MOURNING THE MESSIAH

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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. On that day, the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”

Zechariah 12:12-14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Remember the calls that rang out from the Jews as Jesus was presented before them by Pontius Pilate for a verdict. Here’s a reminder:

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”  Matthew 27:22-23

The people wanted the Messiah executed and while He was at the cross, we know this took place:

Two rebels were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left. Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

In the same way, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  Matthew 27:38-43

Not exactly words that reflect compassion, are they?

Indeed, Jesus died isolated and shunned by the very people He had loved and taught and healed, the very people He was dying to save. The prophets had foretold what Jesus would bring for Israel but the people refused to believe those predictions and instead took matters into their own hands, seeing to it that God’s only Son would be falsely accused and executed although He was innocent. Perhaps there has been no greater act of injustice that has ever happened in the history of creation.

Given all this background, you wouldn’t expect to find the foretelling found in the final verses of Zechariah 12, a foretelling that show a complete turnaround in the heart attitudes of the Israelite people from what they displayed on Jesus’ final day of human life. Look again at these words here:

“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. On that day, the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”  Zechariah 12:12-14

Note here that a time was coming when the Israelites would look on Jesus, the promised Messiah they demanded to be killed, and feel remorse over what had happened. They would mourn the One who was pierced, a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion on Calvary’s cross, and “grieve bitterly for Him” as someone would grieve over their firstborn son (and remember Jesus was God’s one and only Son). This change of heart would be born out of God pouring out a “spirit of grace” on His people, a spirit who would allow them to see Jesus in a different light, a spirit that would open up their eyes to the way they mistreated their Messiah.

Today, perhaps we should also mourn the loss of our Savior more than we do, which is typically reserved for Good Friday every year. After all, it was our sins that put Jesus in the place of crucifixion in the first place as He served as the final sacrifice needed for atonement, the Lamb of God who would be slain to take away the sins of the world. His suffering should have been ours but it wasn’t because we serve a God of amazing grace and mercy and love who did not wish for His people to perish or suffer and so He offered up His only Son instead.

Yes, Jesus saved us and for those who place their hope and trust in Him, they will have eternal life. That’s the good news of the Gospel.

But as we revel and rejoice in this good news, let’s never forget that it only came after a great cost.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

A DAY FREE OF ENEMIES

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. On that day, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.”

“Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’”

“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.”

“The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. On that day, the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. On that day, I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”

Zechariah 12:1-9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I don’t know about you but I tire hearing the number of nations who want to declare themselves enemies of Israel. Some are subtle in the way they convey this; others are less so, like these words from perennial adversary, Iran:

"The Zionist regime -- as we have already said -- will cease to exist in the next 25 years if there is a collective and united struggle by the Palestinians and the Muslims against the Zionists."

These words, spoken by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were said recently according to Iran’s Press TV. Perhaps, Khamenei and others like him who choose to levy threats against God’s beloved nation and its people should pay close attention to these opening verses of Zechariah 12 as well as other places in the Old Testament that make it clear God will not allow for Israel’s enemies to have victory. Look again at these words here:

A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. On that day, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.”

“Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’”

“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.”

“The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. On that day, the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. On that day, I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”  Zechariah 12:1-9

This passage is identified not only as a prophecy but more importantly as a “word of the Lord concerning Israel”, more important because we know the words of the Lord are always perfectly true.

It is this Lord, the Lord who “stretches out the heavens”, “lays the foundation of the earth”, and “forms the human spirit within a person”, who declares that surrounding nations and their peoples who gather against Israel will be sent reeling as the Lord promises to make His beloved nation “an immovable rock for all the nations”.  Anyone who attempts to bring harm to Israel will in fact find themselves injured in the process.

Not exactly words that should offer any foe of Israel confidence. In fact, these words should bring any nation terror and hesitance in taking any action against Israel because they do not stand on their own strength and power but rather the strength of the Lord God Almighty, through which all things are possible to include being saved from the danger of a deadly adversary. Judah and Jerusalem will revel and rejoice in the Lord’s protection, a protection that comes with the following vow:

“On that day, I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”

On that day, a day that is sure to come whenever the need arises, God will set Israel free from all their enemies, all who would seek to attack the Lord’s beloved holy nation.

Perhaps all these enemies like Iran who like to throw out warnings should save their breath because I think the Lord has made this message clear regarding any attack on His people:

It isn’t going to happen.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

REJECTING THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. In one month, I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.”

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.”

“Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!”

Zechariah 11:4-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, taken from the first three verses of Zechariah 11, we find ominous words of a coming fall for the nation of Israel, a fall that would happen well into the future from the time the prophet shared God’s words of judgment.

Why was that judgment coming?

We find out as we look at the rest of chapter 11 and a story of two shepherds, both sent by God, one who was rejected and the other who was just plain foolish. Look again at these words here:

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. In one month, I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.”

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.”

“Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!”  Zechariah 11:4-17

Note here that the prophet is speaking but the character he is representing is none other than the Messiah Jesus Himself, who proclaimed Himself to be the Good Shepherd, sent by God to save His people.

Jesus came and shepherded Israel, the “flock marked for slaughter” who were being led down the road of destruction by those who were supposed to be their shepherds, in this case the Jewish religious authorities. Jesus stepped into this scene to get rid of the wicked shepherds, using the staffs of Favor and Union to lead, guide, and protect them. All the flock had to do was follow this Good Shepherd sent by God and all would have been fine for them.

But that’s not what happened, did it?

  

For the testimony of the Good Shepherd Himself tells is that the “flock detested” Him and held Him in such low esteem, they wanted to pay Jesus the price paid to a mere servant, 30 pieces of silver, an amount so paltry that Jesus ordered it given to the potter at the house of the Lord who was seen to make the most worthless of vessels.

And so the staff of Favor was snapped in two and with it, the refuge from danger and harm as Jesus revoked the covenant with the Jewish people. If the flock wanted to live without their Good Shepherd, they could give it a try and see how much of a mistake it was to abandon Him but they would do it scattered as we find Jesus breaking the second staff of Union, thereby breaking the bond between the northern and southern kingdoms.

Where there was once blessing and stability, there would now be judgment and chaos, all orchestrated by a new shepherd, a foolish shepherd who would be sent to the Israelites Note the similarities here between the foolish shepherd and the hired hand Jesus speaks about as He testifies to being the Good Shepherd:

The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. John 10:12-13

The hired hand was not concerned for the flock but rather getting his wage and self preservation. He wasn’t about to put Himself in harm’s way to protect a flock of sheep.

The foolish shepherd talked about in this passage cares nothing for his flock. He refused to mindful of the lost or go out to look for the young or tend to the healing of the injured. He had no concern for feeding the flock but would not hesitate to eat one of the sheep if it suited him. Remember, this foolish shepherds concern is all self-centered and it would be that selfish attitude toward caring for others that would bring on God’s judgment.

So who are the players here?

We already know the Good Shepherd is Jesus, but what about the foolish shepherd?

That would be the Romans who around AD 60, brutally subjugated the Israelites into a deeper oppression that they had ever experienced during the time of Jesus. God had sent His Son, the Good Shepherd, to take care of His people, His flock. But the flock had rejected the Shepherd, putting Him to death, and so God removed His covering over His people and made them fully subject to the domination, repression, and tyranny of the Romans.

One can’t help but think things could have been so very different if the Israelites had only seen Jesus for who He was, the fulfillment of so many prophecies, the predicted Messiah, sent by God Himself to save them.

Today, so many people are like the Israelites of Jesus’ day. Presented with the Good Shepherd and the favor and blessing He offers in His salvation covenant, they choose to reject Him and live their lives without Him, doing so to their own demise. I don’t know about you but I am consistently praying for these people every day, people who are following a foolish shepherd to their own doom when they could simply commit themselves to Jesus and find themselves within His eternal flock that will not only live in peace and safety today but forever more.

For the Good Shepherd is always seeking and searching for sheep who have gone astray, wanting them to be found and included in His flock. My prayer is that every day, more and more are found.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

A FALL YET TO COME

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!”

Zechariah 11:1-3

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When we left the last chapter, things were looking up for the people of Israel. God was restoring and rejuvenating them from captivity, sending remnants back to the homeland in three waves. These were the Israelites who had left Judah and not to be left out, we saw where God was also bringing back His people who had been scattered to Egypt and Assyria, the Ephraimites. The common thread between the north and south was that prosperity, protection, and prominence were being brought back to the Israelites.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last.

We know that because as Zechariah 11 opens, we find an ominous prophecy of a fall yet to come on Israel, a fall that will occur after the Messiah was rejected. More on that in tomorrow’s message but for today, let’s look at the warning of another coming judgment on God’s people:

“Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!” Zechariah 11:1-3

The imagery here is one of destruction and falling within Israel and the period is believed to be after Jesus was crucified, the God-sent Messiah who had been long prophesied and yet rejected for the most part by the Jewish people. The Israelites had hoped that Jesus had come to save them from the Roman oppression and refused to see that He had come to save them from far more than that. And so they put Him to death and in response, God allowed the Romans to have their way with His people, further subjecting them to their rule and tearing down the prestige and dignity God has once restored.

The removal of power is striking in the vision God sends in our passage today. The Israelites were likened to the cedars of Lebanon which were renowned for their quality and tall stature but note those cedars would be stand but rather be devoured by fire and taken down, symbolizing the fall of the Jews at the hands of the Romans. Further illustration came as the Israelites were compared to the cut down oaks within the dense forests of Bashan, the destroyed rich pastures of the plains, and the ruined thickets of the Jordan. All would leave the nation in a spirit of defeat, anguished and saddened by the depth of their loss.

Indeed, the scope of God’s judgment would be wide and far reaching, something that should come as no surprise. After all, the Israelites were responsible for the murder of His Son, an indictment we will look at closer as we continue to study from chapter 11 tomorrow.    

As for present day application, think about what awaits anyone who rejects Jesus today. Here’s what the Book of Revelation promises:

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15

The book of life is pretty easily explained.

If you have accepted Jesus as Savior, your name will be in the book and you will go on to eternal life. The dead here who were in Christ Jesus will be resurrected to new life and live forever. Those alive in Jesus will be taken with Him along with the resurrected dead to the new heavens and earth to inhabit the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-5).

Conversely, if you have decided to reject Jesus in your life, then your name will not be found in the book of life and you will be cast into the lake of fire, the fire of God’s final judgment following on the coattails of death and Hades. And don’t think this is just a quick incineration and it’s all over. It’s not that easy. Rather, it’s an eternal life spent suffering in damnation. And if that doesn’t scare you enough to change your stance regarding Jesus, then perhaps you are just plain crazy.

Eternal life or damnation. There are really only two choices.

The Israelites decided to reject Jesus and judgment followed. The same happens when it comes to receiving everlasting salvation or condemnation. It’s just on a more permanent scale.

So where do you stand today? What lies ahead as far as your eternal destiny?

If you are without Jesus, I recommend you come to Him today, receive Him as Savior, and add your name to the all important Book of Life. You’ll never regret that you did.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com