Summer in the Minor Prophets - Zechariah

Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Old Testament book

of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 1, which you can find on page 7

Zechariah 1 · chapter mention

or 93 in the chair Bibles around.

You can find it around the book of Micah.

Last week we were in the book of Hagai, and both Zechariah and

Hagai prophesied in Jerusalem at the same time around 520 BC, so

their contacts are identical. They were both prophesying to

the Jews who had returned to the ruins of Jerusalem from exile in

Babylon, which then turned into Persia.

Out of all the minor prophets, this is the largest, containing

14 chapters. But right now, let's just read

the introduction to the book Zechariah chapter 1 verses one

Zechariah 1 · chapter mention

through 3. And here there's there's God's

going to declare one of the most important themes of this of this

book that God's people need to they need the Lord to return to

them. Zechariah chapter 1 starting

Zechariah 1 · chapter mention

verse one in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius,

the word of Lord came to the prophet Zechariah the son of

Barakiah son of Ido, saying, the Lord was very angry with your

father's. Therefore say to them, thus

declares the Lord of hosts. Return to me, says the Lord of

hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

Let's pray, heavenly Father, we thank you that our Lord Jesus is

our our Good Shepherd who leads us to green pastures.

And so we ask now that as we come to Zechariah that we would

feast upon green pastures from this, from this book, perhaps a

little little known book and and definitely a difficult book to

understand. We pray, Lord, that as we come

to it, that we would see the glory of Jesus Christ, that we

would see the gospel that would see a glorious vision of the

Kingdom to come. And may we be changed by it.

Amen. Arguably one of the best toys

ever created are Legos, right? They just, they encourage

imaginative play, creativity, play with other kids.

They develop mechanical and building skills and the and the

ability to follow step by step instructions.

There's an endless variety of things that a child can build

and imagine. Now imagine working for Lego in

2003. That was a dark year.

The company was bleeding out. It had lost $300 million that

year, and it was projecting an additional 400 million the

following year. Lego was facing bankruptcy.

If you were working for Lego, you'd be worried about the

future. You'd be wondering how on earth

one of the most successful toy companies ever could be on the

brink of closing shop. Lego was founded in 1932 with

wooden toys and then they invested in plastics in 196446.

Then in 1958 the recipe was perfected with when they

invented the interlocking block system.

They then then the company just took off.

It reached $1.2 billion in revenue in 1993.

And then they they, they, they built theme parks.

They had a clothing line and a variety of Lego sub brands like

Duplo and Technic. But then in the 90s sales began

to plummet and the 2003, it looked as if the end had come.

Were the glory days gone for good?

But Lego didn't give up. They they decided to tear down

and rebuild. They hired a new CEO,

discontinued many of their products, and got back to the

core of what Lego was originally all about.

And brick by brick, they rebuilt into becoming the top toy brand

in the world, even surpassing Mattel last year.

Their global revenue was almost $11 billion.

The post exilic Jews of 520 BC were like Lego in 2003.

The glory days of David and Solomon's temple were long gone.

They were back in Jerusalem, but the city was in ruins.

I'm sure many of them were wondering, is there a future for

Jerusalem and for God's people? We have no walls, no military,

no king, and no temple. We're still scattered as a

people. Will all of this work of

rebuilding even be worth it? I'm sure these doubts clouded

the minds of the Jewish people, discouraging them from

rebuilding the Temple. And so God sent his prophets,

Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage them that God still

had a future for his people and for his chosen city, Jerusalem.

Days of even greater glory were coming, but they would need to

real be rebuild the Temple brick by brick, and restore their

relationship with God. In Zechariah 410 He lifts up the

downcast eyes of the Jews to look to a promised future,

saying, For whoever has despised the day of small things shall

rejoice and shall see the Plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

520 BC was a a day of small things for the Jews, for the

Jerusalem, for the Second Temple.

But a day of greater glory was coming when the Temple would be

finished and God's blessing would return to Jerusalem in an

even greater way. Let's now dig into this book.

First, consider who this prophet was and a little more about the

context that he was writing in. Then we'll consider the message

of Zechariah. We'll look at its overall

content, and and then we'll focus specifically on seeing the

gospel in its various prophecies and visions.

Then we'll end with some application.

So who is the prophet Zechariah? There are a handful of

Zechariahs in the Bible, but we see in verse one that this is

Zechariah, the son of Barakiah and the grandson of Ito.

Ito is mentioned in the book of Nehemiah as being in the line of

the Levitical priests. So that would make Zechariah A

Levitical priest as well. So he was, he was a prophet,

priest combo. Ezra 614 records that the Jews

prospered through the prophetical ministries of

Zechariah and Haggai. So it's a little bit about the

man Zechariah the prophet. Now, what about the context that

Zechariah was prophesying in? As I mentioned earlier,

Zechariah began prophesying in 520 BC, 66 years after

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and destroyed the

Temple and brought many of the Jews to live in Babylon.

Since that time, the Persians had overthrown the Babylonians,

and in Zechariah's day the the Persian Empire stretched from

modern day Turkey all the way to Iran, down to Israel, into the

Sinai Peninsula, and even into Egypt.

The world of the Middle East had never seen anything as great and

powerful as the Persian Empire, so the Jews couldn't have a

king. And so they appointed

Zerubbabel, who was of the kingly line of David, to be

their governor. The high priests, the high

priest during this time, his name was Joshua, but without a

temple, I'm really not sure what the high priest role was

exactly. We have some specific dates in

the book of Zechariah, so we can date some of these visions and

prophecies down to the very day. We have dates in 520, five,

19518 BC, and then some of the latter prophecies may have taken

place years later, perhaps at the beginning of the 5th century

BC. Alright, so that's some of the

background of the book. Let's not get into the message

of Zechariah. There's there's a lot in this

book. And so because we don't want to

be here until 1:00, I'll give a brief overview of its contents

and then we'll dive into some of its message, specifically what

is prophetic of the Gospel of Jesus, 1st and 2nd comings.

There's there's just so much here that we simply don't have

time to cover. Zechariah could be a sermon

series all on its own, but I hope that you can begin to see

what a fascinating book this is. So let's first look at the

overall content of this book. You can still look at chapter 1

here. There's, there's, there's 14

chapters and you could, you could divide it all into four

parts. There's, there's the beginning

of chapter 1 is the introduction and then chapters, the remaining

chapters of one through chapter 6 contain contain 8 wild

visions. Then Chapter 7 and 8 are kind of

a section of their own and they contain some history of why

Israel was exiled. And then chapters 9 through 14

contain some final prophecies and, and it's just, they're,

they're a bit different than the, the previous chapters.

So that's kind of the overall structure.

And as I, as I said, the 8 visions in the first six

chapters are, are pretty crazy. So I'll invite you to kind of

page through them as we, as I just briefly talk about them

here. We won't have time to go over

all of them, but just to kind of perk your interest, let me tell

you that these apocalyptic visions, they, they kind of feel

a lot like the other visions in the book of Daniel and

Revelation when you read them. There's there's a vision of

different horsemen and different colored horses who are

patrolling the earth. There's a vision of horns.

There's a vision of a man measuring Jerusalem.

There's a vision of Joshua the high priest.

There's a vision of a golden lampstand.

And then there's there's also a vision of this huge flying

scroll 30 feet long and 15 feet high.

And then there's there's a there's a vision of a of a woman

in a basket, and then she gets flown away by two other women

who have stork wings. That's pretty crazy.

And the final vision in chapter 6 is a vision of four Chariots

similar to the first vision. So as you can imagine,

interpreting apocalyptic and prophetic literature can be

challenging. When Martin Luther was writing

his commentary in Zechariah 14, he wrote this here in this

chapter. I give up for I am not sure what

the prophet is talking about. So there's nothing wrong with

you if your head gets foggy or, or it starts to melt or explode

when you're reading this book. There's a there's a high level

of difficulty interpreting many of these visions, prophecies,

dating prophetic fulfillment can also be especially difficult.

When was or when will a prophetic particular prophecy be

fulfilled? What was it fulfilled in

Zechariah's day shortly after before Christ at Christ's first

coming? Was it fulfilled around the time

of the destruction of the temple in in 70 AD?

Or has it not yet been fulfilled?

Will it be fulfilled at Christ's second coming?

Is it Is it? Is it in the everlasting Kingdom

of heaven? And to make matters even more

difficult, many of these visions and prophecies seem to be

fulfilled multiple times in part at one point in history, but

then fulfilled in full on the day of the Lord.

That being said, although it is difficult to interpret, we have

help from some of the best interpreters, Jesus and the New

Testament authors. Zechariah is quoted and alluded

to very often in the New Testament.

Some have counted around 32 allusions to Zechariah in the

Book of Revelation alone, with at least a dozen allusions or

quotes in the Gospels. And then there's others in the

rest of the New Testament, so this makes our job of

interpretation a little easier. The New Testament doesn't

explain everything in Zechariah, but it reveals many key

prophecies and points us in the right direction for how to

interpret such a challenging book.

Let's now dive into the message of Zechariah, specifically the

Gospel in Zechariah, the visions and prophecies of Jesus's first

and 2nd comings, and the forever Kingdom He will establish.

Have you, have you ever wondered, I wonder what it would

be like to to hear a sermon from an apostle before any of the New

Testament was written? They would be preaching only

from the Old Testament scriptures and so they would be

preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Old Testament.

That would be pretty amazing. The apostle Paul does this in

Thessalonica in Acts chapter 17, for instance.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

So if, if, if the apostles could preach the gospel of Jesus

Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures, I think it's good

for us to do the same today. I plan to do that just from the

book of Zechariah, though my sermon will will definitely be

nowhere near as glorious or or as accurate as an apostles.

And and I'm I'm still going to leave lean heavily on the New

Testament authors as we go through this book.

I'd highly recommend having a a Bible to to look at and page

through since we're we're going to be moving around this book

quite a bit. So let's start by looking at

some verses from the first two chapters.

Look with me at Zechariah chapter 1, verses 16 and 17,

Zechariah 1:16

chapter 116 and 17. Here we have a vision of the

glorious future God dwelling with His people.

Remember, the Jews had begun to rebuild the temple, but they

were likely discouraged at the present state of things and

wondering if Jerusalem would have a future at all.

Here we'll read a couple passages where God encourages

His people that there is a future for His people, and it is

glorious. Here's Zechariah chapter 1,

Zechariah 1:16

verses 16 and 17. Therefore thus says the Lord, I

have returned to Jerusalem with mercy.

My house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and

the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.

Cry out again. Thus says the Lord of hosts, My

cities shall be again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord

will again comfort Zion, and again choose Jerusalem.

The day of small things would one day flourish into prosperity

and comfort for Jerusalem, because God has returned to His

people with mercy, and they have returned to Him in faith,

expressed chiefly in the rebuilding of this temple.

Now turn to the the next chapter, chapter 2, verses 10

through 10 through 12, chapter 2, verses 10 through 12.

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold I come, and I

will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.

And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that

day, and shall be my people, and I will dwell in your midst.

And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.

And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the Holy Land

and will again choose Jerusalem. The future is glorious because

God has promised to come and dwell in the midst of his

people. And not only the the people of

Israel, but also many nations will join themselves to the

Lord. So the future, it's not just

bright, it's glorious. The rest of the book of

Zechariah explains that for this glorious vision to take place,

for it to be realized, the three things must first happen.

First, the Lord must return to his people.

Second, sin must be permanently dwelt with, dealt with, and

removed. And 3rd, the king must return

those three things. Let's look at those three things

and see how each contributes to the full realization of this

glorious vision for God's people dwelling with God in prosperity,

comfort, and joy. So let's turn, let's look back

now to chapter one, verse 3. 1st For God's people have a glorious

future. The Lord must return to his

people. Chapter one, verse 3.

Therefore say to them, thus declares the Lord of hosts,

return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you,

says the Lord of hosts, return to me, and I will return to you.

God is the source of all life and blessing.

In his presence there is fullness of joy.

So it's impossible to think of this glorious vision for

Jerusalem without thinking of God dwelling with his people.

But God's glorious and holy presence had left Jerusalem.

We see this in the book of Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel 10 and 11, there's a vision of the glory of God

leaving the temple and eventually leaving Jerusalem.

The glorious presence of God left because of the people's

wickedness and idolatry. And so for God to return to his

people, they must return to him like an adulterous wife.

They must return to their husband in faithfulness to him

and him alone. In recent days, there's been

some trending news of Aceo, who was caught having an affair on a

KISS Cam at a Coldplay concert. When the camera goes on them,

they immediately turn away and duck, trying to hide from the

camera stare. Now, of course, many are shaming

this couple for betraying the covenant of marriage.

But before we join in throwing stones, haven't we committed an

even worse adultery? Adultery against God?

The prophet Jeremiah says that we're like a donkey in heat,

seeking other lovers, other idols.

So we're not, we're not any better.

We too would would try to hide if all our adultery against God

was exposed for all to see. Isn't it amazing that God calls

us back to Himself even after all we've done?

God's love, his electing and faithful love, his jealous love,

calls us to return to Him, to come back to His presence, back

to His embrace, back to a relationship with Him.

And when we return to him, like the prodigal son, our Heavenly

Father runs to us, kisses us, puts a ring on our finger,

welcomes us back home, and throws a giant party.

Have you been wandering away from God, seeking other lovers?

Return to Him and He will return to you with all of His heart,

with His very presence. So for God's people to have a

glorious future, God must return to them, and they to God.

But one of the most common themes in the Old Testament is a

reoccurring cycle of God's people straying away from him,

falling into idolatry, being awakened by the word of God, and

then returning to a right relationship with God.

It's a cycle, but that cycle just starts all over again and

again and again and again. God's people turn away from him.

How will this cycle ever be broken?

That brings us to the second step.

For God's people to have a glorious future, sin must be

permanently removed. Turn with me to Zechariah

Zechariah 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, the vision of Joshua the high priest.

Now we're we're going to get into some of the most amazing

prophecies of Jesus first coming.

This vision in chapter 3 is a vision of a courtroom.

Joshua, the high priest is the accused.

Satan is the prosecutor, the one who brings the charges against

him. The Angel of the Lord is

standing by like a defending attorney, and the Lord is

presumed to be the judge. So look with me at starting in

verse 1 of chapter 3. 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.

And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, O Satan, the

Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you.

Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?

Now Joshua was standing before the Angel, clothed with filthy

garments. And the Angel said to those who

were standing before him, remove the filthy garments from him.

And to him he said, Behold, I have taken your iniquity away

from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.

And I said, let them put a clean turban on his head.

So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed them with

garments. And the Angel of the Lord was

standing by. This is an amazing vision of the

doctrine of imputation. Here we have Joshua the high

priest, the representative of all the Jews, and he is filthy.

It's as if he had taken a swim in the sewer.

His filth is representative of the sin of the people of Judah.

And so Satan, our great adversary, speaks the only truth

that he likes to speak. He likes to speak the truth of

how guilty we are before God. He's honest about what we've

said, what we've done, what we've desired, and what we've

thought in this courtroom. He speaks no lies.

He lied to tempt you into your sin and but now he uses the

truth to try to put you into hell.

But even though the charges are true against Joshua, the judge

has mercy. The Lord rebukes Satan and

declares that he has chosen Jerusalem and he has saved him.

Like a charred piece of wood plucked out of a fire.

God has saved his people from the fires of hell.

And then in verses 4 and 5, we see that Joshua's filthy clothes

are exchanged with pure, clean garments.

This is a picture of the doctrine of the imputation of

Christ's righteousness. We call it the Great Exchange on

the cross. Jesus took away our sin from us

and put it on Himself, and in exchange for free He gives us

His righteousness. Second Corinthians 521 says for

our sake He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him

we might become the righteousness of God.

That's the great exchange of the Gospel.

Then in Zechariah chapter 3, verses 8:00 and 9:00, God

Zechariah 3 · chapter mention

promises to permanently remove sin.

Look with me chapter verses 8-9 here.

Now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit

before you, for they are men who are a sign.

Behold, I will bring my servant the branch.

For behold, on the stone that I've set before Joshua, on a

single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription

declares the Lord of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of

this land in a single day. Here God promises to send his

servant the branch. This is the same branch

prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah, a clear promise of the

coming of Jesus Christ, the offspring of David and the

forever King. And then at the end of verse 11,

verse 9, the Lord promises that through the coming of the

branch, He would remove the sin of all of the sin of the land in

a single day. That day we know, was Good

Friday, when all the sins of all of God's people were put upon

Jesus, the Lamb of God. It's through the perfect

substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross that the

guilt and power of sin is permanently removed from God's

people. Zechariah chapter 6.

Zechariah 6 · chapter mention

We won't turn there right now, but I'll just want to let you

know. Zechariah chapter 6 then tells

Zechariah 6 · chapter mention

us that the branch that Jesus, he will rebuild the temple and

he shall sit on the throne of God as a priest king, a priest

king combination. This is a remarkable vision, but

Zechariah has just much more to say about who the branch is and

what he'll do. So let's walk through this book

and look at a few key prophecies.

Turn with me now to Chapter 9, Chapter 9, verses 9 through 11.

This was our call to worship this morning.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your King is

coming to you righteous and having salvation.

Is he humble and mounted on a donkey?

On a colt, the full of a donkey? I will cut off the chariot from

Ephraim and the War Horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow

shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations.

His rule shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the

ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the

blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free

from the waterless pit. Here we have a passage that was

quoted in the gospels of Matthew and John.

This was fulfilled on Palm Sunday with Jesus triumphal

entry into Jerusalem. Jesus came as a humble king

riding a donkey, not a War Horse like the kings of the other

nations. His humility is unmatched.

And this king rise into Jerusalem, giving righteousness

and salvation to his people. Through him the Lord will

establish peace with the nations, and that peace will

come because this king will rule not only Zion, but as verse 10

says, his rule shall be from sea to sea, from the river to the

ends of the earth. And in verse 11, there's a

promise that through the blood of God's covenant with His

people, He will set their prisoners free from the

waterless pit. I believe that this is a promise

of the New covenant. It will be through the blood of

this king that those who are enslaved to sin and Satan will

be rescued from their inescapable pit.

What else do we know from Zechariah about this coming

branch, this this humble priest king?

Let's take a brief look at Chapter 11.

Now verses 12 through 13. Please turn there.

Chapter 11, verses 12 and 13. Then I said to them, if it seems

good to you, give me my wages, but if not, keep them.

And they weighed out as my wages 30 pieces of silver.

Then the Lord said to me, Throw it to the Potter, the lordly

price at which the guy was priced by them.

So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the

House of the Lord to the Potter. As you probably know, this is a

prophecy of Judas's betrayal of Jesus.

The priest gave him 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave, to

tell them the whereabouts of Jesus at night so that they

might arrest him when there was no crowd.

Judas ends up throwing the silver into the House of the

Lord, and then he hangs himself. The priest then take the blood

money and buy the Potter's field as a burial place for strangers.

Matthew 27. The branch, the humble priest

king would be rejected and betrayed at the price of a

slave. Let's turn ahead now to the next

chapter. Zechariah chapter 12, verse 10.

Zechariah 12:10

Zechariah 12, verse 10. And I will pour out on the House

Zechariah 12:10

of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and

please for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom

they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for

an only child, and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a

first born. This prophecy is very

interesting. John sites it in his gospel as

being prophetic of when Jesus was pierced on the cross with

with the with the soldiers spear and out of his side then flowed

blood and water. And in Zechariah's prophecy we

see that God promises to one day pour out a spirit of grace and

please of mercy so that when the people of Jerusalem look on the

pierced Christ they would mourn bitterly for the the high cost

of their sin. This prophecy is also an amazing

prophecy of the deity of Christ. Look at the look at verse 10 and

notice the change of pronouns in the middle of verse 10.

The Lord says when they look on me, on him whom they have

pierced, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced,

the Lord God is the one who will be pierced.

And we see this explicitly fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

He is truly God and truly man. Now just a few verses later, in

chapter 13, verse one, it says this, On that day there shall be

a fountain opened for the House of David and the inhabitants of

Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

On that day when the Lord is pierced, a fountain would be

opened to cleanse God's people from their sin.

The apostle John saw blood and water flow out of Jesus side and

later he would write this in first John chapter one verse 7.

The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Blood isn't good at cleaning right?

It stains, but the blood of Jesus acts like water for our

sins, washing them all away. It's this picture from Zechariah

12 and 13 that inspired William Culper to to write the hymn that

we just sang. There is a fountain filled with

blood. So these were just some of of

the clearest prophecies of Jesus first coming.

And there's there's some others that that we just didn't have

time to get to. It's through Jesus first coming

that sin will be permanently removed by His death on the

cross. But something else needs to

happen. For the glorious vision of the

future of God's people to be fulfilled, the King must return.

Turn with me to the final chapter to chapter 14.

Here we have prophecies that find their fulfillment in the

second coming of Jesus Christ. The 1st 2 verses the scene to

describe a great battle between the nations and Jerusalem where

there is a great loss for God's people but a remnant remains.

But when all hope seems lost, like Gandalf arriving at Helms

Deep, the Lord arrives to fight for His people.

Read with me starting in verse 3 of chapter 14.

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as

when He fights on a day of battle.

On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies

before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be

split in two from east to West by a very wide valley, so that

1/2 of the Mount shall move northward and the other half

southward. And you shall flee to the valley

of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to

Azza, and you shall flee, as you fled before fled from the

earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.

Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Here we have a theophany or an appearance of God.

And if the mountains are split at His coming, what can the

nations do before him? One day the Lord God will come,

and with him are all the holy ones, His host of angels, the

armies of the Lord. We have heard the name the Lord

of Hosts again and again, 14 times in Hagai and 53 times in

Zechariah. And now here.

Here they are. Here are the Here are the hosts

waging war with the Lord to win His people once and for all.

Now look at verses 6:00 and 7:00.

On that day there shall be no light, cold or frost, and there

shall be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day

nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.

Does that sound a little familiar?

Revelation 21 verse 23 says and the city, this is the new

Revelation 21:23

Jerusalem, and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on

it, for the glory of of God gives it light and its lamp is

the lamp. A day is coming when Christ

returns, when there will be endless light, endless day.

God dwells in the New Jerusalem, and so His glory shines and

fills everything with his light. There will no longer be shadows,

no more night, no more confusion or evil or danger.

That is the city that the King, the Lamb of God, will establish

when he returns. Now look at verses 8 and 9.

I mean 8 and yeah, 8:00 and 9:00.

On that day, living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of

them to the Eastern Sea and half of them to the Western Sea.

It shall continue in summer as in winter.

In Revelation 22 we also hear of this river flowing out of the

New Jerusalem, out of the very throne of God, from God Himself.

God's river of life gives abundant life to the whole city,

to the trees, and to the very tree of life of which it's

fruits will bring healing and its leaves will bring healing to

the nations. Then verse 9 we read these

amazing words and the Lord will be king over all the earth.

The domain of Jesus Christ has no border.

The new heavens and new earth will be, will all be under His

rule, and there will be Shalom, perfect peace in all of His holy

mountain. The name Jerusalem means city of

peace and the new Jerusalem will be just that, the very essence

of it. Verse 11 says Jerusalem shall

dwell in security. Look now at verses 20 and 21.

And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the

horses holy to the Lord, And the pots in the House of Lords shall

be as the bowls before the altar.

Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of

hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them, and

boil the meat of the sacrifice in them.

This is this is profound. The phrase holy to the Lord was

written on a pure gold plate that was only on the turban of

the high priest. Every common dish in all of the

land shall be holy to the Lord. She'll be like that.

She'll be like the high priest. This is a prophecy of how

everything and everyone in the New Jerusalem will be holy.

All of heaven and earth will be the new Holy of Holies, where

God's holy and sinless people will dwell with God's presence

completely unhindered and free to gaze upon His face and His

glory without fear. Zechariah 8 Chapter 8 fills out

just a little bit more of what this city of peace and eternal

life will be like. Chapter 8, verses four and five,

says this. Thus says the Lord of hosts, old

men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem,

each with his staff in hand, because of great age.

And the cities of and the streets of the city shall be

full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

What a beautiful picture, a city full of children playing in its

streets, children that we will meet for the first time.

There aren't many more wonderful sound right than the laughter of

children, and heaven will be full of that laughter.

We will all be aged with wisdom and knowledge, and we will all

be childlike in our youth and life, health and joy.

This is the glorious vision that God has for His city, for His

people, for His church, for all those who have returned to the

Lord and found refuge in Jesus Christ.

It is coming. May our Lord return soon.

So how does this glorious message apply to us today?

I honestly think that having these this, these glorious

visions of the gospel and of the Kingdom of heaven in our minds

really can transform every area of our life.

There's nothing that this can't touch.

Perhaps you've heard God's word today and you're you're sitting

there thinking how you need to return to the Lord.

It's time you've been going your own way, living for your own

self. You've been looking at things

that you shouldn't, even even controlling people instead of

serving them. You've been ignoring the needs

of others in your church or in your in your city.

Feel God convicting you and if you feel that then return to

him. Confessor sins to him and he

will return to you with all his heart.

He will give you his Holy Spirit to help you put away, to put to

death all of your old ways, to put out those old idols of the

temple of your heart, and he will replace it with the

adoration of Jesus Christ. Return to the Lord, look on him

whom you have pierced and mourn and with a heavenly perspective,

we can see all aspects of this life clearly that that the

fights that we have with each other really lose their

significance. We see that when we we fight

with other Christians and and accuse them of all of their

sins. All we're doing is siding with

Satan, right the accuser, right We're parroting him.

We're saying Amen to his accusations.

Instead with a heavenly perspective of what God has done

in his courtroom. We need to look not at the

filthy garments that are on the floor of our brothers, sister in

Christ, but but we need to look at the clean and pure vestments

that they're wearing now, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

And we need to forgive them as God in Christ has forgiven us.

And with this vision of the glorious Kingdom, we don't need

to live in a world of regrets, of wishing that our life here on

earth was different, that that we missed out on opportunities

that we'll never get back. Brothers and sisters, do not

despise the day or even the life of small things.

A far more glorious day is coming first.

Peter 113 says set your hope fully, fully on the grace that

will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

You are heirs of eternal life, of the faithful city, and there

you will have opportunities that you could never dream of.

Let the vision of Zechariah quiet and content your heart.

And once your heart is quieted and your complaining is stopped,

busy yourself with building God's church, the temple of His

people. Help build it brick by brick,

person by person, using whatever gifts and abilities God has

given you to edify the body of Christ.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you

for the message of Zechariah. We thank you for your jealous

heart for us, that you didn't just leave us to just be

consumed with our lovers, but rather you have called us back

to yourself. You've won us over with your

love, You have cleansed us with the blood of Jesus Christ, and

you even want to dwell with us forever and ever.

This is amazing. Lord, I pray that that this

vision of the gospel, this vision of heaven, that that

would that that that those visions would impact literally

every part of our lives as we pray in Jesus name, Amen.