SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/28/2016 2:38 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Plan of the Vision PT-1
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Zechariah 4:7-8
Message of the verse: “’What are you, O great mountain? Before
Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with
shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"’"” “7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will
stand in Zerubbabel way; it will become a level plain before him! And when
Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout:
’May God bless it! May God bless it (NLT).”
We have
mentioned in earlier SD,s, in fact many of them that there are times when we
read the prophets that it is hard to distinguish what time period they are
writing about, and at many times they may be writing about more than one time
period. Remember what we have learned
about the Day of the Lord which in its final stage will be during the end of
the Tribulation period, but there were times when the prophets wrote about it
and there would be a big problem for Israel which would make one think that the
Day of the Lord was there, but in fact it was not the true Day of the
Lord. Now in verse seven of chapter four
we are not talking about the Day of the Lord, but are talking about when
Zerubbable would finish the temple even though there would be many obstacles in
his way. However as we look ahead we
know that during the end times there will also be a time period when there will
be many problems for Israel and God will be the One, as always, who is in
charge and will accomplish what He has determined to take place. I think of when Israel became a nation in May
of 1948 and right away there was a great war to try and defeat them, but Israel
prevailed and I believe that it was the Lord who caused them to prevail. In 1967 another war took place and against
all odds not only did Israel win but they captured the city of Jerusalem
too. God is in control, however at this
point the people of Israel are trusting in their war machine as opposed to the
Lord, but that will change.
God is
saying through Zechariah that in spite of all odds Zerubbable will finish the
temple as he will be the one who puts the last stone in place, “the top stone,”
“the final stone of the Temple.”
Let’s look
at the last part of the verse where the phrase “the people will shout,” is
seen. The Hebrew term means a loud
noise, or loud noises. We see in the
book of Psalms a lot about shouting. I
am sure that after the temple was finished that there was many loud noises
given by the people in praise to the Lord.
Let us look at Ezra 3:11 “They sang, praising and giving thanks to the
LORD, saying, "For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel
forever." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised
the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.”
John
MacArthur writes the following on the futuristic aspect of this: “You know that the first time the Messiah
came the time He offered himself as a Messiah and came into the city of
Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. They threw palm branches in His path and they shouted
and screamed, didn't they? But they didn't receive the kingdom because before
the week was out they killed Him. But in the kingdom when it comes there's
going to be shouting and praising like you never imagined.
“Isaiah talks about it. I have to just tell you what he says because it's from God and you ought to know. Isaiah 12:1, "In that day thou shalt say, O Lord I will praise Thee, though Thou was angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, Thou comfortedst me. Behold God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song," verse 3, "Therefore, with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. In that day shall ye say praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings and so forth." Verse 5, "Sing unto the Lord." Verse 6, what does it say? "Cry out and shout for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." So when the Messiah comes you're going to have the same kind of screaming and yelling all over the place that you had when Zerubabbel finished the temple and stuck the headstone in.
“Verse 8, still talking about the plan as it
unfolds. "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, 'The hands of
Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish
it and thou shalt know the Lord of armies has sent me unto you.'" Now this
stresses not only the certainty of completing the temple but doing so in the
lifetime of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel will finish it, this is the word of the
Lord, and God's word is inviolable and incontrovertible. Zerubbabel will finish
it in order that God may be glorified.
“And I want you to notice something. Notice the
word me at the end of verse 9. "And thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts
has sent Me unto you." It is very likely that the Me is best understood as
the angel of the Lord again, who is the one speaking the word of the Lord in
verse 8. Interpreter angel just interpreted what was seen. The proclamation
seems to come from the angel of the Lord, so it is Christ and in that day when
the temple, the ultimate temple looking beyond to the prophetic element, when
it is finished then thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me, the
angel of the Lord, none other than Christ the Messiah, unto you. He is the one.”
5/28/2016 3:05 PM
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