How Long?
Repent and Return

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Good morning church and good morning to those of you that are watching next door at our gathering place and those watching online. We welcome you to part two of our series through the book of Zechariah. We began this series last week. We’ve entitled this series, “Repent and Return.” We get that title from the early verses in chapter one where Zechariah, through the Holy Spirit, calls Israel to repent and return to the Lord. They returned to the land, but have they returned to the Lord? That’s the series title. We’ve titled today’s message, “How Long?”

When I was growing up, we used to take family vacations to Michigan. I grew up in Bristol Virginia and we would take this twelve hour ride to Michigan about every summer because several of my uncles and aunts had moved up there to work for the Ford Motor Company outside of Detroit. My dad would put us in the Buick and we would head out. Now, twelve hours on the road when you’re six years old is an eternity. I would drive my father crazy, sitting in the backseat asking, “Daddy, how much longer?” He would say, “Well son, it is a twelve hour drive.” I would ask him a little bit later, “How long?” He would say, “Well, we’re five minutes closer than the last time you asked.” It felt like an eternity.

We, often, pray like that to the Lord. We pray, “How long, Lord? How much longer will I be stuck here in this place? How much longer will I be in pain? How much longer will this last? How much longer, Lord, will I be alone and lonely? How much longer do I have to endure this, Lord? How much longer do I have to watch the wicked prosper and things go from bad to worse in our world? How much longer before You return?” Do you ever pray like that?

As we look at our text today in Zechariah, we’ll be finishing up chapter one and going through chapter two. Surprisingly, it is the Angel of the LORD who asks God this same question in our text today. He asks, “O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?” And God answered this “How long” question with words of gracious comfort.

As we look at Zechariah, chapters one and two, the prophet sees three night visions. In fact, he sees eight in a row, but we’ll cover the first three that offered gracious comfort to him and the people of Israel. I believe we can receive this gracious comfort, especially when we’re asking questions like, “How long?” We can hear the comfort, the gracious comfort of the Lord.

As we look at the text, we’ll see three ways that we can receive God’s gracious comfort. Let’s dig in. We’ve got a lot of reading to do today. We’ll start at verse seven of chapter one of the book of Zechariah: Zechariah 1:7-17 (ESV) 7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my LORD?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So the manwho was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ 12 Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ 13 And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem . This is God’s word.

We’re looking for three ways on how to receive God’s gracious comfort. Here’s the first:

1. Be restored by His mercy.

The first word of comfort that he offers to Zechariah is a word of mercy. Circle the word, “mercy,” if you’re taking notes today, in verse 12 and then again in verse 16. The Lord has returned to Israel with mercy. The idea of mercy is a combination of love and forgiveness. We ask for mercy when we admit that we’re in trouble. We don’t ask for justice when we’re in trouble; we ask for mercy. God comes bringing mercy. He offers this mercy to the Jews who have returned to Israel. We have here, another listing in verse seven of a date. We opened up with a date in chapter one, verse one: 1 “In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius” and now, three months have passed from the first six verses to verse seven. Three months have gone by and he has a new entry in his diary, if you will. We have here the most accurate dating that you might find anywhere in scripture. We are able to precisely date this because of the specificity of verse seven: “On the twenty-fourth day.” That’s the day of the month. What month? “…the eleventh month.” What calendar? The Jewish calendar, which is the month of Shabbat. So we know it’s the Jewish calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar, based on the new moon. “….in the second year of Darius.” It just so happens, we know what year that is. Here is what we know from verse seven: it is the month of February, the 15th, 520 BC.

When I was laying out the sermon series, I didn’t realize I was only going to be two days off of this diary entry on this particular sermon. Here we are on the 13th of February, 2022. This is February 15th, 520 BC. Let’s look at a quick couple of charts. You know that I love charts! This is the lunar calendar. The Jewish calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar, which is based on a solar calendar. It overlaps our January and February calendars. Nissan is the first month of the year. As you look at the fact that it’s a lunar calendar, you understand why Easter moves around every year. Why can’t they pin that date down? It is based on the Jewish calendar; it coincides with the Jewish Passover. That’s why the date moves around all the time because it’s not based on our calendar. It is based on the Jewish calendar.

Go to the next slide. 520 BC is when Haggai and Zachariah, who are contemporaries, are both prophesying during this time. The first wave of exiles has returned to the land, the walls are torn down and the temple hasn’t been rebuilt yet. Seventy years has passed; Nebuchadnezzar carried them off to Babylonian captivity. Here we are in 520 BC and we have our date. There it is; that’s how accurate we are able to see this. I say this every time: the reason I take the time to do this is because the Bible is not a myth. It’s not a group of made up stories. It’s a historical fact. When we read the bible, we are reading about real people in real places.

Who is writing? He reminds us, again, that his name is Zechariah , which means “Yahweh blesses” or “Jehovah remembers.” He’s the son of Berechiah, which means “God blesses, Yahweh blesses” his Berechiah is the son of Iddo. Zechariah is reminding us of his father’s name and his grandfather’s name.

In verse eight, he says, “I saw in the night.” So, this is a night vision. In fact, this is the beginning of eight night visions that happen on this particular night. We’re going to cover three of them this morning. I don’t know if he drank coffee in those days. I don’t know if he had coffee available, but this was what you’d call an “eighth cup of coffee” night. This is eight visions in a row. We will cover the first three. He says, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse!” So this is the first vision. “He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.”

When you’re reading prophecy like this, it’s important to pay attention to the symbols and the metaphors because it it uses symbols that would have been very familiar to Jews, but not immediately understandable to us. Let me give you an example: If I were giving you a prophecy today and I saw, in a vision, a red, white and blue eagle, you would think that it’s about the United States of America. If I said I saw the shape of a foot that had what looked like tar on its heel, you would think that he’s talking about people from North Carolina. Now, if you said that to a Jew in 520 BC, they would say, “What are you talking about? What is a Tarheel?” But we know how that means if you are a North Carolinian, right?

If you’re talking about myrtle trees, that’s a symbol for Israel. The myrtle tree was actually a tree that they used in the feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths, where they would build these little tents, if you will. They would camp out and would remember what it felt like for their forebearers to live in the wilderness during the forty years. The myrtle tree was often symbolic; it was considered symbolic of the Nation of Israel. Myrtle trees were in the “glen,” a deep valley. They represented the deep discouragement and humiliation of the returning exiles. They were symbolic of their discouragement because they’ve returned to Israel and everything’s just demolished. They’ve been carried off for seventy years to Babylonian captivity. Now, they return and all they’ve got this mess in Jerusalem; the walls were torn down and the temples were torn down. You can see that they are in a deep valley of discouragement.

A man gets off of a red horse and begins to speak to them. As we learn more about this man, he’s identified as an angel of the Lord . We learn more about this man. He has three other riders following him. We believe that these three horses don’t just pull up without riders, the riders aren’t referred to, although they do answer in just a little bit. There are four horsemen.

If you’re paying attention here, you’ll start noticing that you remember reading some of this similar stuff in the book of Revelation. This is why I say to you, before you begin to study the book of Revelation, you should study the book of Daniel, the book of Ezekiel and the book of Zechariah. These books will give you much of the symbols that you need to “turn the key” on the book of Revelation. They’re using similar symbols.

Three other horses are mentioned here; there’s a sorrel, a red and a white horse. A red horse is often symbolic of war. The sorrel horse is a chestnut brown, a mixture of red and brown together and maybe has some splotches. A white horse usually symbolizes peace. Some have said that maybe from red to sorrel to white might be speaking of the transition from a time of war to a time of peace.

This angel of the Lord is the one who actually praises the Lord of hosts and calls out, saying, “how long?” He’s the one who says this. He turns to the other three and Zachariah asks, who are these guys? He says, oh, they are scouts; they’re going throughout the land and reporting back to me. If you were the king of Persia, you would send out horsemen and they would constantly report back to you about the condition of the lands. But, this angel of the Lord receives the report that they went out and what they found .

Verse 11 says, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ They give the report to the angel of the Lord that the earth is at rest, but this is not good news to the angel of the Lord because Israel is in deep discouragement and humiliation while the rest of the world is at peace. Verse 12, “Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ How long will they be living in this humiliation? How long will you be angry with them after seventy years?

Who is this angel of the Lord? Who is this special angel? There are these other angels that are riding horses and apparently reporting, but, who is this angel? I believe this angel to be the pre-incarnate Christ. You’ll see Him appearing throughout the Old Testament. He speaks as if He is the Lord. He’s the Angel of Yahweh, literally, the Angel of the Lord.

What does “pre-incarnate” mean? This is before Jesus came in the flesh; before He was born to the virgin Mary. You see, Christ has always been. He’s always been. There never was a time when Christ was not because He’s equal with the Father and the Spirit. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are one God, yet three distinct personalities. This is the doctrine of the Trinity. Christ has always been. I believe that He often appears in Old Testament books of the bible. He’s already here, being an intercessor for His people, and He’s saying, “how much longer?” That’s who I believe the Angel of the Lord to be and that’s the majority opinion of most conservative commentators on this passage.

Verse 13 says, “And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.” He gave him a good answer. He turns to Zachariah, this angel of the Lord turns to him and he says in verse 14, So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out.” In other words, get ready to preach.

I’m giving you your first point. I like it when God does that. It’s easy to preach when He just tells me what to say. I just repeat what he told you to say.

Verse 14 continues, “… Thus says the Lord of hosts. I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.” Now, why is that good news? God is jealous for you. Why is that good news? Well, first of all, may I say this, it’s because God’s jealousy is not like our jealousy. It’s not “green-eyed,” out of control jealousy as human jealousy can often be. It’s righteous. His jealousy is guided by His will and under His control. I taught this last week as it concerned anger. I had to say to you that God’s anger is not like our anger. I remember last week that it was funny in Hebrew the way he says it. “He was angry with anger.” It’s like the double use of the Hebrew word, “anger.” Here , it’s the double use of the Hebrew word, “ jealous.” In the Hebrew, it doesn’t say, “exceedingly jealous;” it says, “jealous with jealousy.” Jealousy is intensified; in fact, it’s “back to back” with anger in this “cry out” passage. “Thus says, the Lord of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous.” I am “jealous with jealousy” for Jerusalem; I am exceedingly angry. In other words, I am “angry with anger” at the nations.

Let’s talk about this word, “jealousy,” just for a second. It was important last week, that we unpacked God’s kind of anger that is under His control and that sin makes Him angry. He’s jealous because the people of Israel belong to Him. His jealousy is righteous because they are His.

Here’s what Dr. Rummage says in his commentary, “God’s jealousy is His passionate commitment to that which rightfully belongs to Him—whether it is His glory that cannot be shared with another, His rightto be worshiped as the one true God, or the affections and devotion of His people.”

I’ve been married a little over 42 years to a woman, named Robin, and I’m jealous of her particular affection. I would say, I’m not jealous that she would talk to one of the men in the church or to love our children or our grandchildren, or to say, “I love you” to one of you. I’m not jealous for that. I’m jealous for her particular affections. She’s my wife and there is no other woman before her and as she looks at me, I’m her husband. There’s no other man for her. That’s the covenant we made on June 2, 1979. And it’s the one we’ve kept to this day. I’m jealous for that covenant. That’s righteous jealousy. That’s good jealousy. It’s rare in humanity, but it says that she belongs to me and I’m jealous for that priority in her life.

This is what God says to us; You belong to me. I’m jealous for your primary affection. That is why we have commandments that start off like this, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” This is the first commandment. He’s jealous for your worship and for your affection. It’s important to understand that our God is not a “two-dimensional stick figure.” He’s three dimensions. He has anger. He has jealousy. He has all the emotions that He’s given to us, except they are righteous in Him, without sin.

Verse 15 says, “And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.” Remember, that was the report from the scouts that they were at ease and that they were at rest. They were at peace. But here are God’s people and they’re hurting. The nations around them have had no judgment on them; they’re at rest. That’s not a good report. That’s not fair. That’s not right. He goes on to say this in verse 15, “… for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.” In other words, He was a little bit angry at Israel. The nation furthered the disaster. They went too far. He used Babylon; He used Syria and Egypt. He used Persia to discipline His people because He disciplines those that He loves. But, they went too far. That’s what he’s talking about right here.

He gives them a promise right here. He says in verse 16, “Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” He is not here with justice. He is not not here with discipline. He is here with mercy. “My house shall be built in it.” In other words, they’re going to rebuild the temple. They haven’t done it yet, but they’re going to do it. That’s a good word; it is encouraging. “…and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” In other words, He’s already approved the permits. They’re getting ready to rebuild. Everything is torn down, but it’s getting ready to be built up.

He says in verse 17, “Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.” And he says, in verse 17, cry out again. This is His comfort; He is going to show mercy.

Have you ever felt like the prophet Habakkuk? “How long?” He says in Habakkuk 1:2 (ESV) “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?”12 Do you ever feel like you’ve been asking, “How long?” for a long time? I’m not sure the Lord answers that question, “How long?” But, He does comfort us. He offers us mercy. God invites us to repent during times like this when we’ve gone through a time of difficulty and to examine ourselves. We’re not very good at self examination during times of prosperity, but often, when we’re going through a season of difficulty, we’ll say, “What’s going on here?” and we’ll examine ourselves. Often, it brings us to repentance.

In the book of Joel, it says this, Joel 2:12-13, 25 (ESV) 12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Returnto the to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love… 25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…” Return to the Lord and He promises that He will return to you, but not only that, if you’ve lost everything somewhere in the past, you’ve made some choices, you have hit rock bottom, you’ve lost your family or your job, He says that He is going to restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten. You may think, “Well, how is that possible?” I don’t know. He says that’s what He’s going to do. Romans 8:28 says that He causes all things to work together. Even the bad stuff and the bad choices you’ve made . If you give it to the Lord, He turns it into good in your life and He can turn it into a testimony. He can turn the bad choices you made into a testimony for Him. “He causes all things to work together for the good to those that are called according to his purpose, those that love him,” it says in Romans 8: 28.

Christ Jesus is the picture of His mercy; He is God’s rich mercy on display. Here’s what it says in Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV) 4 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” Will you cry out for God’s mercy today? We are, sometimes, in a season and every season has a beginning. a middle and an end. It’s usually somewhere in the middle that we ask, “How long, Lord? How long until the end of this season?” But you know you can cry out for the mercy of Jesus. It’s called the “Jesus prayer.” “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” If you can’t remember all of those words, just say, “Lord Jesus have mercy on me.” You can seek His mercy and be restored; even the years that the locusts have eaten can be restored to you. He gives us His mercy. He encourages us with His mercy.

Let’s keep reading; let’s get to the second vision. It starts at verse 18 of chapter one: 18 “And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of thenations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

2. Be liberated by His justice.

So, as we’re looking at the second vision, we can see here the words of gracious comfort that liberates us by His justice. We can be liberated by God’s justice. Let me “unpack” this, so you’ll see what I’m talking about. Notice, he begins with the phrase, “And I lifted up my eyes.” This is the second night vision that he’s having on the same evening. He sees a vision of four horns and four craftsmen. Now, what do we mean by horns? Some of you enjoy going deer hunting; you may put trophies on your wall. I don’t know if you’ve done other kinds of hunting, but I’ve seen trophies on many of your walls. You have an eight point, ten point or twelve point buck. The more points it has on its antlers, the bigger the buck was and the greater your power as a hunter is because you’ve overcome the horns of the buck deer. You’ve hung the trophy on the wall. Horns, even to this day, symbolize power. The bigger the horns, the bigger the symbolic power. are bigger, the symbolic power.

During this day that Zechariah is writing, it was the same. Horns symbolized power, usually in the book of Daniel, which is filled with the same imagery in Zechariah and also in the book of Revelation, it symbolizes a national power or a king. Here, there are four of them and it says what they have done.

In verse 19, it says, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” The word, “scattered,” is in the past tense. This has already happened; these four horns scattered the Jews all over the place. It speaks of Israel, which had been overthrown centuries before Judah.

Who are these four horns? Who are these four nations? Who are they? We looked to see who are the four nations that have scattered Jerusalem, Judah and Israel. These four are easily identified, historically, as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and Persia. That’s the majority opinion of most commentators. Some commentators say that it’s actually Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, but I differ with that opinion because of the word, “scattered,” in the past tense. Greece and Rome were in the future; they came later. I believe it’s the four nations that I have mentioned.

Who are the four craftsmen? That’s a more difficult question. There’s not a lot of agreement on that one. A craftsman is a carpenter. It seems strange that a carpenter overthrows a “horn,” overthrows a powerful nation, that someone comes and builds something that over time overthrows the previous thing.

Dr. Unger poses a likely candidate that the craftsmen are the nations that overthrew the horns and therefore “terrified” those nations. Consequently, the next nation that overthrows and terrifies these craftsmen will terrify and cast down. It might just be symbolic of what God does, that He’s already building His answer and it will happen slowly and through weakness rather than strength. As the Roman Empire was overthrown by Christianity, it took 300 years. It wasn’t an army; it was just from over time.

I’m uncertain what the four craftsmen symbolize, but we do have the promise that they will terrify and cast down the horns of the nations. You see here, that Zechariah actually identifies horns with nations, those who have scattered Judah. Jeremiah complains to God that He lets the wicked prosper. Maybe, that’s what these people were doing too, nation after nation. Four nations in a row have scattered them and they were supposed to be God’s chosen people.

Do you ever feel like that? Some of you, I know you do this, you watch the news 24/7. We can do that today because it’s on the internet; It’s online. You watch it on TV . You’re upset about Ukraine and Russia. You’re upset about China. You’re upset about Afghanistan. You’re upset about truckers in Canada. You’re just upset. If I keep listing things, it’s going to make you more upset. We ask, “Where is the justice? Come on, Lord. How long?” We stay in a place of anxiety and anger and we’re supposed to be marked by love, joy and peace in our hearts, but we’re always anxious. We need to be liberated from this.

How can we be liberated like this? God’s got this. It might look like He’s not handling it. He is behind the scenes. He has His craftsman at work and we won’t see it till it happens, and so, we can be liberated by God’s justice. We’re not called to judge. We’re called to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus saves. We are called to proclaim the Gospel, The Good News. We’re called to be people marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. We’re not supposed to be angry, frustrated and anxious. Gary, how did you know that we’re like this? I’m on Facebook, too. I see what you’re writing; I see what you’re posting.

He says to Zechariah to tell the people, I got this, you can be free of this. You don’t have to judge Jeremiah, who was worried about this. He writes in Jeremiah 12:1 (ESV) “Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” How long Lord, how long are the evil people going to get by with stuff and I can’t get by with anything?

Yet, God gives an answer through David,when he writes Psalm 37:7-9, 28 (ESV) 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land… 28 For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.” In other words, don’t worry. The Lord loves justice; He will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. Knowing that God is just not only liberates us from feeling anger and anxiety, but it allows us to love our enemies because we can actually feel compassion for them because of what their future holds if they don’t repent and turn to Jesus. Instead of being angry at those people that you feel are offensive to God and offensive to you, show them love and compassion, knowing that if they keep on the trail that they’re on, that path that they’re on right now,someday payday is coming.

The revivalist of 150 years ago, Billy Sunday, said in his most famous sermon, “Payday someday. Someday, the Lord will call them to justice.

Romans 12:17-19 (ESV) 17 “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” If you’re worried and angry today, God’s word says to you to let Him handle it. He says, “Come unto Me, ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” If you’re carrying so much on your shoulders that it’s about to break your back, you’re carrying some stuff that you’re not supposed to be carrying. Give it to God, let justice be in his Hands.

And now let’s read the third vision.Zechariah 2:1-13 (ESV) 1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye:l be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” 6 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after hisglory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Here’s our third way that we can receive the comfort and grace of the Lord.

3. Be empowered by His presence.

Be empowered by his presence, be empowered by his presence. We see that again a third time, Zachariah lifts his eyes and sees a third vision. This time, it is a man with a measuring line. We see, throughout this passage, God’s promise of His presence, that He will dwell with His people. This is the most powerful promise that the Lord can give us. Instead of answering the question, “How long?” He says, I am with you. I’m with you right now. He empowers us with His presence.

When I was in that Buick, in the backseat, riding to Michigan at age six, I would ask my father, “How long?” and he would tell me. I didn’t understand time in those days. It just seemed like it was taking forever no matter what he said, but I was not really worried. My father was behind the wheel. I knew we would get there. I knew where we were going, but I was just impatient at the moment. I was bored. I was hungry. I needed to use the bathroom. I was picking on my brother, probably too. I was doing all these different things, but I wasn’t afraid. My father was in the car and he was driving.

We can be empowered by His presence, no matter what season that we are going through today. He says in verse five, “And I will be to her a wall of fire all around.” The city of Jerusalem is going to grow so quickly. In fact, it’s about 50 years before Nehemiah gets the wall rebuilt. From the time of the rebuilding of the temple to that time is a number of years. Jerusalem takes off and starts growing. Even today, if you go to Israel and go to Jerusalem, there’s the old city of Jerusalem which is behind walls. These walls were rebuilt in 1500 AD by Sultan Suleiman. These walls are over 500 years old. If you go to old Jerusalem, it’s in four quarters. There’s the Jewish quarter, the Catholic quarter, the Muslim quarter and the Protestant quarter. You can go inside, but most of Jerusalem lies outside of those walls. It’s huge. You could see that, perhaps, Zechariah was seeing the Jerusalem that we could visit today, but I think even more that he’s seeing the one that’s yet to happen.

The Lord says that I will be like a fire, a wall of fire around you. Nothing can touch you without passing through that wall of fire. If He lets it touch you, it’s because He has a good purpose for it. Then he says, “I will be the glory in her midst.” He will be around you and in you. Over and over again, he says it three times, in verse 10, verse 11 and verse 13, “I will dwell with you.” In verse 10, he says, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.” Verse 11, “…And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.” Verse 13, “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. “

I’m going to move into Israel. I’m going to be present with you. He says, “flee from the the north.” This is an unusual phrase, he says, “Up, up,” in verse six, “flee from the land of the north.”

Let’s look at a map for a second and see what he means by that, because he’s referring to these earlier exiles. Over here, we have Jerusalem, right, this is the land of Judah. And so the first exiles were carried off by the Assyrians when they conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel. When they conquered Israel, there’s Jews living all over the place up here in the northern territories. They’ve never returned home because it’s been all those centuries that they’ve been living up there. You see here, the Babylonian captivity. This is all desert. So the reason you go north and then east is because no one wants to travel through this area.

He says to them, Come home. See, only a handful have, only a remnant have come back to Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish population is living scattered all over the place, especially to the north. He says, “Up, up.” Flee; come home. I’m gonna live with you, I’m gonna dwell with you. come home. That’s what He’s saying to them right here. Return from the land of the north, for thus says the Lord.

In verse eight, he says, “…for he who touches you, touches the apple of his eye.” That kind of fits with what we said earlier about Him being jealous for us. He says that you’re the apple of His eye. Isn’t it amazing how phrases and statements like that that we find in the bible, are still in use today? We know what that phrase means, don’t we? If we say, we’ve got a little granddaughter and she’s “the apple of our eye,” everybody knows what you mean by that. It means you just can’t take your eyes off of her. She means so much to you; she has priority in your life. The “apple” refers to the shape of the pupil in the center of the eye. When the Hebrews said, “the apple of the eye, they were actually talking that which is the center of their vision. That’s what the Holy Spirit reveals to Zechariah about his people. He says you are the apple of God’s eye. Isn’t that awesome? Isn’t that amazing that He says that to us, that He empowers us by His presence and His love.

He says, “And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people.” in verse 11. Zechariah is foretelling a day when the gentile nations will be grafted in and become part of God’s people. This hasn’t happened yet. This is a prophecy that’s going to happen. It does not happen during Zechariah’s day, but it does begin to happen 500 years later when Jesus is born and begins to teach the gospel to the disciples. He says, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” They begin to carry it out. That prophecy begins to come true, and now, here we are: 2022 years later and that prophecy is being fulfilled, but is yet to be ultimately fulfilled. It’s still happening; it’s still going on today.

Zechariah has revealed to him that on that day, God is going to dwell in his people, in the midst of his people and so he does through the Holy Spirit. Now, that day could be referred to in the Hebrew as “yôm Yâhweh.” It’s the day of the Lord; it’s the day that’s still coming. It’s still in the future.

Zechariah closes with this sobering comment in this vision, 13 “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.” It’s like the Lord shook off whatever he was focused on before and he’s focused on His people right here. It’s a pretty amazing statement that God promised His presence to Joshua to give Israel strength.

Joshua 1:9 (ESV) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” I don’t know what you’re going through today, but the Lord says this to you, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” I am with you. He doesn’t always get us out of things. He does rescue us at times. But sometimes he says it’s better for you to go through this because it’s going to make you more like Jesus. You’re asking, “How long?” He wouldn’t let you go through this, it couldn’t even touch you without passing through the wall of fire, which is my protection around you, but since I’m letting it touch you, since I’m letting it happen to you, it’s for your sanctification to make you more like Jesus. He is with you. He is empowering you.

Jesus says this in Acts 1:8 (ESV) “ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” When we have His presence, we, also, have His empowerment. He empowers us and He empowers us to do His will and to call the nations to become one with us to become one with the Father.

Nearly three years ago, we began to write down the names of people that were far from God. We started this in January of 2019. We called it the “Rise Up Initiative;” “Rise up and build.” We got that from the book of Nehemiah. We had this container down front, pop that photo up for those that weren’t here back in those days. We had this container down front that we used to put these “Rise Up” cards in. We would write down who we said was our “long shot;” the person that’s far from God that we were praying would come into the Kingdom. We wrote their names down. Over the next couple of years, we wrote names down and dropped them in that container. Some of you would come down front and actually get on your knees and pray for these to come to Jesus. When I would baptize someone, someone would come up tearfully later and say, “That person you just baptized? They were my “long shot.” I was praying for them for the past year.” Those “long shot cards” are in a cubby inside one of the walls, enclosed in the gathering place. On May 17th, 2021, we installed it in the wall because “The church is not the steeple,” it’s not the wall. “It’s the people” and those are people. Many of those cards in there have already come to faith but many of them we are still praying for.

It’s the Lord’s presence that empowers us to proclaim with love, joy and peace; not with judgment, but with good news for people to come into relationship with Jesus. He wants to dwell with you by His Holy Spirit. It’s okay to say, “How long, Lord?” It’s okay to pray for that. He offers us, though, even in that moment, gracious comfort.

He says, “I will give you mercy that restores you even the years that the locusts have eaten.” I will give you justice that liberates you so you don’t have to be judgmental. You can just walk in love. You don’t have to have anger and anxiety covering your life. I will give you, more than anything, the gift of my presence that empowers. This is the word of God, from the first three visions found in the book of Zechariah.

Let’s pray. Lord, I pray first of all for that one that came in and they would say, I’m a long shot I’m a sinner, I’m far from God, but I want to be brought near. Is that you, my friend? Maybe, you are watching at home right now. Maybe, you’re in a gathering place next door or in this room, under my hearing. Wherever you are, the Lord is calling you home. Would you say this with me in prayer? Would you agree in prayer? Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner, but I believe You died on the cross for me, that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me. I want to be a child of God. Forgive me of my sins and make me the person You want me to be. I want You as my Lord and Savior. If you’re praying that prayer, believing, the bible says He’ll save you and He will make you a child of God. Others are here and you know the Lord. You’re a follower of Jesus, but you’ve been angry, You’ve been anxious. You’ve been crying out, “How long?” Would you hear these words of comfort today? He will show you mercy. He will handle those areas that you feel you’ve been treated unjustly. He is with you. He will never leave you. Will you be encouraged by God’s word today? In Jesus’ name. Amen