Zachariah, and tonight I'm just
going to have kind of an overview of some of the things that we're
going to run into in this book. Zachariah means the Lord remembers,
and as one old preacher put it, He remembers us, His covenant,
His promises of grace. and the promises concerning him
coming as the Messiah. To the children of Israel that
were anticipating the coming of the Messiah, books like this
were of great value because it helped them as they went through
their life. And it was going to be 400 years after the end
of Malachi before a prophet would write again. And that would be
one of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, whichever
one came first. William Hawker said, or Robert
Hawker said, we will find very many rich and precious things
contained in this book which point to Jesus. So that sets
the tone for our study of this glorious book of Zechariah. In
this book, we have 53 different times the name Lord of Hosts
is mentioned. And that is a significant name
used in the Old Testament. The first time that that name
is used is in Zechariah chapter one and verse three. And we will
notice it time and time again through this glorious book of
Zechariah. The Lord remembers, and in the
book of Zechariah chapter one and verse three, 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 of scripture,
three times, this name is used. Now, the Lord of hosts or Lord
Almighty or Lord of armies is a title that emphasizes God's
rule over every other power, in the material and spiritual
universe. He is the ruler over every power
in the physical as well as the spiritual universe. This name
reminds us that all creation, even in its fallen form, is under
God's rule and reign. Everything that happens is under
God's rule and reign. I appreciate the words that we
find in the book of Daniel. Not long ago, a year or so ago,
we looked at this name again, but in the book of Daniel chapter
4, we have probably one of the best definitions of this name
given to us in the sense that he rules and reigns over all
things. So throughout this book of Zechariah,
as well as in all the books of the Old Testament, we find this
name is used to declare unto us that when we're worshiping
God, we're worshiping the sovereign ruler of all. When God gives
us the ability to worship him, when he gives us the ability
to worship him as a result of the new birth, We're not worshiping
a God, a little God, we're worshiping the God Almighty, the ruler of
heaven and earth, and even in its fallen state, he still continues
to rule. He purposed and permitted the
fall for his glory and for the glory of the church. So here
in the book of Daniel, a king, Now we've looked at this
before many times, and it's been brought to our attention in this
pulpit many times by many speakers. This fourth chapter of the book
of Daniel, because there was a king who thought he was the
king of heaven and earth, it would see. And his name is Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar thought so
much of himself that God said, okay, I'm gonna turn you out
to pasture, and he did that. Now at the conclusion of that,
it tells us in the book of Daniel chapter 4 verse 34, Daniel chapter
4 and verse 34, and at the end of the days I nebuchadnezzar. Now for a long, long time I never
appreciated the person who's doing the speaking. This is a
person that God touched. This is a person that God overrode. He is the king of Babylon, and
yet he finds out that he is the king of the kings. He is not
king of kings, he's the king of the king. So here it says,
Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes into heaven and my understanding
returned unto me. What he was, what he did all
that time for those years that he was out in the pasture, we
have not much said about it. But we know he had an appearance
like no other appearance. And when the Lord gave him his
mind back, this is his confession of faith. This surpasses every
confession of faith that man has ever written down in a book,
in a human book. Here it says, He lifted up mine
eyes into heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed
the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom is from
generation to generation." There are masses of people today that
do not have that confession. But this king, a notorious wicked
king, had that confession when the Lord dealt with him, and
dealt with him in a mighty fashion. to the extent when he came to
himself and I'm a firm believer that everyone that God gives
the mind of Christ in regeneration is going to have some thought
of the value of their Savior. And as time goes on and the preacher
preaches or we read or we hear the explanation from the word
of God about God, we're going to be in complete agreement with
every profound growth he gives us concerning God. We will never
find out that he is less than we thought, we'll always find
out that he is always more than we can even come to the capacity
to believe. But we do that, and it's great,
and it's a wonderful thing that God gives us. Now, in verse 35,
and all the inhabitants of the earth, Him included. That's a
wonderful thing. The Apostle Paul put it this
way. that he, oh, wretched man that I am. And yet, in that,
he appreciated the grace of God so greatly. Though the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven, that's Lord of hosts, Lord of armies,
Lord Almighty. 53 times in the book of Zechariah
alone, That name is brought to our attention to remind us that
this is the God that we're dealing with. This is the God that deals
with us. 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?
The Apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to write about this
in the 9th chapter, 10th chapter, 11th chapter of the book of Romans.
Does not the potter have power over the clay? If we think not,
then Paul says, is God unrighteous? Absolutely not. must correct
our thinking. May we pray that God will correct
our thinking. At that same time, my reason
returned to me, for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and
my brightness returned unto me, and my counselors and my lords
sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent
majesty was added unto me. What a glorious position that
every believer has when God brings this to their attention in the
new birth The Lord God Almighty, the Lord of hosts, becomes our
Lord. What a glorious place that God
has put us in to know the Lord of hosts. Well, in this book,
beyond that, we have in the New Testament, there are eight different
passages that are quoted from this book. And they're wonderful
passages. In fact, we read, behold your
king coming riding on a foal, on the foal of a donkey, and
that is fulfilled there in the New Testament. Smite the shepherd
and scatter the sheep is brought out in here. Twice in this book,
we are reminded of how much Judas received for his identifying
the Lord, 30 pieces of silver. Behold the king cometh. and they
will look on him whom they have pierced, is mentioned in this
glorious book. In this book, there are mentioned
20 times in that day. Now, turn with me to Zechariah
chapter two and verse 11, and we have the first time that this
phrase is used. It's gonna have a significant
impact on our study to read about this phrase, Zechariah 2 and
verse 11. Zechariah 2 and verse 11, and
many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day. Now
we're going to find that phraseology throughout this book, and it
is just telling us of God's conquering power over adversaries. Everyone begins, before God,
begins as an adversary of God. We are enmity against Him. We
are angry with God and we will not submit to God until He gives
us the new birth and then we're more than willing to thank Him
for bringing us to that point. It is in that day. Now, this
is the gospel day. I look at it as a precious time
when the gospel was brought to me. At first, I didn't want it. At first, I didn't appreciate
it. At first, I could have cared less. I would have wished that
I had never heard it. But in the end, I look back with
thanksgiving that God sent somebody who knew something about the
gospel to preach the gospel to me. And then by his infinite
mercy and grace, He gave me something that preachers attempt to give
people, and that is the new birth. They attempt to do that. And
by saying, ask Jesus into your heart, or raise your hand, or
come forward, they're attempting to do only what the Lord is able
to do, and that is to give the new birth. And he alone is the
author and the finisher of that. So we have in that day a number
of places, 20 times here in this passage. We're in this book. Now, I found great comfort, as
I read through this book a couple of times, great comfort in something
that Zachariah does at least nine times in this book. If you
would turn with me to Zachariah chapter one and verse nine, I
just took great comfort in this. Because it is not wrong for us
to say, Lord, what does this mean? Nine times in this book,
Zechariah, as it says here, verse 9, chapter 1, Then said I, O
my Lord, what are these? Now, there's
many passages of Scripture that I've read and I have to sit back
and say, Lord, what's this mean? The one who brought me the gospel
shared something that I've shared with you over the years and is,
I know what it doesn't mean. I may not know what it means,
but it is not contradictory to all the gospel. It's not contradictory
to grace. It's not contradictory to his
purpose of grace. It's not contradictory to his
salvation. It's not contradictory to anything
else that God has ever said. So I cannot look at it in that
capacity. I can only say, Lord, I know
what it doesn't mean, but I may not know what it means. But when
he reveals the truth and he may use someone in 10 years to bring
that passage up and you say, oh, what a blessing. What a blessing
that is, to see the truth of that passage of scripture. Now
it happens, as we go through the scriptures, it happens on
a constant basis. Lord, I didn't know that, but
I know it now, and I'll forget it today. Please remind me. Bring
it up again. We're to be reminded of those
things. And the angel talked with me and said unto me, I will
show thee what these be. Now, even in some of the answers,
I had to walk away and say, what does this mean? You know, figurative
language, figurative language. If we try to interpret the book
of Zechariah just like the book of Malachi or any of the other
books of the Bible with literal terms, we're going to have a
monstrosity. Nicodemus tried to interpret
the Lord's words from a literal standpoint. How can this be? Must I enter my mother's womb
the second time? Now that's a very good question.
That's a very good question. So we cannot interpret, we want
to look at this from a spiritual standpoint as much as we are
led to do that. These nine times, this type of
question is brought up in the book of Zechariah. And when I
read them, I said, thank you, Lord. I don't feel completely
as a fool asking, what does this mean? Now, if you'll notice with
me, in chapter one and verse one, one of the most important
statements made about this book, in the eighth month, In the second
year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zachariah. This
has the same value as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans,
first and second Corinthians, or any other book of the Bible.
This is the word of the Lord. And we may find there are parts
of it, and we will find parts of it, that's hard to be understood.
but Christ is the answer to the mystery. Christ is the answer
to the difficulty. So as we look at this, we're
gonna come back here many times, and it's mentioned two or three
other times here in this book, the word of the Lord, the word
of the Lord. So let's keep that in mind as
we go through the book of Zechariah, that this is God's word to his
people. We're thankful from time to time
that people who don't know Christ get to hear the word. But the
book was written to believers. I was an unbeliever, but I got
to hear the book written to believers. And God saw fit in his covenant
of grace to me to reveal at the right time the greatness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I just want to go through
a few things about this book and pick out some of the verses
that just touched me and reveal the covenant of grace that's
found in this book. And we'll spend the rest of our
time just looking at a few verses that are found in this book.
In the book of Zechariah chapter 3, Zechariah chapter 3, And there in verse 8, we find a capital name. All of
the letters are capitalized. It says, here now, O Joshua the
high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they
are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant, the branch. Now, the Lord has called this
a number of times in the Old Testament. But here in the book
of Zechariah, we find it one more time. In fact, we're gonna
find it twice in this book. In chapter 6 and verse 12, would
you look there with me? Chapter 6 and verse 12, there's
nothing new under the sun. The gospel has not changed. Zechariah
is not going to have a different gospel than any of the other
of the Old Testament writers or the New Testament writers.
It's all going to be the gospel about the branch, the gospel
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Zechariah chapter 6 and
there in verse 12, It says, And speak unto him, saying, Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is
the branch, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall
build the temple of the Lord. What a wonderful statement about
the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is not just a carpenter in the
sense of working with his stepfather, but he is a builder of the temple. Which temple? We are. We're the
temple of the Lord. And he continues to build it.
We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
We are built by the Lord. Every blessing we have comes
from the Lord, and everything we have, spiritual, comes from
the Lord, and we have created nothing in ourselves. Just as
repentance and faith are a gift of the Lord God Almighty, so
is our Every spiritual blessing, everything
that we have comes from the Lord. He is our holiness, our righteousness. He is our sanctification. Everything
comes from the Lord. All right, in this book, And
I'm going to travel over to the 14th chapter. There has to be
some significance, because in the 14th chapter, verses 16,
18, and 19, the Feast of Tabernacles is mentioned. Now, we've looked
at that. Brother Mike has brought some lessons on the Feast of
Tabernacles, and we will again when we reach this point. But
in Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 16, The scriptures say, and it
shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to
year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the
feast of tabernacles. Now, looking at this from a spiritual
standpoint, we know this is not just going out and having that
feast that's mentioned over in the book of Leviticus. This is
a spiritual feast of tabernacles. He, the Lord, is truly our tabernacle
and he is our feast of tabernacles. Verse 18, it says, and if the
family of Egypt go not up and come not, then that have no reign,
there shall be a plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen
that came not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Well, isn't
that interesting? If you don't come to Christ,
you're under a plague. And coming to Christ is of Christ. And then finally, in verse 19
it says, and this shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment
of all the nations that came not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. So there's some significance
there and pray that we'll be able to find some of that when
we get there. If you'll drop back to chapter
3 and verse 4, Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 4. It says, and he
answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying,
take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said,
behold, I have caused an iniquity to pass from thee, and I'll clothe
thee with a change of raiment. Now, you just got to get on shouting
ground. I am going to take away your
filthy garments. Why? I have caused an iniquity
to pass from thee, and I'm going to clothe you. with a change
arraignment, the robe of righteousness is given to every one of his
people. And in chapter four and verse
six, then he answered and spake unto me, saying, this is the
word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. And that applies to
everything. It's not our power, it's not our might, it's the
Spirit that gives us the blessings of Christ. And he is under no
responsibility to give it except the covenant of grace. And my
gracious, that is glorious when we look at the Spirit's work
in the covenant of grace. And that is to leading us into
all truth and to teaching us the things that be of God. My
people shall be taught. of God. That's the promise. So
we're thankful that he teaches us, that he teaches us the things
of God. Chapter 8 and verse 12. Would
you turn there with me? Chapter 8 and verse 12. The scripture
says, for the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give her fruit,
the ground shall give her increase. Now, We're not talking about
a place over there that has some of the best irrigation system
in the world because they have so little water. We're talking
about the church. The church shall be prosperous,
the vine shall be her fruit, the ground shall give her increase,
and the heaven shall give their due, and I will cause the remnant
of this people to possess all these things. And the church
stands back and says, hallelujah, I'm getting more than I thought
I was getting. I'm getting every spiritual blessing in Christ,
and we spend the rest of our days discovering what that is. have not come to the end of it.
We never will in this life. In fact, through eternity, we'll
not come to the conclusion of the grace of God. We'll not come
to the conclusion. It will not ever be used up. Chapter 9, look at me, chapter
9, and verses 9, 10, and 11. Chapter 9, verse 9, Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation. Lowly. Now this takes us right
over to when the Lord Jesus entered into Jerusalem. They spread the
palm fronds out in front of him. The disciples put their coats
on the back of this colt that had never been ridden. It's significant. that those words are used about
this cult, and then we find in the book of Job, man be born
like a wild ass's cult. Out of control, uncontrollable,
and yet when the Lord came and sat on that unbroke cult, there
was peace. And that's what we read about
the maniac of Gadara. The Lord touched him, He was
sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind, and just before
that, not even chains could contain him. No religion is able to contain
the sinner, only Christ. And then in verse 10, and I will
cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace
unto the heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea,
and from river even to the ends of the earth. This is the dominion
of this king. People have told him, I'm waiting for the king
to rule. Well, you're waiting too long, because he's already
ruling. He's ruled from eternity and will rule to eternity. Sometimes
it doesn't look like it, but he was in charge at his crucifixion. He was in charge of Pilate. He
was in charge of Judas. The son of man goeth as it was
determined. Pilate had to say, what I've
written, I've written. And Jesus said, you could do
nothing except it was of me. So he's in absolute, total control
of all the events and things that are going on. Then verse
11, as for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have
set forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
By the blood of the covenant. Will we ever get through this
book? Will we ever get through? When you talk about the blood
of the covenant and the events and the things that take place
as a result of it, what does it just say there? It said, I
have set forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no
water. And the church says, hallelujah.
We just don't comprehend all that the Lord has blessed us
with. But as we go through the scriptures, he gives us more
and more. And we have to be refreshed because we forget. Turn with
me, if you would, in that book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter
10 and verse 8. Zechariah chapter 10 and verse
8, I will hiss for them. Now, I forgot to look up what
that word means, but it isn't so much as a byword as we have
it there. I will look it up. I will hiss
for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them. Whoa. I've boughten them, I've purchased
them, and all that I've boughten, all that I've purchased, I will
gather in. Not one will be lost. I will
lose none of my own. What a glorious thing to have. I've redeemed them, and they
shall increase as they have increased. Now all the increments of increase
we have is just measured up in this. grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We don't have anything
in the scriptures that even holds a thought about progressive sanctification
because all sanctification is of the Lord and our progress
is in Him. And I shared with you a number
of times, the guy asked me, how do we measure progress then?
And I have to go to the scriptures and find out Paul measured progress
when he was able to say, oh, wretched man that I am. And what
did he think of Christ? More and more and more and more.
So that's our progress. But think ye of Christ, but think
ye of yourself. And if progress is measured on
getting better and better and better and better, We don't have
the right progress. Our view of God will increase.
Our view of ourself and our ability will decrease. In the book of
Zechariah chapter 11 and verse 12 and 13, we have the prophecy,
the statement made by the prophet Zechariah, who the Lord remembers. Even the number of coins that
were going to be measured out by the council to give to Judas
was made very clear. I can't help but think that there
were some of those that saw that happen and says, whoa, that's
over in Zechariah, 30 pieces of silver. Now, why isn't it
29 or 31? Because this is what God wanted.
Zechariah chapter 11 verse 12, it says right there, and I said
unto them, if you think good, give me my price, and if not
forbear, so they weighed for my price 30 pieces of silver. I've read somewhere that's the
price of a common slave. We'll look into that more. And
the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter. What did Judas
do with that money? He cast it at the feet of those.
He said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But he was not repentant. God
had not granted him repentance. God did not grant him belief
and repentance. He went out and hanged himself.
In many respects, Peter did nothing better than Judas. But Peter
was a vessel of glory. He went out broken hearted. He
cast those 30 pieces of silver at the feet of the Pharisees
and they went out and bought a potter's field to bury the
indigents. I was priced at them and I took
the 30 pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house
of the Lord. Wow. Pretty close, isn't it? Then if you will look at Zechariah
chapter 12 verse 10, Zechariah 12, verse 10, and I
will pour unto the house of David upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the spirit of grace and supplication. Isn't that wonderful when God
Almighty has poured out His spirit of what? Grace and supplication
on the church? to give us grace, overwhelming
grace, grace by no means deserved, but grace, that's not even the
meaning of grace, is it? Grace does not have a thought
of deserved. Grace is undeserved merit. They shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. Now there's only one group of
people in all the world that will ever see that, and that's
the elect. They will look on him whom they
pierced. The rest doesn't matter to them.
They could care less. As one mourneth for his only
son shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is bitterness
for his firstborn. And then if you'll look in chapter
13, there's a wonderful hymn that we sing. that came from
this very verse. Oh my goodness, that man got
a hold of something. It says, in that day there shall
be a fountain, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from
Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood are
free, or have, lose all their guilty stains.
There we go. Thank you. In that day there
shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And we just say
hallelujah. A fountain has been found, the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter 13 and verse 6, it
says, and one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in
thy hands? What are these wounds? Then he
shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of
my friends. Will we ever get through this
book? Chapter 13 and verse 9, and I'll
bring the third part through the fire. and will refine them
as silver is refined, and I will try them as gold is tried. They
shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, it is
my people. And they shall say, the Lord
is my God. That's exactly the new covenant.
They shall be my people, and I shall be their God. It couldn't
happen under the old covenant. He didn't give a heart to believe
that. In the new covenant, he gives
a heart to believe God. It's not something that we create,
nobody can create it for us, but it's the heart that God gives
us that trusts him. It's that new heart, it's regeneration,
it's the new birth. I will, as it says there, they shall be, this is my people,
and the Lord is my God. They shall say, the Lord is my
God. Chapter 14, verse 8. And it shall be in that day the
living water shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward
the former sea and half of them toward the hinder sea. In summer
and in winter shall it be. Now, I really feel sorry for
the commentators that look at that from a physical standpoint
and say, that's going to happen during the millennial. That's
happening now. That's happened in the Garden
of Eden. That happened with Abel, that
happened with Joshua, this living waters. Jesus brings it up in
his ministry and says, I am the water of life. He told the woman
at the well, you believe me, you'll never thirst for water
again. Give me that water, I don't have
to come down here and be embarrassed. He said, that's not what I'm
talking about. That's the physical look, and we have a lot of people
who look at this from the physical standpoint. But the spiritual
standpoint, God's people know where that water is. That is
the water of life that flows from our Savior, the Lord Jesus.
In chapter 14, verse 8, and it shall be in that day, the living
water shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former
sea, half of them toward the hinder sea, in the summer and
in the winter shall it be. That flows in front and back.
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day shall
there be one Lord and His name one. I don't know whether we'll
ever get to that verse. My, there is one Lord and His
name one. And chapter 14, verse 20. Would
you look there with me? In that day there shall be upon
the bells of the horses holiness unto the Lord, and the pots in
the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and
in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts. What does
it say about having the potter making pots of honor? Every pot. in Jerusalem and in Judah shall
be holiness unto the Lord of hosts, and all they that sacrifice
shall come and take up them and seethe therein. And in that day
there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts."
What a book. What a book. I want to reemphasize
verse nine of that, chapter 14, where it says, and the Lord shall
be king over all the earth. In that day there shall be one
Lord, and His name one. So Zachariah, some of the chapters
are rather short, but we're looking forward, I'm looking forward
to going through this glorious book and picking up from some
of the things that we've mentioned tonight. Going on, looking into
them to a little more depth. I pray that you will look at
this book. You can go online. You can click and say, read me
the book of Zechariah. And you can have a guy read it
to you. I did it twice, and I just astounded. I started writing
notes down, writing notes. Just because the reading of scripture
is a very important thing. Reading out loud. I catch more
when it's read out loud than I ever do when I'm reading it
to myself. So take that opportunity. It's a wonderful thing. It's
a wonderful asset we have, and it doesn't take long to find
it. We pray that you'll pray for our studies of the book of
Zechariah. And that I look forward to being
two or three years older, probably, when we come to the last verse
of chapter 14, because this is such a wonderful, wonderful book. I wish I'd have noticed it earlier,
but now is the right time. All right, we'll stop there.