1992 Issue 10 - Sermons on Zechariah: Blessing and Righteousness - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1992 Issue 10 - Sermons on Zechariah: Blessing and Righteousness - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/4

Zechariah

8:1-17; Matthew 25:14-30

In

this message

we

will cover the

same verses

as

in our

last. But

this

time

we

will do

so

more interpretively rather

than purely applicationaUy. Our con

cern here is with what this passage spe

dfically meant

to its

original audience

rather than what prindples

from

it may

we apply to our lives. Although, of

course, there

will

be principles

drawn

from

it for

today.

In

the preceding chapter God had

rebukedJudah for empty formalism in

worship.

Now He

turns

to

cheerthem

by

the

prospectiveof conformityto

His

will

Over and over again He reminds this

remnant of people of their future pros

pects based on

exactly

who he is:

1)

He

is the ever iving WRD who

speaks

(Zech. 8:1,2,3,4,6,7,9,11,14,17). The

name 'Jehovah," translated "LORD" is

from

Exodus

3:

14 and means "I am

that

1am. That is, He always is andHe exists

of

His

will. (2) FUlthermore, He is the

"LORD

of hosts" (Zech. 8:1,2,3,4,

6,7,9,11,14). That

is, He

comrols

the

millions of mighty

angels,

who are

His

servants.

Nowwhat does thisrepetitious refer

ence to the power of

God

entail in terms

ofjudah's hope?

1. he

LORD Has Returned.

In our ast message we noted that our

hope today restS on

the

presence ofGod

withus. Thesame,ofcourse, wastrueof

Israel.

God loved

Israel immensely, de

spite her sin, Zechariah

8:2.

He had not

cast her

away

forever,

though

He

had

sorely chastened her.

Remember that Ezekiel was an exilic

prophet. He lived during theBabylonian

Captivity and was himself exiled and

even prophesied in Babylon

(Eze. 1:1).

Ezekiel saw a vision of God's departing

from

Israel due to her idolatry (Eze.

10:3-4,18; 11:22-23). But now Zecha

riah brings a word to Judah

from

the

same

Lord, Zechariah

8:3. When

the

temple is finished Godwould once again

dweU

in it, for

He has

returned.

The great covenantal principle is

brought forth in conjunction with the

promise of God's return, Zechariah

8:8.

God's gradouscovenant withHis people

orbits around this theme: ''/ will be

Y llr

God,yOl

will

bemy people. What truth is

more wondrous:

We

belong

to

God and

He to us This wondrous theme rever

berates throughout Scripture and is

the

essenceofGod'scovenantaldealingswith

us (Gen

. 17:9; Exo. 5:

2;

6:7; 24:45;

29:45; Deut. 7:9;29:10-15;2Sam.

7:24

;

Psa.

105:9;Jer. 24

:7;

31:33; 32:38;

Eze.

11:20; 34:24; 36:28; 37:23;

Zech.

13:9;

2

Cor.

6:16-18;

Rev.

21:3). This truth

was espectally cheering to judah, who

had endured

severe

chastisemem and

deprivation. But the truth remains

Whom the Lord loveth, He chastens. '

jesus, whose name

is

Immanuel

("God with us") tellsus Apartfrom Meye

can

do nothing

Oolm 15:5). Judah has

experienced the reality of this truth.

When God depaned from her, she fell

headlong into judgment. Fromthe glory

days of DavidandSolomontothe dismal

days of lamentation she fell. jeremiah,

another prophet oftheexile, even wrote

a book entitled "Lamentations," which

meant "loud crying."

All

of this was

because God had depaned from her due

to hersin. Apan from

im

she could do

nothing.

But now

God

has returned, Zecha

riah8

:3

a. Asweshallsee, this will be the

starting point

for

great blessings. But

first

we mightreflea onwhatjolm

Calvin

has

written: "God

is

never idle when

he

dwells in his people; for he cleanses away

every

kind of impurity, every kind of

deceit,

that where he dwells may everbe

aholyplace" (OnZechariah 8:3). Andso

it

is.

When God returns to judah, when

Hecomes to dweU amongHispeople, we

discover that

2. The LORD Will Sanctify.

God's presence cannotbean inactive

one.

Some

churches have inactive rolls

but God is not inactive. likeJesus did

a literalsensein the NewTestament God

promises to do house cleaningin aspiri

mal

sense upon anival injudah, Zecha

riah 8:3. His rerum would not be noted

byashinglehangingonthe outside of he

temple: "God in residence, inquire

within." Rather, His presence would

become evident

by

the burning presence

of

the Lord to sanctify according

to

the

truth,

Zechariah

8:8.

We must remember that according

to the theo ogyofScripture, we

live

inan

ethicalcause and effea universe. Evolu

tionists teach us that the universe is

ultimately chance oriented and that

moralityis just ahuman convention. But

the

Scripture teaches otherwise.

And

lsraellearned the lesson the hard

way.

November,

992 TIlE

COUNSEL

of Chalcedon 2


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Israel

was instructed in

the

truth

through

God's

prophetic

revelation

to

learn of the

divinely

ordained prindple

of ultimate ethical cause and effect. Be

sure, your sins will find

you

our' (Num.

32:23). The saul that

sinneth shall

die

(Eze.

18:4).

What

aman sows that shall

he

reap

(Gal.

:

7).

Shall

ruin

befall

a

cit'

and the

nrdhath notdoneit? (Amos 3 6).

On

and onwe could go. God is atwork

in the affairs of men to

judge

evil

and

reward righteousness. He is at

work

to

sanctify His people.

Throughherowncaptiv

ity,

Israel

was

reminded of .

the

ethical

cause and

effect

:

prindpleunderGod'ssover- >

eignty,

Zechariah 8:14. The '

shakingofthephysicalearth,

...

the destruction of political ;

kingdoms,

are

evidences that

God

is "provoked to

wrath,

despite

the smiley-face

the

ology of some modern .

pop-theologians. Noah's;

flood

inundated the

entire :::

,

globeunderhundredsoffeet .

of

water.

Andallthernillions

of

fossils

buried in mud are

testimony to that event.

Sodam and Gomorrah

were

destroyed by

volcanic

erup

tion -- and that

area

is known for

its

volcanic activity.

The broken walls of

jericho

have

been

found with evidence

ofthe unusually rapid destruction of

the

dty under

God's

judgment.

Thus,

when

God

returns to judah,

Hespeaksofsanctification.

Hepromises

that

there

is

coming

it day whenjerusa

lem shall be called a dry of truth and

Mount

Zion

a

holy

mountain

(Zech.

8:3). Hespeaks ofestablishing

Hispres

ence among

His people, not in

the

ab

stract, not regardless, but in truth and

righteousness (Zech. 8:8).

Because of hisHis returncomeswith

an

obligation

to keeping His

holy

Law.

The Ten Commandments are not the

Ten Suggestions.

They

are introduced

with grace: I am the

Inrd

thy

God

who

hathbroughttheoutofthehouseofbondage

(Exo.20:1). They are

commandments

gradously given to

His people. And

their

commandsarepartia1lysummarizedhere

so the people might dwell in His pres

ence, Zechariah 8:16-19.

Again, as

in

Zechariah

7,

we

find

a

mixingofcategories.

Two of these com

mands briefly mentioned are personal

and

soda

obligations,

two

are dvil and

governmental.

And

again,

like

in

Zecha

riah 7, they are paralleled.

Zechariah

8: 16a

is personal:

speak

truth to your

neighbor.

God is a God of

truth,

consequently

judah and

we must

live in

terms

of

truth.

Verse 17a even

penetrates

more deeply

by

moving be

hindthewordstotheinnermostthoughts:

Think no evil in

your

heart

toward

your

neighbor.

This

is

a

personal

law from

God

to judah and

to us.

Then

in

verse

16b the governmental

command

appears:

execute justice

and

establish peace

in

your gates. The refer

ence

to gates

has

to

do

with

the

court

law. The place

where

the elders or

the

judges

of the

dry sat in

the gates,

was

where

justice

was

administered

(Deut.

21:19; 22:15;josh. 20:4). Godexpects

the

people

personally to be righteous,

22

;.

THE COUNSEL ofChaicedon

;.

November, 1992

butalso

the

people sadetally

and

cultur

ally

to

establish

righteous

governmem

(cp. Zech. 1:9-12; lsa. 1:21-23).

Verse 17b parallels this

by

prohibit

ingpeljuryin

the comext of court

action.

God's law against peljuryis severe -- and

absolutely ust(Deut.19:

16-20).Itshould

have been incorporated

in

lsrael, when

jesus was

falsely

accused (Matt. 26:60).

It

should be incorporated in our law

today

because of the large

role govern

ment

necessarily plays in life.

Thus, God commands sanctification

on

the personal level and

sodallevel. Hecommands

sanctification in heart and

in

word.

Because He de

tests

wickedness, Zecha

riah 8:17c.

This

is

as

true

for Israel

of old as

it

is

for

America

of

today. Thelaw

i s h o l y , j u S ~ a n d g o o d ( R o m .

7:12),andwhatmorecould

wewantfromalawsystem?

Now since

God

works

sanctification in both the

individual and in sadery,

he therefore expects it in

the

world at large.

Thus:

3.

The LORD

Win

Bless.

Now although the

presence of

God was

destined to issue

forth insanctification,

it isapparent from

jewish

history after

Zechariah's day

that

there

was not

much in the way ofholi

ness in the Land. Yet God did return to

His temple, for Chdst calls

the

temple

My

Father's house

(fohn 2:16). It was

not until after the jews rejected Chdst

that

the

house would be

left desolate

(Matt.

23:38).

Let

us

consider

some

of

the blessings

held out to them and their

fulfillment.

First, jerusalem is promised to be a

cit'

of ruth

and Zion

the holy mountain."

But

what we know of

jewish history

speaks the opposite. How can this be?

Dispensationalists put these prophedes

offinto

our

distant

future,

when

they say


3/4

Christ

will

return and literally dwell in

Jerusalem. A better interpretation is

found in the

New

Testament. There

we

do

find

the

fulfillment

of]

erusalem as

a

city

of truth in an important respect:

Jerusalem

was

the source of the

procla

mation of the Gospel of Jesus Chtist.

This prophecy

is

ultimately Messianic.

In Luke

24:47 and

Acts

1:8

we see

her

role as

the

source

of

the

promulgation of

the truth of

the

Gospel. In Hebrews

12:22 we leam that conversion

to

Chtist

spiritually brings one to Mount Zion.

And what

greater

truth is there than

the

gospel, which brings

one

to holy

Mount

Zion?

Second, this prophecy, thus, finds its

realization in the

New

Covenant prom

ises.

Interesting, the New Covenant

mentioned by Jeremiah seems

to

fonn

the backdrop for some of the

language

here

(Jer.

31:31-34). In Zechariah the

covenant promise of restored commun

ion with

God

is evident,

verse 8. God's

indwelling presence and the covenantal

promise of their being

My people

and

is being their God are fumiliar

to

both.

lso in verse 13 we find reference

to

both the

house

ofJudah and Israel--

even

though

Israel, the

Northern

Ten

Tribes of

theJews,

has

now

longsince

been

lost.

Yet

in the New Covenant both Jeremiah, as

well

as

in

Zechariah's

allusion to

it,

God's

promise

is

to

Israel and Judah. s we

mentioned in an earlier

message this evi

dentlypointstothetotalityofGod'speople

by mentioning even the ten lost

tribes.

We

say this because Jesus very

clearly

established the New

Covenant

with us at

the

Last

Supper (Luke 22:20).

Thus, the

Ismel and Judah

here refer to

all of God's

people throughout theworld, ofwhatever

race

and

nationality

they might

be.

The New

Covenant

will ultimately

issue fonh is worldwide salvation (verse

7).

ThisremindsusofJeremiah31:34. It

also is preparatory forJesus' statement in

Matthew 8:11.

Third, as a consequence of this New

Covenant salvation, there is the promise

of

peace

and

longevity to

her

citizens,

Zechariah 8:4-5. The picture here

is

of a

people dwelling in security, with lives

not cut shon

by

war or pestilence.

This,

too, could look

like the

premillennial

eanhly

kingdom. But

it is not

necessary

to hold such an

idea.

In

the

New

Testament the Church of

Jesus Chtist, which has

its source and

authority in

heaven, is called

the

Jerusa

lem

above

and is set in contrast to

the

Jerusalem below, which was literal

Jerusalem (Gal. 4:25-26).

Consequently,

those convened

to

Christ are said

to

come

to the heavenlyJerusalem

(Heb.

12:22-23).

Thus,

the New Testament

sets for

a spiIitual interpretation

for the

Jerusalem promises, rather than a

literal

istic interpretation.

This

is why the Old

Testament saints

are

said

to

have

looked

for

a

city whose

builder and maker is

God(Heb. 11:9-10,13-16). Thisiswhy

it is said that our citizenship is in

heaven

(Phil. 3:20).

This is a fundamental

difference

be-

. ween the refonned, biblical approach to

these prophecies and the fundamental

ist, dispensational approach. We let

the

NewTestamentdecide the question;

they

determine the

fulfillment

of the prophe

cies

apan

from

and in advance of

the

New

Testament

by

presupposing a liter

alistic approach

to

Scripture. For in

stance,thisinterpretiveapproachisclearly

employed inActs 15, where the

conver

sion of the gentiles and erection of

the

Church is attributed

to

Old Testament

prophecies regarding

David's tabernacle

(Acts

15:14-1'7).

The

idea of the

city

ofJerusalem

has

to do with a collected people building a

culture together. The initial fulfillment

of this prophecy

has

to do with the

establishment of

Christ's

ldngdom,which

is not of his world (John 18:36). Itisthe

heavenly city, theJerusalemabove,

whose

maker and builder is God.

Ultimately,

there

will

be the world

wide influence of

this city,

the

city

of

truth, the city ofsalvation. Its influence

flows from

above, coming down into

history (Rev. 21:1,2). As its influence

grows and men and nations are con

vened, peace and prosperitywill abound

(Isa. 2:4; 9:6; 11:9). Men and women

will live

to old age; children will

safely

play in the streets. Thiswould not point

to heaven, because people are found in

extreme old

age

using canes to walk.

This

must be in history.

Founh, due to the pelvasive influ

ence of salvation throughout the world

and the increased stability in history,

there will be great prosperity. As godly

principles are employed in the conduct

of the

affairs

of men and nations, unpar

alleledeconomicproductivityandgrowth

will be experienced (verses 12-13).

It is instructive

to

realize that Israel's

predicament was so horrible during the

Babylonian

Captivity that her prophets

prophesied that the heathen would used

Israel's name as a curse or taunt (Jer.

24:8,9). But God's Word here speaks of

promises

so

wonderful

as

to mirror in

glory

the intensity of the previous curses

(verse

13-15). n other words,

to

the

same

degree God

cursed Israel, to that

degree

will He bless her, thatis, the Israel

of

God (Gal.

6:16).

As

lowas

Israel

camein the Captivity,

her exaltation

as

the people of God

will

be in her transformed spiritual phase.

Thus, Christ's kingdom is destined

to

wondrous

glory.

onclusion

Truly

we see

the power of the Lord's

presence among a people.

He

brings

with Him a transforming spiritual power.

That

is

the power of the

Gospel

of]esus

Christ, which wemay

have

today through

faith

in

His Name.

If you repent of your

sins and turn

to

Christ, He willcome and

fill you with

His

presence. He will begin

transfonning your life.

And

as

more and more citizens

are

won

to His

heavenly kingdom, the

effect

will

be noticeable here on eanh. Conver

sions

will

increase, peace and security

November, 1992 THE COUNSEL

ofCbalcedon 3


4/4

will abound, and

prosperity

will flow.

TIns

is

the future

of God's people. It

is

a future that has already begun in

seminal

fonnasmillionsbavebeen

dtawn

into the kingdom of

Christ. More lies

before

us in the future.n

Arise

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ew Qecordill8

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Judy Q08ers (9

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Judy Rogers

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992

Documents

1992 Issue 10 - Sermons on Zechariah: Blessing and Righteousness - Counsel of Chalcedon