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: Sunday, September 20, 2020
Chapters: Zechariah 1-4
Message: Jealous For You
Hello My Friend,
We know that 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 is jealous for you.
[Exodus 20:4-6 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.]
The Book of Zechariah contains fourteen chapters and was written by Zechariah, it was written to the new generation of Jews who returned 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 foretell of the coming of a second judgment when Christ (the BRANCH) 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. Did you ever have a conversation with yourself, then answer yourself? This is kind of the scene here, God is talking with Jesus, who is the angel of the Lord, and Lord of hosts, and the Holy Spirit, both of them being God Himself also, yet He is distinguished as three different persons. While we with our own human minds cannot fathom the idea that God is omnipotent and can be several people at one time, we must understand that He is God and does as He pleases. Zechariah, prophet in Babylon, was sent by God back to Jerusalem to help Ezra rebuild the temple. One night Zechariah has a dream, a man riding on a red horse, bringing others on horses with him
[Zechariah 1:2-3,8-10,12,14-16 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. 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. 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? 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.]
[I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: ] While God is in control of all things, the heavens, hell, and earth, He does not control man. God had one rule, “Obey Him.”, but man disobeyed, bringing the curse of death upon all of us. Man makes the decisions, man chooses what to believe, man chooses to go against God’s law, therefore man suffers in their own affliction. However, God is merciful in that He will give all a chance to choose Him. God has his angels all over the earth, we have no idea who they are because they look like you and I, they show us Jesus, watch over us, comfort us, test us to see if we know who Jesus is and are one of His, [Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.]
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, if we are saved, 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 and 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. As Zechariah continues dreaming he sees the angel walk over to another, telling him to speak to Zechariah.
[Zechariah 2:3-5,7-11 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. 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.]
[and I will dwell in the midst of thee,] How awesome will it be when we, as one nation under God, get to see the glory of Jesus right before our eyes? No pain, no sorrow, no death or sin, no walls, no sun or moon needed to give light as His Light will shine upon the earth. Praise God! We must understand that God places His faithful in the midst of heathens not for us to conform to them, but that we may conform them to Christ. And let me tell you, they are smack dab in the midst of the church. We are not to be of the world, just be the ones who show them Jesus, [John 17:15-17 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.]
We also must understand that we are not in a physical war here, it is a spiritual one in which Jesus and Satan are at odds with each other as it is our souls that are up for grabs. While Jesus promises eternal life, Satan sets out to destroy every soul that God creates. Through Zechariah, God shows us the opposition that Jesus faces with Satan, and while he is in his glory right now, there will come a time when He will overthrow Satan.
[Zechariah 3:1-4,8-9 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. 2 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? 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4 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. 8 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. 9 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.]
[and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.] You see, Satan is right there, ready to hinder us from doing what we are supposed to be doing for God, and more often than we care to admit he does hinder us quite often. When we get saved, Jesus removes those garments that were covered with sin, (Thank you, Jesus!) we are not to go back to our sinful ways, otherwise we will be worse than when we were not saved, [Matthew 9:16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.]
[I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.] 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]. Amen! 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.
[Zechariah 4:2-6 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: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 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 behold a candlestick all of gold,] 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 forever the second we receive Him as our Saviour, 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,
[Romans 8:26 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.]
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, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Lord, lead us, guide us, keep us in Your Word so it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Remind us that we are sent out into the world to lead others to Your Son, and not to be one of them. Let us simply to honor You, thank You, and to bring others to You through our faith and obedience to You. 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. I ask these things in You name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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