Shabbat Shalom. Open our Bibles to the prophet Zechariah, the Hebrew post-exilic prophet of Israel, of Judah, who prophesied to Israel in about 520 BC and presented the message of the Word of God to the remnant who returned from Babylon and encouraged them to rebuild the temple in Yerushalayim, but also gave them an overview of God's plan and purpose for our nation Israel and for the city of Yerushalayim. Zechariah, chapter 1, verses 7 to 17, is the first vision that Zechariah had received from the Lord concerning God's plan for the people of Israel. It's a beautiful vision. It's one of the eight visions from chapter 1 to the end of chapter 6 that Zechariah had received.

So follow me, please, in the reading of the scriptures. Verse 7, upon the four and twentieth day of the eleven month, which is the month of Shuvat, in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berchiyahu, the son of Edo, the prophet, saying, I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, And he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom, and behind him were the red horses, speckled and white. Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be.

And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord had sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth. And behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest. And 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 so displeased with the heathen that are at ease. For I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, my house shall be built in it, saith 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 i'm going to stop here with verse 17 because there is a break right here in fact beloved brothers and sisters those of you who know Hebrew and you have the Masoretic text of the Tanakh you will notice that in verse 18 is the beginning of the second chapter in the Hebrew Masoretic text but nevertheless we are going to break right here and we'll begin to talk about the first vision that Jehovah the Lord had given to Zechariah, the prophet of our nation, Israel, at 520 BC, when he was in the land of Israel.

Now, those of you who haven't been with us in a previous meeting, last Shabbat meeting, have missed the introduction that we have to the prophet Zechariah.

And this is a very interesting, long introduction that tells us and teaches us concerning this man by the name of Zechariah and his own brethren the jewish people who returned from babel from babylon some time have passed by when our jewish people have been in babel for 70 years they came back to israel they began to rebuild the temple in yerushalayim in jerusalem and because of discouragement they stopped to build the temple and instead of building the house of the lord beth ha-mikdash they stopped and they all began to build their own homes they took care of themselves but the house of the lord was remaining waste there in the city of yerushalayim this has

hurt the heart of god because these people who came from babel after 70 years were supposed to work hard at the building of the temple in yerushalayim and then to establish the worship again as it was promised by the prophets but apparently they stopped to build the temple we made an application to us as believers in the church age and we also said in the previous meeting that many times we find ourselves just the same like this remnant instead of building the body of messiah edifying the believers being those that can build and establish god's word here upon the earth we find ourselves oftentimes to our own shame failing in obedience to the word of

god and instead of using the gifts that god had given us using the energy that god had given to us for the building of the house of god of the ecclesia the church we end up to be occupied with ourself and we lose out god's not receiving his portion and the body of messiah is not enjoying what the lord have intend for them this is very important to see the parallel between the returning remnant and those of us who live today in the last days of the church age because jesus the messiah is coming very soon and he's going to take us to be with him and he's going to ask us the question what

have you done in the time that i have given you on earth how much time and energy did you spend for my glory for the building of my house here upon the face of this earth and we're going to have to answer him for how we have spent our time here as believers but anyway here we are back now to Zechariah's prophecy so God now giving Zechariah eight vision beginning from chapter 1 verse 7 to the end of chapter 6 and in those visions he's giving them an overview about the care of God for his nation Israel I want to mention here before we're going to move on into this vision that it is a

great mistake for christians for believers in yeshua today to set aside the promises of god for israel and to apply all the promises that were given for his people israel apply it to the church to the body of christ it is a big big mistake to do so in our teaching and in our understanding of the scriptures we see again and again how the promises of god for his people Israel will surely come to pass because he have said it and declared it in his word so let's now look at this first vision here that we have in Zechariah chapter 1 verses 7 to 21 first of all in verses 7 to 11 we have

the vision itself and it is an interesting vision notice at the date It says, upon the 4 and 20th day of the 11th month, which is the month of Shvat, it's the Hebrew month of Shvat.

In the second year of Darius, this is 520 BC, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berachiah, or Berchiyahu, the son of Edo the prophet, saying. If you remember when we read in the beginning of the chapter, in chapter 1 and verse 1, it was in the eight months of the second year of the rise came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah. Apparently, three months passed by from the beginning of the word of the Lord to Zechariah. And now we are already in the 11th month. God must have spoken to him and given him all sort of information.

and now he is giving to him specific eight visions in one night vision after vision after vision he had given to him those visions and Zechariah is now receiving those visions three months later and as we mentioned before he was preaching at the same time that the prophet Haggai was preaching Haggai preached on the sixth month chapter 1 verse 1 he preached on the seventh month chapter 2 verse 1 and he preached on the ninth month chapter 2 and verse 10 Haggai was a contemporary prophet among the restored remnant of Israel and so here Haggai was presenting the word of the Lord to Judah and here Zechariah is presenting the word to Judah as well

now in additional to the first point here the 11th month of the 520 BC the second time we have the word of the Lord came unto him and he says Zechariah the son of Berachiah the son of Edo and I want to repeat this the name Zechariah in Hebrew means God had remembered the name the son of Berachiah or birkiyahu in hebrew is god have blessed or will bless and the third his grandfather's name was edo and in hebrew the word edo means in his time he's a witness to his time so what we really have god will remember and god will bless in his time the people of israel in the names there is

a message to the nation of israel god is going to remember all his promises to his people israel and he is going to bless them in his time in accordance to his will in according to his plan so the date is very important the date is 520 bc the king here is darius in hebrew we call him at that time when Zechariah and a remnant of Israel were in the city of Jerusalem and Zechariah received that message now in verse 8 Zechariah sees a man I think it is important here in this 8 verse it says I saw by night now this is a vision this is not a dream literally he saw by god

gave zechariah a revelation a vision he saw it the bible teaches us that he literally has seen what god is presenting before him and what does he see beloved brothers and sisters he see a man riding upon a red horse and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom and behind him there were red horses speckled horses and white horses he sees a man riding upon this horse but he stopped he stood among the myrtle trees who is that man this man riding on that red horse is none else but the pre-incarnate messiah who was already then and there revealing himself to the man of god the man of israel and in

a picture form he was the promised messiah long before he was born in bethlehem which was about 2 000 years ago from our vantage point the messiah before his incarnation he was again and again appearing to our people israel of old in order to give them the various promises that God have for our nation.

So there's the pre-incarnate Messiah riding upon a red horse. And he arrived to a place called in the midst of the myrtle trees. The Hebrew word for myrtle trees is hadassim. It is trees that give us the fruit such as the hadass bring us the lemons, the oranges, the grapefruit, all these trees that actually exist today in the land of israel many of them israel is growing the hadasim in many form and shapes all along throughout the land of israel in fact this expression of hadas or hadasim the tree is a picture is a type of the nation of israel sometimes the bible applied to the nation of israel as the olive tree the blessings that god had for israel sometimes israel is expressed in the bible as divine you remember god said about israel isaiah 5 that he had a vineyard israel is the vine that god have intended to grow and to be used by him yeshua the messiah said in john chapter 15 i am divine and you are the branches the true israel in typology is our lord yeshua jesus the messiah But here we see that man, pre-incarnate Messiah, riding on a red horse and stood now among, notice, the myrtle trees that were in the bottom.

And the word here for bottom is again the Hebrew word for Metsula. Metsula means it's a place that is deep, in a deep place among the nations of the world. what we really see in this scene we see the pre-incarnate messiah riding on the train horse speaking about his finished work through the blood that he shed on the tree pausing among the myrtle trees that is very low in a button bametzula in a deep place in a time of distress and in various many many needs that this nation the jewish people have experienced and with him you notice that it says behind him there were red horses speckled horses and white horses now we can make all sort of application what the colors speaks to us of but we see that there are horses that are behind this one horse that the messiah that this man is riding upon and that he paused among the myrtle trees which were in the bottom and it speaks to us of the nation of Israel who is in distress in the depth of need among the nations of the world and the myrtle trees representing the nation of Israel.

If you will please for a moment turn to the prophet Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 19 in the promises of God for Israel. He says, I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together, that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created this. If you just move on to chapter 55 of the prophet Isaiah again, and in verse 13 we read, Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the bryal shall come up the myrtle, And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Beautiful to see of the promises of God concerning the nation of Israel and its future, because the myrtle trees representing the nation, that one day in the future day, the thorn will be replaced by the fir tree, The briar shall be replaced by the myrtle trees and Israel will come back and be restored to its own land.

Now, another thing that I found rather interesting is that those of us who know the story of our people Israel, we know that when our Jewish people have been in Babylon, there was a woman by the name of Esther that was a jewish woman that lived in babylon and she was used by her uncle mordechai the jew to save our jewish people from haman who sought to kill our jewish people in the land but you know what hebrew name of esther is actually hadassa and hadassa is myrtle that's what the name of it is the Hadass is the myrtle tree that is the name of Hadassah that is Esther whose uncle was Mordecai in Esther

chapter 2 and verse 7 you will find her Hebrew name Hadassah which is simply mean myrtle or the myrtle tree so here we see beloved brothers and sisters in verse 8 we see that zecharia in the vision see a man speaking about the pre-incarnate messiah riding on a red horse pausing and stopping to see among the myrtle trees that those myrtle trees were in the bottom in a very deep place and behind him there were other horses and horse riders who rode behind him the color was speckled red and white and that is a description that we have in the vision in verse 8 of chapter 1 so immediately Zechariah began to question this man

but notice that now this man become what is known to be the angel of the Lord it says in verse 9 then i say oh my lord what are these now that men or verse 8 now the bible call him the angel that talk with him the same man verse 8 now he's the angel it says in verse 9 and the angel that talk with me said unto me i will show thee what these be as we move along you will notice that he is called the angel of jehovah so zekaria is asking the question and i don't know about you if you will see such a sight you will begin to ask the very

same question oh my lord what is this now this man the pre-incarnate mashiach jesus yeshua the messiah he is now answering to this servant in verse 10 and 11 then he said to him i'm going to show you Zechariah what these visions are and I think it is encouraging to the Zechariah because remember the Jewish remnant came to Jerusalem to build the temple and because they had so many oppositions from those who lived around them and they were discouraged they stopped to build the temple they needed encouragement so they can continue to build the house of God so here Zechariah give them an encouraging word and I think it's precious notice the man is in

verse 8 the angels in verse 9 the man is in verse 10 the same person we are talking about here the man stood among the myrtle trees and answered and he said these what you see all these horses and they have riders even though he doesn't say all these horses they are whom the lord had sent to walk to and fro through the earth these were sent by God these really beloved brothers and sisters are none else but an angelic host whom the Lord had sent to go to and fro upon the face of the earth to watch what's going on here in this world now Zechariah doesn't see those angels Israel themselves don't see

those angelic being the host of the lord in fact you and i do not see anything that going on in the spirit realm we do know from ephesians chapter 6 that there is the spirit realm where we wrestle not against flesh and blood against principalities against powers in heavenly places that are existing today there is a bad and evil force of satan but there is the force that belong to god who watches over the affairs that are going on upon the face of this earth they were sent by the Lord and they are going notice this expression to and fro that is mentioned more than once here in this chapter the Hebrew word is lehit

halech it means to walk they are walking to and fro throughout the earth nobody sees them but the lord himself knows them send them and there are messengers of the lord who watch what's going on in the affairs of this earth in this context is in connection with his beloved nation of israel this expression to and fro we have in job god as satan have you considered my servant job yov and where are you coming from and he says i'm going to and from he was himself walking around to see what's going on in this world of course this is satan this is the angel that fail but the angels the angelic realms the angelic

beings that god himself is sending in order to observe to see what's going on among his people the people of israel and they see everything they watch everything they know the situation of God's people they know that they were discouraged and what happened here is Zechariah received an encouraging word for the people of Israel in verse 11 and they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees those they take us back to verse 8 their riders angelic beings they report now to the pre-incarnate messiah to the angel of the lord and they say we have walked to and fro through the earth and behold all the earth sit still and is

at rest now this sound like it's very nice you know all the earth is sitting still and the trace it sound like everything is okay but you see this was not a good answer because what happened here the myrtle trees a representation of the nation of israel is sitting in a deep need in a sorrowful condition among the nations of the world and the whole world is carrying on as everything is at rest and at ease as far as god's concern the program and the plan of God for his people Israel does not move on the world continue in its own way in its own course but the purpose and a plan for Israel does

not move along you remember it was Yeshua the Messiah who said to us in the Gospels concerning the time just as it was in the days of Noah they ate and they drank and they married and gave in in marriage until the flood have came and judgment came upon the face of the earth in other words men continue in his own way do not submit himself to the program of God and everything seems to be still in Hebrew it says Yoshevet and at rest the Hebrew word Shoketet sitting down and quiet, continuing their lives while the myrtle trees, Israel is still in the depth is still in need and the plan for the nation of

Israel does not continue on and the Jewish people are still being scattered the house of God is not being built the city of Jerusalem is not been fully in a way God had planned for the city of Jerusalem.

Everything is continuing on in its own way and yet the people of God is still in a state of distress. Now I want to mention here something that I believe are very very important. Even for us today in the church age we have to realize that this world will never experience true shalom until israel the nation as a nation return to the knowledge of the person of our lord yeshua the messiah i'm not talking jewish individuals who are part of the body of christ i'm talking about of israel as a nation as long as israel the nation is still in a state of blindness as long that israel the nation is still rejecting the messiahship of yeshua the world will never experience the peace and the blessing that god intend for this world the apostle paul in romans chapter 11 and verse 11 he said to the roman believers i say have they stumbled that they should fall god forbid but rather that through Israel's fall, through their fall, salvation is come unto the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy.

And if the fall of them was richest to this world, and the diminishing of them was the richest to the Gentiles, how much more shall their fullness be? If by Israel rejecting the Messiah, so much blessings came to the nations of the world, Can you imagine God through Paul is saying, what's going to happen when Israel is being restored to the Lord? He continues and he says in the same Romans 11 and verse 15, he says, if the casting away of them, this is Israel, be the reconciling of the world, what shall be the receiving of them but life from the dead? The world need to know that, and we as believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah in the church age, need to recognize this we should pray for israel restoration to the lord and yet we see beloved brothers and sisters that already zechariah received this revelation long before the church was born in 520 bc of the 11th month of shvat from the lord himself so the angelic the messengers of God who were sent by Jehovah to view what's going on here upon the face of this earth they see and they say well yes all the earth is seated still and is at rest but the myrtle trees are in the bottom in the metzula in the depth the need to be lifted up and restored as a nation is still waiting.

Israel is still in such a condition. Zechariah received this message. They are still in a time of a need of restoration. Everybody carry on with their own life. The nation's doing what they want. But the Jewish people are still scattered and still dispersed. And the plan of God is not continuing. So look what happened. This is so beautiful. I love this. And I know it's a prophetic message. It's a vision. And sometimes we have a hard time to grasp it.

But if you see that beloved brothers and sisters in the light of the program of god you can enjoy it in your own soul and apply it to your own heart even today so now we read in the next verses we are now in verse 12 the angel of the lord now speaking to the lord the angel of jehovah speaking to jehovah it is interesting the son the pre-incarnate messiah really speaking to god the father from what we understand from New Testament setting he says in verse 12 then the angel of Jehovah answered and said O Lord, O Jehovah of hosts how long will thou have no mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of

Judah against which you has had indignation for these 70 years we are really receiving here an insight to the father and to the son speaking before the incarnation you know it's very similar to Psalm 110 the Lord said unto my Lord sit down on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool Jehovah spoke to David's Lord and he said to him which is the Messiah sit down on my right hand until I will make your enemies your footstool this is the father speaking to the son but here we have the son speaking to the father see the reverse here and yet it is so precious long before the church was born long before

the Messiah paid the price on the tree we see the conversation between the angel of the Lord pre-incarnate Messiah and jehovah hosts adonai tsevaot and he says to him listen how long will thou have no mercy on jerusalem really he's beseeching the father how long will this condition of the nation of israel will be you can see the heart of our blessed lord yeshua the messiah for the nation of israel he's asking how long you know there are many verses in the bible in the time of the prophet daniel in chapter 8 the question was asked the same how long will this condition of our people of israel remain in that state how long they

are going to be by the rivers of babylon where there will be whipping where there will be anti-semitism hatred of the people of israel how long will you allow this to happen and he was in a sense appealing to the father appealing to god and saying to him all lord of hosts and again i said that the word in hebrew lord of hosts in hebrew yehovah tsevaot adonai tsevaot the lord of the armies the word for tseva army in plural is Tsevaot and Jehovah was the host of all the armies his full capacity and power to deal with every problem that existing for his own people he is able to meet their need and the

angels said to him how long now do you remember beloved brothers and sisters why the Jewish people find themselves in Babel, in Babylon our nation of all have sinned against the law and the lord said to them listen when you are going to violate my word i'm going to discipline you i'm going to send you to babel for 70 years so you will experience what it means to violate my word and for 70 years our jewish people have been in babel could you turn to jeremiah chapter 25 in verse 8 we read therefore thus says the lord of hosts again the same because you have not heard my words behold i will send and take

all the families of the north says the lord and nebuchadnezzar the king of babylon my servant and i will bring them against this land and against the inhabitants thereof and against all these nations round about and i will utterly destroy them and i will make them an astonishment and a hissing and perpetual desolations verse 10 moreover i will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride and the sound of the millstones and the light of the candle and this whole land shall be desolation and an astonishment and listen to this and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for

70 years and it shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation saves the Lord for their iniquity and the land of the Calendiz and I will make it a perpetual desolation.

Well, Jeremiah was the pre-exilic prophet. He presented the nation of Israel God's message before they went to Babel. And he told them, listen Israel, listen Judah, if you're not going to obey God, going to send you for 70 years in the land of Bavell and he's going to send Nebuchadnezzar to take you down to Bavell and lo and behold he did so the Jewish people are people of old have spent 70 years in Bavell and they have had not an easy time in the land of Bavell and so now we are in Zechariah, Zechariah, is post-exilic prophet. He is now telling them, look at what happened, Israel.

Look at the history of your people. And he's receiving a revelation through the Lord, via the angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Messiah. And he is crying and speaking to the Jehovah of hosts. And he says, how long? Oh Lord, you will have no mercy on Jerusalem. And you know, there was really no mercy on Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been taken, had been burnt, the temple had been destroyed, all the articles, all that which was kept in the holy place and in the holy of holy, all have been taken to Babel. What a shame. And I often weep when I think of that Psalm 137, by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept as we remembered Zion.

And so, here, the angel of the Lord beseeching Jehovah to give him an answer. How long? The city of Jerusalem will have no mercy. And notice, God had indignation for 70 years. So what he does, he liked taking them back to those previous years when they had been there, and now they are now in Jerusalem, and they're supposed to build, but they don't carry on in the building because they had opposition from the enemies here in the land now. So, this is the question that the angel of the Lord asked Jehovah himself. In verse 13 and on, we see the answer that Jehovah is giving to the angel of the Lord, and the angel of the Lord gives it to Zechariah, and Zechariah giving it to the remnant of Judah.

So, Jehovah is giving an encouraging word. It says here in verse 13, And the Lord answered the angel that talked with him, with good words, Dvarim Tovim in Hebrew, and with comfortable words, Dvarim Nechumim. You know, they needed to hear these good words. They needed to hear the words of comfort, just like we need to hear some words of encouragement when times are hard, when there is discouragement, that existing among the people of God. And so God in his goodness, and this is precious to our hearts, God intending blessing for his people, God intending to comfort. Isaiah says, comfort ye my people. God is speaking to a nation that need comfort in a time of distress.

So Jehovah gave good words and comforting words to the remnant of judah through the angel of the lord and now notice that beloved brothers and sisters zechariah is now exhorted to speak he received the revelation he is now exhorted to go to the brethren to go to the jewish remnant and to cry before them he's exhorted twice you notice in verse 14 cry thou and in verse 17 cry yet the cry is like titsak it's like shout and cry and give the nation the message of comfort the message of encouragement so in verse 14 we read that God is a jealous God for his people Israel he says so the angel commune this with me the angel of the lord the pre-incarnate messiah me is zechariah himself and he said unto me cry thou saying thus says the lord of hosts i am jealous for jerusalem and for zion with great jealousy the thought here it's not like you and i when we see somebody have something that we don't have and we are jealous over that this is not the kind of jealousy that God had for Jerusalem and for Zion.

But these are godly jealousy. This is a, in Hebrew, kina gdola, means that God has concern for His people, and He is so burdened for His own people that He is intended to bless them, and that if anybody harmed them, He is going to deal with those that harm His people.

You know, the fact that God is a zealous or a jealous God we find it in the law in the law we find if you remember just turn back to exodus i'm going to show you exodus chapter 20 in verse 5 when god gave the law to israel he said thou shall not bound thyself to other gods nor serve other gods for the lord thy god am a jealous god he's a jealous god he will not share his glory with another he's jealous for his people he cares for his people paul said the very same words when he wrote to the corinthians in second corinthians chapter 11 and verse 1 and 2 would to god

you could bear with me a little bit in my folly and indeed bear with me for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy that is not jealous with what you have and I don't have this is I am jealous with a godly jealousy that you will prosper I desire your best that's what he is really saying and God who is the God of Israel he is jealous over his people israel is the wife of jehovah the church is the bride of the messiah the bride of christ and the lord jesus is jealous over us as well he wants our best god wants israel's best so he's saying to them you know i'm jealous for

jerusalem and for zion with a great jealousy i care for you I want your well-being.

And so now, in the last verses of this first vision, he is now telling them what he thinks about the nations and how they have treated the Jewish people. Now, this is, again, an important principle to understand. You know, the Jewish people, our own people, have been persecuted over the generations by many, many nations. And we can look at the history of our people. We had a Pharaoh, years ago, who have sought to kill all the Jewish boys to throw them into the river. We have had Antiochus Epiphany in the time of Hanukkah, who sought to destroy the Jewish people and to kill all what they have had for God.

We have Haman, who wanted to kill all the Jewish people historically in Babel. And we had even, if you remember, when Yeshua was born, Herod, who said to kill all the Jewish boys from two years and under, who wanted the Messiah not to enter into this world. And the Messiah came out of the nation of Israel. And every generation, we had the Hitler. And then we just recently had Ahmadinejad, who wanted to destroy the nation of Israel. Israel had been anti-Semitism against the people of Israel throughout the generation. And God tell us here, I am zealous for the people of Israel. I am zealous for the city of Jerusalem.

And look what he is saying now in verse 15. I am very so displeased with the heathen that are at ease. For I was a little bit displeased. But look, it says here at the end of verse 15, but they helped forward the affliction. Now, brothers and sisters, this is an important verse. Now, yes, God was displeased with his people. And God has raised certain men throughout the history to discipline his people, like Nebuchadnezzar. But look what the Gentile world have done. Look what it says here. It says here that the heathen, I was but a little displeased, verse 15. But they, notice the word here, they helped forward the affliction.

In other words, what we really see here, I punished my people, but the heathen, the Gentile world, have added to the affliction of the people of Israel. They have increased their judgment upon the nation of Israel. And they were probably very happy for that. And God says, listen, I am very displeased. The Hebrew word, you know, katsaf or ketzev, it's come from the word katsafet. You know, when you take an egg and you mix it and mix it and stir it and stir it until it becomes like a foam. Well, I'm very much in foam against the nations of the world. He called them here the heathen, but it's the Hebrew word goyim, the nations.

I was a little bit displeased, meaning that I was a little bit me'at katsafti. I was a little bit angry with my people, but they have helped forward the affliction. It is interesting, it's too bad that the English does not convey the full truth. In Hebrew it says, They have helped to do evil. That's what it really says. They have forwarded the evil. They made it worse and worse for my people Israel. That verse is an amazing verse in light of many other passages. go back to the prophet joel look what we read there in joel chapter 3 and verses 1 to 3 for behold in those days and in that time when i shall bring again the captivity of judah and jerusalem i will also gather all nations and i will bring them down into the valley of jehosh Shaphat, or Shaphat simply means Jehovah the judge, or the Jehovah have judged, and I would plead with them there for my people, 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 Halot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

can you imagine they sold the jewish boys and girls to purchase wine that they will drink and have good time god is displeased with this and god sees it those horses and their riders upon them are representation of angelic beings who see what's going on and how men have treated his beloved nation the nation of israel oh yes they sinned against him and he need to discipline them and he did and he will yet discipline his own people but watch it when you go beyond what god have intended watch it when you find pleasure in a persecution of the nation of israel watch it because god sees it and god's wrath against those who afflicted

his nation will surely come to pass by the way beloved brothers and sisters when people are afflicting the christians today in the present day dispensation it is just the same the children of god believers in the present day dispensation of the church age who are suffering today in many lands in this world many lose their lives for the name of Yeshua the Messiah being persecuted being cast into prison cannot have the liberty to worship Yeshua the Messiah God sees it and he will deal with those who persecute the children of God whether it is the church the ecclesia or whether it is the nation of israel god is jealous of his own people and he

is going to deal with the enemies of the people of god sooner or later the day will come when he will deal with them i want you to see what yeshua said in matthew chapter 25 these passages are applicable to us today and we have to learn from those verses that we have in the scriptures concerning how man is treating the people of god in the case of zechariah god is speaking about the nation of israel in matthew chapter 25 yeshua is speaking from verse 31 we read when the son of man this is the lord jesus the messiah will come in his glory and all his angels with him then shall he sit upon

the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left then the king the Messiah Jesus will say unto them on his right head come blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for i was hungry and you gave me meat i was thirsty and you gave me drink i was stranger and you took me in i was naked and you closed me i was sick and you visited me i was in prison

and he came unto me verse 37 then shall the righteous answered and they said lord when saw we thee and hungry and we fed thee or thirsty and we gave you drink when we saw thee a stranger and we took you in or when we saw you naked and we closed thee or when saw we thee sick or in prison and we came unto thee and look what the king is saying in verse 40 the king shall answer and say unto them verily i say unto you inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the list of these my brethren you have done it unto me the brethren here in context here chapter 25

and verse 40 are the nation of israel the jewish people who were persecuted especially here in connection with the tribulation period what you have done to them you have done to me you remember Shaul on the way to Damascus to take the early Jewish believers and bring them to kill them bring them to Jerusalem and Yeshua met him from the glory and he said to him Shaul Shaul why do you persecute me well he did not persecute the Lord he was in heaven but when he was persecuting the early hebrew christian messianic jewish people he was actually persecuting the head the messiah who was in glory now notice that i'm reading verse 41 just so

you can see the other side of the story he said unto them that on the left depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels i was hungry and you gave me no meat i was thirsty and you gave me no drink I was stranger and you took me not in I was naked and he closed me not I was sick and in prison and he visited me not then shall they also answer him and they said Lord when saw we thee and hungered or thirst or stranger or naked or sick or in prison or did not minister unto thee and here is the answer then shall he answered

them saying verily I say unto you for as much as ye did it not to the one of the least of these these are the brethren of verse 40 the Jewish people ye did not it unto me these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous shall go into eternal life the judgment day is surely going to come to pass and so in Zechariah 1 and verse 15 God says I'm very much displeased with those nations with the goyim that are at ease the Jewish people are suffering that is I was a little bit displeased and they helped forward the evil the affliction and so beloved now here at the end of this first

vision in verses 16 and 17 the lord in a sense concluded the first vision and it says in verse 16 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 notice it he says i've returned as if it is already have happened with mercies this time remember earlier the lord says how long will you not have mercy upon your people and jehovah's host answering the son the angel of the lord and he says i'm returned unto jerusalem with mercies god look and you know it is important to see that now god looks

beyond the time of zecharia beyond the time of haggai and the remnant of israel and he's looking all the way to the millennial age to the kingdom age when he is going to establish the messianic kingdom and he's going to establish jerusalem he will return to the city he will establish back the city of jerusalem and he will draw a line that expression a line kav in hebrew this is the line of gods dealing with the nation of israel a line where he will not allow anymore anybody to afflict the nation of israel in the future there no more affliction that will come upon the nation of israel so he is really encouraging them then

and there to rebuild the temple in the time of and the remnant but he takes them beyond to the messianic age in fact beyond the church age beyond the rapture of the church beyond the tribulation period all the way to revelation chapter 20 where the thousand year reign of god of the messiah over the nation of israel and the nations of the world and he conclude in verse 17 with again calling zechariah to cry yet again and he says cry yet again verse 17 thus saith Jehovah of hosts my cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem notice three time he used the word

yet my cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad the cities that God have intended to reestablish in the kingdom age will spread and will grow and he will yet comfort Zion and he will yet choose the city of Jerusalem now when we are today those of us who have born and raised in Jerusalem those of one who have their families in jerusalem i just took my mother to be buried back in jerusalem a few weeks ago which was the desire of our family to bring her back to her homeland and you look at the city of jerusalem there is not the peace the shalom that is yet to come in the coming days it's

still taking us to the future where god's blessing upon his people will surely come to pass beloved brothers and sisters and you notice these precious words i will yet spread the cities i will yet give comfort to the city of jerusalem and i will yet choose that city whom i have already chosen deuteronomy 16 and verse 16 says that you will come to the place where god will choose the jewish people to come to the place where god has chosen the city of jerusalem whom he has chosen and he will yet choose this city once again in the coming day there are many verses that i can read but i want to conclude with psalm

132 verse 13 for the lord has chosen Zion.

He has desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever. Here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her pool with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed, the Mashiach. his enemies will i clothe with shame but upon himself shall his crown flourish look at these verses that's what david singing in a psalm in the tehillim years ago concerning the city of jerusalem the lord has chosen zion the name zion simply is another name for the city of jerusalem Every time you say, once say, I'm a Zionist, or a Zionist, you say, I believe that Zion, the Jerusalem, is the place where God has chosen to set his name there and to give it to his nation, the nation of Israel.

He desired it for his own habitation. This is a place of his rest, he says, forever. And here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I have desired Zion. and many many nations today desire to take this place for themselves and God said to Zechariah this is the place where I have set for myself and yet I will comfort Zion and yet I will choose the city of Jerusalem well brothers and sisters I'm going to close right now he has a large plan for the people of israel and we get a preview an overview from the time that israel were before the babylonian captivity all the way to the time when israel will be restored in the kingdom age that is the first vision that zechariah received in the eight visions of his prophecy may the lord bless these thoughts to our hearts and encourage us all as we continue to follow yeshua the messiah