God Finishes His Work (Zech. 4:7b-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/13/2016 11:08 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  God Finishes His Work

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference:  Zechariah 4:7b-10

            Message of the verses:  “Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"’" 8 Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10 “For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel-these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth."”

            I want to look at this passage from the NIV translation:  “Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’" 8 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. 10 “Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb-line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)"”

            There is a promise given here and that promise is from the Lord stating that just as Zerubbable began the rebuilding of the temple, he also would finish it by putting in the capstone, which is the final piece to go into the temple.  A similar promise was given to Solomon from his father David in 1 Chronicles 28:20 “Then David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.”

            When we look at verse ten we see that to some of these Jews it was a small thing in comparison to the temple that Solomon had built, and Dr. Wiersbe writes “but we must look at God’s work through His eyes and not the eyes of the people of the world.  Great oaks grow out of small acorns and great harvests from small seeds.  When Messiah came to earth He was but a ‘shoot…from the stump of Jesse’ (Isa. 11:1, NIV-and was ‘despised and rejected of men’ (Isaiah 53:3).  The church began with 120 people and today ministers around the world.”

            As we read through the Scriptures we see that one of the themes of the Word of God is that God uses small things to accomplish His work.  I have mentioned many times in my Spiritual Diaries that Balaam’s donkey is my favorite character in the OT and to me it is for good reason, for God used this four legged female donkey to talk to this false prophet named Balaam, and if God can use a talking donkey I believe that He can use me to accomplish things for the cause of Christ. 

            Now we have looked at the finish or climax of this fourth vision as seen in verse 14 “So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth."”  God calls Joshua and Zerubbable His two servants, and this is a great title for these two men.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “What a noble title for His servants!  As the two olive trees, Joshua and Zerubbable received the empowering Spirit of God and kept the light of Israel’s work and witness burning.  Oil is a general symbol for the Holy Spirit in Scripture.  Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil, and the words ‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ’ mean ‘anointed one.’  The holy anointing oil was not to be prepared by anybody but the priests or be used for any other purpose than for anointing God’s servants (Ex. 30:22-33).  ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me because the Lord has anointed Me’ (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18-19).”

            Since our ‘God is Lord of all the earth,’ then we do not have anything to fear.  Since He promises us the power of His Spirit, why should we falter and fail?  Good questions and we know the answers to them both.  Both Joshua and Zerubbable are men that are good examples that we should follow, as they give encouragement to us. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes “There are no ‘small places’ or ‘small ministries,’ and there are no ‘big preachers.’  But we do have a great God who can empower and bless servants who are dedicated to Him.  He can cleanse us and He can empower us, so let’s trust Him and do His work!”

            In our next SD we will begin to look at what John MacArthur has to say about chapters three and four.

5/13/2016 11:38 PM