Short Reflection from Zechariah 1-14

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (OVU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[6:07 pm, 19/02/2022] S.R: ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟙:𝟙𝟟

"Again, proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’'"

Again. That's the word repeated 4 times! 😇👍

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟚:𝟙𝟛

"Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation."

It's proper to maintain silence before high and mighty people. We keep silent when we fear. Ought not we maintain silence before God and stop the charismatic theatrics?

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟛:𝟙

"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him."

Satan is our accuser in the court of God. Now, you appreciate that Jesus is our advocate. He never loses even a single case and will always win! 😇👍🙏

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟜:𝟞

“Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts."”

If only we are led by the Spirit....!

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟝:𝟙

"Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying scroll."

Well, we must make ourselves and others see the flying scroll! It's a scroll of condemnation against wickedness! That scroll is of course the Bible!

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟞:𝟟

"When the strong ones went out, they were eager to go to patrol the earth. And He said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth."

"We are not alone in this big universe." Science fiction is right. But it's not the aliens that are watching us. It's the spirits of heaven patrolling the earth. Even Satan roams to and fro, perhaps as fast or faster than the speed of light. He has been here on earth before Newton, Einstein, and Elon Musk, he knew a lot about physics.

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟟:𝟞

"When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?"

Hmmm! 1 Corinthians 10:31 is fitting to this question!

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟠:𝟙𝟜-𝟙𝟝

"For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,' says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I have not relented, so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!’"

Has the Lord been hard on you? Maybe because of your negligence of spiritual discipline. But there's good news. If you walk with God, as He has been hard to you, He shall be gracious to you too, and much more!

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟡:𝟡

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

One of the well-known Bible verses from the book of Zechariah! It's about the coming of Jesus Christ, the Palm Sunday!

Zechariah has 9 letters. Chapter 9 Verse 9.

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟙𝟘:𝟙

"Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain-- The LORD who makes the storm clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man."

 A prayer of a contrite spirit. A prayer of surrender to God. A prayer of trusting God. A prayer that seeks to glorify God

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟙𝟙:𝟙𝟟

"Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered And his right eye will be blind."

God wants His shepherds/pastors to be faithful ones! May I never have a worthless period in my ministry!

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟙𝟚:𝟠-𝟡

"In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."

Seeing the Russians invading Ukraine, I would love to see this passage coming true. How can tiny Israel stand against the nuclear forces of the world!? 😱 They shall, by the divine intervention of God!

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟙𝟛:𝟙

"In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity."

The hymn "There is a fountain filled with blood" written by the great English poet William Cowper, the friend of John Newton is taken out from this verse.

 

ℤ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕙 𝟙𝟜:𝟙-𝟛

"Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle."

What a great war is coming! Jerusalem will be destroyed, but God will fight for her again. It presumes that God will come to their defense only after their repentance and confession that the one whom they had pierced was the Messiah!

Bible Reading Reflection from Zechariah 7-14

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟟:𝟡-𝟙𝟘

"Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;  and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'"

The people asked Zechariah, if they should proclaim a fasting and prayer program, and the prophet told them God didn't like such!

True religion is lived out, not just spoken out. People of Yahweh must be both Orthodox and Orthopractic (Right Doctrine and Right Practice). These Israelites were neither Orthodox nor Orthopractic.

Orthodoxy is fearing Yahweh who delivered them from the bondage of slavery, and orthopraxy is to not oppress their own brothers knowing the salvation of God. People of Yahweh should be forgiving, kind, gentle, helpful, and compassionate as the Lord is to them. Or else it is a dead profession of faith!

Is it not chilling to reflect upon our life as well: the requirements of Yahweh from us? O to be forgiving! O to be gracious!  O to be compassionate! O to be helping! O to walk worthy of Thy calling, Thy salvation, Thy gospel, take captive of our hearts, O Lord, our God!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟠:𝟚

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.'"

Favourable jealousy of God towards Israel.

This chapter talks about the future. God in His jealousy poured out His wrath against His people to purge them from sins. And now He will be pouring out His wrath on others to bring His people back into His fold. His jealousy is demonstrated in two opposite ways: As much as dispersion and punishment were real, the gathering and prosperity of Israel will be real!

And v23, everyone will want to identify with them because of their God! When people see the goodness of God in us, they want to identify with us.

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟡:𝟚, 𝟜

"And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise."

"Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And cast her wealth into the sea; And she will be consumed with fire."

God will humble the proud and mighty.

I think a day is coming when the Chinese will humble the proud Americans! Maybe in our lifetime. BTW, so glad to see Italy defeating England in the Euro Cup! I was not supporting Italy. I was cheering for the defeat of England!

Israel was humbled by Assyria. Assyria was humbled by Babylon. Babylon was humbled by Persia. Persia was humbled by Greece. After Greece, the Romans, after the Romans, the British, after the British, the Americans, now the wind seems to be blowing in China! If God chooses China to humble the Americans, I want to see it in my lifetime.

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟘:𝟙

"Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain-- The LORD who makes the storm clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man."

Almighty God is ever ready to not only forgive but flourish us if we would just pray. This prayer presupposes acknowledgment of sins, repentance, and earnest seeking of God. Most human beings pray, but they do not have these three components in their prayer. BTW, it's an earnest prayer. E.M Bounds said that God answers no prayer only earnest prayer.

Footballer Ronaldo and Cricketer Virat Kohli said that if you want to win you have to be hungry for victory. Well, Christians can't afford to be ignorant arrogant fools, if we pray, let's be earnest for what we are praying for!

Even if we are earnest, even if we pray day and night, fasting and sacrificing our body itself, if Yahweh is not a forgiving God, there's no hearing of our prayers. And if Yahweh is not an Almighty All-good God, there's no answering of prayers.

But He is and He does. In fact, He works everything (and would even summon stars and shake heaven and earth) for the good of a believer!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟙:𝟙𝟚

"I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages."

Zechariah was given only 30 shekels of silver. He rejected and threw it away by the word of the Lord. It was a picture of Jewish leaders despising the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Treating Him as a worthless slave.

A story is told about Julius Caesar, abducted by pirates when he was 25 years old. The pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents. Julius Caesar laughed at them and suggested they demand 50 talents. Julius Caesar knew he was worth more than that. He even told them that when they release him, he will hunt them down. They undermined him and released him. And it is said Julius Caesar hunted down every single one of them!

If the true Shepherd is despised, it's likely the under-shepherds will be despised too. If Jesus was worth only 30 shekels, no surprise how people will undermine the under-shepherds!

BTW, 1Talent = 3000 shekels. How insignificant was Jesus! Sold only for 30 shekels when Julius Caesar (even when he was young) was abducted for 60,000 shekels. And He raised his price to 1,50,000 shekels 😂. Would you do that if somebody kidnapped you? Asking them to demand more money to release you? 😀

Terrorists like Bin Laden are wanted for a million dollars. Jesus was wanted for just 30 shekels. So was Zechariah, the under-shepherd of Israel!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟚:𝟠

"On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them."

This is good news. The present Israelis are not worth supporting. They are heathens like other people groups.

It is good, not even because their origin is written in the Bible. It is good because it is the faithfulness of God. It is about the power and goodness of God, nothing to admire about these Israelis.

This faithful Yahweh is my God too. He will shake heaven and earth to preserve and prosper His people when the time comes!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟛:𝟜-𝟝

"On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive,  but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.'"

A day will come when people will hate false teaching that even false teachers will be afraid to continue their teaching publicly.

That day has not arrived yet.

Now, people aren't even educated enough about what is right and wrong. Only after they know, they can hate it!

May I always worship and praise You, Lord!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟜:𝟡

"And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one."

In the end, our hope will be realized! And we will reign with Him.

That day, that day is nearer now than before!

Bible Reading Reflection from Zechariah 1-6

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙:𝟛

"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Return to Me," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I may return to you," says the LORD of hosts.’"

The first message of Jesus, the Son of God was "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near!" The first message of John the Baptist, the greatest prophet ever lived was "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near!" The first message of Zechariah is also a call to repentance, "Return to Yahweh!"

The thousand years of the history of Israel is a call to repentance. Because humans, even the best of man, the saints of Yahweh, the redeemed of God are sinners. There's always a call to repentance.

We have already repented. Done never to do again. Once and for all in terms of Justification (Salvation) but in our Christian living, we have to live a life of repentance always, which we call Sanctification. Battling sins. Turning away from known sins. Getting up when fallen.

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟚:𝟙𝟙

"Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you."

God's grace is for all nations. God's Kingdom is for all people of the earth. People just need to be like Abraham: to believe in the promise of God.

Notice the tense in this verse and passage. It's future tense. It wasn't fulfilled at the time of this prophecy. It has never been fulfilled till today. There's no way it will be fulfilled in this present scenario. But it will come!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟛:𝟛-𝟜

“Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ Again he said to him, ‘See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.’”

This is the picture of God's cleansing: God's forgiving and accepting of sinners. Joshua wasn't told to remove his filthy garment. He can't. He didn't have the ability or capacity. He didn't even have the will, I would dare say so. And he wasn't told to put on the clean garment. He can't, wouldn't, and didn't have the ability and capacity.

Because this is a picture of justification before God. Specifically, the cleansing of the Israelites before God. Removing and Clothing was done by God. That's why we say, salvation is of God.

C. S. Lewis portrays for us a good analogy in his novel and movie "Chronicle of Narnia" when Edmund was turned into a golden Dragon for going astray. Aslan breathed upon him, burning his skin yet giving him life again. It was painful when his skin was burnt up! Similarly, Repentance, which is turning to God, is not an easy road. Painful but worth every bit of it.

BTW, once we are saved (justified) we are told to put on because we are made able now. Ephesians 4. That's why we are commanded to after God has made us alive, able, and active!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟜:𝟜-𝟝, 𝟙𝟚-𝟙𝟛

“Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, ‘What are these, my lord?’ So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, ‘Do you not know what these are?’ And I said, ‘No, my lord.’”

Last time I mentioned that Jesus has a way of answering a question with a question. You see, the angel also answered him with a question each time Zechariah asked, in this chapter! Zechariah should have replied in question too, right? 😂 Something like this: "Do you suppose me to know them, my lord?"😂

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟝:𝟛

"Then he said to me, ‘This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole land; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side.’"

When nobody is serious, even a diligent man gets discouraged and gives up. But God is not a man. He is not giving up His standard. If everyone sins, He will damn everyone. There's no escape from Him.

Notice the flying scroll for everyone to see. The curse, judgment is sure. Notice the word "everyone" "will be purged," there's no escape! And when wicked people are purged, symbolized by the women being taken away, blessed will be the land!

Don't we recall the pleasure and satisfaction and joy when we overcome sin and temptation; when sin is purged in our life?

A day will come when every sin and wickedness will be taken away from us, individually and from the land! What a glorious day that will be!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟞:𝟙𝟛

"Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices."

Prophesying about the Coming reign of Jesus Christ. He is both the Priest and King! That day has not been realized yet. That day will come.

This prophecy is interesting. It's given in the context of judgment. Because in the end evil shall not be the last chapter, even it be, it's about its destruction. Righteousness must triumph in the end.

The leaders of Israelites, both the kings and priests had led the people astray. And the people themselves had been equally disobeying God. They needed a judgment. But if they all would be killed, where would be the power of God? It would look like a triumph to the devil.

God always has a remnant like Lot in Sodom, Daniel in a pagan land, and Joseph in Potiphar's home. And Messiah will rule over them. Wicked people will be purged. The righteous will multiply, dominate the earth, and reign with Christ!