This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "The Way To Enjoy Life", Zach. 9:9-17, 4/5/2020

   
THE WAY TO ENJOY LIFE

Zech 9:9-17

EXCITED ABOUT JESUS
V:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
    Behold, your king is coming to you;
    He is just and endowed with salvation,
    Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
A. 500 years before the birth of Christ, God got Israel
     ready for the coming messiah.
    1. Israel had returned from 70 years of captivity in
        Babylon.
     2. They had started to rebuild the temple and their homes
         which had been destroyed during the war.
     3. For your information, the war with the Babylonians was
         God’s design as a punishment for the nation’s disobedience.
         Ezra 5:12
  B. 20 to 30 thousand Israelites were taken captive from Israel.
     1. God does not tell us how many died.
     2. Reviewing Old Testament history, you will find that God has a           
         history of allowing the Israelites to die in battle or plagues because of 
         their disobedience.  Numbers 25:9 ( 24,000), 1 Samuel 6:19
         50,000)
     3. Part of being a parent is the discipline of the  children with love. 
 C. Consider the question; did we do some things to anger God that has
      resulted in this worldwide virus?
      1. Let me suggest an area where the US lacked compassion.

      2. We built a wall to keep certain people out of the US who were
           looking for a place to secure their families.
      3. Some other nations have done some things to keep refugees out of
          their countries.
      4.  God’s second command is to love your neighbor as yourself.
      5. We kept people out of the US but we could not keep the virus
           out.
 D. The God we serve will chastise us for our disobedience but still
        gives us hope for tomorrow and reasons for joy.
     1. The God we serve overlooks our sins to give us salvation

     2. God's commands are that we rejoice. Not like the world which
        is fleshly, but joy in the heart that is base on His promise of
         redemption.
    3. God wants us to be excited about Jesus.
        a . We got problems, we got issues, but none of that

              should overshadow our excitement about Jesus.

        b. We are all stress out because of this virus, but it
             will pass.
   
           Ps 30:5
           For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping

           may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

    4. Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
         a. The donkey represents the peace He brought between us and
              the Father through His death on the cross.
         b. The donkey represents His humble spirit.
             
              In the ancient Near East, if a king came in peace, he would ride on a 
              donkey instead of on a war stallion. (from Bible Knowledge 
             Commentary)

          c. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt that had never been ridden.
          d. This may have indicated that our king came to do something new
               that had never been done before.
       
THE FORGIVENESS IN JESUS
V:10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
     And the horse from Jerusalem;
     And the bow of war will be cut off.
     And He will speak peace to the nations;
     And His dominion will be from sea to sea,
     And from the River to the ends of the earth.
     Deliverance of Judah and Ephraim
A. The Lord moves from the ministry of Jesus on earth to the ministry
     Of Jesus doing the millennium kingdom that occurs after His
     Second coming.
     The millennium is a 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. Rev 20.4
  1. When we focus on the Lord he gives us hope in the victory over
      all of our problems
    2. Between verse 9 and 10 is the church age that we currently live.
    3. God does not tell us when this age will end. But it will
        end in victory over Satan and his demons.
    4. Doing this time Christ will be king over the
        entire world.
    5. This 1000 year reign, is necessary so that the
         prophecy that all Israel will be saved will be fulfilled.

           
         Rom 11:26-27
         And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
        "The deliverer will come from Zion;
          he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
          27 And this is my covenant with them
          when I take away their sins." (Duet 30: 1-3)

      6. The trials and tribulation we go through are God’s to
          prepare us for an eternity with him.
      7. Gods plan of redemption began with the nation of Israel
          and will end with them.
       
          Rom 11:25-26
          Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the     
          Gentiles have come in.  And so all Israel will be saved.

      8. God’s plan of redemption includes some hard times for us.
      9. This coronavirus is just one in a series that reminds us that God
           is in control and His goodness endures forever.

      10 In the end times, there will be peace on earth and goodwill

           to all mankind.

GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION BEGAN IN THE GARDEN OF
EDEN AND WAS FINISHED ON THE CROSS
V:11. As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you,
      I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope;
     This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.
A. The scene shifts back to Zachariah’s time with a testimony
      and a promise.
      1. The Israelites had been freed from Babylon by the hand of God and
           returned to the promised land.  (Ezra 1:1-4, 2 Chron 36:22-23)
      2. A smaller, simple Temple was built on the site of Solomon’s Temple,
          which had been burnt to the ground during the captivity.
      3. The returning Jews cried at the sight of the smaller Temple because 
          they remembered the grandeur of Solomon' Temple ( Ezra 3:12). 
B. God made a promise to Israel that He would restore double what they
     Lost
    1. Herod expanded the rebuilt temple to twice the size of Solomon’s   
        Temple. It took 46 years to complete Herod expansion.
           
        John 2:20-21
        The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and 
         you are going to raise it in three days?"

     2. The God we serve keeps His promises.
     3. All the promises God made in the Bible, apply to you.
C. Notice the mercy God showed Israel.
     1. God restored double what Israel lost.
     2. Israel lost houses, the Temple and love ones because of
         their disobedience.
     3. Yet because of His great love, He forgave their sins and
          redeemed them.
    4. The God we serve never give up on us.
    5.  1 Cor 10:13
         No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And 
         God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can 
         bear.
    6. This coronavirus is not more than we can bear.

GOD IS OUR DEFENSE
V:13.  For I will bend Judah as My bow,
      I will fill the bow with Ephraim.
      And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece;
      And I will make you like a warrior's sword.
      14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
      And His barrow will go forth like lightning;
      And the Lord God will blow the trumpet,
      And will march in the storm winds of the south.
      15 The Lord of hosts will defend them.
      And they will devour and trample on the sling stones;
      And they will drink and be boisterous as with wine;
      And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin,
      Drenched like the corners of the altar.
A. The scene shifts to the 7 year tribulation period  (Dan 9:27) and, or
     Conflict of the Maccabees (169-135 BC)   Dan 11:32
  1. Throughout our lives on earth, we will face trials and tribulations.
  2. Many of the difficulties we face are due to decisions we made without 
       the guidance and directions of the Lord.
  3. The History of Israel, described in the Old Testament is a series
        of ups and downs caused by their disobedience to God's commands.

  4. In both cases, God provided victory over their enemies.
B. Notice this is a prophecy of actual events before they happen.
    1. Nothing happens without God’s foreknowledge.
    2. For those God has called, according to His purposes,
        which is us, He protects even in our disobedience.

SALVATION IS IN JESUS 
V:16  And the Lord their God will save them in that day
      As the flock of His people;
      For they are as the stones of a crown,
      Sparkling in His land.
     17 For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs!
     Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
     God Will Bless Judah and Ephraim
A. The scene shifts to the days after the millennium.

    1. The 7 year tribulation period and the millennium
         is for the restoration of the Jews who rejected Jesus Christ as
         Lord and Savior.
   2. The tribulation period will end with Satan bound.
   
        Rev 20:2-3
        He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan,   
        and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss,   
        and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the   
        nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.
   3. During the millennium, Christ will grow up a new nation of Israelites,
       who will worship Christ.
B.  None of us are perfect, but God's grace is perfect for us.

     1. His grace endures forever.
     2. God has insured our eternal Life with Him
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston Parkway North
Houston, Texas 77041

For More lessons follow me on facebook and visit my
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