The Lampstand

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The bow of war will be removed, and He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.”

Zechariah 9:9-10 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.9.9-10.hcsb

This is fulfilled in the Gospels, but it is always awesome to see it first hand, to find it first hand, in the Old Testament texts. What I always see in the Gospels is the first part, they don’t speak to the second, which is to come after His resurrection.

“These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your gates. Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love perjury, for I hate all this” — this is the Lord’s declaration.”

Zechariah 8:16-17 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.8.16-17.hcsb

I read these things and am like “duh”, but if it is so obvious, don’t we realize how much better would we be? Think about this: Do not plot evil against your neighbor. Maybe I don’t think about ways to rob them, but have I always looked out for their best interest?

“Just as He had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen,” says the Lord of Hosts.”

Zechariah 7:13 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.7.13.hcsb

The Lord is really not a lot different from us in this way. If we ask someone to do something and they don’t, we are not inclined to do something for them when they ask us. But all too often we want the Lord to do things for us, to give us nice things and cure us, etc, but we don’t want to follow after Him or His commands. We want to be greedy and only think of ourselves. How can we not be surprised when He doesn’t answer us in a favorable way?

“People who are far off will come and build the Lord’s temple, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen when you fully obey the Lord your God.””

Zechariah 6:15 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.6.15.hcsb

What strikes me here is that the Lord’s Temple, which is in my mind symbolic of Christ living within us, will happen when we fully obey the Lord. Fully obeying the Lord, in my eyes at least, would be to follow Christ.

“I looked up again and saw a flying scroll. “What do you see? ” he asked me. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “30 feet long and 15 feet wide.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for every thief will be removed according to what is written on one side, and everyone who swears falsely will be removed according to what is written on the other side. I will send it out,” — this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts — “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones.””

Zechariah 5:1-4 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.5.1-4.hcsb

I read this and think that theft and lying are two sides of the same coin, or scroll… what I believe the Lord is telling me is that either of these sins will come in and wreak havoc on us, right down to our foundations. Ill gotten gain, either through theft or bearing a false witness only results in ruin.

“So he answered me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.”

Zechariah 4:6 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.4.6.hcsb

The Lord can and does bring about great things for us, but it is only through His Spirit – not through great skill, or strength or anything else so that we can boast!!!

““Listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring My servant, the Branch. Notice the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. I will engrave an inscription on it” — this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts — “and I will take away the guilt of this land in a single day.”

Zechariah 3:8-9 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.3.8-9.hcsb

I am reading this on Easter Sunday, and how fitting that on this most holy day I would read how the Lord foretells taking away the guilt of the land, alas all the world, on a single day with His Branch, which is Jesus.

““Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me to you. The Lord will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem. Let all people be silent before the Lord, for He is coming from His holy dwelling.””

Zechariah 2:11-13 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.2.11-13.hcsb

This is a blunt, in your face Old Testament prophecy of Jesus’ coming and how we are all called to be the Lords people, just like the Israelites.

“So tell the people: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Return to Me” — this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts — “and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts.”

Zechariah 1:3 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/zec.1.3.hcsb

This seems pretty obvious: seek the Lord and He will seek you. It is the same as when Jesus said: “seek first the Kingdom of Heaven…”. We want to be blessed by the Lord. We want to feel His presence, but it isn’t a one-way street. Just like me, the Lord doesn’t want to be “used.”

‘“Now, reflect back from this day: Before one stone was placed on another in the Lord ’s temple, what state were you in? When someone came to a grain heap of 20 measures, it only amounted to 10; when one came to the winepress to dip 50 measures from the vat, it only amounted to 20. I struck you — all the work of your hands — with blight, mildew, and hail, but you didn’t turn to Me” — this is the Lord ’s declaration. ‘

Haggai 2:15-17

https://my.bible.com/bible/72/HAG.2.15-17

This is just another example where the Lord is telling His people, and by extension, us, that He wants to do great things for us, but we do not always listen. I wonder how many times I have looked on what I would call lousy luck and not seen the Lord trying to turn me back to Him??

I guess this is what Paul means when he says that All things happen for the good of those who love the Lord and are called unto His purpose. Even bad things, in many cases are there to bring us back to Him.