Zechariah: God Rules (19 of 20) by Roger Thomas

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Zechariah: God Rules (19 of 20)
Roger Thomas
Zechariah 1:1-6, 14:9

Introduction: Zechariah, our next last to last stop in our journey through the books of the Old Testament, is perhaps one of the least read, least appreciated, and least understood books of the Bible. But Jesus and his apostles knew it, even if we don't. The New Testament quotes or refers to it forty-one times. Some call it the most Messianic book of the entire Hebrew Bible.

Zechariah the prophet lived during the days of Judah's restoration following the return from seventy years in captivity. Many Jews returned to rebuild their homes, their land, their capital Jerusalem, and the temple to their God. But things didn't go well. Many became discouraged. So God sent leaders and prophets to stir them to action. Ezra, Nehemiah, Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi, and Zechariah-all rallied the people.

During the same time period as Haggai's ministry (around 520 BC), Zechariah receives a series of visions from the Lord designed to encourage the people. The record of those visions read much like the book of Revelation. Like Revelation, a reader can easily get lost in the strange visions and startling word pictures and miss the big picture. When you boil it all down to the core, the message of Zechariah and Revelation is the same-God Rules. In the triumphant context of the Christ's return, the angels shout, ''The Lord God Almighty reigns'' (Rev 19:6). Can you picture the scene of Zechariah 2:13, ''Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.'' The end of Zechariah looks forward to the day when the Lord will ''be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name'' (14:9).

The Lord rules-past, present, and future. This provides the main theme of the book and the outline of the fourteen chapters. Chapters 1-2 are largely God's explanation of the past-how Judah got where it was. Chapters 3-8 contains God's message for ...

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