SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/19/2016 9:37 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-8 Divine Plan for
Jerusalem
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Zechariah 1:9-17
Message of the verses: We will be looking at the fourth element that
is seen in these verses that speaks of the plan for Jerusalem, and John
MacArthur entitles this “The Punishment Set.”
Let us begin by looking at verse 13:
“The LORD answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious
words, comforting words.” This is the theme of the book of Zechariah,
that is comforting words and we must remember that as the remnant returns to
Jerusalem from their captivity in Babylon they need comfort from the Lord as He
shows them that they still have a future, and these good words and comforting
words are exactly what they needed to hear.
We go on to look more specifically at these good and comforting words in
verses 14-17 “14 So the angel who was
speaking with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, ’Thus says the LORD of
hosts, "I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 “But I am very
angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry,
they furthered the disaster." 16 ’Therefore thus says the LORD, "I
will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,"
declares the LORD of hosts, "and a measuring line will be stretched over
Jerusalem."’ 17 “Again, proclaim, saying, ’Thus says the LORD of hosts,
"My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again
comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem."’"” These verses are a wonderful prophecy to the
Jewish people, something that they needed to here.
I think
that a paragraph from the sermon by John MacArthur will aid us in better
understanding what the Lord has to say in verse fourteen when He speaks of
being exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. “The Hebrew root for jealousy is kina.
It means "zeal, fury, jealousy" and it is a two sided word. Zeal
means love and hatred together. I think we've explained it this way: I love my
wife, I love my children so much that I hate anything that hurts them. And God
loves His people so much that He hates anything that hurts His people. And so
it's that mixture that becomes zeal. The actual word kinain the Hebrew
comes from an Arabic word, and the Arabic word means "to turn intensely
red or black," depending on what color it is, with dye. To make something
black or dark red with dye is the root word. And by derivation, it is drawing
its attention to the color of the face that is produced when somebody becomes
furious. God is really getting upset. The Greek equivalent is zalaoand
it means "to boil." God is boiling. Intense zeal. Listen, God has a
special place in His heart for Jerusalem. He has a special place in His heart
for the people, and that isn't changing. In 2 Chronicles 6:6, I love this, God
says, "But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there." Did
you know that? And some day yet again in the future His name will be there,
won't it? And His Son will be there, reigning in the Kingdom. He says, "I
have chosen Jerusalem, and the gifts and calling of God says, 'All are without
repentance.'" That city is still His city. I can't help but think of that
every time I go there. It just takes my breath away to realize this is God's
city. In Isaiah 31, verse 5, "As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts
defend Jerusalem, defending also, He will deliver it and passing over He will
preserve it." God's gonna take care of His town. It's His.” As I have studied some different books on the
attributes of God, I learned that one of His attributes is being jealous, and
we have talked about this in earlier SD, as the jealousy that is one of God’s
attributes is not like human jealously, for God is perfect and it is impossible
for Him to do wrong. Remember back in
the book of Genesis and chapter twelve and verse three where God gives His
unconditional covenant with Abraham which is also for all of the children of
Israel and He tells Abraham “I will bless those who bless you, And the one who
curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be
blessed."” As we read this verse we
can see that God is jealous for the people of Israel, for that is His covenant
with them that He makes and later on in chapter 15 we see more about this
covenant, and again later on we see that God renforces this covenant with both
Isaac, and then Jacob.
John MacArthur writes “So His jealousy turns to anger in verse 15, "I am very much displeased with the nations that are at ease, for I was but a little displeased with Israel," that's the idea, "but they helped forward the affliction." Well what is he saying? He says, "I am angry with a great anger." That's the literal Hebrew. "With the nations." What nations? The ones He was talking about, Edom, Assyria, Babylon particularly who had offended His people. Because they are at ease. In eight places in the Old Testament, that phrase "at ease" is used in a derogatory way and it sometimes even means arrogance. Psalm 121:4 uses it to speak of pride. They are proud and indifferent and unfeeling and careless and carnal. And you know what happens? God says, "I was a little displeased and I wanted the nations to chasten them a little bit, but you have pushed it all out of shape," at the end of verse 15. "You helped forward the affliction. You went too far." You see the nations kind of reveled in Israel's suffering. They delighted in it, they prolonged it, they intensified it. They were back in the land, the 70 years was over. God's prophets had said it, "It was for 70 years and no more, and then you are to assist Israel, but you have prolonged the agony and because of that, I am much displeased with you and you sit in your smug indifference against Israel."
“You see the nations didn't grasp that God's
intention was to punish for a moment, and then show great compassion. That's
always the word. So the punishment of the nations is set. It's gonna come. And
it came. They rebuilt their city. They rebuilt their walls. And there's yet
even a future coming as well. So we see the picture seen, the perplexity
solved, the plea stated, the punishment set, and last, the promise secured.”
4/19/2016 9:56 PM
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