LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS
Zechariah 7:8-14
This passage of scripture is set in the reconstruction period, after the Israelite\’s had been released from Babylonian captivity. The temple and the city of Jerusalem was in the
rebuilding stage. While they were rebuilding their homes, construction on the temple had been put on hold for fifteen years. Also the Israelite\’s were complaining why they should celebrate the feasts started in captivity for the rebuilding of the temple.
In a series of visions, God reassured Zechariah that the temple would be rebuilt and
worship would be held in the temple again.
GOD SPEAKS, MAN SHOULD LISTEN
V:8. \” And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah.\”
- The more you study the Word, the more God will reveal His plan for your life.
- The more we study God\’s Word, the more questions we will have to understand
the Word.
- We are never capable of understanding God\’s complete plan for us.
- Zachariah\’s job was not the lead role in the reconstruction program.
- His job was to crown the Jeshua as Chief priest and King of the reconstruction
effort. Zech 6:9-13
- Even though Zachariah received constant communication from the Lord,
his job was an important supporting role.
- His job was one of encouragement to the Chief priest and the people
of Israel.
- Starting over can be frustrating and there is always a need for an encouraging
word.
- Sometimes the work God has for us, is in the back ground.
- You don\’t have to be out front to make significant contributions to the body
of Christ.
GOD SPEAKS, MAN SHOULD ACT ACCORDINGLY
V:9. \”This is what the Lord Almighty says: \’Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. \”
- One of the characteristics we are born with, is selfishness.
- We know how to look out for ourselves.
- The Israelites were given the charge to rebuild the Temple when they returned
to the promise land after 70 years of captivity.
- Instead of completing the Temple, they stopped and rebuilt their own homes
Haggai 1:4.
- When what we want takes priority, we have loss focus on God\’s plan for us.
- When our heart is focus first on God commands, all our desires will be met.
- God\’s desire is for our hearts to be right before Him and toward our brothers in
Christ.
- The fullness of life can only be obtained when we follow God\’s commands.
- The God we serve is a just God.
- God does not show favoritism to any individual.
- Every person should be treated fairly regardless of whether we like them or not.
- It is our job as believers to show kindness and compassion to others.
- God has been merciful to us, so we should be the same to others.
- We should see the needs of others and act with love.
- While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
- It does not matter what others do to us, it is what we do for others that God sees.
DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANYONE
V:10. \” Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.\”
- God pays attention to those who can easily be taken advantage of by selfish
and evil thinking individuals.
- A widower in question in Biblical times were women who were left alone without
family to take care of them.
- It is easy to take advantage of someone who can\’t help themselves and have no
outside support.
- A good neighbor will not take advantage of another person and will show
compassion to those in need.
- Even today, orphans are often abused, sold into slavery and used for personal gained.
- The Lord tells us that what we do to the least of these, we do to Him.
- We all belong to God and are sons and daughters through Adam and Eve.
- When we hurt another person we hurt our family members.
- Jesus said the poor will always be with us.
- Therefore, the work of the Lord will never be done in our lifetime.
2 . We will always have opportunities to do good and show evidence of our genuine
love.
- God said, be kind to strangers, because you never know if you are entertaining
an angel.
- Angels are messengers of the Lord.
- We can gain by listening to anyone\’s story.
- Every story is a lesson in the goodness of the Lord or the consequences of rejecting
the Lord.
- There is some bad in the best of us and some good in the worst of us.
- You never know who God will put in your mist for you to be the role model of light.
- Any evil thoughts we have are the results of the influence of the devil.
- We were made in God\’s image and therefore to have good thoughts and to do good
deeds.
THE WRONG THING TO DO
V:11. \”But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. \”
- The \”they\” in this verse are the ancestors of the Israelite\’s.
- They rejected God and refused to follow His commands.
- They had the Word, but it fell on stony ground.
- The glory of God shone all around them but they refuse to recognize the work of God.
- The blessings of God were with them every step of the way, but they refused
to give God credit.
- They chose to serve idols they created with their hands rather than the
sovereign creator of everything.
V:12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.\”
- God made us with a soft heart and to be totally dependant on Him.
- God brought them (the they) out of slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand.
- God established them in the promise land especially prepared for a
priestly nation.
- God gave them His law with the promises of divine blessings if they kept His
commands.
- God gave them (the they) His prophets to continually remind them of His
righteousness.
- They rejected God, His Word and His prophets in favor of the lust of their flesh.
- They became the enemy of God and God got angry.
- The one thing you don\’t want to do is stand in the way of an angry God.
- We have a choice; to make God happy with us or to make God angry with us.
V:13 \”\’When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,\’ says the Lord Almighty.\”
- What goes around, comes around.
- Whatever you do to others will come back to you.
- We need God. He will never be in need of us.
- We need the Word of God.
- The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
- The beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord.
- God is my rock and shield. I will never be a rock that God needs.
- I need the foreknowledge of God. God will never need any knowledge from me.
- God calls and He expects us to listen.
- God calls and He expects us to heed His call.
- God calls and He expects us to be obedient to His call.
- God called us out His love.
- Heeding God\’s call leads to success.
- Heeding God\’s call leads to joy.
- Heeding God\’s call leads to peace.
- God\’s call is a call of forgiveness.
- God\’s call is a call to eternal life.
- To reject God\’s call is to reject God.
- If we don\’t listen to God, our prayers will go unanswered.
- We are totally in the dark if we think we don\’t need God.
- God has a way making us know we can\’t make it with Him.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE
V:14. \”I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.\”.
- There are deadly consequences for rejecting God.
- The man who rejects God reject eternal life.
- God has given us everything we have.
- In a moment, God can take everything from us.
- God established the Israelite\’s in the promise land.
- God made provisions for them in the promise land.
- God provided their protection in the promise land
- For a time, God tolerated their disobedience in the promise land.
- When God got angry, He destroyed their cities and the temple He built in
the promise land for worship.
- When God got angry, He allowed a foreign nation to burn down their
cities and take them captive into Babylon.
- God kept them captive for 70 years before He allowed them back in the
promise land.
- We ought to learn from the mistakes of our past.
- History is a testimony that God keeps His promises.
- History is a testimony that God punishes those that He loves.
- History is a testimony to the goodness of the Lord.
- History is a testimony of the power of God.
- History is a testimony that we serve an awesome God.
- History is a testimony that life only exists in God.
FOLLOW GOD AND LIVE
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church.
