Daily Bible Study

Tweet

JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE ZECHARIAH Day 1 Zechariah 1 Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus says the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, says the LORD of hosts. 4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, says the LORD. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? And they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. 7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 8 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. 9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be. 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. 11 And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sits still, and is at rest. 12 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 threescore and ten years? 13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. 14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. 16 Therefore thus says the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. 17 Cry yet, saying, Thus says 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. 18 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. 19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. 20 And the LORD showed me four carpenters. 21 Then said I, What come these to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. Everyone likes good news. Especially when there has been so much crisis in their lives. They want to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to know good days are coming. Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem had been in captivity for seventy years. The time had come for God to bring his people out of captivity and bring them back to their homes. God showed Zechariah he was about to bring the people home, but he would deal with the nations who had taken them captive first. Israel would see their salvation from their enemies, as he would bring them home. As Christians, your enemy is Satan, and he held you in captivity until you accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. Your captivity is over, but Satan hasn’t been dealt with yet. Just as God promised deliverance to Israel, he promises deliverance to all those who wait in expectation for Jesus’ return when he will defeat Satan and all those who rejected him and send them to the Lake of Fire and Brimstone – the final death. Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (KJV) The good news is: We win. Satan will be destroyed, and we will live with Jesus for eternity. There is no better news than that. Just as God told Zechariah his people would return home and his enemies would be destroyed, so too, we will go home, and our enemies will be destroyed. Let’s pray: Father, you have proven yourself faithful to your children. You have proven yourself faithful to me. Help me wait for the day when your Son, Jesus, will defeat Satan and cast him into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for eternity. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 7 April 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay