Well, I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 4. This will be our text together this morning. And in the book of Zechariah, he has a bunch of visions in the night; it was actually the night of February 15 519 BC. And the reason we know it was that night exactly as it was five months after they started rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. So, they were exiled for seventy years, they come back to God's chosen city. And finally, after a while, they start rebuilding the temple under the leadership of a guy named Zerubbabel. And then this vision happens. This is the fifth out of the eight night visions. And so, we're going to study this chapter Zechariah 4 together, and out of respect for God's word, I would love for everybody to stand up for the public reading of Scripture. I don't know what you're trying to build in your life. But this will give you great encouragement if you pay attention here this morning. Wait, do you see what God has to say to this guy Zerubbabel, about rebuilding the temple, this is a word from God. So please follow along as I read.
And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
That's the reading of God's word, please go ahead and have your seats. And so, we're talking about a promise that God makes to a guy named Zerubbabel. Now, a few weeks ago, when we started Zechariah, some of you might have been Zerubbabba what? You might, you might have never known who this guy was. Okay, but he is actually a very important guy. Zerubbabel is in the line of King David, the kingly line of Israel. And we're not calling him the king right now, because they're still under the reign of the Medes and the Persians who have sent them. Cyrus is sending them back to the promised land. So, he's just the governor. But if you go to Matthew 1:12, and you look at the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, when Jesus is born, they trace his lineage, and you will find Zerubbabel is in the line of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if you've never studied or heard about this guy before, you want to pay attention, because he is about something that is a kind of a remarkable thing that happens in the history of Israel. We call this post-exilic Israel, after seventy years of being deported to Babylon, they start to come back and they rebuild the temple. Later, maybe you know the story of Ezra who comes back, and he gets the law being taught to everybody. Maybe you know about Nehemiah who comes back and rebuilds the walls of the city of Jerusalem. So, if you've ever studied the history of ancient Israel, so many times they're complaining in the wilderness, they have so many kings who do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. This is one of the few times when God is really working in Israel and the people are doing what God says.
So, if you've never really learned the people, places, and things of post-exilic Israel, this is your chance. in fact, on the way out, maybe the ushers can hand it to you, or it'll be on the tables. There is a post-exilic pop quiz for everybody here. Okay? Yes, you are at that church right now. Okay. And there are six multiple choice questions on here. And let me just tell some of the parents that all kindergarten through sixth grade will be taking this quiz, they will be bringing it out of kids’ ministry, and it's going to be an awkward afternoon for some of you if your kids do better on this quiz than you do later on. Okay. So, we want to actually learn this historical context, so that we can really make sure yeah, I get the basic gist of what God was doing in Israel after the exile. We even printed a little Scantron on here, everybody, and bring back your great test taking days for some of you. And instead of a number two pencil, it's just mandatory, you use a Compass pen, that's all that it asks, okay? If you've come to this church at all, you probably have some Compass pens lying around somewhere that you can use. And it's just things like, how long was the exile? Who, what books of the Bible would you read? Who were the prophets? Who was the priest? Who's the king? Or he's not really the king, but Governor. Zerubbabel would be the right answer for that question. And the answers are upside down on the back to that still, you can check your answers at home, but it's, hey, we're studying this.
Some of you have heard multiple sermons from Zechariah. Are we picking up what's going on? That God has told his people to rebuild the temple, and he wants him to renew his relationship with them. So, they're in this years-long construction project, they're five months into it on the night of these night visions, and God tells the guy who's the leader of all the people, you are going to finish the project, you're going to rebuild the temple. And when you put the final stone in, everybody's going to shout, Grace, Grace. Now, if you are in charge of rebuilding the temple in the city of Jerusalem, and all that pressure is on, you must have felt like a big burden on Zerubbabel, to have to figure out how to build this temple, again, to have God say in a vision that you are going to finish; it's going to be done by your hands, and everybody, even the people who are despising the day of small things, even the haters are going to end up rejoicing with you at the end of this project. This is a super encouraging vision for this man Zerubbabel to hear that God is going to build it. That's the point. And I'm sure that you have something you want to see God build in your life. I talk to people here at the church, some of you really care about God building your family, some of you are trying to figure out how to raise your kids. Some of you are hoping to have kids, you want God to build something. And you are really focused on that. I talked to men who are building companies, I talked to guys who are hiring employees, how do you build a career? How do you make money? How do you build up a company that can actually be a profitable, good company these days? I hope something everybody here cares about is seeing Jesus build his church, we want to see the Kingdom advance. We want to see the gospel ring out. Can I get an Amen from anybody about that on a Sunday morning?
Well, we haven't been called to build the temple. But Jesus has said he's going to build his church and the gates of Hades won't prevail against him. And we're all on a mission to make disciples in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so, in the midst of something being built, what encouragement to hear that God promises, I am going to do it. So, let's go through this vision together. And it starts with a picture of a Golden Lampstand. That's why we call it a vision because it's all based on what Zechariah the prophet sees here. So, we’ve got two guys with Z names here. Zechariah is the prophet. He's seeing everything but what he's seeing is about this guy Zerubbabel, who's the governor. And so, he sees a golden menorah, and we've got the picture of it. We can put it up here on the screen. We already shared this in one of our previous sermons. This is what is in Jerusalem right now in the Old City, the Jewish Quarter. They have made a golden menorah. I think that's like two tons of gold, that’s solid gold right there. And they made that just in case they ever get a chance to rebuild the temple. They want to have the lamp stand ready to put into it. And if you go back to Exodus, this is what they were commanded to build some kind of lampstand was seven lamps that was going to light up there inside the temple, inside the holy place. So that's what he sees here. It says lampstand in English, it's menorah in Hebrew. It's a solid gold lampstand. If you're looking with me at verse two, after he gets awakened, he sees a lampstand all of gold. But then it describes this lampstand in an interesting way. It says there's a bowl on the top of this lampstand, and there are seven different lights on it. But they have seven different lips. And you could translate that like seven different spouts, or seven different pipes, or tubes. So, it's not just that there's the lamps, there are like pipes coming to these seven different lamps. And then on the right, and on the left, Zechariah 4:3, there are two olive trees by it. And they're on the right and the left of this bowl. And so, the picture here with all these pipes, and tubes in this bowl, the picture here is like from these olive trees, we're piping in this oil into a bowl, and then from the bowl, it's going to the seven different lamps. So, this lampstand, you don't need to put more oil in it to keep the lamps burning. Like there's an endless supply of oil flowing through this lampstand. It's like a self-sufficient self-powered supply; like all the power we need to operate is right here within it.
So, far as a priest Zechariah kind of coming from the line of priests, he's noticing this lampstand a little bit different than the one that we're used to. Because this one, the oil just keeps flowing through it, you would never have to refill it. It's already got an endless supply of oil. And then we get this word here in verse 6. First of all, the angel does something that's really interesting. It happens two times in our chapter, where after Zechariah sees it, the angel says, “Do you know what you're looking at?” And two times Zechariah says, “No, I don't.” You’ve got to tell me what it means. I don't know what it means. I just find that fascinating that the angel is like, do you see it? Do you know what it means? And he's like, “No, my lord,” or like, “No, sir, I don't know what it means.” And then the angel explains it to him. So, I don't know what the angel is doing there. He just wants it to be clear that you don't know. So, I have to tell you what it is. But he asked him that he says no, my lord. And then look at Zechariah 4:6. He said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Okay, so this lampstand with all this oil flowing through it from the trees and the pipes and the bull, this is the word of the Lord Zerubbabel, “not by might, nor by power, but by my,” who does it say there, everybody, the “spirit”. So the oil, this endless supply of power and energy in this oil going through this lampstand is meant to represent, let me tell you how you're going to rebuild the temple, it's not going to be because you're strong, it's not going to be because of your manpower, it's going to be I'm going to be the one who gives you the strength to rebuild the temple. Here's God taking all the burden off of Zerubbabel and saying, let me tell you how this job is going to get done. By my spirit. I'm the one supplying the power.
And then God makes this great promise here in Zechariah 4:7. It's almost like Zerubbabel would have a big mountain in front of him, like how am I going to get this project done? How is this construction going to get completed? It feels like a mountain that we have to overcome. And he's like, no, who are you? Oh, great mountain before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plane. This is like a way that God is saying I'm going to move the mountains, I'm going to get you over the obstacles. I'm going to take the challenges that rise up, and I'm going to bring him down. And Zerubbabel, you're going to bring forward the top stone, you're going to put the last piece in the puzzle, amid shouts of grace, grace to it. Like he says Zerubbabel, I know it feels overwhelming right now. But you're going to put in the last stone. And when you do, everybody's going to be shouting about my grace, because they're going to know, I'm actually the one who did it. You didn't do this by your mind or power. You did this by my Spirit.
So, we're learning how the Lord builds. And how the Lord builds is “he supplies the power.” Let's get that down for point number one, if you want to grab the handout out of your bulletin, if you want to take some notes with us here today. The Lord is going to show us where we might not be building a temple. But there are things that God is building in our lives. He's built in our church, and I build in our families and the Lord supplies the power. God is going to enable, he is going to equip us to do the work that he wants us to do. That's what he's promising Zerubbabel here, you're going to finish it but I you're going to do it by my strength by my Spirit. And when I was studying this this week in Zechariah 4, I could not help but notice how it went so perfectly with Psalm 127. Can you turn with me to Psalm 127? We've been reading the Psalms this summer. I don't know if you've been reading with us, but we read 121-130 this week. We’ve got two more weeks of reading the Psalms. And we read Psalm 127. On Thursday morning is when we read it on our calendar, the schedule is there on the back of your handout. And I was studying Zechariah four on Thursday morning. And then I was reading this psalm; look at how beautifully they go together. God's saying, it's not by your manpower, you're going to do it, it's by my Spirit you're going to do it. Look what it says in Psalm 127:1. And this is actually written by Solomon, who built the first temple, the glorious first temple. And he says, Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain, unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Like God has to be the one who's building it and has to be by his Spirit by his power, if you're just trying to do it yourself. See, it's not going to work out, all your work is going to end up being in vain.
And so, what we're seeing here is a self-sufficient God, a God who has all the power he needs to accomplish his purpose. And then what's being called out about us is that we can be a self-reliant people. And you can't say that you believe in a self-sufficient God, and then be self-reliant, looking to your own strength. And I wonder how many of us wake up in the morning, and we just try to make it through another day, by our own strength, when we have a God whose spirit has an endless supply of energy and power. And instead of relying on the Lord, to give us the power of his Spirit, we're down here trying to build it ourselves. And so, this is taking the burden off of Zerubbabel. But it also requires humility for all of us to realize, yeah, I’ve got to stop thinking I can raise my own family, or I can keep myself safe in this world these days. By having enough money stored up, or good enough health, I’ve got to stop thinking that I can build all these things. I’ve got to realize that I need God to build it. And I need to take my reliance not on myself, I need to put my reliance on the Lord and the Lord alone. I need to rely on Spirit power to live my life, not my own strength. This is what we've got to learn. And it's good news that God's going to do the work. He's going to supply the power, but it requires you to humble yourself to the place where like, yeah, it'll be vain if I tried to do it. Look at Zechariah 4:2, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest eating the bread of” is a beautiful phrase here. “Anxious toil. “Does that describe you and how you're going through your life? And maybe how you're going to do your job? Maybe how you're trying to raise your kids. Does it feel like you're trying and you're feeling nervous? You're feeling worried? You're feeling afraid the entire time? See. that means if your toil is filled with anxiety, that means it's you trying to do it, rather than you trusting in God to do it. See, we have such a you-can-do-it attitude. It's so built into our American mindset. There's so much pride of life. Oh, yeah, no problem. I got this who's ever said that about yourself before I got this and even when I tried to encourage somebody else, right? What do I say to somebody else? No worries, bro. You got this? You can do it, bro. What kind of false heresy is that? I'm spreading around other people, bro. Bro. You can't do it. But don't worry. God's got you. That's what we should be saying to one another. God's got this, bro. I mean, literally, this is how ingrained it is.
I just went to get a drink of water here at our church right before this service. And on this little bottle of water there's a picture of a toucan, we know a cute bird with an extended long beak and on the beak. I don't know why they wanted to put this on a bottle of water. But there is an animated picture here of a toucan and on his beak, the words are “Two can do it.” That's what it says right here on this bottle of water. I'm like, we got heresy right here at the church. This contradicts the sermon, Get this thing away from me right now. No, this is the point of this sermon is God is going to do it. Stop trying to do it. Because two can't do it. Take that right there. The bottle water company, right? But see, we have this for some reason. There's this pride of life in our hearts that I want to do it.
I remember one time I was talking to somebody and this person was struggling with cancer and I was praying for them and their cancer was in remission. They were doing so much better. And I was like, praise the Lord. He's helping you. He's giving your health. I was so encouraged for this person, and I can remember it. It was like, they took my praise to the Lord, and they grabbed it. And they snatched it. And they pulled it back in. And they're like, no, the reason I'm doing better is because I did this treatment. And this treatment is what made me better. And I think they genuinely believe that. Like, I'm doing some treatment. That's what's keeping me breathing right now. No, there's only one thing that's keeping you breathing right now. That is the grace of God. There's only one thing that's keeping you going in your faith in Jesus Christ. That is the grace of God. If there's any obedience, if there's any blessing, if there's anything being accomplished, for an eternal purpose, if you're actually bearing fruit that's going to endure forever, that's not because you're gritting your teeth hanging on really tight, and kind of just trying to get through. It's all by the grace of God. That's what God says, I'm going to build it, it's going to be by my Spirit. You're going to put the last stone in, and everybody's going to be shouting now, Grace, Grace, look what God has done. Because what he's done is something we could never do by ourselves. That's what we're supposed to be thinking.
And so we’ve got to really take stock here, do I, when I go through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, am I trying to do it? Or when I rise up early, or I stay up late? And I feel like how's it all going to get done? Do I go to prayer? And trust that God's going to do it? Do I ask him to do it? Do I go to God and say, God, I can't do it. So, I'm relying on your spirit, you have to do the work in me, this can't come from me, this has to come from you. See, I think people wake up in the morning, they feel overwhelmed with the day. And then they just kind of get through the day, they're exhausted by the end of the night. And then the whole process repeats itself. Tomorrow, when you wake up and you think I don't know how to today's going to happen, you should start right there and say, Today's not going to happen unless God does it. And you should start with prayer right there with the Lord’s help today to be not by mind, not by my power, but by your Spirit, I want you to supply the power for today.
Go back to Zechariah chapter 4 and look where it goes. Because that's not the only word that he has. I mean, that would be encouraging enough right there by God's Spirit, he's going to complete the construction of the temple. And everybody's going to be shouting out Grace, Grace, Zerubbabel is going to put in the last stone. That sounds super encouraging. But no, there's more in Zechariah 4:8 here, there's more than “the word of the Lord came to me saying the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house” that's referring to that moment, five months beforehand, when he laid down the first stone, the cornerstone, well, “his hands shall also complete it.” So, you started it, you're going to finish it, then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. See, it's like God knows that Zerubbabel understands it, he can't do it, and he needs the Lord's help. And so, it's like, there's Zerubbabel getting encouraged, you are going to complete the construction of the temple. And you're going to know that it was the Lord of hosts who made that happen, who sent this whole vision. And then it says this, Zechariah 4:10, “For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” So maybe you've heard that phrase before, “the day of small things.” If you've gone to church, maybe that's a phrase somebody has said before, that this is where it comes from. Zechariah 4:10. And what it's referring to is the temple that they were rebuilding in Jerusalem. This is seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon just desecrated the temple and destroyed it. And remember the original temple that was destroyed that was built by King Solomon, that temple was awesome. This temple is not that awesome.
A couple of cross references that you could write down about “the day of small things.” One would be Ezra chapter 3, Ezra and Nehemiah, they tell the story of post-exilic Israel and in Ezra 3, when they began rebuilding the temple, people who were there seventy years ago to see the old temple and now they see this rinky dink temple that they're building. If people started weeping, and how lame the new temple was compared to the old temple, it would be like us saying, hey, instead of building a new auditorium across the parking lot, that's twice the size of this auditorium, we have a new project instead of the double-double project. We've got the point 5.5 project, everybody. And so, if you could all just generously give, we're going to build a new auditorium and half of you will still be able to come to church, it'll be great. All right. That's the idea. It's like whoa, we're building something that's not as good as what we used to have. And so, some people are despising, they're looking down on, they're weeping. They're genuinely sad, like this temple is not going to restore the glory of God that we used to see in Jerusalem. And so, he's basically telling him like, your hands are going to do it, your hands laid the first stone, your hands will lay the last stone, everybody will see you carrying the plumb line around as you lead the construction. And even those who are despising this as a day of small things, they're even the haters, even the doubters, they're all going to end up rejoicing on the day that the temple is rebuilt.
You could write down Haggai 2:3, where they described this new temple as if it were nothing. When you compare the new temple to the old temple, it's like, why are we even building this? This is as if it is nothing compared to the former glory of Solomon's temple. So not only probably did the project seem so big for Zerubbabel to figure out how he was going to do it. But he had so many doubters, so many people just saying, it's not even that good of a temple, the plans aren't even that great that you guys are working with. And here's a promise that God, hey, he sang all those people who are despising this day of small things. Like yeah, this will never be what Solomon's Temple was, it won't be what kings, Herod's temple is going to be when Jesus is walking the earth. Later on, this won't be the greatest version of the temple. But when it's finished, everybody's going to rejoice, everybody's going to get on board, because they're going to see what the temple is really about, which is not a building, but having a right relationship with God and worshiping him. And that's what's going to cause the people to rejoice and your hands are going to do it. And then there's this line, this quote at the end of Zechariah 4:10, make sure you don't miss it, because it gets back to the lampstand. And it says these seven, those seven lamps, the seven different lights at the top of the Golden menorah there, these seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth. So, the lampstand is representing God here and the oil endlessly flowing through the lampstand is representing the power of his Spirit to accomplish the rebuilding of the temple. But see the seven lamps specifically, they represent God looking out, and seeing and his eyes, they go all over the whole earth. Sometimes this is translated, this Hebrew phrase here that the eyes of the Lord go to and fro over the whole earth. So it's like, hey, Zerubbabel, don't see this, how you see it, or how other people see it, you need to see this, how God sees it. And God is looking for people. He's looking into their hearts, he's looking into their souls, and God is looking to see who he can use. God wants to build something glorious. God wants to do something amazing. But he's looking for people that he can use. And so, his eyes range. And so, this is an amazing thing. Because God is saying to Zerubbabel, I'm going to use your hands to do it. Because I'm looking and I'm seeing who you really are Zerubbabel, you're my guy, you're my man, and I'm going to use you and everybody's going to know that I use you, they're going to see that I do it by your hand, because my eyes, they're looking over the whole earth, and I've chosen you to be the guy I'm going to use.
So, the lampstand is a seeing life from God's perspective. First of all, he's got the power, but God is searching for something. God has the power to build it. There's nothing, there's no limitations on God. There's nothing that can stop him. There's nothing that can hold him back. But he's looking for who's on his team, who's ready to be used? Where are the jars of clay who won't get the glory for themselves, but they'll give the glory to him? Where are the vessels that aren't impure with sin, but they've been cleansed, they've been purified. They're clean vessels ready to be used by a master. God's eyes are ranging over the whole earth. And he's looking for the heart who's ready to be used by him. God is right now he's searching in the souls of everybody listening to this sermon. And he's like, could he use you to build something? See, that's the question. That's what it's saying here. Zerubbabel you're somebody I've looked at. I'm going to use you. I'm going to use your hands. But he is God thinking that when he looks at me, when he looks at you, if we're saying we believe Jesus is going to build his church, am I somebody God can use? Are you somebody God can use?
So, let's get this down for point number two, “he searches for his people.” When the Lord builds, this is how it works. When God's building something he's searching for his people that he can use. And he's not looking at how much money they have, how well connected they are, how much skill they have. He is looking at their heart, and God wants to make sure that they are humble that they are dependent that they trust in him, and then he can use them. He can give them his Spirit, his power, and he can humble people to bring himself great glory. Now I need everybody to really see this idea of God's eyes searching for people to use.
I need everybody to turn with me to 2 Chronicles. If you can find 2 Chronicles in your Bible. I would love for everybody to go to 2 Chronicles 16:9. Okay, I don't know what you know about the Book of Chronicles. A lot of a lot of people think that Chronicles is just the same thing as the Book of Kings. And it just goes through a lot of the history of the different kings of Israel. But the Book of Chronicles, if you've never really thought about it, or studied it before, it was actually the last book of the Hebrew Scriptures. Okay, so the Hebrew Bible, the way they arranged all the books is different than how we have it in our English translations today. They had three different sections, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, that those were the three sections that they broke the Hebrew Scriptures into. And at the end of the writings, the very last book was Chronicles, and it wasn't First and Second Chronicles, that got broken up later on. It was just one big history book of Chronicles. It is the last book in the Hebrew Tanakh, in their version of the scriptures. And the reason they had the Chronicles is they wanted to chronicle after the exile, at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel and Zechariah, and Joshua, the high priests, all of these guys who led God's people in Jerusalem after the exile, they're the guys who put together the Chronicles. And here's why they did. They wanted to learn from the good examples in history. And they wanted to learn from the bad examples of history. So, they chronicled the stories of all the kings. So, they could learn from a good example, like David, a man after God's own heart, a man who has the kind of heart that God's looking for, but they don't. There are also many bad examples of kings, where you don't have the right heart that we don't want to be like. So, this is actually something that happened after the exile is they put the Chronicles together, so they could learn from the good and bad examples in the history of Israel. And so there are two reasons that God might be looking at your heart, and he might not use you. One of them is fear. And the other one is pride. And these things will keep you from being used by God. And we can see this in some of the bad examples of the kings that are chronicled here. And so, the famous line from Chronicles, perhaps one of the most quoted verses from Chronicles, is 2 Chronicles 16:9. And it says, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless towards him or their ideas. “Their heart is whole towards him, like their whole heart, I surrender all, I'm trusting God, I'm not trying to do it myself. I'm not turning to sin and doing something else. I'm giving my whole heart to God. So, God's eyes are looking all over the world.
See, this is what we saw last week, if you were here. We saw Satan is going all over the earth. Satan's going to and fro. He's looking for people he can accuse, people he can tear down. God's eyes can move much faster than Satan can get around. God sees all things. He's omniscient. He's all knowing. He's seeing everybody's heart. And God, if he sees a heart that is ready to be used a heart that has faith, a heart, they really trust in his Spirit, God is ready to come and strongly support that person. He's ready to give them his spirit and to use them to accomplish his purpose for his glory by his grace. And so, God is right now, he's looking all over this auditorium, and he wants to build his church. He wants to do great things, and he's looking into all of our hearts. And he's thinking, who can I use? Well, and the reason it says that here is because God couldn't use this guy named King Asa. Look back at 2 Chronicles 16:1, and we're late into the reign here of Asa, the 36 years. So, this guy, he's been a king now for a while here, and he actually did some good things in the previous chapters. But look what happens here in the 36th year, but Asa, king of Israel, he comes up against Judah, and he built Ramah. And the reason he built Ramah was that he might permit no one to go out or come in to ask the king of Judah. So, if you know the history of Israel, you know that it got divided into a northern kingdom, called Israel, and a southern kingdom, called Judah. And now that the northern kingdom comes and they build this place that's meant to block anybody from going up into Judah, up into the city of Jerusalem. So, we're going to isolate them, we're going to cut off their supply chain, we're going to cut off all their friends. And basically, we're going to put an embargo on any trade with them, and we're going to just make life very difficult for them. They're not going to get any support. And so, when King Asa, when this happens, and now he's cut off, look what he does, 2 Chronicles 16:2-3, “Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, ‘There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.’” And so then that's what the king of Syria Ben-hadad does. And so, what he does think about this, he's being surrounded, or he's being cut off by the northern kingdom of Israel. Where does he get the silver and gold? He goes to the temple, takes the stuff that has been given to God, to be used for the worship of God. And he goes and gives it to another king, and he basically bribes or makes through putting his reliance on money on silver and gold, he forms an alliance with the king of Syria, who then comes against Israel, who then okay, problem solved, right? Seems like a shrewd financial move. Seems like a good situation, right? No, 2 Chronicles 16:7, “At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.” God was actually ready to give him victory over both of those kingdoms. But see, he did not rely on the Lord. He relied on somebody else really relying on his money, and how that could form an alliance.
So, here are things that you can rely on. Instead of God, you can put your hope and your money, you can put your hope in other people, that's what the king Asa did. And now he's got a prophet saying, you could have won a real victory, but you were you responded in fear, rather than faith. If you had just relied on the Lord, what glory could have been accomplished, you could have built this kingdom even further out. But no, you did not rely on the Lord, you relied on something else. See, and this is what happens, that when you rely on other things, besides God, you eventually realize those things are not going to save you, those things ultimately, will not come through, and you get freaked out. There are so many people that I've talked to people who go to our church, and they are living their life based on what if, what if this happens, then will I have enough money? Will my family be okay? And a lot of times when people are living based on what if scenarios, it hasn't happened yet, there's no real indication that it will happen. But in their mind, they're thinking this could happen. And sometimes the things that I hear people say could happen, I'm like, I don't even think that possibly could happen like that is an absolute, like what kind of TV shows have you been watching? What kind of books have you been reading? Like that is a conspiracy theory, absolute worst case scenario, like crazy thing that you're thinking is going to happen? Sometimes that's what people are saying, and they're living their whole life based on what could possibly happen. And then sometimes maybe it's very realistic, what could happen, something bad definitely could happen. But I'm living today, not by faith that God's going to provide for me, like he always has, not by faith that God's going to protect me, because what could I do to build my house? What can I do to keep myself safe, but God's been doing it for me. And so, I have a lot of confidence based on what God has done that he's going to keep doing that tomorrow. No, people are acting like God's never done anything for them. And can you believe what's about to happen? This is a regular conversation. People are living by anxious toil, they are living based on fear. And it's like God sending us a prophet this morning to wake us up and saying, you can't rely on something else. You need to rely on the Lord your God. God can't use you to do great things. If you don't have faith, if you don't trust him, if you don't believe that God is able, then you're not going to see it happen. That's what God's looking for when he looks if God sees you freaking out, if God sees you relying on things that are going to let you down, and then you're going to be overwhelmed with anxiety. See people who put their hope in the Lord they are not disappointed when your confidence is in Jesus, as Jesus Christ always comes through. You may lose relationships, and you may run out of money, but you will never lose the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so, we should all be relying fully on him. He told us, don't worry about tomorrow. Today has enough trouble. You need to seek first my kingdom you need to be saying, here am I send me let me not waste today worrying about tomorrow. Use my life today to build your kingdom. That's what we're supposed to be saying. But we're so freaked out about tomorrow, our heart isn't ready to be used today. And so, this king, even though we had a good reign, unfortunately, his fear when his enemy came against him, his fear overcame his reliance, his faith on the Lord. I mean, here's a good question for everybody here today, when God looks at your heart is he seeing faith, that you're ready to be used, you're ready to see what he's going to build? Or are you freaking out because of what's happened in America? Are you freaking out because of what's happening in the economy? Are you freaking out because of some relationship? That's not going the way that you were hoping it was going to go? Is God seeing fear? Or is he saying, hey, God, I'm casting these cares up to you. Because I know that you by your Spirit, you can do it. And I'm looking to you to build my life. What is God seeing when he looks in your heart?
Go over to 2 Chronicles 26, another bad example, here of another king that God used, another king that God did good things with? This is King Uzziah here in 2 Chronicles 26. And his problem becomes pride. But start with me in verse 7, because I just want you to see here that God did help build the kingdom. When King Uzziah was reigning in Judah, it says here in 2 Chronicles 26:7, God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabians, who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites. And so other people are paying tribute to Uzziah. So, this was a king, that God helped him build. And so, he had that rapport with God, he got to see God come through for him, he put his faith in the Lord, and God built it. But see, here's this problem that can happen. And this could happen at our church, where when God's building something, and he's doing it by his Spirit, and it's all for his glory, and everybody should be shouting, Grace, Grace, people can start to think when God did something, people can start to think that they did it instead of God. And they can start to take the credit for themselves, instead of continuing to give the glory to God. And this is what happens to King Uzziah.
This was a famous story that I'm sure Zechariah knew, that I'm sure a lot of the people living in Israel after the exile, they told this story to their kids. Well, you don't want to be like King Uzziah. Because in Israel, they always had three different offices, three different positions where they anointed people, prophets, priests, and kings. And some of the priests were prophets. Zechariah. He's a priest, Prophet. Some of the kings were prophets, King David, he was a prophet. You could be a prophet and a priest, you could be a prophet, and the king, but there was nobody ever in the history of Israel, that was king and priest. Those were always two different people, two different offices. That's why now that they're coming back, they have Joshua, the high priest that we studied last week in Zechariah 3, and they've got Zerubbabel, the governor who's in the kingly line, you always have two different guys, we'll look what Hosea does here in verse 16. This is Second Chronicles 26:16. When Uzziah he was strong, he grew key word here, he grew proud to his destruction, for he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him with at priests of the Lord who were men of valor. And they were stood King Uzziah and said to him, it is not for us either to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense, go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God, this is not what God wants you to do is that you're not supposed to come in here like a priest and offer this incense before the Lord. That's what we do. That's we're from the house of Aaron. We're of the tribe of Levi, you're of the tribe of Judah, you're from the line of David, we've got different roles. You can't be crossing over here. And what an amazing thing for these priests to go and stand in front of the king. I mean, this could bring about civil war. I mean, this could be the end of their government right here. And so they're bold to stop Uzziah. 2 Chronicles 26:19, “Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.” And Azariah, the chief priests and all the priests looked at him, it's like they could see this skin disease breaking out on his forehead right in front of them. “Behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him.” The king gets so full of himself, instead of giving the glory to God, for all the help by his Spirit, the king starts thinking, look what I've done, I'm going to do more, and God to humble him, strikes him with leprosy. He leaves the temple that day, and he goes and lives in a room by himself for the rest of his life, king really over nobody from that point on, because he no longer when God was looking into his heart, he was no longer a heart that God could use. Earlier, God had helped him, God had given him strength, God had built up the kingdom. But now he's walking around thinking, I can do this all by myself, I don't need God's help anymore, and see that pride led to his destruction.
So, when God looks at you, does he see somebody who's humble, who's dependent, who's like, God, I don't know how I'm going to do it. But I really do believe that you can do it. And so, God use me, I want to be a part of what you're building. Here are my hands. Here are my feet. Here's my body. I don't really have something that I'm trying to build in my life. Use me to build what you're building in your life, God. Is that what God's hearing from you? Is that the heart that God's seeing when he looks at you? Or does God actually hear you thinking about how well you're doing with your family? Or how well you're doing with your money? Because look, what you've done is God seeing pride when he looks in your heart, God is opposed to the proud. But God gives grace to the who, everybody? To the humble. And there's plenty of proud people going to church, acting like they're worshiping God, when really they want to tell you how right they are, and how good what they're doing is. And so, we got to ask ourselves, when God sees me, God's eyes are searching to and fro over all of our hearts, his eyes range over the whole earth, that hit that lampstand with those seven lamps, and represents the eyes of the Lord. See, I think a lot of times, I'm viewing life through my eyes, and I see these mountains, I see the circumstances, I see delayed construction, I see problems in relationships, and I'm like, how are all these things going to happen? We need to learn to look at life the way God sees life. God has all the power, God can fix all the problems, God can do even more than what we're thinking; he can make that mountain plain. And he can do something that everybody's going to shout, Grace, Grace. But the thing is, am I ready to be used by God? See, what is God seeing when he looks at you today? God, his eyes are looking for people to give strong support to, for people to give his Spirit to for people he wants to build his Church through, is God ready to use you? Does he see your heart is ready to be used? That's what God's saying, people are going to see that you do it, and he's saying, I see who you really are, as are available, I can tell that you really care about my glory, not your own glory. And so, I am going to use you and don't worry, people are going to rejoice when this is done, you're going to accomplish my purpose.
And so, God wants to build his church. And he wants to use people who have this whole heart, this pure heart, they're not living by fear. They're living by faith. They're not living by pride. They're living by humility. Does that describe you?
Go back to Zechariah chapter 4, because that's how it was going to happen. He's going to build it by his Spirit. But he's going to use the hands of Zerubbabel, because he's got the kind of heart that God is looking for. But we're not done yet. Because there's this other part that comes up here in Zechariah 4:11-14. And it's like, well, wait a minute. Zechariah, who's seeing this vision, he's like, but what about the olive trees? And it's like, he asked this question multiple times. There's an olive tree, to the right of the lampstand and to the left of the lampstand. What do those trees mean? Zechariah, he asked. He asked it in verse 11. He asked with even more detail. All of trees that are supplying the oil, the golden oil through the golden pipes, what's going on? And then in verse 13, we get this, this tactic and we even saw this in a cross reference in Revelation 7 where somebody in heaven asked John, do you know who all these people are? And John's like, I'm just having a vision. How would I know what's going on here? Right? But it's very interesting that that angel keeps asking Zechariah, do you know what those olive trees are? He's like, I'm the guy who keeps asking you what the olive trees are. Why are you asking me? No, sir, no, my lord. And so, the answer comes in verse 14, then he said, these are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord. Like the olive trees represent these anointed ones, like people that God is going to use to accomplish his purpose. So, wow, okay, so who are the anointed ones? Well, at this time, kind of the immediate fulfillment of this prophecy, is Zerubbabel is one of the Anointed Ones that God is going to use. He's of the one the kingly line. And then actually, Joshua, the high priest, if you remember him from Zechariah 3:1, he's the one in the line of the priest of the tribe of Levi, the house of Aaron. And then we've got the kindling line, the tribe of Judah. So, who are the two anointed leaders at this time? Well, it would be Joshua, the high priest, and we had a whole chapter about him, God's getting ready to use him to bring the people into a righteous standing between God and his people in Jerusalem. And then Zerubbabel, he's the king ruler that God's going to use to get the structure of the temple going again, so that God can have that relationship with his people. So, the big theme here in Zechariah, and see now that you know, the story of King Uzziah, maybe you can start to get into the mindset of these Jewish people, where they're like, nobody could be priest and King. Zechariah is going is that some day, there's going to be someone who is both priest and King.
So, these two anointed ones here in the book of Zechariah, they're just pictures. They're just types of the ultimate Anointed One who will someday both give people righteousness between them and God, and rule over the people as king. So, Zechariah is breaking down this big thought that the Jewish people would have, well, the priests, they're completely different. The Kings, they're completely different. Zechariah, one of the main themes of this book that we're going to see as we keep going through it, is someday the priest and the king is all going to come and be the same person. And so right now we're talking about these guys are available. And Joshua, the reason you need to know these guys, is these guys are pictures that are ultimately pointing us to Jesus.
In fact, there are so many cross references I can take you to right now. But we only have a limited amount of time. Let's go to Ezekiel 21 real quick, I just want to show you, I think two epic cross references based on these two olive trees. All right, because Joshua and Zerubbabel, not only are they rebuilding a relationship with God, now in Jerusalem, but these guys are representing the ultimate relationship that God is going to have in Jerusalem when Jesus reigns in Jerusalem. And in Ezekiel, Ezekiel was a prophet before Zechariah. He was a prophet during the exile when they got judged in Ezekiel 21, when God is pronouncing that they are going to get judged here and there. And it's all because of their sin. They did not trust in God, they did not hear God, they did not do what God told them. So, they are going to get wiped out. And look what God says in verse 26. You may have never seen this before. This is very interesting here. Ezekiel 21:26-27. “Thus says the Lord God, remove the turban and take off the crown.” Okay, so if you were here last week, what kind of person is wearing the turban among the Jewish people? Well, that was the high priest. Remember how Zechariah was shouting when they changed his clothes, and they were getting Joshua ready to be the high priest? What did he say? Give him the turban, right, because who wears the big turban on top of his head, that's a part of the high priestly garments. But see, we're taking the turban off, and then we're taking off the crown. That's a headpiece we're a little more familiar with. Who wears the crown? The king. So basically, what the prophecy here is because of your sin, you're not going to have the high priests anymore, you're not going to have the king anymore. And these things shall not remain as they are, because we're going to exalt that which is low, and we're going to bring low that which is exalted, a ruin, ruin, ruin, I will make it this also shall not be until he comes the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him. So, when they got judge there when the exile happened, no more high priest, no more King. In fact, someday when he comes to make everything right, when he comes to judge in his righteousness, I’ll give the turban and the Crown to him. So, this is a big deal in Zechariah. The two anointed ones at that time are Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel, the governor. And Jesus is ultimately going to serve as priest, and King.
So, you can get this down when the Lord builds point number three, “he secures the future,” he secures the future. So that all prophecies kind of work on two levels. There's the immediate thing. So, Zerubbabel, you're going to rebuild the temple. Joshua, you're going to be the high priest. Good news for those guys to hear. Even better news, those two guys, they're just pictures, temporary pictures that are representing ultimately what Jesus is going to do someday. So, these two olive trees that are standing before the Lord, now, they're ultimately pointing to the anointed one who's going to bring everybody into the presence of the Lord. Now, it's not here, but this prophecy of the two olive trees goes deeper than that. In fact, it goes to the book of Revelation, chapter 11, everybody turn to Revelation chapter 11. You may have never noticed this connection in the Scripture before. But God says all of trees are anointed ones, chosen ones who are standing before the Lord. Well, if you have ever read through the book of Revelation, there's these two witnesses that show up and these witnesses are awesome guys, they can pray and it won't rain. They can do plagues on the earth. These guys are fire breathers, literally somebody comes after these two witnesses, they can breathe fire out of their mouths. That's what it says here in Revelation. These guys are like a dragon, or dragon missionaries is basically what these guys are. Right? And so maybe people have often speculated, is it Moses and Elijah? Because of how it says there won't be rain that sounds like Elijah, or there will be plagues that sounds like Moses, or some people speculate, is it Enoch? And is it Elijah because they're the two guys who didn't die. And so, they never really died. So they're going to come back, and they're going to be witnesses, and then they're going to die? Well, look what it says about these two witnesses in Revelation 11:4, a circle that's underlying this, it says that these two witnesses, these are the two what does it say there? Everybody? The two olive trees? Wait a minute, are you talking about Zechariah 4 right here in Revelation 11? Oh, just in case you missed the reference. These are the two olive trees, you know, the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth? What did it say the two anointed ones that stand before the Lord of the whole earth, Revelation 11:4 is clearly referring to Zechariah 4:14.
So wow, it gets deeper, that not only does God have two guys, way back in the history of Israel, that are standing before him that he can use, but he's going to have two witnesses. Even in the future, during the Great Tribulation, God's going to have two guys that he can use and ultimately, all the people that God uses, they're all just pointing ultimately to Jesus as the one that God is going to use. So, whether it's ancient history, or whether it's the future, and times what's going on here, and Revelation, like if you ever read about the two witnesses, the two witnesses are like the two coolest people you've ever met in your life, at least that's my personal, humble opinion. I mean, look at this, verse 7, when they have finished their testimony, these guys are going to go warn everybody to repent in the Great Day of Judgment. When they had finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit is going to come and make war, like the whole war is against two dudes, and he's going to conquer them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt where their Lord was crucified. We know what city Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. And for three and a half days, some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. They'll make merry, they'll exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. Hey, have you heard where everybody's got the day off? We’re celebrating its national dead witnesses day, I got you this gift. Look, there's a live feed of their bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem. Can you imagine this? And then I love this then. Then in verse 11, after three and a half days, a breath of life from God or a spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them live feed interrupted, we interrupt your holiday celebration of the dead witnesses to report to you. They're actually back from the dead everybody. Right? People are freaking out. Verse 12. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them come up here. And they went up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies watched them. And at that hour, there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell, seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
I remember first time I read Revelation, or one of the first times when I was a young, young man growing up going to church, I was like, wow, what do you got to do to be one of those two witnesses? I want that job. That's what I was thinking. Sign me up for that. That's got to be the coolest stuff I've ever read about my life. Then I remember I started reading my study Bible. And he told me that most people think it's already going to be Moses or Elijah. And I was like, bummed. How come those guys get to have all the fun? Why can't I do something awesome like that? Why can't I? This is what I was thinking as a young kid, why can't I do the cool stuff they do with the Bible? Why am I living in the day of small things? See, that's what I used to think. Why am I living in the day of small things. But now what I realized is God is always looking for his people. And we might not be living in the tribulation, we may not be living in ancient Jerusalem. We're living right here right now in Huntington Beach. And I've realized I don't want to be somebody else. I want to be the person God is looking for me to be right now. And I want to see Jesus build this church right here in Huntington Beach. I want to be one of the people that when God looks all over the earth, today on planet Earth, how many people is God seeing? He's got a heart full of faith, and a heart that's humble, and got heart that's like, God, I believe you're building. And I want you to use me see, I want to be one of those people. God always has his people. He always has his people that represent Jesus on planet Earth. And we should say, we're not living in the day of small things. We want to see God do great things here. Oh, my God, use me. Send me. I believe, I believe you have the power. I believe you're searching for the people to use. And I believe there's a future. There's a hope God always, even after seventy years of exile, God's got a plan for his people, even in the tribulation, where they're going and killing Christians. God has a plan for his people even right now, in the day and age that you and I are living it. God has a plan for his people. And me, this might be a day of small things. But let's do those small things that God has for us to do. Let's do them for His glory. When God looks at your heart. Is he seeing somebody that he can use for what he is building? Let me pray for us. And then we'll sing about God's grace.
Father in heaven. We thank you for this encouraging vision that you gave to Zechariah for Zerubbabel. I can't even imagine what Zerubbabel must have felt like when Zechariah came and told him what he saw with the lampstand. And he gave him the word not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit. As Zerubbabel must have felt so pumped up. So inspired, is faith at an all time high. Father, I pray that that's the same thing you would do here with us. Father, I pray that when you look at my heart, that I wouldn't be afraid of what's going to happen that I won't be proud based on what has happened. Father, I pray that when you look in my heart, you would see somebody that you could use to build. I pray that for all my brothers and sisters here today, God turn us away from fear and give us faith. Turn us away from pride and keep us humble. Let us be the people that you know you can use our hands because when the job is done, we'll be shouting grace, grace, there was no way I could have done it. But God did it. It wasn't by my mind, it wasn't by my power. But let me tell you what the Lord did by his Spirit. Let me give all the glory, all the praise all the honor of to our God and let us all shout together. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all of our sin. That's how it happened. Put that final stone in that temple and let everybody the haters, the doubters, let us all rejoice, because God has done it. Father, we thank you for the promise that Jesus is going to build his church. Please use us and let us know that there's a future for all of your people, and we will give you the glory for the great things that you do. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.