Zechariah 8-9
Pass It On
1Title Slide
2Author and pastor Max Lucado writes in his book A Gentle Thunder:
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart… Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you.
Does that sound a little farfetched to you? I mean, we all sing “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so”- but does He really like me that much? Is He really “crazy about you”? I wonder how many of us think of God’s love in such terms. Does He really like being around us? Does He really enjoy seeing us laugh and smile and enjoy ourselves? Is He really emotionally involved when it comes to our lives?
The answer is yes. God is passionate about His people. God is emotionally involved with His people as seen in our text today.
3Zechariah 8:1-3
42 Kings 7 tells a fascinating story of four lepers who sat at the gate of Samaria at a time when the city was under siege. Things had gotten so bad inside the city that women were eating their own children to survive. But Elisha the prophet had predicted something that seemed utterly impossible, that the next day food would be plentiful and affordable in Samaria.
Meanwhile, the four lepers evaluated their dismal situation. If they stayed at the gate of Samaria, they would starve. If they went over to the enemy camp, they may be killed, which would be no worse than starving. But there was the outside chance that the enemy would take pity on them and give them some scraps of food. So they took their chances and went over to the enemy camp.
When they got there, they were shocked to find the camp deserted. The Lord had caused the enemy to hear the sound of a great army of chariots and horses so that they fled in a panic, leaving all of their supplies behind. The four beggars ate all that they could eat. They hauled away and hid several loads of silver and gold and clothes. But then their consciences began to gnaw at them. They said, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent” (2 Kings 7:9). So they went and told the starving city where they could find abundant supplies to satisfy their needs.
That story illustrates the main message of Zechariah 8, summed up by the Lord’s words in verse 13: “I will save you that you may become a blessing.” God’s people are blessed to bless others. God pours out His grace on us so that we will slop it over on others who are starving and dying without hope.
5Zechariah 8:4-8
6Promises!!! God has promised to bless His people abundantly.
The people to whom Zechariah prophesied probably felt like the discouraged man who said, “What I need are a few blessings that aren’t in disguise.. They were a weak remnant of 50,000 people who had returned to a devastated land. Powerful enemies surrounded them. They were under Persian rule. While they saw glimmers of hope, these promises of God seemed a million miles away.
But God gave Zechariah these words of promise about the future to encourage His people to persevere in the present.
Even though we presently experience only a foretaste of God’s promises for the future, the certainty of His sure word can encourage us to be faithful in the trials of the present time. Two of God’s promised blessings are found in our scripture today:
7Zechariah 8:4-5
8Today on the streets of Jerusalem, Israeli and Palestinian children are walked to school by a parent with a fully automatic weapon strapped to their back. Teachers also carry weapons to protect their students.
9In the United States, children are killed before they have a chance to be born(Abortion), and police issue warnings to young people: “If you are wearing expensive clothing, you are not safe on the streets." This announcement followed the shooting of a 13 year-old boy by thugs who wanted his $125 gym shoes.
Most older people in large cities don’t venture out by themselves at night. They are afraid of being mugged. And when society deems them no longer “useful” then legal ways are found to end their lives(Euthanasia).
The prophet Zechariah declared that the unsafe street situation will be solved when Christ returns. He gave us a picture of people growing old and elderly feeling perfectly safe outside their homes, and he portrayed children enjoying themselves at play in the streets of Jerusalem.
10Zechariah 8:6
11Question: How often do we make the mistake of judging God’s ability by our own ability?
12Like David, we foolishly number our troops, thinking that our power is proportional to how
many warriors we can muster for the battle. But the Lord does not save by many or by few.
131 Samuel 14:6
14Like the disciples, we count up our meager five loaves and two fish, or we calculate the amount that it would take to feed the vast multitude. But the Lord does not meet the need according to what we have or what we wish we had, but according to His purpose and His power.
15Matthew 19:26
16Question. How would this prophecy have served as a source of hope for the people of Zechariah’s day? How does this promise of heaven serve as a source of hope for believers today?
17Zechariah 9:9-12
18Roy Rodgers had his Trigger; Gene Autry had Champion; Hopalong Cassidy his Topper; Alexander the Great had Bucephalus[Byoo-sef’-a-les] (which he took everywhere with him)
Jesus was different – He didn’t come yelling “Hi-O-Silver”! – He was riding a lowly donkey as he entered Jerusalem.
We see a donkey as stubborn & stupid animal. But, “In the East they were known for their patience, gentleness, intelligence, meek submission and great power of endurance.” Therefore, it was appropriate for Jesus to enter Jerusalem on a donkey, bringing salvation, not war.
Napoleon Bonaparte noted, “Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal conquered the world but they had no friends... Jesus founded his empire upon love, and at this hour millions would die for him...He has won the hearts of men, a task a conqueror cannot do.”
19Zechariah 9:9-12
20Here, Zechariah sees all the way to the 2nd Coming. These back to back prophesies…are years apart.
Vance Havner said, “Life is like a bowl of spinach in front of you and clear down at the other end of the table is a chocolate cake.” If the Lord explained all about the chocolate cake, we’d probably have a rough time eating our spinach!
Zechariah helps to focus the people’s eyes on faith by providing the people and us a glimpse of the future.
21A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. As she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and asked him to come to her house to discuss some of her final wishes.
She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral service, what Scripture verses she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. She requested to be buried with her favorite Bible.
As the pastor prepared to leave, the woman suddenly remembered something else. "There's one more thing," she said excitedly.
"What's that?" said the pastor.
"This is important," the woman said. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."
The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.
The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew something better was coming—like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie.
"So, when people see me in that casket with a fork in my hand and they ask, 'What's with the fork?' I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork. The best is yet to come!'"
22He called His people “prisoners” or “hostages” of hope.
A good illustration of this comes from the Isle of Wight. The main cell overlooking the channel was used for political offenders. Into this dungeon Henry VIII placed Earl of Warwick. In stone letters above were the words “Hope Cell”. The reason for this lay in the fact that political prisoners remained in custody only during the term of the life of the king.
All believers are “prisoners of hope”!
24On a trip to Israel, one woman visited the Old City of Jerusalem where she saw a view of Golgotha and walked in the garden where Jesus prayed. She visited the Wailing Wall and heard the singing of worship songs in the temple. She visited the Eastern Gate that is now sealed shut, but one day it will be opened wide again when Jesus will one day enter in His ultimate triumph.
In the midst of all this wonder, she experienced heartbreak, heartbreak for God’s chosen people who were still waiting on the Messiah and working incredibly hard at following all the rules until His arrival. The hotel elevators could not “work” on the Sabbath so there was only one in service set to automatically stop on each floor. Hamburgers could not be served with buns during Passover or potatoes with sour cream and butter if they accompanied a steak at any time. Cheese and pepperoni could not be on the same pizza. I would never be able to keep up!
What a relief to know I do not need to because the Messiah has come, as was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9. As Christians, we are prisoners of hope. Pass it on!!