today is God comforts his people. God comforts his people. We're going to pick up with verse 7 down to verse 17. Zechariah 1 verse number 7 down to verse 17. Let's read our text. have a word of prayer and get into the lesson today. Upon the four and 20th day of the 11th month, which is the month of Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Edo, the prophet saying, I saw by night and behold a man riding upon a red horse. And he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom. And behind him were their red horses speckled and white. Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, these are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees and said, we have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest. Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these three score and ten years. And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, cry thou saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of Hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, my cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad. And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem. Amen. Let's pray. Father, today, we want to thank you for this message that you delivered thousands upon thousands of years ago through Zechariah the prophet. And Father, we know that things happened in their day. that you did comfort them. But Father, we know that there's coming a day when you will return and all Israel will be saved and you will comfort them again. And Jerusalem again and Judah. Father, we will see that all of these prophecies fulfilled in the future. But we thank you that you are faithful unto your word. and the comfort that you bring to your people, not only Israel, but unto us, the saved today. So Father, help us to open our hearts today, open up our minds, our understanding, lead us by the Holy Spirit through the scriptures, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now, there's a time element here It tells us that this was written upon the 420th day of the 11th month, which is the month Sebat in the second year of Darius. So that is February. This vision is February 15th, 519 BC before Christ. So there are specific dates in the Bible which tell us about the history and also, you know, when things were accomplished. When did God, when did they return? When did God fulfill his promises? Now, it says this first vision, that's what we're talking about. Remember, there's gonna be a series of eight visions. Eight visions. We're gonna do our best over the next few weeks to understand what vision, what is the significance of each of these visions. Now this first vision was five months after the reconstruction had begun. They were beginning to build the temple. And as you know, God wanted to encourage them through these prophets. That was part of the message of Haggai the prophet and now Zechariah. They are mentioned in the book of Ezra. We read about them. So three months had expired since the message, the first message that we read, verses one to six, we saw there was a message of repentance. That's where it all begins. And so Zechariah now is going to deliver these eight messages. And we want to understand that the first thing about this message is it's the source is the Lord. It says it, the Lord, the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah. It was the word of the Lord that came to him. Now, one thing that we're going to learn Throughout and we have been is this that the Lord is in control of history He is the Lord of all nations even nations I know we sometimes we lose that today How can the Lord? You know all these things are going on and you're wondering where is the Lord but I we can be assured what the Bible says, he's even allowing these things to happen today to fulfill his word, to fulfill his promises, his prophecies. We don't see it on a day-to-day basis. I mean, we see some of it, but I know we don't understand it all. Only the Lord does. In fact, remember when the apostles there at Acts 1 asked him, Lord, you know, when is the time that you're going to restore the kingdom unto Israel? That's an interesting thing. They even understood that there was coming a day, that's in the first century, that God's going to restore the kingdom unto Israel. That's where, you know, you get these different theologies and false teachings, and there's many going around. One of them is that the church replaced Israel. No, we didn't. We are the church. It's a whole, in fact, the Bible says the church is a mystery, and it's fulfilled in Christ. That's a New Testament doctrine, the church. And then, What I'm getting at is the apostles were part of the church. And so he says, they understood Lord when he said, it's not for you to know the times and the seasons. The Lord, it's under the Lord, it's his control when all this is gonna be fulfilled in the future. That's the amazing thing. about prophecy. We do know whatever is revealed in God's Word. We know this is going to be accomplished. The time we don't know. Do you know why? What if you knew? You see, what if you knew then that the Lord was going to come back in one year and three months? You may say, man, I'm going to live this year for myself. And in the next last three months, I'm going to get right with God. There's people that think that way. So the Lord says, my return is imminent. He says, be ready for such an hour as you think the Son of Man is going to come. You're not going to be ready. He's coming as a thief. So what is that supposed to do to us? Be ready every day. Be ready every moment, because you don't know. So, this is important to understand God's plan, and the plan I want you to understand is there is a future promise for the nation of Israel. It will be fulfilled. Now, let's get into our message. Number one, we see the army of the Lord. That's your outline. Fill it in. The army of the Lord, verses 7 through 11. Now this is a vision and God's gonna let them know who is speaking here, right? They ask, verse 9, they said, I, oh my Lord, what are these? He said, I'm gonna show you what these are. And then it says, Who it is that's standing behind the myrtle tree standing amidst the myrtle trees and it tells us who it is Verse 11 and they answered it the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees the angel of the Lord was the one standing there and Really what we're seeing is the army of the Lord in this first Verses and so letter a we have the angel of the Lord The angel of the Lord So here we have a man on a red horse Leading an army astride We see red, brown, and white horses. We see the man among the myrtle trees. That is the angel of the Lord. This is the second person of the Godhead. And this is what we call a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Now think about that. You can take the Bible and go through the Old Testament starting in Genesis. You have he appeared unto Hagar. And then you have Abraham, chapter 18 and chapter 22, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, and Samson's parents in Judges 13. And so you have the angel of the Lord Verse number 11, and they answered, the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees and said, we have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest. And the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long will thou not have mercy on Jerusalem? So we have the angel of the Lord, B, we have the angel who is interpreting, which interprets, the angel which interprets. This interpreting angel, we're gonna see throughout. Verse nine, then said I, this is Zechariah, oh my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me, The angel that talked with me, I will show thee what these be. So the angel was there to interpret. If you go to verse 13, and the Lord answered the angel that talked with me. So there's an angel. 14, so the angel that communed with me. Then you go to chapter 2. behold verse 3 the angel that talked with me went forth and Another angel went out to meet him So we're gonna be seeing over and over again this angel that is interpreting Now the Bible tells us that how to receive truth, amen? The Bible says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. So how do we get wisdom today? We need to ask of God. God's gonna show us through his word. In fact, Psalm 25, 14 says, the secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he will show them his covenant. So we have to fear God. We have to ask God. And so he's receiving. Zechariah is asking. He's receiving. Because God is the one who gives wisdom. God is going to show his covenant to this man. Zechariah who fears the Lord, who's called a prophet. So you have letter A, the angel of the Lord, letter B, the angel which interprets, then you have letter C, God's angelic army. And so the angel of the Lord is teaching Zechariah who these, the horsemen, Verse number 10, And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. They've walked to and fro through the earth. This is the angelic army of God. Now, we shouldn't deny this. I know we're not to worship angels. There's a whole books and people who I think my wife mentioned. She has a client who talks about angels, you know, worshiping angels and looking into angels and everything's about angels. The Bible doesn't tell us to do that. It does tell us who angels are. It does tell us that there's angels, they're ministering spirits for us. So they're here. It's real. Now God's given us a little bit of understanding. They go up and down the earth. They go to, they walk to and fro through the earth. We often see this in the Bible. Back in the Old Testament, there's many times we have teaching about the angels and what they are doing in ministry. And so I'm not gonna take the time. We know that in Jesus' life, remember they came and ministered on the hand. Tells us what they did. Now the Bible says here he's the Lord of hosts. Jehovah is the Lord of hosts. And that means armies. That's his army. He's the Lord of hosts. These hosts are going to and fro. Amen. And they're in heaven. They're in earth. And now what are they reporting? These angels. It says in verse 11, and they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees and said, we have walked to and fro through the earth and behold, all the earth sit is still and is at rest. That's amazing. So the Gentile nations at that time were at rest. They were in peace. There are times, as you know, very few times that there's peace on earth. It's crazy. But you have a period of time here. You have the upheaval of the empires of Persia's conquest of Babylon and other nations. This would be appear to be an encouraging report. but it really wasn't as you start understanding the word of God. The Jewish remnant was in distress while the Gentile powers were at ease. And that's, we know that to be the case as we study the Old Testament. But then we have some prophecies that the Lord is gonna shake the nations. That's what it says in Haggai chapter two. We're not gonna go back there, we studied that. And so, these people and the prophecies given by the prophets, can you imagine how they felt? They felt as if this is a dream, you know? This is a promise that's never really going to happen. But God promised a kingdom. And that's the faith by which we need to live. And just go to Hebrews chapter 11, and not literally, but think about it in your mind. All of those men and women of God looked for a kingdom. whose maker is God, not made with hands. And they live for that future kingdom in their mind and in their hearts. They understood God's prophecies. You know, I like to really preach a message someday about everything that the Old Testament saints really understood. Because we don't give them credit. We think they were in the dark. They were not in the dark. God revealed to them many things about Christ and about His second coming. I mean, think of Job. I mean, think of the promise Job said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. You know, he said that. And that I shall see Him. You know, he understood the second coming. In fact, the New Testament tells us Enoch, he's the fifth from Adam, he preached of the second coming of the Lord coming with ten thousands of his saints. So Enoch, the fifth from Adam, is preaching on the second coming of Christ. Just those little slivers of information. There's a hundred percent more, you know, a hundred times more than what I'm giving you about what they understood. That's why Hebrews chapter 11 is important because it tells us a little bit of what they understood, what they were living for, what they were thinking, what kingdom they were living for, what they understood about God and His future for them, the promises. So they did understand a lot more, amen? But still, it's like us, we're still waiting for the second coming of Christ. And if you're not careful, you're like, ah, he's not coming. He's probably never going to come. And you get sidetracked. That's what the devil wants us to do. How many times did they forget their calling? How many times did they forget who they were living for and why they need to be faithful? It's sad, but that's just the nature of man. So number one, we see the armies. The army of the Lord. Amen. Number two, we see the appeal of the angel of the Lord. Verse 12. This is amazing. The appeal of the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord is Christ. What's the angel of the Lord going to do? He's going to pray. We see three things. in this passage about the angel of the Lord, the Lord's cry for his people. Amen. He says, oh, Lord of hosts, how long would thou not have mercy on Jerusalem? Amen. How long? Remember what we're preaching in Psalms? We're at, we're answering that question. How long? David cried, how long? Here we have, uh, the angel of the Lord crying for his suffering people. Even in Revelation, if you go in the martyred saints, the martyred saints, the ones who died, not only in this time, but in the future, during the tribulation. And it says in Revelation 6, 10, and they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord? Holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Do you see that? So there's a cry. Isn't that amazing that he identifies with our suffering? So, letter B, not only does he cry for his people, The Lord cares for his people, amen? It says the Lord cares for his people. What do we see here? The Son of God is interceding for the people of God who are in great affliction. And what does he pray for? He prays for God's mercy. O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah? Again, switched out. has to have indignation. He's what? Three scorned seventy years. How long were they in the Babylonian captivity? Seventy years. That's what Jeremiah prophesied. Jeremiah 25. Seventy years. And so God was angry with his people. We know that. But then We see not only this, this care, this cry, but notice with me the Lord's compassion, amen? Let her see. The Lord's compassion for his people. That's what we're seeing here. Isn't this, speaking of Christ, love for us, amen? The Son of God is interceding for His people. He's asking the Father to be merciful for them, to them and end their exile. This is a beautiful picture of the compassion of Christ. Remember what He cried over Jerusalem. He said, O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them, which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." Look at the compassion of the Lord. This is up to the last moment when he pronounced He said, after this, he said, you, your house is left unto you desolate. That's when the Lord truly left Israel and started using the church 100%. When his people, it's like the Lord was saying, Ichabod again, over you. You're cursed. You're unbelieving. Now I'm using my church. And remember what he does? The next chapter, what does he do? He institutes the Lord's Supper with his church. He said, this is the New Testament. This is a new covenant. This is the blood of the new covenant. This is all not by mistake. He said, I would have saved you. He came to his own, but his own received him not. I would have gathered you, but you would not. He said, come unto me, but you would not, he said. So we see Jesus here, amen. His cry, his care, his compassion. And aren't you thankful he doesn't change, amen? He still will learn that message to come in the morning service. Then last of all, verses 13 to 17, we have number three, the answer of the angel. What is this answer, brethren? And it's nice when we can preach this. Amen. And the Lord answered the angel, verse 13, that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. Amen. The Lord comforts his people. And we know he does the same with us, brethren. And here's the reason why. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Why does the Lord comfort you? Why does the Lord allow you to go through so many different experiences in your life? To grow, amen. But not only that, what's he saying? Well, look at verse Verse three, blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies. Isn't that what we're reading about back in the Old Testament? The God of what? All comfort, amen. Now why does he comfort us? Who comforted us in all of our tribulation that we may be able to comfort others. Amen. Which are in any trouble. by the comfort where we ourselves are comforted of God. So God comforts you in your tribulation, in your sufferings, so that you experience that comfort. And with that same comfort, you comfort others who are going through that. So that's why, brethren, we need to realize God does everything for a purpose in our lives, but he also wants to use us in the lives of others. So if we ever lose that vision, then why are we still here? You know, what is our purpose on earth if we're not doing what God wants for us, through us, amen, to other people? And there's never been a day like the day in which we live. And I say that because I can say that with all authority because there's never been a time on earth when there's been so many people as there are today. Right? The population. There's not ever been a time. And if there's that many people, how much multiplied is sin on the earth compared to the other times? So we are in a very dark hour. So how much more can God use us in this dark hour? We never should lose that vision. So he gives them, letter A, the answer of the angel, number three, verses 13 to 17. Letter A, comforting words, amen. Comforting. And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, cry thou saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And so, oh, This is love, brethren. When we think of the jealousy of the Lord, we're not looking at it as a sinful thing, but as a positive thing. When God's jealous, it's because he loves us so much. He loved them so much. That's why he, he wanted that. He wanted the best for them. Amen. He wanted them for himself. So that's why he's saying, look, I am. I am reaching out to you because I love you. I'm giving you comforting words. I'm giving you good words because I have a jealous love and concern for you. Has that not been God's will for his people since when he called them out, amen? And he gave them the law in Exodus 20. God is a jealous God. He repeats that over and over and over again. And then brethren, this gives us a picture, a word picture. It's like a God even calls Israel his wife. So how much is a husband jealous for his wife if she's being unfaithful? And so how many times had God used this relationship, the adulterous relationship concerning the spiritual life of Israel. He says, you know, you're my wife. I'm the one who called you. I saved you. I brought you out. I established you. And yet, you've committed spiritual adultery. You've been unfaithful to me. And how? Remember, they worship the gods of the nations around them. And that's why they were in the 70 years. So I guess they should know the message. God is jealous. Amen. Now, the picture is for us today, brethren, that when we are living in the world, we allow the world to get in us. I mean, you got to live in the world, but I mean, worldliness, when we start living like the world and we become, you know, saturated with all these things, brethren, Then the Bible says we are committing spiritual adultery. Go to James 4, the New Testament. So God is just as jealous over us as he was Israel, amen? Thinking that we are bought with the blood of Jesus. Think of the great price that he paid for our sins, our redemption. And that's why he can say the same to us. He said, verse four, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you not think, do you think, that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? So brethren, think about that. We could be involved in the same sin that's causing them to go into captivity. Why would we wanna do that, amen? So you have comforting words, but within these words, letter B, you have convicting words. Who are these convicting words for? Look what he says in verse 15 back in our text. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease. For I was but a little displeased and they help for the affliction. So brethren, what I'm saying is these convicting words are over the Gentile nations. because the Gentile nations will be judged. You know, even God, remember God allowed them. He raised up Cyrus. He raised up Nebuchadnezzar. He said, they're my servants. So he allowed that, but he didn't like the brutality and the violence that they displayed in judging his people. And God said, because of that, I'm going to visit that on you. And this is what God's gonna say. He says, I'm very displeased with him. Why? Because they're at ease. They think, ah, it's okay. It's okay, we did this and we're powerful and nothing's gonna happen to us. Oh, yes it is. God is displeased, amen. And so the Lord was angry with these nations and God called Assyria to punish the northern kingdom of Israel and Babylon to chasten Judah. But these nations went beyond what God called them to do and tried to destroy them. Other nations like Moab had also joined in the assault. This is what we'll see as God begins to deliver these messages. We already went through some of the prophets, how they pronounce judgments over all the nations. Remember, God would list them all out, what he's gonna do, how he's gonna visit them. But last of all, but not least of all, brethren, we have comfort for the future, amen? Comfort for the future. Look what it says here in verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of Hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, my cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall choose Jerusalem. These are comforting words. These are the good words. These are the words of promise that has to do with Judah's future, not with the enemies. God would promise to return to Jerusalem, to Judah, and to prove to everyone that is his chosen city. This is amazing. He's going to prove to these nations that Jerusalem indeed is God's chosen city. And we're going to see that this promise is going to be repeated and expanded in the rest of this book of prophecy. Now, brethren, when our situation appears to be hopeless, we must remind ourselves that God identifies with our sufferings. and that he is in charge of the future. That's the message. Our responsibility is to do what? What did we start out in chapter one? Is to repent, amen? Confess our sins and then believe his comforting words. His responsibility is to respond to our faith and work out in us His perfect will and God will do that. Amen. Let's have a word of prayer and then you'll have