Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The Hebrew word for Babel literally
means place of division and confusion. And this is illustrated quite
well as the Lord confused the language of the people there
at the tower and caused great division on the account of their
love of the flesh. One of the lessons that we learn
here is that God has placed restraints upon the wickedness of men which
would have no bounds otherwise. Men will be as wicked as God
allows them to be. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel
and was instrumental in the rebuilding of the temple in the days of
Ezra and became the governor of Judah. His name literally
means a stranger at Babylon, a disperser of confusion. This
is especially interesting since he was actually born in Babylon,
but was yet a stranger in the land of his nativity. He was
perhaps the author of the 137th Psalm, saying, by the rivers
of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea, we wept when we remembered
Zion. We hanged our harps upon the
willows in the midst thereof. But the Zerubbabel to which Zechariah
primarily refers to is not the son of Shealtiel, but is that
one who is the only begotten son of God. He did indeed tabernacle
among us in a body like unto our own, and was born in a land
in which he was a stranger, and had not even a place to lay his
head. This one, Jesus of Nazareth, did confess that He came to cause
division. Yet the division that He spoke
of was wherein He would divide His sheep from the goats. For
His purpose in the earth was not the absolute division of
all men. In fact, He came to establish
a bond of kinship and love among those whom He is pleased to give
ears to hear the sweet sound of the gospel. The angels heralded
his birth, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill towards men. So he went about the earth doing
good, and came not to condemn the world, because the world
was already condemned. This Zerubbabel has established
his kingdom that shall never pass away, by first of all demonstrating
the power and strength of the Lord. He came not to do His own
will, but the will of the One who sent Him. Therefore He is
mighty to save, possessing both light and life, and bestowing
both upon His elect children. He has clearly shown that it
is not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit. But as many
as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. He demonstrated the removal of
all obstacles that could hinder it. He has made the mountain
plain by entering in once into the holy place with his own blood,
forever removing any grounds whereby any charge may be laid
against the elect. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He has become
the headstone of the corner. What is this then that is written?
The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become
the head of the corner. Whosoever shall fall upon that
stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder. There are shoutings of grace,
grace unto it, for he alone has made us to differ from another.
We love Him because He has first loved us and has called us out
of darkness from which we could not rescue ourselves. He has
laid the foundation and shall finish the building. Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. Being
confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. No part
of this kingdom depends on anyone but Him. He has established his
righteousness. Zechariah said, for they shall
rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. There
is no other standard by which men will be measured. There is
no other righteousness which will be accepted in the courts
of heaven, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of
him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Herein
we will rejoice, for He has made us glad in His righteousness.
Is the ground and basis of your hope found in the righteousness
of Christ alone, or do you trust in your own righteousness? For
a free CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email
to forthepoor at windstream.net.