Transcript Diapositiva 1

Lesson 11 for June 15, 2013
Zechariah (“Yahweh remembers”) descended from a
priestly family (Neh. 12:16). He was called to the
prophetic ministry some months after Haggai and with
the same mission: encouraging the people of Judah to
rebuild the Temple (Ezra 6:14)
The promises of blessing in Zechariah were clearly
conditional: “And this shall come to pass if you diligently
obey the voice of the Lord your God” (Zec. 6:15). Those
promises didn’t come true because of Judah’s
unfaithfulness, but they came partially true for the
Christian Church.
1. Past history: Punished for their sins (Zec. 1:1-6)
2. The favorable time to build the Temple:
a) The horseman among the myrtle trees: The quiet nations (Zec. 1:7-17)
b) The horns and the craftsmen: Hindrances are taken away (Zec. 1:18-21)
c) The man with the measuring line: Promises of prosperity (Zec. 2)
3. The anointed for the work:
a) The high priest Joshua: Purified for ministry (Zec. 3)
b) The governor Zerubbabel: Strengthen by the Spirit (Zec. 4)
4. Remember the past history to avoid making the same mistakes again (Zec. 7)
“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the
Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the
Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,”
says the Lord of hosts’” (Zechariah 1:3)
The purpose of that vision was to give the
people confidence in God’s purpose of
restoring His people.
God had repeatedly used the prophets to
warn Israel about the consequences of their
disobedience.
The words of the prophets were fulfilled and
Israel was taken captive for 70 years.
If the people wanted to be prosperous after
captivity, they needed to return to God.
The message of God through the prophets is
still valid nowadays. If we want to live a
glorious future, we must return to God and
to turn away from sin.
“Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O
Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on
Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You
were angry these seventy years?” And the Lord
answered the angel who talked to me, with good and
comforting words”
(Zechariah 1:12-13)
Several horsemen are sent to walk throughout the
world. When they come back, they report that it is
quiet and restful. The nations are in peace and there is
no war. That indicated that it was a proper time to
rebuild the Temple.
God is angry with the nations that went
too far when they punished Judah.
Jerusalem would be rebuilt.
There would be abundance.
After hearing the report, the angel cries the people’s
cry: How long will God still be angry with His people?
Zion would be comforted.
The answer from God is written in Zechariah 1:14-17.
It is full of good and comforting words.
Jerusalem would be chosen again.
Zechariah saw four
horns that
represented the
oppressive power
that scattered Israel
throughout the four
corners of the Earth.
The craftsmen are sent to fight the horns,
“representing the agencies used by the Lord in
restoring His people and the house of His worship”
(E.G.W., Prophets and Kings, cp. 46, pg. 581)
The man who was sent to measure
Jerusalem could not finish his work because
the city would be full of inhabitants. It
would not need a wall because God would
be a fire shield around it.
All then nations were invited to inhabit
Jerusalem.
God protects His people (“the apple of His
eye”) and invites all the inhabitants of the
Earth to be saved.
If Israel had joined that praise invitation and
had accepted Jesus, that prophecy would
have been literally fulfilled.
The whole world is accepting that invitation
to join God’s joyful people thanks to the
Church and to the ministry of Paul (Romans
15:9-18; Ephesians 3:1-8)
““Sing and rejoice, O
daughter of Zion! For
behold, I am coming
and I will dwell in your
midst,” says the Lord”
(Zechariah 2:10)
“Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If you will walk in My ways,
and if you will keep My
command, then you shall also
judge My house, and likewise
have charge of My courts; I
will give you places to walk
among these who stand here’”
(Zechariah 3:7)
The new Temple would need a new
high priest. But Satan accused Joshua
(and each one of us) of being a sinner
unworthy of that post.
There was no excuse for Joshua’s sins
(or for ours) but the reprimand of the
Angel: “Is this not a brand plucked
from the fire?” (Zec. 3:2)
The divine provision for atoning sin is shown in that vision: “I am bringing forth My Servant
the BRANCH [Jesus]… And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” (Zec. 3:8-9)
“So he answered and said to me: “This is the
word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might
nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of
hosts”” (Zechariah 4:6)
The golden lampstand with seven lamps
and the oil poured down on the leaves of
the two olive trees represent the way how
the Temple was going to be built.
The oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and
the olive trees (or anointed) represent the
two leaders: Zerubbabel (civil power) and
Joshua (religious power)
The previous vision was meant to
encourage Joshua. This vision was given to
encourage Zerubbabel.
His success in the work (like ours)
depended on his dependence on God.
“Say to all the people of the land,
and to the priests: ‘When you
fasted and mourned in the fifth
and seventh months during those
seventy years, did you really fast
for Me—for Me?’” (Zechariah 7:5)
The people of Israel had fasted four
times a year during the 70 years of
captivity (Zec. 8:19):
The fourth month.
Recalling the break
of Jerusalem’s
wall.
The fifth month.
Recalling the
destruction of the
Temple.
The seventh
month. The day of
Atonement, the
only fasting
ordered by God.
The tenth month.
Recalling the siege
of Jerusalem.
There are two main lessons to be learnt from that vision.
1. God does not take pleasure in hunger (external
fasting) but in his children returning to Him. He
rejoices at them dying to the self and being
merciful to their neighbors.
2. We must remember the past history to avoid
making the same mistakes again (compare this
to the message in Zechariah 1:1-6)
“In reviewing our past history, having
traveled over every step of advance to
our present standing, I can say, Praise
God! As I see what the Lord has wrought, I
am filled with astonishment, and with
confidence in Christ as leader. We have
nothing to fear for the future, except as
we shall forget the way the Lord has led
us, and His teaching in our past history”
E.G.W. (Counsels for the Church, cp. 66, pg. 359)