Receiving The Prophetic Word

INTRO

In teaching the book of Zechariah, I want to expand in a little different direction. The point of Revive School is to see how Jesus is revealed in each book, especially in the Old Testament. In Zechariah, we see Jesus throughout the entire book as the Pierced One.

Reread Zechariah 1:1–6. This explains that all of the prophets, both major and minor, pointed to God’s coming judgment and the eternal hope for the future. We have already covered Zechariah’s first five visions:

1. Zechariah saw a man riding a red horse under the myrtle trees, with red, sorrel, and white horses and four horsemen who patrolled the earth. They found peace throughout, which did not make God happy because their peace was created against His people (Zechariah 1:7–8).
2. Zechariah saw four horns and four horsemen (Zechariah 1:18–20).
3. Zechariah saw a man with a measuring line (Zechariah 2:1–3).
4. Zechariah saw the high priest and a branch (Zechariah 3:1–8).
5. Zechariah saw the gold lampstand (Zechariah 4:1–14).

Zechariah clearly points to the future hope. Zechariah 12:10 refers to Jesus as the Pierced One: “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn.

TEACHING

Zechariah 5:1-4: Zechariah’s sixth vision was of a flying scroll. The scroll was 30 feet long and 15 feet wide and was floating in the air. Zechariah asked what it was. The scroll listed the names of those who had sinned and had sworn falsely on it and referred to the coming curse of God. The scroll would enter into their homes and destroy it completely.

Zechariah 5:5–11: Zechariah’s seventh vision was of a measuring basket. Again, Zechariah asked what it was. The angel lifted the lead cover to reveal a woman sitting in the basket who represented wickedness—the iniquity of the people. The angel pushed the woman back into the basket and covered her back up. Then two women approached on the winds with stork-like wings who took the basket up between the earth and sky. They took the basket to be placed as a shrine on a pedestal. They were removing the iniquity from the land and taking it away.

Zechariah 6:1–8: Remember that these were visions while Zechariah was awake, not dreaming while he was asleep. Job 33:14–17 states, “For God speaks time and again, but a person may not notice it. In a dream, a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, He uncovers their ears at that time and terrifies them with warnings, in order to turn a person from his actions and suppress his pride.”

There are many examples of dreams in Scripture: Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams; Joseph of Nazareth was warned to flee to Egypt to keep Jesus safe; Daniel had dreams that he took before King Nebuchadnezzar. Zechariah was given in one night all eight of these visions.

The first vision in Zechariah 1 was of four chariots and horses, and the eighth and final vision was of the same thing. He saw four chariots coming between two mountains made of bronze. Each chariot had different colored horses—red with the first, black with the second, white with the third, and dappled horses with the fourth. These were four spirits of heaven going out into the world after having been presented before the Lord.

CLOSING

I want us to look at seven practical things you need to know as God begins to speak to you through visions, dreams, and prophetic words:

Be open to receive the Word of the Lord (Zechariah 1:7–8; 4:1). Zechariah was willing to hear what God had to say. He didn’t go back to sleep.

Be an open receiver.

Be humble enough to ask questions about the Word of the Lord (Zechariah 1:9). Zechariah didn’t hesitate to ask about what he saw and what it meant.

Be a humble asker.

Be faithful to record the Word of the Lord (Zechariah 1—6). Zechariah carefully wrote down everything with complete details.

Be a faithful recorder.

Be true to the Word (Zechariah 5:1–4). Don’t flower it up, water it down, or embellish it. Zechariah reported it accurately, despite how it would be accepted.

Be a thankful deliverer.

Be watchful for the Messiah of the Word (Zechariah 6:9–14). Zechariah delivered a prophetic word about the coming Messiah and proclaimed what was to come.

Be a watchful witness.

Be aware of practical application of the Word (Zechariah 5:17—7:1–6, 9–10). Prophetic words have a practical application. Be careful of those with prophetic words that are not practical.

Be a practical prophet.

Be a life speaker! Speak life. That is where the hope of the Lord begins to prosper.

Be one who speaks life.

The rest of the chapter speaks of God healing the land, restoring the fortunes, and children running in the streets again. As you walk this out, be open, humble, faithful, practical, truthful, and life speaking.