GRACE BIBLE FELLOWSHIP | 恩道堂

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 14

Theme                   : Glorious Return of the Messiah

Return of the Messiah (1-15). Just before the Messiah returns, the nations of the world will attack Israel and Israel will be exiled again. But their Messiah, Jesus, will physically and literally come down on Mount Olives (fulfilling also the prophecy in Acts 1:11) with His holy ones, angels (Matt. 22:31), to save Israel physically and spiritually. Those who attack Israel will literally melt away. Then the topography of the world will be altered. Israel will be completely flat except for Jerusalem itself (Micah 4:1). Then the glorious Messianic Kingdom will be ushered.

Messianic Kingdom (16-21). The survivors from all the nations after Jesus judges the world will be required to worship God and go to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Feast of Booths, aka Feast of Tabernacles, where they would dwell in temporary makeshift places. If they do not worship God, God will withhold rain. This description of the Messianic Kingdom clearly tells us there is a near-paradise kingdom for one thousand years (Rev. 20:1-6), where sin still exists, that is different from the complete paradise of the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21-22), where no sin exists. Isaiah 65:20 also speaks of this near-paradise kingdom, “No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.”

Praying the Scripture

1. People crave for world peace and a perfect environment, but they do not believe that only the Messiah can bring such glorious world. Sadly, people who do not believe in Jesus will weep when they miss out on such glorious world (Luke 13:28). They do not believe because they love their sins. We pray God will open their hearts to believe. We also pray that God will help us to set our eyes on this eternal glory and align our lives according to this glorious, eternal world. We do not work for this salvation, but work out of this salvation with reverent fear and thankfulness (Phil. 2:12).

2. We pray, God, that we will constantly desire the return of our Lord who will usher in righteousness and rid the world of evil. When we see the sickness of this world: abortion, human trafficking, murder, rape, and sexual perversion; we are grieved and we long for the Messiah to come and set this world right. We long also for the redemption of our bodies, to be set free from the presence of sin (Rom. 8:23).

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 13

Theme                   : The Death of the Messiah

Cleansing Sin and idols (1-6). In the end times, the fountain of Jesus’ atoning blood will cleanse all the filthy sins of Israel. No one will try to be a fake prophet to deceive others. They will be so spiritual sensitive to sin that even parents will put their children to death for such apostasy as false prophesizing. Everyone’s ultimate loyalty will be to God. Fake prophets would hide themselves and their wounds, which they would inflict on themselves in order to practice the occult.

Salvation through Judgment (7-9). The cleansing of all sins once and for all is through the death of the shepherd—Jesus, who intimately stands close to God in the trinity. Since God is holy and will not acquit the guilty, every penalty due to sin must be paid for; therefore, Jesus must pay for every penalty of justified sinners. Salvation of Israel must be through the substitutionary judgment on the Messiah; therefore, God must strike down the shepherd during His first coming. This was fulfilled in Matthew 26:31. In the end times when the shepherd comes again, He will save one third of Israel. The two-thirds will be destroyed for their evil.

Praying the Scripture

1. Prophesizing falsely on behalf of God is a serious sin. So serious that it requires the death penalty in OT time (Deut. 18:20-22). The rampart abuses of the charismatic church is partial due to a low view of prophecies. Some even think it is ok to make wrong prophecies. This is such a gross violation of God’s word that it must be completely rejected. People who prophesy falsely must be church disciplined. God, we pray that you will vindicate your name and rid the church of false prophets who profane your glorious name.

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 12

Theme                   : The Pierced Messiah

Physical Deliverance (1-9). God encourages His covenant people by contrasting His initial judgment on Israel with their ultimate deliverance. God is faithful and will ultimately fulfill His promise to rid Israel and the world of sin. . In the end times, the nations will attack Israel, but through the Messiah, God will strengthen Israel so that even the weakest Jew will be as strong as David and their attackers. V.8 is a reference to the Messiah who will sit on the throne of David so that the house of David will be like God (1 Chron. 17:11-15). It will also be like the Angel of the Lord, which is another reference to the pre-incarnated Messiah. This verse is also an implicit reference to the trinity.

Spiritual Deliverance (10-14). God is not just concerned about their physical deliverance, but also their spiritual deliverance, which will come when God pours out His Spirit to open the hearts of spiritually dead Jews to embrace Jesus, whom they had pierced. Physical blessings cannot come without first receiving spiritual blessings. 12:10 is one of the most stunning prophecies about the death of Jesus and the trinity. God speaks in the first person, and then refers to himself in the third person as Jesus, whom the Jews had pierced on the cross. This is fulfilled in John 19:37. This verse alone can demonstrate the incredible divine nature of Scripture. No man can ever make up such out-of-this-world prophecy and fulfill it in the most incredible way: through the cross of Jesus. Glory and praise be to God.

Praying the Scripture

1. It is clear from Scripture that salvation is ultimately from the Holy Spirit, not from man. For man are all dead in sin and unable to open their hearts to God. Only God can open their hearts to believe. Jesus rebuked Nicodemus, as a great teacher of the OT, for not knowing this (John 3:10). We need to be responsible to make the gospel clear when we evangelize (Col. 4:4), but we should also pray with equal fervency for God to shower His mercy on unbelievers because it is God alone who can open people’s hearts. Heavenly Father, we pray you will cause us to pray more when we evangelize. Let us pray before, during and after evangelizing unbelievers. We pray for your gracious mercy to open their hearts to believe, not for our sake, but for the sake of your glorious name.

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 11

Theme                   : The Rejection of the Messiah

Destruction of Israel (1-3). The returned exiles who are the original recipients of this oracle are loved by God (8:15). However, God prophesizes He will reject Israel again in the future because of their rejection of the Messiah. Shepherds and lions represent Israel and their leaders, just as Lebanon and Bashan represent the land of Israel. The prophecy speaks of the destruction of Israel. Vv.4-17 tell the readers the reason for the destruction is because Israel rejects the Messiah. The destruction of Israel after they rejected Jesus was also prophesized by Jesus in two different places: Luke 23:28-31 and 21:6. The destruction was fulfilled when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Rejection of Messiah (4-17). God calls Zechariah to play the role of a shepherd in order to represent and prophesize about the true shepherd—Jesus, and His rejection. He holds two staffs: favour and union, meaning blessing and unity for the nation. Zechariah shepherds for one month but had conflict with three other shepherds so their relationship was broken. Most likely, one month represents the time Jesus was on earth shepherding Israel, but the three shepherds (most likely the three types of leaders: elders, priests and scribes) hated Jesus so His relationship with Israel was broken. Zechariah asks the shepherds what he is worth to them. The shepherds say 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. This was fulfilled when the leaders gave Judas 30 pieces of silver to kill Jesus (Matt. 27:9-10). Because of their rejection of the Messiah, God will withhold His blessings and peace, and let the Romans destroy Israel. God will also appoint a foolish shepherd for Israel since they rejected the true Shepherd. This foolish shepherd is the antichrist.

Praying the Scripture

1. All who reject the glorious, gracious God of the Bible deserves punishment in hell. For it is He who gives life and good things in life. To reject Him is to commit the ugly and shameful sins of being unthankful and adulterous. Such ugly sins deserve an ugly end. When we share the gospel, we must speak of sins of self-worship and guilt against God. Only through the glorious cross can our guilt be cleansed and our sins be forgiven. The Christian message is very simple: holiness and love. We pray God that you will convict us of the seriousness of sin and not to be ashamed of the gospel but preach it with boldness, humility and love.

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 10

Theme                   : Messiah as Cornerstone and Tent Peg

Real Hope (1-4). Idols are nonsense and give false comfort through lies. Just as money and other things of the world cannot give ultimate security and true peace (1 Tim. 6:17). The only hope of the world is in the Messiah: Jesus. He is the cornerstone and the tent peg of true security, peace, and fulfillment. Cornerstone is the foundational stone of a building. The tent peg is referring to the middle pole of a large tent that acts as the foundation of the tent. Only the Messiah is the solid foundation of life, all else is sinking sand.

Real Salvation (5-12). Through the Messiah, God will strengthen the nation of Israel and defeat their enemies against overwhelming odds in the end times. After defeating their enemies, God will then bring the Jews back from exile from the land of Egypt and Assyria, which figuratively mean all land of captivity and slavery where Jews are located. Egypt and Assyria were no longer independent states, but were under Persian rule when Zechariah received the prophecy; therefore, Egypt and Assyria figuratively refer to the land of captivity as mentioned in Hosea 9:3.

Praying the Scripture

1. God is the cornerstone, the foundation of life. This foundation is demonstrated through the power of His word as the standard of truth. His word is the means of creating and sustaining the world (Gen. 1:3) and His word determines the future course of world history. All who have God as their foundation will be blessed. We have God as our foundation when build our lives on His word. Jesus quotes Deut. 8:3 in Matt. 4:4, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We pray God, that you will graciously give us more and more wisdom to understand and apply your truth so that we can strengthen the foundation of our live every day (James 1:5). Please give us more confidence and love for your word.

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 9

Theme                    : The Coming Peaceful Messiah

Prophecy of Future Judgment (1-8). This passage is referring to God’s coming judgment against Israel’s neighboring enemies. This prophecy was fulfilled when Alexander the Great conquered Damascus, Tyre and Philistines (cf. Ezekiel 26:3–14; 28:20–24), but Jerusalem was miraculously spared. As prophesized in v. 7, the Philistines never existed again after Alexander’s conquest, but was absorbed into Israel, just as the Jebusites were absorbed into Israel when conquered by king David.

Prophecy of Future Joy (9-17). Israel’s ultimate deliverance from their enemies must come from their Messiah who will enter Jerusalem on a donkey, a symbolism of peace and humility. This was fulfilled during His first coming in Matt. 21:5. When Israel worships the Messiah during His second coming, He will conquer all of God’s enemies and then usher in everlasting world peace. No nation will have military equipment. There will be agricultural and environmental blessing, a near utopia before the ultimate utopia. Zechariah’s prophesies about Israel’s future exile and exodus were not fulfilled when the exiles returned to Israel from Babylon, neither were they fulfilled when the state of Israel was established in 1948. Israel will experience its ultimate and last exile and exodus in the end times (14:2-3). This means there will never be lasting peace in the Middle East until Israel recognize its Messiah whom they have pierced (12:10).

Praying the Scripture

1. The world is full of evil doers: organized criminals, druglords, human traffickers, murderers, gangster governments. No amount of human engineering can get rid of all evil and bring in everlasting peace. Human efforts can only restrain evil. Let us pray that our Lord Jesus will return soon and rid the world of all evil. Be thankful that Jesus will usher in utopia and has graciously allow you to be in it, through faith in His death and resurrection. Honor and glory be to Him.

2. God is a peacemaker, Jesus is God’s ultimate revelation of His character as a peacemaker. Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker. This is part of His glorious character. Christians are called to share in this glory by being peacemakers. Jesus says blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). As far as we can, let us make peace with all men, especially believers (Rom. 12:18).

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 8

Theme                    : Encouragement to Exiles

God’s Favor to Israel (1-17). God assures the exiles of His love and jealousy for Israel. God’s jealousy is a pure, unchanging love for Israel, not a sinful husband’s jealousy of his wife because he does not trust her and is always suspicious. Because of His jealous love, God will bring back the exiles from the east and west countries (a merism for everywhere) and bless them in the land. They have no reason to be suspicious of God’s love for them. Instead, they ought to be filled with courage to build the temple and Jerusalem because God is totally for them. As long as they do not provoke God with their sins, but continue to love God’s truth and be at peace with their neighbors, God will bless them.

God’s Exaltation of Israel (18-23). God answers the original question about whether to continue to fast for the temple by saying in His future kingdom, Israel will not fast but will be rejoicing. In that kingdom, there will be world peace. All nations of the earth will want to go to Jerusalem to seek the Lord and worship Him. A new world order will be established by Jesus. Israel will be a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6). People will seek out Jews and go with Jews to seek the Lord in Jerusalem. This is the glorious future that faithful Jews can expect to inherit. All Christians will also inherit this glorious future because of our union with Jesus. Believers are complete in Christ.

Praying the Scripture

1. God, we can be completely confident of your love for your people because you are jealous for us. You are faithful to those who humble themselves and take refuge in Jesus. Once you have chosen to love us freely in Jesus, we are completely safe in your arm. No enemy, neither satan or evil humans, can snatch us from your hand (John 10:29). We can be completely filled with courage and obey your commandments. Thank you for your salvation and thank you for preparing your future kingdom for both believing Jews and non-Jews. Let us live courageously in light of this glorious kingdom that you have prepared for us.

2. It is incredible to think that lowly Israel will be the center of the world in the millennial kingdom. But this is the beautiful work of God so that all will be humbled. He humbles the proud and exalts the lowly (Deut. 7:7; 1 Cor. 1:28-29). He will transform lowly Israel so that everyone will know the power is not from man, but from God. Jeremiah 9:24, “Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.” Highest honor and praise to the King of Kings, Lord of Lords.

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 7

Theme                    : True Religion

False Religion (1-7). The people of Bethel want to know whether they should continue to fast to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, now that the temple is being rebuilt. God does not just reply to the people of Bethel, but replies to the whole land. God reveals that their outward religious fasting and other rituals are empty because they were not done from the right motivation: love for God (cf. Matt. 6:1, 16-18). Fasting and other rituals were observed for themselves, just like their sinful forefathers had done, whom God exiled. In chapters 7-8, God proceeds to correct their unfaithfulness by warning them of His judgment (hell) and by reminding them of the glorious future of Israel (heaven). God again lays out two choices before them: faith in God that results in covenant keeping and heaven or unfaithfulness to God that results in covenant breaking and hell (Deut. 27-28).

True Religion (8-14). God states that true religion is a faithful relationship with God that results in loving others and being kind to others, especially the weak (James 1:27). This is what He values the most: the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:34-40). Rituals are important but must be performed with right motives. Their forefathers did not worship God with the right motives, so God destroyed them for their sins. God warns them of the same outcome if they do not repent.

Praying the Scripture

1. God’s punishment of past generations’ sins is meant for the current generation to learn and then repent of their sins. Sadly, instead of humbling themselves, many people resent God even more for punishing their family members. Some people also resent that the gospel was not available for their forefathers to hear. If people have never heard the gospel it is because their forefathers rejected it and even persecuted God’s people for spreading the gospel just like many communist countries. People should not blame this on God, but should blame their own forefathers and learn from their mistakes and repent. Even when people continue to reject God, God graciously keeps reaching out to them just as Jesus continued to reach out to the gentiles even after they had rejected Him by sending the healed maniac in Luke 8:39 as a witness to the gospel. God is more gracious than you think. His love is amazing. His love should lead us to repentance, not indifference or hatred, or to take it for granted (Rom. 2:4).

2. God, we confess that many times we are like these Israelites who worship you and serve you not out of thankfulness and love for you, but out of our own selfish desires. We often serve you because of our pride, fear, guilt, self-protection or personal gain. We do not love you perfectly as we ought. Sometimes we are just going through the motions. Please forgive us. Thank you that Jesus has died for all of our sins. Apart from Jesus, we deserve hell for our ugly, adulterous sins. Please give us the spiritual strength to live for you and to be pure in our motives.

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 6

Theme                    : Chariots of Judgment and Fulfillment

Chariots of Judgment (1-8). Chariots are like the tanks of ancient warfare. It represents God’s power and judgment. This vision is similar to the first vision. It depicts how God will judge the nations and restore Israel. Red horses represent bloodshed and judgment. Black represents famine and death. White represents victory. Dappled represents a mixture of them (cf. Rev. 6:1-8). The two bronze mountains most likely represent the split Mount of Olives when Christ returns (14:4) to judge the world. Bronze is associated with judgment of sin (Ex. 27:2). The chariots are angelic beings that will go out to conquer Israel’s enemies in the north and south. The north is where the antichrist is prophesied to come (2:6; Joel 2:20). When God conquers the northerner, His Spirit will be at rest.

Crowning of High Priest (9-15). At the end of the eighth vision, God speaks about the future Messiah who will be both king and priest. The reference to the Messiah indicates that all eight visions will be completely fulfilled in the Messiah who will cleanse His people of sin on Calvary in ONE day (3:9) and remove evil from Israel and the nations, and then bless the whole world. Zerubbabel will build the restored temple but the Messiah will build the messianic temple (12, Eze. 40-48). Amazingly, the second temple was financed by the Persian government (Ezra 6:4), which was a common policy by the government through God’s providence. The gentile financing of the second temple is a typological prophesy of the future financing of the millennial temple by gentiles (15-17; cf Hag. 2:7). OT prophesies in minor prophets are often in typological from, i.e. pattern form (e.g. Matt. 2:15, out of Egypt I called my Son).

Praying the Scripture

1. The number of prophesies in the Bible that have been fulfilled is astonishing. Some estimate that there are about 2,500 prophecies in the Bible. About 2,000 have been fulfilled in detail. Just as God has fulfilled many prophecies regarding Jesus’ first coming, so He will faithfully fulfill prophecies about His second coming. It is as sure as the rising of the sun. Let us always desire His return and prepare for it by cleansing ourselves of every known defilement (1 John 3:3).

2. The person and work of Jesus is the centrality of the Christianity faith. The OT believers, in faith, were looking forward to His salvific work on the cross and His transformational work of the messianic kingdom. Church era believers, in faith, look back to the cross and also look forward to His kingdom. Christ is the perfect revelation of God’s character and work (Heb. 1:2). Most major doctrines in the Bible find their culmination and apex in the person and work of Christ. Let us adore Him, praise Him and live for Him for He is worthy of honor, glory and praise. Blessed be His name!

Scripture Reading   : Zechariah 5

Theme                    : Purging of Sin

Flying Scroll (1-4). The flying scroll represents the Ten Commandments, which in term represent the whole Mosaic Law. No stealing is the eighth commandment (Ex. 20:15), no swearing falsely by His name is the third commandment (Ex. 20:7, taking His name in vain). These two sins are highlighted because people were greedy and were willing to pollute the land for riches. God warns those who persist in these sins will be destroyed by Him, just He destroyed their fathers for their sins. Israel will be blessed when God purges all unrepentant people from Israel (13:2-3).

Woman in a Basket (5-11). The woman in the basket represents wickedness in the land of Israel. For God to purify Israel, He must remove this wickedness from the land of Israel. Zechariah sees the woman is carried away from Israel and placed in Babylon (land of Shinar, v. 11). Since the Babylonian empire no longer exists when Zechariah saw this vision, most likely, this is referring to the end time Babylon which represents the evil system of the world that is idolatrous and anti-Christ (2:6-7; Rev. 18:2-4). God will destroy this Babylon in the end and be victorious over evil.

Praying the Scripture

1. Even though the church is not Israel, Jesus has commanded the church to purge itself of anyone who commits serious sins that denigrates the name of God and His church (Matt. 18:15-20). If a church does not purge gross sins from the church, it will not be blessed by God but will be corrupted (1 Cor. 5:5-6). The goal of church discipline is not to embarrass people but to restore their soul and to preserve the purity of the church, the bride of Christ. Church discipline is to be done with prayers, grieve and firmness.

2. Christians are sojourners in this evil world that is still controlled by Satan. We are called to escape this evil system that seeks to destroy our souls (2:6-7). From birth, the world programs people to worship themselves and to pursue greatness (cf. Gen. 11:4) through money, sex, power or pleasure. Such thinking is the foundation of the world. It is anti-God and anti-Christ. God calls us to get out of this Babylon. Revelation 18:4, “Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues.” We are not of this world (John 17:16), but we are in the world to save people of this world.