Zech 12
Notes
Transcript
Background and Review
Background and Review
Israel in sin, then exile, but promised to return in 70 years
then right on time they were released by the king of the world to build their temple so they started to, but ran into many obstacles. attacks, lies, practical issues, unfaithfulness.
But God remarkably answered their prayers and caused the Babylonian key to force their enemies to bank roll the entire entriprise and the building of the wall.
as they built the wall it was very tough and discouraging, and took amazing leadership to guide them through. Nehemiah is a book that shows much of what was going on.
It is during this time of hardship and trials that they could be wondering is God really out there , does he care?
English Standard Version Introduction
As Haggai encouraged the returned Jewish exiles to rebuild the temple, Zechariah encouraged them to repent and renew their covenant with God. Such spiritual renewal would be necessary for the people to be ready to worship God once the temple was rebuilt (about 516 B.C.). He accused them of doing the very things their ancestors had done before the exile. He was concerned about social justice for widows, orphans, and foreigners. But as the people endured opposition from the non-Jewish inhabitants of Judea, Zechariah reassured them of God’s abiding comfort and care. God would continue his covenant with Israel. Messianic hope was rekindled during Zechariah’s ministry, and the book ends with the promise that the Lord would establish his rule over all the earth (14:9).
Zechariah is a priest and prophet and has a series of visions that we covered in the first 6 chapters. clearly show that some of his prophetic material is about the promised Messiah,
chapters 6-7 are about some issues that betra the fact that some of the jews that are not helping build jeruslam are not selfish and not truely concerned about rightly walking before god in a practical way… showing kindness, rendering true judgements, helping the widow, fatherless and sojourners.
chaptere 8-11 is an a prophetic statement that shows god is concerned with them, and goes on to prophetically describe future events like Alexander teh greats conquest of the philistines, and how he left Jerusalem alone.
Jesus and the Triumphul entry into Jerusalem
chapter 12 starts…
chapter 12 starts…
second oracle now… end times.
Zechariah 12:1–5 (ESV): 12 The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. 4 On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’
Who is God?
Who is God?
stretched out the heavens = universe expansion
expanding universe, dynamic state of the extragalactic realm, the discovery of which transformed 20th-century cosmology. The development of general relativity and its application to cosmology by German-born physicist Albert Einstein, Dutch mathematician Willem de Sitter, and other theoreticians, along with the detection of extragalactic redshift (a shift to the longer wavelengths of light from galaxies beyond the Milky Way) by American astronomer Vesto Slipher, led to the realization in the 1920s that all galaxies are receding. American astronomer Edwin Hubble correlated these observations in mathematical form to provide evidence that the universe is expanding. The discovery of the 2.7 K cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965 by American physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson was convincing evidence that the universe originated 13.8 billion years ago from a very dense and hot state in the big bang.
For much of the 20th century, it was an open question whether the universe is open (of infinite extent in space) or closed (of finite extent) and whether the universe in the future will continue to expand indefinitely or will eventually collapse back into an extremely dense congested state. The mass in galaxies observed directly, when averaged over cosmological distances, is estimated to be only a few percent of the amount required to close the universe. However, the dark matter that has been deduced from various dynamic arguments is about 23 percent of the universe, and dark energy supplies the remaining amount, bringing the total average mass density up to 100 percent of the closure density.
founded the earth = the earth had a a beginning. not eternal. what begins to exist has a cause. the universe began to exist. therefore there must be a sufficient cause.
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/existence-nature-of-god/the-kalam-cosmological-argument
https://youtu.be/6CulBuMCLg0
formed the spirit of Man within him = Spirit/soul is what appears to make us different from all other animals. Animals have emotions. but do it is not at all supportable that they have souls.
I like to think they do, but there is no evidence that I am aware of. certainly not at the same level as which a human has a soul.
amazing. the bible was saying these things under the inspiration of the holy spirit
JERUSALEM
JERUSALEM
not the only time - Zechariah 12:1–14:2 (Be Heroic): Jerusalem will be attacked (Zech. 12:1–3; 14:1–2).
CUP OF staggaring
surrounding people - Zechariah 14:1–2 (Be Heroic): Note the emphasis on “all nations” and “all peoples” (Zech. 12:2–3, 6, 9; 14:2, 12, 14, 16)
Armageddon Battle?
Armageddon Battle?
Zechariah 14:1–2 (Be Heroic): for this attack involves the armies of the whole world and is part of the famous “battle of Armageddon” described in the following
pour out a spirit of grace and supplication...
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Go in, tread,
for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
The Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Revelation 9:13–18; 16:12–16
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
and Revelation 19:17–21
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Three forces are involved in the gathering of this great army:
(1) the nations agree to cooperate in their fight against God and His people (Ps. 2:1–3 “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”” );
(2) Satan uses demonic powers to influence the nations to gather (Rev. 16:13–15 “And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)” )
(3) the Lord exercises His sovereign powers in gathering them (Zech. 14:2 “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” ; Rev. 16:16 “And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” ).