Judah Ephraim Zechariah

Judah is a bow, Ephraim is arrows, Greece the Target!

Posted on by

Thru the Bible: Zechariah 9&10

Nearly 200 years from the time of this prophecy Greece would run a circuit all around Judah, making war and conquoring but leave Israel untouched. Tyre was to be a major part of that campaign. The last land to be actually conquored would be Persia itself thus bringing the empire’s dominion to an end all under the leadership of Alexandar the Great.

This prophecy is a starting point. It moves on past Alexandar and the Grecean Empire to the time of the Maccabean revolt when Israel would achieve independance from Greece, just before Rome took their place.

All of this was prophecied by Daniel MANY years before Zechariah, but Zechariah’s served both as a witness to these things AND added more details about this time.

In this prophecy greater Israel, meaning the Northern Kingdom is represented in Ephraim and the southern kingdom in Judah.

Continue reading→

God asks Israel, “Did you really fast for Me?”

Posted on by

Thru the Bible: Zechariah 7 & 8

The Jews in Bethel who had returned from the Babylonian exile asked the priests and prophets if they should mourn and fast in the fifth month as they had done while in captivity. God answers them, but starts with a question of His Own which shocks their thinking and recalibrates their hearts to place Him first as the commandment says.

Continue reading→
Thorny Heart

The Thorny Heart Pt. 2

Posted on by

Series: In Pursuit of Relational Knowledge

Parable of the Heart Soils

Thorns represent anxieties, worries, cares, the seduction of wealth and interests in things other than God’s kingdom. All of these choke out and starve the seed of the Kingdom in the human heart so that it bears no fruit unto God.

The thorny heart is also the cowardly heart. It holds on to what it knows, for fear that surrendering control to the Lord will forfeit the good life for a life centered on the mundane.

Continue reading→
Zechariah horses spirits

Messengers of Judgment, War & Restoration

Posted on by

Thru the Bible: Zechariah 6

Zechariah is shown 4 spirits who are before God’s throne. They go out as 4 horses into the earth, apparently as witnesses and messengers. They “patrol” places in the earth where they are sent with the job of accomplishing God’s directives and reporting back to God.

Two are sent to the north and one to the south with no mention of the fourth.

The black horse probably was there to confirm the accusations of the tryany of Babylon against Israel when they were captives there. The white horse represented God’s judgment in rising up and sending Cyrus the Great to conquer Babylon JUST as He prophecied through Isaiah 200 years before Cyrus was even born. [See – https://grace-life.org/2022/06/cyrus-the-great-deliverer-of-israel/]

Following this vision, Zechariah was told to take up an offering from certain exiles who had returned from Babylon and make a crown for Joshua the High Priest who was a type of Christ. He is even referred to as ‘The Branch’.

This crown was to be set aside for a future High Priest and King who would come when Israel had fully obey the LORD their God with all their hearts.

Continue reading→
Thorny Heart

The Thorny Heart

Posted on by

Series: In Pursuit of Relational Knowledge

Parable of the Heart Soils

When it comes to the Thorny Heart, the thorns were already present before the message of the Kingdom was sown there. These represent anxieties, worries, cares, the seduction of wealth and interests in things other than God’s kingdom.

The thorny heart is also the cowardly heart. It holds on to what it knows, for fear that surrendering control to the Lord will forfeit the good life for a life centered on the mundane. The opposite is true of course which is the lie, this heart believes.

We only covered the anxieties, worries and cares of this life in this teaching. We will address the seduction of wealth and the lust of othe things entering in next week.

Continue reading→