Zechariah horses spirits

Messengers of Judgment, War & Restoration

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.

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Thorny Heart

The Thorny Heart

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.

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Zechariah Spirit

Not by might or power but by My Spirit says the Lord

Thru the Bible: Zechariah 4-5

Zerubbabel is the one being spoken about in the vision and he was of primary importance in God’s plans for Israel.

The mountain set before Zerubabbel is almost certainly the overwhelming task of completing the temple but God encouraged him with this now famous phrase, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.”

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Stony Heart Parable Soil

The Stony Heart

Series: In Pursuit of Relational Knowledge

Parable of the Heart Soils

The Stony Heart is the type of Heart Soil which is unable to receive the seed of the word to any meaningful depth due to the abundance of stones riddled throughout the soil.

• WHAT are these stones?
• What kind of heart is shallow?
• What does the sun represent?

The stones are selfish interests in the BENEFITS of the kingdom without any COMMITMENT to the kingdom.

That in itself defines the heart as “shallow” as it would in any relationship.

At the first sign of opposition, affliction or persecution due to their affiliation with Christ Jesus the Stony Heart will forsake the Gospel Message.

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Zechariah heart

Zechariah & Haggai tag team Israel towards heart change

Thru the Bible: Zechariah 1-3

Like Haggai, Zechariah is dealing with the post-Babylonian Jews in Jerusalem.

Their efforts to rebuild the temple got halted just after the death of Cyrus the Great and was not permitted to continue until the reign of Darius I. This was an unknown gap of time lasting no more than 8 years.

During this time the few Jews who returned to Judah, had been establishing themselves – building houses, rejuvenating wells, planting crops, processing harvests… in general, just getting on with the business of life.

Once Darius I came into power and decreed that the work should continue the response of Israel was somewhat lacking. However, when Haggai prophecied to them, they immediately began enthusiastic work on the temple.

Literally just 2 months later is when the events in this book of Zechariah began.

Zechariah means “Yahweh remembers” and God did indeed remember His covenant with them recorded in Deuteronomy 28-30 and was making certain to encourage these people that He WILL keep His promises.

Through Zechariah God offers Israel hope!

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