{"id":29759,"date":"2024-01-30T22:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T05:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/zechariah-1_1-6-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-01-29T22:28:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T05:28:52","slug":"zechariah-1_7-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/zechariah-1_7-21\/","title":{"rendered":"God Stands By Your Side"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zechariah 1:7-21 <\/strong>\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Zechariah\u00a01:7-21.\u00a0 It’s not an easy passage to understand, but the lessons in it are significant.\u00a0 As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

\n
Zechariah\u00a01:7\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.\u00a0<\/em>On verse\u00a07: \u00a0Here\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0begins to recount 8 visions that he apparently received in a single night from God.\u00a0 Verses 8-17 describe the first vision.Zechariah\u00a01:8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>During the night I had a vision–and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 8: \u00a0In his first vision\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0sees an angel who looks like a man riding a red horse, standing among the myrtle trees in the middle of a deep valley, and backed by other horses.<\/p>\n

Three times in this passage\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0describes this horseback riding angel as “standing among\u00a0the myrtle trees<\/em>” (v8, 10, 11).\u00a0 What is a myrtle tree?\u00a0 A myrtle tree is known for having these traits:<\/p>\n

– not the biggest tree (apparently myrtle trees grow to about 8 to 10 feet in height, whereas other trees in Israel grow much taller)
\n– produces white flowers
\n– gives off a fragrance that many think smells sweeter than a rose
\n– an evergreen plant (in every season its leaves are always green)<\/p>\n

Maybe you can relate to the myrtle tree. \u00a0You may not be the biggest, or the strongest, or the one who sticks out most in the crowd.\u00a0 But God has chosen you.\u00a0 He has chosen to stand in your midst.\u00a0 Like the myrtle tree, you were made to give off a fragrance: the fragrance of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just like the myrtle trees in the valley had the angel of the Lord standing among them, God is with you, even in the valley.\u00a0 And because you have God’s presence in your life, like a myrtle tree you can be an evergreen\u00a0whose “leaves are always green, who has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:8) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because God is with you, you can stand in the middle of a deep valley and not be afraid. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zechariah\u00a01:9-10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-10: \u00a0When\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0asks about the horses he sees in the vision, he is told that they are angels, ones whom God has sent to go throughout the earth (v9). \u00a0Both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach us about the reality of angels.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0While Satan has evil spirits that do his bidding, even more the Lord Almighty has angels who do the Lord’s bidding.\u00a0 Like Elisha’s servant in 2 Kings 6,\u00a0we can often be blind to the presence and work of angels in our lives.\u00a0 But if God were to open our eyes, we would see that a lot of the provision and protection we receive is through the work of angels.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0That’s why one of the names for God in the King James translation of the Bible is the “Lord of hosts” (e.g. see v3, 6, 12 in KJV), or more literally, the Lord of angel armies.<\/p>\n

Zechariah\u00a01:11-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>And they reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”\u00a0<\/em>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Then the angel of the LORD said, “LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.’
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the LORD Almighty.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>“Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.'”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-17: \u00a0The junior angels whom God sent to go throughout the earth report that the whole world is at peace (v11).\u00a0 Yet for God and the more senior angels who were closer to Him (like the angel identified as “the angel of the Lord” and the angel who was speaking to\u00a0Zechariah), there was still something wrong in the world that the junior angels had not noticed: for 70 years Jerusalem and Zion (another name for God’s people) had been living in ruins while the surrounding nations lived in relative prosperity (v12).\u00a0 While God wanted to discipline Zion (his people) for their sins and had chosen the surrounding nations to deliver that discipline, those other nations had gone too far.\u00a0 That’s why God says in verses 14b-15:<\/p>\n

“…My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong. But I am very angry with the other nations that are now enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions.”<\/p>\n

So God promises that the city of Jerusalem and its temple will be rebuilt (v16) and that prosperity, comfort and blessing from God would once again belong to Jerusalem (v17).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0While God cares for the entire world, God has a special place in his heart for “Zion”, that is, God’s people, the church.\u00a0 God is passionate and jealous for His people.\u00a0 Even if the whole world were at rest, God would not be satisfied until the people of Zion — that is, we His church — are thriving the way He made His church to thrive.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Zechariah 1:18-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then I looked up–and there before me were four horns!
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0showed me four craftsmen.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-21: \u00a0In a second vision that night Zechariah sees\u00a0four\u00a0horns\u00a0and\u00a0four\u00a0craftsmen.\u00a0 When Zechariah asks the meaning of the vision, he is told that the\u00a0horns\u00a0had scattered (or oppressed) Judah, Israel and Jerusalem (v19).\u00a0 Some have tried to identify the four horns as four nations that had scattered in the past prior to Zechariah\u2019s vision, such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and Persia.\u00a0 Others have suggested another foursome of world powers consisting of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.\u00a0 Others still have interpreted the four horns as referring not to any particular nations in the world but rather as a picture of completeness in terms of the opposition that Israel would face.\u00a0 Whatever the case may be, in verse 15 God expresses his dismay at how such opposition had gone too far in punishing His people.\u00a0 The four craftsmen represent forces that God would use to overthrow that opposition.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0No one is greater than God — no individual, no group, no nation or alliance of nations.\u00a0 No matter how powerful a person or nation may seem, God can easily raise up someone greater to defeat that person or nation.\u00a0 Only God is truly great.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0When God shows you something that you don’t understand, like Zechariah don’t be afraid to ask the Holy Spirit what it means.<\/strong>\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is there to guide you into all truth and to give you insight and understanding into the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10).<\/p>\n

Lord of Angel Armies, thank You for sending angels to watch over us. \u00a0Thank You that though we may not be the biggest, the strongest, or the most outstanding, You chose us, You stand among us and Your heart is for us.\u00a0 Because You are with us, we can bear fruit in every season.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Zechariah\u00a01:7-21.\u00a0 It’s not an easy passage to understand, but the lessons in it are significant.\u00a0 As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zechariah\u00a01:7\u00a0(NIV)
\n7\u00a0On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse\u00a07: \u00a0Here\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0begins to recount 8 visions that he apparently received in a single night from God.\u00a0 Verses 8-17 describe the first vision.
\n\u00a0
\nZechariah\u00a01:8 (NIV)
\n8\u00a0During the night I had a vision–and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 8: \u00a0In his first vision\u00a0Zechariah\u00a0sees an angel who looks like a man riding a red horse, standing among the myrtle trees in the middle of a deep valley, and backed by other horses. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29759"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29839,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29759\/revisions\/29839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}