Bible

Today, in the Bible room, we are continuing in the book of Zechariah, reading Session 3, the summaries of chapters 7 through 10.

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Zechariah

Session 3 of 4

Chapter 7. Flint

It is the fourth year, ninth month of the reign of King Darius:

• Some men of prayer are sent by the people to the Lord’s house;
• They ask the priests to entreat the Lord for His guidance;
• The people have been fasting on certain days for many years;
• They ask the Lord whether they should continue these fasts;
• Then Zechariah hears from the Lord, with pointed questions:
• During those seventy years of fasting, was it genuine fasting?
• Was it for Me? Or, were you doing something just for show?
• Should you not have obeyed the words of the prophets?
• Zechariah reminds the people of the Lord’s commands:
• They should show everyone mercy, compassion, and justice;
• They should avoid having evil in their hearts;
• But the people would not listen to the voices of the prophets;
• They just shrugged off the Lord’s entreaties;
• They stopped up their ears, hardened their hearts like flint;
• Until, finally, the wrath of the Lord would fall on His people;
• Too late, they would call to the Lord, but He would not listen;
• He would send punishment and scatter them to foreign lands;
• And their good and pleasant land would be a desolate place.

Chapter 8. Fervor

Through Zechariah, the Lord says He loves Jerusalem with great fervor:

• The Lord says He is going back there one day to live forever;
• It will be called The Holy Mountain;
• Jerusalem will once again welcome the older people;
• And boys and girls will be there playing in the streets;
• The remnant of His people will say it is a marvelous place;
• The Lord says He will bring back His people;
• They will be His again, and He will be their God;
• The Lord speaks to those who had been to Jerusalem earlier;
• They had helped to build back the temple foundations;
• But the Lord had allowed their enemies to stop their work;
• Now, however, the Lord is going to treat His people differently;
• He is going to prosper them and make them successful;
• He tells His people to change their former fasts into feasts;
• These shall be cheerful feasts of joy and gladness;
• Even the neighbors will be drawn to pray at Jerusalem;
• Ten foreigners will join one Jew hoping for God’s blessing.

Chapter 9. Peace

The new King coming to Jerusalem will bring peace among the nations:

• The Lord will defend His people from all enemies, near and far;
• He will be like an army camped all around His people;
• There is a new King coming, riding on a donkey;
• His kingdom will stretch to the ends of the earth;
• His people will be like jewels of a crown;
• They will be filled with goodness and they will be great.

Chapter 10. Grass

Ask the Lord and He will give rain, and grass in the fields for everyone:

• The Lord has been angry with the shepherds of Judah;
• They have led His people astray from the truth;
• But He will strengthen Judah and bring them back home;
• He will show them mercy, and restore them as they once were;
• He will gather them from the nations where they were scattered;
• And they will walk up and down their land in His name.

End of Session 3 of 4 of the book of Zechariah.