[0:00] Good morning, church. Welcome to this beautiful fall morning.!
[0:30] We are in a study in the Minor Prophet, the book of Zechariah. We're going to be looking at chapter 9 this morning. And you can go ahead and turn there as we, before I pray.
[0:44] But I also want to make mention of, just encourage you, if you have not yet figured out a way to spend time with the Lord in His Word, read the Proverbs this summer. Proverbs a day, yesterday was Proverbs, is today the 7th?
[0:57] Yeah, Proverbs 6, yesterday. So we were having a great time talking about this as a family. And I feel like I've got some music that I'm, this is good.
[1:09] But we're having a great time discussing the Proverbs. And we got to talk about the ant yesterday. Am I supposed to dance? I don't know. I don't know.
[1:21] It's going to be one of those mornings. You guys have no idea what you're in store for. Trust me. Some of you who love history will appreciate the morning.
[1:34] For those that hated history, we're going to trust the Lord has something for you. Spend some time in the Proverbs, friends. Let's get into God's Word this summer.
[1:44] Also, we have some copies of our DTS book, Hidden in the Light. I know we've given a lot of copies out. And it would be a great biography to read.
[1:55] And let the Lord use that to stir your heart towards the things of the Lord. So, let me pray for our time. And then we will begin our study. Let's pray.
[2:07] Father, we count it a privilege to gather. And, Lord, it's a kindness on your behalf to give us brothers and sisters to do life with, to walk with.
[2:20] I know, Lord, that there are a number. We think of summer as just a time of kind of being footloose and light in spirit. And yet, Lord, I know there's a number in our congregation that are in some very desperate trials.
[2:35] A lot of health difficulties. We have some folks at the end of life. And just pray, God, your grace, your presence, your help to those that are suffering. Pray that they would know that you are sovereign, you're good.
[2:50] And that you are awaiting your people. That you've gone to prepare a place for us. And, Lord, that this life is very short. And so, we want to live it well unto you.
[3:00] But, Lord, we have an eternity with you to look forward to. Father, now as we turn our attention to your word, would you, as always, would you show us wonderful things out of your law.
[3:13] And, Lord, I pray that you'd use the text this morning. Maybe a bit challenging for some. But I pray, Lord, that you would speak to each of us. And give us something that would cause our affections to be stirred towards you, King Jesus.
[3:29] And we will give you thanks. We love you. It's in your name we pray, Jesus. And all God's people said, amen. Amen. Amen. Well, as you recall in our study, Scott had some teaching aids.
[3:41] They're not up here. I need room to move. But we had these two pillars. And he put these up here to represent the two advents of Christ. His first return and then his future, his second return.
[3:56] And I want you to think about those pillars a bit this morning because as we've observed in this book in Zechariah, these events, as Zechariah describes, both the first advent and second advent, they're often conflated.
[4:13] They're often intertwined in the prophecies that he gives us. We are very privileged as a people to actually be situated between those advents.
[4:23] Christ has already come, but he's going to return again. So we have the best seats in the house actually to even understand Zechariah. We have box seats, as it were, as we consider his prophetic words.
[4:40] Yeah, God's unveiling history as we live between these two advents. Last week, we were in chapter 8. We jumped to the second pillar because we looked at Christ's return and then his setting up of the millennial, this thousand-year reign of Christ's golden age for Israel and then for the church that we will be ruling with Christ.
[5:01] And I know some of you, maybe in your eschatology, you're not yet convinced. I think Scripture is actually clear on this. Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2.12, if we endure, we will reign with him.
[5:14] Well, when will we reign with Christ? I believe in that thousand-year period. We actually have a parable of the ten minas. A mina was a wage in ancient Israel.
[5:24] It was a three-month salary. But in Luke 19, it says in this parable, And he said to them, Well done, good servant, because you have been faithful with a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.
[5:36] And to the second he came and said, Lord, your mina has made five minas. And he said to him, And you are to be over five cities. Like, there's some sort of future blessing as we're faithful in this life.
[5:47] We're not faithful in this life to earn salvation. That's a work all of Christ. Amen? Right? It's by faith alone. Okay? By grace alone through faith alone. But the things that we do in this life, our faithfulness to the Lord, will result in us having responsibilities.
[6:05] Are we going to have cities? I don't know. But there will be responsibilities where we will, as Paul says to Timothy, we will reign with him. Now, today we are going to see both of these pillars.
[6:18] There's a lot happening in chapter 9. We're going to consider events that were future to these exiles. That are now returned to the promised land.
[6:31] They were future to them. But it is antiquity to us. We will get to the first pillar. And we will consider Christ first appearing at his incarnation. And then we will move ahead to the second pillar at his return.
[6:44] And I want you to think of today as sort of like the everything pizza. You get it all. We get everything and even things in between. Like I said, there's a lot happening in chapter 9.
[6:55] Now, the passage is easily split for us. So if you need something to grab onto because you're just overwhelmed at this point, verses 1 through 8 are the first section.
[7:06] And then verses 9 through 17 are part 2. And these two sections actually describe for us two very different kings. I've actually entitled the sermon this morning, A Tale of Two Kings.
[7:21] The first king will show up actually prior to Christ's first advent. Actually 200 years after, Zechariah records these words. Like around 333 B.C. specifically.
[7:34] And then we will get to king 2. And so we will contrast these kings a bit this morning and see what the Lord has for us. So we will look first at this king number 1. And I'm going to read the first eight verses.
[7:47] But instead of showing the text, I'm going to give you a map to give you kind of an overhead vantage point as we see some of these different towns, cities. And it's sort of a prophetic road map of king number 1 of his conquests in this region, moving from the north to the south.
[8:06] And this is what Zechariah records, beginning here in verse 1. The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach and Damascus is its resting place.
[8:17] For the Lord has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel and on Hamath also, who borders on it Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
[8:29] Excuse me, yes. Tyre has built herself a rampart and heaped up silver like dust and fine gold like the mud of the streets. But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her power on the sea.
[8:43] And she shall be devoured by fire. Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid. Gaza too and shall writhe in anguish. Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded, the king shall perish from Gaza.
[8:56] Askelon shall be uninhabited. A mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod. And I will cut off the pride of Philistia. Philistia. Philistia.
[9:08] You can say it either way. I will take away its blood from its mouth and its abominations from between its teeth. It too shall be a remnant for our God.
[9:20] It shall be like a clan in Judah. And Ekron shall be like the Jebusites. Then I will encamp at my house as a guard. So that none shall march to and fro. No oppressor shall again march over them.
[9:33] For now I see with my own eyes. Clear as mud. This is sort of the road map. And I want you to have this visual.
[9:45] Because really it is a road map of conquest. And so the question is, who, what king is being referred to in this section?
[9:57] His name is never mentioned. Now we have names of other kings mentioned in Isaiah 44, 45. The Persian king Cyrus is named. God says, hey, I'm going to use this guy.
[10:09] He's my anointed. I'm going to call him shepherd. He's going to actually be the one to get my people out of Babylon and send them back to the land that I promised them as an inheritance.
[10:20] We don't see a name here. But most conservative scholars see an uncanny connection between Zechariah 9 verses 1 through 8 and the military campaign of Alexander the Great.
[10:36] Recall, Zechariah lived in the days of the Medo-Persian Empire. This, I believe, is a prediction of the coming Grecian Empire 200 years later.
[10:50] King number one, Alexander the Great. Alexander became king of Macedon in 336 B.C. His father, Philip II, was assassinated.
[11:00] Alex was 20 years old. Zechariah 9, 1 through 8. Mark a military campaign of this individual.
[11:16] Why do we believe this is referring to Alexander? Because we have been given a roadmap of those that he conquers from north to south in this region, those cities.
[11:31] This occurs in 333 to 332 B.C. It's connected to the Battle of Issus, this battle that occurred in southern Turkey. It was the turning point in his conquest of the Persian Empire.
[11:46] So we're seeing a shift 200 years in the future, and Zechariah is prophesying about it. That battle, the Battle of Issus, solidified Alexander as more than just a regional ruler, eventually ruling an empire that stretched from Greece to all the way to India, which is why we call him Alexander the Great.
[12:13] And we see here in this roadmap God's judgment march on enemies of Israel. It says in verse 1, For the Lord has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel.
[12:27] And God chose to use an individual, just like he used Cyrus to release Israel from Babylon. He used Alexander the Great to take out these warring nations.
[12:42] He used to be one of the greatest military leaders in history. How was Alexander so successful? Well, a number of reasons, but one in particular, his father, Philip II, was actually a military and an engineering genius in siege craft.
[13:00] He revamped the phalanx and made it more lethal. I think I have a photo, see for you history bus. This is a phalanx. It's a military formation, rows of men, so many deep.
[13:15] And before Philip, they would hold these spears 10 feet in length. And then he had the hoplites, these military soldiers.
[13:25] He extended them to 18 feet. And so you have something that is almost like unstoppable. If you're in front of this thing, you would just get mowed down. And you couldn't get close to the soldiers.
[13:38] And then actually, Philip had cavalry that would flank these phalanx and make it almost impenetrable. Additionally, during this time, Alexander began to have a standing army.
[13:50] All of these things were military innovations in his day. And he used these to his advantage, and he was incredibly successful. But make no mistake, church, as great as king number one appears, who's in control?
[14:06] It's God. God's the one that's in control. He's the one, it says in verse 1, that has an eye on mankind. This harkens back to the vision that Zachariah got, the first vision that he received, right, of the rider amongst the myrtle trees, God's recon team, that he knows exactly what's going on.
[14:26] Everywhere, all the time. He's the one that's sovereign. He's the one that is in control. I love that we have this verse where it says, God has an eye on mankind.
[14:39] Our God sees everything. He's observing our worship here this morning, friends. He sees us when we go home. He sees our Monday morning. He sees our Friday night. He sees it all. I love Hagar, her response to God's sovereign protection.
[14:54] She's fleeing Sarah, who's now jealous because she is pregnant and Sarah's not. And it says in Genesis 16, 3, she says, So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her.
[15:06] You are a God of seeing. For she said, truly here I have seen him who looks after me. And there we receive this name of God, the God of seeing, El Roy.
[15:18] He's the God that sees. And here we have in Zachariah's days, speaking of Alexander the Great, he has his eye on mankind. God sees. Friends, regardless of the chaos in the streets or across the globe, God's hand, his eyes are not absent.
[15:36] Amen? And Scripture tells us that. Friends, it's so remarkable that we have these prophetic words that actually reflect actual history that occur.
[15:47] God's in control, friends. And this passage screams that as we're like struck with the fact that God predicted the events of Alexander the Great 200 years before he actually marched in the Mediterranean.
[16:01] Yes. Now, back to King number one. Alexander's march in order. It starts in the north in the land of Hadrak and Damascus. That's the capital of Iran.
[16:12] That's Syria. Then Hamath, another Syrian city on the Arontos River. And then he moves on to some Phoenician cities, coastal cities.
[16:22] In verse 3, it talks about Tyre and Sidon. Let's just camp on Tyre this morning. We can't cover all of them, but I think Tyre is one of the more significant locations that Alexander the Great took.
[16:35] It was a wealthy city. It was a port city. It was a merchant city. Very affluent. In fact, it says in verse 3, how affluent? What does Zechariah say?
[16:46] Tyre has built herself a rampart and heaped up silver like dust and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
[16:56] How affluent is this city? Silver is as common as dust. Gold is as common as dirt, as mud.
[17:08] This was a very proud city. And in fact, if we go back even further during the exile, the prophet Ezekiel prophesies and talks about the ruler of this city, the ruler of Tyre in Ezekiel 28.2, who actually says of himself, I'm a god.
[17:25] I sit in the seat of gods. Now, why was Tyre so proud? Because it was impossible to destroy this city.
[17:36] It was thought to be unbreachable, invincible. I don't know if this is fact or not, but ancient writers talk about the walls of Tyre were 150 feet in height.
[17:50] That's like a 12 to 15 foot story building. That's massive. I don't know if that's an exaggeration, but we know that they had high walls. It was a city that was actually an island.
[18:05] It was just off the coast of modern day Lebanon. So maybe half mile, think Alcatraz. That's Tyre. And it withstood, nations would come, they could not defeat this city.
[18:19] Assyrians, they came, they had a five year siege on the city, they failed. Babylon then, the Babylonians came, they had a 13 year siege on the city, they failed.
[18:32] This was an important city for Alexander the Great to conquer. It was a stronghold for the Persian fleet. And where others failed, Alexander succeeded.
[18:45] How did he succeed? Got another slide. Alexander actually took rubble from the old city that was on the mainland, threw it into the sea.
[18:58] He built a bridge, a causeway to the city as part of his multi-pronged attack. And it took him actually only seven months to breach and destroy Tyre.
[19:08] And in fact, you have prophetic words again. Ezekiel prophesies about this in Ezekiel 26, 12. They will plunder your riches, speaking of Tyre, loot your merchandise.
[19:21] They will break down your walls, destroy your pleasant houses. And listen, your stones and timber and soil, they will cast into the midst of the waters. Well, that's what Alexander the Great did. He threw the old city into the water, making a bridge out to this island fortress.
[19:40] This is amazing, friends. And it's all written in God's Word. You know, the Philistine cities in the Mediterranean here were watching the destruction of Tyre.
[19:51] And it says in verse 5, in Zechariah 9, 5, it says, Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid. Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish. Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.
[20:01] So these Philistine nations are seeing that Alexander the Great takes Tyre. They're going, we're next. We're done for. They're freaking out. Who was it that took out Tyre on a human level?
[20:15] Alexander the Great. That's why he's called Great. But in reality, who took out Tyre, friends? It was God. Yeah, it was God.
[20:26] In fact, it says in verse 4, Zechariah 9, 4, But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions, speaking of Tyre, and strike down her power on the sea, and she shall be devoured by fire.
[20:41] Friends, our God is the God of history. Our God is the God of history. His sovereignty is comprehensive. As great as king number one is, or was, he's not the sovereign king.
[20:57] God used Alexander to take down these cities and nations, even the Philistine cities, given to idolatry on this particular campaign.
[21:08] Because we read in verse 6, Friends, just because we often view life, and we only see the human side of events in this life, it doesn't mean that God's hands are off, friends.
[21:28] Because this event in history, it was prophesied 200 years prior to it occurring. We just never read Zechariah, so we didn't know that.
[21:40] I love to King Asa in 2 Chronicles 16, 9, The eyes of the Lord, they run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless towards him.
[21:55] Friends, God is so very involved, even more than we comprehend. And that should be joy to us. That should be solace.
[22:06] That should be peace. God's involved. I prayed for a number of folks before we even got into the text this morning, because they're in very desperate days, but God's sovereign.
[22:18] God's present. God's eyes are on us. God's more involved than we realize.
[22:32] One of my favorite examples of this is probably the prophet Jonah. Jonah didn't really care for how gracious God was towards those that he disliked.
[22:43] So he fled, as we know. And I think we like Jonah because he maybe reminds us of us sometimes, but also we like Jonah, the book of Jonah, because it's a story.
[22:55] It's a narrative. It's not as difficult as Zechariah. But it's so fascinating to me that we see both the human side and then the God side in his story, because in Jonah 115 it says, so they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
[23:13] It says there they. Who are the they? Well, if you go up to verse 5, you find out who the they is. It's the mariners. The mariners aboard this ship threw Jonah overboard.
[23:25] But then as you read the story and you get to chapter 2 and Jonah's now in the belly of this fish, what does he say? Jonah 2, 3. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea, and the flood surrounded me, and all your breakers and your waves passed over me.
[23:42] Well, who is the you there? It's God. It's God. And you have here a perfect example of the fact that we often just see on the horizontal, and yet there's a vertical aspect to all of life.
[23:57] And I just want to suggest to us that God is far more active and involved in your life than you could possibly know. And in fact, Alexander intended to march.
[24:10] He's like, I'm unstoppable. I'm great. And he's going through the Mediterranean on his way to Jerusalem. He wants to destroy Jerusalem.
[24:21] Why? Well, Josephus, Jewish historian for a century, he actually recorded that while Alexander was besieging Tyre, that he requested supplies and support from the Jewish high priests at the time.
[24:38] So he sent word down to Jerusalem. Hey, I need some support. The high priest refused because he had already sworn loyalty to the Persian king, Darius III. Alexander gets word of this, says, you're not going to support me.
[24:50] I'm taking Jerusalem as well. So Alexander was intending to take Jerusalem. But guess what? He never does. Why? Well, Scripture tells us.
[25:03] Look at verse 8 again. God says this. Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, so that none shall march to and fro.
[25:13] No oppressor shall again march over them, for now I see with my own eyes. I will encamp at my house as a guard.
[25:27] Josephus also records, and granted, he wrote 400 years after these events, but he actually recorded that God gave Alexander a vision or a dream of people in white robes coming out of the city, and that he was to show mercy to those that he encountered.
[25:44] He then gave, God gave to the Jewish high priest also a similar dream, telling the priest, fear not, and have everybody dress in white robes and go out to meet Alexander.
[25:55] Now, this is recorded 400 years later. Is it accurate? I don't know, but this is what was recorded. Alexander arrives with troops. Josephus then records that he dismounts, greets the high priest, and then he bends a knee in worship.
[26:08] A commander asks Alexander then, why did you worship the priest? And he says, I didn't adore him, but the God whom he serves. That's what history records. Who's the great king?
[26:19] It's actually not king number one. King number one bows to who? King number two. It's a tale of two kings. And although Alexander was very syncretistic in his worship, I'm still reminded of the promise of Philippians 2, that, you know what, at the name of Jesus, every knee is going to bow on heaven, on earth, even those under the earth, those that are in torment, those that are in judgment.
[26:47] See, we will either in this life worship the king in worship, or there will be a day where we will bow our knee in regret, friends. Friends, who's the greatest king today?
[26:59] King Jesus. Well, let's consider king number two, the arrival of the Messiah king. Look at verses 9 and 10. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
[27:11] Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. Righteous and having salvation is he. Humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the fowl of a donkey, the foal of a donkey.
[27:23] I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations. He shall rule. His rule shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.
[27:39] I just want to take a commercial break and thank Scott Liddell for giving me this chapter to preach this morning. That's your commercial break. Back to the section.
[27:51] We have, yeah, we have two verses here, friends. And guess what? These two verses, verses 9 and 10, combine both pillars. We see both the first advent and the return of Christ in the same section.
[28:09] Those in Zechariah's day had no clue. If you were to say, hey, we're going to break out Jesus' return into two different events, they'd be like, you're crazy.
[28:20] Some of you last week were like, Jay, because I gave you six events yet to happen. Some of you are like, God's going to return and we're in heaven. Done. And I like broke it up to you. Well, there's this rapture thing and tribulation and then we're going to have Armageddon, you know, Christ's return, the millennial kingdom, and then eternity.
[28:35] And you're like, whoa, that's too many. Well, they would have said the same thing back in this day. It's just one event. No, it's actually two. We see in these verses combine the incarnation along with the second coming after the battle of Armageddon.
[28:52] Now, let's camp on this first appearing, verse 9. This prophecy, we know it connects with Christ's triumphal entry during Passion Week into Jerusalem, that week where he brought us ultimate peace.
[29:06] He gave his life on a Roman cross. And it's a very humble entrance. It's actually a humiliating entrance to the greatest of kings. Jesus is a very different king than Alexander.
[29:28] Alexander came to Jerusalem riding one of the most famous and fiercest war horses in the history of man. I think we've got a slide on that. The statue there in the capital of Scotland.
[29:44] This is Alexander the Great's horse, Bucephalus. One of the most famous horses in antiquity. This horse was too dangerous, too hard to handle. Dark-coated stallion with this wide forehead.
[29:55] It inspired his name Bucephalus, meaning ox head in the Greek. It's said that Alexander, when he was 13, he made a bet with his father, Philip II, and said, hey, I'm going to tame this horse.
[30:07] His dad's like, it's a vicious horse. It's unmanageable. No one else could tame it. And then Plutarch actually records how Alexander whispered to the beast, turned him then to the sun, because he had observed that the horse was afraid of its shadow.
[30:24] Alexander was brilliant. So then he turned him to the sun. He didn't see the shadow, and then he tamed the beast. And the rest is history. Alexander rode this war horse for the next 20 years.
[30:36] That's how a king enters into a city. Jesus entered Jerusalem not on a war horse, nor even on a full-grown donkey, but on the colt of a donkey.
[30:51] He says in Matthew 21, to go into the village in front of you, and Bethpage at the time, and immediately you'll find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them, bring them both to me. Bring both.
[31:03] Jesus rides the smaller of the two animals. King number two rides a donkey. Donkeys are not fierce animals. Big ears.
[31:18] Ours was brain at 4.30 this morning. It's like, okay, Olaf, I'm going to mention you. You're going to get a little cameo in the sermon. Five o'clock, meh, you know, same thing.
[31:29] Okay, I'm going to talk about you. There's nothing fierce about donkeys. It's a humble mount. What was Jesus communicating when he came in riding a donkey?
[31:44] He's saying, hey, I'm here not for war. I'm actually here for peace. I'm actually here for your peace. The world doesn't really understand Jesus.
[31:58] Nations understand power, coercion, might. Our God's leadership style, it's humility. That's our king.
[32:11] No sword. He picks up the basin and the towel. He says, give me a cross to bleed out upon because it's the only way for me to turn rebels into friends. And guess what, friends?
[32:22] We were that bad off. It required his death. And if Jesus is the humble king, how ought his people be in this life?
[32:36] I think sometimes we pretend that we're following king number one and we live with great hubris, with great pride.
[32:49] And yet hubris is a stench to our king. And I would say a prayer for all of us. Daily is, Lord, increase that I might decrease. I don't want to make this life about me.
[33:00] And maybe you're thinking, Jay, I like king number one's power. Like, we got this humble donkey king. Friends, don't be fooled.
[33:13] King number two is humble and kind, but he's not domesticated. He's not a tame lion. You know, even the unstoppable Grecian empire, King Jesus eventually puts down through another proximate cause, another nation, Rome.
[33:37] Right? Oh, you're so brilliant, Alexander. You got the phalanx. Well, here comes the Roman legion. Way more nimble. We're in rocky ground.
[33:49] We can get in between rows. And we know what history has recorded. Prior to that, he used Israel to throw off Grecian control in Jerusalem.
[34:03] Actually, control of the temple during the second century B.C. This is even before Rome. Look at verses 11 to 13. Remember, we got the everything pizza. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set you prisoners free from the waterless pit.
[34:22] Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope. Today I declare that I will restore you double. For you have bent Judah as my bow. I have made Ephraim its arrow.
[34:33] I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and willed you like a warrior's sword. So here Zachariah says, you've been in a waterless pit.
[34:46] What's a waterless pit? It's a dungeon. I think this is reference to their exile in Babylon. But you will be restored double one day. I think it's now future ahead, looking ahead to the millennial promises.
[34:58] But the central context of this section, verses 11 to 13, it talks about uniting Judah and Ephraim. Judah, the southern tribes. Ephraim, the northern tribes of Israel.
[35:09] A united Israel. And this united Israel became a bow, an arrow, a warrior's sword against Grecian control of Jerusalem in the second century B.C.
[35:23] Okay? The Seleucid rulers, there was this individual by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes. Epiphanes means illustrious one.
[35:38] The Jews called him Antiochus Epimenes. Antiochus the madman. He desecrated the temple in Jerusalem.
[35:48] He slaughtered a pig on the altar, dedicated it to Zeus. He was all about advancing Hellenism. And we got to get rid of the distinctiveness of this Jewish people.
[35:59] We got to get rid of the Sabbath. And so he did everything he could to destroy their faith in God. Well, the Jews regained control of their city for about 100 years during this time.
[36:12] We know it as the Maccabean Revolt. This is during the intertestamental time. Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple in 167 B.C.
[36:25] The Jews regained control of Jerusalem in 164 B.C. And they controlled it for about 100 years. And I believe that Zechariah 11 through 13 are referring to this event.
[36:37] But here's what's key. All of these ways that King No. 2 has cared for his ancient people in history, he's done it often through proximate causes. I'll use this nation.
[36:48] I'll use Cyrus to bring them out of exile. I'll use Alexander to wipe out the nations that are warring against them. So God is in the midst of history. He's working through different individuals.
[37:02] But there's a day coming when actually he's going to show up in person. And he's not going to show up this time on a donkey. He's going to return. And at the Battle of Armageddon, we read now the rest of this section, verses 14 to 17.
[37:18] This is how chapter 9 concludes. Here's your king in the days of head, friends. It says here in verse 14, then the Lord will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning.
[37:33] The Lord God will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south. The Lord of hosts will protect them. I love this title, the Lord of hosts.
[37:47] Who are the hosts? Well, that's the angelic realm. God has all the power at his disposal. The Lord of hosts will protect them. They shall devour and tread down the sling stones.
[38:01] Whatever it is that's being hurled in this day, maybe it's referring to missiles that are going to be put down. And they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar.
[38:15] So the Lord is going to give power to Israel during this final battle. In fact, they will be drunk with power unlike any army in the history of the world. This is referring to a future event at the end of the tribulation period where the Lord returns, the armies of heaven, Israel, and it says in verse 16, on that day the Lord, their God will save them as the flock of his people.
[38:41] For like the jewels of a crown, they shall shine on his land. For how great is his goodness and how great his beauty. Grain shall make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.
[38:52] And you have here then at the end this image of Israel, of saved Israel entering into this millennial kingdom after the final battle at the end of the tribulation.
[39:03] Friends, when King number two returns at the end of the tribulation, he's coming on a war horse this time.
[39:15] He's actually not coming on the foal of a donkey. He's actually coming on a white charger. And he's coming this time not to lay down his life.
[39:26] He's done that. He's accomplished our salvation through his life, death, and resurrection. We're in. We're in. We're in. If we have trusted in Christ as our personal Savior in his life, we're with him.
[39:39] Sin's forgiven. Future's bright. He's coming the second time to make war. In fact, it says in Revelation 19, His eyes are like a flame of fire.
[39:54] From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
[40:07] This King, he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Friends, you know what it says in Revelation 14, verse 20, that in Armageddon, for like 180 miles, blood is going to flow as high as a horse's bridle.
[40:24] A bridle's on the head of a horse. We're talking four to five feet off the ground. Now, that's the image that we're giving. It's going to be a lot of bloodshed. And in fact, in Revelation 19, 17, it says, Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice, he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead.
[40:46] It's a very graphic verse. Come gather for the great supper of God. Why? Why is he calling for these scavengers, these vultures, these birds, to come and actually, verse 18, to eat the flesh of kings?
[41:02] You think Alexander the Great was a bad dude? It's King Jesus.
[41:19] He's returning. There is no king like our king. Even the greats in history are just mere mortals.
[41:37] Every knee will bow. Might we do this today, friends, in our hearts, in all the ways our king has asked of us.
[41:52] Amen? He's a sovereign. He's a God of history. He's a God of your life. If you've trusted in Christ in this life, he gets everything. So let him be king by fighting sin in your life today.
[42:07] Be draconian in the war that you're waging against sin. We have a sin epidemic in these days. The accessibility of evil.
[42:21] Well, click away. We get one life. Let's serve him well.
[42:36] Let's serve our king well. He is the greatest king over history and every one of our tomorrows. He's the great sovereign. Friends, in our tale of two kings, they couldn't be any different.
[42:53] One conquered by a sword. The other through giving his very life. One ruled a temporary kingdom. Temporary!
[43:04] The other a kingdom without end. And I'll end with this verse from Revelation 11, 15.
[43:18] And there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever.
[43:35] That's the king we worship today, friends. And he was a humble king. But he's no tame lion. Amen? Father, we thank you for this very dense chapter.
[43:48] Lord, where you contrast this earthly king who so many revere in life. We study Alexander the Great. We marvel at his accomplishments.
[44:00] And yet, he's nothing when put against the sovereign king of the universe. Jesus, we came here this morning to worship you, to adore you.
[44:16] Lord, we we want to be reminded of the fact that you were willing on your first advent to enter into a city in humility because you had purpose to lay down your life.
[44:27] And so as we celebrate communion, we want to remember that. But you didn't stay in the grave. The resurrection testified.
[44:37] You appeared to for 500 individuals. This is not mass hallucination. This is recorded in history. And Lord, the fact that we have this book where you talk about events, you, they're written down prior to those things even occurring, it should unnerve us to some extent.
[44:59] That you really are the great sovereign king and that we get to worship you in this life and in the life to come. So Lord, all glory to you, Jesus.
[45:10] Let our hearts, our affections, our minds, our thoughts be directed to you. And Lord, indeed today, we want to decrease and we want you to increase.
[45:22] I pray for your people today, this week, that we would be, that we would, that we would worship you by fighting sin. That we would worship you by seeking your presence.
[45:36] That we would worship you by giving of ourselves in the service of others. Lord, I pray even today that we could encourage a brother or sister. Father, I'm so thankful that you're the God of all history and that your kingdom will never end.
[45:53] And Lord, for those, our friends, some that are maybe in the last days of their life, we know that reunion lies ahead for those in Christ. And so Lord, we thank you, we praise you.
[46:04] Lord, thank you that this is, this is the real. Thank you for reminding us of it. In your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen.