The Bible Recap - Day 263 (Zechariah 1-4) - Year 3

Episode Date: September 20, 2021

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Yesterday, we met Haggai, the first of two prophets who are prophesying to the returned exiles of Judah, and today, we met his pal Zachariah, another minor prophet who also happens to be a priest. We hadn't read through all the prophets yet, but in what we have read so far, we've gotten a good sampling of different ways God communicates to them and through them. Sometimes He calls them to preach sermons. Sometimes He commands them to do sign acts, and sometimes He speaks to them via dreams

and visions. Zakariya, at least, falls into the latter category. He's a Dreams and Vision's guy. But first, God starts out by telling Zach how angry he was at the past generations of Israel. He wants the current generation to know just how much their ancestor sins impacted things. And he begs them not to walk that same path.

He says those people are gone and even the prophets he sent to warn them are gone, but he's still here with the same truths and the same message because the truth doesn't die. He says their ancestors eventually repented while in exile and acknowledged that their sins deserved punishment. Then we launch into Zach's first vision. There will be nine total visions in this book, and he probably had the first eight visions

back to back, maybe even on the same night, and his visions are among the strangest in Scripture, so buckle up. Vision one is a bunch of horses. They're sent out to patrol the earth and they come back reporting that everything is at rest. That sounds great, except the problem is the nation should not be at rest. They've mistreated God's people,

and he's not gonna let it slide. God says he has returned to Jerusalem with mercy, but that mercy is for his people, not for those who oppose him. He says he will comfort to Jerusalem with mercy, but that mercy is for his people, not for those who oppose him. He says he will comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem, not his enemies. For those who oppose him, his anger has increased. Verse 15 says, While I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.

One thing worth noting in the midst of all this is that man and the trees. Verses 11 and 12 refer to him as the angel of the Lord, so it's quite possible that this is a Christophany, and that this man who is acting as a mediator between God the Father and his patrolling horses is God the Son before he was born on earth as Jesus. Vision number two is of horns and craftsmen, which refers to a broader range of skilled workers like stone masons and blacksmiths. The four horns represent, guess what, nations and empires.

More specifically, the nations and empires that have scattered God's people. And this could be specific, as in a Syria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, or it could just generally apply to any and all nations that harm his people. The blacksmiths come to smash them as punishment. In Vision 3, a man is measuring Jerusalem. Just a regular man with a regular tape measure, not a man with eight heads covered in eyes, or something like that. Save it. Then, two angels show up until Zach to let the man know that God is going to fill Jerusalem, and that he himself will be their protection all around them.

He tells the exiles to return home to Jerusalem because He'll personally deal with anyone who messes with them. They are the apple of His eye. And in 211, He reiterates what we've heard Him saying all along. It says, many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. We're reminded again that God will bring people from other nations to join with Israel as his people. The high priest, Jesua, slash Joshua, is a key figure in vision for.

He's standing in front of the angel of the Lord who is probably God the Son, and Satan is right there too, making accusations against Jesua. The word Satan means accuser, so it logically follows that the accuser is there accusing. But despite the fact that Joshua is there wearing filthy garments, the Lord rebukes Satan for his accusations against Joshua. Then God refers to Joshua as a stick that was snatched from the fire. That's some powerful imagery. God gives him clean clothes and a clean turban to wear, then tells him, if you obey my ways, you will have the inside scoop on the redemption story I'm riding here. You'll be a part of it.

God's references to his servant, the branch, are almost certainly pointing us to Christ, who is called the branch elsewhere in Scripture. And when God mentions the day when iniquity is removed, that's a reference to Christ's triumph over sin. God is letting Jesuah know that he set up to be a part of ushering in the kingdom, and God calls him to be faithful. After these four visions, Zach is probably ready for some good sleep, but he gets woken up by an angel again for vision number five. This vision has a lot going on, and you can spend hours going over various theories

on what symbolizes what, but we'll keep it at the glasses level, not the microscope level. Zach sees a golden lamp stand, or a menorah, with seven lamps that each have seven wicks for a total of 49 lights. It's like a super menorah. This doesn't really exist, and I couldn't even find drawings of one to link you to. In addition to all the lamps, it has a bowl at the top. If you're trying to picture this, it's not a bowl like Tupperware, it's actually a metal part of the lamp's structure where they store the oil. Beside this menorah are two olive trees, and the olive oil

from these trees is what fuels the lamp. By the way, in scripture, oil often represents God the Spirit. Sat keeps asking the angel over and over about the two olive trees and their two branches and what it means and the angel is like, seriously, you're not kidding me, you really don't know? The angel finally caves and says they represent the anointed ones. The Hebrew translates to, the Suns of Fresh Oil. Most commentators agree that the Suns of Fresh Oil are a gesture with a high priest and Zeruba Bell the civil leader of Judah.

These two men have been newly appointed and anointed to serve God's purposes with the returned exiles. God appointed Zeruvabel to start and finish the work of rebuilding the temple, and Joshua will be the one who will serve him there. And as the vision implies, they will not be doing it by their own strength or power, but by God's spirit, the oil flowing through them. My God shot today was in vision number four, where Satan is accusing Jesuah before God. In addition to Satan, Jesuah, the angel of the Lord, who is probably God the Son, and God the Father, there are a few other beings in the room. Most commentators say they're probably holy angels.

Then in 3-3-5, this is what happens. Jesuah is wearing filthy garments. God makes a command to strip him off his filthy garments and put clean clothes on him. God says, I will close you with pure vestments. First of all, it's absolutely incredible that we get clothed in robes of righteousness instead of our sin-soaked clothes.

But what blows my mind about this passage is that God doesn't tell Jechua to take office dirty clothes. And God doesn't tell Jesuit to take office dirty clothes, and God doesn't tell Jesuit to put on the clean clothes. God himself takes responsibility for it. This is God's doing, not Jesuits. Righteousness is something done to us and for us, not by us, because we can't clean ourselves up. But he can, and by his grace, he does. I will close you with pure vestments. He's where the righteousness is, and he's where the joy is. The Bible recap is brought to you by D-group.

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