Lessons From Ezra – Lesson 9
God wants and expects His children to change. He wants them to go from walking in darkness to walking in His light.
Joh_8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Eph_5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Col_1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
God wants and expects His children to change. He wants them to go from walking in darkness to walking in His light. We see this truth in the N.T. and we see this truth in the O.T.
God is love. Absolutely. God is also just and He is also Holy. In God there is no darkness at all. He is all of these 100 percent and all of His characteristics are in harmony within Himself.
God loves man. And God must also judge man, and God is also sinless and Holy and pure and cannot partake in or walk in darkness. However, He loves man and wants man to walk with Him. This is all N.T. truth.
And we have been seeing this truth displayed before us in Ezra and Haggai and Zechariah.
God sent Haggai with a message and the people took a step toward God. God sent another message and another and the people started obeying God rather than man and God sent some protection and the blessing of the truth that God is with them.
But God is not going to walk with the darkness that they are walking in. So God then sent a message telling them that they are sinning and it is so bad that He is not accepting their worship.
We know that the people responded because a later message tells us that God is changing the filthy garments of their high priest and is accepting their worship once again.
God sends Zechariah with many messages of encouragement and promises. God is Love and judgment and Holy and will not walk in darkness. So Zechariah also brings messages of their need to clean up some things.
God tells them they need to walk in the light and they move a little closer to God and then come blessings and encouragement and more calls to walk further out of darkness.
We see God working very patiently with them and encouraging them to take a step closer to Him and then to take another step. There is a steady building up of the people’s faith and their walk.
God is working and working and working and blessing and blessing and blessing. We even saw that they now have the promise that the land is going to produce for them again.
And yet they still have problems, they still have sins going on. He knows how things work because He created all things and is all knowing. Walking in the light and not in darkness is a process. No one gets saved and the next day they are completely walking in the light.
It is a growth process. Many people today do not get this. They confuse and inter mingle truth about salvation and truth about fellowship. Yes the two are connected but they are different things.
They will say true things like my sins are all forgiven, even the ones I have not yet committed. True. As far as eternity and as far as salvation is concerned. However, sins that you are living in after salvation will hurt your walk and fellowship with God and there will be consequences to them in this life. They will not make you lose your salvation, you cannot lose that.
But you cannot take the truth about forgiven sins for eternity and apply that to walking with God today in this life. And to be clear what I mean by that is to stubbornly and disobediently on purpose walk in darkness and use forgiveness as an excuse to continue in sin on purpose.
You do that and you are still saved. But you are forfeiting a close walk with God in this life.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
Salvation and fellowship are connected but they are in some respects different issues. There are truths that apply to Salvation that you cannot use to justify sinning in this life.
Salvation is instant and complete and permanent. Fellowship and your walk with God is a growth process that starts at Salvation.
God knows this. He works and enables and helps His children to grow. God does not expect and He does not demand someone to get saved on day 1 and on day 2 have already had 40 years’ worth of growth.
God does not expect spiritual maturity immediately. Every one of us should be thankful for this.
However, He does expect growth. And none of His children should push His patience on purpose. Every one of His children should have the desire to please Him and should want to draw closer to Him and we should want to walk in the light.
We have watched as God has worked with His children that were rebuilding the Temple. Last time we made to the half way point. During the first two year’s the people grew closer to God.
And now we see the messages from God thru Zechariah change. They are going to be full of prophecy. The messages over the last two years had some prophecy but the amount was minor. Those messages were giving encouragement and teaching and they were calling the people to fix sin.
There is a principal of starting with the basics, starting with milk and then growing into the deeper things and what is called meat.
The messages now are just full of prophecy and this is where we are going to just hit some of the highlights. There are some prophecies that are very specific and you know exactly what will happen and exactly who it is talking about and sometimes even when it will happen.
Take the 1,000 year reign, we know that Jesus will reign for 1,000 years in Jerusalem and that Satan will be in chains for those 1000 years and then he will be released at the end of the 1,000 years so we know when it will happen and then Satan will lead a rebellion and then will be thrown in the lake of fire for all eternity. All very specific.
There is also a ton of prophecy that is not like that. It is a little in shadow until it happens. Once it happens you can look back and see exactly what it meant but until then you cannot. For example the coming messiah would come from Bethlehem but He would also come out of Egypt. He would be a king but He they would gamble for His garment and feed Him vinegar and He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver.
Before any of that happened you could not understand how all of that could fit together. But now looking back we can see exactly how it all worked. Every single one of those prophecies came true.
Much of the prophecy in Zechariah is of the type that is yet future to us and a little in shadow. So we are only going to take a look at some of the highlights.
The Coming King of Zion
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Zec 9:10 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 the river even to the ends of the earth.
Jesus Himself verified that this was a prophecy about Him when He arraigned for and then rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. And verse 10 has come to pass. Jesus did speak and in fact still speaks peace unto the heathen.
The Lord Will Save His People. This one points to Jesus coming back to start His 1,000 reign.
Zec 9:14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
Zec 9:15 The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
Zec 9:16 And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.
Zec 9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
Next the Lord would be sold for 30 pieces of silver.
Zec 11:12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Zec 11:13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
The Lord Will Give Salvation
Zec 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
On a side note, often throughout the Bible it is declared that God created. And here it is highlighted that God formed the spirit of man. Why declare that here? Because since God created the spirit of man God can bring trembling into the spirit of man that He created.
Zec 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
Zec 12:4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
Zec 12:5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
Zec 12:6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
That is a prophecy and a promise of how God will protect Israel and one way He will do that is to put fear into their enemies. There are documented cases of God doing that during the 7 day war that happened in 1967.
Him Whom They Have Pierced. This is an important one. This is when all Israel will get saved. God will open their eyes and they will see Jesus the one they pierced for who He really is and they will mourn over it.
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
Zec 13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
The fountain is the fountain of His blood that cleanses from all sin.
Next is the prophecy of the wounds in His hands.
Zec 13:6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
And we end with the prophecy of Jesus coming back at the end of the tribulation.
The Coming Day of the Lord
Zec 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Zec 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
So the nations rise up and attack Jerusalem and they are losing the fight.
Zec 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zec 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Zec 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
Zec 14:7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
Zec 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters 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.
We know from our look at the Tribulation that the earth will be a wreck. The poisoning of the earths water from wormword and other things will be bad. When Jesus sets up His kingdom in Jerusalem He will send out pure water that is needed for life. Two rivers of it. One going to the former sea and one toward the hinder sea. And it will never stop. Year round these healing purifying waters will be flowing.
Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Zec 14:10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.
Zec 14:11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
The Lord will rule with a rod of iron and there will be no overt sin allowed. No wars, no assault, none.
Zec 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
Zec 14:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
Zec 14:14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
Zec 14:15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one 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.
This will be required. Lost or saved it applies to all. Once a year they must go to Jerusalem and worship the King and keep the feast of tabernacles.
They are allowed to refuse, but there are stiff consequences to not going.
Zec 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zec 14:20 In that day shall there 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.
Zec 14:21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
As no doubt you noticed the preaching of Zechariah from the 4th year on is almost entirely prophecy and most of it is all about Jesus.
It was important to stop Ezra and take a look at the messages that God sent to them thru Haggai and Zechariah because God said that they prospered thru that preaching.
The preaching was encouraging at times, it called them to forsake sin many times.
It was full of reassurances and blessings and promises. And it all culminated with prophecy about Jesus and more about Jesus and more about Jesus.
Every preacher should study this. Yes you need to preach against sin but it needs to be balanced with promises and encouragement and about Jesus. Preaching needs to be balanced like God balances it. We see a clear example of this in Haggai and Zechariah.