Overview
Zechariah: Zechariah saw four chariots come from between two bronze mountains. The first chariot had red horses, second – black, third – white, and fourth – dappled. The angel explained that he chariots were going out to patrol the four directions of the earth. The black ones went north and the Lord said this Spirit found rest in the north.
The Lord told Zechariah to take the silver and gold from Heldai, Tobija, and Jedaiah, all who returned from Babylon. He was to make a crown and put it on Joshua the high priest. Zechariah was then to tell him that the Branch will come from that place. He will build the temple of the Lord, bear royal honor and rule on his throne. A priest will also be on his throne. Between the two, they will rule with peace. The crown will be in the temple as a reminder to Heldai, Tobija, Jedaiah, and Hen.
People will come from a long way to help build the temple. People will know that Lord sent Zechariah to them when this happens.
On the 4th day of the 9thmonth in Darius’ 4th year, the Lord spoke to Zechariah after men from Bethel came to ask if they should continue to weep and fast during the 5thmonth as was their custom for many years.
The Lord answered for all people and asked if they fasted and mourned the 5th and 7th month for 70 years for him or for themselves. When they had festivals, were they for God or for themselves? God hasn’t changed his message to them since before the exile, when they prospered. They should be just, kind, merciful, refrain from oppressing disadvantaged people, and don’t do evil to each other. But they didn’t listen then. They were stubborn and hard-hearted. Otherwise, they would have listened to the Lord’s words by the prophets sent by the Spirit. They were scattered to the nations and the land made desolate because they didn’t respond when he called. Therefore, the Lord didn’t respond when they called.
Psalm: David is still in trouble. He asks God to grant him mercy. He wants the Lord’s faithfulness, not judgment because no one is righteous before God.
His enemy is making it really hard on him so his spirit is weak and he is appalled. He remembers the past. He meditates on all the Lord’s works. He reaches out to the Lord and his soul thirsts for the Lord.
He wants to be answered quickly before he dies. He wants to know the Lord’s steadfast love in the morning because he trusts the Lord. He lifts his soul to the Lord in order to know the way to go. He wants deliverance and to know the Lord’s will and guidance.
He asks for deliverance for the sake of the name of the Lord. He wants God’s righteousness to rescue his soul. He wants his enemies destroyed, those who would destroy his soul.
Proverbs: There are four, small, wise things on earth: ants because they store food during the summer; rock badgers because they have a safe home in the cliffs; locust because they all march in same direction without a leader; a lizard you can catch but lives even in a king’s palace.
Revelation: John saw another sign and that contains seven angels with the seven plagues that will complete God’s wrath. Along with them, he saw everyone who had conquered the beast standing by a sea of glass mingled with fire. They had harps and sang Moses and the Lamb’s song. The song glorified God’s deeds. He is the King of nations, just and true. The song asks who will not glorify and fear him. He is holy and all nations will worship him because of his righteous acts that have been shown.
Then the temple in heaven was opened and the seven angels with the plagues came out. They were dressed in pure bright garments with golden sashes. One of the living creatures gave the angels seven bowls of God’s wrath. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God. No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues were completed.
What Stood Out
Zechariah: “Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, ‘Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?’” (Zech 7:2-3).
Psalm: “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you” (Ps 143:8 NIV).
Proverbs: “Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise” (Prov 30:24).
Revelation: “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rev 15:4).
Insight
Zechariah: Some men came to Zechariah wondering how long they needed to keep fasting since the destruction of the temple. Outwardly, they seemed to have a legitimate question but inwardly, there was a problem. Their fast and affliction on behalf of having the temple destroyed had turned into a man-made religious obligation. Now that the temple was being rebuilt, they apparently wanted to get out from under the burden. However, their attitude was to “entreat the favor of the Lord” (Zech 7:2). In a sense, they were coming to the Lord with pride reminding the Lord that they had been doing this for many years.
Since the Lord sees all, he sees more than what they did, he sees their attitude. He asks them if they were really fasting for him or for themselves. Did they really want to do God’s will or were they just putting on a show to get what they wanted – the temple rebuilt. Their problem was that their religion was all show and not heartfelt repentance from their sins. The Lord told them that they needed to stop doing the same evils that caused him to scatter them to the nations.
We do the same thing in different ways. We often believe that there are certain ways to worship the Lord and other ways are not as good. We like the songs we sang back when. We like the way our old church did communion. We miss the liturgical services and can’t find a church that has them and also has a meaningful sermon. It seems like we spend time complaining more about what we want in worship than actually worshiping God. It all turns worship into being about us instead of God.
When it is about us, then the natural progression is to become less interested in justice, kindness, mercy, and taking care of the disadvantaged. The next generation doesn’t hear the message because they have learned from us that what interests a person is what they should worship. They worship screens, phones, tablets, TVs, and social media. Oops, I got a text. I need to look at it before I finish this.
Psalm: When troubles assail us, there is one thing that we should desire. That is to be renewed every morning by remembering the Lord’s unfailing love. That love is always available to us because we trust in God. It isn’t a promise that an unbeliever can claim. If we want to live a life that is righteous, then we must lift up our souls to the Lord. That is total surrender. David talks of his soul several times in this Psalm. Our soul is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries (online) as “The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being … regarded as immortal”. It isn’t often that a secular definition is accurate regarding spiritual things, but this is exactly what we are looking at in this Psalm. We should surrender our being or soul to God. This means that it is an eternal surrender and not just a temporal or temporary surrender until we get what we want.
Proverbs: Wisdom isn’t always manifested in great accomplishments of art, literature, science, or politics. Wisdom is more often manifested when a person simply does what is right and keeps on doing it. It is usually the things that the Lord has created us to do well. When we are in a right relationship with the Lord and are seeking to bring glory to him, we will find that our daily lives will reflect his wisdom. When we are looking to fulfill our own desire instead of his, we are really being fools and not wise.
Revelation: At the heart of this chapter is Moses and the Lamb’s song. At the heart of the song is the question, “Who will not fear O Lord, and glorify your name?” (Rev 15:4). The song clarifies that the Lord is just, holy, and all he has done is righteous. He has the right and authority to deal with evil. The angels who are about to execute God’s wrath are dressed in pure garments. They are not to blame for the wrath and there is no impurity in them as there were nations who executed God’s wrath in the Old Testament. Therefore, as we read that God’s wrath is about to be poured out on the earth, it is appropriate to ask who will not fear him.
The answer should be obvious. The ones who will not fear God and glorify him are those who have been deceived into thinking that they can actually do battle with the almighty creator of all that exists. The wicked people of the Old Testament generally believed that God didn’t see their evil or that he would overlook it. They didn’t really believe that they could battle the Lord. Most evil people think today believe the same thing with the addition that some don’t believe he exists.
The message for us is simple. We should understand and know the Lord and that he works kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth because he delights in them (Jer 9:24). Because of his character, we know that the final judgment is fair. We know that all will be judged but that he doesn’t want anyone to perish but to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). Knowing this, we should be encouraged to let others know about him and his salvation through Jesus Christ.
Application
I don’t want my religious preferences in worship get in the way of true worship of the Lord. I want to be wise in the way I lead my life and that means doing what he has called me to do, surrender and lift up my life to him.
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