{"id":19405,"date":"2021-09-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/zechariah-003-repent\/"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:08:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:08:29","slug":"zechariah-003-repent","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/zechariah-003-repent\/","title":{"rendered":"Zechariah 003 – Repent!"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[83],"series_event":[526],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19405","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-zechariah","series_event-zechariah","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Zechariah 003 - Repent!","sermon_date":"20210929","sermon_month":"9","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":19768,"sermon_slides":19769,"sermon_mp3":19770,"sermon_id":"929212344462923","series_or_event":526,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":83,"chapter_and_verse":"1:1-3","sermon_transcript":"Repent<\/u><\/strong>\n\nBy Andy Woods<\/em>\n\n\u00a0<\/em>If you could turn in your bibles to Zechariah chapter 1, verse 1, and we are continuing our Wednesday night series that we started a couple of weeks ago on the book of Zechariah. The first two lessons related really to the background of the book, so we haven\u2019t actually started studying it verse by verse. We\u2019ve just started the background, and there were 15 issues that we talked through.\n\nIntroductory Matters\n
    \n \t
  1. \n
      \n \t
    1. Title<\/li>\n \t
    2. Authorship<\/li>\n \t
    3. Biography<\/li>\n \t
    4. Scope<\/li>\n \t
    5. Date<\/li>\n \t
    6. Audience<\/li>\n \t
    7. Place of writing<\/li>\n \t
    8. Occasion<\/li>\n \t
    9. Structure<\/li>\n \t
    10. \u00a0Message<\/li>\n \t
    11. \u00a0Purposes<\/li>\n \t
    12. \u00a0Themes<\/li>\n \t
    13. \u00a0Unique characteristics<\/li>\n \t
    14. \u00a0Genre<\/li>\n \t
    15. \u00a0Christ in Zechariah<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nOne of the things I just want to make a quick mention of this evening and then we\u2019ll get into verses 1 through 6, Lord willing. One of the things that I had a chance to make a fast reference to was number 15 on the list here. Christ in Zechariah, and I felt kind of bad for having to rush over it because of time constraints, so let me just add a few things that I didn't have the chance to add last time.\n\nOne of the things to understand about Jesus is He is the only person that has ever existed that walked into history and as He was walking into history, He was fulfilling a script that was written hundreds, and in some cases thousands of years in advance called Old Testament prophecy. So, I\u2019ve done a sermon here on the seven things that make Jesus unique and here I\u2019m speaking of number 2, Jesus is a man who fulfilled prophecy. (2:01)\n\nThe Uniqueness of Jesus Christ\n
        \n \t
      1. A man of verifiable history<\/li>\n \t
      2. A man of fulfilled prophecy<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n \t
      3. A man of predictive prophecy<\/li>\n \t
      4. A man of unimpeachable morality<\/li>\n \t
      5. A man of profound teaching<\/li>\n \t
      6. A man of authentic miracles<\/li>\n \t
      7. A man of bodily resurrection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nJosephus, who was a secular first century historian, makes a reference to Jesus in his writings called \u201cAntiquities\u201d, and he mentions a lot of interesting things about Jesus here.\n\nJosephus - Antiquities<\/em> 18.3.3\n\n\u201cAbout this time there lived Jesus<\/u><\/strong>, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ<\/u><\/strong>. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things<\/u><\/strong> and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.\u201d\n\nSo, the historicity of Jesus is not just found in the Bible. Jesus is found in the writings of secular or non-biblical historians. Josephus was Jewish who basically went to work for Rome, and he actually, he lived just a little after the time of Christ and he has things in his writings\u00a0 that make reference to Jesus, even His resurrection from the dead which he mentions in this quote, but one of the things Josephus says, after he calls Jesus the Christ, he says: ...for the prophets had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. So there is Josephus making reference to what I\u2019m talking about here with number two, that Jesus is a man who fulfilled prophecy. (3:16)\n\nSo, here are some examples of Messianic prophecies that you\u2019ll find in the Old Testament. His manner of birth was predicted 700 years in advance. Where He would be born, the exact city is predicted 700 years in advance. His nationality as a Hebrew is predicted 1400 years in advance. As you probably know, Israel had many tribes, 12 tribes. The book of Genesis, 1800 years in advance, tells you what tribe Jesus is going to be born into. Even the exact moment in time, if you understand Daniel 9, 25 and 26 correctly, the exact moment in time where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and proclaimed His Messianic credentials to Israel. That specific point in time called \u201cPalm Sunday\u201d to the exact day, was predicted 600 years in advance. His crucifixion between two thieves was predicted 700 years in advance. The manner of His death in terms of no broken bones, a 1000 years in advance. His piercing 700 years in advance. The fact that they would gamble for His clothes predicted a 1000 years in advance, and buried in a rich man's tomb, predicted 700 years in advance, and you could look up all these scriptures at your own leisure and you\u2019ll see what I\u2019m speaking of. (5:09)\n\nSo, when Jesus ministered on the earth and was seeking to convince people that He indeed was the son of God, this is something that He appealed to. This is what He said to the disciples on the Emmaus road in Luke 24, verse 27 (Luke 24:27), and this sermon or this teaching He gave as they were walking on the Emmaus road after His resurrection is not recorded, and of all of the things in the Bible that I wish I could be a fly on the wall and hear, this is my pick, because He is showing His disciples that everything that\u2019s happened to Him was laid out in their own Hebrew Bible that we call the Old Testament. So, it says in Luke 24, verse 27 (Luke 24:27), it says: Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures\u2026 Now when it says Scriptures, it's obviously referring to the Old Testament because there was no New Testament yet when He made that statement. Then in the same chapter verse 44 (Luke 24:44), He says: ...and He said to them, \u2018These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. When He says Law, that\u2019s Torah, when He says prophets, that\u2019s what\u2019s called the Nevi'im prophets, and when He mentions the Psalms, He is talking about the most prominent book in what\u2019s called the Ketuvim, which means writings. Torah, Law, Nevi'im, Prophets, Ketuvim, Writings. (7:1.\u00e73)\n\nThe Jews or the Hebrews, they had a completely different organization of their Bible than the way we have it organized in our Protestant versions. We have the historical books, 17, and then 5 wisdom books and then 17 prophets. The Hebrews did not organize their Bible that way. They organized it by T, Torah, N Nevi'im, K, Ketuvim. Law, Prophets, Writings, T N K and that\u2019s where you get the word Tanakh. So, when Jesus makes the statement that He fulfilled what was in the Tanakh, what He is saying is, the whole Hebrew Bible points towards Him. He also said in John 5, verses 39 and 46 (John 5:39,46), He said to the Pharisees, He says: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these\u2026 these what? the Scriptures... that testify about Me. And then He says in verse 46: \u2026For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. So that\u2019s why He accused them of things like, straining at a gnat but swallowing a camel. The religious leaders of Israel were so caught up in all these details that they missed the whole point of Hebrew Bible, which is to point towards Christ. (9:00)\n\nPaul the Apostle when he went out on his missionary journeys, particularly when he ministered to the Jews, made reference over and over again to the fact of the Script that I\u2019m speaking of called Hebrew Bible, how it pointed towards Christ. It says in Acts 17, 1 through 3 (Acts 17:1-3): Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Paul\u2019s custom...in other words, this is what Paul did regularly with the Jews in terms of evangelism. According to Paul\u2019s custom, he went to them for three Sabbaths and reasoned with them from the Scriptures\u2026 What Scriptures is he referring to? Not the New Testament, it hadn\u2019t been written yet. He is referring to Hebrew Bible, what we sometimes call the Old Testament ...explaining and giving evidence that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, \u201cThis is Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ\u201d. So there again is the Apostle Paul appealing to the Script, particularly when he is evangelizing the Hebrews. Paul felt so strongly about this that he made it part of his proclamation of the Gospel. (10:35)\n\nWhere in the Bible do you find the clearest statement of the Gospel? I would guess it would be in 1st Corinthians 15 verses 1 through 4 (1 Cor 15:1-4). And verses 3 and 4 say (1 Cor 15:3-4): For I handed to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The Scriptures is the Old Testament, because the New Testament was just being formulated at this point. So the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just that Jesus died on a cross for us and that He rose from the dead. Part of the presentation of the Gospel is understanding that He did all of that according to a Script that was written hundreds and thousands of years in advance. The reason I\u2019m bringing this up is the Book of Zechariah that we\u2019re beginning to study is filled with Messianic prophecy. (11:47)\n\nChrist in Zechariah - general<\/strong>\n
          \n \t
        • the angel of the Lord (Zech 3:1-2)<\/li>\n \t
        • the righteous branch (Zech 3:8; Zech 6:12-13)<\/li>\n \t
        • the servant (Zech 3:8)<\/li>\n \t
        • the stone with seven eyes (Zech 3:9)<\/li>\n \t
        • the King-Priest (Zech 6:13)<\/li>\n \t
        • the cornerstone, tent peg, and the bow of battle (Zech 10:4)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nChrist is going to be referred to generally in this Book as the angel of the Lord, the righteous branch, the servant, the stone with seven eyes, the King-Priest, and then just in one verse, He is going to be called, the cornerstone, tent peg, and the bow of battle. And last time I was with you, I showed you that there\u2019s a ton of messianic prophecies about Christ\u2019s first coming in Zechariah.\n\nChrist in Zechariah - first advent<\/strong>\n
            \n \t
          • the humble king riding on a donkey (Zech 9:9-10; Matt 21:1-8; John 12:14-16)<\/li>\n \t
          • the rejected good shepherd sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zech 11:4-13; Matt 26:14-16; 27:9-10)<\/li>\n \t
          • the one the Jews pierced (Zech 12:10; John 19:37; 20:24-27)<\/li>\n \t
          • the smitten good shepherd (Zech 13:7)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nI don\u2019t know if I need to re-read those. We kind of went through those very briefly last time. But, the fact that He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, that\u2019s predicted in Zechariah. The thirty pieces of silver he would be betrayed for, that\u2019s predicted in Zechariah. His piercing is predicted in Zechariah and His smiting is predicted in Zechariah. And Zechariah is going to make a bunch of predictions about His second coming.\n\nWhy in the world would I believe that the prophecies that Zechariah is going to bring to our attention concerning the second coming of Christ are going to happen? Well, pretty simple, all of the first coming prophecies happened. And I don\u2019t think the Holy Spirit switches horses in midstream. In other words, what you have in the Bible is a track record. (13:24)\n\nIt\u2019s like, let\u2019s say I\u2019m here at the free throw line and I\u2019m practicing my free throws and I make 9 free throws in a row from 15 feet out, which would have shocked my coaches because I\u2019ve never had that high a free throw percentage. But let\u2019s just imagine, 9 in a row. And then I say to you, can I make the tenth one? And you are going to say yes, because you see a track record. If you can make 9, you can make the last one. That\u2019s sort of what the Bible is like. We are living in a unique time period in between the two comings of Christ. We\u2019re waiting for the second advent prophecies to be fulfilled and the question is, well how do we know they\u2019re actually going to happen? Well, because all of the first coming prophecies came to pass, in Jesus, two thousand years ago, to such accuracy that Paul made it part of his evangelism, as did the Lord himself as He ministered to the disciples on the Emmaus road. So what are some of those second coming passages?\n\nChrist in Zechariah - second advent<\/strong>\n
              \n \t
            • the one who will be accepted by Israel (Zech 12:10\u201313:1; Rom 11:26)<\/li>\n \t
            • the one who cleanses Israel (Zech 13:1)<\/li>\n \t
            • the coming judge (Zech 14)<\/li>\n \t
            • the destroyer of Israel\u2019s enemies (Zech 14:3, 12-15; Rev 19:11-16)<\/li>\n \t
            • the one who will split the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4)<\/li>\n \t
            • the one who will reign from Jerusalem (Zech 14:9, 16; Rev 20:4-6)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe fact that Israel, one day will accept their own Messiah, that\u2019s predicted in Zechariah. Now Paul talks about it too, okay? In Romans 11, but Paul is just recycling information that\u2019s already well known in the Old Testament, in prophets like Zechariah. (14:59)\n\nJesus is going to cleanse Israel, He is going to come back as judge, He is going to destroy Israel\u2019s enemies, you\u2019ll see that prediction in Zechariah 14, verse 3 (Zech 14:3), where He will go forth and fight. Think about that, think about God Himself going forth and fighting the nations that are going to invade Jerusalem in the end times. That prophecy is predicted in Zechariah. His feet are going to touch the Mount of Olives one day, which will split in half, east to west. And when all is said and done, and Satan is subdued, and the antichrist is subdued, He is going to set up his kingdom which will run for a thousand years, and where is going to be the headquarters of that kingdom? The city of Jerusalem. Not Washington DC, not Brussels, not any other, not Rome, you know, not any prominent gentile city, it\u2019s going to be in Jerusalem and you see that in Zechariah 14, 16 through 18 (Zech 14, 16-18). Isaiah 2, 2 and 3 (Isa 2:2-3) speaks of it. And this is why when you study the book of Revelation, and you learn that Satan is going to be let loose out of the Abyss at the end of the thousand years, he immediately attacks the beloved city with his army. You see that in Revelation chapter 20 verse 9 (Rev 20:7-9), now why would Satan attack the beloved city? First of all, who is the beloved city? The beloved city is Jerusalem. Why is Satan attacking Jerusalem at the end of the millennial kingdom? Because Satan himself knows that Jerusalem is the headquarters for the thousand years, so he is attacking the nerve center. (17:12)\n\nRobert Thomas - Four Views on the Book of Revelation<\/em>, page 207\n\n\u201cAt the end of the Millennium that city will be Satan\u2019s prime objective with his rebel army, because Israel will be a leader among the nations.\u201d<\/em>\n\nRobert Thomas says: At the end of the Millennium that city will be Satan\u2019s prime objective with his rebel army, because Israel will be a leader among the nations. So these are all pieces of prophetic information that the book of Zechariah is going to surface for us, and as you go through it, you are going to be tempted to say, do I believe that or not? Do I take that literally or not? And our perspective is, you should believe it and you should take it literally because of the track record of the prophecies that have already been fulfilled in the person of Jesus two thousand years ago.\n\nSo with all of that being said, that takes me to the end of the introductory elements in the book of Zechariah, and so now we are ready to jump in and study it verse by verse. So, tonight we are going to try to look at, if time permits, the first of four parts in this outline.\n\nStructure\n
                \n \t
              1. Introductory call to repentance (Zech 1:1-6)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n \t
              2. Eight-night visions (Zech 1:7\u20136:15)<\/li>\n \t
              3. Question and answers about fasting (Zech 7\u20138)<\/li>\n \t
              4. Two burdens (Zech 9\u201314)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nSo you\u2019ll recall the very first part of this outline of four parts is an introductory call to repentance. That\u2019s why when you look at our website and you look at the title I gave to this, you\u2019ll see the word repent. I couldn\u2019t think of a better title than just the word repent. (18:40)\n\nSo, let's see. Are you guys getting warm? I\u2019m getting warm. Does someone have control over the weather? Look at that, you have not because you ask not. There we go. And I get extra air up here than you guys get out there, so I feel better faster, Amen? Alright.\n\nAlright! Let\u2019s start here with Zechariah chapter 1 verses 1 through 6 (Zech 1:1-6), the introductory call to repentance. And the outline is pretty simple,\n
                  \n \t
                1. Introductory call to repentance - (Zech 1:1-6)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                    \n \t
                  1. Date (Zech 1:1a)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n \t
                  2. Author (Zech 1:1b)<\/li>\n \t
                  3. Call to repentance (Zech 1:2\u20136)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nYou\u2019ve got a date verse 1, author verse 1, and then you\u2019ve got the call to repentance. So, let\u2019s start with the date.\n\nTake a look at Zechariah chapter 1, verse 1 (Zech 1:1): In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying. So you have your very first date in the book of Zechariah. It\u2019s the 8th month, second year of Darius.\n\nWho was Darius? Darius is one of the kings that was reigning in Persia. So, the nation of Israel came back out of the captivity under Persian reign and so by the time that Zechariah begins his ministry, we\u2019re now in the 8th month and 2nd year of the Perian king Darius. And then you have the author given, it\u2019s the second part of verse 1: The word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying. So, who is Zechariah? Well, his name is Zechariah as you know. (20:43)\n
                      \n \t
                    1. Introductory call to repentance - (Zech 1:1-6)<\/li>\n \t
                    2. Date (Zech 1:1a)<\/li>\n \t
                    3. Author (Zech 1:1b)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n \t
                    4. Call to repentance (Zech 1:2\u20136)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nAnybody recall what his name means? What\u2019s that? God remembers, Yes, which is a great name for the things he talks about in his book. Because he\u2019s going to talk about how God has not forgotten the Jewish people. He is the son of Berechiah, verse 1 (Zech 1:1). Berechiah was his father. If you look at verse 1, his grandfather was a man named Iddo, I-D-D-O, and we\u2019ve already made reference to the fact that you\u2019ll find Iddo\u2019s name, his grandfather, in Nehemiah 12 verse 1, verse 4 and verse 16 (Zech 1:1,4,16). Nehemiah 12 is a genealogical record of the Hebrews that came back from the captivity and Iddo there, is mentioned as a priest. So, the fact that his grandfather was Iddo, tells us two things about him. The first thing we understand about this man Zechariah is he was prophesying to that group that came back from the 70 year captivity. When the Hebrews returned to the land of Israel after 70 years, they did it in three waves.\n\nZechariah, is prophesying to that first group. That first wave coming back is found in Ezra 1 through 6 (Ezra 1-6) and you\u2019ll see Zechariah\u2019s name show up in that section of the Bible. We\u2019ve looked at it before so we don\u2019t have to turn there now, but you\u2019ll see it in Ezra 5 verse 1 (Ezra 5:1) and Ezra 6 verse 14 (Ezra 6:14), where Zechariah\u2019s mentioned prophesying to that first group, along with his contemporary.(22:54)\n\nAnyone remember who his contemporary is? Guy named Haggai, and Zechariah\u2019s whole ministry, as is Haggai\u2019s, is to get that first group off their back sides, so to speak, and to get busy building the temple. The temple project had laid dormant about 15 years because they got persecution from the people of the land who did not want the temple rebuilt, and, you know, discouragement set in, as it happens to a lot of us and if you let discouragement set in long enough, eventually what will happen is you\u2019ll forget your project. You just get sidetracked into other things, and to God the rebuilding of this temple is a big deal, because that\u2019s the temple that Jesus is going to come to. Prophecy says that, and it\u2019s hard for Jesus to come to a temple, 500 years later, when the temple doesn\u2019t exist. So, you know God wants his temple rebuilt. Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed it 70 years roughly earlier, and God says I want it rebuilt, and so Zechariah and Haggai are convincing that first group that came back to rebuild the temple.\n\nBeyond that, the fact that his grandfather is Iddo, shows us that Zechariah was a priest because in Nehemiah 12 verse 1, it\u2019s speaking of the priests. In Nehemiah 12, verse 1 (Neh 12:1), you\u2019ll see the reference to, Now these are the priests and the Levites, and then Nehemiah 12, verse 4 and verse 16 (Neh 12: 4,16) mentions Iddo. So, Iddo was a priest, his grandfather. And so, it\u2019s highly likely that Zechariah born in that same tribe, the tribe of Levi and descending from Iddo, would be a priest also. (25:05)\n\nVery similar to Ezekiel, who prophesied during the captivity. Ezekiel 1 verse 3 (Eze 1:3) says, Ezekiel was a priest, and the other prophet that was a priest is a guy named Jeremiah, and you\u2019ll see a reference to Jeremiah as a priest in Jeremiah 1 verse 1 (Jer 1:1), and you say, well, what\u2019s the big deal? I mean, why do I care if Zechariah was a priest or not? Well you need to know that because it makes sense as to the things Zechariah surfaces. Zechariah surfaces all kinds of things about the temple, in particular the Millennial Temple, and it\u2019s completely and totally logical for him to go that direction under God\u2019s inspiration, because Zechariah is a priest. Ezekiel does the same thing, talks about the temple in his book. It makes sense, he is a priest.\n\nSo, that takes us into verses 2 through 6 (Zech 1:2-6), where it\u2019s not a lot of, you know, seeker friendly kind of preaching here, you know, come on in and make yourself comfortable and let\u2019s kind of warm up the crowd kind of thing. He immediately gets into the subject of repentance.\n
                        \n \t
                      1. Introductory call to repentance - (Zech 1:1-6)<\/li>\n \t
                      2. Date (Zech 1:1a)<\/li>\n \t
                      3. Author (Zech 1:1b)<\/li>\n \t
                      4. Call to repentance (Zech 1:2\u20136)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nSo the call to repentance is found in verses 2 through 6 and notice if you will, verse 2 (Zech 1:2). It says: The Lord, look at how he starts this book\u2026 The LORD was... it doesn\u2019t just say angry, it says very angry\u2026 The Lord was very angry with your fathers. So here\u2019s an interesting thing about God, God gets angry. God gets, you know, upset. God gets, you know, ticked off. And there are some examples of this in the Bible. The generation that came out of Egypt and received the Law at Sinai at the bottom of the screen, the circle at the bottom of the screen, had an eleven-day journey, from Sinai into Canaan.\n\nYou\u2019ll find the reference to eleven days in Deuteronomy chapter 1, I want to say around verse 5, it\u2019s either verse 2 or verse 5 (Deut 1:2-5) but you\u2019ll see the reference to an eleven day journey. (27:56)\n\nAll they had to do is trust God for eleven days and they were in the Promised Land, and they should have trusted God because they had received the Law, and they had received the manna, and they had seen the ten plagues in Egypt. So, you know, trusting God shouldn\u2019t be that tough for eleven days. Just trust me for eleven days and you\u2019re in the Promised Land, and they came to the southern border of Israel, a place called Kadesh-barnea, they saw giants in the land and they went into unbelief. They, it\u2019s all recorded in Numbers 13 and 14 (Num 13,14). They became like grasshoppers in their own eyes. In other words, they were analyzing their circumstances, not from the perspective of God, but from the perspective of themselves, even though God had helped them all this way, and what could have been an eleven day journey, turned into a 40 year nightmare, where God just said, Ok, I\u2019m done with you all. They all wandered around in the wilderness for forty years, and as they all started to die, God started to work with the kids, their children. (29:12)\n\nPsalm 95, verse 10 (Psa 95:10), looks back at that event and it says: For forty years\u2026 this is God speaking... I loathed that generation. Now, before you dogpile on these people too much, it kind of sounds like us a little bit, doesn\u2019t it? God delivers, God does this in our lives, and the next problem comes up and we go into fear. So, it shows you the attitude of God towards His people when we just don\u2019t believe, and so the anger of the Lord was kindled against that generation.\n\nHebrews 3, verse 10 (Heb 3:10), quoting Psalm 95, which is commenting on the generation says of God: Therefore I was angry with this generation. And said, they always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways. So, if you want some examples of the anger of God, these would be biblical examples.\n\nBy the way, the book of Romans chapter 1 says this, God right now as I speak is mad at the whole world. Well Pastor, you are not supposed to say that, you are supposed to say for God has so loved the world, well He does love the world, but as I speak he is angry at the world. I\u2019m getting that from Romans 1 verses 18 through 20 (Rom 1:18-20), which says: For the wrath, isn\u2019t that anger? For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, His divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made, so that they are without excuse. (31:29)\n\nIt\u2019s obvious God exists according to Romans 1 because God has revealed himself in creation. You don\u2019t have design without a designer. So even the most sophisticated atheist, so called, is really not an atheist. What they\u2019re doing is they\u2019re denying the obvious, and as the world does this, and one of the reasons the world does this, is the world wants to live how it wants to live. It wants to be God. Now, if you want to be God,\u00a0 you have a big problem. You have to explain away the existence of the true God as revealed in creation, and so what man does is he takes what\u2019s obvious and he suppresses it. You know, you can be an atheist if you want to be an atheist but you going to have to work real hard at it. I like the title of Norman Geisler\u2019s book \u201cI don\u2019t have enough faith to be an atheist\u201d. And as God watches the unsaved world doing this, it\u2019s right out of the Bible Romans 1 verse 18 (Rom 1:18), his anger is kindled. So God right now as I speak is angry at the whole planet that\u2019s doing this, just like He was angry at that Kadesh-Barnea generation there.(32:57)\n\nSo we don\u2019t get a lot of teaching today on the anger of God. There was one of the most famous sermons ever preached in the United States that launched the Great Awakening in Massachusetts, by a man named Jonathan Edwards who became eventually president of what today is known as Princeton. And Edwards is probably considered to be one of evangelicalism\u2019s brightest minds in terms of intellectual ability and he launched a great awakening called the first Great Awakening in America through a sermon, and you can find it easily online and you can download it, and read it. The title of it is \u201cSinners in the hands of an angry God\u201d and as the sermon was preached, and some of the historical accounts I\u2019ve read of it, indicate that Edwards really was not a great orator. So, he didn't have PowerPoint, he didn't have illustrations, he didn't use humor. It was kind of boring actually, because he just\u00a0 got up and read it like a manuscript. Sinners in the hands of an angry God. And as he read it, people came under immediate conviction of the Holy Spirit for their sins. People were actually grabbing the pews for fear that they would be sliding into hell. And it had a power inside his church in Massachusetts and it had power outside the church, it had power in the harbor and that\u2019s what started the first Great Awakening in America. It wasn\u2019t a sermon about how to discover your purpose in life or how to be fulfilled, or it wasn\u2019t based on John 3:16, I mean the whole point of it was Sinners in the hands of an angry God. (35:15)\n\nAnd I just find it very interesting that as we start this book on Zechariah, the first thing that\u2019s mentioned here is God\u2019s anger. And who is God angry with? well, He tells you, verse 2 (Zech 1:2): The Lord was very angry with your fathers. Why was He angry with their fathers? Because of how their fathers treated the prophets on the eve of the Babylonian captivity. If you go back to the historical book of 2nd Chronicles chapter 36 verse 16 (2 Chron 36:16), it says: They, that\u2019s the fathers 70 years earlier, on the eve of the captivity, continually mocked the messengers of God. So in other words, if you mocked God\u2019s messengers, you are basically mocking God. If you mock God\u2019s spokespersons, spokesmen, you are basically mocking God. So, all of these late night comedians, you know that want to malign Christians, and malign pastors, and malign preachers. I mean, they are really maligning God.\n\nSo, it says: but they, their fathers, continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath, there it is, anger\u2026 the wrath of the LORD rose up against His people, until there was no remedy. I mean, it got so bad that the Babylonian captivity was inevitable. So they were transported for 70 years from Israel into Babylon, 350 miles\u00a0 roughly to the east and there\u2019s where they went for 70 years. And, Zechariah is harkening back to that and basically reminding them that God was angry, God was angry at your fathers, and his point is, as you get about your task of rebuilding the temple, don\u2019t commit the same mistake. (37:40)\n\nThese lessons from history, as negative as they are, are there for your advantage, and then you drop down to verse 3 (Zech 1:3) and it says: Therefore say to them, \u2018Thus says the LORD of hosts, \u201cReturn to Me,'' declares the LORD of hosts, \u201cthat I may return to you,\u201d says the LORD of hosts. Now, notice that! It\u2019s like a good parent. A good parent when they are upset or angry or disciplining their child, doesn\u2019t just discipline the child forever. You don\u2019t leave them in a perpetual state of being disciplined. Eventually, that discipline needs to turn into love, where you then, after having shown them the wrong path, you exhort them to get back on the correct path. So, yes! God is a God of anger but don\u2019t think that that\u2019s all He is, because it\u2019s not that. His anger quickly moves into compassion here, as he exhorts the people to return to Him.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice the reference to Lord of hosts, in fact right there in that verse, you see the Lord of hosts three times, and all the way through verse 6 (Zech 1:1-6), I didn\u2019t count them up but it says Lord of hosts, there it is in verse 4 (Zech 1:4). As you go through that paragraph you\u2019ll see Lord of hosts over and over again. What does that mean \u201cThe Lord of hosts\u201d? I am sort of the opinion that hosts are called angels. So, in 2nd Chronicles 18, verse 18 (2 Chron 18:18): Micaiah said, Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left. I would understand that as a reference to the angelic realm surrounding the Lord in heaven. God is a commander of an army, and His army consists of His unfallen, good, holy angelic beings. I think that\u2019s why he keeps calling him over and over again the Lord of hosts. (40:14)\n\nSo what does God say here, the Lord of hosts. What does He say to His people after expressing his anger? He says (Zech 1:3): Therefore say to them, \u2018Thus says the LORD of hosts, \u201cReturn to Me,\u201d declares the LORD of hosts, \u201cthat I may return to you,\u201d says the LORD of hosts. Now, the word return here in Hebrew is Shuv and that word when it\u2019s used in Greek is the Greek word Metanoia, change of mind, which means to repent. So what He is calling his people to do right here before they build anything is they need to repent, and not act like their fathers acted on the eve of the Babylonian captivity.\n\nNow this concept of the nation of Israel repenting is hard to understand unless you have background in the biblical covenants. The covenantal structure is not going to be re-explained in the book of Zechariah, because that covenantal structure has already been outlined in the book of Genesis and in the book of Exodus, but basically, the thing to understand is the nation of Israel has a covenant with God. We\u2019re going to be getting to this in rapid fire, I think pretty quick in our study in Genesis, Sunday mornings. (41:46)\n\nThe nation of Israel is the only nation that\u2019s ever existed in the history of the world that has a covenant with God. It\u2019s not Israel making their own covenant to God. It\u2019s God going the opposite direction and making a covenant to Israel, it\u2019s called the Abrahamic covenant, it\u2019s unconditional, meaning God is going to fulfill these things no matter what, regardless of human performance, and in that covenant, Genesis 15, God promised Israel three things: Land, seed and blessing.\n\nThose three promises are amplified in subsequent covenants made later, but they are just amplifying what\u2019s already there. So Israel has those three things. Israel is the perpetual owner of those three things. Land, seed and blessing. And this is why God says things like, you know, as long as there\u2019s sun, moon and stars, Israel will always be a nation before me. And He made that statement as they were on the eve of the Babylonian captivity, Jeremiah 31, throwing their own children into a fire to satisfy a pagan deity of prosperity called Molech. So as they\u2019re doing that, and as they are about to be deported from their own land for disciplinary reasons, God says in Jeremiah 31, verses 35 to 37 (Jer 31:35-37), as long as there\u2019s sun, moon and stars, as long as the fixed order remains, Israel is always going to be a nation before me. (43:44)\n\nHow can God say something like that? When the people were behaving so poorly? Because of the Abrahamic covenant. Israel has an unconditional covenant, not their covenant to God, it\u2019s God\u2019s covenant to them, Genesis 15. So Israel will always own these blessings. Well, if Israel always owns these blessings, then why does she need to repent? The answer to that is at the very bottom of the screen, something that comes alongside the Abrahamic covenant, 600 years later at Mount Sinai, bottom circle, called the Mosaic covenant.\n\nThe Mosaic covenant is very different than the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic covenant is unconditional, the Mosaic covenant is conditional. And what the Mosaic covenant lays out is the circumstances or conditions that the nation of Israel has to fulfill for them to, watch my language very carefully here, enjoy what they own, because there\u2019s a big difference between ownership and enjoyment. Those are two different things. Ownership means I own a beach house in the Hamptons. Now you guys know obviously I\u2019m speaking fictitiously there. But let\u2019s just pretend, just like the 9 free throws, made 9 free throws, own a beach house in the Hamptons but I\u2019m so busy working I can never get to the Hamptons to enjoy or possess what I own, see that? So in the legal system there\u2019s a big difference between owning something and enjoying something, owning something and possessing something.\n\nThere is nothing Israel can ever, ever, ever do to divest her ownership of those three blessings. Land, seed and blessings. They are always hers because of the conditions of the unconditional Mosaic (Abrahamic) covenant, the promises I should say, of the unconditional Mosaic (Abrahamic) covenant. But whether a particular generation enjoys what they own, possesses what they own, they have to obey the conditional covenant, called the what? The Mosaic covenant.\n\nSix Parts of a Suzerain-Vassal Treaty in Deuteronomy\n
                          \n \t
                        • Preamble (1:1-5)<\/li>\n \t
                        • Prologue (1:6\u20134:40)<\/li>\n \t
                        • Covenant obligations (5\u201326)<\/li>\n \t
                        • Storage and reading instructions (27:2-3; 31:9, 24, 26)<\/li>\n \t
                        • Witnesses (32:1)<\/li>\n \t
                        • Blessings and curses (28)<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee that? So when God tells His people to repent. He is not saying to them, Oh! I divorced you, so you\u2019re going to have to repent to be my nation again. That\u2019s an impossibility because of the Abrahamic covenant. What He\u2019s saying is, if you don\u2019t want to imitate the practices of your fathers, who were deported, and if you want to actually enjoy what you own, you have got to go back to the Mosaic covenant. You have to repent. And you say, well, this is all interesting history Andy, but I mean, this isn\u2019t very practical. I mean, this is all kind of erudite, pie in the sky stuff but it doesn\u2019t really affect us.\n\nWell, let me explain you how does affect you. You, from God have virtually the same structure. You own salvation because God unconditionally gave it to you. You are going to be at the point of faith, always God\u2019s child. That\u2019s irreversible, irrevocable; it can't be changed. But if you\u2019re going to enjoy what you own to the maximum, you got to obey God under his power. There\u2019s only one condition you have to meet to become His child, that\u2019s faith alone, in Christ alone. But as we all know, in the Christian life, sin enters the picture and when sin enters the picture, does that mean I\u2019m no longer God\u2019s child? No, it means I have to repent and go back to, in our case, not the Mosaic law, but go back to the law of Jesus Christ as primarily expressed in the epistles, and there are many, many commands for you to follow there, under God\u2019s power. Pray without ceasing, study to show yourself approved as a workman that need not to be ashamed but accurately handles the word of truth, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as is the habit of some, put on the full armor of God, I mean, how many commands can we rattle off here? Command after command after command and you say, well, I don\u2019t want to obey those commands today. What happens to you? It doesn\u2019t change your salvation, any more than Israel\u2019s disobedience removed them from the Abrahamic covenant, it\u2019s an impossibility. But what it did damage is their experience with God, their moment by moment enjoyment with God is hindered, every single moment we spent in disobedience as Christians, rejecting and neglecting God\u2019s commands to us in the epistolary literature, and we obey His commands of course under His power, but there has to be a step of volition on our part or else you are a person that is saved but you\u2019re not really enjoying or experiencing what it is that you already own. So, if you can understand God\u2019s dealings with Israel, you can understand the outworking of your whole salvation. (50:12)\n\nSo when God says to Israel: Repent, go back to the Mosaic covenant, they are not doing it to become His nation again. They are doing it to enjoy or possess or experience what it is they already own. They have to obey the Mosaic covenant to enjoy or experience what it is they already own, given 600 years before the Mosaic covenant in the Abrahamic covenant. So that\u2019s the meaning of repent or turn around. It\u2019s always go back to the Mosaic covenant. To experience Me in the fullest and believe me folks, you\u2019re going to need to experience Me in the fullest God says, because you got a big job in front of you. You\u2019ve got to rebuild temple number 2, and Zechariah is going to say in Zechariah 4, verse 6 (Zech 4:6): It\u2019s not by might, it\u2019s not by power, but it\u2019s by My Spirit. How in the world can you experience the strength of God when you are out of fellowship with Him, because you\u2019ve neglected the Mosaic covenant just like your fathers did, that I was so angry with, 70 years earlier. (51:28)\n\nSo, Charles Lee Fienberg, in a wonderful commentary on Zechariah that I\u2019m leaning heavily on as we move into this study says, concerning verse 3 (Zech 1:3) as it relates to us as church age believers:\n\nCharles L. Feinberg - God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah <\/em>(Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1950, p. 18.\n\n\u201cPositionally, we have been made nigh (Eph. 2:13), but experimentally we need to be ever more near.\u201d\n\nPositionally, we have been made nigh\u2026 in other words, we\u2019ve been brought here, that\u2019s your position... but experimentally we need to be ever more near. In other words, we need to obey God, not to become His child again but to experience Him in the maximum sense, and this helps us make sense of New Testament commands given to us, like James 4 verses 8-9 (James 4:8,9) which says: Draw near\u2026 it\u2019s almost verbatim of what Zechariah is saying here in verse 3\u2026 Draw near to God and He will\u2026 what? ...draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Is James addressing unbelievers with that and teaching them how to become Christians? Absolutely not, he is dealing with believers who already have salvation, who need to repent so they can enjoy God as Fienberg calls it, experimentally or experientially. (53:24)\n\n1st John chapter 1 verse 9 (1 John 1:9) says: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, I guess that\u2019s something I need to do, I need to tell an unbeliever to do, confess your sins to get saved. No, 1st John, like James is not written to unbelievers, it\u2019s written to believers. Not so they can get salvation, they already have that, it can\u2019t be taken away, any more than Israel\u2019s position, via the Abrahamic covenant can be taken away. They need to confess their sins unto God, in other words, agree with God, that\u2019s what confess means, homologeo, homo as in same, logeo as in speaking or spoken word. You put that together, it means agreement. You agree with God that your sin is sin, and then you ask God to help you change, under His resources, and if a Christian won\u2019t do that, they\u2019re still God\u2019s child, but don\u2019t expect God to do great things through your life, don\u2019t expect God to use you to do extraordinary things on the earth, because you need, not just the right position with God, but the right experience with God.(55:04)\n\nAnother Charles Fienberg quote:\n\nCharles L. Feinberg - God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah <\/em>(Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1950, p. 15.)\n\n\u201cSince the book is mainly one of consolation\u00a0 and hope, some may be inclined to ask: Why does it begin with a charge to repent? The purpose, no doubt, is to preclude any false security on the part of the ungodly in Israel who might think themselves to be the recipients of the blessings and promises of God regardless of their spiritual condition.\u201d\n\nSince the book, Zechariah, is mainly one of consolation and hope, some may be inclined to ask: Why does the book begin with a charge to repent? The purpose, no doubt, is to preclude any false security on the part of the ungodly in Israel who might think themselves to be the recipients of the blessings and promises of God regardless of their spiritual condition. What he is saying is, haha, Folks, you\u2019re not going to have the strength or the power to do what God wants you to do unless you repent and go back to the Mosaic covenant. Yeah, but my repentance and returning back to the Mosaic covenant doesn\u2019t mean that we are not God special nation anymore. That\u2019s true because of the Abrahamic covenant. But to experience God to the fullness, you need to repent via the Mosaic covenant. So, by way of analogy to the church, God is calling us as Christians to repent of sins, change our mind of sins, go back to the commandments He has given us in the epistolary literature, primarily what Paul calls the law of Christ. I don\u2019t do that, because\u2026 Oh my Gosh! If I don\u2019t do that I\u2019m not going to heaven. I do it because I want to live a life of significance and meaning while I\u2019m here. I want my life to count for something beyond myself. I want to be fruitful for God. So I repent, I confess my sins unto God, not to get saved, I already have that, but to enter into a full experience with God. So, that\u2019s why in the book of hope and consolation, the very first words out of Zechariah\u2019s mouth is repent, because without repentance, they might be God\u2019s special nation but they can\u2019t do what He wants them to do. And He wants this generation to rebuild the temple.(57:37)\n\nEvery generation that has ever existed, I believe God wants them to do something. I don\u2019t know exactly what it is for our generation, but He wants us to do something. He wants your life to amount to something. And that can\u2019t happen as a Christian without repentance in our daily lives. This is why when John the Baptist showed up, what was the first words out of his mouth? Verse 2 (Matt 3:1-2): Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You have the ability to receive the King and the Kingdom but it\u2019s not going to happen unless you repent first. Jesus preached the same message a chapter later. It says, He said: Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\n\nMessengers of the Kingdom In Matthew\n
                            \n \t
                          • John the Baptist \u2013 Matt 3:2<\/li>\n \t
                          • Jesus Christ \u2013 Matt 4:17<\/li>\n \t
                          • 12 Apostles \u2013 Matt 10:5-7<\/li>\n \t
                          • Seventy \u2013 Luke 10:1,9<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThis was preached by John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the 12 apostles and the Seventy. It\u2019s exactly what Zechariah is saying, and not only were those, the first words of Christ in the New Testament, some of the first, repent for the kingdom is at hand. But it\u2019s some of the last words of Christ in the book of Revelation, because in the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, you\u2019re going to run into 7 churches and what does He tell 5 of the 7 to do?\n\nEvery single church, 5 of the 7, He says, Repent. The only 2 churches that didn\u2019t get the message of repentance from Christ himself, that\u2019s what the book of Revelation is, it\u2019s Christ's words to John, to the church. That\u2019s why that section is in red letters in the English translation.\n\nSo this idea of repentance amongst God\u2019s people, is not just in Christ's first words 2000 years ago, but it\u2019s in His last words to the church in the book of Revelation. The only 2 churches that were not told to repent were Smyrna, church number 2 and Philadelphia, church number 6. And then you ask yourself, Uhm, that\u2019s interesting, what did Smyrna and Philadelphia have in common? Oh, they were both under persecution from a group of people claiming to be Jews but were not Jews but were a Synagogue of Satan, Revelation 2, verse 9 (Rev 2:9) and Revelation 3, verse 9 (Rev 3:9). So, Smyrna and Philadelphia didn\u2019t have to repent because they were persecuted, because that\u2019s what persecution does to us. It draws us closer to Christ. When you are under persecution, suddenly life is serious, you\u2019re taking God very seriously. So there aren't these gaping backslidden conditions in our lives as there are during times of prosperity. But you look at the rest of the churches that weren\u2019t under persecution, they needed to repent. Oh no, pastor! Don\u2019t you understand that they\u2019re building isolation facilities? And they\u2019re coercing people to take the jab and if they don\u2019t take the jab, they\u2019re going to lose their job. Aren\u2019t these terrible conditions? Not necessarily, because what\u2019s starting to happen in our own country is we\u2019re experiencing something that the rest of the world has been experiencing probably for 2000 years. We are starting to experience persecution. Don\u2019t hit the panic button, that\u2019s actually the design of God, because that\u2019s the very thing that causes us to repent, drives us closer to Christ and as that happens, God can do and wants to do, great and wonderful things in our lives. So,\u00a0 I was going to try to make it through verse 6 but that\u2019s not going to happen, or else you guys would be under persecution right now. So let\u2019s go ahead and stop if you want to collect your young ones...","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t