Deliverance by the King

Transcript

GR 1015
Deliverance by the King
Zechariah 9:9-17
Gil Rugh

We are going to be in Zechariah chapter 9 this evening. Zechariah and the 9th chapter. We looked through the first 8 verses of chapter 9 last week. You remember with chapter 9 we begin with the last major division of the book of Zechariah. This section revolves around prophecy regarding the defeat of the Gentile kingdoms and the establishment of Israel as God’s people.

The theme is basically the same is that which pervaded the series of visions in the first six chapters. Here we have them, not given as visions, but given as prophecy. It breaks down into two prophecies. Chapter 9, verse 1 begins with the burden of the Word of the Lord and chapter 12, verse 1 begins with the burden of the Word of the Lord. These are heavy messages. These are messages of judgement which descend upon the Gentiles. Remember it is necessary for the Gentile nations to be judge by God before Israel can be established as the kingdom which rules over the world.

Now the first prophecy that we have been looking into, the first eight verses which we considered last week, had to do with the conquest of Alexander the Great. He is the man in view! He is the instrument that God raises up to bring judgement. You have a going back and forth here where God speaks of Alexander conquering and He speaks of Himself as punishing or conquering. Verse 4 where it says, “behold the Lord will dispossess her and cast her wealth into the sea, and He talks about Tyre”. We know that Alexander the Great did that, but God says that He did it. He did it because Alexander was simply an instrument in the hands of God. That is a word of encouragement for us who are believers. Because things aren’t out of control in the world, God has things perfectly in control. As people would have looked at Alexander and his conquests, it could have been disheartening. But for believers, it can be an encouraging thing. God was simply using Alexander and the great empire he built to mete out judgement upon other nations. The situation hasn’t changed today. God is still in control, He’s still directing the affairs of nations and of men, and He is using them to accomplish His purposes.
An encouraging word to us.

We saw something of the details of the prophecies, starting with Damascus. The region around Damascus known as Hadrach, judgment was to come on them (Damascus being and old strong enemy of Israel), Tyre and Sidon. The unique thing here with the detail prophecy of Tyre, how that Tyre was in two parts. One city on the land and the other on an island, a half mile off shore. The land of Tyre had been destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar. Then when Alexander came he pushed the ruins of that city into the sea to build a causeway out to the island to bring about the destruction of the city there. Just as God said, cast your wealth into the sea, was literally fulfilled! Then the four of the five key cities of the Philistines are mentioned beginning with verse 5, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, these cities which are destroyed by Alexander. Ashdod is the fourth one in verse 6. Gath is the only major city of the Philistines not mentioned. We noted that it may have be omitted because it may have already been assimilated by Israel. It had already suffered its defeat and was no longer a Philistine city but the word of promise in verse 8, for God would camp around His house and would protect Israel, this was literally fulfilled. Again, you can see all these prophesies that have already been fulfilled still look forward to the time of Israel’s future deliverance.

We are going to see that as we look at the last half of the chapter this evening. With the conquest of Alexander, the Gentile nations are punished, and Israel is preserved. What is going to happen in the future tribulation is the Gentile nations are going to bear the brunt of the wrath of God. Israel is going to be preserved. Now Israel is going to bear great destruction. We are going to get to this before we are done with the book of Zechariah. Zechariah 14 goes into detail but nonetheless, Israel is preserved and protected, that pattern continues.

We come to verse 9, we come to a prophecy that focuses on the first advent of Jesus Christ, the first coming of Christ to earth. It’s a familiar prophecy because of the emphasis it gets in the New Testament. Note verse 9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” You can get some idea of something of the confusion of the Old Testament prophets. Down through verse 8 we talk about Alexander the Great then we skip over several centuries and we are talking about the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah. God’s purpose in this is to bring together the sharp clashing contrast. With Alexander the Great, the proud, the arrogance, conqueror, compared now with the King of Israel and the humility that characterizes Him. They are totally opposite in character. God’s purpose in having Zechariah bring these events together is so that the clash be seen. Alexander was all that the world would admire and look for in a conqueror. Jesus Christ, just the opposite of what you would see. But, Israel is encouraged to rejoice greatly, to shout in triumph, why? Your King is coming. Alexander wasn’t their king. Alexander spared the city because God chose to spare the city. But, Alexander wasn’t Israel’s King. Israel couldn’t rejoice over Alexander. They had to tremble over being concerned whether he would turn around and destroy them or not. But when their King comes, He would come with deliverance.

You note the characteristics of the King of Israel, three-fold as mentioned here. First, He is just, or He is righteous. That’s a clash with Alexander. Alexander was neither just or righteous, he was rather a debauched person. The kind of life that he lived accelerated his death and he died a drunk in Babylon, barely 33 years of age. So, justice and righteousness were not one of Alexander’s characteristics. But it’s one of the characteristics of the one who will be King of Israel. Now of course we could trace this through various passages in Old and New Testaments alike. For those of us who have been believers for a while, the righteous character of Jesus Christ, is firmly and clearly seen. Just one other prophetic passage in the Old Testament, look at Jeremiah 23. The one who would be King over God’s people, must of course manifest God’s character. He must be just and righteous. Now, Israel had kings that looked forward to their ultimate king. They would have a man like David, who was admirable in many ways. He was a man after God’s own heart. A man like Solomon, who especially in the early years of his kingdom, was a great man of God. All these men were imperfect in their righteousness. Now, they were righteous because of their relationship with God, but they lacked the perfection in character that would be demanded. The coming Messiah would be perfect in every way, in all areas He would be righteous.

Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Incidentally this chapter opens with a section that we’re going to cover in the next chapter in Zechariah, where in Jeremiah 23 verse 1, “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture”. Talking about the false the shepherds and the true shepherds in Zechariah 10, is the same kind of context in Jeremiah 23. But verse 5 is what we want. “Behold, the days are coming declares the Lord, when I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, The Lord our righteousness.” (Jehovah Tsidkenu) So the very name of the Messiah will denote His character. His name is righteousness, He is the Lord our righteousness. So, this is the first characteristic, going back to Zechariah, of the one who will be king of Israel.

Now you can trace this down, of course through the New Testament, and it becomes key, His righteousness, because of the next characteristic mentioned of Him, He is endowed with salvation. He is a savior. Now to be a savior, He must have righteousness, He must be righteous. You are either a savior or you are in need of a savior. Now, we talk about saviors in a limited context. Israel had many saviors, with a small ‘S’. But the Savior that God now promises and prophesies, will be one that not only will bring physical salvation for Israel, but He’ll bring spiritual salvation. That was the problem at the first coming, which this prophecy points to. Israel was not willing to except the Savior with a focal point on their spiritual salvation. They were prepared only for a Savior who would deliver them physically. This king of Israel must be both a spiritual and a physical deliverer. He is endowed with salvation. He must of course be righteous. We know from the New Testament, that He indeed did bring righteousness. It’s His righteousness that we now have. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 says that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us in order that we might be made righteousness of God in Him. The reason we can be made the righteousness of God in Christ was because Christ indeed had God’s righteousness. His justice, His righteousness is connected to His ability to be a Savior. Thus, only one person qualifies to fulfill the prophecy mentioned here being endowed with salvation!

Humble, the third point here, humble is a contrast with Alexander that is obvious. You find Alexander as a true human emperor being most merciless with those who were an affront to his pride. Who did things which would cast a shadow on him. He was such a proud and arrogant person that he was most vicious with those who hurt or offended his pride. The king of Israel will be humble. Humility will be one of his characteristics and will be a basic characteristic. This is a broad characteristic. All of Isaiah 53 from the end of chapter 52 with verse 13 through chapter 53. The suffering Servant depicting the humility and the sufferings of Jesus Christ, all involved there. Philippians 2, were we are exhorted to have the mind of Christ. That mind that he had, all though he was equal with God, He humbled himself and became obedient until death even the death of a cross. Wherefore God has highly exalted Him. The basic characteristic of the king of Israel will be humility. It will be one who is humble, obviously clear in His earthly life. All you must do is read the Gospels. Here you have the Son of God, the Creator of the world, coming and living among His creation and suffering all kinds of abuse and indignities. Even to the point of execution on a cross and yet He humbled Himself to the point of being willing to suffer that. There can be no debate about the humility of Jesus Christ even though He had every reason to manifest arrogance and pride because of who He was.

Interesting here, He is humble and mounted on a donkey even on a colt, a foal of a donkey. Don’t get confused. We might lose track if you know something of the early history of Israel. Riding on a donkey was done even by nobility. That was a position of honor, but with the reign of David, especially with them picking up with Solomon, the introduction of horses as a major means of transportation in this part of the world; the donkey was relegated to the meanly task and was viewed as a beast who carried a burden. It became beneath the dignity of an emperor or a person of noble rank to ride on a donkey, that is carried over from that point on down. Alexander wouldn’t be caught dead on a donkey, my goodness, Alexander the Great ride a donkey? He had to have the finest horse that was available any where in the world. He was Alexander the Great, just ask him and he will tell you. Here the king of Israel will come mounted on a donkey, so keep in mind when Zechariah is writing. He is writing hundreds of years after David’s time when it was no longer an honor to ride on a donkey but was a sign of being humiliated or being humble. This prophecy becomes especially significant to us because of the fulfillment that it has in the New Testament.

Look over in Matthew 21, verse 9. Zechariah 9 is clearly fulfilled in the New Testament with the first coming of Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 21, the first book in the New Testament, and we have a scene here called the triumphal entry of Christ. In Matthew 21, in verse 1 when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her, untie them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says something to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them.” Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying (the prophet is Zechariah, what was written in Zechariah 9:9), “Say to the daughter of Zion, behold your King is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even upon a colt, the foal of a a best of burden”. The disciples went and did just a Jesus had directed them and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid on them their garments, on which He sat. Most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. The multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” Now when you connect this activity with Zechariah chapter 9 you can understand something of the response of the Jews. If you would had been a Jew who had grown up saturated with Old Testament prophecy you would have been very familiar with Zechariah 9:9. Now you have Jesus Christ at the close of His earthly ministry, having done the great and tremendous miracles and evidences of power that He had done, enters Jerusalem exactly as Zechariah had said their king would come. It is not a bit unusual to see the people respond in this way. We read it and say, what caused that kind of response to a man who comes riding in on a donkey. What causes that kind of response is that exactly what Zechariah said centuries before would happen.

Now what will happen within a weeks’ time will be those who were crying out Hosanna will be a mass turning of the multitudes and they will be crying crucify Him, crucify Him. Many of those who would cry Hosanna would be looking for a political deliver and Jesus Christ did not come and accomplish that. The first thing he does when he gets into the city is stir up trouble by driving the money changers out of the temple beginning in verse 12. The prophecy of Zechariah, is clearly fulfilled. A donkey and the colt coming along, emphasizing the humility and the lowly position of the one who enters as king. The Jews could accept this, if once he got into the city, he was going to spring off the donkey and destroy the Romans. The problem was, he didn’t do that, although He does demonstrate His power and authority in the cleansing of the temple.

Now come back to Zechariah 9. Here you have again, one of the many occasions in Old Testament prophecy when you have the first and the second coming of Christ put right together. We know from our perspective that between the end of verse 9 and verse 10, there is almost 2,000 years already. You could draw a little line out above verse 10 and circle verse 9, the first advent, then circle verse 10 the second advent. You can see something of the confusion of the Jews. They could see the first part and it’s fulfillment, but the second part, verse 10, “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” Now, that has not yet been fulfilled. But, I take it, having the opportunity to read verse 9 and see how precisely down to the finest detail, that God fulfilled the prophecy of verse 9. I take it He’s going to fulfill verse 10, down to the same precise details. It doesn’t do any good to say verse 9 gets a literal fulfillment, verse 10 gets a figurative fulfillment. Why? The only reason you can say such a thing is because verse 9 was already fulfilled, so it had to be fulfilled literally, that’s obvious. But since verse 10 hasn’t yet been fulfilled it must be figurative. No, verse 10 hasn’t been fulfilled, but it must be literal. So therefore, it’s just a yet future time. Not so difficult to interpret prophecy, is it? Verse 10, when He says, I’ll cut off the chariot from Ephraim, the horse from Jerusalem, the bow of war will be cut off, that’s not bad. What He is saying is Ephraim and Jerusalem won’t need the chariots and the horses and the bows because there will be no war. In the Millennium, Israel is not going to need weapons. There’s going to be total peace worldwide. Israel won’t need instruments of war for defense and protection. “He will speak peace to the nations”, He, being the Messiah. Speak peace, in other words, peace will reign over all the world. All the nations will function under the domination of Jesus Christ. He’ll be King of the Jews. He’ll reign from Jerusalem, but all the world will be subject to His rulership, all nations. There will be enforced obedience and submission. Rebellion will not be tolerated in any nation or any people. You note, His dominion will be from sea to sea, from the river, [and you have in the margin,] the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. So, it starts with that beginning point. The Euphrates River, outstanding in major landmarks for people in biblical times, but you note, it’s not limited. We’ll start with the Euphrates and we’ll go to the ends of the earth. In other words, we’ll just come back around to the Euphrates. He’s going to dominate everything. It tells you where it’s going to begin but it has no ending. His kingdom will include everything and everyone in the world. That does not mean that everyone in the world will be a willing subject of Jesus Christ. There just will be no overt acts of disobedience tolerated. So, you kiss the Son least He be angry, and you perish from the way. There will be people born in the Millennium to people who trusted Christ in the tribulation, and survived the seven years tribulation. They go into the Millennium in their physical bodies and have children. Some of these children growing up under the reign of Christ, will be rebelling against Christ. They will keep that rebellion hidden; because they know if they let it out, they’ll be destroyed. At the end of a thousand years, after living a thousand years under the perfect righteous rule of Jesus Christ; when Satan now is freed and offers himself as king a great number like the sand of the sea will follow him in rebellion against Christ. But throughout the thousand years, there is enforced peace, and everyone will be at peace, so that there will be no need for weapons of war. Now, with verse 11 and following, we begin to expand a little bit and behind the following verses, there is the period of the Maccabees. The Maccabees live from about 175 to 163 BC. A period of a dozen years of so. They were instrumental in the deliverance of Israel from Greek domination. It becomes a picture of “end time” domination of Israel by antichrist and his forces, and the ultimate defeat of the antichrist. Let’s just look at the highlights of these verses. Verse 11, “As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.” Now, the waterless pit, verse 11 and 12 are a note of encouragement for Israel. In light of the hope that is theirs, talking about the begging of verse 12. The waterless pit, we’re familiar with Joseph. Remember Joseph, his brothers let him down into a pit. Remember Jeremiah, he was let down into the cistern, the pit. It was a good jail. In biblical times, if the well didn’t have any water in it, you just lower them down on a rope, take the rope out, and nobody leaves, nobody breaks out. When he says, I’ve set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. What he is saying is, that that’s prison that they have been in. Because of the blood of the covenant, it may refer to the Mosaic covenant, the blood shed in connection with that covenant, which would be very obvious. It may go all the way back to the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15. Emphasis here is God’s agreement with Israel is the foundation for His setting them free, for His deliverance of them. That is the foundation, why does God deliver them, because they were so faithful, because they were obedient, no Israel was neither faithful or obedient. God delivers them because of the blood of the convenient. God had committed himself to the preservation and ultimate establishment of Israel. He can’t do anything else! God is locked in, He has obligated himself to establish Israel as a nation. Return to the strong hold oh prisoners who have the hope. This very day I’m declaring that I will restore double to you. I will restore double to you, probable views Israel as the first born. Look back at Exodus 4. Since we are not Jewish some of these phrases go by us, look at Exodus 4:22. The account here is the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh. Moses is God’s representative, on behalf of the people of God. Verse 22, Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus, says the Lord, “Israel is my son, my first-born”. The first-born was the one who had the position of prominence. It was the privilege and prerogative of the first-born son to get a double portion. He got a double portion, he in effect was the heir. Look over in Deuteronomy 21:15, a problem that is not so overwhelming for us today, If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the first-born son belongs to the unloved, then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the first-born before the son of the unloved, who is the first-born. But he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the first-born. The right of the first-born was to have a double portion. Now Israel, as God said in Exodus 4, is his first-born. Now when you come back to Zechariah 9:12, this very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you, it’s an indication of Israel’s privileged position. Israel is the nation of privilege before God. They will get the inheritance! They are the strength of God! There is a word of encouragement there, this doesn’t rule out other nations. Sometimes we get confused and think all the nations are going to be destroyed and just the Jews will be present in the Millennium. No, that is not true. Israel will be the dominate people, just like all the sons weren’t destroyed, but one son was given a privileged position of getting a double inheritance. Now here is Israel the nation that God has chosen for himself. Other nations will experience his salvation and have a part in the Millennium. Israel will be the special nation that God blesses and uses in a particular way. Now, with verse 13 “I will bend Judah as My bow. I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece.” Here you see the conflict and obviously it has an immediate fulfillment, because it’s between Greece and Israel. The sons of Zion, the children of Jerusalem, the Jews and the children of the Greeks. It will be the Greeks against the Jews. This carries us to the time that I mentioned, the time of the Maccabees. There’s a little booklet I meant to bring with me and I forgot. But I’ll mention it to you. It’s by Harry Ironside. I believe it’s called the 400 Silent Years. It’s a little paperback book, and it covers the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament. You ought to secure a copy of that. It’s really interesting reading, basically history. Ironside writes in a very understandable way and fascinating to trace the history of this period. You come to the New Testament, we have Sadducees and Pharisees. Do you know how we end up getting Sadducees and Pharisees? They develop out of the inter testament period. If you read Ironside’s book, there are other materials on it but Ironside is a good brief one to start with. He’ll explain to you the rise of the Sadducees and the rise of the Pharisees. You’ll come to understand how Harrod, a non-Jew, comes into the New Testament times being King of the Jews. An important period of time. He’ll also talk about the Maccabees. The Maccabees were significant. Judas Maccabees was one of the sons. But the name Maccabees characterizes the whole family. They were raised up by God to in effect, to break the yoke of the Greeks. Now, Alexander has been dead for some time, they would have been in no position to stand against him. The Maccabees, in effect become the deliverers of Jerusalem and Israel. By the time we come to the end of the Maccabees, and the Maccabees incidentally are responsible for bringing the Romans into Palestine as the dominant power. To help in their battle with the Greeks, they invite the Romans to be their allies. Talk about inviting a snake into bed. Once you invite the Romans in, there’s no way to nicely say, why don’t you go home. So, they never did go home. None the less, we’re concerned here about the Maccabees and the Greeks. Verse 14, “Then the Lord will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning. And the Lord God will blow the trumpet, and will march in the storm winds of the south. The Lord of hosts will defend them. And they will devour, and trample on the sling stones.” In other words, these weapons and the stones that they put in their slings, they will be trampled underground, underfoot. “They will drink and be boisterous, And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin, drenched like the corners of the alter.” Rather gruesome picture here. We’re talking about blood. They will be drinking, they will be filled with blood. The sacrificial basin, the corners of the alter splashed with blood. The picture here of the destruction of their enemies. Again, it would be hard to imagine that the Jew would come to the point of being able to accomplish this. But under the Maccabees, they do. They bring about a deliverance. This is a significant point of history for Israel. It gets a marked period of the Old Testament, marked section. Look back to the book of Daniel 8. Some of you studied the book of Daniel not to long ago on Wednesday nights. Some of you are studying some prophetic material in different bible studies that are going on now. Daniel 8, now don’t confuse Daniel 8 and Daniel 7. There is a reason that you could get confused. Why could you get confused in Daniel 7 and Daniel? There are a lot of reasons, Ha. But what person stands out, or what title stands out in Daniel 7 and in Daniel 8? Belshazzar? No, although he’d be in the background. The little horn. The little horn. Now, what’s confusing about the little horn? There’s a little horn in chapter 7, there’s a little horn in chapter 8. But they’re not the same little horn. Now that’s confusing. Why didn’t He call one little horn A and little horn B? Or little gray horn and little red horn? They’re just little horns. The little horn of Daniel 7 has its fulfilment in the antichrist who will dominate the 7 yeas tribulation yet in the future. The little horn in of Daniel 8 is a type. It refers to Antiochus Epiphany, and he is a type of the antichrist who will come. But Antiochus Epiphany was the man against whom the Maccabees rebelled and fought. He had an historical and literal fulfilment. Daniel 8, we can just pull out a few things. In verse 8, in these sections you have the goat doing battle. “Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was might, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.” Referring to Alexander, and Alexander was this mighty horn. But as soon has he was mighty, he was broken. He no sooner conquered the world, and now as a young man, he died. His empire was divided into fours. Isn’t it interesting, that Daniel’s writing hundreds of years before this happened. That’s why the critics can’t accept that Daniel was written 5 or 6 hundred years before Christ. Impossible! You know the only reason they say it’s impossible? How could a man write such detailed facts hundreds of years before they occurred? All it has to be is, God tells them. I don’t see the problem there at all. But if you don’t believe that there’s a God that can do such things, that’s a problem. But it always amazes me that these men go on to talk about the Bible and about God. They have a God that doesn’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. That’s hardly a God that’s worth studying about, is it? Doesn’t make any sense. They think Christians are stupid. Alright, four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. Another words Alexandrea empire ultimately divided into fours. Interesting again, it wasn’t divided into thirds, it wasn’t divided into fifths. There was a fifth man who thought he could get on but he was executed very quickly because there are only four divisions allowed. We are coming here from verse 9, now out of one of them came fourth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly. Now you note, out of one fourth’s, out of one division, the Syrian division of Alexander’s empire arises a little horn. Now that is different than the little horn of chapter 7 which arises out of the Roman empire. This little horn arises out of the Greek empire, in one of the divisions of the Greek empire. It grew exceedingly towards the south, towards the east, and towards the beautiful land. That describes Antiochus Epiphanes empire. It grew up to the host of heaven causing some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, it trampled them down. It even magnifies itself to be equal with the commander of the host. It removes the regular sacrifice from him and the place of the sanctuary was thrown down. Alexander’s rebellion was complete! He tried to establish himself as total deity in effect in his activity and of course he failed. Daniel 8:12, “And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking. How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled? And he said to me, For 2,300 evening and mornings.” That’s where Seventh Day Adventists bring in their doctrine of 2,300 years, which has nothing to do with anything here. “The holy place will be properly restored.” It has to do with the time of the Maccabees. It was the Maccabees you remember, if you’ve read about this event. First Maccabees indecently, in the Apocrypha. That is the best book in the Apocrypha. It’s not inspired but has good historical material. Second Maccabees is not near as good. First Maccabees is good, you ought to read it if you’re interested in the history of this time. Antiochus Epiphany decided he wanted to become greater. He extended his empire down and decided he would invade Egypt. The problem was, that Egypt called for help. They called for the Romans. The Romans had their fleet come in and the commander of the fleet confronted Antiochus Epiphany. He said, if you continue your excursion into Egypt, that will be declaration of war against Rome. Well, that was an awkward position to be put in and Antiochus was a proud man; he said, I need some time to think about it. The Romans always were and understanding people. The Roman commander took a stick and drew a circle around Antiochus in the sand and said fine, you have until you leave that circle to make your decision. The Romans weren’t ones to wait. Antiochus of course had no choice. He couldn’t go to war against the Romans, he was that smart. So, he goes back up through Palestine in a rage. He’s going to prove that he’s somebody. Even though his pride is hurt, he goes and vents his rage on the Jews. He goes through and destroys the temple, destroys the city. Then of all things, he offers a pig as a sacrifice in the temple, for the purpose of desecrating the alter. Now obviously, if you’re familiar with the Old Testament, this violates the alter. It makes it become non-effective. It’s just been defiled. Then he takes the juice of the pig and spreads it over the entire area. You get some idea of the vileness of this man. He’s had over 2,000 years to consider his folly since his death. Non the less, this is what he did. He destroyed the sacrifices. Now, it took until the Maccabees to restore the area. They rebuilt the temple area, the city area. They rebuilt the alter, they reconsecrated it, they offered the proper sacrifices, so that it could be used again, and so on. That’s what’s in view here with the evenings and the mornings. Move down here while we’re in chapter 8. Then we’ve got to tie this together, if there is such a thing. Verse 22, “And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.” Isn’t it interesting, hundreds of years before, here’s a man that’s going to conquer the world, die in the prime of life, his kingdom will be divided into fours. But no one will arise to his power again, within his empire, that’s true. Verse 23, “And in the latter period of their rule, when the transgressors have run their course, a king will arise insolent and skilled in intrigue. And his power will be mighty, but not by his own power, and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will; he will destroy mighty men and the holy people. And through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without human agency.” Interesting, Antiochus Epiphany did not suffer death at the hands of another person, he died of disease. Again, God’s careful that all of the details are correct. Then on, Verse 26, “And the vision of the evening and mornings which has been told is true; but keep the vision secret, for it pertains to many days in the future. Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for many days. Then I got up again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it.” Can you imagine his dilemma. He had all this dumped on him and he doesn’t know. Who is Daniel going to go to for an explanation? Obviously, it’s closed, and that’s what we’re told at the end of the book of Daniel. The vision is sealed for a future time ultimately. Now that activity of Antiochus, pictures the time when the antichrist of the seven years tribulation you remember. In the middle of the seven years, will defile the temple and set up the abomination of desolation. He will defile the temple of the Jews, just as Antiochus Epiphany did before Christ. Antiochus Epiphany offering a pig on the alter, he was a pre-figuring or a type of the ultimate Anti-Christ, and his rebellion and an attempt to annihilate the Jews, he is a picture of the ultimate Anti-Christ, who will attempt to annihilate the Jews. In his failure and ultimate destruction, is a picture of that ultimate figure who will attempt to annihilate the Jews, but will suffer destruction, not by human agency, but by the intervention of Jesus Christ personally, to bring about his destruction. When you get back to Zechariah 9, that’s the events that we are bring together. Bringing together events that have an immediate fulfillment in the period of around 175 down to 163 BC. This immediate fulfillment looks forward to an ultimate fulfillment that will be carried out in a future time in the seven years tribulation. In verses 16 & 17 of chapter 9, carries us to that time. Where we’re told, “And the Lord their God will save them in that day as the flock of His people; for they are as the stones of a crown, sparkling in His land.” We have a song that revolves around that being His jewels or his crown. For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins. I often thought it would be good if I could sing but I guess the Lord new that it wasn’t good that I could sing. Think how much more effectively I could be if I could start to sing you the song based on this scripture, maybe that wouldn’t be so effective. We are looking ahead here ultimately to the millennium. You can see how he has carried us from this time of difficulty refigured in the period of the Maccabees, looking forward to the ultimate tribulation which will be followed by the deliverance that God will bring them because they are his flock and the shepherd is responsible for the flock and they are his jewels for him. What comeliness and beauty will be theirs. Amazing, the Jews and all they have gone through, yet they are going to be people of great desirability and beauty. The peoples of the world will cling to the Jews as we looked at in previous studies. Attach themselves to the Jews because they want to take part in the blessings, that the Jews are receiving and being the vehicles, they give out. Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins. Tremendous blessings take place. Verses 16 & 17 carry us to the millennium, so what happened? Verse 9, we have the first coming of Jesus Christ. Verse 10, we have the second coming of Jesus Christ. Verses 11 & 12 we have a message of hope regarding the deliverance of Israel. Verses 13 to 15, we look to the time when Israel will be delivered from bondage and promote pression as prefigured by the time of the Maccabees ultimately carried out in the seven years tribulation and that time of deliverance will be followed by the millennium when they will be in full display as God’s jewels. Full of beauty and comeliness because of the work that He has done in them which all ties to verse 11, the blood of My covenant. I promised it! I promised it that Israel would occupy this position! I promised that they would be people of beauty and desirability! I promised that they would rule and reign on the earth! What else can you do? That is encouraging to me, that all of this sometimes clouds the issue of what hope there is for the Jews. There is the hope of God’s promises. That encourages me, the difficulties that come in. The problems that set the way. They don’t change the fact that God has promised and since God has promised I am going to reach the ultimate end. I shall share in His glory! I shall be displayed as a trophy of His grace as Ephesians says, just as the Jews will as trophies of God’s grace as His earthly people.

Let’s pray together!
Father again we thank you for the clarity of your word, Lord even for the details of the prophesies that we have considered. Father we thank you for the privilege of looking at those prophesies which have been fulfilled. Father, we see how meticulously each detail was set out and each detail was fulfilled. Father we are thankful that we serve a God who has the events of this world under complete control. That you are arranging the affairs of men and the affairs of nations according to your plan and according to your time table. Father we are thankful for the privilege of being your people, for being a part of your plan in a special way. Father that we might be encouraged as we consider something of the history of Israel and something of the future of Israel. Father we are thankful that they are your people as a result of your Covenant. Father we are thankful that we are your people because of the agreement we have entered into, enlighten of the new Covent. Lord for the glorious destiny that is ours as well. Help us to take courage as we consider the future of Israel and your purpose and plans for them. Not to be discouraged by the problems and trials that beset us on the way as your children but be encouraged by the end that you are preparing us for. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.