Wednesday, April 12, 2017, 7:33 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Oh, To Be Like Thee.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Zechariah 12-13 (Select vv. NIV).
A Spirit of Grace (12:10)
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on
me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an
only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”
The context here is that of
judgment. And, the judgment is on God’s people, yet not to destroy them, but to
revive them. Yet, as with many of the Old Testament prophecies, they sometimes
have more than one fulfillment, and they periodically blend together prophecies
concerning their present age, and concerning the messianic age, as well. And, that
is this case here, I believe.
The one who has been pierced
is Jesus Christ, who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. Our sins are what pierced him. He who knew no sin became sin
for us, though, in order that we might become the righteousness of God. By His
stripes we are healed! He died that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him
who gave his life up for us. And, he died in order that we might no longer
conduct our lives according to our sinful flesh, but according to (in agreement
with) the Holy Spirit of God.
So, when we, who have been
crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who have been resurrected with
Christ to newness of life, which is to be lived to his righteousness, turn away
from what we know is right, and we willfully do what we know is wrong, in a
sense, we pierce him again. He grieves over us, for we have left the right way and
we have gone off to follow after the gods of this world and our own flesh once
again. And, so his goal is always to bring us back. If speaking tenderly to our
hearts over a period of time does not get results, then he is not resistant to
disciplining us in order to get us to look to him and to realize the folly
(absurdity, senselessness) of our ways.
The goal of this divine
discipline (judgment, correction), if we have wandered off from our pure
devotion to Christ, is to get us to humbly and mournfully repent of our sins
and to turn back to following Christ with our lives. And, he will pour out on
us the blessings of his grace in reviving our hearts and empowering us once
more with his Spirit to live godly lives.
Cleansing from Sin (13:1-2)
“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of
David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
“On that day, I will banish the names of the idols
from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord
Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the
land.”
Although God will allow Satan
and all his hordes to come against his saints – to attack, kill, hate, reject,
persecute, abuse, falsely accuse and misuse – he will never leave us or forsake
us. He will give us, who are still alive, all we need to remain strong in our
faith, to put on the armor of God, and to set our faces like flint against all
of Satan’s wiles and wickedness. Our enemies will not be able to destroy us, though.
Although they may kill the body, they cannot kill the soul. The stronger Satan
fights against us, the mightier in battle against him God makes us, if we are
willing to obey him. The more that the church is persecuted, the further it
increases in numbers and in faith, perseverance, forbearance, hope, trust, and
courage to keep sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many as possible
before Jesus returns.
On the day when God judges his
people, and when he judges our enemies, too, and when God’s people, his saints,
repent of their evil ways, and they return to him as their ONLY God and Lord,
he will cleanse them of their sins. This is not the cleansing that takes place
when we first believe in Jesus Christ, and our sins are put to death in our
lives, and we are born anew of the Spirit of God. But, it is the cleansing of
sin that takes place in the life of the believer who has fallen back into sin
and then repents (See: 1 Jn. 1:5-10; Rev. 2-3; Lu. 9:23-25). It is when God
renews us and restores us back into fellowship with him, because that
fellowship had been broken by our willful sins against him (Heb. 12:1-13; Gal.
6:1; Col. 3:1-10; Ro. 8:12-14). Basically, we are daily needing to be renewed
and restored (Jn. 13:1-17).
When God judges our enemies,
he will remove from the land what has led his people into captivity, i.e. the
false prophets and idols which have led his people astray. I can’t help but
feel that the internet and TV will have to be cut off somehow, so maybe we will
lose electricity. This judgment will also expose all those deceivers for what they
are, which will then open the eyes of the saints who have been duped by these master
manipulators. And, that, I believe, is the fountain that will be opened to
cleanse the wayward saints from their idolatries, impurities and adulteries.
When we no longer have available to us these idols, and when our eyes are
opened to the truth, and the blinders removed, this will be a fountain to
healing and cleansing.
Scattered Sheep
(13:7-9)
“Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the
man who is close to me!”
declares the
Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the
sheep will be scattered,
and I will
turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds
will be struck down and perish;
yet
one-third will be left in it.
This third I will put into the fire;
I will
refine them like silver
and test
them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will
answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they
will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
This passage of scripture
appears to move quickly from the time of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, and the
desertion of his followers, to the scattering of the early church during a time
of great persecution, and then on to the persecution of the saints and the
judgments of God in these last days before Jesus’ return. This passage also
speaks of God’s restoration and revival of his wandering saints, as well as it
speaks of his purifying and refining of his faithful and persecuted saints (his
servants) in these last days. And, included in this is the salvation of souls
who have never before trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their
lives, who will now say, “The Lord is our God.”
I don’t know the timing of
all of this. I don’t know for sure that the tribulation is a literal seven
years. But, what I do know is that the prophecies of scripture in Revelation 13
are being realized in our day and time, and I believe some of them have been
happening at least since WWII. For one, I believe that television meets the
criteria of the “image of the beast” like nothing else on this earth, for truly
it is its image (picture, representation, likeness, reflection). And, it is
worshiped (idolized) in probably the majority of American households, for sure.
It seems most American homes have at least one TV, and often large screen TVs
in their living rooms, and the rooms are often focused all around the
television set, as also often are the lives of the people who live in those
houses.
The internet needs to be included
in this, as well, including the use of smart phones, electronic tablets and
laptop computers which give people unsupervised (re: children) or unaccountable
(to anyone) private internet access. This has ruined entire households and
destroyed many marriages.
Also, a global force of the
Elite of this World (the New World Order) is presently consuming, plundering,
confiscating, murdering, persecuting and otherwise taking over sovereign
nations and peoples and lands and properties and churches all over the globe. And,
the US government is, basically, leading the way as their “right hand man,” i.e.
as the harlot who rides the beast. The US government has no real authority of
its own, but it is under the authority of the rule of the Elite (New World
Order ‘beast’), which serves as the de facto government (shadow government) of
these United States of America. We who live in America cannot trust our leaders
or our media or even a lot of our church leaders to tell us the truth. So, we
must test everything we hear or read against the Word of God and in prayer.
But, the good news here is
that, even though God allows evil to reign for a period of time, and even
though he allows his saints to go through difficult times, in order to refine,
purify and make us holy, and to conform us into the image of Christ, this will
not last forever. One day Jesus is going to come back for us to take us to be
with him. When he does, evil and sin will be no more. There will be no more
sickness, sadness, pain, and suffering. No one will ever be able to hurt us
again. We will be with our Lord forever! Amen!
Yet, while we wait for his
return, what kind of people ought we to be? We “ought to live holy and godly
lives” as we “look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Pet.
3:11-12; cf. Tit. 2:11-14).
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Thomas O. Chisholm / W. J. Kirkpatrick
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s
treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of
compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the
fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy
love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like
Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy
fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
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