King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Friday, September 20, 2019
Chapters: Zechariah 1-4
Message: The Three Persons of God
Hello My Friend,
We know God is a jealous God, for He will have no other god, person, possession, job, or hobby over Him. But did you know that God is jealous for you? Think about it. If you are one of His saved, and born again children, then you are His, and He will be jealous over anyone or thing that seeks to take you away from Him. We are going to have loves ones and interests, and that is okay because God blesses us with those things. The problem comes if they become an idol, and even people become idols. We should never feel offended or as some would feel, suffocated, over God’s jealousy over us, embrace it, and rejoice in knowing that no matter how many times we mess up, no matter how many times He has to correct us, He will always love and protect us. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” – Hebrews 13:4-6.
“The Lord is my helper,” And this is what it is all about. God knows that we are very capable of doing things on our own, but our flesh can only take some much before it wears out. God gave man a woman to be a help meet (Genesis 2:18), not a servant, not a slave, but one woman to help him be the best he can be, and visa versa. When we receive Christ as our Saviour, we enter into a marriage with Him, which just means a union in which we live together in mutual affection. The Book of Zechariah contains fourteen chapters and was written by Zechariah, it was written to the new generation of Jews who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. The timeline for these events took place around 520BC. The purpose of the book was to renew a spiritual commitment with God, and to warn them of the coming second judgment when Christ returns. What we are to learn from the book is that God is in control of all affairs, His infinite love and care are in all who receive Christ, who is His BRANCH. We learned of Zechariah through Ezra, he was one of the prophets God sent to help with the rebuilding of the temple. One night Zechariah has a dream.
“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. 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. 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. 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? 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. 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. 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.” – Zechariah 1:8-10,12,14-16.
“sent to walk to and fro through the earth.” Did you ever have a conversation with yourself, then answer yourself? This is kind of the scene when God has a conversation with Jesus, who is the angel of the Lord, and the Lord of hosts, both of them being God Himself, yet distinguished as three different persons. While we, with our own reasoning cannot fathom the idea that God is omnipotent and several people at one time, we must understand that He is God in the form of three different persons God, the Father, God, the Son (Word), and God, the Holy Spirit. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” – I John 5:7. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14.
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, walked the earth in their individual forms, Jesus being both man and God, to see how the world reacts to Him. Since we are made in God’s image we have a natural tendency to become jealous when someone else tries to take what we have. God is so jealous over us that He will use any means necessary to get us out of danger from being corrupted any further. So, while He does use the world to chasten us, that does not mean He will not protect us from them once our chastening has come to pass. Just think about that, we belong to Him, He has given us eternal life through His Son. No, He does not want us to stop living, He wants us to follow His commands a live, if we stray away from Him, He will get jealous. His jealousy comes as a great concern over our well being, as much as He wants to let us do what we want, He knows not everything we do is good for us. And yet, God assures us that He will always be with is. As God continues showing Zechariah visions of their talking to one another, He assures them that He is still their God and will be with them, He judged them, it is over, and now it is time to return to Him.
“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. 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. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. 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. 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. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. 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.” – Zechariah 2:5-11.
“for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.” God referred to David as the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:18). David was not perfect by a long shot, but he was faithful to Him, and when he did mess up, he was quick to confess his sin and repent. All who receive His Son, Jesus Christ, as their Saviour, have repented of their own works to save them, and are fully trusting only in Christ’s finished work on the cross (John 19:30). And those who are faithful to Him, are the apple of His eye, we may mess up, but no one messes with the apple of His eye, He will come after all who entice or influence us to sin, and that includes Satan. Through Zachariah, in an interesting twist, what will happen to Satan, including a great prophecy of Jesus Christ Himself.
“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” – Zechariah 3:1-4,7-9.
“and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”I love it when God reveals something to me before He shows it to me from His Word. It is His assuring me that I am not crazy or thinking something that is not true. I could write an entire page just on everything written in these passages. Of course, we know the BRANCH is Jesus (Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5), and He did remove the iniquity of that land in one day. That was the day He died on the cross (II Corinthians 5). Those who are plucked out of the fire are the souls who come to the BRANCH, in which He then is the Vine and we are the branches (John 15:4-6). And one day, Satan will be cast into the fire himself, never to darken our path ever again (Revelation 20:10). Amen! When we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour He takes those filthy rags of sin that we have been walking around in and gives us a new change of clothes, and if we walk in His ways, He will always be there to protect us while we are still here. “No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.” – Mark 2:21.
“and the rent is made worse.” A true, saved, born again Christian allows Christ to live and work in them, and when He does, they will be able to escape or endure anything that the devil or anyone else throws at them. And yet, there are many who are not allowing Christ to live and work in them. Zachariah also gives an account to God sending Zerubbabel to Jerusalem to help rebuild the temple, God gives him another vision, about candlesticks and olive trees.
“And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” – Zechariah 4:2-6,12-14.
“These are the two anointed ones,” The candlestick itself represents the Word of God, it is the lamp of the feet and the light of the path of all who walk with Christ. The two anointed ones are Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Christ’s name itself means, “the anointed”. Jesus stands by us, our faith in Him does that. When we receive Christ as our Saviour, the Holy Spirit enters our soul, that means He is one with us. Then as we walk with Christ, the Holy Spirit stand by us, guiding us, and directing us in the ways of Christ. Hello, they are one, of course, He is going to lead us in the ways of Christ. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” – Romans 8:26-27.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.” – Zechariah 3:8.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for making me one of Your children, not by my own works or even obedience to Your commands, but solely by my faith and trust in the finished work of Your Son on the cross. Lord, You know the intentions of our hearts, as You allow the devil to bring circumstances and affliction into our lives. Let Your Spirit, lead us, guide us, and keep us in Your Word so it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Remind us that we are not doing this for our salvation, simply to honor You, thank You, and to bring others to You through Him as well. In Your power and might I know that I can do all things, fill me with your grace, lead me with Your power, and let me keep my heart always trusting You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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