The First and Second Coming of Jesus Prophesied
Zechariah Lesson 23, Chapter 9: 9-10

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

In a previous lesson we looked at the fact that the enemies of Israel have chosen God as an enemy. God is highly protective of Israel, and they will never be moved from their homeland ever again. To fight Israel is to fight God. Even if you succeed, it will only be for a time until the Lord does something miraculous and you lose.

During the Six Day War (June 5–10, 1967), knowing what was coming, the Israelis launched a pre-emptive strike, almost completely destroying the Egyptian air force and gaining air superiority. A subsequent ground offensive came as a surprise to the Egyptian army; they suffered heavy losses and eventually gave up their ground. Egypt had a much larger military, and this should have been a cake-walk for them. But, Israel never fights alone; God is their secret weapon, their secret protector and their secret preserver.

As we enter the new year, things will begin to heat up in the Middle East. As the US and others begin to relocate their embassies, there will be more and more turmoil in Israel.

The Jews are waiting for their Messiah to come. He did come once, about 2,000 years ago; they missed Him. Most Jews got the two verses that we are looking at today mixed up, or completely missed the first verse altogether. Jesus came once, and He is coming again. We will see in these two verses the two promised comings and what we should expect in them.

Jesus, the Lowly King, verse 9

About two years after Jesus’ birth, a group of men called the Magi, or, as a popular Christmas hymn puts it, ‘three kings’ showed up at Herod’s palace to ask for the new King. The Bible does not tell us that there were only three kings. We know that they brought three types of gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Each was significant to the person of Jesus. However, these Magi show up at the palace as anyone looking for a king would do. They had been following a star for about two years and came to Jerusalem to find the new Jewish King.

In Matthew 2: 1-6 we find this account:

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’

“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet’:

“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

The Magi show up asking Herod to see the new king of the Jews. Herod is troubled and immediately asks for the Jewish scholars to come. They quote to him from Micah 5:2, that states that the ‘Ruler who will Shepherd my people will come from Bethlehem in Judah.’ So, Herod knew where to go looking, and look he did. He sent the Magi ahead to find the new King and then he promised to follow so he could worship too.

We all know the story. The Magi came, they worshipped the new King Jesus, and they gave timely and expensive gifts that aided Jesus’ family as they had to run to Egypt for safety from Herod.

Jesus would grow to be a man, and at the age of thirty began His public earthly ministry. Jesus presented Himself to the people of Israel. He proved that He had power over the elements. He raised the dead; He fed the poor; He healed the sick; He stood against their religious oppressors; and He went about doing good. Paul tells us that Jesus took on the mind of a servant, in Philippians 2:5-7:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”

Jesus was a servant to the people of Israel, and as such came to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world. The Jews, much like today, were looking for a Messiah, one to conquer the Romans and restore the glory of Israel. But what they got was the king who fulfilled the first verse of our passage today.

He came lowly and sitting on a donkey. Jesus was not in battle array. He did not come with a vast military, nor was He commanding a horde. Just one man, sitting on a donkey, entering Jerusalem. He was there to redeem the whole world. But the Jews could not see Him; they were, and for the most part, they are still blind. We can see that even Jesus’ disciples were blind in their Jewishness, in Acts 1:6:

“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” 

They were still focused on the nation of Israel. They could not see that Jesus had defeated the entire kingdom of darkness. They could not see that He had fulfilled the first promise that God had made man about the redemption that would come, a promise from Genesis 3:15; Jesus had crushed the head of the serpent. Satan had been defeated. This had to be done before He restored the nation of Israel.

So many Christians are the same way; they miss the whole idea of why Jesus came. Many today are building earthly kingdoms – things that will fade – with big houses, big cars and luxurious lifestyles. But they are missing the point. Jesus did not come to give you the kingdom of the earth. He came to bridge the gap to the kingdom of Heaven.

Too many are so blinded by the comforts of this life that they cannot see the true power of what Jesus accomplished by His resurrection from the dead. Jesus KILLED DEATH! This was a far greater accomplishment than either restoring Israel or giving us a cushy life. Now we can proclaim from the roof tops, ‘Death where is your sting?’ It is gone.

Death simply issues us into the presence of God. This is the true abundant life. This is what the lowly King Jesus came to do the first time.

Jesus, the Conquering King, verse 10

There are two book covers on this story. The first one shows us Jesus as the lowly king. The second shows us Jesus as the Conqueror. He will defeat the enemies of Israel, both the ones outside and inside. He will bring peace to Jerusalem and the nations of the world. He will rule from sea to sea. No place on earth will be away from his authority. Jesus will rule the nations (the ends of the earth) from Jerusalem.

In Revelation 19, we see the second advent of Jesus; here He is not lowly, but in magnificent battle array:

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

“Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.’

“And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Rev.19:12-21).

This is the Jesus the Jews thought they were getting the first time. They were wrong. But Jesus is coming back again. He will rule the earth. There will be no atheists, no excuses and no question as to His existence. He will not tolerate rebellion, and for 1,000 years He will take away the curse of sin from the earth. There will even be peace in the animal kingdom, as we see in Isaiah 11:6:

“The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them.”

Wow, what a time that will be!  It will be like nothing we have ever seen. Those of us from the Gentile church will be serving in the Kingdom. There will be plenty to do.

Are you preparing to meet this Jesus? The King in His glory! Have you accepted the lowly Jesus, the one who bought your salvation in His own blood and conquered death for you?

If you have not accepted the lowly Jesus, then the Kingly Jesus is not your friend. He is coming to rule over the world with a rod of iron. Submit; humble yourself today. Jesus is the Savior—the only one who can redeem you from the fear and sting of death.

Romans 10:9-10 says “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Judgment Day

Zechariah Lesson 19

Chapter 8: 14-17

“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Just as I determined to punish you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘And I would not relent, So again in these days I am determined to do good To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear. These are the things you shall do: speak each man the truth to his neighbor; give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace; Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor; and do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate,’ says the Lord.’”

There are many times that we take, or at least I take, a look at the world around us and find a sense of despair. We live in tumultuous times. We live in a time of coldness and a lack of caring for our fellow man.

Just over the summer when we had two devastating hurricanes come through the USA, we found that people were hoarding food and toiletries and that the government had to make sure people did not price-gouge those who had been affected by the bad weather. There were incidents where people actually tried to gouge people on fuel, food and accommodations. These actions of taking advantage of people in dire situations are so prevalent in our time.

It may seem at times that there is no hope for us. And, for the most part, we know that this world is not going to get better until the Lord Jesus returns and cleans this mess up. But, you and I can make a difference where we are. We can take responsibility for our circle of influence. This is where I would like to focus. There is a song called “You can Be One.” The gist of the song is why sit around and wait for a miracle when you can be a miracle to someone today. You and I can be light in a dark world, salt in a tasteless world, and salve in an all-too-often painful world.

Judgment Day is Coming, verse 14

God has told us in the Bible that these are the last days, and the next chapter is about the judgment day. We can already see the judgment of God falling on us with the seemingly exponential growth of the homosexual agenda and the exposure of the depth of the sexual perversions that envelop all aspects of society.

Romans 1:18-27 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse; because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”

Notice the progression, in verses 14-21: The people suppress the knowledge of God. It is not that they do not know God; they know Him but deliberately turn their backs on Him and refuse to honor Him and worship Him as God. These are not misguided actions; rather, these are a wanton defiance of the place, position and person of God.

In verse 20-23, they were thankless and decided to worship the creation rather than the Creator, thus the rise of theories like evolution and the ‘big bang.’ These are made-up ideologies that are simply there to defy God. Make no mistake, one cannot be a true scientist and not know there is a God. The very creation, its order, its magnificence, its precision and its durability demand that there not only be a Creator but a Sustainer. God is all that and more and they know it, but they refuse to submit to God, and promote their hatred for God in our schools in the name of science.

Then in verses 24-27 we have God’s reaction to their defiance; God gave them over to uncleanness. He just let them have what they wanted, and they became more and more evil. It is like a drug; the more they thought they could get away with, the more they sought to get away with. God took off any natural restraints that their consciences would have had; they no longer seem affected by guilt or shame. Thus, the natural God-given aversion to sin that we got in the creation was dulled or removed, and the depth of evil that people can do is now limitless.

In the last three months, we have seen unmasked the deep sexual perversions that run rampant amongst our ‘celebrities.’ These men and some women are sexual predators that have used and abused young women and young men alike, selling fame for sexual favors. We have learned that the whole system of Hollywood had turned a blind eye to these practices. We see that the glamour on the ‘red carpet’ came with a price, one’s dignity and one’s shame.

But that was not far enough. In verses 26-27 we see that God gave them over the ‘vile passions.’ Let us be adults here for a bit; sex has been around for 6,000 years. Men and women have misused sex forever. We know of the sexual exploits of even biblical men like David and Solomon; we know about Abraham and Hagar, and we know that Rahab was a prostitute. The work description has not changed in 4,000 years.

While sex outside of marriage is always wrong, it is not an abomination. Sex was designed to be between a man and a woman; this is not a perversion of the Creation. But we have seen the rampant growth of homosexuality and lesbianism, bestiality, and ridiculous growth of pedophilia. In the last year I think I have seen more female teachers being arrested for sex with their students than men.

Make no mistake; this rampant, sexual decline is a part of the judgment day. It is the results that are meted out when we defy God as a society and as a people. It is what we get as our just desserts when we look God in the face and then turn our backs on His ways and His laws.

Things are going to get worse; sexual perversion is going to get worse; your kids’ TV shows will show more sex, and promote more of the sexual identity problems. Even the show “Riverdale” about the Archie Comics has a gay character in it. The transgendered lifestyle is being pushed down our kids’ throats by the world around us. This is a part of the judgment day of God on a defiant society. It would be easy for us to give up and give in, but we are still here, and the full wrath of God has not fallen as yet. We can still make a difference to someone around us, and this is where we find ourselves in our next section.

How to Live Until the Judgment Day, verses 16-17

God gives some simple ideas to help us to live as His people until the end comes. These sound like simple things; but in a world that is corrupt and perverted, the simple things will seem to be revolutionary.

Have you ever wanted to be the rebel, wanted to fight society and leave your mark? Have you ever wanted to matter and to make a difference? Have you ever seen a movie where the hero goes against the tide of the masses, where he or she fights the system and swims upstream when all are swimming downstream? Stay with me for a few more minutes and I will show you how to be a hero, how to be an individual, how to get God’s attention in a good way and how to be different.

God lays out 4 ways to be a hero in our world today:

(A) Tell the truth to your neighbor, verse 16. In the New Testament, it showed us in the story of the ‘Good Samaritan’ that anyone could be our neighbor. We are to be truthful in dealing with the people we come across in life. No matter where we encounter them, deal truthfully and with integrity. God loves the truth. He is Truth. How hard can this be to simply deal truthfully with people?

(B) Make sure that our justice system is honest. The phrase ‘your gates’ in verse 16 refers to the seat of judgment. Senior men sat at the gates to a city, and there they executed judgment on all matters. You will recall in the book of Ruth that Boaz went to the men at the gates and did the business of redeeming Ruth and her land. While we are not deliberately responsible for the justice system, we should make sure that, if called upon, our testimony is true and honest. Each man or woman is presumed innocent until proven guilty without a doubt.

(C) Do not think evil of people. If they prove themselves to be untrustworthy, that is different. Even in that we are called to be forgiving and compassionate. Give people a chance to prove themselves and always have in mind that, even if and when they fail, be ready to forgive and offer another chance. We should forgive as we are forgiven. Each one of us is made in the image of God, a unique creation in His sight. Let us approach each other with the highest of regard and frame our minds to think of each one as better than ourselves.

(D) Keep your word. Do not make an oath that you have no intent to carry out. We all get busy, we all can forget, and all can make mistakes. But it is absolutely wrong to swear to an oath that you have no intention from the get-go to follow through on.

These sound so simple, but in our current world they are actually revolutionary. These attitudes and actions will set you apart from the rest of the society around us. God hates dishonesty and distrust, but He loves the truth and loves integrity. Let us be revolutionaries together. Let us bring a bit of light to this dark world. Let us make a difference for the Kingdom of God in someone’s life today and until Jesus comes. Come let us humble ourselves before the Lord and obey Him.

Psalm 119: 105-106 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.”

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