The prophet has a vision of the angel of the Lord who is
responsible for patrolling the earth, standing among the myrtle trees with
three horses. Zechariah is confused
about who this is and what they are doing here.
When he hears the report that all the earth is at rest, the angel of the
Lord asks how long the Lord will allow the nations to be at rest and Jerusalem
lie in ruins. The Lord comforts the
angel with the words that the time for judgment is passed and now He will be
the rebuilder of the city. His judgment
was against the people but the nations He used for the task have exceeded their
limitations in the work. He is zealous
for the city and for His Name’s sake and prosperity will abound because of His
mercy and love for Jerusalem. What a
wonderful vision!
Unless we fill our lives with the Spirit of God, we are
vulnerable to “unclean” spirits. It is
one thing to be delivered from something and quite another to be free. Frequently we decide to give something up, to
remove it from our lives, but we fail to replace it with anything. Jesus says this makes us a ripe target for
the unclean spirit looking for a place to make his home and to bring others
along. He is speaking to those who have,
perhaps, heard John’s message and seen and heard Jesus’ message and who are not
truly preparing themselves. Preparation
is more than repentance, turning from something, it is also a turning to something. In baptism we ask three questions which are
answered with the words, “I renounce them,” and then three other questions: Do
you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior? Do you put your whole
trust in his grace and love? Do you promise to follow and obey him as your
Lord? It is important to replace
something bad with something good.
John sees a vision of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, and is
told to write to the seven churches in Asia.
His greeting to the churches is grace and peace and yet the messages
will not be promises of good tidings without repentance in most cases. Jesus is seen among seven lampstands,
representing the churches addressed and has seven golden stars in His hand,
representing the angels of the churches.
Do we think in such terms as that, angels looking over the particular
territory a church is in? Look at all
the ways in which John describes Jesus here: the faithful witness, the
firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth, him who loves us and
has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his
God and Father, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even
those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him,
the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty, one
like a son of man, the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and
behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Should we ever fear with such a one as this
on our side?
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