Zechariah 1:1-2:21, Revelation 12:1-17, Psalms 140:1-13, Proverbs 30:17
Today is the 21st day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. And, of course, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today as it is every day as we come in out of the weather and warm ourselves around this global campfire that is our community. So, I’m thrilled that we can have this next few minutes together as we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures and step away from whatever’s going on and just center ourselves in God’s word. So, we’ve been reading a book a day for a while now, right, as we’re moving to the minor prophets and as we were moving us through some of the shorter letters in the New Testament. So, today’s kind of no different, but it is. We are beginning a new book of minor prophecy in the Old Testament but we’re not gonna finish it today. In fact, this book is going to bring us a right up to the last two days of the year and this book is called Zechariah.
Introduction to the book of Zechariah:
So, yesterday, we read in its entirety the book of Haggai. Zechariah and Haggai were contemporaries even though Zechariah continued his ministry long after Haggai and then they were prophesying at the same place and at the same time and for the same reason, the rebuilding of the temple. So, Zechariah’s grandfather, Iddo, that was named among the first leaders of the priestly families to return from exile was Zerubbabel. So, this tells us that Zechariah was probably a priest, or at least of a priestly family. His name means God remembers and this covenantal remembering and the resulting restoration from it is a central theme of Zechariah. Now, since we’re not reading Zechariah in one sitting, like today, we know that, obviously, Zechariah is much longer than Haggai and it’s far broader in scope and style. For example, Zechariah tells of a night visions that he experienced that are apocalyptic in nature and highly symbolic much like what we’re reading in the book of Revelation. So, in light of rebuilding the temple God was initiating a far broader plan of sweeping restoration but the people were going to have to respond and how would they respond? They would respond the same way that we have to respond, with one of the central themes that runs its way all the way through the Bible, “return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Don’t be like your ancestors, who wouldn’t listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets told them this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says. Turn from your evil ways and stop all your evil practices. Where are your ancestors now?” So, obviously, come back, come home, return to me. This is such a central theme in the prophet’s and we it, here in the book of Zechariah. But that’s not all there is in Zechariah. Zechariah also foretells a coming Messiah with verses that we should be able to instantly recognize. For example, “rejoice oh people of Zion. Shout in triumph oh people of Jerusalem. Look, your kind is coming to you. He is a righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey’s colt.” So, because of these utterances Zechariah is quoted in Matthew, in Mark, in John, and in Revelation in reference to Jesus. And ultimately Zechariah is supposed to be received as prophetic encouragement and to serve as a reminder that God is absolutely sovereign in all things at all times and in all places. An, so, let’s take that encouragement and lean into that encouragement and lean into the sovereignty of our Father as we learn to endure, which is also such a central theme of apocalyptic literature like book of Revelation. So, what we can see in Zechariah is that our endurance is not purposeless, that all of this is headed somewhere, and all that we go through is headed somewhere good if we will return to God. And, so, we begin. Zechariah chapter 1 verse 1 through verse 21 today. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.
Prayer:
Once again Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the way that it speaks every day. For example, in the Psalms today, we can very easily pray along with the ancient warrior poet King David. You are our God. Listen Lord to our cries for mercy. Lord, Sovereign God, the strong one who rescues us. You protected us on the day of battle. Lord, do not let evil people have their way. Do not let their evil schemes succeed. We know that You will help those who are persecuted. We know that You will give justice to the poor. We will praise Your name because You have allowed us to live in Your presence. And yes, oh sovereign Lord, we agree, we pray, let it be so, You are the sovereign God, You are the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, You are just and true. And, so, we pray Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and may this begin in our own hearts. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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And that’s it for today I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning DABbers, I am a Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of Our God and King. There’s a song, I’m not going to sing it, I’m going to share in the lyrics for you guys. It has been blessing my heart lately. It is a Liberian song and in Liberian __ the song says __. And what he’s basically saying to God, God why should I ruin your reputation? Some people go to bed at night and may never wake up. I went to sleep at night and I woke up. So, why should I ruin your reputation God? You’ve blessing me. And, so, this morning I’m sitting here in my heart is a little heavy because I’ve been having some issues at work and I ask you guys to pray for me at this new job, that God will use me as a light and bless me, give me favor and wisdom. And as I was tempted to feel down about it I realized that the fact that I woke up this morning means that God still has an assignment for me. That is my mission. I wake up in the morning, open my eyes, and I can see. That is evidence of…even if I could see, I wake up and I breathe air. That is evidence that God has a plan for me today. And why should I ruin His reputation? Why should I say, oh woe is me? No. I am blessed. I am blessed. I am blessed, highly favored, and I have been sent out on a mission. So, I’m sharing this with you guys. I hope that it’s life to somebody and I‘m heading out to Liberia tomorrow to bury my aunt. Please pray for me for God to go ahead of me. I love you guys so much. Hope you have a wonderful week.
Hey, this is Kevin from the rolling hills of Arkansas. I have really never called in for a prayer request but today I was listening to the 16th when Dash called in and he’s struggling with anxiety and sitting in his car and it’s exactly what my son Benjamin is going through. And, so, I just really needed to call. It confirmed to me that there’s a lot of people out there that struggle with some type of mental illness or just tormenting things in their mind. So, I just want to play for Dash and Benji and I hope you all can keep all those others in prayer that need it. Dear Lord, be with Dash today and be with Benji. Just clear their minds from this anxiety. Help them to get the care they need. Help all those in the DAB land that suffer with the same. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Love you guys. Thanks. Keep it up Brian and family. God bless. Bye-bye.
Hi everyone it’s Nicholai in California and I’m calling in regards to a call I heard on the community prayer, I think Laura the conqueror from Colorado, she’s the one who is going through a divorce from an abusive relationship, but she said she’s just been having a lot of difficulties of having a dream where she can’t, you know, get anywhere forward and her seat is taken. I just want to say congratulations, the fact that you are leaving this relationship. It is more difficult than people know to leave an abusive relationship and you are doing it and that is a huge deal. And yes, are you going to have to overcome a lot of difficult things in the process of getting away from this, but you are a warrior and you’re going to make it and you going to find your seat. There is a seat for you and the space for you. And God is going to reward you for all of this. He has so much in store for you that you can’t even imagine. I think it’s just the enemy trying to scare you and trying to stop you from moving forward and from getting away from this relationship but there is a safe haven for you and there is a glorious throne, not just a seat, there’s a throne waiting for you. So, just want you to know that I’m praying for you and that you’re not alone and that you’re supported all the way out you’re in California and you’re going to make it and you’re going to find your throne. Hope you have a great day. Bye.
Hey guys, how you doing? It’s the prodigal. First of all, let me say that I feel all you all’s pain and I really do pray for you. And times are tough for a lot of people especially this time of year, it’s really bad. The main reason for my call is I told my priest, I promised my priest I’d reach out to someone. I am overwhelmed with the thought of committing suicide. I’ve thought about it before, but this year’s been the worst year of my life. I lost everything, I mean absolutely frigging everything. And it’s all because of my pride and because myself hatred. And I’m just figuring that out now. So, the message said His love endures forever today, but I’m not sure I can anymore. I’m so beaten down and I’ve got nothing to look forward to. This year’s word was Hope. My word this year’s loss. It’s bad enough I drove off my best friend, my wife of 23 years. She was everything to me except I drove her away, but she took my dog and the only dog I’ve ever owned in my life and my dog died. So, it’s just a year of total loss. My house, my money, my business going bankrupt. It’s on and on and on and on and on. I just don’t have any more gas in the tank. So, just reaching out asking your prayers. I don’t know how much longer I can stand this. I fight the good fight, which I’ve already fought and been doing research whether suicide is a mortal sin or not. I can’t find that answer either. So, __ I’m lost. And family I pray for you all. God, bless. Maybe I’ll talk to you in the future. We’ll see. God bless and have a Merry Christmas.