SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/24/2016 9:03 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-4 The Human Conqueror
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Zechariah 9:8
Message of the verses: “But I will camp around My house because of
an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no oppressor will pass
over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes.”
Now we have
been looking at all of the prophecies in chapter nine that have to do with this
human conqueror, and have determined that it has to be Alexander the Great, for
he did all of the things that Zechariah prophesied that he would do. John MacArthur calls these kinds of
prophecies “signpost prophecies.” What
he is talking about is that in the case of Zechariah and Alexander the Great we
see that his prophecies came about exactly the way they were written by him to
come about. Now if a person takes the
bother to study about what Alexander did and compare it with what Zechariah
prophesied that he would do and since they all come about then what we can
determine is that God is the God who does not make false prophecies and since
these came about the other prophecies that He has made will also come about
exactly the way that He says they will come about.
Now as we
followed the path that Zechariah prophesied that Alexander would go the exact
route he went to conquer in the exact order that Zechariah said would happen
then when we look at verse eight we see that Zechariah is speaking about Israel
next. Verse eight tells us that Alexander would never conqueror Jerusalem for
God will camp around His house. Now
there is a story as to how all of this came about, an amazing story for
Alexander was mad at the nation of Israel and desired to destroy it because
they would not pay tribute to him, so he made up his mind to conqueror it as
this made him very mad indeed. John
MacArthur quotes what Alexander said when tribute was not being paid to
him: “I’m coming and I’m going to
destroy Jerusalem to its foundations as soon as I’m finished with the rest of these
cities on the way.” I think that the
quote is from Josephus, the first century Jewish historian.
MacArthur tells us what happened: “So, after taking Gaza and dragging King Betis clear through town, wiping out that, he planned to go to Jerusalem. And the high priest called all the people of Israel together, according to Josephus, and he demanded that they all sacrifice to God and fall on their knees and pray for deliverance. And one night God gave the high priest a dream and He told him in the dream to go out and meet Alexander on the road and welcome him to the city...which would have been a little strange. So he did.
“So, Alexander and his army were marching along to
the city and the high priest went out to meet him. And he led a procession. The
high priest put on his purple robes and his scarlet robes and his miter with
its gold and the inscription, the name of God engraved. He had all the
attendant priests and, you know, there were priests and priests and priests and
priests and priests all over the place in Israel. So many priests that you
could only serve, if you're lucky, once a year because you had to wait your
turn...so many of them. They were all there, marching in white. And when he saw
this, he was literally bowled over by it and he saluted with respect to God and
he bent down and bowed and he said that he had recently had a dream while he
was in Macedonia and in that dream he had seen this very priest and this
procession. And as a result, he said, "I'll treat Jerusalem with kindness." He passed by to Egypt. He
returned right back by again and never touched the hair of a head of anybody in
Jerusalem.
“Isn't that what it says in verse 8 would happen?”I
will encamp about My house because of the army, because of him that passeth by
and because of him that returneth. And no oppressor shall pass through them
anymore. For now I have seen with Mine eyes." Isn't it interesting?
Alexander..watch this one...judged the nations but he also was used to save the
city of Jerusalem. And what God is saying in this text is, if God can use a
pagan king in such a miraculous way to judge the ungodly and to save God's
people, imagine what He can do with a divine King yet to come in the future.
The judgment will be all the greater, as much greater as Christ is than
Alexander and the salvation will be all the greater, as much greater as Christ
is than Alexander. He was really the Lord...the "I will" here refers
to the Lord.
“Now in the middle of verse 8 and I have to note
this, we bridge the
centuries. We literally bridge the centuries because when it says
"and no oppressor shall pass through them anymore," that can only refer to the
Second Coming and there
is the transition in the chapter. All of a sudden the Holy Spirit takes us in a
huge leap from Alexander to Jesus Christ. And when Jesus comes and
destroys the nations and saves His people, then no oppressor will ever pass
through them anymore for God has seen with His eyes. In other words, the sight
of God toward Israel, all of the affliction has been enough and God says,
"I've seen all I'm going to see, it's all over. It's all peace from here
on out. It's all the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the Kingdom, the glory from
here on."
“And so, we see the human conqueror and he's just a
signpost to keep our eyes on the fact that if that part of the prophecy was
fulfilled, believe me, the second part will be also. Jesus will come and He
will judge the nations in a judgment infinitely beyond anything Alexander ever
dreamed with a might and a power beyond the conception of man so that the whole
earth will literally fall in judgment. And Alexander is a signpost of salvation, as we
see him save and spare the people of Israel, so shall we see in the day that
Jesus comes that He'll spare His people Israel. And the Bible says He'll redeem
Israel and give them their Kingdom.”
8/24/2016 9:28 PM
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