You're listening to Encounter God's Truth from Whitcomb Ministries and Part 5 of our ongoing series called Zechariah the Lord Remembers. I'm Wayne Shepherd asking you to consider this question today. How should our understanding of Christ's future kingly reign impact our service to Him today? Bible scholar Dr. John Whitcomb will show you the answer as we continue our review of this wonderful minor prophet, Zechariah. Today our focus is on Zechariah chapters 2 and 3, which describe the future relationship that God will have with His chosen people Israel. Listen to these words from chapter 2, verses 10 through 13. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 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. And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. In chapter 3 we will learn that our worship of God is often accompanied by a spiritual battle, so we go to the scene of a conflict that took place in the very presence of the Lord where we are reminded again of His sovereignty. Our theme today is God's authority over His creation and here's Dr. Whitcomb now to lead us in our survey of the book of Zechariah where we pick up now in chapter 2 verse 9. Verse 9, For behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me. Yes, friends, Babylon is going to be dealt with someday. And everything that Babylon has accumulated will be turned over to God's people, just as the Egyptians gave enormous masses of valuables and precious things and metals to Israel to get them out in an infinitely inadequate payment for hundreds of years of slavery that they used to build the tabernacle. And so Haggai had already said, hadn't he, that precious things would come from all over the world to build the coming glorious temple. And God will use those things, friends, to construct the center of worship for the entire world at the dawn of the kingdom age. Now, verses 10, 11, and 12, sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, For lo, I will come and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord, and many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee." The Messiah himself, I believe, speaking here to the nation. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land and shall choose Jerusalem again. That's what the Feast of Tabernacles, you know, every fall, the Feast of Booths, anticipates. That somehow at the end of the world, God will come and dwell among His people. Now the second person of the Triune Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, already has, as it were, taken up His dwelling among us. First, as He walked among men in His public ministry, and even more significantly, of course, now through the Holy Spirit, He indwells us. And the Holy Spirit is His representative in us, the other comforter, as we've seen. And so, friends, it's already as if the Feast of Tabernacles has been inaugurated. But then, that wonderful One who came to dwell among us was rejected, crucified, and told, we will not have this man to reign over us. And he departed and has not returned yet to this earth. But when he does, as Zechariah 14 will tell us, all the nations of the world will come every year at the Feast of Tabernacles to worship the king. And doubtless he'll be there visibly and personally and physically to be seen of men and to be the visible superintendent of global worship as priests teach the people the law, the truth, the Word of God for 1,000 years. What an amazing series of events this is, dear friends, that God anticipates for us through the book of Zechariah and other portions of His Word. Yes, many nations will be joined to the Lord in that day. And again, we shall see that at the end of Zechariah chapter eight. 10 men of all the nations and languages of the earth shall take hold of the skirt of him that's a Jew and say, we've heard that God is with you. Oh, that that day might come, dear friends, and come soon. Israel, utterly despised, rejected of men as Jesus was, will someday be the irresistible magnet to attract all peoples of the world to come to worship the true King. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And you know where they're going to come? Not to America. They're going to come, dear friends, to the Holy Land. This is the only verse in the whole Bible that calls Palestine the Holy Land, right here. Why is it called the Holy Land? Well, when you go there today, you don't see very much holiness. Guarantee that. It's holy because the original meaning of holy means set apart, doesn't it? Something that God has intended, chosen, designed to be a means by which He is honored. And it's the only piece of land on this planet that God ever intended, you see. Since the flood, of course, before the flood he had one little plot of land called the Garden of Eden, to which people apparently came occasionally, periodically, regularly, to the entrance they could never go into again, protected by the cherubim, to offer their sacrifices to God. But since the flood, And of course, especially since the time of Abraham, whom God led to that land, that special land that He gave to him, that's the only territory on this planet that God has guaranteed is for Him and for special, public, God-honoring worship of Him. And of course, in the church age, there is no such thing. Not even a church building, you see, is divinely guaranteed to be sacred. before the Lord. We have to be careful about that point. There is no sacred object here today in this world during the church age. There is, however, one miracle that we hold, and that's words from God called the Bible. And there's one more miracle here, and that's a born-again regenerated person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. But no single place geographically is more holy than any other place on this planet today because the Holy Land has been drastically depopulated and broken off from the tree of divine blessing, Romans 11, and Satan and his wicked archangelic princes rule over that land as every other land of the world today. Michael the archangel has been decommissioned during the church age. He has no function because there's no Israel today for him to watch over as he will in the 70th week of Daniel. But this holy land, the Lord shall inherit Judah, his portion, in the holy land and choose Jerusalem. Now this remarkable chapter, this remarkable third vision of the Surveyor ends with a message to the whole human race. It's awesome. Listen to this. Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for He is raised up out of His holy habitation. No more questions, no more arguments, no more debates, no more blasphemies, no more words at all. Just be silent and look up and marvel at Him. You know two other prophets had already said this. Just before the Babylonian captivity, Zephaniah chapter 1, Habakkuk chapter 2. Just be silent before the Lord. Just look. Just worship Him. Just honor Him in your heart, your mind. Stand in awe. Just listen to Him. And there's so much talk, discussion, argument, debating going on, we don't even have time to listen to God anymore. Let's turn off the television, turn off the radio, close all the books except this one and just listen. Just once, to what He has to say about Himself and His gracious, eternal program for the world. Well friends, that is remarkable preparation for the awesome event about to be unveiled in chapter 3. Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. And what? I can't believe it, but it says it. And Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. Now friends, Joshua the high priest, you understand, was a sinner like everybody else, like all of us with a sin nature. But he had a position before God as the representative of the whole nation before the Lord. See, the function of the high priest was to bring the needs of the people before God. And he was a sinner with like passions as everyone, and he needed himself to be cleansed, didn't he? as he represented that whole nation. Yes, and he was standing before the Lord. You know, Deuteronomy chapter 10 says that Levites, priests of the tribe of Levi, were called by God to stand before the Lord. They never sat down in the tabernacle, ever. It was enormously difficult work, carrying all those animals and sacrifices to the burnt offering altar. You had to be 30 years old to even start the ministry, and you retired at 50. as a priest, back-breaking, laborious work. And they never sat down. And so here's Joshua standing before the Lord, representing, of course, the whole priesthood and the whole Levitical system of Israel, the nation. And dear friends, Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. I have a lot of questions about this, don't you? Why would a thrice holy God tolerate this monster of iniquity intruding into his presence and accusing his high priest who represented his people. Well, this isn't the first time we've seen this in the Old Testament, is it? The earliest book ever written in the Old Testament was Job, and it starts in chapter 1 with, guess what? Satan approaching the presence of God with all the other sons of God or angels, bene Elohim. And God confronted him and said, what have you been doing? Well, I've been going up and down and back and forth across the earth. And then, you know, have you seen my servant Job? And you remember the encounter, don't you? And God actually allowed that monster to accuse Job and actually allowed him to practically destroy Job to prove something to all angels and men forevermore about what genuine worship involves and the cost of it. Of course, Satan never said, well, I'm sorry, you were right, I repent. Another amazing statement is over there in 1 Chronicles 21.1, where Satan led David to number the people. Now, that becomes even more complicated when we discover that in the account in Samuel, it said God is the one who did it. And of course, you understand, friends, I'm sure, that in the heavenly hierarchy of administration and management systems, there are all kinds of complexities we'll never fathom. Namely, yes, we make important decisions, but behind us are invisible forces, you see, that are making big decisions, the angelic world. I've often wondered, haven't you, why doesn't just God eliminate all the angels and all the people and just do everything himself? It would be tremendous help to the foreign mission program, wouldn't it, if God just did it all? Evangelize the whole world, we could just sit back and watch the whole operation. But God from all eternity designed evil angels in order that He might use them for His purposes. That's a very problematic statement. Careful how we say that. He's not responsible for evil. He's never contaminated or identified with evil. But nevertheless, he can bring praise to himself out of the world of evil beings. I'm always amazed at what Joseph said about his wicked brothers, aren't you? You meant it for evil, but what? But God meant it for good. Now figure that one out. I have long since given up. Well, here's Satan here, friends, and you know, as we've been reminded, too, by our brother, that even today, he is accusing the brethren, night and day, Revelation 12. That will end, perhaps, about, shall we say, three and a half years from now, if the rapture's tonight, his career as the accuser of the brethren. And, of course, Satan, shatan in Hebrew, refers to an accuser, That ministry will end. But in the meantime, thank God, we have an advocate before the throne, who is constantly saying to Satan, something like this, I think, you're perfectly correct. This person is depraved, wicked, sinful, deserves the lake of fire, just like you're going to, but I just want to announce to you, I paid a price for him through my own blood, and he's my possession. Thank you. That's the only hope we've got, friends. Never, ever for one moment think, well I'm not that bad. Or Satan really doesn't know me that well. Friends, He has plenty of evidence on you and me. And my only hope in yours is our Advocate who stands on our behalf before the Father and pleads our case on the basis of His merits, not ours. And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuked thee. O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuked thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Yes, just like Amos tells us in chapter four about a piece of wood rescued from a fire, burnt, absolutely worthless. There's where we are folks. Jude 23, you know, we're to rescue people who are in desperate situations of life, like the bran plucked from the burning. Yes, friends. Others, saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. All of us are just very borderline cases, folks, held out of the lake of fire by nothing but an invisible thread from the third heaven called the grace of God. That's it. My, what a picture this is! And the Lord Jesus Christ has the authority to rebuke Satan, just like the Lord Jesus rebuked the demon on one occasion, remember, in the Gospel of Mark chapter 9, that even the apostles couldn't handle. And He has authority over these evil spirits, and even the prince of demons, Satan. Yes, Even Michael the archangel could not handle Satan. Satan was greater than Michael or any archangel or any other angel. So Michael finally had to learn that you don't confront face to face, you see, on the same level, a being like that who was created superior to all angels, the greatest of them. He said the right thing, didn't he? The Lord rebuked thee. I can't handle you. You're right. You are superior, but I know somebody greater than you. And in his name, I rebuke you." And the whole confrontation ended. These are amazing things here, friends. Well, then what was Joshua's problem? I mean, what was Satan doing to him? Listen to this. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. I wonder if anybody remembers something that Isaiah said in chapter 64 about this. Chapter 64, verse 6, "...but we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are filthy rags, and we all do fate as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." And of course, Joshua, we understand, don't we, friends, symbolized the whole nation of Israel. It was just raking with rottenness in terms of sin and depravity, rebellion, resistance, self-centeredness, pride, arrogance, Filthy garments, nothing to please God at all. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused that iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. Just like Isaiah, chapter 6, began his ministry for the Lord by having that coal of fire coming from an angel to his lips to cleanse his iniquity and his liability to eternal destruction. And I said, let them set a fair mitre or literally a clean turban upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head and clothed him with garments and the angel of the Lord stood by. Friends, someday we'll actually be clothed, will we not, with white garments, wedding garments, pure linen, fine and clean. In the light of various levels of dedication to the Lord and the judgment seat of Christ, I suspect some garments will be thinner than others, but at least they'll be clean when we are with the Lord and return with Him in a mighty army at the second coming, following the Savior. Yes, as a matter of fact, you don't have to wait till then. In the mind of God, we've already been reclothed, haven't we? We stand in His righteousness. In fact, we're already seated with Him at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, Ephesians 1, etc. So, judicially, in the mind of God, it's all been accomplished. But, of course, historically, there's a process called sanctification that intervenes between justification and glorification. So, we are more and more progressively winning the victory Hopefully by the Holy Spirit through the Word, the washing of the water by the Word, the presence of sin will go, even as the guilt and penalty of sin has been overcome. These are very important theological issues here in Zechariah chapter 3, aren't they? Verse 6, And the angel of the Lord protested to Joshua, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and also shalt keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by, perhaps angels. In other words, you will rule in my theocratic kingdom as a representative, as a leader, Joshua. Hear now, O Joshua, the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee." Now, this must be a different group that are seated, and I suggest that these would be his fellow priests. Every high priest had an army of lesser priests serving with him in the enormous work of the tabernacle and temple. For these, they are men wondered at. Literally, they are signs. What does that mean? Well, friends, In the Old Testament, many times, God's prophets were signs. They symbolized certain truths that God wanted His people to understand. In Ezekiel chapter 12 and chapter 24, God said, Ezekiel, you are a sign. The things that you're doing, symbolizing my response to Israel's sin, represent something. You're a visual aid. You're a walking symbol. before the nation who are wondering, why are you doing these things? You know what God actually did to Ezekiel on one occasion? He killed his wife to be a sign of his horror at having to kill Jerusalem, his wife. It was no fun being a prophet of God in the Old Testament. Jesus said, you know, what prophet has ever, you know, been killed outside of Jerusalem? Read the Hall of Fame of Hebrews 11, and we're sure that Zechariah paid a price for the things he uttered too, like these. But I will bring forth my servant, the branch. Ah, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That's what you're symbolizing, and we'll see that especially in chapter six. As a high priest, you're gonna symbolize something about the Messiah. Now friends, branch is a special Hebrew expression describing Messiah. Are you enjoying learning about the book of Zechariah in this series? Dr. Whitcomb's classroom is always open at sermonaudio.com slash Whitcomb, where people around the world are listening continually, learning that God's word is true from the beginning to the end. You'll find the link to sermonaudio.com slash Whitcomb when you visit our website at WhitcombMinistries.org. Whitcomb Ministries wishes to thank the stations that generously allow us to bring you this weekly Bible teaching program. It's also empowered by your faithful prayers and encouragement. And we want to thank Middletown Bible Church in Middletown, Connecticut for allowing us to bring you the messages in this series. If the Lord is using Encounter God's Truth for your spiritual growth, we'd love to see your testimony at facebook.com slash Whitcomb Ministries. We're providing some additional details to supplement the study there on our Facebook page, so please make sure to find us. Now for Dr. Whitcomb, I'm Wayne Shepard. We trust you've been blessed by this installment in our series, Zachariah the Lord Remembers. Here's Dr. Whitcomb with some concluding thoughts. The branch, the branch, what's that mean? It suggests that he's an extension of the triune God into this earth. He's the same nature. He represents the Father perfectly. He said, I and the Father are one. We're all talking about extension programs, aren't we? Well, the Son of God is the extension program of God the Father to this planet. He's the branch. He's the branch. And He's not only the branch, He's the stone. Listen to this statement. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua." Now this is a very familiar term for Messiah, isn't it? Way back in Psalm 118, here is the stone the builders rejected that's become the head of the corner. Isaiah chapter 8, he will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to the two houses. You see of Israel and Judah. Isaiah 28, he is a tried stone, a precious, precious cornerstone. Yes, blessed are those, you know, that trust in him. He is the crushing stone of Daniel chapter two that'll smash all of Satan's kingdoms in this planet. And the apostle Peter quotes these passages and applies them all to Christ in first Peter chapter two. So the Old Testament prophets were familiar with this term to describe Messiah.