Zechariah, chapter one, we will be looking at verses eight through 13, although I want to read the first vision to you in a few minutes through verse 17. Let me begin by saying that I marvel at the ongoing hostilities directed toward Israel, especially by the jihadists that surround them. It's an amazing thing to witness and the staggering incompetence and naivete of the Neo Marxist Biden/Harris regime only fuels the Iranian terrorist war machine that continues to perpetrate these evils upon Israel and so many other peace of people. 

And I might also add, according to the Scriptures, we see that this kind of irrational anti semitism will get exceedingly worse over the course of what the Bible calls "the times of the Gentiles," and especially just prior to the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will ultimately annihilate the satanic world system ruled by the Antichrist during the tribulation and set up his kingdom and reign in righteousness. And during that time, which is called biblically, "the day of the Lord;" the time surrounding Christ's return - indeed, Yahweh will judge his enemies, which will include all of the nations of the world, and then he will save his people. In fact, Zechariah tells us this in Zechariah 12, beginning at verse two, "'Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.'" 

Indeed, we know that the antichrist will seek to exterminate the whole nation, and he will succeed in killing two thirds of them, but a remnant will remain. In fact, we read about this in Zechariah 13 and verse nine, where the Lord says, "'"I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; and I will say, 'They are My people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"'" 

So what we are seeing today in the Middle East, especially with Israel, is merely a harbinger of things to come. What will come eventually is an unparalleled Holocaust under the rule of the antichrist that will be followed by a national repentance and a glorious restoration under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Zechariah speaks of this in chapter 12, verse 10, where he says, "'I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.'" And as we come to the eight night visions that God gave Zechariah, we find hope being given to the dispersed and defeated exiles; the demoralized exiles of Israel in that day. And obviously that hope extends, ultimately, to all of us. But what we see in these eight visions - and we're going to be looking at part of the first one today - is the is prophecies that ultimately find their fulfillment in the future, at the end of the times of the Gentiles and the return of the Messiah. And any unbiased interpretation based upon the normal use of language will reveal that there are zero fulfillments of these prophecies in that particular period of Jewish history, they are ultimately future. 

Moreover, what we will find over the course of our study is that these prophecies parallel other Old Testament prophecies, as well as New Testament prophecies, especially our Lord's Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and in the book of Revelation, as we will see. 

Now with that little introduction, let me read to you the text, Zechariah, chapter one, beginning in verse eight. 

"I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine with, red, sorrel and white horses behind him. 

Then I said, 'My Lord, what are these?' And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, 'I will show you what these are.' 

And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, 'These are those whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.'

So they answered the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, 'We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is peaceful and quiet.' 

Then the angel of the LORD said, 'O LORD of hosts, how long will You have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant these 70 years?' 

The LORD answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words. 

So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, 'Proclaim, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. 

But I am very angry with the nations who were at ease; for while I was only a little angrythey furthered the disaster." Therefore, Thus says the LORD, "I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it," declares the LORD of hosts, "and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem."' 

'Again proclaim saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.'"'" 

So this morning, we will examine the first 13 verses under the heading "Hope for Dispersed and Demoralized Israel" - a hope again, that extends to all of the redeemed. And here we are going to see three components of what are given to him: three elements of that comforting hope. And it's all anchored in the sovereign authority and infinite power of Yahweh, the one true God. And here we are going to see that the coming Messiah is three things. First of all, he's prepared for battle. Secondly, he's perpetually focused and finally, he is personally interceding.

So under this first heading, prepared for battle, notice again, verse eight, "I saw at night..." Now let me pause here for a moment. The Lord allows Zechariah to visually see and hear his revelation, where he reiterates his commitment to fulfill his covenant promises, and you will recall the vision of the four beasts in Daniel seven. Remember, there was a description of the great Gentile powers down through history, and the vision concerning the Messiah's future destruction of those nations and the establishment of his reign upon the earth. There in Daniel 7:13, we read something very similar, "'I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds, one like a Son of Man, was coming, and he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him 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; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.'" 

Now, similar truths are here, revealed to Zechariah in his night vision. Notice, "I saw at night, and behold..."  It could be translated, "look at this." That's the idea. Fix your gaze upon this dramatic scene. And what is it? A man was riding on a red horse. Now, who is he? Well, this is the pre–incarnate Christ, the angel or the messenger of Jehovah, as we will discover more in verses 11 and 13. And he is obviously differentiated from the other angelic riders behind him, and he possesses authority over them in that he is receiving the reports that they give him. The pre-incarnate Christ was also called "the angel" or "the messenger of Yahweh" in Genesis, 16, verses 11 through 13. You will remember where he appeared to Hagar. And also it was the Angel of Yahweh - God, very God - who spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus three. And in both examples, the Angel of Yahweh was Yahweh Himself, sent by God to deliver his own message, as we see here in Zechariah's vision. 

But notice here in verse eight, he is pictured as a man. The same thing is true in Daniel seven, verse 13, "'I kept looking in the night visions, behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man was coming.'" Now in that context, the Son of Man was unlike the beastly characters describing the other ancient kingdoms that Daniel saw. Christ is human-like, "like a Son of Man." And though God very God, he will manifest all of the perfections of unfallen humanity, and he will reign in human form. He is, biblically, the final Adam, the one who fulfills the role of the first Adam who failed. The first Adam was tasked with ruling over God's very good creation. Remember, in Genesis one about verse 26 or so and following, but because of sin, he was unable to successfully discharge what God had commissioned him to do. And this is why the Apostle Paul calls Jesus the Adam to come in Romans 5:14, and the last Adam in First Corinthians 15 verse 45. The Lord Jesus Christ used the same term to describe himself in Luke 21 verse 27 where he quotes from Daniel 7:13, there we read "'Then, - referring to when the powers of the heavens will be shaken that he mentions right before this - "then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." 

So dear saints, what Zechariah is seeing here is a man, the Messiah, and he is riding a red horse. Now in order to understand some of these symbols, we have to look at other passages of Scripture that use the same symbols. And we know horses, as well as chariots, were like tanks in ancient warfare, they struck fear in opposing armies. For example, in Deuteronomy 20 and verse one we read, "'When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you." So he sees the Messiah here riding a red horse, and red, biblically, symbolizes war. It symbolizes vengeance; it's used to describe judgment in the bloodshed resulting from the judgmental activity against Israel's enemies. We see this pictured, for example, in Isaiah 63 verses one through six. And this is where the Messiah, in the future, will be reckoning with the god hating world, represented by Edom and Bozrah, which is its capital in that day. And all of this will coincide with his redemption and restoration of Israel. Let me read that passage to you, Isaiah 63 one and following, "Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in greatness, in the greatness of His strength? 'It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.' Why is Your apparel red and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? 'I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples, there is no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their life blood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment.' For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. I looked and there was no one to help, and I was astonished, and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me. I trod down the peoples in My anger and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their life blood on the earth.'" And truly, we know that when Christ came the first time, he shed his blood on the cross to defeat Satan sin and death. And when he comes again, we know he will be riding a white horse, the magnificent steed of the victorious Roman generals that they would ride in their triumphal processions. And according to Revelation 19:11, "He who sat on it is called Faithful and True and in righteousness He judges and wages war." But here he is riding on a red horse. He is prepared for war. He is prepared for vengeance. He is prepared for judgment. 

But also, as we look at this, and we will see more of this as we go, he is intimately and gloriously involved with the welfare of his covenant people. He is on the move. He is advancing. He's prepared for battle, a battle that will ultimately take place at Armageddon. But I want you to notice that he dismounts, it says, "...and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine..." So obviously he is prepared for war, along with the other angelic writers behind him, but he has not fully yet engaged the enemies, but he will when the time is right. 

Now, what's this deal with the myrtle trees? Well, they are beautiful, small trees; you see them all over Israel, even to this day. They have dark scented green leaves, dark green leaves, and they have a white and sometimes a creamy colored blossom, and they produce dark colored berries that are edible. And in the Middle East, even amongst Jewish people and Muslim people, all people groups, they would see the myrtle as a symbol of paradise. Some of them see it as a symbol of purification, of rebirth, of purity, hope and innocence. And so these myrtle trees adorn the hillsides of Israel. But it's also interesting that myrtle branches were used in the ritual construction of the booth's celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. You would read about this, for example, in Leviticus 23 and Nehemiah eight, that was a holy convocation that memorialized Israel's deliverance from Egypt. You read about that again in Leviticus 23 and you might also recall that God ordained seven feasts and convocations for Israel to observe. They were, the first four, were Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and then Pentecost. And all four of those were fulfilled at Christ's first coming. And then later on in the year, later on in the fall, you have the Feast of Trumpets. I believe it was October 2 that they just celebrated this, when they would remember their covenant relationship with God and seek mercy and forgiveness and repentance. And then you have the Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur - which was a time of cleansing and purification, forgiveness of sin; and then the Feast of Tabernacles, or also called the Feast of Booths, or the feast of gathering, and that commemorated God's deliverance, God's protection and his provision for them during the wilderness wanderings where he tabernacled among them. And this required the myrtle tree, the Feast of Tabernacles, it required the myrtle tree to be part of the branches that they would use to make these little structures, which they do to this day. 

And all three of them will be fulfilled in chronological order at Christ's Second Coming. In fact, there are, believe it, or not, many 1000s of Jewish believers, and they are growing in Israel, and they rejoice in the reality of what I just said. They are looking forward to the fulfillment of the feast of trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, prophetically speaking, after Daniel's 70th week judgment, or the time of tribulation, the Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled when Christ returns with his church, and then the Day of atonement will be fulfilled when Israel finally recognizes their Messiah, and then the Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom, when Christ dwells with his kingdom citizens on Earth, as he has promised. John MacArthur says this quote, "In the millennial kingdom, the whole world will celebrate the Feast of Booths to commemorate God's faithfulness, not only in bringing Israel home from their wilderness wanderings, but also in bringing God's people back from their dispersion among the nations (Zechariah 14:16, Peter one, one through two). He went on to add, "During the 1000-year reign of Christ, God will make myrtle trees plentiful even in the wastelands to facilitate that celebration." We read about that in Isaiah 411:9 and Isaiah 55:13, I'll read those to you in a moment. Then finally, MacArthur says, "The presence of the myrtle tree in the vision symbolized God's faithfulness, Messiah's victory in Israel's ultimate restoration." 

So the Feast of Tabernacles also typified the kingdom blessings of Israel after her final regathering, not only from Egypt but from the Gentile world. And Isaiah speaks of this, as I said in chapter 41 beginning in verse 19. And here God is speaking of the luxuriant vegetation that will cover the land when God redeems his creation during the Millennium. He says there in Isaiah 41:19, "I will put the cedar in the wilderness, the acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree. I will place the juniper in the desert together with the box tree and the cypress, that they may see and recognize and consider, and gain insight as well that the hand of the Lord has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it." What a day that will be. And we will see that one day. Isaiah 55 verse 13, he says, "Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle, the myrtle will come up. And it will be a memorial to the Lord for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off." 

Now here in Zechariah’s vision, I think it's fair to say that the myrtle symbolizes Israel, the covenant people, the eternally elect nation, the object of his eternal love and unchanging purposes, as you would read, for example, in Romans 11, verse 29. And notice he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine. So he sees the Messiah here. He's dismounted from the red horse, and he's standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine. Now it's interesting, this term "ravine" in Hebrew "mesulla" refers to a deep, narrow, steep sided valley, or a deep bottom, kind of an ominous place. And the term is from the roots mesola, which means to be dark. In fact, we see the term used, for example, in Psalm 88 verse six, "You have put me in the lowest pit, in dark places in the depths." There's the term "in the depths." Your wrath has rested upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves. Sothis ravine is an apt figure describing the condition of Israel in that day, and frankly, even in this day, where they are pictured as the myrtles, which were in the ravine in the depths. Because would you not agree that even today, and certainly in that day, they languished in deep darkness, they suffered in the narrow ravine of humiliation and degradation. They were woefully distressed during the entire period of the times of the Gentiles, as Jesus described in Luke 21:24 which fits this context. 

And I might also add that the lowest part of Jerusalem is the Kidron Valley. Many of us have been there on a number of occasions, and this is a deep ravine. It was a place where water would drain off frequently, and it would nourish lots of plants. And if you look at that ravine, you will see myrtle trees everywhere. It's also worth noting that it was in the Kidron valley where Israel's terrified army fled from the Babylonian horde once they broke through the walls of Jerusalem. You read about that in Second Kings 25. 

So what we see thus far is the warrior king, the Messiah, prepared for war and yet not ready to launch his attack. And he is seen here standing in a position of readiness. He's amongst his people Israel, even in their demoralized state of degradation. It reminds me of Isaiah, 43, verse two, and my how many times I have quoted this in the midst of my own depths, and I'm sure you've all been there. Maybe you're there today. It says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you."

Now, beloved, you must understand that what is being revealed here to Zechariah would have been a great comfort to the people. In fact, later on, in verse 13, it says The Lord answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words. We'll look at that more closely in a few minutes. But can we not even today, see the strong arm of Yahweh protecting his people as they seek to survive all of the attacks? They're being attacked from seven different ways, seven different fronts, and although they exist in unbelief, the Lord continues to care for his own. In fact, in Psalm 121 verse four, we read, "Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." You don't have this verse but, on the overhead,but in Zechariah two and verse eight, we read, "For thus says the LORD of hosts, ''After glory He has sent me against the nations that that plunder you, for he who touches you touches the apple..." literally, the pupil, "of My eye." And isn't it wonderful to know that even we, in this church age, his elect children, his bridal church, he has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and I have no doubt that he continues to protect each of us, even this church, even as he is doing right this moment. 

Notice again, "I saw at night, behold, a man was riding on a red horse, he was standing among the myrtle trees, which were in the ravine," and then it says, "with red, sorrel and white horses behind him." Now I can't speak with any dogmatism on any of this, but I will say that red is always biblically associated with war and vengeance and judgment and bloodshed. "Sorel" - "saroq" in the Hebrew, is only used this one time. So it's not like I can go to other passages and try to understand how it might, what it might be saying, but it carries the idea of mixed colors, or red and white. And perhaps, perhaps, this signifies some kind of a mixed mission of judgment and mercy, but we can't say for sure. And then, of course, white is the steed of the conqueror, a symbol of victory and triumph. So these angelic horsemen now are accompanying the Messiah, who is readied to do his work of judgment, but not yet, and they're there to do his bidding at the proper time. As we see in response to Zechariah's question, verse nine, Then Zechariah said, "'My Lord, what are these?'" Now, let me pause here, "lord," here is not Adonai. He's not speaking to the Messiah here. This is a respectful greeting, not the title for God. And he was not speaking with, therefore, the Angel of Yahweh, with the Lord Jesus Christ, but he's speaking now to an interpreting angel that has been commissioned to help Zechariah understand the meaning of the vision. By the way, he is going to appear 11 times throughout Zechariah's prophecy. 

So he says, "'My Lord, what are these?' And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, 'I will show you what these are.'" But then notice who answers the question posed to the interpreting angel in verse 10, "And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees..." in other words, the Messiah - the Messiah is going to answer that question. He's the one standing with his covenant people, symbolized by the myrtle trees in the deep ravine of degradation. Again, those myrtle trees were used to construct the booths, and we will see them in the millennial kingdom. But he answers and says to them, "'These are those whom the LORD has sent to patrol the Earth. These are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the Earth.'" Patrol means to walk up and down. It could be translated to go to and fro throughout the earth, and it carries the idea of making a careful military survey, or reconnoitering a region occupied by the enemy; to ascertain the best course of a military action. And notice that the sphere of their patrolling expedition is the earth. So Yahweh has dispatched them to assess the enemy. 

So we move from the first point that the Messiah is prepared for battle, but secondly, he has perpetually focused. "'These are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the Earth.'" It's amazing when you think about it, as we see here, God is intimately involved with those that he has set his love upon. And although He is omniscient and omnipresent, we see that he even dispatches his angels to constantly be patrolling the entire Earth, constantly protecting, constantly assessing, constantly ministering to his elect; accomplishing all he requires as part of his providential workings to accomplish all that he has ordained in eternity past;  all of his purposes for creation, all of his purposes regarding the coming kingdom and so forth. And sowhen you think about it, there is nothing that can escape the all seeing eye of God, including what we think and what we do. And we need to remember that do we not? 

Now notice again, the scope of the vision here reaches far beyond the Persian Empire of that day, or any other empire of that day, the report encompasses all of the inhabitants of the globe, the entirety of the earth. And of course, that will one day be the domain of the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS in his kingdom. Now notice these whom the Lord is sent to patrol the earth. They give their report in verse 11. "So they answered the angel of the Lord," this is Yahweh the Messiah. By the way, I might add that this is the same Angel of Yahweh that killed 185,000 Assyrians that were about to attack Jerusalem. We read about that in Second Kings 19. "So they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees and said..." In other words, here's their report, "'We have patrolled the earth, and behold all the earth is peaceful and quiet.'" Now, the term      "peaceful" in the Hebrew could be translated as "calm." It's a term, actually here, it's a participle denoting continuous action, that of sitting or being in a restful state. And the word "quiet" can be translated to be "at rest," "to lie down, to be tranquil." It's even used in other places to describe somebody that that is not being harassed. So it's interesting here, he says, "behold." In other words, look at this - to our surprise, "the whole earth is peaceful and it's quiet." The nations of the world are at rest, even in their wickedness. The peoples that despise the one true God, they're all calm. They're content with themselves, even though they are at war with you. Those who have no fear of God are tranquil. They're self-satisfied, self-assured, self-absorbed, self-sufficient, self-confident, self-reliant. This is very troubling. All the earth is peaceful and quiet. Now you must understand why this is so disconcerting, because the restful state of the nations means the condition for the Messiah's return to judge the nations has not yet arrived. It's not time.

You must understand that the pre-kingdom judgments just before the Messiah's second coming will ignite unprecedented worldwide chaos. You have the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39 where a Russian and Arab alliance will come down on the northern parts of Israel, and the Lord God will destroy them, so that the people of Israel and the people of the world will know that he is the Lord the God of Israel. And then as well, you have the battle of Armageddon, where all of the nations of the world will gather to destroy Jerusalem. By the way, again, "all" will include the United States. All of the nations will gather to destroy Jerusalem, and they will be destroyed by the Messiah when He returns. You can read about this in a number of passages, but Joel three is a good one. And Jesus even said in his Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 beginning in verse six, that you will be hearing "of wars and rumors of wars. See that you not be frightened, for these things must take place. But that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And in various places there will be famines and earthquakes, but all these things are merely the beginning of the birth pangs." 

Now, while these kinds of conditions have ebbed and flowed throughout redemptive history, they are going to increase in ways that have never been known just prior to the Lord's return. And you can see this, for example, in the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments described in Revelation, six through 19. In fact, culminating Christ's Second Coming at the very end of all ofthose horrible catastrophes on earth, all of the chaos we read in Revelation 19, beginning in verse 19, "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies assembled to make war against Him." In other words, the Antichrist and the kings of the earth warring against Christ, "who sat on the horse and against his army, and the Beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone, and the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh." 

Now I give you that background so that you understand when the scouts now report what they have seen after all of their patrol that all the earth is peaceful and quiet. This is very disappointing news, because we want the King to come now, right?  The fulfillment of God's promises to destroy the Gentile world powers prior to Israel's restoration and the kingdom blessings, required a very different scenario on the earth and the people would have been aware of this. For example, in Habakkuk's prophecy in chapter two verse 21, The Lord says, "'I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations, and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down; everyone by the sword of another.'" But there's simply no sign of this in Zechariah's day, those conditions were not in place. 

I must pause for a moment, dear friends, these conditions are in place today. These conditions are in place. Today, the world is a powder keg ready to explode, and as we look at the constellation of prophetic signs, we see that everything is firmly in place, consistent with those things that are described that will occur during the triad time of the tribulation, what I call many times, the pre kingdom judgments, or Daniel's 70th week; everything's in place. And I like to think of it this way, it's as though we're at this magnificent play, and we're looking at the stage, the curtains are closed, we begin to hear a drum roll, and the curtains are about to be pulled back for the final drama of the church age to unfold the Lord Jesus Christ returning in power and great glory. These are unprecedented times. 

Now back to the vision, although the exiled Israelites were dispersed and demoralized, and the promised upheaval on Earth to establish the kingdom of the Messiah was absent, those conditions just weren't there, Zechariah's vision nevertheless gave them hope, because they could see that their coming Messiah was, number one, prepared for battle. Number two, he was perpetually focused and number three, he was personally interceding for them. Soconsidering the disappointment of the patrol of the angelic riders, notice the Messiah's intercession on their behalf. 

Verse 12, "Then the angel of the LORD said, 'O LORD of hosts, how long will You have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which You have been indignant these 70 years?'" And as you think about it, still today, Jewry is scattered throughout the world, hated among the nations. You could add the hatred of all other ethnic groups in the history of the world, and they will not come close to the hatred the world has for Jewish people. Still today they're persecuted by the Gentiles. Still today they languish in unbelief, blinded to the Messiah, at least, most of them. But isn't it interesting, the Lord Jesus Christ intercedes on their behalf. He intercedes as their compassionate divine advocate, appealing to the Father to have compassion upon them, which he will do in his time. 

And then notice, in response to his son's loving intercession, God, the Father now addresses the angel speaking to Zechariah. It says, in verse 13, "The LORD answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words." I wonder what he said. Well, we can get from the context that these had to have been the prophetic truths that had already been disseminated through the prophets, proclaimed by previous prophets, truths that had already been given, for example, to Daniel, perhaps by the same angel, truths pertaining to the fulfillment of the Noahic, the Abrahamic, the Davidic and the new covenants; truths underscoring God's faithfulness to accomplish everything that he has promised to Israel that they would trust in his saving purposes that would only come ultimately through the atoning work of his son. All these Old Testament prophecies were there. These are comforting words. Are they not comforting to us? 

What if we didn't have any of this and we just didn't know how the whole thing would turn out? We have to leave it up to our politicians to somehow get everything right. Well, that's a horrifying thought, but indeed, as we can see here, our Messiah is prepared for battle. He's perpetually focused, and he's personally interceding. Oh my how these people needed to have these comforting truths, don't we all? What a blessing to know that God is sovereignly in control, and he is working his kingdom purposes in the world. Nothing can thwart them. These are the great comforting truths of His Word. I think of Isaiah, chapter 40 and verse one, "'Comfort, O comfort My people.' says your God, 'speak kindly to Jerusalem and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD's hand, double for all her sins. A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'" What a magnificent day that will be when the Lord Jesus Christ reigns on his throne from Jerusalem, as he has promised, and the whole world will see the one that so many have scoffed down through the centuries. This is the God I serve. I trust he is the God that you serve, the God that you love, the God that you long to see.

Now, a very important observation here, and I hope this will be very practical to you as we kind of wrap this up this morning. Notice again, in verse 12, "The angel of the LORD said, 'O LORD of hosts, how long will You have no compassion for Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, with which you have been indignant these 70 years?'" Now, folks, do you realize that this is Jesus longing for judgment upon the wicked. This is Jesus pleading with the Father for the opportunity to judge the wicked. And of course, this absolutely flies in the face of what we hear today about who Jesus is, that Jesus is just a God of love and a God of peace, certainly is that, but he is so much more. Unbelievers believe that he is only defined by love and peace, and therefore he would never judge anyone. He would never send anyone to hell.  Universalists believe that God would never do that. You get into the alphabet people's debate, LGBTQ and whatever else they've come up with, and you will see that we're supposed to accept them, even celebrate them, because, after all, God is love. I heard a feminist PC USA pastor speaking the other day on the abortion argument, and she made this case that Jesus cares for women so much that he actually holds their hand and walks with them as they go in to get an abortion, to get rid of their baby. That's how much he loves you. I mean, I mean that type of stuff is purely demonic. But what we see here is something very different. We see that Jesus is not just defined by his love and his desire for peace - even though that is true, those things are not true to the exclusion of his other attributes, that he is also holy and righteous and just. He is a consuming fire.

We see this longing for judgment as well in Luke 12, verse 49 there Jesus says, "'I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!'" So much for the smiley face, Jesus that winks at sin, I wish the fire had already started. He wishes it were time for the final judgment. And of course, this is foreign to most people, because they do not understand, nor do they know who Christ really is. They do not understand he is a God of justice and a God of vengeance and righteousness. Jesus longs for judgment. He wants the judgment to come now. Why is that? Because he's an infinitely Holy God, and he cannot stand sin. He longs for righteousness and peace and holiness and purity. He longs to see an end to sin. He longs to finally be rid of sinners who have polluted his universe, those who have invaded his very holy presence, those who have brought such misery upon the earth, untold misery, generation after generation of sin and sinners. And sometimes you wonder, how much longer can God tolerate this? And that's what Jesus is saying with Zechariah - what we read in Zechariah. Now, naturally, he wished the fire had already been started. But again, people will say, no, God loves everybody. God is love. He accepts all people, no matter who they are, what they do. It's interesting what Jesus said in Luke 12, verse 51, "'Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.'"  "Dianmerismos" the original language, it means divisive, dissension. That's why I came to earth, to bring divisive dissension. To bring, it means separation, and by the way, not simple disagreement, but divisive, fierce dissension. He says, ..."'for from now on five members in one household will be divided three against two and two against three. They will be divided father against son and son against father. Mother against daughter and daughter against mother. Mother-in-law against daughter in law and daughter in law against mother in law.'" I mean, think about this, family should be the place where there is the most safety, the most peace, the most joy, the most intimacy and love. And yet Jesus said that he came to divide all of that. And if any of you have family members that hate the gospel, you know what this is like. Judgment is coming upon the earth. Luke 12 and verse 40, Jesus said, "'Be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.'" John 9:39, he said, "'For judgment, I came into the world.'" For judgment, I came into the world. It's interesting, John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, announced the same thing in his ministry back in Luke three, there he said in verse 16, "As for me, I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, and he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." This was the message of the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's coming to bring fire, to cast fire upon the earth. And in John 5:22 we read, "'For not even the Father judges anyone,'" Jesus says, "'but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all honor the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and doesn't come into judgment but is passed out of death into life.'" 

So if you believe in Christ, and you've cried out to him for a salvation that you do not deserve, you belong to Him, then you do not fear judgment, but if you don't, then you will pay for your sins for eternity. That is God's plan. That is His Word. God will indeed judge the nations, but he will also judge every individual, as we read in Romans two, verse 16, he will do that on the day when, according to my gospel, Paul says, "God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." But aren't you thankful that there is hope in Christ? What would we do without the gospel? Let's pray. Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. Help us to celebrate them by reflecting upon them, meditating upon them, proclaiming them to others, living consistently with them, that you might be glorified in and through us and my how we long for you to return, and yet we know that you will in your good time and in this we rest. In this we hope, and in this we find our joy in Christ's name. I pray Amen.