View
216
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/12/2019 1991 Issue 6 - Sermons on Zechariah: Came the Word of the LORD - Counsel of Chalcedon
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1991-issue-6-sermons-on-zechariah-came-the-word-of-the-lord-counsel-of 1/3
Kenneth
L
Gentry Jr. Th.D.
SERMONS
ON
ZECH RI H
CAME THE WORD
OF THE LORD
With
this
message we begin a new
series
on
the prophecy of Zechariah.
Zechariah is
one
of the so-called
Twelve
Minor
Prophets, which are found
collected together at the end
of
our
Old
Testament The reason these prophets
are called
minor is due to
the relative
brevity of their books, when compared
with
the
much larger
works of Isaiah,
Jeremiah
and Ezekiel. These prophets
are
minor in size;
they
most
definitely
are
not minorinsignificance.
It
is unfonunate that so
few
Christians today are
familiarwith
either
the
minor
prophets in particular or
even the Old Testament
(beyond Genesis) ingeneral.
Does
not
the New
Testament
often draw
before us from
the
Old
Testament
negative
examples for warning
and
positive illustrations for
exhortation? Does not
Zechariahhimself
emphasiZe
36
times
in
his
book
that
his
Writing
comes
with a Thus
saith the
Lord
? Should
modern translations
paraphrase
2
Timothy
3:16
to
say: All
Scripture is inspired of God and is
profitable -- except for the Old
Testament ?
Thenhowisitthatmodern
evangelicals are so unfamiliar
with
the
Old Testament, which contains
70%
of
all the words in SCripture?
May
God be pleased to
give
us
eyes
to
see
and ears to
hear
as we
enter
this
neglected
portion of His
holy
Word.
The Significance
of mstory
in General
We
will
introduce our series from
Zechariah with a survey of the historical
environmentinwhichZechariahoperated.
This is
a
vital consideration
given
the
critical,
disbelieving
mind
of our
day.
The
skeptic
views
orthodox
Christianity as
naive
in its
commitment
to
the old,
old
sto11, which in the
skeptiC'S
view could
be little more
than
myth and legend. But
the fact of the matter is,
prophecy
from
God
always appears in a rational
way
and n an historical context.
Our God 'created the heavens and
the earth
and
all that in
them
is, as the
material
ofhistory --
indudingyou
(Exo.
4:11).
He
set
the sun and moon in the
sky to
mark
off the
passing
of
day and
night
in
history --
for
you
(Gen. 1:18).
He
has ordained the
seasons
and the
years that pass n the relentless
ebb
and
flowofhistory--
for you (Gen. 8:22). He
has
set man
in
the
world
as
acreature of
this marked and passing time --
even
you (Eccl. 3:1-12). Consequently,
time
and
history are
significant concerns
for
man as ordained by
God.
And the faith of
Scripture is one that
is
concerned
with time and history, the
real world.
God's
prophets were not
mystiCS,
detached from history. They
spoke
to men in history, like you and
me. They confronted real people with
real problems, like you
and
me.
By way
of illustration of this fact
note that
Isaiah
records
with
meticulous
care exactly where he
was
to go in order
to
receive
God's word.
Isaiah
7:3
says,
Then said
the LORD
unto Isaiah,
Go
forth
now
tomeetAhaz,
thou,
and Shear-jashub
thy
son, at
the elld of the conduit oj the
upper pool In the highway oj
thefuller'
sfteld.
God'sword
is
a
revelation from God to
flesh
and blood men
in
real
history.
This is
one major reason
why od forbids
sorcery in
His
Law.
The
word for
sorcery in Greek is
pharmakeia. It is the word
from which we derive
pharmacy. Sorcery
was
a
function of witchcraft and
the occult, which employed
ha l l u c i n og en i c
mind-altering drugs. The use of
hallucinogenic drugs
is
at base an
escapist
attempt
to
avoid reality as God created
it. This isasinagainstthe God of history,
Who has putman in and
over
His world:
What 15 man that thou art mindful oj
him
.. Thoumadesthimtohavedomillion
September 1991 t lHE COUNSEL of
Chalcedon
t 5
8/12/2019 1991 Issue 6 - Sermons on Zechariah: Came the Word of the LORD - Counsel of Chalcedon
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1991-issue-6-sermons-on-zechariah-came-the-word-of-the-lord-counsel-of 2/3
over the
works of
thy
hands;
thou
has put
all things
under
is feet"
(Psa.8).
Now
I
have
said all of this because
Zechariah himself opens with a
particular
historical reference.
Zechariah 1: a reads: In
the eighth
month, in
the secondyear of
Darius, came
the
word
of
the Lord unto Zechariah.
Zechariahcame to lsrael at a particular
time with a specific
message. Here
in
Zechariah,
as
in
all
the prophets,
we
see
that our God
is
the God Who speaks in
history. He is concerned for our
historical predicament. He speaks
to
His people through His prophets in
history, not apart from
or
despite
history. We are not mystics passing
time; we are lovers of the God of history
seeking
to
live
for
Him in
His
world.
Because
of the nature
of
the Lord,
neither
were
his prophets
irrelevant:
Their
message
confronted
His people
where they were tn
time and
on earth.
His
prophets spoke
to His
people in
terms
of
their specific needs. Their
message
provided particular
directives
for
the people then, as
well
as including
general
directives
and
abiding
principles
. for us
today.
This is the
whole idea
behind the
forceful thus
saith
the Lord,
which appears 430 times inScripture,
as
well as 36 times in Zechariah.
The particular message of
God
through Zechariah
to Israel was
a
call to
repentance: Zechariah
1:3. Note the
repeated emphaSiS on the thus saith the
Lord.
It
is this message f repentance
that
will
occupy our attention
as we
survey
Zechariah
in
the
next
few months.
There
Is
an historical
reason obligating
Israel .
o
repentance; there
will
be
an
historical effect based on that
repentance.
Thus, our God gives us
authoritative directives for life in the
real world. Those who despise His
word and neglect the worship of
His
Name are essentially escapists,
for
they
deny that the
earth
is
the Lord's
and
the
fullness thereof,
the world
and
they
that
dwell
therein (Psa. 24:1).
Worse still, they are rebellious
escapiSts, for
they refuse to hear
God
speak to them.
The
psalmistinforms
us
.that
the heavens
declare the glory
of
God
and that
day
unto
day
uttereth speech
(psa.19:1-2). Paul warns us that
the
wrath
of
God is
revealed
from
heaven
against
all
ungodliness
and
unrighteousness
of
men,
who
hold the truth
in
unrighteousness; because
that
which
may be known of
God
is
manifest
in them;
for
God hath shewed
it
unto
them' (Rom.
1:18-19). There
is
no escaping the
presence
of
God, according to Psalm
139:7ff.
The Background of
Zechariah's Message
N
owwhat was
the
specifichistorical
circumstances of Zechariah
and
Israel?
These will
help us
understand
the
book
itself, and to
derive
an appropriate
message from it
to
us today,
as
we
consider
historical
parallels
with
and
apply its principles to our
time.
In
the year 605 B.C.,
Judah was
attacked, defeated, and
some
of its
citizens
carried
off
into captivity in a
display of Imperial power
by King
N buchadnezzar
of Babylon.
Daniel
was taken into captivity
at this time
(Dan.
1:
1-2)
. Eight years
later
this
military drubbing happened
again.
This
time Ezekiel was among
the
captives
.
(Eze. 1:1-3). Babylon was roughing
Israel
up to
let
her know
to whom she
had to concede
authority.
Twenty years
after
the
first
attack
and demonstration of military
dominance by Babylon, the whole of
Judah
was attacked
and fell
to
Babylon.
Intheyear586B.C.,afteryearsofsolemn
warning and urgent calls to repentance
from
idolatry
by
such prophets
as
Isaiah,
Amos,
and Hosea,Jerusalem
was
sieged
and destroyed, Its temple sacked and
demolished
,
and large
numbers
of its
choicest citizens were enslaved by
Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chron. 36:15-21).
In addition
to
the
twenty years since
the
first assault by Babylon,
for
fifty more
years thousands
of
Jews languished in
6
j TIlE OUNSEL o
Chalcedon
j September
99
captivity in
Babylon,
dragged in chains
from
their burning homes and out of
the land of theii tathers, their beloved
Promised umd
Zechariah himself was born in
Babylon during this captivity, as
is
evident
from
his being a "young
man
as
he writes
his
prophecies (Zech. 2:4).
That era of captivity and devastation
was
adark era in Israel's history, as is
evident in the poetic lamentation of
Psalm 137.
It
s
to
be
noticed that Zechariah
dates his prophecy different from
the pre-exiliC prophets. For
instance, Isaiah begins: The vision
ofIsaiahthesonofAmoz, whichhesay
concerning
udah and jerusalem
in
the days
of Uzz\ah, jotham, Ahaz,
and
Hezekiah,
kings o judah
(lsa.
1: 1). Amos dates his: "The
words
of
Amos,
who was
amongtheherdmen of
Tekoa,
which
he
say concerning Israel
in the
days
of Uzz\ah king of judah,
and
in
the days ofleroboam the son o
joash
king
of
srael, two
years after
the
earthqllake
(Amos 1 :1). Thesedate
their prophecies in the reigns of
Jewish kings.
But
since the Babylonian
Exile,
the prophets dated their prophecies in
terms of
pagan,
foreign kings. lsrael
had sunk low ; her calendarno longer
reflected
freedom,
it no longem volved
around the rule of her own kings, but
of
foreigners.
For any citizen
in
any
land who
loves
his homeland, this is a
terrible situation. For a nation who
had been marvelously redeemed
from
Egyptianbondage Into a land promised
by God, this was nothing short of
covenantal curse.
lsrael had breached God's gracious
covenant with her. In
Deuteronomy
28:25,36,48-50, and
58
the covenant
clearlywarned what would befalllsrael
if she rebelled against God,
But by the time
Zechariah writes,
Israel is no longer in exile under the
tyrannical dominion ofBabylon.
She
8/12/2019 1991 Issue 6 - Sermons on Zechariah: Came the Word of the LORD - Counsel of Chalcedon
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1991-issue-6-sermons-on-zechariah-came-the-word-of-the-lord-counsel-of 3/3
finds herselfretuming
to
her own land,
although she still' is not allowed
self-rule
in
it. In 536 B.
c.
after the
overthrow of Babylon by the Persian
ruler Cyrus, the Jews were allowed
to begin returning
to
their homeland.
The pagan ruler Cyrus even
gave
them permission to rebuild their
temple 2 Chron. 36:20-23), along
with some other limited freedoms.
Zechariah returned
to
Israel with
the first company of released exiles
in
536 B.C., which numbered about
50,000 (Ezr.
2:64-65).
His
contemporary was Haggai,
with
whom he aimed at encouraging the
Jews
in
the work of rebuilding the
temple, follOwing its destruction at
the
overthrow
of
Jerusalem
at the
beginning
of the
Babyloniancaptivity
(the temple inJesus'
day was the second
temple).
Surely things
were looking
up for
Israel. From exile
to
their homeland;
from abject slavery
to
rela tive freedom
under foreign rule.
Surely
now
Israel
would be obedient
to
God,
haVing
learned her lesson.
But there is a maxim
that says, 'The one
thing
man
learns
from history is that
man does not learn from
history."
Such is the case with Israel. And
how often s it the case with us today
Do
we learn from our past failures?
According to Ezra 3: 11-13 the
foundation for the new temple was
laid
as
soon as the exiles returned to
the Land. Initially, enthusiasm was
high for the rebuilding project (Ezr.
2:68). But the rebuilding had been
suspended due
to
harassment from
Samaria, whose half-Jew ,half-gentile
inhabitants had wanted
to
help with
the rebuilding. The work had been
suspended under Cyrus, king of
Persia, in the year 538
BC.
The
suspension lasted almost 14 long
years.
Haggai
was
ZechaIiah's contem
porary, who preceded Zechariah by
only two months Hag.
1: 1;
Zech.
1:
1). Haggai's prophecy opens with
an assessment of the sinful reluctance
of Israel regarding the rebuilding of
God's temple
Hag.
1:2-5,
9).
God
had caused the period ofIsrael's exile
to
cease. He had returned Israel to
her land. But after initial excitement,
the people lapsed into self-centered
concern with their own wealth,
forgetting the worship of God. They
had not learned well the lesson of
covenantal curse.
The Concern
of
Zechariah's Prophecy
Zechariah's main concern
in
his
prophecies is
to
offer consolation to
weakened Israel. He is compassionate
to his fellow Israelites. But at the
same time
he
urged Israel
to
repent
and put God and
His
worship back
at the center of
her
life. This call to
ethical obedience is a common theme
repeated
in
Zechariah 3:7; 6:15;
7:7-10; 8:16,17; 10:1,2; 11:10;
l4:20.
Too
often
we think
of the
prophets
as
little more
than
palm
readers and astrologers, who attempt
to prognosticate the future. But for
them the future was revealed with
an
overriding ethical purpose in mind:
to
exhort men
to covenantal
obedience to the Lord of glory. The
prophetic foreview is not for tickling
the ears of the curious or for trivial
pursuit for the superficiaL t was
related
in
order to drive men to the
fear of God and submission to His
law word.
Ethical conduct
rooted
in
spiritual
values derived from
God s
Word is a
pre-eminent concern of
the prophets and
apostles
in both
testaments. This eth
ical concern is here in
1: 1-6 set prominently
as
an
introduction to
the whole collection of
prophecies. The pro
pheCies of Zechariah
looked ultimately to the
renewal of holiness in
all the people
of
God:
Zechariah 14:20-21.
As
we study
Zechariah, let us be
mindful
that
God calls us to
obedience to His
holy
Name. May
we hear the call of Zechariah 1 :3.
May we live our flesh and blood
lives
in history
as
unto
the
Lord.
May we
who are called
by
the
Name of Christ
long
for the glory
of the Lord and
obedience
to
Him
among
the nations,
so
that
everywhere in
the
world
holiness
to the Lord will be inscribed on
the hearts and lives
of
men.n
September 99 TH OUNSEL of halcedon 7
Recommended