Zechariah

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Zechariah

• Blessings of Obedience
• Zechariah 81-23

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Review

• Began with the fact that Jehovah remembers
• All the good and the evil
• All His promises and plans
• Including the plan of salvation and the need to
  send a Savior
• Chapter 7 looked at Gods authority
• The promises were for the obedient
• The disobedient would be punished
• Now God returns to the topic of what awaits the
  obedient

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Zealous for Zion

• Zech 81-2
• I am zealous for Zion
• The verb am (NKJV) and was (KJV) actually
  indicates a past state that still continues in
  the present (have been and still am)
• Zealous (NKJV) and Jealous (KJV) indicates
  an intense emotion
• Today we usually think of jealous as the
  negative side and zealous as positive
• Because of His plans for Zion, His promises to
  Zion, and His name being associated with Zion
• Then Zion is and has been very important to Him
• And when they disobeyed, it aroused great fury
• And will still arouse that fury if they disobey
  now

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The zeal of God for His people

• God is always concerned about His people
• His desire to protect and save them is intense
• He allowed His Son to die for us
• He has permitted us to be called children of
  God (Rom 816-17)
• We wear His name, a holy name
• But because of that intense desire
• He is furious when we betray Him and His Son
• Heb 1026-39

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Return to Zion

• Zech 83
• Present or future tense?
• The verb indicates a present determination
• But not necessarily a present fulfillment
• God has determined He will return to Zion and
  dwell in her (Zech 210-11)
• Ezk 8-11 God left Jerusalem because of her sins
• But promised to return if they would return to
  God
• When He returns, the city will be called the City
  of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord, and the Holy
  Mountain
• But when would these things be?

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The Mountain of the Lord

• What was the Mountain of the Lord?
• Dan 234-35, 44-45
• A kingdom set up by God
• Isa 21-4
• A place for all peoples
• Not a kingdom of physical conquest
• But a place of law and Gods word
• A place where people follow Gods way
• Heb 1222-24
• The church (notice it is also called the city of
  the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem)

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The City of God

• Zech 84-5
• The city where God will dwell (the church) will
  be a place for the old and the young
• It is also a place for both males and females
• Gal 326-28
• Zech 86
• The promises just made seem unbelievable to the
  Jews of that day
• They were probably thinking of a physical
  fulfillment (as many still are today)
• But God said they are not hard to believe or
  understand from His viewpoint

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Saving Gods people

• Zech 87-8
• God says He will save His people wherever they
  are (east or west)
• If He is referring to the return from captivity,
  it would be past tense (20 years ago)
• A future saving of Gods people
• That would cause them to be Gods people
• 2 Cor 614-18
• Fulfilled in Christ and the church
• The Jerusalem here is then the city of God in
  Zech 83-5, the Mountain of the Lord, the church

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What about now?

• God has been talking about future blessings for
  obedient people
• The obvious question, for the hearers is, what
  about now?
• Zech 89-10
• You who are listening
• Strengthen your hands there is hard work ahead,
  the temple still has to be finished
• You have begun to see the blessings of obedience
  since you got back to building
• More jobs, more income, more peace

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What about now?

• Zech 811-13
• A return to the material prosperity Israel and
  Judah had enjoyed in earlier times
• They would no longer be a curse, but now a
  blessing for all nations
• Nations that used to think Israel to worthless,
  an example of what not to do
• Will be grateful for Israels prosperity
• In that way they too will be saved from their
  past mistakes and punishment
• Therefore, do not fear, and get to work

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Conditions on the blessings

• Zech 814-17
• People often want to assume Gods blessings are
  unconditional
• They arent!
• What conditions does God put on blessings?
• Obedience to His word be truthful, be just, be
  peaceful, love your neighbors, etc
• The same conditions their ancestors had failed
• Zech 78-11
• Obedience to His word is always a condition for
  receiving His blessings (Jer 189-10)

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The question of fasts

• Recall all this began with a question about
  fasting in the 5th month (Zech 73)
• God implied an answer (75), but hasnt directly
  answered, until now
• Zech 818-19
• 4th month 9th day, Jerusalem captured
• 5th month - 7th-10th days, temple burned
• 7th month unknown day, Gedaliah murdered
• 10th month 10th day start of Jerusalems siege
• Forget the sad, self-imposed fasts
• Celebrate the blessings of God with truth and
  peace

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Why celebrations?

• Zech 820-23
• God had promised theyd be a blessing rather than
  a curse among nations (813)
• Now He tells them about that blessing
• People all over the world would hear about how
  God was blessing the Jews
• People would come to this temple (the one they
  were still building) to seek God
• People would stop Jews in the street to learn
  more
• God was promising to make them well-known and
  well-respected again
• But the conditions (815-16) must still be met

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Conclusion

• Sadly, for the Jews, they never received all the
  blessings God promised for the return
• Like their ancestors, they failed to obey the
  voice of the Lord (more about that in Malachi)
• God has blessings in store for us as well
• And like always, God conditions those blessings
  with the need to be obedient to His word
• Why miss out on the blessings?
• Why not obey His voice?

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