Zechariah 4:1

 Zechariah 4:1 says, And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,  Zechariah said the angel came to him again and awakened him as one is wakened out of his sleep.  God may have to occasionally awaken us out of a spiritual sleep.  Verse two adds, And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:  The angel told Zechariah to look around and tell him what he saw.  As followers of Christ today, God will continually ask us to look around us and observe what we see through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We may not have a vision as Zechariah did, but we do need to have a vision of what God wants us to see and do in the world today.  Zechariah said he saw a golden candlestick with a bowl on the top and seven lamps with seven pipes feeding them.  Matthew Henry says the golden candlestick was like the one that had been in the temple, and that the church is the candlestick now set up to enlighten the world.  The seven branches represented the spreading of the gospel by not just the Jewish people but by the Gentile believers as well.  Verse three continues, And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.  Zechariah said that there were two olive branches by the candlestick, one on the left side and one on the right side.  Matthew Henry says these two olive trees continually provided oil for the main candlestick, which provided oil for the others without any need for anyone to tend to it.  God provides the Light of the world today through Jesus Christ, and He does not rely on anyone to provide that Light.  We are to share the Light of Christ, but we do not cause it to shine.  We simply point people to it.  Verse four asks, So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?  Zechariah said that he did not understand the meaning of what he was seeing, so he asked the angel to tell him the meaning.   Anytime that we don't understand what God is telling us or showing us, we simply need to ask.  Verse five adds, Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.  The angel asked Zechariah if he understood what he was seeing, and Zechariah said no.  If God speaks to us today as Christians and we o not understand what He is saying, we should never just continue on as if we do.  God will not leave us confused about what He is saying to us if we only ask Him to help us understand. 

 

Zechariah 3:1

 Zechariah 3:1 says, And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.  Joshua had been the deliverer of Israel, but as Matthew Henry points out, it is also the same name as Jesus, and I believe this would be an accurate description of Who Zechariah saw.  Zechariah was familiar with the angel of the LORD by now, but he had to see him spiritually in order to receive God's vision.  Zechariah saw Satan attempting to argue with Joshua the high priest.  Satan is still attempting to resist Jesus Christ, our High Priest today.  Verse two declares,  And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?  Zechariah said he heard the LORD rebuke Satan.  Satan was attempting to discredit those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ Himself told Satan that they were already plucked out of the fire.  Satan will do all that he can to discredit Christians today and to hinder the spreading of the gospel, but if we are followers of Christ, we are forever plucked out of the fire.  Verse three adds, Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.  I believe that Joshua being clothed in filthy garments represents Jesus as He took on our sins so that He could redeem us.  Verse four continues, And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.  Joshua, the High Priest, as I stated I believe was Jesus, had His filthy garments removed, which represents the removal of our sins by His sacrifice, and had them replaced with clean clothes.  Jesus takes on our sins, and when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, He replaces our filthy clothes of sin with His clean clothes of righteousness.  This is something that Jesus Christ alone can do.  Verse five states, And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.  Zechariah said that the miter was set on the head of Joshua, or Jesus.  Then, the angel of the LORD stood by waiting for his next task.  Jesus Christ is our High Priest, and all the angels stand by to do His bidding.  Verse six says, And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,  Verse seven adds, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.  Zechariah said the angel of the LORD called on him to walk in God's ways, and if he did that God would give him the responsibility of judging the obedience of those around him had with walking in the ways of God.   As Christians, we are not called to judge others, but we do have a responsibility to make sure that those who profess to be Christians are walking on the path of God.  Verse eight declares, Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.  Those priests of God who had come before were to see the true High Priest, called the BRANCH here, to come forth.  This is Jesus Christ, Who at that time had not been born and lived and died for all our sins, but He, the BRACNCH of God, was promised to come.  We today can look back on the fact that this promise of God was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ.  Verse nine adds, For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.  God said when Jesus Christ came as the Savior of mankind, He came as the eternal Savior, and He will always be exalted by the heavenly Father.  God also said that Jesus Christ would accomplish this in one day, and that was the day that He died on the cross as a sacrifice for all sins.  Verse ten concludes, In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.  Through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we as His followers are free to enjoy the truly good things in life.  

Zechariah 2:6

 Zechariah 2:6 says, Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.  God had once more given the people of Israel and Judah their land back, but not all were eager to return.  Some were more content to stay where they were than to face the possible struggles of returning, and there are people today who would rather continue to live where they are, which is under the bondage of sin no matter how successful they may be, than to claim the promised land of God because doing so might cost them something in the world.  God said He had scattered them to the four winds, and now He was calling them to return.  God still calls people from all over the world today.  Verse seven declares, Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.  God called on those living in Babylon to deliver themselves by returning to Him and the land that He had given them.  Each individual must make the decision today to deliver themselves from the bandage of sin by putting their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  We cannot save ourselves, but we must deliver ourselves to Jesus Christ to be saved..  Verse  eight adds, For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.  God said that He was going to deliver His people, and that He would punish anyone who harmed them.  They were reluctant to return to God because of the struggles that those who had already returned to the promised land were having, but God said that He was with them.  We need never be afraid to follow God's call to salvation, because once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, then God will protect us spiritually forever.  Verse nine continues, For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.  Though spoken to the people of that time, this refers to the ultimate victory made possible by Jesus Christ.  He  was, is, and always will be the only way to salvation and victory over the sins of this world.  Verse ten states, Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst. of thee, saith the LORD.  The people of Israel and Judah in that day were called on to rejoice in the LORD, not when everything was perfect, but always.  We today need to rejoice in the Lord always.  Our wordly condition should not determine whether we rejoice in the Lord or not.  Verse eleven adds, And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.  Many of God's chosen people might refuse to come back to Him, but God was going to call people from all nations to come and be a part of His people.  This is where we as Gentiles come into the family of God.  Those of God's chosen people who refuse to come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ are still outside of His kingdom.  Verse twelve declares, And they  shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.  God said that He was going to reclaim Judah and Jerusalem as His own.  This is all God's world, and one day Jesus Christ is going to return and reclaim it all.  Those who have put their faith in Him will be a part of that reclamation.  Verse thirteen says, Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.  The whole world will one day stand silent before the Lord.  We will have nothing that we can say to make us worthy of the salvation of Christ. 

Zechariah 2:1

 Zechariah 2:1 says, I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.  Zechariah said he looked up once more and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.  We should always look up to God to get His vision for what He wants us to do.  Verse two states, Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.  Zechariah said he asked the man where He was going, and the Man said that He was going to measure the breadth and depth of Jerusalem.  Matthew Henry tells us that this Man was Jesus.  Verse three declares, And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,  Zechariah said that the angel that had been talking with him and another angel went to meet the Man with the measuring line.  Jesus is the founder and builder of His church, and the angels do His bidding.  Verse four adds, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:  The Man sent an angel back to Zechariah to tell him what the vision meant.  Jerusalem was going to be rebuilt as a town without walls so that it would be able to hold all who came there.  God did not leave Zechariah guessing as to the meaning of what he saw, and He won't leave us guessing as to what He wants of us today.  I believe that Jerusalem, the city of God, being rebuilt without walls showed its ability to hold all who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, and also the fact that God is the protector of His city.  Not only do we not need to be walled in as Christians, we shouldn't be walled in.  God sends us into the world and protects us when He sends us.  Verse five declares,  For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.  God said without any chance of misunderstanding that He was the protector of Jerusalem and that His glory would be in the midst of her.  God is our protector today wherever we are, and as followers of Christ we are a part of His holy city.  For that reason, all that we do should reflect God's glory. 

Zechariah 1:12

 Zechariah 1:12 says, Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?   The angel of the LORD asked how much longer He would continue to not show mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah.  The LORD had allowed them to suffer for seventy years by now.  The sins of the people of Israel had long lasting consequences, and sin still does today.  Of course, God's mercy is extended to us continually, but it is up to Io us whether we accept it or not.  Verse thirteen states, And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.  Zechariah heard the angel as he was talking with the LORD.  The LORD answered the angel by speaking with good and comforting words.  God awaits to speak to us today with good and comforting words if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse fourteen declares, So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.  Zechariah said that the angel now spoke directly to him telling him of God's jealousy, or desire, for Jerusalem and Zion to be His alone, with no other gods in their midst.  This is still what God demands of us today if we are to be His people.  Verse fifteen adds, And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.  God said that He was displeased with the heathens, those who did not believe in Him, since they were at ease in the world.  God also said that He had allowed them to be victorious over His people in Jerusalem and Judah, but it was to be only for a little while.  God may allow those who do not believe in Him to be victorious in the world today, but no matter how long that may be, it is but a little while from God's perspective.  Verse sixteen declares, Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.  The LORD then said that He had returned to Jerusalem with mercy and that His house would be built there.  God had not gone away, but as long as the people of Jerusalem and Judah were rebellious against Him,He had withheld His mercy.  God has not gone away today, but if we rebel against Him, He will withhold His mercy from us.  Verse seventeen adds, Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.  Zechariah was told to proclaim that God's cities were once again to be prosperous.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will  know spiritual prosperity from God's grace.  Verse eighteen states, Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.  Zechariah said that he then looked up and saw a vision of four horns.  Verse nineteen adds, And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.  Zechariah asked the angel what these four horns meant, and the angel said they represented the nations that had scattered God's people, Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.  If we have questions today, we need to look up to God in faith, and He will answer us.  Verse twenty says, And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.  Next, the LORD showed Zechariah four carpenters.   Verse twenty-one adds, Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.  Zechariah asked what the carpenters had come to do, and the LORD answered that they had come to cast out the Gentiles and restore God's land to His chosen people.  As followers of Christ today, we are a part of God's chosen people, and as such, He will bring us the ultimate victory, which is everlasting life with Him in our heavenly home. 

Zechariah 1:1

Zechariah 1:1 says, In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,  Zechariah begins by stating when the word of God came to him and who he was.  We may think of the prophets as always being alone in prophesying for God, but as Matthew Henry points out, Zechariah and Haggai began prophesying at about the same time.  We may sometimes feel that we are alone in witnessing for God, but we never are.  Verse two declares, The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.  Zechariah told them that God had been sorely displeased with their fathers.  I believe that the warning was that God would continue to be very displeased with them if they did not return to Him.  What our parents did or did not do in their relationship with God can neither condemn nor save us.  Verse three adds, Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.   Zechariah said God told Him to turn to Him and He would turn to them as well.  This is the call and promise of God to us today.  We come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, and He comes to us as our Savior and Lord.  Verse four states, Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.  Zechariah said that God called on them to not be like their fathers, who did not listen to the prophets when they called on them to turn from their evil ways.  The fact that our fathers and mothers may not be followers of Christ does not mean that we cannot be.  Verse five asks, Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?  God asked the people where the former prophets and their fathers were, and if they lived forever.  The answer was that they were either dead or would be, because like them, we cannot live forever in this world.  Verse six continues, But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.  God asked if His word and laws had died with those who had died, and the answer was no.  God's word and law will live forever, but we will not in this world.  Verse seven declares, Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,  A few months after God first spoke to Zechariah giving him a message for the people, He spoke to him again.  Verse eight states, I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.  This time God spoke to Zechariah in a vision, which was of a man on a red horse in the myrtle trees, and there were red and white speckled horses behind him.  Zechariah did not immediately understand what this meant, so he asked God for the meaning.  If we do not understand what God is saying to us today, we need to simply go to Him and ask.  Verse nine adds, Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.  Zechariah said that he did ask God what this dream or vision meant, and that the angel who talked with him said that he would show him.  We have One much greater than an angel to help us understand God's word, and that is the Holy Spirit.  Verse ten says, And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. The Man in the myrtle trees told Zechariah that those that He saw represented those that God had sent to walk to and fro through the earth.  Matthew Henry says the Man was Jesus Christ Himself, and that He provided the answer.  We can be certain that if we have questions concerning God today that if we come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ that He will provide us with the answer.  Verse eleven adds, And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. The angel said this represented those that God had sent to walk back and forth through the earth, and that the earth was at rest.  When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we can walk anywhere in the world and be at rest.

Philippians review continued

Paul told the Christians at Philippi to rejoice in the Lord, and this should be true for us today as followers of Christ as well.  We should not allow anything that is happening in the world or our life in particular to keep us from rejoicing in the Lord.  Paul also warned them to beware of false teachers who would sow concision among them.  Some people who profess to be followers of Christ seem to like nothing more than to create friction with other Christians, and Paul warns us to stay away from them.  Paul also told the believers at Philippi, and tells us today, that human credentials, the things that we might think would make us acceptable to God, will never bring us salvation.  They, nor we, can never be more qualified than Paul was, and he counted all his qualifications as nothing.  It doesn't matter where we were born, who are parents are, how much we may have studied the Bible or even done in the name of God if we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Paul said that he forgot all those things that went before his meeting of Jesus Christ and accepting Him as His Savior and Lord, and so should we.  Just as Paul said he was, we should be pressing toward the mark, the standard, set by Jesus Christ.  What came before that time cannot save us nor prevent us from claiming salvation.  Paul also called for those in the church at Philippi to settle their differences.  We cannot effectively serve God and share the gospel if we are fighting amongst ourselves.  We as followers of Christ must be united with one another spiritually in order to advance God's kingdom.  Finally, we learn that we are to support God's work financially.  Just as Paul commended the Christians at Philippi for their giving, we should also give to support God's work, not so that we will be praised, but so that God's work might be done.  A secondary point is that we should never demand that anyone give to us financially.  We should just allow God to direct us in our giving.