KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Chapters: Zechariah 1-4
Message: God Is A Jealous God
Hello My Friend,
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, the BRANCH. “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 2:11.
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. While we as humans cannot fathom the idea that God is omnipotent and can be several people at one time, but He is God in the form of three people, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Zechariah was a prophet while in Babylon, as their seventy years of captivity was over the time had come for the Jews to head back to Jerusalem. One night Zechariah has a dream, and in it was a man riding on a horse, having a conversation with God.
“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. 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. 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? And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. 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.” – Zechariah 1:8-14,
“I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.” Jealous, Suspicious; apprehensive (fearful) of rivalry. 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. 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. God places us in the midst of heathens not to conform to them, but that we may conform them to Christ. “Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” – Exodus 34:12-14.
Jealous, Suspiciously vigilant; anxiously careful and concerned for. Since God is a jealous God imagine how jealous He gets when other things try to take us away from Him, but God’s jealousy is not the same as ours in being fearful of His rivalry taking what He has because we belong to Him. His jealousy comes as 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. God assures His faithful that He is still their God and will always be with them, even if they mess up sometimes. Through Zechariah God reminds the Jews that they arr still His even though they are in Babylon.
“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.” – Zechariah 2:7-10.
“for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.” We are His people, the apple of His eye, if we turn on Him or even dabble in the world we can expect to see His jealousy come out. And when God His jealousy come out He will often chasten us through those in the world, not to consume us, but to protect us from getting into any more trouble. Through Zechariah and Joshua (the same Joshua Haggai knew), God shows us that His chastening only lasts a moment, even though is may seem like a lifetime.
“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? 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. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.” – Zechariah 3:1-2,8-10.
“is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” No one touches us without the knowledge of God, not even Satan himself. When He allows things to happen He will always bring us through them and His blessings will abound because we get much more than being plucked out of the fire, we get to spend eternity with Him in His Kingdom. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” – II Corinthians 4:17-18.
Perhaps the most important aspect of being a Christian is having faith not only in God, but Christ too. We all live by faith, whether we would like to admit it or not, even the worst skeptic has to have some kind of faith that they will succeed in what they are doing. As Christians, it is usually when we come to the end of our ropes that we learn to have faith in God. That is where His grace comes in, and what gets us back to Him should we start to sway. God awakens Zechariah with another vision, the angel shows him a candlestick and some 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 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. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 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 4:2-3,6-7,11,13-14.
“These are the two anointed ones,” The candlestick represents the temple, holding forth the light of Divine revelation in which God’s grace abounds. The two anointed ones are Zerubbabel and Joshua, the prince and high priest anointed with the Holy Spirit to be instruments rebuilding the temple. Sometimes we get halted in our work by mountains, but Christ is our strength to get through them. Christ’s offices of King and Priest were shadowed forth by them, by the union of these two offices in His person, as both God and man, the fullness of grace is received and imparted. They built the temple, the church of God, just as Christ builds us one by one spiritually. Christ is not only the Messiah, the Anointed One Himself, He is the Good Olive tree, the vine that we all must be attached to in order to be complete and anointed with the Holy Spirit.
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.” – I Corinthians 12:12-14.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “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?” – Zechariah 1:12.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for making me a part of Your family, not by works or even obedience to Your commands am I saved from judgment, but solely by my faith and trust in the finished work of Your Son. Lord, thank You for loving us so much that the thought of something coming between us makes You jealous. You know the intentions of our hearts, as You allow circumstances and affliction to examine our hearts, lead us and guide us and keep us in Your Word so we cannot be only hears of Your Word, but doers also. Remind us that we are not doing this for our salvation, but simply to honor You and thank You for all that You have done for us because we first turned to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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