SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/11/2016 11:21 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Land of Israel will be Refreshed
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Zechariah 8:9-13
Message of the verses: “9 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’Let
your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from
the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of
the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be
built. 10 ’For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for
animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his
enemies, and I set all men one against another. 11 ’But now I will not treat
the remnant of this people as
in the former days,’ declares the LORD of hosts. 12 ’For there will be
peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its
produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of
this people to inherit all these things. 13 ’It will come about that just as
you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I
will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be
strong.’”
We have to
go back to the book of Haggai to understand verses 9-10, for Haggai spoke up
against the remnant because they were using the material that was for the
building of the house of the Lord to build their own houses, and because of
that God was fulfilling His covenant against them as seen in Deut.
28:38-46. But now the land would become
refreshed and the crops would once again begin to grow and the promised rains
would come as seen also in Deut. 28, but this time from verses 11-12.
These
things all came about in the time of Zechariah but his prophecy was also
promises for the time when the Messiah would rule, as the application of this
would be in the Millennial Kingdom when Jesus Christ would rule.
We see
material blessings given by the Lord in the latter part of these verses and Dr.
Wiersbe has written some important things about material blessings that we
should all know about: “There are two
facts about material blessings that we must always keep in mind. First, we don’t obey God just to become
wealthy and secure. We obey God because
He is God and deserves our loving obedience.
Obedience builds character, and when our character is what it ought to
be, God can trust us with His blessings.
Material blessings aren’t bribes, nor are they rewards. They’re God’s way of saying, ‘You’re maturing
in godliness, and not I can give you more to use for My glory.’
“Second,
God doesn’t always respond with material blessings, and poverty is not a sign that
God has forsaken His people. The
experience of Job completely destroys this ‘commercial’ idea of faith and
obedience. Job’s friends had a ‘commercial’
view of faith, so they encouraged Jobe to confess his sins so God could again
make him wealthy. Bargain with God! But Job refused to do that, though he didn’t
understand what the Lord was working out in his sufferings.”
When we
look at the covenant that God make with Israel He would bless them both
physically and material if they obeyed Him, and the opposite is true if they
did not obey Him. Now that was with
Israel, but as far as the Church age there is no such covenant. In Philippians 4:19 we read “And my God will
supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” now
notice there is nothing said about our wants.
God promises to direct our circumstances as seen in Romans 8:28, however
our riches are of a heavenly nature as seen in Ephesians 1:3. When you think about that those heavenly
riches will last for eternity, while earthly riches will be destroyed when the
Lord destroys the earth as seen in 2 Peter 3:10.
7/11/2016 11:45 PM
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