter 6, 2 Kings chapter 6, and I'm going to start
reading with verse 14 for time's sake, but if you have time, we
encourage you to Back up and find out what happened here,
but there is a great army come up against Elisha and in the
night and in camp to gets against him and the place he was staying
says there in verse 14 therefore sent he through their horses
and chariots and a great host and they came by night and in
and compass the city about and Now, this is where Elisha was
staying, and Elisha's inside of the city, and we don't find
a lot of concern on the part of Elisha. It's not that he didn't
know. He knew who was actually in charge.
Now, his servant was quite concerned, and when the servant of the man
of God was risen early and gone forth, and behold, a host come
past the city, this all happened during the night. Unbeknownst
to those inhabitants, unbeknownst to this servant of Elisha, unbeknownst
to those inhabitants of that city, they, like this man, woke
up and no doubt were in great consternation when they found
out that their whole town was being besieged by a foreign enemy,
by a foreign army. that cometh past the city with
horses and chariots, and his servants said unto him, Alas,
master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not, for
they that be with us are more than they that be with them,
whatever host there is out there. The Lord has more. If it's 10,000,
He has more. If it is 100,000, He has more. He has more of what
is necessary. they has more than they that
be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said,
Lord, I pray thee, open the eyes, that he may see. And the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold,
the mountain was full of horses and chariots. Now notice this
is the same figures that are used about those that came up
against the city. Those who came up to the city
came up with physical horses and physical chariots, but in
this passage of scripture we find that it was full, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. This is the protective grace
of God the Lord of hosts Provided this he is in charge of all this
army the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth He is
the Lord of armies. He is the Lord of hosts. He is
the Lord Almighty and so he does this and provides us just like
we read here He is the Lord of hosts now over in the book of
Zechariah. I Let's go forward just a little
bit there in the book of Zechariah chapter 2. We're jumping ahead,
but I want you to notice with me this wonderful verse of scripture
that is here, couched in the book of Zechariah, that has to
do with what we just read over here in the book of 2 Kings. That whole host of horses and
chariots of fire. that encamped around Elisha and
that town. Here in the book of Zechariah,
chapter 2, and there in verse 5, notice with me here, and we're
not going to exhaust this at all by any means. We're just
going to make reference to it because we want to spend some
time on it when we get there. But in Zechariah chapter 2, it
says, For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire
about. Now let's back up just a moment.
Verse 4 saith unto him run speak to this young man saying Jerusalem
shall be inhabited as a town without walls for multitude of
men and cattle therein Now very spiritual speaking here about
the inhabitants gonna be without a wall Unheard of in this day
and time not to have a wall around your city And here, there's no
wall. Jerusalem shall be inhabited
as a town without walls. Now verse five, for I saith the
Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will
be the glory in the midst of her. I am a wall of fire round
about. Well, we have a wonderful song
that uses those words in it that mentions the protective grace
of God around the church of the living God. how wonderful it
is to have this knowledge, the Lord of Hosts, he's the Lord
of Armies, he's the Lord Almighty, and he has this protective care,
just as we read over there in the book of 2nd Kings chapter
6, when that young man, the servant of Elisha, was permitted to see
the hosts of the enemy that was encamped against them, was nothing
compared to those that were in a full of horses and chariots
of fire roundabout. God takes care of his people.
As we read here in Zechariah, a wall of fire about them. There
is no real threat when we are safe in the hands of God. Yet
we worry, don't we? We worry. Let's turn over here
to the book of Mark for just a moment. Mark chapter 4. We
have some of our brethren back about 2,000 years. Some of our
brothers in Christ. We call them brethren because
they have the gospel gospel has been preached unto them They
are preachers of the gospel and they'll be better preachers of
the gospel They will not have a better gospel that there'll
be a better preachers of the gospel After the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ these things like this won't be an
issue but they were an issue here in the book of Mark chapter
4 and verse 38 and he was in the Hinder part of the ship asleep
remember what was going on here great storm of wind that's verse
37 there arose a great storm of wind and waves beat into the
ship so that was now full and He was in the hinder part of
the ship the Lord Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship asleep
on a pillow and they awake him and they say unto him master
carest thou not that we perish and He arose and rebuked the
wind and said unto the sea peace be still and the wind ceased
and there was a great calm and Then he says why are ye so fearful? How is it that thou that ye may
know have you have no faith? Well, the Lord must give us that
faith He doesn't castigate them. He's not harsh with them He just
over and over reminds us that unless we're given faith, we'll
not have faith. And these folks, they were at
their wits end. They were seamen, and they'd
seen things like this before. And the Lord was asleep on a
pillow, and they came to him, do you not care that we perish?
Well, the Lord certainly does. The ship was not going to go
down with the master on it. And he does demonstrate that
he has power over all things, even the wind. Turn with me if
you would to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 19. In Isaiah
chapter 19 we have some description about the Lord of Hosts, that
name that we're looking at, that name that Hannah used, that name
that David used and that name that is familiar to Joshua, the
host, army of the host of the Lord. And here in the book of
Isaiah chapter 19, as we think about there in the book of Zacharias
and 53 times that name is brought up, there is significance there. the one who authored this book
the one who is the ultimate author of this book is the lord almighty
and he will deal with his people and he's he shares with the zachariah
to share with the people the wonderful things of the gospel
of grace There is a fountain filled with blood, as mentioned
in the book of Zechariah. There is the cleansing that goes
on, as mentioned in the book of Zechariah. The new clothes
that we get is mentioned here in the book of Zechariah. And
there's only one that can provide that, and that is the Lord of
Hosts, the Lord of Armies, the Lord Almighty. Almighty God does
provide that. Here in the book of Isaiah chapter
19, and there in verse 23, Isaiah chapter 19 and verse 23 and we're
going to read the rest of this chapter It says in that day shall
there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria and Assyria shall
come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria and the Egyptian
shall serve with the Assyrians and in that day shall Israel
be the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a blessing in the
midst of the land now so many people are trying to interpret
this is going to be happening to a special time after the Lord
comes, and he's got to sit on an earthly throne for a thousand
years. And that is just so unscriptural. That's so degradating to the
Lord. To have the very thought that
he's going to have to start up animal sacrifices again, that
should send shivers up the spine of anybody that says that very
thing. Isn't Christ's blood sufficient?
Wasn't Christ's blood sufficient? Shouldn't his blood be sufficient?
That is But this is talking about the spirituality of salvation,
that the Spirit does it. And look at who it's happening
to. In fact, it goes on in here in verse 25, Whom the Lord of
hosts shall bless. Now, it takes the Lord of hosts.
It takes the Lord of the armies. the Lord of the army of heaven
and the inhabitants of the earth. It takes the great God Almighty
to do what needs to be done, but in doing what needs to be
done in order for one person to stand before God and cry,
my Father, which is in heaven, we have what is necessary to
be done. Blessed be Egypt, my people,
and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance. Now
we very seldom find that Gentiles and Israel are mixed, except
in verses like this that are so often found in the Old Testament
and brought up in the New Testament. And the people that discussed
the most about it were those who were so caught up in their
own pedigree that they were related to Abraham and had no concept
of what spiritual salvation is. It's not having a pedigree to
Abraham in the flesh. In fact, that's brought out in
Scripture. That is, Israelite is not one
that is one in the flesh, but is one in the spirit. So here
we have in that day, the gospel day, that There will be no difference
between Jew and Gentile, Assyrian, Egyptian, or Israelite. He's
going to be the Lord of hosts over all of them. We have the
Church mentioned here in a glorious way that He would take people
out of all conditions of the world and all religions of the
world. Bless them with the gospel and
bless them with a new birth and they are brought together And
he is the one that rules and reigns over him and they're called
my people and the work of my hands and my inheritance All
of those things complement the people of the Lord so whom the
Lord of hosts shall bless and He will do it. He's the Lord
Almighty, and He's the only one that can do that. In the book
of the Psalms, let's back up just a little bit here in the
book of the Psalms. Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Let's go over there
to Psalm 46. Would you join me there in Psalm
46? As we bring these lessons, we try to give you time to get to your Bible and look
at those verses, because I want you to be able to read what I
read. And if you don't, please write it down so you can. But
over here in Psalm 46, verse 7, notice there with me, Psalm
46, verse 7, says, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of
Jacob is our refuge, Selah. And I understand that that word
Sela is quite a word when it is used from a music standpoint,
but it's a wonderful word when it's used to God's word standpoint.
I mean, stop and think about it. Don't just read over this
quickly, trying to get through the Psalms as you read through
the Bible yearly, but stop and think about it. The Lord of hosts
is with us. This one Jehovah of armies, This
one Jehovah of hosts, this one Jehovah Almighty, this one is
with us. Come behold the works of the
Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease. Unto
the end of the earth he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear
in sunder. He burneth the chariot in fire. This is so beautiful as we look
at it from a spiritual standpoint. because he dismantles everything
that stands between me and God. He dismantles all the problems. He dismantles all that took place
between My disbelief of God, my unbelief of God, my rebellion
against God, my raised hand that says I'll not have this one rule
over me. And yet he has the ability because
he's the Lord of hosts to dismantle all of that. He takes the chariot
and he burns it. He takes anything that would
hinder my approach of God away. And then he brings me and introduces
me to the Father. This one I died for. How glorious
is that? He breaketh the spear asunder,
and he cutteth the spear asunder, and he breaketh the bow. And now notice verse 10. Be still
and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.
Now notice verse 11. That name is used again. The
Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
We read that up there. The Lord of Hosts, verse 7, is
with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The Lord of Hosts,
how he declares his personal relation to the church, I am
the Lord God Almighty. I do my will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. None can stay my hand,
or say, what doest thou? And the church rejoices in the
fact that he is the Lord of hosts. He's the Lord Almighty. In the
book of Isaiah again, let's go ahead there. Chapter one. I've gone through the book of
Isaiah in reading several times, and we went through it with our
church here several times. The last time, and I mentioned
this verse, chapter one, verse nine, because it's so apparent
here in the very early readings of Isaiah, but I've never noticed,
if I did, I'd forgotten, except the Lord of hosts, except the Lord of hosts had
left unto us a very small remnant. We should have been a Sodom. and we should have been like
unto Gomorrah. The Lord of hosts, he's in charge
of delivering a few from the judgment of Sodom or like the
judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. If it wasn't for the Lord of
hosts, if it wasn't for his grace, if it wasn't for his mercy, if
it wasn't for him coming on the behalf of his people and being
the ransom for his people, being the surety for the covenant of
grace to his people. This, except the Lord of Hosts.
No one else could deal with this. I mentioned to someone the other
day that the problem is so severe, it is just so severe, that God
could only send his Son to take care of it. Now, that's a serious
problem. And here we find the Lord of
Hosts. Except the Lord of Hosts, had
left unto us a very small remnant. If it wasn't for those that were
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, there would be
nobody saved. That's all there is to it. The
Lord of hosts is in charge. And now, looking again here in
the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 24. Join me over here in the
book of Isaiah chapter 24. Isaiah 24 verse 21. Isaiah chapter 24 and verse 21. I'd like to read the rest of
this chapter. And it shall come to pass in that day that the
Lord shall punish the hosts of the high ones that are on high
and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be
gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit and shall
be shut up in the prison. And after many days they shall
be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded
and the sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall reign. You
notice here all these pictures, these types of these shadows
that are brought out here. It is the Lord of hosts that
shall reign in Mount Zion. the Lord shall put away all rebellion. He shall put away the rebellion
of his people. We had rebellion against God
in the fall is evidence and rebellion against God by people is evident
and God takes that and settles it. He takes that rebellion against
God and settles it. It says, then the moon shall
be confounded and the sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall
reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously. His rule and reign will be glorious,
and he will subdue all enemies. He will subdue his people. He
will bring them down. He will cause them to bow the
knee to the Lord. They will have all excuses taken
away. He will reveal unto them himself. In the new birth, he will reveal
himself to them. They will know him as he is,
that he is the Lord of hosts, the Lord of glory. Now, the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament catches us all
up on this subject. Matthew chapter 28. Do you remember
over there in Matthew chapter 28? At the close of that glorious
book, the Lord in just preparing, just ready to ascend back to
the Father. He shares this with the saints
of that day, the saints and his disciples prior to that, and
his disciples after this, during our time, with regards to his
person and power And with this statement, he is able to securely
save all his elect and should lose none. Now what does it say
right here? The Lord Jesus Christ gives us
these words that are in such harmony with all the Old Testament
statements about the Lord of hosts, the Lord of army, the
Lord Almighty. Notice what Jesus said here,
all power. All power all authority is given
unto me in heaven and in earth All power I am lord of hosts
I am the lord of the armies of the army of heaven and the inhabitants
of the earth And it is brought out in the book of romans. Does
he not have power? Does not the potter have power
over the clay? So the lord jesus shares with
us here His wonderful position, glorious position, a Savior. And a Savior that actually saves
His people from their sins. And a Redeemer that actually
is able to redeem His people from their self and from sin. And He is the Savior of His people. He actually is. He says, the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it say? All power.
Given unto me in the book of Revelation another term is used
the Lord God Almighty So as we go through the book of Zechariah
From this point forward we'll be coming across the name this
name the Lord of hosts Over 50 more times As he is used, Zechariah
is used to declare the sovereignty of God, the eternality of God,
the power of God, the ability of God in all aspects of our
salvation. It is the Lord of hosts. It was
the Lord of hosts that granted Hannah a child. It was the Lord
of hosts that used David to kill Goliath. It was the Lord of Hosts
that was outside of Jericho, and there spoke to Joshua and
said, the hosts of the Lord will take care of this. This is what
I'm going to have you do. And the rest of that, as you
go into the promised land. The Lord of Hosts. So as we look
for him in this book, we'll find out the many things that he's
active in doing. And as we get to that place,
a number of places here, but just one that I'm so reminded
of and so blessed by, there is a fountain, a fountain filled
with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, brought right out of this
book. and we lose all our guilty stains. Well God bless you and we look
forward to the next time we're here in the book of Zechariah
and I look forward to going through it. We have another portion that
we want to look at before we just start delving into it and
that is found in the book of Zechariah chapter 1 I'd like
to look at just a little bit there where it says in verse
two, the Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
Verse two of Zechariah chapter one, the Lord hath been sore
displeased with your fathers. And we'll go on from there. All
right. God bless you and have a good evening.