I. BACKGROUND.
A. READ ZECHARIAH 1:1-3.
B. LETS BE SURE THAT WE ARE ALL UP TO SPEED
ON THE BACKGROUND.
LETS REVIEW. ANYONE KNOW THE BACKGROUND? WHAT DOES REFERENCE
TO
DARIUS TELL US? (YOU REMEMBER HOW THE JEWS WERE TAKEN INTO
CAPTIVITY
BY THE BABYLONIANS. THE STORY OF DAVID AND HIS THREE FRIENDS
COMES
FROM THIS PERIOD OF TIME. AFTER THE MEDO-PERSIANS CONQUERED BAB., THE
JEWS WERE ALLOWED TO GO HOME AND CYRUS ISSUED A DECREE TO REBUILD
THE
TEMPLE. ZECHARIAH WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO RETURNED TO JERUSALEM.
REBUILDING HAD STOPPED AND DARIUS, ANOTHER PERSIAN KING, HELPED GET
IT
STARTED AGAIN.)
II. SIN PROBLEM.
A. READ V. 4. IT SAYS THAT GOD WAS ANGRY WITH
THE FOREFATHERS.
B. WHY DOES GOD START OFF LIKE THAT WITH HIS
MESSAGE?
1. ISN'T THIS
ANCIENT HISTORY?
C. WHAT, EXACTLY, FROM HISTORY DID GOD WANT
THE PEOPLE TO NOTE?
READ V.5&6. (THAT WHAT GOD SAYS COMES TO PASS.)
D. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT GOD MENTIONED THAT
THE PROPHETS WERE
NO LONGER ALIVE? (THIS IS BIGGER THAN THE PROPHETS. DON'T BLAME
THE
PROPHETS AND THINK THAT THEY COULD CONTROL THIS. THIS MESSAGE
COMES
FROM GOD.)
E. WHAT ABOUT THE PART ABOUT GOD BEING ANGRY?
1. DO YOU SEE
GOD AS HAVING EMOTIONS LIKE THAT?
2. OR IT THIS
JUST THE ONLY WAY THAT ZECHARIAH KNEW HOW TO
DESCRIBE IT? (WE SEE IN THE BIBLE THAT GOD HAS A PERSONALITY.
HE CAN
BE
ANGRY, AND HE WAS.)
F. THIS GETS US INTO A DISCUSSION OF THE SIN
PROBLEM-A PROBLEM WE
HAVE.
G. WHAT WAS THE LORD ANGRY ABOUT? WHAT WERE
THE TWO SIN
PROBLEMS THAT THE FOREFATHERS HAD?
( THE PEOPLE WERE INVOLVED IN EVIL PRACTICES AND THEY DID NOT PAY
ATTENTION.)
H. WHICH IS WORSE? (REV.3:15)
( DISOBEDIENCE IS A ROUTINE PROBLEM FOR GOD. HE HAS A GOOD SOLUTION
FOR
THAT. WHEN THE PEOPLE DISOBEYED HE SENT PROPHETS TO WARN. WHAT
REALLY IS A PROBLEM, AND MADE GOD ANGRY WAS THAT V.4 "THEY WOULD
NOT
LISTEN OR PAY ATTENTION TO ME.")
I. DO WE WORK MORE ON THE OBEDIENCE ISSUE
THAN ON THE LISTENING
ISSUE?
1. ON WHICH
ARE WE MORE VULNERABLE?
2. DESCRIBE
FOR ME THE KIND OF PERSON WHO DOES NOT LISTEN TO
GOD?
3. WHY DO YOU
THINK THEY NOT LISTEN? (THINK THAT THEY
ALREADY KNOW. SELF ASSURED. A LITTLE RELIGION.)
4. LETS TURN
AHEAD TO V.11 AND 14-15. READ. IT SAYS THAT THE
NATIONS ARE AT REST AND IN PEACE AND THAT THEY FEEL SECURE. ISN'T THAT
GOOD? (THIS IS WHAT GETS GOD UPSET. THEY FEEL SECURE. SECURE
FROM HIS
PEOPLE AND SECURE IN THEIR WAYS.)
III. LISTENING - RETURN TO HIM.
A. OK, SO YOU'RE LISTENING. WHAT IS
THE FORMULA FOR COMING BACK TO
GOD THAT WE FIND IN V.3? (RETURN TO ME AND I WILL RETURN TO YOU.)
B. DOES THIS MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO COME FIRST?
WHICH COMES FIRST?
GOD'S RETURN TO HIS PEOPLE OR THEIR RETURN TO HIM?
1. WHO ACTUALLY
CAME FIRST IN THIS EXAMPLE THAT WE ARE
READING? (GOD CAME. HE GAVE A MESSAGE TO ZECHARIAH THAT SAID,
RETURN
TO ME.)
C. WHY DOES GOD EVEN SAY, "RETURN TO ME?"
IS THIS LIKE TWO PEOPLE
WHO HAVE HAD AN ARGUMENT, AND NO ONE WANTS TO APOLOGIZE FIRST?
(GOD
RUNS A VOLUNTARY UNIVERSE. HE WANTS TO COME, BUT HE WILL NOT
FORCE
HIMSELF ON US.)
D. READ V. 6B. SO THE PEOPLE DID RETURN TO
GOD.
IV. AFTER THE RETURN.
A. THE PEOPLE HAVE RETURNED. I WANT
YOU TO NOTE THE WORDS THAT
ARE USED BY GOD: V.13 "KIND AND COMFORTING WORDS"; V.14 "JEALOUS FOR
JERUSALEM"; V.17 "COMFORT"
1. DOES THIS
TEND TO PROVE THAT WHEN WE ARE GOOD THAT GOOD
THINGS HAPPEN TO US?
2. IS THERE
ANY WAY TO DRAW ANOTHER CONCLUSION FROM THESE
WORDS AND THIS SEQUENCE? (YES. THESE ARE VERY HUMAN, PERSONAL
TERMS:
ANGER, JEALOUSY, KINDNESS, COMFORT. BECAUSE GOD IS PERSONALLY
INVOLVED
WITH US AND EVEN ANGRY AND JEALOUS WHEN WE TURN AWAY, HE
OBVIOUSLY
IS WITH US EVEN WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN. HE WOULD SEEM TO BE THERE
TO
(AT LEAST) EVENTUALLY TURN THINGS AROUND.)
V. NEXT WEEK: WE WILL LOOK AT SOME VISIONS OF VICTORY THAT ZECHARIAH
SAW.