So let's take a look at Zechariah chapter 7 and 8. A couple of opening thoughts and we look at what we've seen so far. I like to keep reviewing it so you know what those first eight visions were. It really tells a story when you look at them. You see the four horsemen, God's anger against the godless nations who were against His people. Then we see the four horns and the four craftsmen, this is God's judgment on the nations that afflict Israel. and the plumb line, God's future blessing on a restored Israel. We see the priest, that's Israel's future cleansing from sin and their reinstatement as a nation. We see the menorah or the big candle with seven spouts, Israel as a light to the nations under their king priest or their Messiah who is both king and priest. We see the flying scroll which is judgment for the disobedience of Israel. We see the ephah which is a basket. It's the removal of Israel's sin and judgment upon Babylon which is representative of all the nations that oppress her. And in the book of Revelation representative of every wicked nation. And then the horsemen with the chariots we see God's final judgment and dominion. So this is what God is doing. It's what He's been doing. It's what He's ultimately going to do. And it is, I've got a slide here at the end for tonight, it's why millennialism is something. People have asked, well, why do we believe in a thousand year reign of Christ? Why is there a millennium at all? Well, there has to be a millennium because everything God has promised has not come to pass. That's the reason. Why must there be a thousand years? Why can't Jesus just come back and we all go to Heaven forever? Because we would all have questions to God as, Lord, you said a lot of specific things in your Word over and over and over. What's God gonna say? Ah, it's just all poetic language, Lance. You took me a little too seriously. I mean, okay, if God is God, let God be God. But I don't think that's what God is doing. The story is much better when we take God at His word. So why is there a millennium? Why do we have to have a millennium? So that the things on that overhead will come to pass. They cannot come to pass with Jesus simply coming. It doesn't all come together, it's just not that easy. That's why when I, you've heard me say that amillennialism as a system is not heretical, it's just way too simple. Now simple is not a bad thing, you could say, well what's wrong with simple? I like simple. But it simplifies the Bible when the Bible is far more complicated, or as they say convoluted. Well you're making something complicated. I'm not making it complicated, I'm just reading it. There are so many passages that speak of what God is going to do, He hasn't done as of this day, and we expect that He will do when He returns and sets up this Kingdom, hence a Millennium. So here is your overview, I've been showing you this over and over. We have seen the eight visions. This is a picture, by the way I did not make up this chart, it's a good chart of it. And the person that made it sees two sermons in chapters seven and eight. I see four. You can make, you can always turn, make four into two if you want. But I'd swipe at four there. So we'll see four sermons, I'll show you at the end, it's just more of a way to outline the book itself. And then we'll look at the two burdens in chapters nine through 12. uh... before we get to thirteen and fourteen So when we go back to chapters 1-6 I showed you this last week when we interpret those six chapters we see in their contemporary context, that's today, Zechariah urges the Jews not to be discouraged. Modern Jews should take Zechariah's message and not be discouraged about their oppression. God has an eternal plan for Israel. The small temple that they were building in Zechariah's day would ultimately usher in the Millennial Temple. Well there is no temple there as you know. In our current context, that would be today's context, I said contemporary of Zechariah's day, we see that God is at work and His purpose will prevail. And that history is moving toward His ultimate and sovereign end. I was watching a video I came across the other day on an Amillennialist, I was trying to stay in tune with what they think and why. And the video had something to do with, he said, Israel, modern Israel is not the biblical Israel. And they try to, it was a whole thing on, what if I told you that modern Israel has nothing to do with the biblical Israel? I said, well, I gotta watch this. And he's going on and he said, today's Israel is not the same people as what was in the Bible. I said, oh yes they are. They're as rebellious today as they were then. They're still that nation. They still descend from Abraham. And he was just essentially saying that nation is gone like the Moabites or like the Edomites. And it's just now it's a secular nation trying to inhabit land that's in their past. Do you believe that? think you can defend that from the Bible. It's a pretty nifty story that they are still around. And really when we see that all Israel will be saved God has to have an Israel from Abraham to save, doesn't He? If all Israel is going to be saved, of course our Amillennialist brothers and sisters will say, well all Israel is really just people that believe in Jesus. People from Israel, people from Gentiles, we're all Israel. That's not what the Bible teaches. I don't want you to believe that. I know I hammer that a lot, but it's important because it's in every chapter that we look at. So I figure that after you see it chapter after chapter you're going to say, you know what I used to think that, I don't anymore. I hope that's the case anyway. And in the consummation, so we had Zechariah's context, his contemporary context, we have our current context. And in the consummation that's being the end of all things, the branch who is our Lord Jesus the Messiah will reign and rule for eternity. That's the interpretation of chapters 1-6. So it meant something then, it means something now, and it means something in the future. If you look at the book of Zechariah you can see what God has promised He hasn't done. And we know God isn't a liar. I do, do you? So if God's not lying, or He's not just speaking in some poetic language to entertain us, then this has to come to pass. So let's take a look, Zechariah 7, verse 1, In the fourth year of King Darius, this is Darius of Staspis, he began his reign in 522 B.C., the word of the Lord, keeping in mind that they can't date their their dates to a Judean king because there is no Judean king. So they have to make their dates based upon their secular king. And this is the nation that they have to submit to, the Persians. In the fourth year of King Darius the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month which is Kislev. Now, let me just show you on the overhead what that means. Zechariah's first sermon in chapter one, verse one, was said to be on the eighth month of Darius' second year, and this equates to October 27th, 520 B.C. First vision. Zechariah's eight visions came in one night. Chapter one, verse seven through 615. One night, eight visions. Sounds like the dream I had three nights ago just wouldn't stop. This came on the 24th day of the 11th month, which is the month of Shabbat, in the second year of Darius, and this equates to February 15th, 519 B.C. So that was what we read about. That one night was February 15th, 519 B.C., chapters 1 through 6. Now, chapter seven, it's the fourth year of Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev. This equates to December the 7th, 518 B.C. Now, if you went and got yourself a New Living Translation, that's what it says. It already interprets that for you. How many of you did that? There you go, yeah, New Living Translation. It's good stuff. It'll help you. Otherwise, you're trying to read Zechariah, and you're going, okay, who's Darius? What's the ninth month? What's Kislev? I'm going to bed. So that's Zechariah 7. When the temple was completed, we know, if it's 518 B.C., this is where this vision comes, we know that the temple was completed in February of March, February slash March of 516 B.C., we learn that in Ezra 615. So this is running alongside the latter half of the book of Ezra, just so you'll know. Okay, let's take a look. We're in verse 2. Now, the town of Bethel had sent, I'll leave that up for you, the town of Bethel, so they're back in the land and they're building the temple. Up to this point the people had dropped the building of the temple and Haggai has told them pick up the pace and build the temple. So they're starting to work. Bethel, let's see I've got a city of, just so you get a little overhead here. Here is Jerusalem right down here. Just a hop, skip, and a jump north is the little town of Bethel. It's an old, part of the Old Kingdom of Israel. In fact when the Kingdom split this whole area used to be Israel. When it split between north and south the king up here, his name was Not Rehoboam and Jerus. Jeroboam up north. Jeroboam decided in order to keep the people up here from the north from going down to Jerusalem, he set up various temples all over the area. One in the north, one in the south. Bethel. He figured that if my people in the northern kingdom go down to Jerusalem, they may not come back. So he had an altar here in Bethel. And so the people of the north only made it as far as Bethel. So this was a town and we see Jacob had got a vision from God way back in Genesis. I believe it's chapter 29 or 32. And it's a great town, means house of God. Beth means house, El is short for Elohim, the house of God. So anyway, let me get back to where we were. He's going to get this contingent from Bethel. They sent Cherezer and Regimelech. and their men to seek the favor of the Lord, speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and said to the prophets." In other words, a contingent comes from Bethel and they come to Zechariah and Haggai and they ask, "'Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain as I have done these many years?' In other words, go down and talk to the prophets and ask them, should we continue now that we're back in the land and we're building the temple, shall we continue to What does he say? Abstain as I have done these many years. What does he say? Hold on. Speaking to the prophets, the prophet's saying, shall I weep in the fifth month? Have you ever just tried to weep? In the fifth month, apparently, for the last 70 years, they weep in the fifth month. 70 years. Now I can see the first generation of people having gone into exile, those who were left behind in Bethel, or in the land at all, would have weeped, weeped, would have wept, would have weeped, would have wept. But 10, 20 years later, people that didn't know any, people that are born, new children that are born, you must go to your room now, son. Why, dad? You need to weep. Why? Because 20 years ago, and I know you're only 15, but 20 years ago, our people went to captivity. So weep. So this is what's been practiced. It's kind of a forced thing, remember something that you don't, you weren't alive for. But this is what they've been doing for 70 years, and now they wanna know if they can find some relief. Verse 4, Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, by the way the fifth month was a commemoration of the fall of Jerusalem. Seventh month was another, it was actually the month when there, remember we studied Gedaliah back when we were in Jeremiah, when the last king was taken out. Israel had no king and Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon assigned a man named Gedaliah to be the governor of the land. Well Gedaliah was also killed and so it looks like in the seventh month they were commemorating Gedaliah's death. So again verse 5, say to all the people of the land of the priests who are asking whether we should keep fasting, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, these 70 years, was it actually for me that you fasted? When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves? And do you not drink for yourselves? At this point, you're pretty much sorry you asked the question. And it's just like a prophet like these men to just pointedly say, what are you asking me this for? You never fasted for the fall of Jerusalem. You're living in a religion. You're jumping through hoops to somehow in your mind entertain some God that you think lives in the heavens. The man upstairs, people call him today. Was it for God that you were doing this? Wasn't it for you? And don't people, isn't people's religion typically for them? Doesn't checking boxes of doing what I did, doesn't it make us feel better? I mean, last week, Wednesday, you probably saw the strange people on our planet who celebrate Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, with as much get out all of your wicked, sinful, horrific behaviors, and on Wednesday, put some black stuff on your forehead. Oh, God loves that, doesn't he? Lint, lint. I'll tell you what, I'll give you $100. You show me in the Bible where there's a lint. You give me a hundred. No, it's just from a man-made ridiculousness of man-made religion. It's not in the Bible. People that have ash on their forehead on Ash Wednesday after Fat Tuesday are in a religion. They're not in any kind of relationship with God. through Jesus Christ. You know immediately, I mean that's really a great, for you evangelists out there who like to find unbelievers, that black stuff means they don't know Christ. Go talk to them. This is, hey, I need somebody to tell me the truth. And while you're at it, bring a wet cloth, and let me get that off your forehead. Well this is what people do for themselves. Verse 6, When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and do you not drink for yourselves? Are not these words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, along with its cities around it? And the Negev, that means the south, and the foothills were inhabited. In other words you're asking me the same dumb questions. that reveal your wicked heart that people were asking in Jeremiah's day right before they went to exile. In other words, you haven't learned a darn thing. Verse eight, then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, thus says the Lord of hosts. That just says that over and over throughout. Over and over. If you read this, you're going, how many times do I have to say, Lord of hosts, Lord of hosts? Or if you're reading the Legacy Standard Bible, Yahweh of armies. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, verse 9, dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, each to his brother. And do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor, and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. Now, what does this indicate? He gives them, he tells them to stop doing something that seemed somewhat religious and pious, or was religious and looked pious. And he says, instead of doing that, instead of your fasting, when you dispense true justice, there's fairness, there's righteousness, and you practice kindness and compassion, what does this show? Changed heart is what it shows. And isn't that what God calls us to do to each other? Love one another. And to his brother. And don't oppress the widow. A widow is a woman who has no hope. She can't get a job. Her husband is dead. Don't oppress her. Help her. In fact the Old Testament is replete with showing ways in which widows were to get help. In fact if you were a farmer, if you had farmland and you were harvesting your crops. You were to intentionally leave food on the corners of your fields so that widows could go get something to eat. Kind of their welfare agency. Or to the orphan, this poor child that has no children. Or the stranger, that's hospitality. Or to the poor. And so while you're helping people, this shows a change in heart. I'm not interested in your rituals, God is saying. I want your heart. Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. Verse 11. But they refused, and he's talking about the past generation that brought them into exile, but they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. Can you imagine such? When you start to hear the gospel, and I've seen people on TV do this, you know, you start giving them the gospel and they go, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and stop their ears. I don't want to hear it. Don't confuse me with the truth. Don't, and you can tell that today, our simple message today is people, look, you don't have to work to get God's favor. You just have to believe. And that right there, those are fighting words with some people, aren't they? People don't wanna hear that. No, no, you don't tell me my religion is beautiful. We do this and we do that. That's fine, okay. But that's not gaining you any favor. Don't try to earn what can't be earned. Receive what God is giving. People will literally, I mean that literally, they will close their ears to it, shake their heads and say, no, no. That turns every religion on its head. There's only two religions, you know. There's I and there's God. That's it. The religion of I is every religion from Roman Catholicism, to legalistic Baptists, to Mormons, to Jehovah's Witnesses, to Islam. Every one of them are the same. Do, do, and do, and try to impress the deity, or deities, and you will be rewarded. Christianity says, receive the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Completely different, aren't they? Verse 12. They made their hearts like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets." In other words, Zechariah is telling them, here's what your people did in the past. Therefore, great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Great wrath. If you like to underline in your Bible, that's a good one to underline. Because they're living it. They're living in the aftermath of God's great wrath. Seventy years prior their people had been taken into exile. They had been slaughtered mercilessly, many of them. Taken away out of their land. Imagine that. Taken out of your home and put into another world. That's worse than we think. I can only imagine how horrible that would be. He took an entire nation that way. And not just any nation, but the nation of Israel, God's chosen people. He destroyed their temple, Nebuchadnezzar did. Destroyed the temple of worship of the great and only God and transferred them out. It's horrible. This is God's wrath and you people, he's telling them, are living in the aftermath of that. Remember what they did so you don't repeat it. Verse 13, and just as he called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen, says the Lord of hosts. Don't miss that principle. God calls, God calls, God calls. He continues, holds His arms out to a disobedient and defiant nation, or just to people in general. The gospel message goes out, people say no, no, no. At some point God says, that's it. They may still be alive. It's not waiting for people to die. It's God saying, I mean here they were still alive. They wanted my mercy now. They wouldn't repent then. It's over. But instead, verse 14, but I scattered them with a storm and wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus this land is desolated. You want to know why you're in a desolated land? There's the reason. Thus this land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth. For they made the pleasant land desolate. God is just reminding, here's what I've done. You people coming and asking, just asking the wrong question has beget all of this, this sermon. You wanted, hey, should we continue our ritualistic fasting? Really? You're still doing that? Why ask that question? Why not come and say, hey, when is the temple gonna be completed? You're coming from Bethel, when's the temple gonna be completed? So we can resume our worship of the Almighty God. Hey, do we have to keep doing this? Be like somebody coming up and saying, hey, do we really have to get baptized? Do we really have to come to church on Sundays anymore? Some people don't even ask that, they just stop doing it. Yeah, perhaps. Wow, you're still doing that? Good for you. No, you don't have to fast anymore. Yeah, sure. That could have been a motive. They were waiting for Zechariah to pat them on the back. Boy, they got a different sermon than they thought, didn't they? They might have thought Zechariah said, can you believe these people? Look at the faith of these people in Bethel. Come on up here, Bethel. Y'all stand up here on these rocks and let all of Israel see you. What's back? Look at these people. For 70 years, they've been fasting. God is so pleased when people let themselves go hungry. When people go hungry, the almighty creator God is in heaven going, ah, I feel so worshiped because Lance hasn't eaten for three days. Oh, I'm so worshiped. You brought your eight-day-old baby and had water poured over its head in some ritual that you think is gonna save that child. Water poured over the head. Yeah, God loves that, the eternal almighty. That's what appeases him. You got out all your sin on Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras was a great day for you. Don't worry, the next day all you gotta do is say, Lord, I'm sorry, put a little black smudge on your forehead, and oh man, I am just satisfied. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. And intelligent people today buy this garbage. Intelligent people, by the billions, go into these churches. Some of you were there, you know. Chapter 8, in the Word of the Lord of Hosts, I want you to note in chapter 8, the Word of the Lord of Hosts, it says it 10 times. I kept reading it, and I was getting annoyed by it, because it's so redundant. And it's 10 times, it says the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Hosts. Why don't you just say God? But after each time, you get a promise, after the Lord of Hosts. It's like declaring the covenant name of God, and then there's a covenant. The word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for Zion. Remember, Zion is Jerusalem, for the holy city of Jerusalem. Yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her, thus says the Lord. I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the holy mountain. didn't happen in Zechariah's day. After Zechariah and Zerubbabel had the temple, or I should say Zerubbabel built the temple, that temple built and completed in 516 B.C. and the Jews reinstated their worship. They were still oppressed by the Persians. Later, the Greeks came along. Later, the Romans came along. When the Romans came along, Herod the Great built a huge wall around this city, beautified the temple, I should say, beautified the temple to the place where secular writers in that day were saying, if you've not seen the temple in Jerusalem, you've not seen anything beautiful. That's what Herod did with it. It's the same temple. Herod just put a wall around Zerubbabel's temple, beautified it. Was it then called the Holy Mountain of the Lord? Was it called the City of Truth? Did God return and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem? When He did come to Jerusalem, they killed Him in Jerusalem. So if it hasn't happened, what does that mean it's going to do? Verse 4, thus says the Lord of Hosts, old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. I love that. If you need a walking stick, because you're an older man or woman, embrace it. It's actually exalted in the Bible. You got gray hair, look at it and say, hey, check it out, gray hair. It's a beautiful thing, it means wisdom. Now not everybody with gray hair has wisdom. And if you don't have hair, that doesn't mean anything other than you don't have hair. I mean, a lot of people don't have hair. But there's something about a staff, an old fogey, you know? Give me my stick. I need to get up, you know? And every old man, myself included, likes for people to know when I'm sitting down and when I'm getting up. Always looking for some kind of a sympathetic, that poor old man. So this is what's gonna happen. Has this happened? Well, there's old men with canes in that area, then and now, verse five. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets. So that's the next, verse four, that's the next covenant promise. There's gonna be a day, what he's saying here is there's gonna be a day when everyone's gonna be safe from little kids to old people. They're gonna be safe, they're gonna be outdoors, they're going to be living in peace. No one in Jerusalem lives in peace. On October 7th, was it 2023? It was 2023. They were trying to live in peace and have a good time. Most of them got killed, brutalized, hurt horribly. God is saying, no, that hasn't been fulfilled. It will be though. Next promise, verse 6, thus says the Lord of hosts. If it is too difficult for the sight of the remnant of this people, there's that word remnant that we look at on Sunday mornings, the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in my sight declares the Lord of hosts? Thus says the Lord of hosts. Okay, so there's another promise. It's in the form of a question. Do you think it's too difficult in the sight of the remnant? That remnant of people that which represents Israel most of them are gone. The remnant has come back into the land. If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in my sight? The people are going to go, that can't happen, God's not going to let these happen. And God's going, that may sound impossible to you, but it's not to me. The next promise, verse 7, thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I am going to save my people from the land of the east and from the land of the west. This means I'm going to gather them from one side of the world to the next and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness. Does that happen? That means it will happen. Verse 9, Next Covenant Promise, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to the words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of Hosts was laid. So the foundation of the New Temple has been put down at this point. And that's who God is speaking to. But we know from Ezra, I believe it's Ezra 6.15 I think. I think it's Ezra 615. In fact, I know it's Ezra 615 that when they did lay the temple, they came back and Zerubbabel finished it, the foundation of the temple was kind of small looking. Now to those who had been in captivity and had never lived in Jerusalem and had come back, they didn't know the difference. But there were some old people in the crowd that had seen the previous temple and saw the new foundation and wept. I can tell you that when we put this building down, the previous building down years ago, walking through the foundation, it seemed small. When you put the walls up, everything is a lot bigger than it looks. At least with the foundation. And God is addressing these people. So let me read it again. Those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid to the end that the temple might be built. For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal. And for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies. And I set all men one against another, but now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. For there will be peace for the seed, the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, the heavens will give their due, and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things." In other words, don't worry about the small foundation. This is just a preview of what's coming and how I'm going to bless this nation. Has God done that? You can look at it like your retirement fund. You can say, well there's times when it looked like it and then it fell. And there were times when Israel got bit and then it fell. They won a war, they lost a war. They won and they looked like they had some peace. But was the Messiah reigning there? Were they without fear? It was a small, short, temporary peace. And God is saying it's going to happen and the whole land is going to yield its fruit. It just hasn't yet. Verse 13, it will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong. They are going to be a blessing to the world. Well Israel, the only reason Israel isn't a blessing to the world today is because they still reject their Messiah. If they would receive Christ we would be wanting to ally with them for their protection. It's amazing. Their own scriptures say it and they won't repent. Next covenant promise, verse 14, for thus says the Lord of hosts, just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I have not relented, so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear. These are the things which you should do. Saying the same thing. In fact, chapter eight is the same Sermon is chapter 7 said in a different way. Here's the things you don't do Speak the truth or you shouldn't speak the truth to one another But what do you think you amen that speak the truth? What if everyone just spoke the truth to each other? I mean even if you were a murderer and you got put on trial and you said, you know what I did it Send the jury home. I like to watch Dateline or I mean, if I wasn't a preacher, I was gonna be a cop. I mean, that was my training. And so, I mean, I'm an investigative thing, you know, I like to put things together. Something about it, Cheryl always asks, why do you watch that? Anyway, you watch this stuff, and everyone lies when you commit murder, when you commit adultery, you all lie. What if everybody, you could still commit murder and adultery, but if lying was impossible, yep, I did it. That would change everything. Or if everyone, if no one was, if thieves went away forever, there's no more theft. Think about how your world would change. The first thing you'd no longer have are locks. There would never be another lock on a door. You wouldn't need a lock. No security systems, nothing like that. Leave your car open, here's my money, where do you keep your money? I keep it out on the couch in the open, you know, whatever, it's all cash. No more thieves. All the things that we get to do in the future, well, God tells them, here's how you're to be. Here's what you're to be. Do not, or speak the truth to one another. Judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. All of these speak to a heart that's transformed. Verse 17, also let none of you devise evil in your heart against one another, and do not love perjury, which as you know is lying. For all these things are what I hate, declares the Lord. Let me show you something else. When you see the word hate in the Bible, can kind of ruffle you up. If you know the word, the book of Amos is, I want you to just go back, it's to the right. You'll go Zechariah, Haggai, it's just a couple pages. Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Micah, Jonah. One page of Obadiah and you'll come to Amos. My favorite passage in Amos is another thing that God hates. And the reason I'm reading it is because it fits with all the false religion that Israel, even coming back from exile, was exhibiting. Amos chapter five, beginning in verse 21. I know it's probably your pages are sticking together in Amos, right? God says this through the prophet Amos chapter 5 verse 21, I hate, I reject your festivals. Now religious festivals in Israel there were at least three a year that they came from all over the country into Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and the Feast of Trumpets. And God says, I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. It would be your coming together. Even though you offer up to me burnt offerings and your grain offerings. Now that would just be akin to today saying even though you bring your 10% and put it in the offering box. Even though you come to church and sing your songs. This will be a modern day, God says, I will not accept them and I will not even look at the peace offerings of all your fatlings. Take away from me the noise of your songs. I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. So imagine just a big huge music program. You got this band up there and a pretty lady up there and a couple of guitar players. The dry ice is putting the smoke up in the air. You know your modern church and it's rock concert. And what do we call it? Worship, being led by the worship leader. What a joke. This is what God thinks of that garbage. But what does He want? But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. We get together and we call these things we have worship services. Are they? Is it meant for that? Are you participating in worship? Or is it a ritualistic, I do this, I do that, I put the ash on my head, I go home and do what I wanna do? I mean, it can happen at Harvest Bible Church. It's your attitude towards it. What is the attitude? God, back to Zechariah. That's what God hates. Hates false religion. You can be at a worship service, a quote-unquote worship service, giving your money, singing songs, falling down on the floor, hands in the air, crying out of your eyes, and God is saying, I hate what you're doing, I'm not being worshiped. Verse 18, then the word of the Lord of hosts again. Next covenant promise came to me saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, the fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts. When you're fasting, you're mourning. God is saying, what you used to mourn over is going to be a time of joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts. For who? For the house of Judah. So love truth and peace. He doesn't say, so keep up those ridiculous rituals you're doing. So love truth and peace. Thus says the Lord of hosts. There it is again. It will be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. This is a promise of the Gentiles coming into Jewish cities. Gentiles are enemies of Jews. And in our world, many Gentiles are just downright anti-Semitic. It will be that the peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will also go, so many peoples and mighty nations will come and seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the Lord." You know, the Roman Catholic Church believes that that should say, in Rome. They do. Roman Catholic Church believes the city of Jerusalem used to be the holy city, but Rome became the holy city. The unholy city, maybe, where the Pope reigns, the representation of Christ on the earth. Is the Pope the representation of Christ on the earth? Goodness. I'll tell you, if you want an X-rated movie, read a book on the Popes. So he's saying there's going to be a stream of people coming into Jerusalem to see and witness the Lord of Hosts. That's Jesus Christ reigning in His glory. Verse 23, thus says Lord of Hosts, final covenant promise, in those days 10 men from all the nations, that's Gentiles, will grasp the garment of a Jew saying, let us go with you. We have heard that God is with you. People are killing Jews today. Then they're grabbing Jews. Is that happening today? No. So if it hasn't happened, it's not happening, we believe that it will happen. You can't be an amillennialist and read Zechariah and believe that Zechariah is a prophet. You just can't. It's impossible. Some of the commemorative feasts just for your information they commemorated devastating events. That last passage there I believe is verse 19, the tenth day of the tenth month was the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem. Almost two years later he broke down the walls. The ninth day of the fourth month was the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 25. They fasted in the fifth month. This was the commemoration of the burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. And in the seventh month, as I said earlier, they commemorated the murder of Gedoliah. So a lot of fasting, a lot of depriving oneself of food and going away feeling pretty self-righteous about what we did that day. Jews encouraged by their future hope to love God, to love what God loves, truth and peace. God's not into the fasting. If you want to fast and draw closer to the Lord, do so. But don't go around saying, look at me, I'm fasting. We're studying this in our Sermon on the Mount and our men's Bible study on Sunday nights, and we're looking at that just this past time, is that if you're gonna fast and you're gonna try to draw near to God through fasting, then do it. But it's not something, don't go to social media and say, pray for me today, I'm fasting. And go check how many likes you got. Take a picture of your old haggard face, I'm so hungry. Look at me, I'm so holy. That's as far of a gift as you're gonna get. Someone asks, how are you doing? I'm doing great. You wanna go get something to eat? I can't eat today. If they ask preciously, well I'm fasting. That's not losing your reward there. But God, this is why people typically do ritualistic things. God is encouraging people to seek truth and peace then and now. Fasting will be turned to feasting. Problem with rituals. It gives just a mere appearance of godliness. It can, anyway. I mean, to me, it's disgusting. Okay, whatever. The mere appearance of godliness, especially those who walk around, like say, with the smudge on their forehead. Just this appearance of godliness. It misses the mark, as it did in Zechariah's prophecy, because at the end of the 70 years, as God told Jeremiah, well, what is that old famous passage that every Baptist knows, Jeremiah 29 11? For I know the plans I have for you, because Lord. Well the first word if you memorize a passage that begins with 4 you missed the context because it is explaining the previous passage. But God says after that He is talking about how Israel is going to be that is where the 70 years are prophesied. After you have spent 70 years I'm going to bring you back because I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to give you hope and a future. And then what does He say? Then you will call upon me, and you will seek me, and you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart." There it is. You've come to me after 70 years, Zechariah's saying. You wanna know if you should keep fasting. Jeremiah said, after 50 years, then you will call to me and seek me. You're asking if you can quit fasting. Call to God and seek him. They missed it. Poor Jeremiah, that anyone, Jeremiah had to wait hundreds of years, long after his death, for anyone to ever take him seriously. but I'm sure he's sitting at the right hand of God the Father. What an incredible prophet he was. He saw no fruit, and that's a great illustration for any of you young men who are thinking about going into ministry. Your ministry could end up being just like Jeremiah's. God is not, God makes no promises. Are you ready? I mean, that's not what's happened to me, but to Jeremiah, it's, okay, Jeremiah, you want, and he didn't even ask to go into ministry. God said, I saw you in your mother's womb. You're gonna do what I tell you to do. Really? So he did. And everybody, and then in the end, they killed him. His words were good, and God validated him. Rituals are disingenuous. I love the question Zechariah asked, was it actually for me you fasted? If you are involved, engaged in some kind of a ritual that you believe is holy, ask yourself, are you doing it to the glory of God, or does it make you feel better? If it makes you feel better, If it makes you feel better because you know it's to the glory of God, then keep doing it. But it shouldn't have to make you feel good or bad. At the end of the day, you say, you know what, I do what I do to the glory of God. I know God loves this. I may not enjoy it much, but I'm doing it to the glory of God. It is self-centered, it's self-serving, these rituals. It's all about us. I can do this, I can do that, I can feel good about myself, and I'll even advertise it a bit. As I've read from Amos, God hates it. Jeremiah 22, 21 says this, I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, I will not listen. This has been your way since your youth. God has been trying to get people out of this ritualistic nonsense, and He's been doing it through the prophets of the Old Testament. He does it in the modern day, and people say, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't take me out of my rituals. I love, this is what makes me feel good. Have you ever met anyone like this? Were you once like this? I need to go to a church. I mean, you've got to admit, it feels better to go to a church where the pastor can say, okay, now you've done your duty for the day. Why do you think good Catholics go to Mass every day? And a good Catholic must go to Mass every day because a good Catholic knows he or she is a sinner. The mass is not a worship service, folks. It's a place to go to have your sins forgiven again by partaking of the communion so that you can swallow the bread, which becomes the body of Jesus, which cleanses you from your sin again, and you go about your day, and you feel really good. But you sin again along the way, you gotta go back to mass again. Over and over, keep slaying the body of Jesus so that you can keep being forgiven, where the Bible says that our Lord died once and for all. We don't keep going back. We don't technically even have to ask God to forgive us for our sins. Do we? That sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? Do I have to ask God? You don't. But confess your sins to restore your broken relationship with Him. Answer is always, because if you have to ask God to forgive you, then you fall into the Roman Catholic drama of committing suicide, and you die before you can ask God to forgive you. You can't ask Him to forgive you before you commit suicide, because then you commit suicide, you commit the sin, you can't get forgiven. It's a mortal sin, you go straight to hell. Unless you've got enough money, you can pay your priest, and your priest can say, don't worry, I bought your son out of hell, which is what one told me here. How about that? I want you to show you here in chapters seven and eight of Zechariah. It's interesting, it's fun, and it's only fun to people like me. You know what a chiasm is? Here it is. The chiasic structure. So messengers from Bethel come to entreat the Lord by talking to Zechariah chapters seven, one to three. Notice I have A beside the first one. B, the Lord denounces meaningless fasts in verses four to seven. The Lord's priority is social justice. do good to each other. I hate to put that because it's such a bad phrase today, but social justice is loving one another, doing the right thing for people. Verses 8 to 12, D, the Lord sent His people into exile and reminds them that He did. E, the Lord will restore Jerusalem, chapter 8, verses 1 to 3. And then F, the Lord will bless a remnant. That's what He says He'll do. The Lord will bring back the exiles, verses 7 to 8. And the D' lines up with the D. The Lord will bless a remnant, that matches the F above it, the Lord will bless a remnant. E, the Lord will restore Jerusalem, that fits with the E above it, the Lord will restore Jerusalem. C, the Lord's priority is social justice, lines up with the C prior in chapter 7. The Lord will restore the meaningful fast, chapter 8, verses 8-19, matches the B at the top. and then many nations will come to entreat the Lord, as the Bethelites came to entreat the prophet." So, you put it like this, you see, this is what is some poetry within the two chapters. Isn't that amazing? Your life will never be the same, having seen that. Well, I'll be honest, I don't notice it. I get a commentator to say, hey, check this out. Oh, all right, good point. So let's take a quick translation here. God desires reality, not ritual. He worships the worship of God in spirit and truth. You know, Jesus told that woman that day in John chapter 4. She was a Samaritan from the area of the old northern kingdom of Israel. She's talking to the Son of God. And she said, now that I know that you're a prophet, because remember he said, Jesus said, go get your husband. She goes, I don't have a husband. He goes, yeah, I know you don't have a husband. You've had five and the guy you're living with now ain't your husband. And I love her response. Sir, I perceive that you're a prophet. It's like saw right through her. So she knows he's a prophet, so she starts asking him questions. I got a question for you. Should we worship on this mountain here in Samaria, or do we worship in Mount Zion down there? And Jesus says, woman, I tell you the truth. A day is coming when you will not worship him on this mountain or that mountain. But the Father seeks those, I love this, seeks those, seeks those who will worship him in spirit and truth. The opposite of spirit and truth would be in ritual and lives. or in ritual and man-made ideas. Isn't that what the world is doing today? Spirit and truth is with your whole, here's who I am. And truth is based upon what God wants. I've made the example before. My wife makes a big deal about birthdays. That's a big deal. I learned that early on. So I figured, you know, my birthday, if I was to tell Cheryl, look, what do you want for your birthday? She'll ask me. Okay, well I would like a chocolate cake with white icing. That's what I want. Okay, and the gift I want is I want a new set of golf clubs. Okay, okay. chocolate cake, white icing, new set of golf clubs, and I would like a quiet evening, nobody coming over. That's what I want. Now, if it was my birthday, and I got a red velvet cake, a new tennis racket, and a surprise party, thank you, but that's not what I asked for. That might be what you wanted, but I gave you what I wanted. God has given us what he wants. We aren't to decide what we want, how we wanna worship. What does God want? Worship God in truth. Obey Him. Listen to the Word of God. Sing songs that are like prayers. After you sing a song, you should just be saying amen because you just prayed. That's what singing is. If the song isn't a prayer, it ain't a song worth being called worship. God doesn't care about you feeling good about the music or you feeling good about the sermon. It's not about us, is it? It's about God. That's why it's called a worship service. Do you think unbelievers can worship? Not God. Yeah, in their own minds, maybe. So why do these seeker-sensitive churches gather so many people together and call it a worship service? But these are trained preachers. But why? What's that? They're trained for. So if they're trained to do that, then they weren't trained at a very good seminary or Bible college. And that is the majority of seminaries and Bible colleges out there today, friends. That's what they're teaching. Read Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church and learn how to build a really big church. Because that's what everyone's gonna ask you when you tell them what church you go to. They're gonna ask, how big is your church? Because that somehow matters to them. Probably someone with ash on their forehead. When the heart is right, the ritual is good. But when the heart is wrong, the ritual is too. Cold hearts are usually warm to ritual. You gotta ask what your motive is. God desires inner renewal, not outward ceremonies, the fruit of which is depicted in the treatment of others. Who you love in Christ will come out into how you love God's people, even God's enemies. God responds to disobedience by turning a deaf ear, scattering his people, and desolating his holy and promised land. He did. He hasn't gotten old and soft. He promises to do it again. Ritualistic people, I just think you should quit playing church. Just take the day off like most Christians do today and go play baseball. God will discipline all those who oppress Israel and He will dwell in Jerusalem. We know this because He says He will. God will bring His people back from captivity and He will be their God. God exhorts all who have heard Haggai and Zechariah, the prophets in general, so that He will begin to prosper the city again and bless the people. I would say we listen to God's prophets. Modern prophets are those who say, thus saith the Lord. Where do we get that? Straight from that Word. God promises blessings. He exhorts right behavior. He discourages evil. These are all simplistic. See how simplistic these prophets are, were, and are. Nations will one day all flock to Jerusalem to seek the Lord and befriend the Jews. None of these things have happened. All of these things will happen. God will be glorified. Count on it. I think so. There'll be nicer people then. Hope I'm one of them. I said there are four sermons. Sermon one in chapter seven, verses one to seven, is that rituals devoid of faith and action are boring to both man and God. Boring. You ever get bored in worship, sir? Good answer. Love that answer. Well, I mean, look. Baptism. Lord's Supper, singing, listening, giving, serving, praying. All of these can be turned into rituals if they're not done for the right reason. Baptism signifies that you have repented of your sins. The water doesn't save you, but it's significant of being washed clean. Let the world know. Don't raise your hand and say, yeah, baptism sounds cool. I saw my friends get done. Don't be one of the numbers of your local Baptist church. All they want are the numbers. Here's how many people we led to the Lord. Yeah, let's see what their lives are like after you led them to the Lord. Let's see what these people's lives are like after you baptized them and dunked them in water. I mean, how many guys, I can't little even count all the people that have come here through the years who have been baptized who cannot share the gospel with me. I'm stunned by that. You can't share the gospel but you were baptized. Well, I believe in Jesus. What do you believe about Jesus? That's important. The devil believes in Jesus. Lord's Supper. Well, if I eat that, maybe I'll go to heaven. Give me that. Singing. What does it make you feel like? Are you listening to the Lord? Are you giving at all? Money? Time? Are you serving anywhere at anything? Are you even praying for people? This is what God says. saying in our modern day. Sermon two, in verses eight to 14, is rebellion plus ritual causes God to rebel against us. God seeks those who worship in spirit and in truth. And sermon three, in spite of past sins and based on his mercy and grace, God has a future restoration in mind for the nation of Israel. In the last sermon, God will restore Israel and usher in worldwide joy at the end of time. We believe that wholeheartedly. Let's see, I got two minutes, you got two minutes? What are you gonna say, no? Just wanna do a couple passages. I put together today eight pages, eight pages of a spreadsheet on my word processor of all the passages that I could come up with in the Old Testament, some in the New, about why we need a millennium. I've reduced it to two slides here, so. Since Christ must fulfill the numerous Old Testament predictions of a Messiah reigning from Jerusalem over Israel and the world, the Millennium must be the time that He will. As I said at the outset, you've got to have a Millennium for God to do everything that He promised He would do. Isaiah 11 verse 4 says, but with righteousness He will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. That is coming. Daniel 7, 14, And to him, that is the one like a son of man, we know as Jesus, was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away. His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. hasn't happened. Isaiah 2, 4, "...he will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples, and they will hammer their swords into plowshares." In other words, their fighting instruments will now be used to till the land, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, never again will they learn war, that hasn't happened. Isaiah 11, 9, they will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, but the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This is not the eternal kingdom, this is the millennial kingdom. Isaiah 65, 20, also of the millennial kingdom, no longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days. For the youth will die at the age of 100, and one who does not reach the age of 100 will be thought accursed. A hundred will be a youthfulness, will be a youth in that day. And finally, Isaiah 65, 23, they will not labor in vain, bear children for calamity, for they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord and their descendants with them. Again, just a taste of the plethora of passages out there that if you're an amillennialist, you have to look at those and go, I can't take that literally. I can't take that literally. That's not literal, that's not literal. All of a sudden, you've got a Bible that you can make say anything you want. Folks, I want you to believe that we live in a time prior to the second coming of Christ to the time when Jesus will come and set up His 1,000 year kingdom. At the end of 1,000 years that nation of Israel will have reigned on the earth. They will be everything that God had originally planned for them to be. And everyone who's ever oppressed them somehow will see and regret everything they ever did or said about Israel. Hamas, Hezbollah, all the way back to the Philistines of the Old Testament. I think everyone will look upon that nation and say, wow, weren't we wrong. Why didn't we take our allegiance and help the Israelites instead of hurt the Israelites? They will all see it. Every person who's ever lived will see that during the 1,000 year reign of Christ, God will be exonerated in his promises, and at the end of the 1,000 years, we go into the eternal state, and we will watch the heavenly Jerusalem make its way down to the literal earth, and we will come in and out of the city. That's a beautiful thing to look forward to, my friends. All right, let me pray for us. Lord, thank you for your promises. Over and over, you give them. I pray we would be excited to read them, that we would take them in. When we read them and when we hear them, that we would be encouraged, that we would be pushed to worship you, prompted to worship you at your promises, because you've got it all planned out. You know exactly what you're going to do. I pray that we would know it, receive it, and celebrate it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You've been listening to a sermon by Dr. Lance Waldie, Senior Pastor of Harvest Bible Church in Cypress, Texas.