Minor Prophets and the End Time Church Part 17
By: Darryl Henson
L
ast month we went through the book of Haggai very rapidly and we reviewed some
of those things we saw there about four years ago at this time. That was in February 1996
and added a few points I’m sure. Today we go into Zechariah and I do it with somewhat
of a trepidation because there are some things in Zechariah that have been very enigmatic
for a long time, but when understood in the context of the church I think a lot of it is
beginning to clear up.
The name Zechariah means Yahweh remembers. My question here, and how this
fits with the context of the Minor Prophets is, “Will He remember His people or will He
forget us?” The book of Zechariah gives a great deal of detail about the church today.
That’s basically what the book is about. It culminates in the return of Christ, but basically
it’s talking about the church today.
Zechariah was a very young man when he began his prophecies. He had been
born in Babylon and he was both a priest and a prophet as were Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Now here is an interesting comment from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown:
“Zechariah unfolds in great detail the glorious future in connection with the depressed
appearance of the theocracy and its visible symbol, the Temple (or the church).”
Even the commentators recognize that Zechariah is not just writing to the physical
nations of Israel, but he is addressing the church specifically. We will see in the context
of Zechariah, as it comes out of Haggai, that this is a very true assessment.
If you will recall by way of review, Haggai showed the lackadaisical attitude the
church as a whole today has toward building the Temple, or the church restoring it. He
indicts us for being busy with our own lives and interests. He warns us to consider our
ways and get busy with His project.
We saw there as well He will stir two leaders — Zerubbabel and Joshua — along
with the faithful remnant of the church to rebuild the Temple of God in a far more
glorious form than we experienced under Herbert W. Armstrong and in it’s place He will
also bring peace He says. Then He concludes the book by saying that once this is done
“He will shake the world.”
The setting of Haggai is of the building of the latter Temple out of the scattered
church that we see falling apart around us even yet today.
Zechariah begins during Haggai’s message. Haggai didn’t speak very long. He
spoke from the second year of Darius, the sixth month, the first day, through the ninth
month, the twenty-fourth day. So under four months was his entire prophecy. Zechariah
began in the eighth month, as you see in Zechariah 1:1. In other words, if you date it back
into the book of Haggai, he began his prophecy between Haggai 2:9 and 2:10. So he
began speaking after the prophecy of “the glory of the latter house,” as vocalized by
Haggai and before the message about “separating the clean from the unclean,” which
follows right after he says there he will rebuild the church. And he begins with a similar
message. We’ll see that in just a moment.
Haggai told the priests to separate the clean from the unclean. Zechariah puts it a
little differently and to paraphrase, he says, “Will we be included in this remnant or will
we not be included?” He gives a very strong warning, obedience being the key.
Interestingly Zechariah began in the 8th month, right in the middle of Haggai’s
message, but he only gave a 6-verse message. I guess we’d have to call it a sermonette.
Maybe this is just distilled and boiled down. Maybe he gave a long sermon. I don’t know
exactly how he did it, but we only have the essence of it — Zechariah 1:1-6. And then he
stops for between 3 or 4 months and doesn’t take up preaching again until the 24th day of
the eleventh month, as you would see down in verse 7.
Let’s understand and analyze what the first six verses of the book of Zechariah are
all about. Understand the context. We’re talking about the re-building of the church now.
If there is anything I think we have been learning in these Minor Prophets it is that they
are all written for the church today. They will also be able to be preached again by the
Two Witnesses to the physical nation of Israel because it too will be scattered. But right
now spiritual Israel is being scattered. So this message is to us today. Once we get into
Zephaniah, and particularly Haggai and Zechariah, the message turns directly to the
church, with very little reference to the physical peoples of Israel at all, because he’s
talking directly of the Temple of God here.
Now yes, the physical nations of Israel will be in the Millennium — included in
[the] spiritual. Even this message to some degree will overlap into the Millennium and
the return of Christ and the glorious Temple in the Millennium. Meanwhile we’re talking
about a Temple of which we are the living stones. “Whose body we are,” as Paul put it.
So this is to you and me. This is not to some ethereal somebody somewhere. It’s to us.
“The LORD hath been very angry with your fathers” (Zechariah 1:2).
I think that this goes back to our ancestors in ancient Israel and it carries forward
to some of our fathers in Worldwide. Herbert Armstrong was our father in the faith, but
there were others who preached and taught us as little children as well, whom we might
in a broader sense term “our fathers” (evangelists and so on) as well.
“Therefore say thou to them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye to me, saith
the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 1:3).
This is a theme we have seen over and over in this series in the prophets — “Turn
to God with all our hearts.” “Turn to Me,” He says over and over. We have something to
do here.
“Be ye not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus
saith the LORD of hosts;...” (Zechariah 1:4).
This is the third time He uses that title. He is speaking as the LORD of hosts —
the Almighty God, so we cannot take this lightly. This isn’t “Sweet Jesus” talking to us
here. This is “The LORD of hosts.”
“...Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not
hear, nor hearken to me, saith the LORD. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets,
do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants
the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers?...” (Zechariah 1:4-6).
I have the word “overtake” in the margin of my King James here. That fits better
than “did they not take hold of your fathers.” Well they did take hold of them. They
wrung their neck. They caused them to die. The words of God overtook them. Remember
the “blessing and cursing” chapter? God said, “If you will do this, I will bless you. If you
do that, I will curse you.” And they did “that,” and they were cursed and they died
because they would not listen to the prophets.
“...and they returned and said, As the LORD of hosts thought to do to us,
according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us [today]”
(Zechariah 1:6).
Israel has always stoned the prophets. What did Christ say? “How often would I
have gathered you like a hen does her chicks, but you would not.” I’m here to tell you
that only a remnant of the church — roughly ten percent and maybe even less (Isaiah 1:9
— a small remnant) — will hear the prophets that God is going to send to us today. God
is going to send us Two Witnesses — witnesses against the church in one sense, who will
then turn and witness against the world. This has to be established in the mouth of two or
three witnesses and God has chosen to do it through two. According to Deuteronomy,
that is the law because judgment cannot come without two witnesses.
Some of you don’t know that Zerubbabel and Joshua are the Two Witnesses. I
won’t take time today to prove that, but next week, God willing, we will talk about
Zechariah 3 and 4 and the Scriptures themselves will conclusively prove that, that is true.
So I don’t want to get too far ahead of the story here because we have enough on our
plate with Zechariah 1 and 2 today without getting into that in detail.
Understand that when God talks about the rebuilding of the church here, He’s
talking about the latter Temple that has to be put back together out of the dregs and the
ruins and the scattering of that which we have seen scattered before our very eyes and
have been a part of. Most of the church will not listen. Only a remnant of that which was
Worldwide [will listen].
Counting dogs, chickens, fleas and everything at the Feast we had upwards of
140-150 thousand people at its largest. All of those were not converted. Some of those
just came along for the ride. I don’t know how many actual baptized members there were,
but if you break it down to ten percent, or a small remnant, I think the maximum of
people we’re talking about who will get the message at the end is fifteen thousand. It may
be more like seven thousand if the words of Elijah and Paul have anything to do with it.
That’s why Zechariah gives the warning here. “Be not as your fathers who would not
listen!” This is a very stern warning to us to hear what Haggai has to say, to hear what
Zechariah has to say and for that matter Hosea, Joel, Amos and the rest — Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and so on. Don’t ignore this.
Now there is a lot of detail in the prophecies, but the message of the prophecies
overall I think can be distilled to one sentence. “Turn to God with your whole heart.”
That is what God lays on you and me because we were not whole-hearted. One of the
reasons ninety percent of the church will not hear the message of these prophets that God
has sent, (I’m speaking of Haggai and Zechariah and ultimately the Two Witnesses), is
because they have a bias already in place that cannot be penetrated and that is, “I’m a
Philadelphian; therefore I’m okay. And what’s this ‘Turn to God’ business?” Until that
bias is pierced, they will not hear this message.
Zechariah doesn’t pull any punches here. He’s pretty plain about it. “Be not as
your fathers.” Now what’s bad about history? It tends to repeat itself. We as human
beings follow the same pattern. They have never liked the prophets. I say “they” — the
people of God: ancient Israel and the church today. We don’t want to hear hard things.
We want to hear smooth soft things. That’s prophesied too.
I think God is pretty clear here and uses “LORD of hosts” several times to get
across to you and to me that I need to repent and turn to God with my whole heart. This
isn’t a message to someone else. This is a message to the church today of which I am a
part and of which you are a part. I think that we’ll see that we cannot afford to take this
lightly. This is a very serious warning from God through Zechariah and Yahweh
remembers. God remembers Israel in the wilderness. God remembers Korah. God
remembers those who rejected Christ. God remembers those who rejected Peter, James,
Paul and John. God remembers the history of His people very well, and He says that most
of the church is doomed to repeat that pattern all over again.
Does He make Himself clear here? Nine out of ten of the church today will reject
the prophets that He sends to us. Will I, will you, be one of those who listens? Then
Zechariah shuts up for a couple of months. Maybe for emphasis. I don’t know. But the
people ignored the prophets and they reaped what they sowed. That’s the point here.
Captivity, cursing and death followed the rejection of the former prophets and it will also
follow the rejection of the latter day prophets because God’s people still are hardhearted.
It hurts me to say this, but most of us are going to go into the Tribulation with
physical Israel. I hope it’s not you and I hope it’s not me, but if we don’t individually
repent and turn to God with our whole heart it is going to happen. Jesus Christ is not
going to count us worthy unless we have turned up the heat and become zealous and
excited and tuned into what He is doing. That’s why Haggai tells us to consider our way
and Zechariah tells us not to be as our fathers.
Now after this stern warning, we’ll go to Zechariah 1:7. He changes directions
here. This has been somewhat an enigmatic section beginning with verse 7 to the end of
the chapter. I think if we understand it in the context of the church, it becomes much
clearer what he’s talking about.
“Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month
Sebat, in the second year of Darius [the same year that Haggai spoke], came the word of
the LORD to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, I saw
by night,…” (Zechariah 1:7-8).
So this is something in the darkness, and I think that there may be a parallel here
because I think today most of the church is still in the dark about what is happening to the
church and what is now about to transpire in the church. It goes back to that bias I talked
about, among other factors (sin being one of them and the lackadaisical Laodicean
approach); to that mindset that “I’m a Philadelphian.”
Now maybe we were Philadelphian in the fifties and sixties and maybe into the
seventies, but “once a Philadelphian always a Philadelphian”? Not necessarily. God
became upset with what we perceived to have been the Philadelphia era under Herbert
Armstrong. Why? Because we thought we were “A-okay.” We thought we were “rich
and increased with goods” and were in “the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the
LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” And He said, “That is not so. You have become weak
lackadaisical Laodicean.” So a leopard can change its spots.
I think that we have to get past the denial of “I am a Philadelphian so it doesn’t
apply to me.” I know for one that it applies to me. I was not what I should be and I know
that most of the rest of the church was not what it was supposed to be. “The curse
causeless does not come.” That’s all there is to it. So there is cause for what has
happened to the church today and most do not understand it. I think that’s why perhaps
God sent this at night. The people that walk in darkness have got to see a great light. The
light has to come on in other words. We have to grasp why it is that God is doing this to
us. I think we’ve covered that a great deal in this series so I won’t belabor the point at this
time, but this fits the context of what we’ve already understood.
“I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among
the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled,
and white” (Zechariah 1:8).
This doesn’t perhaps make a lot of sense to us, but let’s understand the symbolism
here a little bit. What is a red horse? If you go to Revelation 6 and various other places,
you will find the red horse basically means war and blood. So here is apparently either an
angel or Jesus Christ as I think we’ll see, riding on a red horse.
The commentaries are a little divided on this. Some think the red horse
symbolizes God spiritually destroying the church — the sword of spiritual pestilence and
disease and so on that has been wreaked on the church. And perhaps there is a certain
amount of truth there. Most of the commentaries seem to indicate that this man on the red
horse is coming to save the church from her enemies. That very may well be the major
meaning here. There is no doubt that we have had the sword put to us, spiritually
speaking, and famine and pestilence and all these other things that will apply to the nation
soon.
So we have the red horse, which I believe to be an angel, or Christ; perhaps Christ
directly, among the myrtle trees. Now why does he say “the myrtle trees”? Let’s
understand myrtle trees a little bit. I’ll quote from Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, which says:
“Myrtle and evergreen tree with dark glossy leaves and white flowers. The leaves,
flowers, and berries of the myrtle were used for perfume and is seasoning for food.”
Now this should remind us of some things God says about His saints — clothed in
white, pure. We were each a little white flower I suppose years ago and we go up as a
perfume in the nostrils of God if we are righteous and holy and as a seasoning in the
spiritual food that is in the Bible. So we see a close parallel here. “The myrtle had a
religious significance for the Hebrews and was a symbol of peace and joy.”
Well, the latter Temple is going to be “peace and joy.” We find that in many
Scriptures. Queen Esther’s Hebrew name meant myrtle. Esther, as she was before she
became queen (and the whole book of Esther) is a type of the church. There’s a very
strong message there in Esther, which we don’t have time to get into today, but myrtle
and Esther fit very closely together.
Now a quote from Unger’s Bible Dictionary: “A well-known and beautiful
evergreen shrub, myrtes communis, [and maybe you never thought of yourself that way
perhaps], with white flowers and berries that are first white, and then turn bluish-black.”
Now did we start out as little white flowers in Worldwide Church of God, and then sort
of turn bluish-black? “They are edible, although rather too astringent for western
palates.”
That reminds me a little bit of the American Juniper in the west. It’s a bush and
produces little blue-black berries, but they will set your teeth on edge if you eat them. So
perhaps the myrtle is a cross between witch hazel, which is an astringent, and bad Juniper
gin. Perhaps that’s where we are as a church. Perhaps we don’t sit too well on the palate
of God at this moment. That’s why He’s spewing us out of His mouth. We taste too
astringent to God and rather than being white, and clothed in white which we like to think
of ourselves as (as Philadelphians), God says we’re not dressed in white, but are naked
spiritually. Scary analogy, isn’t it?
The International Standard Encyclopaedia adds a little bit in addition to what
we’ve already seen. It says: “It’s an indigenous shrub all over Palestine.” [We are
scattered throughout the nations of Israel, and the rest of the world for that matter.] “On
the bare hillsides, it is a low bush,” [It doesn’t amount to much and isn’t all that attractive
for that matter.] “But under favorable conditions of moisture [down in the valley where
there’s a lot of water underneath the ground] it attains a considerable height.” Now do we
grow by the water of the word of God from a little bush, as we start out repenting, into a
plant of considerable size if we have enough of the word of God?
So what happened to the church? We became astringent in taste. We became blueblack in looks. Jeremiah called it “knotty figs.” Isaiah calls it “wild grapes.” We have a
metaphor for stew here, but that stew is us.
We have the red horse; we have the myrtle trees that were in the bottom — that is,
the river bottom — the valley. These should have the opportunity of growing because
they have “the word,” as opposed to being up on the bare hillsides.
Now myrtle is mentioned as one of the choice plants of the land — Isaiah 41:19.
Are we the apple of God’s eye? There is another metaphor. This is what Isaiah 41 says:
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. Instead of the briar shall come up the
myrtle tree. That’s where He talks about the seven trees being planted in the wilderness
— the seven churches — and one of them is the myrtle.
Isaiah 55:13 is one of the prophetic pictures of God’s promised blessing. It was
one of the trees used in the Feast of Tabernacles — Nehemiah 8:15. On an on it goes. So
the myrtle tree is a representative of the Church of God. That much I think should
become clear.
Now what condition do we see the church in today, as Jamieson, Fausset and
Brown said? “The lowly condition of the church” as opposed to exalted on a hill or a
mountain. We’re kind of down in the valley. That was the metaphor he used, that we’re
sort of hidden and not much to look at, at this point. White flowers in a distance really
show up. The little blue-black berries don’t show too well.
“...and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white” (Zechariah 1:8).
“Speckled” might mean mottled in color. Red pictures blood. The white pictures
the glory of winning warfare. When Christ returns remember He’ll be riding on a white
horse, but with bloodstained garments because of the war that goes on. So that is pretty
well established. The commentaries don’t know what to do with the speckled and mottled
ones in terms of a type or of analogy, but it said, “It might represent the confusion of the
church.” I felt that fit quite well because we are certainly in a confused state now as we
face the spiritual sword and Satan has triumphed in some ways over us, but Christ is
going to come out victorious before this is over.
I think that probably the second thought here is the major one, that Christ is come
to dwell with the lowly church and to gain victory over her enemies because here we’re
not talking about further scattering. The context is of putting the church back together
and without Christ being in our midst, I think we can see that would be an impossibility.
And that, as we read on here, I think will become clearer.
“Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said
to me, I will show thee what these are. 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees
answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through
the earth” (Zechariah 1:9-10).
So these horses represent messengers sent to walk and to see what is going on in
earth. Remember the analogy there where He said to Satan, “What have you been
doing?” and Satan answers and says, “Well, I’ve been walking to and fro on the earth,”
and so on. Well, God sends holy messengers to do the same thing.
“...and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest” (Zechariah 1:11).
So nothing much is happening in a way and I think that fits very well with what is
happening on the earth today. There is no major war going on. We have an ecumenical
movement that the pope is pushing real hard right now and we have The New World
Order trying to bring all business on earth together to have one world system with
everybody having peace, plenty and prosperity and so on. Well, I say “everybody.” I
think that they, the leaders, intend to be prosperous themselves and make the rest
peasants, but that’s a different story.
But seemingly it is at rest. Seemingly it’s “upward and onward.” “Y2K has passed
us. Let’s party on.” “Let’s put more money into the stock market.” “Let’s party
financially” and in every other way. Even the Protestants in that sense have mud on their
face. The “secret rapture” did not occur. Christ did not return and maybe even they will
say, “Well, let’s party on” because the end of the world is not here. I don’t know. I think
God has His own surprise party planned at a time the world thinks not. I did not perceive
that it was going to come when they thought it would.
Shouldn’t God’s people — His own church — have a better grasp of these things
than the Protestant world and the Catholic world? I would think so. They think they’re all
right and in one sense, in that way, the world is at rest. Now I know that there are little
brush-fire wars and so on going on all over the earth, but nothing of any major proportion
that we would say the world is in a conflagration. This is the setting we’re in right now.
“Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long
wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast
had indignation these seventy years?” (Zechariah 1:12).
Seventy years apparently God has had a certain amount of indignation against His
church. Now it’s been His church. In that sense it’s been the “apple of His eye,” but you
might compare this with ancient Israel and Israel throughout the ages. It seems that there
has always been indignation from God to His people because rarely have they ever
obeyed in a way that He wished them to obey. Every covenant they ever made with Him
they broke, almost the same day or the day after. Moses threw the tablets down, headed
back up the hill and the partying began. So there has been very little over the centuries
and millennia for God to truly be happy about. Just little blurbs here and there.
Turn to Galatians 4:25. The early New Testament Church was in a form of
bondage, and Paul talked about it. He’s talking about the two covenants here — Sinai,
gendering bondage.
“For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now
is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the
mother of us all” (Galatians 4:25-26).
The church has a certain freedom and knowledge in obedience, but they were still
in the captivity of the Roman Empire. They were in that sense in bondage, and had to flee
from before that in 70 A.D.
In Zechariah 1:12 he’s talking about these 70 years. Now what are these 70 years?
Does that apply to us today? Is that talking about the church today still? Turn to Jeremiah
25:11 and let’s notice a couple of Scriptures here about the 70 years.
“And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these
nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jeremiah 25:11).
This is talking about when Judah went into captivity, and they were there in
Babylon seventy years.
“And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will
punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the
land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations” (Jeremiah 25:12).
This is a prophecy for now. God is going to destroy Babylon, but God’s people
will have been in bondage to Babylon for seventy years before this occurs.
“For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years shall be accomplished at
Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return
to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts
of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye
shall go and pray to me, and I will hearken to you. And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:10-13).
There it is again. The church is in trouble today. We have been for about seventy
years here in a Babylonian system.
Notice Daniel 9:1 Daniel was very well aware of Jeremiah, but notice the setting
here in Daniel 9:1. It says, “In the first year of Darius …” This was when this was
written. Haggai and Zechariah were written in the second year of Darius, only one year
later, so they were contemporaries.
“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who
was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel
understood by books [By what books? Those that Jeremiah had written.] the number of
the years, concerning which the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he
would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:1-2).
So at the end of seventy years Jerusalem would have basically been destroyed.
We look at the church today, which equates to Jerusalem and to Zion (Hebrews 12:22-23
which you should have that memorized by now), and we see that the church is almost
totally desolate. It’s essentially destroyed. The best numbers I can come up with now
from asking several people who might be in the know is that Worldwide Church of God
— brace yourself — attendance is now between six and fourteen thousand. The lowest
number I’ve heard is six and the highest number I’ve heard is fourteen. And from
someone who is still in Worldwide; they’ve said about twelve.
Additionally I have heard the rumor that it was either last week or this week, (I
forget now), they’re having their last meeting in the auditorium in Pasadena. They’re
going to move to a rented hall and take the plaques off the walls of the auditorium, which
say, “Dedicated to The Great God.” So that house of “The Great God” will no longer be
designated that. That sends chills up and down my spine to even thing about that.
Now maybe God isn’t there anymore and they ought to take them down, but it’s a
sad day when conditions have gotten so terrible that they have to be taken down. That’s
the sad part of it.
I don’t know when this seventy years will end for us, but Daniel wrote this, and if
there is any book that is an end time book I think we’d have to say it’s Daniel.
And then Daniel prayed a very powerful prayer here. I’m not going to read it for
sake of time, but this is a prayer of repentance and a plea for mercy that we all should be
praying because Daniel was writing to the end time church. That’s us and he’s talking
about the end of the seventy years. So I think you see the tie-in here of the end church in
seventy years. When Zechariah talks about it (and he’s writing to the church) he’s talking
about the seventy years that you and I are the end-time church, which has been here. This
is mentioned again in Zechariah 7:5. We’ll get to that eventually as we move on through
Zechariah, but he makes another reference to it.
Judah was in captivity in Babylon seventy years, and a remnant returned to
Jerusalem. Most chose to stay in Babylon. There’s another type that tells you at this end
time that most will choose to stay in Babylon despite all the warnings to “Come out of
her My people.”
Too, The New Testament Church existed in Roman society, which was
Babylonian basically, suffering persecution and basically disappearing from sight after
about seventy years — roughly 30 A.D. to 100 A.D.
The end-time church has been in the captivity of Babylon since its inception
approximately seventy years ago and this prayer of Daniel and Zechariah 1, as well, is a
plea for release and escape from the bondage that we live under today because he says in
Zechariah 1:12, “How long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of
Judah,” — the church against which You have had indignation these seventy years?”
“And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and
comforting words” (Zechariah 1:13).
Now here’s the good news! Once the seventy years is over God’s ire is going to
turn and if we, the faithful remnant (and hopefully that will include us) have turned to
Him, then He speaks to us with good and comfortable words.
“So the angel that talked with me said to me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the
LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy”
(Zechariah 1:14).
God explains what His attitude has been with the church these seventy years.
“And I am very very angry with the heathen that are at ease:...” (Zechariah 1:15).
Let’s go back to Amos 6:1-5 and see what this says.
“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion [those who are taking it easy in the church],
and trust in the mountain of Samaria [That’s like the Temple of the Lord, the capitol.],
who are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!...Ye that put far
away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;” (Amos 6:1-3).
The admonition here is, “Be careful about saying this thing is a long way off.”
“Woe to them that are of ease.” And so He says:
“And I am very very angry with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little
displeased, and they helped forward the affliction” (Zechariah 1:15).
So God says, “Under Herbert Armstrong, I was only a little displeased.” It’s not
that He was totally angry at the church then and God did bless the church through the
fifties, the sixties and even through the seventies. It began to decline a great deal into the
eighties and disappeared into Babylon and Egypt from 1986 on. And now it has almost
disappeared from the face of the earth as a viable entity or corporation. So when the
heathen came in — [spell that “T-k-a-c-h, and others — God became very sore
displeased and it wasn’t all their fault because you and I had become very lack-luster and
lackadaisical at the same time and God was not happy with that either. So His whole
attitude toward the church became very wroth and hence the spewing including you and
me.
“Therefore thus saith the LORD; I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my
house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon
Jerusalem” (Zechariah 1:16).
God says in spite of all this, in spite of the scattering that we have been through
and the red horse that rode through us God is going to build it back. He’s going to stretch
a line on it. He’s going to measure it. He’s going to prepare it and build it. Now you go to
Revelation 11:1. There He says that He is going to stretch a line upon it. By whom? By
the Two Witnesses. They will do the measuring. They will do the checking. We’ll get to
that a little later on.
“Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity
shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose
Jerusalem” (Zechariah 1:17).
He’s not going to give up. He’s going to call the remnant together — “to stir it
up” as Haggai puts it. Some people think this is talking about the Millennium. No. This is
talking about the church now. This is talking about the end of the seventy years when
God begins to bless and comfort again instead of “spew out.”
Now how long is the seventy years? What is the timing here? When does this
happen? I’ve been in the church now for 47 years and I have learned that setting dates is a
land-mine-filled endeavor and I think we all have. Where do you begin to date it? In 1996
when I first went through Haggai in that sermon I thought, well maybe it’s now, because
Herbert Armstrong was converted in 1926-1927. Seventy years later was 1996-1997 and
that fit very nicely except that this didn’t happen then. So you have to keep moving the
date up as we go on as to what event occurred which caused God to start counting the
seventy years.
Now maybe, and to some degree, I was right in 1996 and God inspired that
sermon (I hope) because remember when Ezra began building the Temple. Enemies came
along and didn’t like it and basically stopped it. There was a hiatus of building for about
four-plus years — 1996 to 2000. Maybe there’s a thought there. I don’t know.
But what are the next significant dates? The church began to be organized under
the converted Herbert Armstrong about 1930. That puts us to 2000. Hey! That sounds
pretty good. Maybe this will all start now. But then the church was incorporated as I
understand in 1933. So maybe that’s the official beginning. I don’t know. Aw! That puts
it off another three years! And if that isn’t good enough, the gospel began to go to the
world in 1934. So maybe God starts the seventy years from the time the church became
active on the world scene. In other words, I don’t know. (I’ll let you in on a secret here!)
On the other hand I can’t find anything after 1934, the which was particularly
significant until maybe 1953 when it went to Europe. I hope He didn’t start counting
then. I don’t think so. I think it’s nigh at the door and many times God says, “Woe to
those who say it’s a long way off.” So I choose to believe it’s very close looking at the
history of the New Testament Church. So if I were to venture a guess, I would say
somewhere between 2000 and 2004. I’ll go out on that much of a limb. It will take four
years before you can prove me wrong!
As I said, setting dates is fraught with a lot of frustrations so I’m not setting any
date here. I’m just throwing some speculation out as to what were important dates
because Zechariah makes it very plain that at the end of seventy years good and
comfortable words are coming and that the turn-around is going to occur because He will
yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem, which are types of the church today.
“Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold four horns” (Zechariah 1:18).
What is a horn? It’s a symbol of power, you read in Revelation, perhaps on a bull
or a goat or whatever. It means that which can goad, that which can hurt, that which can
impale.
“And I said to the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he answered
me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem” (Zechariah
1:19).
An interesting point here. Not only is Worldwide Israel, as a type, but also Judah
(those who split off, I think) and Jerusalem (which is the capitol of Judah). In other words
the whole church is being scattered, not just Worldwide, because the treacherous sister
Judah also is departing little by little, day by day, month by month, away from their
devotion to God and devotion to true doctrine. So all are being, and will be, scattered.
The scattering by no means is finished in those who have split off from Worldwide
because frankly most still don’t get the picture that it’s our fault. And until they can get
that picture God will continue to scatter until repentance is achieved. And as I said
before, ninety percent is not going to until they find themselves in the Tribulation. Scary
thoughts.
“And I said to the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he answered
me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem” (Zechariah
1:19).
Now who would be the four horns? Well I don’t know whether we can place four
names in there or not and I don’t like to persecute people individually and specifically too
much. I get persecuted probably enough myself, but Paul did not dare not to name those
who were false apostles. He said it very clearly in several places who had departed.
Who were the chief ones who scattered from Pasadena and made us flee from
false doctrine? Tkach would fit I think. It’s an Edomite name. Read Obadiah. Perhaps
Stavrinides would fit. The “Greek” is mentioned in Zechariah 9 and that Judah would
triumph over the Greeks. So we have one there perhaps that fits because there was a great
deal of wrong doctrine produced by what I call the “Stav” infection. I said, “I say” so I’m
not liable here. “In my opinion” so I’m not legally liable.
We have some German names from the book of Nahum here as well. We have
Albrecht. I believe Ron Kelly’s roots were Germanic. I’m not sure about that. I might be
mistaken. I believe Schnippert is a German name as well. So you’ve got Assyrians,
Edomites and Greeks there. Now there are a lot more names of those who went the way
of the apostasy so I don’t know whether we can plug four names in here or not and
perhaps it’s an exercise in futility to even try, but I want you to know where the source is,
where the heathen came in, and God became very sore displeased because of the bad
doctrine.
So these scattered — Israel, Judah and Jerusalem — under the auspices of God
the Father and Jesus Christ who said, “I have scattered.” It’s just that they use these
instruments just as God used Satan as an instrument with Job and yet it was God’s
project. God said, “Have you, Satan, seen My servant Job?” He’s the One that started the
whole thing so God started this on us as well.
“And the LORD showed me four craftsmen. Then said I, What come these to do?
And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah [speaking of the
four horns above], so that no man lifted up his head: but these are come to terrify them, to
cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted their horn over the land of Judah to
scatter it” (Zechariah 1:20-21).
The four horns put Judah back together. Notice that it’s singular. It doesn’t say
“Israel, Judah and Jerusalem” here. So most of the remnant I think is going to come from
those who split off and not from Worldwide itself or those who have stayed with it
because by now most of those who are still in it have gone back into paganism almost
wholesale. There are a few names there that are still coming out who are clinging to the
truth, but I can’t see how they’re surviving spiritually with that weakened a condition.
God is going to raise up four who will put this back together. Now if you want to
you can go back to Haggai 2:19 where He mentions “the vine, the fig tree, the
pomegranate and the olive tree.” These plants are, I think, symbolic of men who will
stand up and produce fruit in the church. So maybe the four carpenters and the four plants
of Haggai 2:19 are one and the same. I don’t know that for sure, but it seems that the
parallel is there. Perhaps that lifts the lid a little bit on the enigma of that chapter.
Now we will go on to Zechariah, chapter 2.
“I lifted up my eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in
his hand” (Zechariah 2:1).
That which he broached the subject of in Zechariah 1:16, Zechariah looks up and
now he sees the measuring line. It’s talked about and then almost immediately it happens.
Nice, huh? In other words, once the seventy years is over, the talking is done and God is
going to stretch the line on the church. He’s going to begin to measure it.
“Then said I, Where goest thou? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see
what is its breadth, and what is its length” (Zechariah 2:2).
He’s going to measure what’s left. How much is there? What’s the remnant? How
big is it? He’s going to lay the foundation for the latter Temple.
“And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went
out to meet him, And said to him, Run, speak to this young man [which was Zechariah],
saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and
cattle in it:” (Zechariah 2:3-4).
Now many people have thought that this is talking about the Millennium and the
New Jerusalem, but if you want to go back to Revelation 21 and read about the New
Jerusalem (which I think we proved in the series on “The Exclusivity of the Church”) that
the New Jerusalem comes at the beginning of the Millennium and it is a walled city —
walls 144 cubits high. But this is talking about an un-walled city, and it’s talking about
men and cattle. So we’re still physical at this point and we’re still talking about the end
time church. He just now said “At the end of seventy years I’m going to begin to regather it. I’m going to re-establish the church. (The whole message of Haggai is about reestablishing the Temple, of building the latter Temple.)
Now if there are men and cattle therein, I don’t think this can be spiritualized
away because he uses the contrast of “men and cattle.” So it’s not like the metaphorical
language of Amos who called them “the kine of Bashan who ran out at the breaches.” In
other words the symbolism of people as cattle who, when there was a breach in the wall
all ran out, is what happened with the church. But this is a re-gathering of people and
there will be cattle there.
“For I, saith the LORD, will be to her a wall of fire on every side, and will be the
glory in the midst of her” (Zechariah 2:5).
So it does appear, that whether He is visible or not, Christ is going to come as a
wall of fire just as He did as a pillar of fire with ancient Israel as they came out of Egypt.
The symbolism is the same. He is going to protect the church. It will not be to our own
devices, our own guns, our own knives, or our own words that will protect us. We will
be, in other words, vulnerable apart from Him. But He is going to be there. I have a lot of
Scriptures I can tie into this. He’s going to rebuild Jerusalem as a town without walls.
Through this series we occasionally come across Scriptures that indicate a regathering, which indicates that God is going to put a church together. This one falls in
line with it. I want to review some of those Scriptures. Remember Zephaniah 2:1 where
He says, “Gather yourselves” and I made the point that first of all we have to gather
ourselves spiritual as individuals and secondly God is going to begin re-gathering the
church and Haggai carries out that theme very well as does Zechariah here about
“speaking good and comfortable words and stretching a line on Jerusalem.”
But there is a time also perhaps (and I know there is) when God is going to also
draw His people physically together, not just together spiritually as individuals, not just
into one organization, but physically together and I think that is implied there in
Zephaniah 2 along with the other two gatherings because this seems to bear this out here
in Zechariah 2. You can throw in Revelation 12 where the church has to flee physically to
a place of safety where she is protected.
We can go to Isaiah 52 where He tells us to shake the yoke of Babylon off our
neck, to quit lying down and be walked on, to sit up and take note and to put on our clean
garments and go back to being the little white flowers instead of the blue-black juniper
berries or myrtle berries. He tells us there in Isaiah 52:11 to “depart from the unclean
thing.” “To go not in haste, but to go.” That has to be physical. Sorry. It is physical
because there is no instruction in the Bible to go slowly away from sin. That is to be done
quickly at all times; to be done expeditiously at all times.
Now perhaps that was partially fulfilled when we came out of Worldwide. We
came out of Worldwide not necessarily in great haste as it talks about in Matthew 24,
where when it’s time to go to a place of safety, those who are in Judea (where the
spiritual Jews live) are told to flee to the mountains. Where are the spiritual Jews? Ninety
percent are in America. There are no spiritual Jews that I know of in Israel, Palestine. So
Judea is where the spiritual Jew is and ninety percent of the church plus probably is in
America and Canada.
Destruction will come from the north. Where is that? Well Babylon and Assyria
were north and east basically of Palestine in those days. Where is Assyria today? A little
north and a quite bit east of America today. If they are going to rain destruction on
America and they do it by bombs where will they come from? The shortest route to here
is from the north — the polar route. If you fly from Chicago to London, you go over the
pole. I know on a flat map it doesn’t look that way, but on a round world that is the way it
is.
So I’m saying that I believe America, or perhaps Canada, is spiritual Judea today.
The rest of God’s church is scattered around the world just as it was when the original
captivity took place. Many had already left Jerusalem and had gone into Asia and Europe
when the captivity occurred. Now most of us are here and we’re to flee to the mountains.
That’s another subject in itself and we won’t get into that right now.
We’re getting a little warning ahead of time here and we’re going to see it down
in verse 6 of Zechariah 2. “Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north.” The
Assyrian is basically north via the polar route from us today. Babylon was always “up
there” just away from where God’s people were, in Palestine.
“Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I
have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD” (Zechariah
2:6).
He’s referring to the scattering that is occurring to us right now. The whole
context here is the church remember.
Let’s go to the Song of Songs. Here it’s talking about Christ and His church. I
have no doubt in my mind about that because the metaphor is too strong.
“My beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise, my love, my fair one, and come away”
(Song of Solomon 2:10).
He says “Flee from the land of the north.” In other words, “Flee from that
destruction which is coming.”
“For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone [The latter rains come in
January, February and March in Jerusalem.]; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of
the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land;” (Song
of Solomon 2:11-12).
Perhaps this flight will occur in the springtime sometime. We’ve always thought
that. Around Passover perhaps because of the typology in Egypt.
“The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give
forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in
the clefts of the rock [It’s going to be in the rocks in the mountains], in the secret places
of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and
thy countenance is comely [lovely]. (Song of Solomon 2:13-14)
“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me [“I sit at the feet of Boaz,” says
Ruth]. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us
get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourisheth, whether the tender grape
appeareth, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves” (Song of
Solomon 7:10-12).
God takes His people to the villages in the fields and they check to see if this
regeneration, this springtime, this re-gathering of the church is happening. We need to be
looking for the signs that God is beginning to pull a repentant people together because it
probably is not too far off depending on when the seventy years is up. But that’s the
typology that He uses.
In Proverbs 31 we can see all the redeeming qualities of the daughter of Zion
where He tells her there that “You excel them all.” He says the church, or the woman,
goes and buys a field. We just saw “fields and villages” in Song of Songs chapter 2. If
you go to Micah 4:8-10 it talks about leaving the city and going and dwelling in the field.
In other words He’s either talking about putting the church back together in little fields
and villages (all under the umbrella of Christ’s protection) or He is talking about the
Place of Safety itself where He takes His people out to a physical place and they are
blessed there. You can go through Isaiah 35, through 50 and 60 and you will see the
blessings returning to the church. And as I showed in the last sermon of Feast of
Tabernacles 1999 in Africa, the internal evidence indicates that’s the church today not
just the Millennium. God is going to begin to bless His remnant again and that’s what
He’s talking about here in Zechariah.
We can also add Isaiah 33.
“Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself”
(Isaiah 33:10).
We’re going to read a verse in Zechariah 2 in just a moment which says, “It’s
time to go to work. I will arise.” So Christ is going to take a direct hand in putting the
church back together. In the context of Isaiah 33 is verse 14: “The sinners in Zion are
afraid.” All these things are going to begin to happen and it’s going to scare those who
have not repented. The sinners in the church will be fearful and it will surprise the
hypocrites. “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?” Didn’t Christ just say “I
will be a wall of fire around My church”? “Who among us shall dwell with everlasting
burnings?” All right. Here is the answer brethren:
“He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of
oppressions, that keepeth his hands from accepting of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from
hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;” (Isaiah 33:15).
He that turns off his TV I guess. Hey! This is real-life stuff. Is our head in the
Bible or is it in the TV?
“He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the strong holds of rocks:...”
(Isaiah 33:16).
We read that — “the mountains and the rocks” — in the Song of Songs and
Matthew 24.
“...bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thy eyes shall see the king
in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off” (Isaiah 33:16-17).
Zechariah just said Christ would be there. Don’t know whether He will be visible
or not, but we’re going to read it some more in another verse in a moment.
“Thy eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very
far off [My Bible says, “of far distances”]” (Isaiah 33:17).
Israel can in no stretch of the imagination be called “a land of far distances.” The
United States can. This is Judea. This is whence most of the church will flee from. Some
of you might argue with me on that, but we’ll see. If I were Fred Coulter I’d ring my little
speculation bell now.
“Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I
have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD. Deliver thyself,
O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon” (Zechariah 2:6-7).
He puts some of the onus on us if this is the correct translation. God expects us to
begin to get out of what we’re in. Maybe there’s a time to give up not only our spiritual
houses, but also our physical houses as Haggai says at the beginning of the book.
Now there’s an alternative translation here, which both The Amplified Bible and
The Revised Standard Bible use, and their translation of verse 7 is, “Escape to Zion,” or
“Flee to Zion, you that dwell with the daughter of Babylon.” So “Deliver yourself” or
“Flee to” is the same actual thought there. God is going to pull His people out in other
words. He’s going to take them somewhere and some of the onus will be upon us.
“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me to the nations
which wasted you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye” (Zechariah
2:8).
There’s that figure of speech — “the apple of His eye.”
“For, behold, I will shake my hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their
servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me” (Zechariah 2:9).
This is going to be accompanied with great miracles. Jeremiah says that there will
be miracles so great that we’ll tend to forget the Red Sea even. When they came out of
Egypt they didn’t know where they were going. They didn’t know what route they were
going to take and suddenly they were beset by the Red Sea and thought “We be dead
men.” And the Red Sea opened at least three miles wide for that many people to go
across five thousand abreast all night long. And this is going to be greater than that. There
are some big works ahead. God is going to shake His hand on them. Go back to
Revelation 12. A flood comes after His people, and God is able to lick it up.
“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion [the church]:...” (Zechariah 2:10).
The chosen church is the daughter. We’ve talked about “daughters” of Zion.
We’ve talked about the daughters being jealous of the one that God selects there in Song
of Songs. So this is the daughter of Zion. Not plural. God is going to choose one and He’s
going to put the Two Witnesses over them as the leaders as we shall show very clearly
next week.
“...for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD”
(Zechariah 2:10).
So He is going to be there. We can argue whether He’ll be visible or not. I do not
know. There is precedence for that because He did come and speak with Paul for three
and one-half years in the desert so there is a possibility. I understand that woman says,
“Lo, He is in the desert. Believe it not,” and so on because He isn’t coming as a secret
rapture and take all the evangelicals off somewhere. But what is that a corruption of? Of
what Christ is really going to do. He’s going to put His church back together and He’s
going to be right in the middle of it. Whether He’s visible or not we’ll wait and see.
“Take a bath and put on clean clothes.” That’s all I can say. “Don your beautiful
garments, O Israel.” (Isaiah 52:1)
“And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day,...” (Zechariah 2:11).
God is going to begin to bring a remnant back together. All these scattered ones
are pretty small now and there are three trees that are going to die or be cut down in
Zechariah 11. What I’m saying there is that probably God is going to begin to rebuild the
latter Temple even while there are other organizations still there because if Zechariah is
sequential (that doesn’t happen until Zechariah 11 where it says He cuts down the three
big trees and three-fold shepherds) this is going to happen even before the scattering is
complete.
“And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose
Jerusalem again [not Israel]” (Zechariah 2:12).
Worldwide is basically being assigned to what? The Great White Throne
Judgment I suppose.
“Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy
habitation” (Zechariah 2:13).
This reminds me of Psalm 119:126 where it says, “It is time for You to work O
LORD, for they have voided the law.” It reminds me of Isaiah 33 which we just read,
where He says, “I will arise and get to work.” There are several other references very
similar to that in those books of the prophets, but here in Zechariah 2:13 that’s what He
says. “Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy
habitation.”
He’s ready to set this in motion at the end of the seventy years. So wherever we
are in that countdown I do not know. We may be in year 1966. We may be in year 1970.
We’ll see, but I feel that it is very close.
Then He begins to introduce Joshua and Zerubbabel in chapters 3 and 4 so next
week, God willing, we will learn much more about the leadership that Christ is going to
establish to cause this to happen when He begins this great work.