Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November
23, 2014
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid to die? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it
build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Regular: 2900 words
Communion: 2500 words
The historical background to Zechariah, like that of Haggai, is found in the book of Ezra.
Zechariah lived during the time that the Jews had begun to return from
Babylon and rebuild their Temple.
The prophecies of Zechariah are given during the
years of 520-518 BC.
One of the key distinctions of the book of Zechariah is the amount of
prophecy about the coming Messiah.
Except for the prophet Isaiah,
there are more prophecies about the Messiah in this book than any other Old
Testament book.
We now in section in Zechariah, when he gives a series of prophecies that
look far into his future.
Chapters 9-11 dealt primarily with the first coming of the Messiah.
Chapters 12-14 will deal with the second coming of the Messiah.
These last three chapters are a
single prophecy, and constitute what some have called, “second to none in
importance” (Feinberg) in regards to its prophetic value in “understanding the
events of the last days for Israel – the time of the Great Tribulation, and the
establishing of God’s kingdom on earth” (Feinberg).
Except for one verse (13:7), the
rest of the prophecy lies in our future.
(Zechariah 13:7 NKJV) “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the Lord
of hosts. “Strike the
Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
So this time, we are setting our DeLorean time machine for our own future. Buckle up your
seat belts…
12:1-9 Coming Deliverance
:1 The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens,
lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit
of man within him:
:1 The burden – massa’ – load, burden; utterance
This word was used
in 9:1 to describe the last prophecy (chs. 9-11).
It lets you know that what is
coming is “heavy”, and expresses a threat, a warning of dangerous times ahead.
Though the rest of the nations of
the world are actually involved in this prophecy, this is going to be predominantly aimed at Israel, the chosen people of God.
:1 heavens … earth … man
God is reminding us of His authority.
He is the one who created the heavens, and rules
over the heavenly realm.
He is the one who created earth, and rules over
the earth.
He is the one who made us. He is our
Creator. He is the One we should pay
attention to.
Isaiah like to use similar language.
(Isaiah 42:5 NKJV) Thus says God
the Lord, Who
created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and
that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on
it:
(Isaiah 44:24 NKJV) —24 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, And He who formed
you from the womb: “I am
the Lord, who makes all things, Who
stretches out the heavens all alone, Who
spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
Lesson
God’s authority
Though there are more than a few problems when it comes to the theory of
evolution, one of the greatest problems is the removal of God from the
equation.
It seems to me that one of the driving mindsets behind evolution is to give
man a reason to deny what is obvious to the senses – that there is a God. The
Bible says,
(Psalm
19:1 NKJV) The heavens declare the glory of
God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
(Romans 1:19–20 NKJV) —19 because what may be known of God is
manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20
For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are
without excuse,
(Psalm 139:14 NKJV) —14 I will praise You, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous
are Your works, And that my
soul knows very well.
Back in the days of Darwin, it wasn’t hard to sell
the idea that man started as some random glob of protoplasm that emerged from
the ooze and gradually evolved into homo
sapiens.
Yet the more science develops, the farther we can see into the stars, the
closer we can look at the molecular level, the more apparent the signs of
intelligent design are.
Video: Intelligent Design – The
Workhorse of the cell - Kinesin
This universe we live in is pretty amazing, and
the intricate design observed in the heavens, earth, and man all point to a
designer – God.
If we have been designed and created by God, then
we are accountable to God.
Jesus said,
(Luke 6:46 NKJV) “But why do you call Me
‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
Why do we question God’s authority in our lives?
Why do we pick and choose which parts of the Bible
we are going to pay attention to?
Why do we pick and choose which commands of God we
think we can do and which things we aren’t going to do?
:2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of
drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah
and Jerusalem.
:2 a cup of drunkenness
The picture of drinking wine from a cup or bowl is often
used to describe God’s judgment.
Perhaps the idea is that as a cup of wine, the people are attracted to it,
drink it, but the results of getting intoxicated causes people to stumble and
fall to the ground.
The prophets Isaiah (51:17), Jeremiah (25:15-16), Ezekiel (23:31-33), and John
(Rev. 14:9-10) all used this image.
(Isaiah 51:17 NKJV) —17
Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, You who
have drunk at the hand of the Lord The
cup of His fury; You have
drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, And drained it out.
(Jeremiah 25:15–16 NKJV) —15 For thus says the Lord
God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My
hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. 16
And they will drink and stagger and go
mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
(Ezekiel 23:31–33 NKJV) —31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will
put her cup in your hand.’ 32 “Thus
says the Lord God: ‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup, The
deep and wide one; You
shall be laughed to scorn And held
in derision; It contains much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and
sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
John wrote,
(Revelation 14:9–10 NKJV) —9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,
“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on
his forehead or on his hand, 10 he
himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out
full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and
in the presence of the Lamb.
Here, Jerusalem is the “cup” which will attract the nations to come and
surround it, but the result won’t be the “joy” of a
party, the result will be judgment.
There will be a day when Jerusalem will surrounded
in a siege.
This can’t
refer to the Roman siege of Jerusalem because the results are different than
what this prophecy speaks of.
This will be part of the battle of Armageddon.
:3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy
stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in
pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
:4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its
rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike
every horse of the peoples with blindness.
:3 make Jerusalem a very heavy stone
The picture is of the nations of the world trying to pick up and toss
Jerusalem away, but they will end up being cut into
pieces in the process.
The single biggest problem to peace in the Middle East today is the question
of what to do with Jerusalem.
The nation of Israel wants to call the entire city its capital.
The Arabs and Palestinians want at least half of the city for their capital.
The nation of Jordan is technically
in control over the Temple Mount.
:3 all nations of the earth
The whole world will
be turned against Israel.
:4 I will strike every horse with
confusion
God will fight for Israel in that day.
All those fighting against Israel will be thrown
into confusion.
Perhaps it will be something like the confusion of when Gideon and his 300
men surrounded the Midianites at night …
(Judges 7:22 NKJV) When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his
companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled …
:5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their
heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’
:6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the
sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on
the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.
:5 my strength in the Lord of hosts
Those ruling over Israel in that time will realize their strength will be
coming from God, through the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
:6 like a fiery torch in the sheaves
You could say the leaders will “light a fire” under their people, and their
enemies.
Fire can go wild when it hits dry brush.
You could say that the Israeli
leaders are “on fire”.
:7 “The Lord
will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and
the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of
Judah.
:8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is
feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall
be like God, like the Angel of the Lord
before them.
:9 It shall be in that day that I will seek
to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
:7 The Lord
will save
It will be obvious that day that it was God that saved the nation, even
though He worked through their own army.
Is it obvious to you what God has done in your life?
It’s not a bad habit to practice gratitude.
I think that sometimes it’s not bad to think about what you’re REALLY thankful for.
God has saved us.
:7 will save the tents of Judah first
The focus is not going to just be on Jerusalem, but God saving the entire nation.
:8 the house of David …like God …
the Angel of the Lord
The ordinary folks will be strong, but the leaders in Israel will be even
greater.
Perhaps this might even be a
reference to Jesus – He is of the house of David, and He is also the “Angel of
the Lord”
:9 It shall be in that day
Since the time of Zechariah to the present, “that day” has not yet come.
“That day” refers to the time of the Great Tribulation, and specifically to
the end of the Tribulation which culminates in the
battle of Armageddon when the nations of the world are gathered against Israel.
Some have suggested that this is
referring to the time of the Maccabees, but you have to stretch things pretty
far to make those days fit this prophecy.
The time of the Maccabees was a
time when God gave great victories, but it was not a time when the nations of
the world were gathered against Jerusalem.
:8 feeble …shall be like David
Even the weakest person in the nation will fight bravely like
David did.
God promised His people that if they would follow Him, then He would give
them help in battle.
(Leviticus 26:8 NKJV) Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a
hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the
sword before you.
Keep in mind though, this kind of victory over
their enemies only comes when the people are following the Lord.
Lesson
Looking for victory?
Physical victory in battle starts with spiritual victory in your heart.
Are you facing a battle of sorts in your everyday world?
The keys to victory start in your heart, not in your battle skills.
You might think that the victory at work starts with your negotiation
skills.
You might think that your victory over an addiction starts with your
ability to “white knuckle” it, or to exercise self-control.
You might think that your victory in your marriage depends on your spouse changing.
Those things might be important, but they are not the
place to start.
John wrote,
(1 John 4:4 NKJV) You are of God, little children,
and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in
the world.
Paul wrote,
(Philippians 4:13 NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Victory starts with your relationship with God being right.
Folks who are successful in their addiction programs realize they need to
completely yield to their “higher power”.
I have some good news – we actually know His name. His name is Jesus.
We’ll see that in this day, even
the nation of Israel will have turned to Jesus.
12:10-14 The Pierced One
:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on
the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they
will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns
for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a
firstborn.
:10 I will pour on
pour – shaphak – to pour,
pour out, spill
The same word is
used to describe God pouring out His Spirit on Israel:
(Joel 2:28–29 NKJV) —28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
(Ezekiel 39:29 NKJV) —29 And I will not hide My face from
them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’
says the Lord God.”
Even though most of Israel is
“blinded” to who Jesus is, there will be a day when
the blindness will be taken away, and they will “get it”.
:10 the Spirit of grace and supplication
grace – chen – favor, grace, charm
The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of grace” by the writer of Hebrews
(10:29)
(Hebrews 10:29 NKJV) —29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought
worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the
covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of
grace?
supplication – tachanuwn – supplication, supplication for favor
Supplication is another word for “prayer”.
This word is based on the same Hebrew root word as
“grace”.
When God’s Holy Spirit is poured out on Israel,
they will respond with “supplication”, by calling on God for help.
:10 look on Me whom they pierced
look – nabat – to look,
regard
pierced – daqar – to pierce,
thrust through, pierce through
What a strange thing to say.
God is speaking, so how could God be “pierced”?
David wrote prophetically,
(Psalm 22:16 NKJV) For dogs have surrounded Me; The
congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My
hands and My feet;
The odd thing about this song is that we have no record of any historical
incident in David’s life that matches the things described in this psalm. He was speaking prophetically. He was talking about something that would
happen to the “son of David”.
When Jesus was on the cross, He cried out “My God, My God, why have you
forsaken Me” (Mark 15:34). (Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani?)
Jesus was actually quoting the first line of Psalm
22. It’s like
the Jewish worship leader crying out, “Now let’s all sing Psalm 22”. Jesus wasn’t just
experiencing separation from God the Father, He was giving a clue about what
was happening.
Psalm 22 is an eerie description of the crucifixion 1,000
years before it happened, written before crucifixion was even
invented.
Isaiah explains why:
(Isaiah 53:5 NKJV) But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His
stripes we are healed.
Jesus was crucified in order to pay for our sins. He took the punishment that we should have
received. He paid the price for what was
required to make peace with God.
John saw Jesus’ crucifixion as part
of the fulfillment of our passage. (John 19:37)
(John 19:37 NKJV) And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom
they pierced.”
Even though the Jews didn’t get it when they had Him put to death, Jesus’ death
on the cross was to set up the eventual fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy.
John describes Jesus’ return this way:
(Revelation 1:7 NKJV) Behold, He is coming with clouds,
and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
:10 they will mourn … mourns … grieve
mourn – micepd – wailing
mourns – caphad – to wail, lament; smiting the breasts in mourning
grieve – marar – to be bitter
The entire nation of Israel will have their eyes opened to who Jesus is,
and they will mourn over the fact that they had missed Him at His first coming.
But it will not be too late for them to believe in
Him, and they will believe in Him.
Paul wrote about the change that will take place in Israel.
(Romans 11:25–27 NKJV) —25 For
I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to
Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For
this is My covenant with them, When
I take away their sins.”
We believe the “fullness of the
Gentiles” refers to that time when the last Gentile gets
saved and we are out of here in the Rapture.
Then God will turn and work through Israel once again.
Their salvation will be a
“physical” salvation – being saved from their
enemies, and a
“spiritual” salvation – being saved from their
sins.
:10 only son …a firstborn
I understand that the greatest grief comes at the death of a child.
With this language, you can’t help but think of
Jesus.
(John 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.
:11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in
Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
:11 Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo
Video: Hadad
Rimmon map video
Hadad Rimmon is a city
in northern Israel.
Hadad Rimmon – “mighty pomegranates”
Jerome identified
this as the city of Maximianopolis, today known as
the village of Rummanah in northern Israel, in the
valley of Megiddo.
It is located on the “plain” of Megiddo, or the “valley” of Megiddo.
The name “Armageddon” means “mountain of Megiddo”
The reference is connected to the death of King
Josiah. (2Chr. 35:24-25)
King Josiah was the last hope of the godly people in Judah. While the nation was on a spiritual decline,
he was the one working to turn things around.
He would be the last of the “good kings”.
But a day came when he went out to do battle
against Pharaoh Necho in the valley of Megiddo. The Egyptian archers shot Josiah.
Josiah died. There was great, great mourning in the nation.
(2 Chronicles 35:24–25 NKJV) —24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put
him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his
fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for
Josiah. 25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And
to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their
lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed
they are written in the Laments.
:12 And the land shall mourn, every family by
itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by
themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by
themselves;
:13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and
their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by
itself, and their wives by themselves;
:14 all the families that remain, every family by
itself, and their wives by themselves.
:12 the land shall mourn
As they are looking upon Him whom they had pierced, we get a taste of the
entire nation mourning.
the house of David
This is the line of the kings recognizing their Savior.
the house of Nathan
There are two possible Nathans
here.
There was a son of David named
Nathan – and Mary was a descendant of David through Nathan.
Though the house of David has already been covered.
This could be Nathan the prophet who lived in the time of
King David.
He might be representative of all the prophets.
the house of Levi
The religious leaders (priests and Levites) will mourn over their slowness
at recognizing Jesus.
the family of Shimei
There was a family from the tribe
of Levites with this name (Ex. 6:17)
Perhaps this might be the man who was a relative of King
Saul. (2Sam. 16:5-8)
This man caused lots of trouble to King David towards the end of his reign.
Shimei didn’t like
David. He didn’t think that David should
have been king (2Sam. 16:5-8), and when David was temporarily chased out of
Jerusalem by Absalom, Shimei was one of the first to
curse David as he left
Perhaps this is hinting at all those in Israel who were reluctant
to recognize God’s choice of the house of David, and specifically the Messiah
Jesus.
Lesson
What took me so long?
The mourning in the land won’t be because they were
heading to hell for eternity.
The mourning is because they had been blinded to
recognizing their own Messiah, and they will wonder, “Why did it take us so
long?”
Has the truth dawned on you yet?
Do you realize that Zechariah talked about God being pierced 500 years
before Jesus was crucified?
God loved you so much that He decided to do something about the problem you
created in your own rebellion against God.
God sent His Son to die in your place.
Jesus was spoken of LONG before
He ever showed up.
He is God’s answer to your sin.
Will you open your heart to Him today?