Zechariah 2

WEEK  17                                           Zachariah 2

FRIDAY  Reflections

In the exodus from Egypt, God opened the door and caused Israel to be delivered. The plagues God brought actually made Egypt want to see Israel go. Yes, they left victoriously but there really wasn't an option to stay either. The exodus from Babylon would be different.

 

God has told Israel to deliver themselves from Babylon. This time the people of Israel had a choice. They could choose to stay or go. God's command was to return to Jerusalem, but it was up to Israel this time to get back home. He wasn't going to send a Moses or a cloud with a pillar of fire to lead them. This time it was up to them.

 

We too have a choice. We can come to Jesus or stay where we are. Now the door is open to the promised covenant to all who will choose to come to Him. No we don't deliver ourselves from sin but we do make the choice to come to Jesus. He does the rest. We have the freedom to choose. 

Choose wisely. 

Zec 2:1-13
(1)  I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.
(2)  Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.
(3)  And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,
(4)  And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
(5)  For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
(6)  Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.
(7)  Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
(8)  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
(9)  For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
(10)  Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.
(11)  And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
(12)  And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
(13)  Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

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2 Corinthians 13

WEEK  17                                      2 Corinthians 13

THURSDAY  Reflections

Paul's last words: Be joyful, grow, encourage, live in harmony and peace. We can understand most of these commands. Growing means learning and taking in the truth which causes us to be mature. Encouraging is trying to help one another to do what is right and to stay faithful. Living in peace and harmony can be summed up in trying to get along. To be Joyful isn't something you work for. This isn't really something we can do. We can’t build up joy, you either are or you aren't. Yet Paul names it first.

 

Paul didn't say be happy. There is a fun Bobby McFerrin song which tells us to be happy, but this isn't what Paul is talking about. There is some correlation to the song and how we can be joyful. The first is we don't worry. The second is we chose to be joyful, but this is found by choosing Jesus (this isn't in the song). Joy is found by walking in the Spirit of God for joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). When we have joy, I believe, all the rest come easier, which could be the very reason God had Paul put it there 

2Co 13:1-14
(1)  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
(2)  I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
(3)  Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.
(4)  For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
(5)  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
(6)  But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
(7)  Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
(8)  For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
(9)  For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
(10)  Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.
(11)  Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
(12)  Greet one another with an holy kiss.
(13)  All the saints salute you.
(14)  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.

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Psalm 107

WEEK 17                                             Psalm 107

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

The Psalm repeats that those who go astray are rescued when they cry to the Lord. On the other side, it also sings those who are blessed but turn away will be made low. What is mentioned more is God's redemption than his judgment and when we look at the Bible that is always the case. If you're wise consider what God has done and His great love; thus ends Psalm 107. 



Psa 107:1-43
(1)  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
(2)  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
(3)  And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
(4)  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
(5)  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
(6)  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
(7)  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
(8)  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
(9)  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
(10)  Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
(11)  Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
(12)  Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
(13)  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
(14)  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
(15)  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
(16)  For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
(17)  Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
(18)  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
(19)  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
(20)  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
(21)  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
(22)  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
(23)  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
(24)  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
(25)  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
(26)  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
(27)  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
(28)  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
(29)  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
(30)  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
(31)  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
(32)  Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
(33)  He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
(34)  A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
(35)  He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
(36)  And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
(37)  And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
(38)  He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
(39)  Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
(40)  He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
(41)  Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
(42)  The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
(43)  Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Zechariah 1

WEEK  17                                             Zachariah 1

TUESDAY  Reflections

The book of Zechariah begins as the seventy years of captivity come to an end. Zechariah along with Haggai preach that it is time to return to God and rebuild His temple. There is also a lot of prophetic imagery pointing to the coming messiah.

 

God comes to Zechariah with some strange night visions (dreams). As in the past, God is using dreams to give a message. Even today some people are inspired and warned by dreams. Even today, I woke up from a dream that I believe could turn into a story or book (The Gift and the End of the World). However, though this might inspire an actual book I doubt it was divinely inspired. God said in Joel 2:28 that He would speak through dreams and visions in the last days so I'm not going to say God doesn’t speak in dreams. God does use them, however, Scriptures themselves say to test the spirit to see if they come from God (1 John 4:1). If a dream or vision doesn't line up with God's character or His scriptures dismiss it as false or too much guacamole before bedtime.

 

Zechariah's dreams and visions, though strange, deliver a message for Israel and to us. As the book begins God promises mercy for Jerusalem.

I suggest looking at this for a greater picture of the book. Zechariah Bible Project Video -- https://youtu.be/_106IfO6Kc0

Zec 1:1-21
(1)  In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
(2)  The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
(3)  Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
(4)  Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.
(5)  Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
(6)  But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
(7)  Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
(8)  I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
(9)  Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
(10)  And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.
(11)  And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
(12)  Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
(13)  And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
(14)  So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
(15)  And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
(16)  Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
(17)  Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
(18)  Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
(19)  And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
(20)  And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
(21)  Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

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Ezra 5

WEEK  17                                            Ezra 5

MONDAY  Reflections

Under the inspiration of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Jews began rebuilding the temple again. This is one of the few times when the leaders and the people obeyed the prophets. The opposition to the temple hadn't ended but with a new king on the throne and the prophets telling them it was time, they returned to the task. The prophets didn’t just preach, they assisted in the rebuilding.

 

There seem to be new leaders of the Trans-Euphrates region, also. These leaders sent a letter to the new king, Darius, requesting that a search be made to see if what the Jews claimed was true. In the meantime, the building continued.

Ezr 5:1-17
(1)  Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.
(2)  Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
(3)  At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?
(4)  Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building?
(5)  But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.
(6)  The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king:
(7)  They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace.
(8)  Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands.
(9)  Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls?
(10)  We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them.
(11)  And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up.
(12)  But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.
(13)  But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.
(14)  And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;
(15)  And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place.
(16)  Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.
(17)  Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.