Shalom, my dear friends. God bless you. Welcome to the Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures in Israel. We are very thankful to the Lord for the privileges that He gave us to, read the Word and learn from the Word of God together. What a privilege it is to study together the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah, and, we are now in chapter one. we are going to continue on from where we stopped in our previous meeting together. We will continue from verse, fourteen to the end of the chapter. We will read a few verses earlier from verse twelve on, but before we begin with the reading, let us ask the Lord, to bless the meeting. Let's pray together.

So our God and our Father, we want to ask your blessing upon, the study as we study the Word of God together. We pray for your help, for your guidance and direction, and we ask it in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, here we are. We are in the, open, please, your Bibles to, Zechariah chapter one. And I would like to read today, we have probably covered up to verses twelve and thirteen of chapter one, but I would like us to just begin with the reading for this meeting from verse twelve, onward, all the way to the end of the first chapter. So I'm reading Zechariah chapter one and verse twelve. Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And the Lord answered, the angel that talked with me with Good words and comfortable words.

So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion, with great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease, for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus says the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry, yet saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. Then lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns, and I said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the Lord answered me, and the Lord showed me four carpenters.

Then said I, What come these to do? And he speaks saying, These are the horns which have settled or scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his hand. But these are the, are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horns over the land of Judah, to scatter it.

And I will stop here with verse 21 of our chapter, beloved brothers and sisters. Very interesting prophecy that we have here given to us through the prophet Zechariah, as he's there now in the land of Israel, in Judea, he's with the returned remnant of Israel, who have now came back to the land after the seventy years, time, the years of the deportation, the galut. As we say it in Hebrew, now they came back to the land, they began to rebuild the temple in Yerushalayim, but because of opposition from without, the nations surrounding, and even conflict from within, they ceased from building the temple in the city of Jerusalem. Well, because of this, God raised these three prophets.

And if you remember, this prophet that he raised to speak to the people of Judah, he raised specifically in order that they will be restored and continue to rebuild and continue to, you might say, continue on and move forward. And so Haggai was preaching for about three months or four months, not too long, from about 520 to 518 BC, according to Ezra 5 and Ezra chapter 6. Zechariah, the prophet that we are studying now together, he really spoke to the people of Israel for much longer time, from 520 onward, and some suggest nearly some 50 years really.

And Malachi spoke to the Jewish people from about 420 all the way to about 397, according To the scripture, to the prophet Nehemiah chapter 13 as well. So the Jewish remnant, the Jewish people who are now back in the land, have already departed once again from the Lord, have already felt the opposition from without, opposition from within, and there was so quickly discouragement and disappointment and failure, and yet, beloved brothers and sisters, the prophets, the Lord, the Lord have raised, He has raised in order to encourage them to continue to build and to continue to follow the Lord. And we always bear in mind that the lessons that were written in days of old about the people of Israel serve to be a lesson for us.

As we have in in Romans fifteen four and in first Corinthians chapter ten where we do read beloved brothers and sisters now all these things happen unto them as an example and they are written for our admonition upon whom the end of the world are come this is first Corinthians chapter ten and verse eleven the apostle Paul said to the Romans in Romans chapter fifteen and let me read this verse as well and verse four for whatsoever things were written aforetimes were written for our learning That we, through patience and the comfort of the, of the scriptures, might have hope.

And so we, who are believers in the church age, in the assembly age, in which you and I live today, we learn from the experiences and the, and the circumstances, that have happened in the history of our Jewish people, the people of Israel, we learn from them and apply them to our own life and see what does the Lord teach us concerning His relationship and dealing with His earthly people of Israel. Well, we are now, beloved brothers and sisters, in this, portion of our chapter, in chapter, one, and, we have already covered about, twelve or thirteen verses of chapter one. In verses one, to six, we had, like, God is calling to Israel to return. Return unto me and I will return unto you. He calls Zechariah. Zechariah was actually a priest as well.

You can read of him according to the prophet, according to the book of Ezra. He was Zechariah ben Berachiah ben Edo. Zechariah, the son of Berachiah, the son of Edo. And his name gives us volume because through his name we learn that he's the one that is representing Jehovah. Zechariah, Jehovah remembered, son of Berachiah, Jehovah will bless.

Ben Edo, the son of Edo, Jehovah will be a witness and will bring to pass all his promises to the nation of Israel. Well, we have covered also verses, seven all the way to verse, eleven, and there we see the vision, the first vision that Zechariah received from the Lord. And if you remember, that first vision we have covered already is a vision, of the, if you remember, we read in verse seven already, in the, upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which the month of Shavuot, the second year of the rise came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Edo, the prophet saying, and notice he, what he spoke to him through visions. And the first vision was a man riding upon a red horse.

And this is verse eight, as he's riding on a horse, he's among the myrtle trees, and then, which were at the bottom, and behind him were red horses, speckled and white. So there was those that rode after this man, and we have learned that this man, mentioned in verse eight, That is riding on a red horse, coming in, in discipline, in judgment. After him were those that followed after him upon red horses, plural verse eight, various colors, red, speckled, and white. And this man is presented before us in verse nine as the angel. This man was actually an angel. And as we went down, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 10 and 11, after Zechariah asked this angel, this man a question, he says, what are these? What I'm seeing here? I see you riding on a horse, I see other following after you, angels riding after you on other horses with various colors, and then I see them all there by the, as it says here in this, the myrtle trees, this is representing the world that is around us, and in fact what we learn that these, the angel, that man, is actually is presented in verse 10 and 11 as the angel of the Lord, Malach Adonai, Malach Yehovah.

So he comes and he's overviewing, he's seeing what is going on among his people in the world, that now the Jewish people, the people of Israel, have experienced some times when they were away, they are now returned after the Babylonian captivity, the Persian Empire then was after them, Cyrus called them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, they are back in the land, but still they are, you might say, within the times of the Gentiles. They have conflicts and problems and there's opposition and they experience sufferings and sorrows from the nations of the world around them.

And so the man, which is the angel, which is the angel of the Lord, according to verse 11, they answered, notice then, and they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees. In other words, these horsemen that were angels, and they went down and they are observing to see what is going on here upon the face of this earth, and they are reporting to this angel, to this man, to the angel of the Lord. So the man among the myrtle trees is none else but the pre-incarnate Messiah, pre-incarnate Christ, who is the man, who is the angel, and also who is here presented as the angel of the Lord. And so it says here in verse nine, Then said I, O Lord, what are these? And the angel of the Lord talked with me, said unto me, I will show thee what these be.

And the men that stood among the myrtle trees, these are the many men upon these other horses, they answered and said, These are they whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro through the earth. Notice the angel of the Lord walking to and fro throughout all the earth to see how the nations of the world, the Gentile nations, are relating to the people of Israel. We will see it immediately in the context of our chapter. So now that he received an answer, an answer as he saw the vision, in verses twelve all the way to verse seventeen, Zechariah received a promise.

That the Lord, as Yehovah gave to the angel of the Lord, to the pre-incarnate Messiah. And you remember what we read in verses, in verse twelve. Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord, notice that the angel of the Lord, Malach Adonai, is praying. He's asking, Yehovah of hosts, he's asking him, how long wilt thou have not mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had an indignation these seventy years? Now again, we mention, beloved brothers and sisters, that the Messiah, seen here as the pre-incarnate appearing, his pre-incarnate appearing as the angel of the Lord, he is the second person of the triunity of the Godhead. He is speaking to the Father.

It is not unusual because scripture does tell us many other places that the father speak to the son, and the son speak to the father. For example, in Psalm 110, David says, the Lord said unto my Lord, here's God, the father speak to David Lord, God the son, sit down at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

In John chapter 17, we see and we read of the son, the prayer of Yeshua HaMashiach, the Lord Jesus the Messiah speaking to the Abba, to the father. And we read John chapter 17, where he said, I finished the work which thou had given me to do, and now glorify me, father, with the glory which I had with you before the foundation of the world. And then he began to pray for the disciples, then to pray for those that will come to know the Messiah, to know him through the preaching of the early apostles, as the gospel will be preached. He prayed for you and I, beloved brothers and sisters, during that church age in which you and I are living today.

But in the day of Zechariah, he was praying on behalf of his earthly people of Israel. And he says, how long, Lord? How long you will not have mercy upon what, upon whom? Upon Jerusalem, this is the city of Jerusalem. And on the city of Judah, the whole cities of Judah, Judea, all the surrounding cities that were occupied, that were taken over by the Gentile nations around, the problem with the Samaritans, the problem with all these nations of the world that inflicted upon God's earthly people, all sort of problems and persecution over the generation, and will continue to do so until the end of the times of the Gentiles, which will take place at the end of the tribulation period, including the Antichrist and the nation that will gather from all the world against the Jewish people during the tribulation, after the church will be taken out of here, before the tribulation period.

And so notice, he's saying, how long in verse 12? And in verse 13, the Lord gives the angel of the Lord, God the Father gives God the Son, the pre-incarnate Messiah, words of comfort. And he says in verse 12, the angel of the Lord, after he prayed, and then verse 13, we read, beloved brothers and sisters, verse 12 at the end, he says, he says, verse 13, I'm sorry, and the Lord answered and said to the angel, and he talked with me with good words and comfortable words, the word, and tanchumim, dvarim nechumim, this is words of comfort, like we read in the prophet Isaiah, in chapter 40, where he says, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. He's promising a comfort to the people of Israel, where he says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, sayest your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received of the Lord a hand double for all her sins.

And God will come with comfort for Jerusalem, for Judea, for the people of Israel, for the Jewish people. He promised this. And so now listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 14, 15, 16, and 17, there are sevenfold message from Jehovah, from the Lord. Concerning the city of Yerushalayim, the people of Israel, that will take place eventually in the future day.

Sevenfold, beloved brothers and sisters, sevenfold, a message which is sevenfold declaration, concerning the city of Yerushalayim, the city of Zion, and the people of Israel. Listen to these sevenfold declaration. First of all, we have in verse 14a, where Yehovah is saying, in verse 14, So the angel of the Lord that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, and notice what he's saying, I am jealous for Jerusalem. And for Zion with a great jealousy. The Hebrew word here is kina g'dola. Kina g'dola simply means that God is jealous over his own nation. You remember Paul was mentioning about the assembly, that he have presented the assembly, the church as a, as a chaste virgin.

He was jealous over the believers to present them before the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the glorified head of the assembly. But in the context here is Jehovah, the husband of his wife, the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, he is jealous over them. Let me reread this verse 14 again. Zechariah is now exalted to cry to Israel, to cry to the people of Israel, and what he's going to tell to the people of Israel, God is jealous for Jerusalem, he's jealous for Zion, for Zion. And notice, by the way, it says here, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy. You know the word Jerusalem and the word Zion are interchanging.

It is very, very important to understand. The truth that we have in scripture concerning, Zion, that name Zion, often time people are getting, maybe confused, or maybe they don't quite understand that the word of God apply the name Zion to the land of Israel. If you just go back to Isaiah chapter 51, let me just read that verse, Isaiah 51, and there in verse three, listen to these brothers and sisters, Isaiah 51 and verse three, I'm reading, it says, for the Lord shall comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste places. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein. Thanksgiving and a voice of melody. Zion is the whole land of Israel. Zion is the land that is was wasted and now it will be comforted. He will make the wilderness into the Eden, like the garden of delight.

The waste places he will make like Eden, the desert he will make like the garden of the Lord. So when you say Zion, you say the speak about the land of Israel. So at time the word of God present the land of Israel and calling the whole land in all its places, its locality, Zion. Isaiah 51 and verse 3. But it's not only this. According to the word of God, the city of Yerushalayim itself is called Zion.

Just turn with me to Psalm 48 for a moment. Psalm 48, and there in Psalm 48 we read in verses one and two, listen to this, Psalm 48, verse one and two, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. In the city, listen, the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. The city of Jerusalem, beloved brothers and sisters, where God set his name, is really Tzion, Zion. Whenever you say Yerushalayim, you say Tzion. Whenever you say Tzion, you say Yerushalayim. So Zion is the land of Israel, Canaan, and Zion is the city of Yerushalayim.

But notice this, if you go once again back to Isaiah, again Isaiah 51, and you notice that Zion is not only the land of Israel, not only of the city of Jerusalem, but Zion is also the Jewish people, the people of God, the earthly people of God. According to Isaiah chapter 51, there we read in verse 16, And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, and I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundation of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. Notice that? Say unto Zion, Zion, you are my people.

So Zion, beloved brothers and sisters, is not only the land of Israel, the land of Canaan, Zion is not only the city of Yerushalayim, but Zion is the people, the Jewish people, the people of Israel. They are linked together, the land linked with the city and the people of Israel, the Jewish people. Well, according to Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 1, you have the name Jerusalem and the name Zion interchanging. They are the same thing. So we read in Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 1, For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness, the wrath, go forth as brightness, as the salvation, the wrath, as a lamp that burneth. So when Zechariah is speaking concerning Zion, concerning Jerusalem, concerning the Jewish people, the promises of God that he is jealous.

God is jealous. Notice I'm reading Zechariah chapter 1 verse 14 once again. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry, cry thou saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts. Apparently Jehovah gave him an answer. And Jehovah said to the pre-incarnate Messiah that is called the man, called the angel, called the angel of Jehovah here, he said to him, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy. The Hebrew word is kinah gdolah. Now I'm telling you, dear brothers and sisters, this is not my words, this is not even the feeling and the desire of the Jewish people. Or even the feeling and the desire of Christians fall on behalf of the people of Israel. This is the word of the Lord. He said that he is jealous with a great jealousy over his people in the city of Jerusalem. I'm reading it again.

I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And why does he say it? Remember now that the prophecy of Zechariah was spoken to the Jewish remnant to return now from being in Babylon. But not all of them return, as we see in the book of Esther. Many of them are still scattered all over the nations of the world. The times of the Gentiles, Eitot HaGoim, is still in its process. It began with the Babylonian captivity, continue with the Medo-Persian, continue with the Grecian Empire, continue with the revived Roman Empire, and will end up with the future day when there will be the Antichrist and the revived Roman Empire during the tribulation period. The time of the Gentiles, even including today.

During the church age in which you and I live in today, we are still part of the times of the Gentiles, though the church is, is the Jew and Gentile call out from among the nations of the world, and the Lord is building now His heavenly, bride, the heavenly company called the assembly, the ekklesia, calling out Jewish believers, calling out Gentile believers, and uniting us together in the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. We belong to the heavenly company. The church is a mystery.

What He's in, Heeding God was not revealed to the children of man until the apostle Paul received this unique revelation. But it doesn't change for a moment the plan of God for His earthly people. That's why it's so sad when there are those who believe that the church is replacing Israel. Or saying that the church come instead of Israel, or saying that the church, God now chose the church and, and he punishing Israel, and Israel will have no longer any future. This is unbiblical.

This is unbiblical. This is not from the Lord, because the church is not Israel, and Israel is not the church. Israel is his earthly people, and the church is his heavenly people. And God is yet restore, going to restore his people, and any Christian who truly loved the Lord Jesus the Messiah should long for that, for the restoration of Israel. And even if he or she is not longing for that, the Lord is longing for that. I am jealous, notice this, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. How did the Gentiles treat the Jewish people during the times of the Gentiles? Now notice this, beloved brothers and sisters.

We continue to read of the, not only the, the passion of God for his own people. We learn, beloved brothers and sisters, certain things from the word of God concerning God's word. Listen to what we read. Go to Isaiah 14 for a moment. Isaiah chapter 14, and there we read in verse 1, Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 1, For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land, and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob, God is saying through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 14. Go to Isaiah chapter forty four and verse twenty six, beloved brothers and sisters, Isaiah forty four and verse twenty six, that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messenger, that sayeth to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, and to the city of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof.

That is the promise of the Lord for his own people, the people of Israel. Isaiah fifty one and verse three, we read, listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters, For the Lord shall comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and a voice of melody. God is promising this to his people, the people of Israel, and he's, he's, he's giving this testimony to the whole world to know what he's intending to do with respect to the people of Israel. Isaiah 61 and verse 4, it says there, And they shall build the old waste, they shall raise up the former desolation, they shall repair the waste city, the desolations of many generations.

Of many generations, and strangers shall stand and feed your flock, and the sons of the aliens shall be your ploughmen and your vine dressers. And ye, notice that verse six, but ye shall be named the priests of the Lord, men shall call you the ministers of our God. This is when Israel national regeneration will take place. Israel will have to repent and confess their sins and confess the rejection of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And we can go on and we can go on. Just one more verse in, the Psalm, in the book of Psalm. Psalm, chapter, sixty nine and verse, thirty five. Psalm sixty nine and verse, thirty five, where we read, Beloved brothers and sisters, for God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and have it in possession.

Amazing. You know, Psalm 69 is the psalm that is speaking about the trespass offering of the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah. And on the basis of his sacrifice, he will not only bless you and I who are believers, who are part of the assembly, the church, but he will restore the people of Israel on the basis of his, sacrifice which he had performed on behalf of his people. We can continue on. Let me just read one more verse in Psalm 132. Psalm 132. And there we read in verse 13, For the Lord have chosen Zion. He has desired for his habitation. It's him. He desire that. This is my rest forever. Here will I dwell, for I have desired. It's the Lord's will. Far beyond what is Israel will or your will and mine, it is the Lord's will.

I will abundantly bless her, provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priest with salvation, and her saints shall shout about aloud with joy. There, this is in Zion, will I make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for my anointed, the Mashiach. His enemies will I clothe with shame, but upon himself shall his crown flourish. The promises are multiplied again and again and again as we open the word of God throughout the whole prophets of Israel. You see the promises of God. To his people Israel. He, he is a jealous God. He is jealous over his people with, and the city of Jerusalem and Zion with great jealousy. So now let's come back to our chapter. We are here in the, in Zechariah, at chapter one, and now you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse fifteen, we have the second statement. Not only that God is jealous with kinah gdolah, great jealousy, but also verse fifteen tells us that Jehovah is very so displeased with the nations and their behavior towards his people.

He sees everything. He knows what the, what the, the, during the times of the Gentiles, what happened to his earthly people, to the Jewish people. To the northern kingdom Israel, to the southern kingdom Judah, and notice what we read, the second, forward message of Yehovah, the second declaration concerning his view over what's going on here in this earth, as he answered the pre-incarnate Messiah, that is asking and praying, O Lord, how long will not thou have mercy on Jerusalem? And so we read in verse 15, And I am very sore displeased with the heathen, the word for heathen is the Hebrew word goyim, nations, that are at ease.

They helped, listen to this, brothers and sisters, for I was but a little displeased, and they helped, forward the affliction. In other words, God is saying to his son, God the Father, Speaking to God the Son, Yehovah, speaking to the angel of the Lord, and he's saying to him, you know, I'm very much displeased with the heathen, with the nations, during the times of the Gentiles. Why? Because they are at ease.

They are carrying on life. They are treating his people, Israel, wrongfully. In fact, what he's saying to them, I was but a little displeased. I was displeased with my people, and I would discipline them. That's why I've allowed the Babylonian to come and to take them captive to Babylon. That's why I've allowed the Assyrian to come in 721 BC and take them to Assyria. But what happened is, I was a little bit displeased with my people, but notice what he said at the end of verse fifteen, but they helped forward the affliction. In other words, what he's really saying that the Gentile nations have gone beyond what God have intended. They've gone beyond their manner of conduct towards the Jewish people, the people of Israel. Oh yes, I punish my people, and I chose nation to discipline my people, but they have gone beyond.

They have it ease, they think that they can do as they please, and they think that I don't see it, and I don't observe it. And you see, God says here that he is very, notice that, very sore, actually the Hebrew word Saw displeased come from the Hebrew word ketzef. Ketzef gadol. You know, ketzef is when somebody is very, very angry.

And he is who kotzef, he is very angry. Of course, God is righteous in his indignation against man. God is righteous in his holy indignation. But the word for ketzef is very strong word, is where God is, is, he's so much angry with the behavior of the nations, towards his people, towards Jerusalem and Zion, towards the land, towards the people, towards the city of Jerusalem, toward the people of Israel. He is so, not as very Sore, displeased, notice he's like building up. Very, one thing, sore, two thing, displeased, the third thing. In Hebrew, it says in Zechariah chapter 1 and verse 15, it says, v'ketzef gadol ani kotzef al hagoyim hasha'ananim, asher ani katzafti me'at v'hemah azru l'ra'ah. In other words, I was but a little angry with my people, but they've gone beyond, they've gone beyond. Turn with me to the book of Joel.

How the nation treats Israel, beloved brothers and sisters, and we find out the behavior of the nations against the people of Israel. Joel chapter 3, we read there Joel, a minister earlier, and he said, for behold, chapter 3 and verse 1, 2 and 3, behold, in those days and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nation and will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will plead with them, therefore my people, for and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land, and they have cast lots. For my people, and have given a boy for an harlot, and they sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. In other words, the behavior of the Gentile nation. Notice, I will gather all nations, God says in Joel chapter 3 and verse 2, I will plead with them, I will deal with them in the valley of Yehoshaphat.

The valley of Yehoshaphat is the valley there where the Lord will judge the nation. The valley of Shaphat is the Kidron Valley there, in between Mount of Moriah and Mount of Olives. It's called the valley of Yehoshaphat. Yeho is Jehovah. Shaphat is judge. The valley of the judge, the valley of Jehovah that will judge the nations. And there he will plead with them for his people, the Jewish people, and there he will plead with them for his heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nation and parted my land. You see, brothers and sisters, listen, this is so interesting, and it's so important to understand that God is, is not forgetful of the behavior of the nations of the world. How did they have treat his own people, the people of Israel, during the times of the Gentiles, which began at 586 BC?

But we can go even earlier, in 721, the Assyrians cause havoc. In Samaria, when they have come and took captive the ten tribes of Israel, and the Assyrians were wicked in their behavior towards any nation, but in the context of the nation of Israel, as they have treated the people of Israel. Notice in the same passage, in Joel chapter three, we read in verse eleven, listen to this, eleven to sixteen, Assemble yourself, and come all ye heathen, and gather yourself together round about, thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be weakened, and come up to the valley of your Shaphat, for there I will sit as a judge to judge all the heathen round about. But ye, put ye the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for the wickedness is great. Multitude, multitude, in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision.

The sun and the moon shall be darkened. He's speaking about the tribulation day specifically. He's taking us all the way to the end of the days of the day of the Lord, which has to do with the tribulation and ultimately the Messianic kingdom. The sun, verse 15, and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem.

And the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. Here, beloved brothers and sisters, we have the sure promise that the Lord will also deal with the nations of the world and how they behave towards his people during the times of the Gentiles. So that takes us really all the way from we can say, 586. Why? Because from 586 BC, the kingdom was taken over from Judah and was handed over to the nations, to the Gentile nation, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grisha, and Rome. And ultimately to the future revived Roman Empire, to the Antichrist until the Messiah will come at his second coming and will judge the whole world and will restore his people of Israel. So you can see how the prophets of Israel speaking about Israel's final restoration at the latter days, they did not know anything about the church age that you and I live in today.

According to Ephesians 3, the church is a mystery. It was hidden God, and it was not revealed to the sons of men. Only now we know it because the apostle received this information, and you and I have the complete canon of scripture. But the prophets of Israel only knew God's dealing with Israel and the gentile nations of the world. And how God will discipline his people when they will disobey him. They rejected Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, at his first coming. And how God will deal with his people in his restoration of his people at the second coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. Let me just show you what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 25. Let me show you what Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, said about the judgment of the Gentiles that will take place before the Messianic Kingdom will take place, before the thousand years reign of the Messiah.

Look what Yeshua said. He said it in Matthew chapter 25, before the church was born. And he's speaking to the apostles and those that were around him in view of what will take place, and he lead them all the way to the future day. And in Matthew chapter 25, we read in verse 31, we read this, listen, When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, notice the end of the tribulation at his second coming, when the Lord Jesus now come and we, the church, gonna be with him, the assembly will come with him, but he's coming now to earth. He's going to be the judge, the king that will rule the world. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all his holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon a throne of his glory. Verse 32, Matthew 25, verse 32, And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divide his sheep.

From the goats. And he shall say unto the sheep on the right side, the right hand, by the goat he will put, he will set the one on the right, the goats on the left. And notice what it says in verse thirty four. Then shall king, the king shall say unto them on his right, Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was stranger, and ye took me in. I was naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee, stranger, and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee? And notice what the king will say to them. And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me. In the context of Matthew chapter 25, the brethren has to do with the Jewish people, the people of Israel. The way the nations treated the people of Israel during the time of the Gentiles will show where their heart was. They prayed for Israel. They prayed for the Jewish people. They sought to bless them, to encourage them, especially beloved brothers and sisters, you and I know it. That throughout the ages, there was always someone who rises to seek to destroy the Jewish people. Whether it is the Pharaohs, or whether it is the, the Hamans, or the Hitlers, or the Antiochus, or the Herods, or in these generation nations that are ready to destroy the people of Israel, in every generation there was someone that rise to seek to destroy God's earthly people, and the way the nations, peop, individual from among the nation of the world have treated the people of Israel and prayed for them and sought their, sought to, to lead them in our days, we need to share with them the gospel.

The very same gospel that came from the nation of Israel, we believers need to share the gospel with the, in love with the Jewish people. They will come to know the Mashiach today, and many of them can be part of the ekklesia. But you see, as much as you have done to the least of my brethren, Jesus the Messiah said, you have done it unto me, he says. But notice, and we have to close, I guess, with this portion. It says, he will come, verse 41, and he shall say unto them on the left side, these are the goats.

And he said to them, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and the angels and his angel. I was hungry, and ye gave me not meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in. I was naked, and ye clothed me not. I was sick and in prison, and ye didn't visit me. Of course, he doesn't speak of himself in the context he is speaking about. The brethren. In the context, the brethren here are the people of Israel. Then shall they say also, answered him and said, Lord, when saw we thee hungry and thirsty and stranger and naked and sick and in prison, and did not minister unto thee? And the answer is in verse, verse 45. Then he shall answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it not unto the least of these, even the brethren, or verse 40, ye did not do it unto me.

These shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal. Beloved brothers and sisters, back to Zechariah, chapter one. In the context of our chapter, Zechariah is speaking to the return remnant of Israel, and he's saying to them by the word of the Lord, as the angel of the Lord receive an answer after he questioned the Lord, O Lord of hosts, how long will thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation for seventy years?

And Jehovah come with an answer. And the answer is given to us, cry out, God is jealous over Jerusalem and Zion, verse 14, Jehovah is very so displeased with the heathen, the way they have treated the people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. And so just quickly, beloved brothers and sisters, let me read verse 16, the third Statement, the third declaration that Yehovah gives the angel of the Lord, God the Father gives God the Son. And notice that in verse 16a. Therefore thus says the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies. I am returning to Jerusalem. I am intending to return to Jerusalem, and I will have mercy.

And notice that he continue in verse 16b, Yehovah's house will be built in Jerusalem, and he takes us all the way to the millennial age, to the kingdom. And he says in verse 16, not only that I will return to Jerusalem with mercies, but notice my house. Shall be built in it. And then he says, and a line, notice that, says Yehovah of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. That line is speaking about the fact that God will return to Israel, he will establish the city of Jerusalem, he will build his own house. Notice he says, my house, my house, habayit sheli, beiti. It always have a reference to the temple.

And you see, beloved brothers and sisters, and I'm going to close with this, forgive me for the sake of the time that we take such a long time, but it is very, very important. You see what happened, the first house, the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonian. 586 BC. Now these Jewish people who return after 70 years began to build what is called to be the Zerubbabel House, the second temple.

Now this temple, the second temple, will be, beloved brothers and sisters, enlarged later on during Herod. He will enlarge it during the days when Yeshua the Messiah came to the temple in Jerusalem. That was this temple that was built by Zerubbabel, beautified by Ezra, and the walls around Jerusalem was built by Nehemiah. But that temple later on will be beautified and enlarged by Herod, beautified by Ezra, enlarged by Herod, but in 70 AD that temple will be destroyed, that second temple.

And God knows it. So he's speaking about another temple, another house that will be built when he is returning in a millennial age, in a messianic kingdom. But before the temple will be built in the messianic kingdom, in a thousand years reign of the Messiah, there will be a temple that we will, will be built that the Lord will not sanction. And it is known to us as the Tribulation Temple. The Tribulation Temple. That temple the Lord will not sanction. In fact, in that temple, the Antichrist will sit there and he will claim to be God.

So that will be the Tribulation Temple because the Lord will not sanction that temple. The Lord will not be pleased with this temple. In fact, We do read, beloved brothers and sisters, in Isaiah chapter 66, the last chapter in the prophet Isaiah, that's speaking to us of this house that God is not pleased with. We read in verse one, Thus says the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things has mine hand, and my hand have made, and all these things have, have been, says the Lord, but to this man will I look, even to him that is of poor and of contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. So he says, you are building me a house now, and that will be the house, the temple, that it will be built by the Jewish people, the religious Jewish people who want a temple.

And they will build it, but that temple will not be sanctioned by God. He doesn't want merely the outward building, the outward house. He wants the heart. He wants a restored nation. He wants a nation that, as it says here in this word, in this verse two, the one, him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and troubleth at my word. He wants a repented nation.

And that's why he says in verse three, All the sacrifices that will be offered during the, the time of the tribulation period in the temple, or we will call the tribulation temple, look what we read in verse three of Isaiah chapter sixty-six. He that killeth an ox, it is as if he slew a man. He that sacrifice a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yeah, he says, you have chosen, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abomination. I'm not delighting in it.

You may delight in it, but that is not what I delight in. I want you to be broken before me, to repent of your sins, to tremble at my word, and then the Messianic temple will be built. The house of the Lord will be built when the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, will build, as we have it in the book of Ezekiel, Yechezkel, the Messianic, the kingdom temple. So I'm finally closing with this verse 16, beloved brothers and sisters, Zechariah 1 verse 16, Therefore thus says the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem. He's looking over the ages, and he's saying, I'm returning to Jerusalem with mercies.

My house, my house, he's saying in verse 15, there when he said, Beiti yibaneh, my house shall be built in it, in Jerusalem, says the Lord of hosts. And a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem, he's saying. That line, beloved brothers and sisters, is that line that God has set. Line of protection, line of building his house, building the cities, building the city of Jerusalem. That is the line that is mentioned here in verse 16. In Hebrew it says, v'kaveh yinateh al Yerushalayim. A kav, a line. You know, when you are building any house, you have to have a line, you have to choose the size, and you are putting a line, and then you are deciding from here to here that the size will be. You begin to bring all the construction and whatever need to be done, and you ultimately build a structure.

God is going to build his temple, his house. In it, in Yerushalayim, in a coming day. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, this is the longing of God, much more than the longing of men, much long, much more than in the longing of even his own earthly people Israel, much more than the longing of you and I as believers. This is the longing of God, the longing of Jehovah, the longing of Jesus the Messiah. Just as he is longing after you and I as believers today, he is longing for the day that we will be with him and enjoy him for time and for eternity. Well, beloved friends, may the Lord help us to see from the word of God, God's plan, through the prophets of Israel for the nation of Israel, which he will accomplish in a future day. So our God and our Father, thank you for your word. Bless your word, we pray.

For we ask it for your glory in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. My dear friend, until the next time, we want to say to you, Shalom, Shalom. Bye-bye.