Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Holiness will Characterize all of Life (Zechariah 14:20-21)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/11/2016 9:49 PM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  Holiness will Characterize all of Life

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Zechariah 14:20-21

            Message of the verses:  “20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO THE LORD." And the cooking pots in the LORD’S house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.”

            Verse 20 shows us something that is kind of hard to believe, and that is that the bells of the horses will have written on them “Holy to the Lord,” as we might expect that on the high priests robe as described in Exodus 28:36-38.  We also see it on the common cooking utensils and on the bowls before the altars.  Now the last part is more understandable than the first part.  Dr. Wiersbe that “In the Kingdom Age every aspect of life will be holy to the Lord,” and we know that when God called Israel out of Egypt that He stated the following in Exodus 19:6 “and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.’”  In the Kingdom Age this surely will be fulfilled.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “For the believer today, this is the Old Testament version of 1 Corinthians 10:31 ‘Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.’  There is no ‘secular’ or ‘sacred’ in the Christian life, because everything comes from God and should be used for His glory.”

            As I read verse twenty-one I was a little taken back at the use of the word Canaanite, as they are not allowed in the house of the Lord of hosts during the Kingdom Age, and as I read the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe he explained that “The Hebrew word translated ‘Canaanite’ in Zechariah 14:21 refers to merchants and traders or to any unclean person, both of whom would defile the temple of God.” This makes it much more understandable to me.  Remember at the beginning of Christ’s ministry and at the end of it He cleansed the temple as He ran the merchants and money changers out of the temple.  The house of prayer for all the nations, Jesus said, had been turned into a den of thieves, and the high priests were the ones making all the money from it.  Things will be much different in the Millennial temple, as it will always be holy to the Lord.

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes this last chapter of his commentary on Zechariah by writing “Zechariah’s book begins with a call to repentance, but it ends with a vision of a holy nation and a glorious kingdom.  Zechariah was one of God’s heroes who ministered at a difficult time in a difficult place, but he encouraged God’s people by showing them visions of what God has planned for their future.  God is still jealous over Jerusalem and the Jewish people, and He will fulfill His promises.  ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ (Psalm 122:6.’”  10/11/2016 10:09 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment