July 2022
REFLECTIONS ON THE WRITING PROPHETS
‘Reflections’ on the Writing Prophets 43
Z E C H A R I A H
Just two months after the LORD spoke to Haggai, He spoke to Zechariah on the very same matter. It must have been very important to the LORD. The simplistic thrust of the message given to Haggai to proclaim was “get on with the task the LORD has given you to do”. Zechariah, a name which means ‘YHWH remembers’, had a very similar, but more extensive, insight into the prophetic future of the Israelites. So it was that Zechariah was first told “The LORD has been very angry with your fathers”. God remembered the covenant they had made, and broken. The word continued “Return to Me, and I will return to you …. Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds”. Did it ever occur to you that God sees the breaking of the covenant as “evil”? Evil is a very strong word isn’t it? The Hebrew word also could be translated “calamitous”!
Three months later, Zechariah, a priest (Nehemiah 12:16), son of the prophet Iddo, ‘saw by night’, presumably in a dream. a man (identified as the “Angel of the LORD”) riding a red horse, standing in the myrtle trees. Behind him were others riding red, speckled, and white horses. They were “ones sent by God”, commissioned to “walk to and fro throughout the earth”. They reported that “the earth was resting quietly”. This would contrast sharply with the plight of the returned exiles, harassed and disrupted every day. They had been given the task of re-building the walls, but had made slow progress because of that disruption. We saw in our ‘reflection’ in Haggai that they were dispirited and had lost motivation to continue. It was the role of Zechariah to encourage the people in that task by reminding them of the importance of rebuilding the temple, which had been destroyed by fire at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar some 70 years earlier. The temple was the centre of worship and sacrifice for the people. It represented the very presence of God in their midst. It was the place where, by their presentation of sacrifices, they could “draw near” to God in worship of Him. A holy place.
So the angel who spoke to Zechariah in that vision (or dream) told him. To proclaim the word of the LORD thus :- “I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I am very angry with the nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped - but with evil intent”. There are a number of lessons for us today in that statement of the LORD. We have ‘reflected’ many times on the fact that “the LORD does not change” (Malachi 3:6). He was zealous for Jerusalem then, and He is still zealous for Jerusalem now. Appreciating that is crucial to a believers’ understanding of the Scriptures. He was ‘very angry with nations at ease’ then, and He is very angry with those nations now. In those days, He had used the nations to bring judgment on His people because of idolatry and their neglect of Torah. Even though He was at that time “a little angry” with those nations. That “little anger” turned to “exceeding anger” when those nations exceeded, and even revelled, in their role as God’s agents of judgment. God will always honour His covenant with His people. He did then, by restoring them to their land. And He is now, by restoring them in huge numbers to their land today. I invite you to consider the actions of the United Nations towards Israel today. It is that which causes me to conclude, in ‘reflection’, what God thinks of nations (at ease) today. I believe He is “exceedingly angry”, just as He was in the days of Zechariah. He says “I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it … My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem”. It was God’s message to nations then, and it’s God’s message to nations (and especially to believers in those nations) today.
It does not take long for Zechariah to be shown a much longer view of God’s prophetic message to the people. The man with a measuring line in his hand. The population of Jerusalem in Zechariah’s day is variously estimated (by archaeologists) at between 8,000 and 20,000. In 1948 it was about 160,000. Today it is about 940,000. That fulfils the prophecy about “the multitude of men and livestock in it” (Zech 2:4). Clearly, the days of the LORD being “a wall of fire all around her (Jerusalem) and I will be the glory in her midst”, are days still future to us today. And if anyone has doubt about the LORD’s love of His people, Israel, just look at chapter 2, verse 8, of our text. “He who touches you touches the apple of His (God’s) eye”. In paraphrase we might say that treating Israel with contempt or worse, is like ‘poking God in the eye’. Sadly, to our great shame, that is exactly how Israel has been dealt with by the christian church over past centuries, and continues today in many believers.
But there is also a great message of hope in this prophecy. Speaking of a day still future, the LORD continues. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst … many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation”. I respectfully suggest that those words of the LORD, given to Zechariah for the people of his day, were also given for the day in which we are now living. Who is the “ME” who is to be sent? “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). If that were the end it would be very sad. But there is a day coming when “HE will take possession of Judah as His inheritance”. Glorious days ahead.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON THE WRITING PROPHETS
‘Reflections’ on the Writing Prophets 42
H A G G A I
We do not know much about Haggai, who wrote this prophetic message. Only Obadiah wrote a shorter one! But that does not diminish its importance. It contains a timely call for action, with a valuable lesson for all of us to learn. In short, “do not neglect the work God has called you to do”. So, a brief recall of history to set the scene. Around 538 BCE Zerubbabel and Ezra, together with up to 50,000 others were permitted by king Cyrus of Persia to return to Israel to re-build the walls of Jerusalem. The work commenced 2 years later. As a result of harassment, opposition from neighbours, and indifference by the Jews, that work remained incomplete. About 16 years later, the LORD stirred up both Haggai and Zechariah for two principal reasons. First to encourage the people to finish the work of building the temple. Second to re-order their spiritual priorities (see Ezra 5 and 6). In the event, the work of construction was completed about 4 years later, in 516 BCE (Ezra 6:15). So let us now ‘reflect’ on the message.
The LORD spoke to Haggai in reference to that unfinished work. “Is it time for you yourselves to live in panelled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” And followed that up with the challenging words “Consider your ways”. And herein lies the first lesson for any who seek to learn. God knows the heart and actions of each one of us. He charged these people with earning wages and putting what they earned into a ‘bag with holes’. At the very least that is wasteful, and at its worst it speaks of self indulgence. The contrast is made between the “panelled house” and the “ruined temple”. Quite a graphic depiction of priorities. So the LORD requires us to “Consider your ways”. For those Jews at that time, He provided instructions. “Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I might take pleasure in it and be glorified'. We should perhaps be asking the LORD what He requires of us.
Haggai reminded them of the prospect of debilitating drought and failure of crops. How did he know? Well of course, God told him. BUT, that was clearly spelled out in the Torah account in the “blessings and curses” chapters of Deuteronomy 28,29. That was well known to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and Joshua, the son of the high priest. And they “obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD”. And here lies a second lesson. I do not ever recall any teaching, or experience, of “people fearing the presence of the LORD”. Certainly there is respect and worship of God in many places. But all too often, there is a familiarity with God which diminishes the recognition and appreciation of His awesome might and power. The same power which Paul refers to as “the exceeding greatness of His power … which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places”. (Ephesians 1:19,20) That is the power over life and death. Selah!
Haggai spoke again, as directed by the LORD, to Zerubbabel and Joshua. “Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?” I can only imagine the shame which those men might have felt to be so addressed by the prophet. And had it been left at that, quite devastating. But there was more. The LORD said “Be strong, all you people of the land, and work; for I am with you … the silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, … The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, … and in this place I will give peace”. And as we mentioned at the beginning of this ‘reflection’, we know that the work was completed four years later, to the glory of God. However, the reference to the ‘peace’ which is to come is actually yet another indicator of a still future period, which was dealt with in our recent ‘reflections’ in Ezekiel’s prophecy. It will come after ‘the war to end all wars’ when the temple, yet to be built, will function under the reign, in the land, of our Messiah, King Yeshua. But, in Haggai’s time, there still remained one more task to be completed.
When the people returned to the land from Babylon, there was, at best, a quite dysfunctional priesthood. So Haggai questioned them about the Torah duties and operations of the priesthood. They responded correctly. They knew the theory, but were short on the practical. Then Haggai was able to compare that to the people, who evidently had not been taught correct practice by the priests. They were therefore ritually ‘unclean’, so not able to worship in the newly re-constructed temple. That was a practical issue for the people of that day, and Zerubbabel was charged with the responsibility of ensuring that things would change. He did.
And then the prophetic discourse changed to embrace a much further view of the future. The LORD said “I will shake heaven and earth. I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; the horses and their riders shall come down, everyone by the sword of his brother”. That is another picture of the ‘war to end all wars’. But the final prophecy, in great compliment to Zerubbabel, God said “and I will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you”. A ‘signet ring’ is a lasting object of memorial significance. The disobedience of the people in not carrying out their allotted tasks had caused God to withhold blessing. Their turn around, to be obedient to His command causes a release of God’s abundant blessing. And that is the final lesson to be learned from this ‘reflection’.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON THE WRITING PROPHETS
‘Reflections’ on the Writing Prophets 42
O B A D I A H
We do not have much detail about Obadiah the man, or the actual date of this prophecy. It is thought to have been written about the time of the fall of Jerusalem under the siege of Nebuchadnezzar around 586 BCE, but it could have been much earlier, during the reign of king Jehoram (852 - 841 BCE). It does not alter the substance of the prophetic vision God gave to him. Nor the message which this prophecy has for us today.
This is a relatively brief prophecy, (one chapter in our Bible) concerned largely with just one nation, Edom. That is the one nation most singled out in the Scriptures to receive the full force of the wrath of God. Psalmists 83 and 137, Isaiah 11, 34, and 63, Jeremiah 49, Lamentations 4, Ezekiel 25 and 35, Joel 3, Amos 1 and 9, and Malachi 1, all make mention of the judgment of God on Edom. And it all goes back to the time when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, and the bitter hatred which flowed from that incident. Edom is where Esau settled. Centuries later, his descendants refused to let the sons of Jacob pass through their territory as they journeyed to the land of God’s promise. God was displeased too when these same Edomites rejoiced over the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Edom is situated just south of the dead sea in today’s Jordan, and includes the famous tourist area of Petra (constructed by the Nabateans). It is one of two places which, after the war to end all wars, will be totally desolate. (Babylon is the other).
The description of the Edomites living in elevated caves in rocky country can be readily identified with the area where Petra is today. At least the geography fits. Proud, not least because of their elevated position, the Edomites seemed to consider themselves impregnable. Safe from all attack. It was one source of their great pride. Earlier, Solomon had written “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”. (Proverbs 16:18) Obadiah said “The pride of your heart has deceived you well”. We have mentioned a number of times that what God says, God will do. And the prophet was sent with a simple enough message from God. Your end has been determined by your present. A good enough lesson for everyone to learn. It is not what you say. Words are cheap. It is what you are, what you do, on which God makes judgement (Revelation 20:12). But in His love and mercy, His judgement is not without warning. “For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off for ever”. For the Edomites of course the deed had already been committed. But for anyone who is able to see a lesson here, God has referred these people, Israelites, known globally today as “Jews”, as His ‘special treasure’, and ‘the apple of My eye’. He told Abraham that He would bless those who blessed him (and his descendants), but He would ‘bitterly curse’ those who treated them ‘with contempt’.
Obadiah had the task of letting the Edomites know what was ahead of them, and why. He could not have known that his message was timeless. It is the wonder of the Scriptures that God is able to convey, through His dealings with His own people, and by extension through the actions of those they came into contact with, how He exercises judgement. The ‘christian church’ has a record of appalling behaviour towards the Jews down through the ages. We should pray that God would enlighten us, in this generation, to avoid the mistakes of those who preceded us. It is evident from our text that the Edomites had metaphorically ‘danced on the grave’ of the Israelites in their days of distress. “You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity. Indeed you should not have gazed on their affliction … nor laid hands on their substance (looting). Nor should you have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped; nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained”. There was no more to be said to Edom.
But there was a word of warning left for the other nations too. As I write these words, a vivid, horrible, picture comes to my mind. Millions of Jews, men, women, children, old, young, middle aged, no discrimination, who were murdered in the holocaust of the early 1940’s. And the countless millions who died during the period we know as “the inquisition”. Pogroms of Britain in 1290, (they did not officially return until 1655) Spain in 1492. Of Russia, of Algeria. It is endless. Hatred of those who are “called by My name” says the LORD.
In his vision, God told Obadiah to continue “For the day of the LORD upon all nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. For as you drank on My holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; …. And they shall be as though they had never been.” No-one cares think that God’s judgment might be turned on them. But God is just. He deals with everyone with equanimity. No special deals. But now Obadiah sees some light at the end of the tunnel. “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions”. There was a day ahead when Israel would once again take their rightful place, as God intended, in their own land. That has already happened, temporarily, since the return from Babylonian exile. In our generation, we are witnessing a return from “all the nations to which they were scattered”. But even this is not the end. But it is “the beginning of the end.” Look forward to the day when Messiah Yeshua returns to reign on His throne. Wouldn’t Obadiah be pleased?
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON THE WRITING PROPHETS
‘Reflections’ on the Writing Prophets 41
E Z E K I E L
The final “reflection” on the prophetic declarations of Ezekiel. Last week the focus was on the Temple yet to be constructed in Jerusalem, and the re-institution of the sacrificial system of worship in that Temple. I note a major difference between previous Temples and this third Temple. There is NO Court of Gentiles, with its accompanying “wall of partition”. The LORD says “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel”. (Ezekiel 44:9) However, gentiles will be allowed to take up residence in the land, sharing that experience within one of the Tribes of Israel, living in peace and harmony with that Tribe (Ezekiel 47: 21-23). It is worthy of note that the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham was “circumcision of the flesh”.
In a previous “reflection” we dealt with the re-gathering of the Jews from “all the places where they had been scattered”. And now we consider the physical elements of settlement in the land for the Millennial kingdom of Messiah Yeshua.
That ALL the tribes of Israel will be represented is beyond dispute because they are named. Among those will be the 144,000 young virginal men, who were “sealed” for special service of the LORD. From other Scriptures, we also know that those martyred during the period of tribulation leading up to “the war to end all wars” will be in positions of leadership, but not necessarily in Israel. (the world is a big place!!) The division of the land is much more ‘orderly’ than in the original settlement, (see illustration) and each tribe, except Levi, has a land allotment. Judah and Benjamin are immediately north and south of the central “Holy Zone”. That zone to be occupied by the Levites and the priests of Zadok, and adjacent land both east and west of the “Holy Zone” is allotted to “the Prince”. The Levites will be permitted to slaughter the sacrificial animals, but only the priests of Zadok will be allowed to enter the Holy Place where those sacrifices are presented to the LORD, for which duty they will be required to wear special linen garments to avoid the presence of any unclean bodily fluids such as sweat. And there will be strict rules of conduct, such as entry and exit procedures, for anyone attending the Temple courts. Having read the declarations of God given to Ezekiel, I have come to the view that the Millenial reign of Yeshua, ruling with a rod of iron (Rev 12:5 and 19:15) will be markedly different from the seeming chaotic mixture of activities we see in our present day world cities.
There will be other differences too. The Eastern Gate of the Temple, in present times is walled up and “guarded” by a very large cemetery all the way down into the Kidron Valley. In “Ezekiel’s Temple” that gate will be the way of entry of the LORD Himself. For that reason, no-one else is allowed to use it, and it will be closed for six days of the week. On Sabbaths, New Moons and other “mo’edim’ it will be opened. Only “the Prince” will be allowed to worship in the vestibule of this gate, and other people only at the entrance to that gateway, but not enter the vestibule.
Regarding the “mo’edim” of the LORD, there will also be changes to the present remembrances. Shavuot, Yom Teruah, and Yom Kippur will no longer be observed. Life will be under the New Covenant. Yeshua will have made His reappearance on this earth and the Day of Atonement will no longer be necessary. However, it is evident that as an everlasting memorial to Yeshua’s atoning death, and the miraculous birth of Israel as a nation before God, the celebration of Passover and Unleavened bread will continue. The joyous celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (Ingathering), a remembrance of the marriage supper of the Lamb, will be an obligatory festival for ALL nations. This is clear from the word given to the prophet Zechariah, and nations unrepresented at that festival denied rainfall the following year.
The final observation to be made is the amazing revelation which God showed Ezekiel regarding the continuous flow of living water out of the new Temple. I confess that I find it impossible to imagine that scene. Truly a miracle of God. It will be a “river of life”. Ezekiel says “This water flows toward the eastern region (i.e, inland) goes down the valley, and enters the sea (the dead sea). When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there: for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; there will be places for spreading their nets. This fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea (Mediterranean), exceedingly many”.
This is just part of the wonderful provision of God for those who, by faith and by action, are promised life with and in the Millennial reign of our Saviour. Blessed be His Name.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Image Reference:
Source:
John W. Schmitt, Messianic Temple Ministries, 1633 SE 38th Portland, OR 97233
REFLECTIONS ON THE WRITING PROPHETS
‘Reflections’ on the Writing Prophets 40
E Z E K I E L
The first Temple, built by Solomon, was destroyed by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. It was partially restored by Ezra and Nehemiah, and a new (second) Temple, built by Herod the great, took more than 50 years to construct, and was destroyed in 70 CE by Titus, son of Roman Emperor Vespasian. Following the prophecy about the return of the exiled Jews back to the land, and the “war to end all wars” which would bring nations into judgment with the LORD, Ezekiel is given a vision of another (third) Temple which is yet to be built in Jerusalem. As this present age draws to a close, the Scriptures tell us of the rise of “a man of peace” (identified as Anti-Christ). During his seven years of global influence he will demand to be worshipped in the Temple in Jerusalem. It does not yet exist! The dimensions of this visionary Temple occupy about 10 acres of land. The Temple Mount, is about 37 acres in area, and of trapezoid shape. Presently the site of TWO mosques. The Dome of the Rock (a memorial site to the prophet Mohammad), and the regularly used Al Aqsa mosque. The whole site presently under Jordanian administrators. Jews are not permitted to enter the site, but gentile visitors may get permission as tourists. (I have often wondered how a seven year peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians might be forged by anyone. And then, in my imagination I see how the construction of a new Temple on the Temple Mount would be such an attractive proposition for Jews that such a peace treaty is quite possible)
God took Ezekiel, in a vision, to a very high place, causing him to look to the south so that he could see clearly a structure ‘like a city’. There was a man in the gateway of that place, with a measuring line in his hand. The man spoke to Ezekiel. “Look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you . Declare to the house of Israel everything you see”. (That reminds me of the kind of instruction John was given as he was taken on his visionary tour of Heaven which is recorded in Revelation). In the first three chapters of our ‘reflection’ we find a detailed description of the Temple with many precise measurements of rooms, spaces, courtyards and steps. The descriptions of the Temple furniture and decorative features are also precisely specified. It appears as nothing was left to chance. It’s God’s way isn’t it? It is a most remarkable characteristic of our Bible. Sometimes a good search may be required, but God is fulfilling all His purposes just as He has declared in His Word. Trustworthy. And after the descriptions, Ezekiel was introduced to the purpose. The man spoke to Ezekiel again “Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory”. (Look again at Revelation 1:15) “And the glory of the LORD came into the Temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east”. Then the man who had been speaking to Ezekiel became silent and LORD Himself spoke again. “This is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever”. (Can you hear that voice like many waters?)
Now this is the challenge for believers today. Because of the anti Jewish bias of centuries of “church teaching”, there are many who cannot come to terms with the concept of another Temple being built. Especially a fully functioning Temple as was described in minute detail to Ezekiel. But there is MORE. Read for yourself Ezekiel 43:18-27. The last words read “When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you says the Lord God”. What Ezekiel is describing is a return to the sacrificial system of “drawing near to God” just as God had described to Moses on the mountain. For almost two thousand years, Jews have bemoaned the fact that they have no Temple in which to worship God. Unable to perform the daily rituals of sacrifice which Torah specifies. And here Ezekiel is describing the return of Burnt offerings, Sin offerings, Peace offerings. The only offerings not mentioned specifically are the Grain Offerings and the Trespass Offerings. It is demonstrably evident that God is fulfilling the prophetic return of Jews to Israel just as Ezekiel wrote. Did Ezekiel get it right in the first 39 chapters, and then get it wrong from chapter 40 to 48? I think not.
The Temple specified here will remain throughout the Millennial reign of Yeshua. A fully functioning Temple of worship, praise, adoration, and sacrifice to the Lord our God. Why? Because God has declared it. Now we need to also remember that life in that time will be different to the life we experience today. It will be life living in the New Covenant. The Torah of God will be put in the minds, and written on the hearts of men. No-one can be taught that, because everyone, from the greatest to the least will know it. Am I too bold to suggest we could start by observing it today?
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Image Reference:
Source:
Hubbard, Shiloh, Elliot Ritzema, Corbin Watkins, and Lazarus Wentz with Logos Bible Software and KarBel Media. Faithlife Study Bible Infographics. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012.