{"id":19461,"date":"2022-01-12T10:56:35","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T16:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slbc.local\/sermon\/19461\/"},"modified":"2022-02-16T05:29:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T11:29:37","slug":"zechariah-013-god-is-in-control","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/zechariah-013-god-is-in-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Zechariah 013 – God is In Control"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[83],"series_event":[526],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19461","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 013 - God is In Control","sermon_date":"20220112","sermon_month":"01","sermon_year":"2022","sermon_notes":19458,"sermon_slides":19459,"sermon_mp3":20122,"sermon_id":"11222223441510","series_or_event":526,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":83,"chapter_and_verse":"6:1-9","sermon_transcript":"Zechariah 013 - God is in Control\r\nBy Dr. Andy Woods - 2\/12\/2022\r\nZech 6:1-9\r\n\r\nTake our Bibles if we could and open them to the book of Zechariah chapter 6, as we continue our verse by verse teaching through the book of Zechariah. In case you didn\u2019t notice we have a new website. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a new website, it\u2019s like a face lift for an existing website. So, whenever you do something like that there\u2019s always a little\u2026 there\u2019s a few stragglers you know, stuff doesn\u2019t transfer over perfectly and so just be patient with us as we\u2019re trying to get everything up and running but I think we\u2019re going to be livecasting tonight from the website and also Facebook. \r\nSo, we are in the section of the book of Zechariah where Zechariah has eight night visions. \r\n\r\nStructure\r\nI.\tIntroductory call to repentance (Zech 1:1-6)\r\nII.\tEight night visions (Zech 1:7\u20136:15)\r\nIII.\tQuestion and answers about fasting (Zech 7\u20138)\r\nIV.\tTwo burdens (Zech 9\u201314)\r\n\r\nEight visions that he received in a single night. That\u2019s a heck of a night when you think about it and all of those visions relate to trying to encourage the returnees from the Babylonian captivity to get busy building the second temple. So the first temple had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon 70 years earlier and when they came back from the captivity, they were sort of motivated at first to rebuild the temple and then they kind of slacked off. I know that never happens to anybody in here, you guys never slack off on anything. I know personally for me it\u2019s very easy to start a project and then kind of lose interest in it because of all kinds of circumstances but that\u2019s what happened to the returnees and God\u2019s temple was, you know, not being rebuild which is a problem because Bible prophecy indicated that Jesus when he would show up four hundred years later has to come to a temple. So, if the temple is not built, that prophecy can\u2019t be fulfilled. So Zechariah along with his contemporary Haggai, is encouraging the returnees to rebuild the temple. 2:42 \r\nSo the way Zechariah does it is he, as the Holy Spirit gives him visions, he sees what God is going to do in and through the temple one day, including glimpses of the millennial kingdom and he basically invites his audience to participate in God\u2019s great program. You know, he basically says, you can be on the winning side of history by getting busy building the temple now. So, they\u2019re having all of these opposition and problems and discouragement, so here come these eight visions and look at this, we\u2019ve studied seven of the eight. \r\n\r\nII. Eight Night Visions (Zech 1:7\u20126:15)\r\n1.\tRiders & horses among the myrtle trees (Zech 1:7-17)\r\n2.\tFour horns & four craftsmen (Zech 1:18-21)\r\n3.\tMan with the measuring line (Zech 2)\r\n4.\tCleansing of the High Priest Joshua (Zech 3)\r\n5.\tLampstand & olive tree (Zech 4)\r\n6.\tFlying scroll (Zech 5:1-4)\r\n7.\tWoman in the basket (Zech 5:5-11)\r\n8.\tFour chariots (Zech 6:1-8)\r\n9.\tConclusion: crowning of Joshua (Zech 6:9-15)\r\n\r\nSo we just have a final eighth vision to look at tonight and it has to do with the vision of the Four Chariots, chapter 6, verses 1 through 8 (Zech 6:1-8), I think it is; and so we\u2019re just going to try to cover those verses tonight and next week is the second half of the chapter and it\u2019s the conclusion of these eight night visions with the crowning of a priest, which never happens. You don\u2019t crown priests, cause priests are priests and kings are kings but the crowning of the High Priest Joshua, which we\u2019re going to look at next week, is a type, if you will of the unique king priest Jesus Christ that is going to rule the whole world one day from Jerusalem and that unique king priest is going to rebuild the temple. So, Gosh, I guess the temple is pretty important to God if it\u2019s going to exist in the millennium. So, we\u2019ll see that next week, but before we get to that next week, we have tonight chapter 6 verses 1 through 8 (Zech 6:1-8)\r\n\r\nThe Four Chariots and I\u2019ve sort of entitled this study \u201cGod is in Control\u201d. Is there anybody back there that needs to hear that? It\u2019s so easy in the midst of problems of life to forget the fact that God is actually in control and as these returnees were struggling and as they were facing obstacles and setbacks and as they were getting push back from the Gentile nations, they needed to know that God was on top of things and God was going to deal aggressively with this Gentile nations that were opposing them. So, that\u2019s what that last vision is about. It\u2019s the Four Chariots chapter 6, verses 1 through 8 (Zech 6: 1-8) and the meaning of it is divine judgment on the Gentile nations that are opposing Israel. 5:52 \r\nSo this is a particular chart that we refer to all the way through these night visions. You have the vision in the left hand column, the biblical reference in the center and then a one sentence meaning as to what the vision means; and so you go to the very end and we have the Four Chariots, chapter 6 verses 1 through 8 (Zech 6: 1-8) and it\u2019s a reminder of divine judgment on the Gentiles; and one of the nations that God has judged and will judge is Babylon and that should ring a bell because the last couple of weeks, I think last week and then prior to Christmas break, we were looking at the woman in the Ephah chapter 5, verse 5 through 11 (Zech 5:5-11), which is a prophecy about how evil is going to be ripped out of Israel one day but it\u2019s going to be relocated in the land of Shinar. So it\u2019s one of those tremendous passages about the fact that Babylon still has a role to play in Bible prophecy and so that subject is going to come up here with our vision that we\u2019re going to look at tonight, the Four Chariots. \r\n\r\n8. The Four Chariots (Zech 6:1-8)\r\nI.\tThe Vision (Zech 6:1-3)\r\nII.\tThe Interpretation (Zech 6:4-8)\r\n\r\nSo, with this eighth and final night vision, we have the vision itself, verses 1 through 3 (Zech 6:1-3), and then you have the interpretation given, verses 4 through 8 (Zech 6:4-8) \r\n\r\nand of course, here\u2019s the big idea of this particular final vision, you\u2019ll notice the little graphic that we have there at the bottom of the screen, God is in control, that\u2019s the point. Yes, you\u2019re getting push back from the Gentile nations and opposition but God is in control of everything and he\u2019s keeping a record and he\u2019s going to deal with those opposers in His providence and timing so, Dr. Thomas Constable says: There is a similar emphasis\u2026 concerning this vision\u2026 There is a similar emphasis on the fact that Yahweh controls history and subdues the nations that oppress Israel\u2026 8:08 \r\nSo, let\u2019s start off here with the vision itself, what exactly did Zechariah see verses 1 through 3 (Zech 6:1-3) and basically he saw two things. \r\n\r\nI. The Vision (Zech 6:1-3)\r\nA.\tFour Chariots (Zech 6:1)\r\nB.\tFour Horses (Zech 6:2-3)\r\n\r\nFour chariots, verse 1 (Zech 6:1) and each of those chariots seems to be pulled by a different horse. So we\u2019ve got four chariots verse 1, and then four horses verses 2 and 3. So notice verse 1 as we look at these four chariots. He says in verse 1 (Zech 6:1): Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked\u2026. and just stopping there for a second, there\u2019s your verb of perception. Whenever he says \u201cI looked\u201d, \u201cI saw\u201d, \u201cthe Lord showed me\u201d, that\u2019s kind of your hint that a new vision is starting. So, that formula is pretty consistent all the way through these eight night visions and it\u2019s consistent with the eighth night vision. So it says: Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming forth\u2026 So he sees four chariots coming forth and what are chariots a symbol of in the Bible? They are typically a symbol of power and great authority. Just a few verses on that. Isaiah, 66, verse 15 (Isa 66:15) says: For behold, the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire\u2026 Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 8 (Hab 3:8) uses the chariot as a symbol of power and authority, it says: Did the LORD rage against the rivers, Or was His anger against the rivers, Or was Your range against the sea, That You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation?... Haggai, Zechariah\u2019s contemporary, chapter 2, verse 22 (Hag 2:22) says: I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another\u2026 So, the fact that Zechariah is seeing these four chariots, you know, is basically causing anticipation that judgment of some kind is coming. 11:00\r\nSo back to verse 1 it says: Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming forth\u2026 Where were they coming from? They were coming from between the mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains\u2026 So where are these chariots coming from? They are coming from between, in this vision, two mountains. I\u2019m going to show you, as we go through to verse 8, that these chariots are going to actual geographic locations, they\u2019re going to judge true nations; and so if they moving towards actual geographical national realities it stands to reason that the place of origin of these chariots is a real place as well. So the question becomes, well, they are coming from between two mountains, what two mountains are we talking about? And I have a suspicion that those two mountains are (1) Mount Zion and the second mountain is the Mount of Olives; and between Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, is a valley and that valley is known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, so that\u2019s probably the two mountains that Zechariah is seeing here where these chariots are coming from. Charles Feinberg in his commentary on the book of Zechariah says: \r\n\r\nCharles L. Feinberg - God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah (Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1950, p. 76.\r\n\u201cSince the chariots go forth to actual geographical designations, as we shall see later, just so the mountains from whence they proceed are to be taken as representing a specific geographical locality. The mountains, in all probability, are Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives\u2026Between these two mountains in Palestine [Israel] lies the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is related in Scripture to the judgment of the nations.\u201d\r\n\r\nSince the chariots go forth to actual geographical designations, as we shall see later, just so the mountains from whence they proceed are to be taken as representing a specific geographical locality. The mountains, in all probability, are Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. Between these mountains in Israel lies the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is related in Scripture to the judgment of the nations\u2026 This idea of two mountains also reminds me when the Lord comes back. The Lord is going to return one day and His feet are going to touch the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives is going to what? Split, east and west. Zechariah chapter 14, verse 4 (Zech 14:4) says: On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will split from east to west forming a large valley, half the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south\u2026 Wow! So, whatever these two mountains are, whether it\u2019s a reference to the splitting of the Mount of Olives or whether it is a reference to Zion and the Mount of Olives and the Valley of Jehoshaphat in the middle, it\u2019s an actual real place. These chariots are coming from an actual geographical location just as are going to be traveling in judgment to particular geographical nations that oppress the nation of Israel. So we see no need whatsoever when we study prophecy to somehow just say, well, this just contains great spiritual truths, you know; and don\u2019t worry about the literalness of it. 14:55\r\nI was reading the commentary of a postmillennialist, recently, Loraine Boettner and he doesn\u2019t take prophecy literally and when he gets to Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 4 (Zech 14:4), the splitting of the Mount of Olives, he just say, well, that\u2019s the sinner who\u2019s being convicted by God\u2019s word, you know. So, the word of God convicts them and we don\u2019t really believe the Mount of Olives is going to split, that\u2019s just a symbol of the conversion of the sinner. So he gets an A in creativity for that (laughs) but he gets a failing grade in interpreting the text and so we don\u2019t do that kind of thing here, we take the Bible for what it says. I mean, all of the references to Christ\u2019s first coming, born in Bethlehem, pierced, virgin born, those all happened in real time in history and there\u2019s no need to, you know, pretend like the second coming passages are going to be different than that. You\u2019ll notice that these mountains are bronze, and bronze in the Bible typically communicates judgment. You might remember Numbers chapter 21 verse 9 (Num 21:9) where\u2026 remember the\u2026 as the children of Israel were in the Transjordan, remember? They begin to grumble and the Lord sent snakes to bite them and many of them were dying and Moses cries out for an answer and what Moses was supposed to do is take a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and all the children of Israel had to do to be saved from the snake bite was just to look at the bronze serpent on the bronze pole. That\u2019s all they had to do and that story, that historical stories actually used by Jesus in John, 3, when He\u2019s talking to Nicodemus about salvation, and He says: In the same way, the only thing a person has to do to be saved from the ultimate snake bite, sin and the wages of sin is\u2026 what?... Death, they just have to look by way of faith at the cross of Jesus Christ and they\u2019re saved. So, you\u2019ll notice how easy God made salvation in both cases and a lot of people try to make it more complicated than it is but God has made it very, very easy. All they have to do to be saved from the snake bite and its poison was to look at the serpent on the pole and the only thing that a lost sinner has to do today to be saved by way of analogy, John, 3, is just to look at the cross of Jesus Christ by way of faith, accepting what He\u2019s done for us, two thousand years ago on the cross of calvary but bronze, you\u2019ll notice there, is a symbol of judgment. It says: So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived\u2026 So I think I misspoke earlier, I think I said the pole was bronze but actually the serpent on the pole was bronze, it was just\u2026 something that looked like a flag pole, but bronze is communicating judgment and whenever God communicates judgment fortunately he communicates salvation. In fact, Jesus is coming back and there\u2019s a picture of Him on the right there coming back.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s an artist rendition of what\u2019s described in Revelation chapter 1 and it talks there about His feet when He\u2019s returning in judgment and Revelation, 1, verse 15 (Rev 1:15) says of His feet: His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been heated to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters\u2026 So bronze in the Bible is communicating judgment and the fact that these chariots are coming forth, you know, from these mountains made of bronze is communicating judgment. So God is going to deal in judgment with the nations that are harassing Israel and are pressing Israel and trying to stop her from rebuilding her temple after the exile. 19:53 \r\n\r\nI. The Vision (Zech 6:1-3)\r\nA.\tFour Chariots (Zech 6:1)\r\nB.\tFour Horses (Zech 6:2-3)\r\n\r\nSo then, after Zechariah sees the four chariots, then he sees the four horses, you know, pulling the chariots and look at what he says in verses 2 and 3 (Zech 6:2-3): With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot strong dappled horses\u2026 So horse number one was red, communicating bloodshed and warfare. Horse number two was black, communicating death and famine. Horse number three was white, communicating triumph and victory and horse number four was, my translation says dappled, some say grizzled. I had to look at what that means, it basically means spotted. So that would probably communicate pestilence and plagues. So this is the judgment that\u2019s going out to the nations that have been oppressing Israel, Zechariah sees this happening in the end times. \r\nSo, that\u2019s what he saw, he saw four horses and he saw four chariots and then you go to verses 4 through 8 and you get an interpretation of it; and that\u2019s what I love about the Bible, so many people trust in their own sanctified imagination to interpret prophecies like this, just go on the internet and spend some time there and you\u2019ll see people\u2026 you\u2019ll see the crazies out there, saying all kinds of wild things about Bible prophecy. The truth to the matter is all you have to do is pay attention to the interpretation that the Holy Spirit Himself gives; and typically the Holy Spirit will do it right in the same chapter, right in the same context. So we don\u2019t have to guess as to what these four horses and four chariots mean, the interpretation is coming. 22:09\r\nSo the interpretation is given in verses 4 through 8 \r\n\r\nII. The Interpretation - (Zech 6:4-8)\r\nA.\tZechariah\u2019s Question (Zech 6:4)\r\nB.\tFour Spirits Patrolling the Earth (Zech 6:5-7)\r\nC.\tDestruction of the Land of the North (Zech 6:8)\r\n\r\nso we have Zechariah\u2019s question verse 4 (Zech 6:4), we have information that these four horses and four chariots represent four spirits patrolling the earth verses 5 through 7 (Zech 6:5-7) and they\u2019re coming to destroy a particular land to the north or Israel and that\u2019s described in verse 8 (Zech 6:8). So notice Zechariah\u2019s question, verse 4 (Zech 6:4): Then I spoke and said to the angel who was speaking with me, What are these, my lord?... So you\u2019ll notice that Zechariah wants an answer to the \u201cWhat\u201d question, what is this all about? And you know, I hope I never get to a point in my Christian life for I stop asking questions, because once I stop asking questions, I stop learning and there\u2019s so many people, they kind of reach, I don\u2019t know what it is, a spiritual plateau where they, I don\u2019t know how they think this way but they think they know everything. Once you think you know everything, you stop asking questions and once you stop asking questions there\u2019s really nothing else to learn. So I love the fact that Zechariah is always wanting to know what\u2019s going on, I mean, he could have just zoned out and had his attention directed elsewhere but he keeps asking what and why and those types of questions and so we need to be those kinds of Christians. \r\nYou\u2019ll notice also that when the answer is given, verses 5 through 7 (Zech 6:5-7) and this is typically what you have, an interpreting angel will answer or God Himself will answer, the answer relates to the question, always. The answer doesn\u2019t start talking about the price of tea in China or something like that and that becomes actually an argument for literal interpretation, because the answer keeps following or responding to the question, that means we are to interpret this literally. I mean, if the answer suddenly has nothing to do with the question, then you could say literal interpretation is not necessary, but what you\u2019ll see in all of these visions whether it\u2019s Zechariah, whether it\u2019s the ones John\u2019s sees in the book of Revelation, is the answer that\u2019s provided or the answer that\u2019s coming is always related to the question; and so Zechariah asks this question and he actually gets an answer there in verses 5 through 7 (Zech 6:5-7), you know, he wants to know, what.. What's the deal with these horses and chariots? So here\u2019s the answer verses 5 through 7. 25:14 \r\nLet\u2019s take verse 5 first (Zech 6:5), it says: The angel\u2026 and this is very common in this kind of style of writing. You have an interpreting angel, you see the same thing in the book of Revelation, you know John asks questions and an angel typically will answer and the same thing is going on here in Zechariah, it says: The angel replied to me, These\u2026 these what? These four horses and four chariots\u2026 The angel replied to me, These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth\u2026 So the answer is the four horses and the four chariots equal four spirits that are sent out from the Lord. Now, four spirits in the Bible typically communicates divine power going out from God to judge. When you start studying four spirits in the Bible, you\u2019ll see this meaning frequently. For example in Psalm, 148 and verse 8 (Psalm 148:8) it says: Fire and hail, snow and clouds, and Stormy wind\u2026 Now, here we have four winds or four spirits\u2026 wind, fulfilling His word\u2026 Jeremiah, 49, verse 36 (Jer 49:36), God through Jeremiah says: I will bring upon Elam the four winds\u2026 that\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing here\u2026 From the four ends of heaven, And will scatter them to all the winds; And there will be no nation To which the outcasts of Elam will not go\u2026 You see the same imagery of four winds in the book of Daniel chapter 7 and verse 2 (Dan 7:2) it says: Daniel said, I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds\u2026 Which is what we\u2019re seeing here\u2026 the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea\u2026 And then you have the same thing going on in the book of Revelation chapter 7, verse 1 (Rev 7:1) it says: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree\u2026 So, these four winds that represent the four horses and the four chariots, when you study that out through different cross references it\u2019s talking about divine power coming out from God to bring judgment and you\u2019ll notice verse 6 (Zech 6:6) it says: \u2026with one of which the black horses are going forth to the north\u2026 So the north is a real place as I\u2019ll show you in a second\u2026 the white ones go forth after them, while the dappled\u2026 or spotted ones\u2026 go forth to the south country\u2026 So notice these geographical directions. We\u2019ve got north, we\u2019ve got south, and what else do we have there? I missed one, didn\u2019t I? Little louder? West, there we go. So, when it talks about these directions, north, south and all this kind of stuff, north and south from what exactly? Well, it\u2019s always related to the nation of Israel, because the nation of Israel is the centerpiece of divine activity and even before we get to that, I forgot to give you this quote by Feinberg concerning the four winds. \r\n\r\nCharles L. Feinberg - God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah (Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1950, p. 78.\r\n\u201cThe four winds speak of divine judicial power exerted in judgment, carrying out the purposes of God. CF. Psalm 148:8; Jeremiah 49:36; Daniel 7:2; Revelation 7:1.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe says: The four winds speak of divine judicial power exerted in judgment, carrying out the purposes of God. See further and here\u2019s all the verses that we read, Psalm 148:8; Jeremiah 49:36; Daniel 7:2; Revelation 7:1. 29:59 \r\nSo, back to verse 6 (Zech 6:6): with one of which the black horses are going forth to the north country; and the white ones go forth after them\u2026 also to the north\u2026 so while the dappled ones go forth to the south country\u2026 So I think I threw west in there, but west is not in there, it\u2019s north and south. North and south from what? To understand that you have to think the way God thinks. The city of Jerusalem does not mean much to the world, but it means everything to God and as far as God is concerned, the city of Jerusalem in the nation of Israel, is at the center of the world. Now, the politicians don\u2019t think that way, the United Nations doesn\u2019t think that way, most Americans don\u2019t think that way but this is how God thinks so when it says, north and south is always relative to Jerusalem. So the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 38 and verse 12 (Ezek 38:12) talks about an end time invasion coming against God\u2019s people, Israel: to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods\u2026 and look at these here\u2026 who live at the center of the world\u2026 Ezekiel chapter 5, verse 5 (Ezek 5:5) says: Thus says the Lord God, This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her\u2026 Now that Hebrew word center is a translation of the Hebrew word where we get the word \u201cnavel\u201d or \u201cbelly button\u201d. So when Ezekiel talks about Israel and Jerusalem at the center of the world, he\u2019s using the Hebrew word for \u201cbelly button\u201d. So just as one\u2019s belly\u2019s button is the center of the body, as far as God is concerned, the city of Jerusalem is the center of the whole world. 32:31 \r\nCharles Feinberg writes in his Ezekiel commentary: \r\n\r\nCharles L. Feinberg - The Prophecy of Ezekiel: The Glory of the Lord, Paperback ed. (Chicago: Moody, 1969; reprint, Chicago: Moody, 1984), 223.\r\n\u201cAn interesting phrase is employed to define the place where God\u2019s people will be dwelling. It is called the middle (literally, the navel) of the earth as explained in 5:5. The land of Israel is in the center of the earth as far as God\u2019s purposes for the world are concerned (cf. Deut. 32:8). Rabbinic literature states: \u2018As the navel is set in the center of the human body, so the land of Israel is the navel of the world\u2026Situated in the center of the world, in Jerusalem in the center of the land of Israel, and the sanctuary in the center of Jerusalem, and the holy place in the center of the sanctuary, and the ark in the center of the holy place, and the foundation stone before the holy place, because from it the world was founded.\u2019 Midrash, Tanachma, Qedoshim.\u201d\r\n\r\nAn interesting phrase is employed to define the place where God\u2019s people will be dwelling. It is called the middle (literally, the navel) of the earth as explained in Ezekiel 5:5\u2026 We just looked at that\u2026 The land of Israel is in the center of the earth as far as God\u2019s purposes for the world are concerned\u2026 and then he quotes, it\u2019s very interesting, some Rabbinic literature, and this is what that Rabbinic literature says (quote): As the navel is set in the center of the human body, so the land of Israel is the navel of the world. Situated in the center of the world, in Jerusalem in the center of the land of Israel, and the sanctuary in the center of Jerusalem, and the holy place in the center of the sanctuary, and the ark in the center of the holy place, and the foundation stone before the holy place, because from it the world was founded\u2026 This is how Jews think about Israel. You\u2019ve got the nation of Israel, which is at the center of the world and then in the center of the nation of Israel is the city of Jerusalem and then in the center of the city of Jerusalem is the temple mount, or the temple and then in the center of the temple mount is the most holy place and then in the center of the holy place is the Ark of the covenant. It\u2019s like a bull\u2019s eye, you know, you just get getting more and more in the middle, more and more in the middle, more and more in the middle, more and more in the middle and that\u2019s how to understand Bible prophecy when it talks about north, south, east, west, all of these kinds of designations, it\u2019s always from the city of Jerusalem which, as far as God is concerned, is the center of the entire planet. So anything that goes on prophetically in the city of Jerusalem, you have to pay attention to. In fact, Jerusalem\u2026 Israel, Jerusalem is basically called \u201cGod\u2019s timepiece\u201d. If anyone wants to understand where we are in the great march of events look at Israel, said a famous prophecy scholar about 1909. So when the discussion of planet earth moves towards the nation of Israel, what you need to see is like a stopwatch, the hand is on the hour hand, as far as God is concerned in terms of wrapping things up; and then when the discussion of the world leaves the nation of Israel in general and they all start to talk about the city of Jerusalem, you\u2019re no longer dealing with the hour hand, you\u2019re dealing with the minute hand; and then when they stop talking about the city of Jerusalem and they start talking about the temple and the temple mount, now basically we\u2019re dealing with the second hand and most Christians in their churches will hear almost nothing about the city of Jerusalem and I\u2019m telling you, as far as God is concerned, it being the navel or the belly button of the earth, it is a big, big deal and it\u2019s reflected here in this Rabbinic literature that Hebrew Christian scholar Charles Feinberg quotes. 36:38 \r\nSo, the black horse goes north, north of where? North of the city of Jerusalem and it is very interesting that Israel\u2019s invaders typically came from the north. Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 14 (Jer 1:14) says: Then the LORD said to me, Out of the north the evil will be unleashed on all the inhabitants of the earth\u2026 Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 6 (Jer 4:6) says: Raise a flag toward Zion! Take refuge, do not stand still, For I am bringing evil from the north, And great destruction\u2026 Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 22 (Jer 6:22): \u2026Behold, there is a people coming from the north, And a great nation will be stirred up from the remote parts of the north\u2026 And then I have here on the screen Ezekiel chapter 39, verse 2 (Ezek 39:2) which says: \u2026and I will turn you around and drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel\u2026 So the reason why the first black horse goes north of Jerusalem is that is the part of the country that all of Israel\u2019s invaders entered from the north. So we believe that the north here is a reference to Babylon, cause Babylon entered through the north. So that\u2019s why the black horse goes north and then the white horse goes after the black horse also to the north and then the spotted horse, the dappled horse goes south. Now, what is south of the nation of Israel is Egypt and that\u2019s a big deal because Egypt is where the nation of Israel went into captivity for four hundred years.\r\n\r\nEgypt is one of the ancient enemies of the nation of Israel and so you got Babylon and Egypt. These horses in judgment are going to Babylon and are going to Egypt and it makes sense because those are the perennial enemies of Israel. 39:06\r\n\r\nCharles L. Feinberg - God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah (Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1950, p. 79.\r\n\u201cThe special prophetic application of what Zechariah had beheld was at that moment connected with the king of Babylon on the north [Jer. 1:14, 15; 25:9] and Egypt on the south. Between these two powers God would sustain His feeble flock, checkmating every effort to destroy them till Messiah should Himself appear.\u201d\r\n\r\nCharles Feinberg writes: The special prophetic application of what Zechariah had beheld was at that moment connected with the king of Babylon on the north and Egypt on the south\u2026 And I love this next sentence here\u2026 Between these two powers God would sustain His feeble flock, checkmating every effort to destroy them till Messiah should Himself appear\u2026 Now, how come, and this is why I misspoke earlier, I said one of the horses go west and that\u2019s not what verse 6 says, Why do we have no horse going west? Well, what\u2019s west to the nation of Israel? \r\n\r\nThe Mediterranean Sea, so no enemies are going to come through the Mediterranean Sea, at least not in the time of Zechariah. How come no horse go east? Well, when you go east, according to Dr. Constable you run into a mountainous area and you also run into the Arabian Desert and that Arabian Desert, now mountain Assyria, made it difficult to attack Israel from the east. Remember when Abraham was called from the land of the Chaldeans in the east? He had to sort of travel up? What was it? To Damascus and then come down, why didn\u2019t he just come straight across? Because of this mountainous region and this Arabian Desert made it difficult. So that\u2019s why no horse goes to the east and no horse goes to the west but they do go to the north cause that\u2019s where their enemies including Babylon entered the country, and they do go south to Egypt.\r\n\r\nThomas L. Constable - Constable\u2019s online notes on Zechariah, p. 64-65.\r\n\u201cBecause of the geography of Palestine [Israel], all of Israel's enemies came against her from the north or from the south; the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and the Arabian Desert on the east, prohibited major foreign invasions from those directions.\u201d \r\n\u201cSince the chariots went in compass directions, we should probably understand their judgment to be universal (cf. 2:6; Jer. 49:36; Ezek. 37:9; Rev. 7:1). They went north and south out of Palestine [Israel], but they executed judgment in every direction. The total picture is of God executing His judgments against all nations that oppose Israel.\u201d\r\n\r\nDr Constable says: Because of the geography of Israel, all of Israel's enemies came against her from the north or from the south; the Mediterranean Sea was on the west, and the Arabian Desert on the east, prohibited major foreign invasions from those directions\u2026 Now, when these horses go out, are they only going to the north and to the south? I think that Dr. Constable is of the perspective that there\u2019s going to be a lot more judgment than just that. It\u2019s going to sweep across the whole globe one day and that would corroborate with what we know from the book of Revelation which speaks a worldwide judgment in the end times. So he says: Since the chariots went in compass directions, we should probably understand their judgment to be universal. They went north and south out of Israel, but they executed judgment in every direction. The total picture is of God executing His judgments against all nations that oppose Israel\u2026 (close quote) Think about being a returnee from the captivity and just facing problem after problem after problem as you're trying to rebuild the temple. Think how discouraged you would get and suddenly, Zechariah in his eighth-night vision sees this and explains it to the returnees, showing them that all the people that are harassing them, God is going to deal with them dramatically in judgment and think about how that would be an encouragement to you, because you may be here tonight oppressed by all kinds of godless things or forces and we need that same word from the Lord that whatever is oppressing you, by way of godlessness, God is keeping a record of it and the day\u2019s going to come when He\u2019s going to deal dramatically with all of these godless forces that are constantly opposing and oppressing His people. 43:11 \r\nYou go down to verse 7 and it says of Zechariah chapter 6, verse 7 (Zech 6:7): When the strong ones went out\u2026 These are these horses, dragging these chariots\u2026 When the strong ones went out\u2026 Look at this\u2026 they were eager to go to patrol the earth. And He said, Go, patrol the earth. So they patrolled the earth\u2026 So, these horses are going out in judgment and they are also patrolling the earth and it\u2019s not like these horses are upset that God is sending them, they are eager to go and this is how you can tell when God is calling you to do something. God will put the desire to do it, I believe in a person\u2019s heart, where they don\u2019t have to be coerced to do it, they don\u2019t have to be talked into doing it, they already want to do it and they\u2019re just waiting for the opportunity to do it and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important for us to pay attention to the desires of our hearts, I\u2019m not talking about the sinful desires that we can have, what I\u2019m talking about are God implanted desires. I mean, those are things that God actually uses as ways of showing us what His will for our life is in all kinds of different areas. Psalm 37 and verse 4 (Psalm 37:4) says: Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you\u2026 What?... the desires of your heart\u2026 He doesn\u2019t say, delight yourself in the Lord and yeah, God is going to give you desires and then He\u2019s going to spend the rest of your life saying ha ha ha, I\u2019m not going to fulfill those desires. I mean, that\u2019s contrary to the way God works. So I had a youth pastor years ago that put it this way, he said: God doesn\u2019t give us everything we want but He does control if you let Him, He will control our \u201cwanter,\u201d you know, what we want to do in terms of\u2026 I\u2019m not talking about flesh or sin, I\u2019m just talking about godly desires, so whatever it is God has put in our heart, it\u2019s just a matter of waiting for the opportunity to do it and that\u2019s how you can tell if a person is called to do something. I mean, they just want to do it. They don\u2019t have to be yelled at, screamed at, motivated, cajoled, and that\u2019s a good way of dealing with a church and trying to find people for different ministries. I mean, if you have to bring someone, you know, you have to drag them kicking and screaming to do something, chances are they are probably not called to do it, but if they have a basic desire to do it, that can become a really good sign and it also helps if they\u2019re good at whatever it is they want to do. We have some people that want to sing up front and it\u2019s like thanks but no thanks, cause you might have a lot of desire but you don\u2019t have a lot of talent, sorry (laughs). So desire and talent is a pretty good combination because God is the author of both, amen? I\u2019m talking about myself, of course, up here singing. 46:52 \r\nAlright, so these horses are going out and they want to go out, they\u2019re eager, that\u2019s what verse 7 it\u2019s talking about; and then, we come to our last verse, verse 8, the destruction of the north, which would be Babylon. \r\n\r\nII. The Interpretation - (Zech 6:4-8)\r\nA.\tZechariah\u2019s Question (Zech 6:4)\r\nB.\tFour Spirits Patrolling the Earth (Zech 6:5-7)\r\nC.\tDestruction of the Land of the North (Zech 6:8)\r\n\r\nVerse 8 (Zech 6:8): Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, See, those who are going to the land of the north have appeased My wrath in the land of the north\u2026 So the Lord here is actually now calling out to Zechariah, it used to be an angel taking to him earlier in the chapter, but here the Lord is actually calling out to Zechariah, I should say, in this vision and he speaks about the land in the north and what is the land of the north? We basically believe it\u2019s Babylon, although Babylon is in the east as we tried to explain earlier, she had to enter the land from the north. \r\n \r\nThis is our second reference to Babylon, we think. We think Babylon is mentioned in verse 6 (Zech 6:6), the north country and now it\u2019s mentioned again as a land of the north, verse 8 (Zech 6:8). Babylon here doesn\u2019t get just one reference, prophetic reference, she gets two. It\u2019s very interesting that in Isaiah\u2019s oracles against the nations he mentions Babylon, not once but twice. \r\n\r\nEvery nation in Isaiah\u2019s oracles against the nations, Isaiah, 13 through 23, gets one reference but not Babylon, she gets two references and Zechariah here is given, just in the span of a few verses, Babylon two references. Why two references? \r\n\r\nCharles L. Feinberg - God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah (Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1950, p. 79.\r\n\u201cWhy, then, is Babylon again before us in verse 8? First, it would serve to comfort and encourage the returned remnant of Israel that had come from Babylon. Second, the Babylonian world-empire, as a matter of history, had already experienced the judgment of God in her overthrow and downfall. Third, it is where that wickedness will again be established and finally extirpated. Cf. 5:11. In the end time, the coming of Christ again in the establishment of His kingdom in righteousness will be preceded by final judgment on wicked Babylon.\u201d\r\n\r\nCharles Feinberg writes in his Zechariah commentary: Why, then, is Babylon again before us in verse 8?... Now he starts to give us some reasons\u2026 First, it would serve as a comfort and encouragement\u2026 and encourage the returned remnant of Israel that had come from Babylon. Second, the Babylonian world-empire, as a matter of history, had already experienced the judgment of God in her overthrow and downfall\u2026 I would add, at the hands of the Persians, more on that in just a second\u2026 Third, it is where the wickedness will again be established and finally be extirpated. In the end time\u2026 Do you know what \u201cextirpated\u201d means? I had to look that up, it means to be rooted out, I love these guys that wrote commentaries in the 1950's. They had like a real vocabulary, they don\u2019t do what we do today, LOL and all these little things we\u2026 I mean, you know, we\u2019ve got this little twitter, texting world that we\u2019re living in where we don\u2019t have to communicate with each other with real vocabulary words anymore. Go back to the pre-social media world and you\u2019ll see like a real vocabulary to the point where you\u2019re reading stuff and you have to look it up in a dictionary. I was trying to explain this to my daughter cause I was saying, what does extirpated mean? Why don\u2019t we look it up in the dictionary? She\u2019s like, why don't you just google it? (laughs) I mean, she\u2026 the whole concept of a dictionary it\u2019s kind of foreign to her. So I had to pull it down and explained that in the old days when mom and dad were growing up and we used to, you know, hike uphill to school both ways in the snow, barefoot, fighting Indians the whole way, you know, we used to actually look up words in the dictionary. So \u201cextirpated\u201d means to be rooted out. Feinberg says: In the end time, the coming of Christ again in the establishment of His kingdom in righteousness will be preceded by final judgment on wicked Babylon\u2026 I think that\u2019s why Babylon is mentioned twice here, because Babylon fell to the Persians in the past, Zechariah\u2019s generation basically experienced that and it\u2019s also going to fall at the second coming because it\u2019s going to be the headquarters of the antichrist as we tried to explain last week. 51:50 \r\nYou might remember, last week, in Zechariah chapter 5, verses 5 through 11 (Zech 5:5-11) there\u2019s a very clear reference to the fact that a temple of evil is going to be reconstructed one day in the land of Shinar. The land of Shinar is a technical word, a technical word is a word that always means the same thing every time it\u2019s used, it\u2019s used six times. Shinar always refers to the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris, modern day Iraq. It\u2019s where the Tower of Babel once stood, it\u2019s likely that the garden of Eden was once in that area and it\u2019s also where the children of Israel had been taken into captivity for seventy years. Zechariah\u2019s audience having just come back from that and it\u2019s also where the Antichrist\u2019s empire will one day be, the headquarters of it. So as Solomon said, you know, there\u2019s nothing new under the sun, meaning history is cyclical. Where everything started is exactly where everything is going to end. \r\n\r\nCharles L. Feinberg - God Remembers: A Study of Zechariah (Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1950, p. 91.\r\n\u201cThe first mention of Shinar in the Bible is in Genesis 10:10. (It is found in all, six other times: Gen. 11:2; 14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2; and here). In all instances where it occurs it is used as a definite geographical designation. Strictly speaking it covers more than Babylon but is it is employed to denote this land.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo Charles Feinberg says: The first mention of Shinar in the Bible is in Genesis 10:10. It is found in all, six other times\u2026 And there are the references there on the screen (Gen. 11:2; 14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2; and here). He says: In all instances\u2026 that\u2019s a technical word, a word that always means the same thing. It\u2019s rare to find a technical word in any language, because most words have multiple meanings but not Shinar, it always means the same thing. He says: In all instances, where it occurs it is used of a definite geographical designation\u2026 And he goes on and you know, locates it there in the land of Babylon. 53:54 \r\nOne other quick phrase here, there in verse 8 (Zech 6:8), you see the expression \u201cappeased My wrath\u201d? It says: Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, See, those who are going to the land of the north and have appeased My wrath in the land of the north\u2026 Why was God\u2019s wrath already appeased? Because Babylon had fallen to the Persians. Just as Babylon has a future role and a future fall. She also had a past fall. The past fall was when she fell to the Persians in Daniel chapter 5, that\u2019s the handwriting on the wall chapter. \r\n\r\nDaniel chapter 5, verses 24 through 28 (Dan 5:24-28) talks about the last reigning king of Neo-Babylonia, a man named Belshazzar who thought he was invincible because of the high walls around Babylon and he went and retrieved the vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jewish temple, when Nebuchadnezzar brought the Jews into the captivity and he took those holy vessels that were for holy uses and poured alcohol in them and they drank the night away in an inebriated state, taking God\u2019s holy vessels and using them for profane purposes. In the moment they did that a hand appeared, Daniel, 5, and wrote on the wall: Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin\u2026 Which basically means numbered, numbered and divided. So\u2026 and they have to bring Daniel out of retirement to interpret it cause no one understood what it meant. So they bring this old man out and Daniel explains it that since Daniel as a youth had been given abilities to interpret dreams and things from God, he explains that this very night, your kingdom is going to be divided and you yourself are going to be killed Belshazzar and Belshazzar took a robe of purple and gold and bedecked Daniel. I think it says purple and gold, I think it says it three times in Daniel, 5. So when you read Revelation, 17, about the harlot bedecked in purple and gold, your mind should go back to ancient Babylon and I bring that up cause everybody misses that, they track it into the Roman Catholic priests vestments but it\u2019s very simple, purple and gold. You\u2019ll find it in Daniel, 5, three times, which represents Babylon and exactly what Daniel said happened. The kingdom was conquered by the Persians, it was divided between the Medes and the Persians and Belshazzar who thought he was invincible was killed that night. It\u2019s all in Daniel, 5, in the Bible for you to read. 57:18 \r\n\r\nMy professor Harold Hoehner, who\u2019s now with the Lord, who was one of the greatest Bible chronologists that has ever lived in my opinion. He could give you dates on everything with all of these ancient calendars, I don\u2019t even understand how he came up with these dates but I memorized all the dates. He said this took place Saturday night, is that specific enough? Saturday night, October the 12th, 539 BC and that\u2019s when Babylon fell to the Persians and the way it happened, I think I\u2019ve gone over this before so I won\u2019t read all of these quotes but they, the Persians diverted the water of the Euphrates, allowing them to go under the walls of Babylon, that Belshazzar felt was making them invincible and the Persians tunnelled under the walls and the Persians conquered the Babylonians without there even being a battle. \r\n\r\nHerodotus, Histories, 1:191 (450 B.C.)\r\n\u201c\u2026he (Cyrus) conducted the river by a channel into the lake\u2026and so he made the former course of the river passable by the sinking of the stream. When this had been done, the Persians who had been posted for this very purpose entered by the bed of the river Euphrates into Babylon, the stream having sunk so far that it reached about to the middle of a man\u2019s thigh\u2026those Babylonians who dwelt in the middle did not know that they had been captured\u2026\u201d \r\n\r\nHerodotus writing within a hundred years of this event says: \u2026those Babylonians who dwelt in the middle did not know that they had been captured\u2026 I mean, think about that, think about drinking alcohol out of holy vessels from the temple because you don\u2019t care about God at all and you think you\u2019re invincible because of the walls around Babylon and that very night you\u2019re being conquered without a battle. 59:02 \r\nSo the next time we think of ourselves as invincible, we probably need to rethink that, because when you\u2019re at your point where you think you\u2019re most invincible, that\u2019s when you\u2019re most vulnerable. That\u2019s what Daniel, 5, says; and Cyrus, who was involved in this conquest, conquered Babylon without even a battle and so that\u2019s why God says in verse 8 (Zech 6:8) looking back at past Babylon, My wrath has been appeased, but it hasn\u2019t been perfectly appeased cause he had to destroy Babylon yet future, Revelation, 17 and 18.\r\nSo, all this is a tremendous word from God to the struggling exiles who were trying to rebuild the temple, the returnees that all the nations that are harassing you, God is going to curse, which comes right out of Genesis 12:3 concerning Israel, God says: And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse\u2026 Just mark it down as a matter of history, any nation that has monkeyed with God\u2019s chosen people finds itself on the ash heap of human history whether it\u2019s Babylon of the past, Persia, Greece, Rome or the Antichrist\u2019s future empire and I believe this is one of the reasons God has blessed America, because here\u2019s a letter from George Washington which I don\u2019t think I have time to read to you tonight but he got America on the right side of the ledger early on by being a blessing to the Jewish people. \r\n\r\nHe visited a synagogue that you can visit today in Newport, Rhode Island called the \u201cTouro Synagogue\u201d and it\u2019s the first synagogue ever built in the United States and George Washington actually went there to visit for a service, a worship service and he wrote to them, he wrote to that synagogue the same day in August 18 of 1790 and he wrote: May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, The United States, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid\u2026 And what he gave to the Jewish people was an absolute gift cause everywhere they\u2019ve gone they\u2019ve been persecuted. He says, it\u2019s not going to be that way here in the United States, you can worship as you want and no one\u2019s going to harass you, no one\u2019s going to throw rocks through your store windows, as Adolf Hitler did and I believe that\u2019s the reason God has blessed the United States, and I\u2019m sort of troubled when I see our political leaders moving away from this and I see \u201cthe Squad\u201d as Trump used to call them saying a bunch of antisemitic statements. I mean, that bothers me because if that becomes the norm in the United States, God will shut down the United States just like He shut down any other nation in world history that has come against the Jewish people. 1:02:45\r\nSo that\u2019s the Four Chariots, the vision, the interpretation, we\u2019re finished now with the eight-night visions and next week, look at this, end of chapter 6 where we have the Crowning of Joshua the High Priest, which is a picture of the end game that God has for Israel. \r\n\r\nII. Eight Night Visions (Zech 1:7\u20126:15)\r\n1.\tRiders & horses among the myrtle trees (Zech 1:7-17)\r\n2.\tFour horns & four craftsmen (Zech 1:18-21)\r\n3.\tMan with the measuring line (Zech 2)\r\n4.\tCleansing of the High Priest Joshua (Zech 3)\r\n5.\tLampstand & olive tree (Zech 4)\r\n6.\tFlying scroll (Zech 5:1-4)\r\n7.\tWoman in the basket (Zech 5:5-11)\r\n8.\tFour chariots (Zech 6:1-8)\r\n9.\tConclusion: crowning of Joshua (Zech 6:9-15)\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s a type of the Messiah ruling the whole world as king priest in perfect peace and righteousness for a thousand years. So, we\u2019ll see that next time. It\u2019s 8:03, if you all have to pick up your kids, etc\u2026 this would be a good time to do that\u2026 \r\n","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