Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, so if you close your Bibles, open them back to Zechariah where you just were a minute ago, we're going to start in chapter nine.
[00:00:08] We'll end with chapter 11. So Zechariah nine, you know, probably, I think the most well known interrogation strategy is called Good Cop, Bad cop.
[00:00:24] We're all familiar with this, right? On TV shows. Yeah, it's on TV shows.
[00:00:29] I'm assuming there's an element of truth in real life, but it's definitely mostly a TV show movie thing.
[00:00:35] But I will say now, one time I was being given a polygraph examination by a Secret Service polygrapher. That means a lie detector test.
[00:00:47] And I did not do anything wrong. I was not being prosecuted for anything, nor investigated.
[00:00:53] I was actually applying for work after college.
[00:00:56] And the special agent literally did that to me by himself.
[00:01:02] He was the good and the bad cop. It was crazy.
[00:01:06] It was like being interrogated by someone with bipolar disorder. I would assume that's never happened to me either, so I don't know. But it was kind of like that. You know, one minute he was kind and he was complimenting me about my answers and my character, and the next he would yell and throw his clipboard, accuse me of lying, insinuate that I was a dirty, rotten scumbag that did not deserve high security clearance.
[00:01:33] Really, it was the whole range. And that lasted for eight hours.
[00:01:38] This makes me so thankful that for those in Christ, Jesus is only a good shepherd. He's not fluctuating back and forth so that you don't really know what to expect from him. He is a good shepherd to his sheep, but at the same time, God is perfectly just so. The wicked will experience the thrust of his staff, but the faithful will experience the security of his embrace.
[00:02:05] So yet again, this idea comes up in Zechariah, mostly in that last chapter. But as we come to this book again, we'll be here just a couple more weeks before we study Malachi. Let us remember, Zechariah is a prophet. We know this means he speaks God's word specifically to the people he's speaking to. This remnant might have heard me say this word, remnant. I'll remind you, this is the Jews that have returned to Israel after being exiled. They were exiled, which means they were taken out of their land, put somewhere else, because they broke the covenant with the Lord.
[00:02:41] Seventy years. Well, more than 70 years earlier. But the exile, that judgment began 70 years earlier, but now a lot of them are back.
[00:02:49] We've studied Haggai as well. If you Remember Haggai Zechariah? They are this kind of tag team of prophets that were ministering at the same time, helping the people to build the temple, the house of the Lord, helping them to rebuild the city, while also reminding them to look forward to the Messiah, not just to build these things for building sake and to have a city that looks cool and pretty with some religious type buildings.
[00:03:15] No, he wants them to be looking toward the Messiah. That's the reason that this temple exists, to point to him.
[00:03:22] So they should be looking for a man will be both priest and king, and that man Jesus will restore the people and bring in many more people from all over the world to be God's people. And the Lord will be their God.
[00:03:38] So now, as we come to chapters 9 and 11, or 9 through 11, these chapters kind of pick up on all of those themes. You'll, you'll notice as we keep reading this book and if you read through the rest of it soon you'll, you'll see these themes just continue to pop up. And it's because that's what Zechariah wants to focus on. So this, these chapters are like a concoction of some wonderfully encouraging promises from the Lord mixed with some several rather horrifying warnings.
[00:04:08] And so what we are about to read reveals the judgment coming to the nations, but also God's plan to save people from even outside of Israel. So this passage depicts a king coming to restore his people, but also to lay low the enemies of his people.
[00:04:26] And this passage points forward to a good shepherd, but also a foolish shepherd. And he's contrasted with these foolish and false shepherds even of their day.
[00:04:37] So the main idea of Zechariah 9, 11 the king will come to shepherd and to restore his people.
[00:04:48] The king will come to shepherd and to restore his people.
[00:04:53] So you must submit to his rule and follow him. The king will come to shepherd and to restore his people. So you must submit to his rule and follow him.
[00:05:02] We'll start by reading the first eight verses of chapter nine.
[00:05:08] The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach, and Damascus is its resting place.
[00:05:16] For the Lord has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel, and on Hamath also, which borders on it. Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. Tyre has built herself a rampart, and heaped up silver like dust, and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
[00:05:32] But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her power on the sea, and she shall be Devoured by fire.
[00:05:41] Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid. Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish. Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded, the king shall perish from Gaza. Ashkelon shall be uninhabited.
[00:05:54] A mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod. And I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
[00:06:00] I will take away its blood from its mouth and its abominations from between its teeth. It too shall be a remnant for our God. It shall be like a clan in Judah. And Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.
[00:06:13] Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, so that none shall march to and fro. No oppressor shall again march over them. For now I see with my own eyes.
[00:06:25] Point number one.
[00:06:26] Follow the shepherd king who reigns and restores. Follow the shepherd king who reigns and restores.
[00:06:36] So this first part, this oracle, this prophetic speech begins kind of ominously. The Lord declares that his word is against Hadrach, Damascus. These are two places that were near Israel, but not in it.
[00:06:51] But the idea to focus on here is that God has an eye on mankind. We see that in the very first verse. The Lord has an eye on mankind. So all the tribes of Israel, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, he sees it all.
[00:07:09] Now, if you're like me, the very first thing I thought of when I was thinking about God's eye on all of mankind, I thought of the Eye of Sauron.
[00:07:17] But it's actually quite different than this side. The Lord sees absolutely everything at all times and in every place.
[00:07:24] There are no tactics that can help anyone to evade the sight of the Lord.
[00:07:29] So the people of mankind, even us today, you know, we have no elven cloaks to conceal ourselves. We have no way of hiding in with a bunch of orcs. There's no distraction at the Black Gate that can draw his attention away. The Lord sees all flesh. He sees all of mankind.
[00:07:49] So even though verse three gives some examples of how Tyre has made itself strong and wealthy, their sin is fully in view for God. And so verse four tells us he will judge them.
[00:08:04] Possessions will be taken.
[00:08:07] Power will be destroyed. The whole city will be burned.
[00:08:12] And the Lord is not just kind of arbitrarily choosing some, you know, interesting ways to judge this city. He's actually pointing out the very things about the city that it takes pride in.
[00:08:25] They were very wealthy.
[00:08:27] It was like an island with walls that had a bridge to it. This city, it would have been really impervious to any land attack. So that's why they're so powerful. And so wealthy. But the Lord will attack them from the sea, which is supposed to be their stronghold. The Lord says he will attack them from the sea. All the wealth they've built with their military power will be taken.
[00:08:49] And even though this city is surrounded by water, what does it say will happen? They will be burned.
[00:08:55] The Lord's judgment is going to be thorough, and it will attack the pride strongholds of the peoples.
[00:09:02] To students, the moral of the story is that you must follow Jesus. You know, there is a judgment for people that do not follow Jesus. You must follow Jesus. He's described here as the shepherd king.
[00:09:16] You know, isn't it so easy for us, like this city, trusting in its wealth and power, its positioning?
[00:09:23] It's so easy to trust in worldly things.
[00:09:27] You know, you might be great at something, you might be great at school, you might be great in a sport, maybe even both.
[00:09:34] But maybe that's not it. Maybe you rely, like I do, often on a daily and weekly routine. If this routine gets messed up, then you're kind of off. You're less productive, you don't feel right. Or maybe you rely even on something super normal, family and friends, expecting them to always be there for you. But if we think about it in a moment, you know, you can have a tragic accident that ruins your ability to be good in school or good in a sport.
[00:10:02] You might have to move or change schools. That throws off your whole routine. If you're depending on that, it obliterates it. You might lose a family member or a friend to death or a move or something else.
[00:10:14] All of it can disappear.
[00:10:17] So if this is how you live and operate, trusting in anything, you can fill in the blank with whatever you might trust, trust in.
[00:10:24] You are always at risk of losing everything.
[00:10:28] Nothing is permanent and sure on this earth.
[00:10:33] But the Lord, the shepherd king is permanent, eternal and sure. And so you should trust in the shepherd king and you should follow him.
[00:10:43] Now, I keep calling him this shepherd king. This exact phrase is not anywhere in our text. But I do believe these passages describe him this way.
[00:10:52] So chapter nine, verse nine. We didn't read that, but chapter nine, verse nine says, rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you.
[00:11:03] Righteous and having salvation is he humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. This is talking about Christ Jesus is that king. He is that king that is coming to them.
[00:11:18] And this imagery reminds us hopefully, of all those visions which center around someone who would be both priest and king, he's picking up on this and reminding them again that the king is coming.
[00:11:31] And since the king is coming, we should be ready. We need to take the proper precautions. We need to look out for him and be ready, you know, tonight, if, in a little bit, while I'm teaching, if Jason Black stands up in the back and shouts, fire, what are you going to do?
[00:11:51] Well, you might scream, but here's what you should do. You should maybe take a quick second to look, where's the fire? And exit in a safe way. Take the proper precautions. Look for it. Take the proper precautions.
[00:12:03] You know, if a good friend tells you that there's something in your teeth, what are you going to do?
[00:12:09] Well, you're going to go to the mirror, look at it and get it out. You're going to take the appropriate action after finding it.
[00:12:16] Now, if you hear a tornado siren go off, what do you do?
[00:12:20] You go and look for the tornado. And once you see it, you take the appropriate course of action.
[00:12:25] That's what you do.
[00:12:27] No, that's what you do.
[00:12:29] The Jews should take this information that the king is coming to them, and they should look, look for him. And when they see him, they should do the appropriate action.
[00:12:41] So Zechariah's prophecy even helps them out. Even in this very verse, he helps them out a lot.
[00:12:47] Because this text is quoted in Matthew 21 and John 12 to show that Jesus fulfilled it. He rode in on a donkey.
[00:12:59] And so these verses are quoted, show. Look this king that's coming that rode in on a donkey. He. Here he is on a donkey. This really did happen. So, students, we too need to look for the king. Now. We don't need to look for the king in the same way the Israelites were told to in this passage, because he has come. This, this prophecy specifically has been fulfilled. But we must wait for him to come again. And even now, we must take the appropriate measures. Because he has come. He has come. You must do what, what is necessary. Avoid the fire, shelter from the tornado, pick the broccoli out of your teeth. You must trust in the king and then wait for him to come again.
[00:13:41] Because the king is still coming again, and he has already come to reign. He already reigns from heaven, and he's coming to establish that again on earth.
[00:13:52] And now in chapter nine, verses 10 through 17, we won't read all of those. We'll read some of them in a little bit. But this, these verses describe his reign, but he is coming again to restore.
[00:14:05] He's coming to restore.
[00:14:07] Now this King that's coming.
[00:14:10] We want to describe him further. I called him the shepherd king earlier. This king, he's not just a king, you know, King Charles of the United Kingdom. He's just a king. But this one is different.
[00:14:21] He's also a Shepherd.
[00:14:23] Chapter 10, verses 2 through 3. We read for the household gods. That are nonsense and the diviners see lies. They tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore, the people wander like sheep. They are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.
[00:14:40] My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I'll punish the leaders for the Lord of Hosts cares for his flock, the House of Judah. So the people lacked a good shepherd.
[00:14:54] In other words, their leaders have failed them. Their leaders have failed them. They need a good shepherd that will care for the sheep, that will love them, that will guide them, that will protect them, that will not lose them. They need a good shepherd. That verse tells us the Lord of hosts cares for the flock.
[00:15:15] The Lord does you too. Just like these Israelites, this remnant, you need a good shepherd. We all need a good shepherd.
[00:15:25] Some of you might know what it's like to wander without a shepherd.
[00:15:30] You're well aware that maybe your life feels meaningless. You feel like God is not guiding you, but you are constantly wandering into worse and worse temptations, worse and worse situations, worse and worse sins.
[00:15:45] You know, you might know that you are lost right now. You need a shepherd.
[00:15:49] You can't find your way back. Just like a sheep needs a shepherd to guide him or her back.
[00:15:55] You know you're lost and you need a good shepherd to come and find you.
[00:16:01] Now, others of you might do well to look at yourself and to consider I might be a lost sheep. You might feel confident about where you are, but maybe you actually are lost and you need to look in the mirror and face up to that.
[00:16:16] You might have even prayed a prayer before. You might have told a lot of people that you're a Christian. But you know there's no evidence.
[00:16:23] And you know you need a shepherd. Don't cover that up. Don't fool and trick yourself. Don't patch on wool onto your body and pretend to be a sheep. Just trust and follow the Lord and become one.
[00:16:36] You need a good shepherd too.
[00:16:40] John 10. The gospel of John 10, verses 14 through and 16. Tell us. Jesus tells us that I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. I lay down my life for the sheep.
[00:16:53] There will be one flock, one shepherd. So, students, there is a good shepherd. This good shepherd tracks down the lost one. If you Were sitting there knowing that you're lost. Hear this.
[00:17:06] The good shepherd is here. He's here. And you must put your trust in Him. He will find you. He will come to you and scoop you up.
[00:17:14] You must follow and trust him, or else you'll remain lost forever.
[00:17:19] But you who do trust in him, who trust in this shepherd King, you who trust in him. We want to know what are the marks of the sheep? You know, how do I.
[00:17:33] What is so great about being a sheep in this guy's flock?
[00:17:36] Well, I would tell you it's wonderful, but this chapter or these chapters describe for us what it's what being a sheep in the flock of the Lord is so. Number one, the sheep are protected by the shepherd.
[00:17:50] Chapter nine, verse 15 says, the Lord of hosts will protect them.
[00:17:56] They are protected by the shepherd.
[00:17:58] You might still suffer in this life. In fact, you almost certainly will.
[00:18:03] But sheep enjoy his eternal protection.
[00:18:07] If you trust in Christ, you cannot be lost Again, back to John, chapter 10, verse 29 says that no one is able to snatch the sheep out of his hand. You are protected and safe in his hand.
[00:18:21] Number two.
[00:18:23] The sheep receive all they need from the shepherd. The sheep receive all they need from the Shepherd. Again, chapter 9, verse 15 says that they shall devour and tread down the slingstones, and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched with like the corners of the altar.
[00:18:44] All that you need will be taken care of if you trust in Christ. Again, chapter 10, verse 1 says, Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring, rain from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain to everyone, the vegetation in the field.
[00:19:00] He provides everything. You know what that means?
[00:19:04] It means no more worrying.
[00:19:08] You don't need to worry.
[00:19:12] And I hope that that is refreshing news, or at least a refreshing reminder to a lot of you who feel the burden of significant worry and anxiety day to day.
[00:19:24] No more worrying. If you trust in him, you have no more worry. That is wonderful news. Sheep receive all they need from the shepherd. Number three.
[00:19:35] Sheep reflect the beauty and goodness of the shepherd.
[00:19:40] Sheep reflect the beauty and goodness of the shepherd. Chapter nine, verse 16 says, on that day the Lord their God will save them as the flock of his people. For like the jewels of a crown, they shall shine on his land.
[00:19:56] For how great is his goodness and how great his beauty, the sheep are likened there to jewels of a crown that shine on the land.
[00:20:08] If he intends to make you, as a Christian, a reflection of his beauty, in eternity, then I think that should cause us to look inward and think, how can I, if I'm a Christian, shine for Christ now? How can I behave like a jewel of a crown? How can I reflect his beauty and his image to the world and the people around me?
[00:20:29] So ask yourself some questions. Maybe. Do your words make it obvious that you're a Christian?
[00:20:35] Do they tend to blur the lines? A transcript was put into a book of, you know, between you and your friends, day to day. Would it be obvious which one of those people is a Christian? Would it be kind of difficult to interpret?
[00:20:50] Do your actions reflect the gentle and loving Lord Jesus Christ, the gentle and good shepherd, or are they unloving and mean and abrasive?
[00:21:02] You know, think of all these ways that you can reflect the beauty and goodness of the shepherd if you trust in him.
[00:21:11] Number four.
[00:21:12] Sheep shall be mighty because of the shepherd. Sheep shall be mighty because of the shepherd. We don't always think of sheep as mighty, but they will be because of this shepherd. Chapter 10, verse 5 says, they shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets. They shall fight because the Lord is with them. And they shall put to shame the riders on horses.
[00:21:37] The Lord intends, if it's not clear enough, to rule on the earth forever and he intends to do it with his sheep, he's going to rule with his sheep. So if you're united to Christ through faith, then you get to share in the victory that he will win.
[00:21:55] So don't cower. If you are going to be mighty because of the Lord and you are going to share in his victory, don't cower in the face of temptation.
[00:22:04] Don't fear temptation. Resist the devil. If you couldn't do it, the Bible wouldn't say, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
[00:22:13] Be mighty if you trust the Lord.
[00:22:17] You know, one person in church history talks a lot about battling the devil that I love to read. And you guys may have heard of him. His name is Martin Luther, and Reformation Day is coming up in just a few weeks.
[00:22:30] I know you guys all were anticipating Reformation Day, so, so much. Anyway, Martin Luther said so. When the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this.
[00:22:42] I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where he is, there I shall be also.
[00:22:55] Luther also said the best way to drive out the devil, if he will not Yield to texts of Scripture is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn. I just like that one a lot.
[00:23:08] You can be mighty. You can resist temptation. You can always find a way out with the Lord. If he is your shepherd, he gives you the ability and power to do that.
[00:23:19] Number five.
[00:23:21] Sheep flock to the shepherd. They come to. They flock to the shepherd because he has compassion on them.
[00:23:30] Chapter 10, verse 6 says, I will strengthen the house of Judah and I will save the house of Joseph. I'll bring them back because I have compassion on them. And they shall be as though I had not rejected them. For I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.
[00:23:45] And then if you look down at verses eight and nine, he says, I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them and they shall be as many as they were before. Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me. And with their children they shall live and return.
[00:24:06] The Lord has sheep all over the world among the nations, but he will call all of them home one day. He will whistle for them, and they will come either in death or in his return. They will all return to him and be together as one flock. So even now, as you, if you have faith in Christ, as you await that day, listen to his voice.
[00:24:31] Now, what I don't mean is to go sit in your room quietly and just force yourself to hear a voice.
[00:24:38] Something I tried when I was young because somebody told me it was a good idea.
[00:24:43] Instead, go to your room, dust off your Bible. If you need to open it and read, read, read it and listen to him. Obey His Word, love His Word, and read it until you master it.
[00:24:56] I'll help you understand that takes a lifetime. But read it until you master it, until you know it front and back and everything in it.
[00:25:06] The sheep are restored by this shepherd king.
[00:25:11] So notice in chapter 9, verse 11, that their salvation and restoration depends on the blood of the covenant. I want to point out that I think that's important. This should point us toward, of course, the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.
[00:25:24] The same blood that we also remember when the Church partakes of the Lord's Supper together.
[00:25:30] So when Jesus implemented the Lord's Supper, he said the cup of wine was the blood of the new covenant. I think there's a connection here that Jesus is making.
[00:25:39] Now. The Lord's Supper is only for baptized Christians to take. So if you are a Christian and have been baptized, I know that's a number of you in this room, you have the opportunity to reflect on the blood of Christ and what the Savior has done for you. Every time the church does that together again, this Jesus picks up on this idea of the blood of the covenant, the redeeming blood that will restore and cleanse his people from sin.
[00:26:03] This is what the shepherd king does. So follow him.
[00:26:08] Point number two, Big point number two. Do not deny the good shepherd who offers favor and union.
[00:26:15] Do not deny the good shepherd who offers favor and union.
[00:26:20] So in chapter 11, what we read at the beginning of tonight, in response to the weak and failing leaders of Israel who are likened to shepherds that are bad shepherds, the Lord directs someone to quote shepherd the flock doomed to slaughter. It's in verse four.
[00:26:41] And he then paints a pretty morbid picture of Israel's leaders, right? They lead the people to their slaughter. That's not the sign of a good leader leading the people to slaughter. Right?
[00:26:53] Now, this made me think of, funny enough, 2nd Kings 22. You were just thinking the same thing, weren't you? 2nd Kings 22. When the high priest, Hilkiah, he just finds the book of the law. Now, the book of the law was the Bible. To them, it was Genesis through Deuteronomy. He just finds it as they're rearranging stuff in the temple.
[00:27:15] And he's the high priest.
[00:27:17] So teaching that book and knowing it is kind of like his whole job. And he didn't know where it was. He just stumbled upon it. And it's hard to tell in the text. It even kind of seems like he doesn't even. He's not even quite sure what it is. He sees this book. I think he knows it's important. He's heard of it, but he doesn't know it. So he has this scribe take it to King Josiah. King Josiah has, you know, the scribe reads it to him and he reacts as if he has never heard this book. He tears his clothes, mourns, and then he makes big reforms in the nation because of it.
[00:27:49] But I want to think about for who knows how long. This is pretty late in Israel history. Before they are exiled, just a couple kings before the exile of Judah, for who knows how long. The people had been led astray by these awful leaders, and that resulted in the exile. They have priests and kings that even know where the word of God is. They don't open it.
[00:28:14] You know, if you ever find yourself in a church that's not opening the word of God, you know, that should be an alarm bell. We want to be in this all the time, good shepherds, shepherd. With God's word open the prophets of Israel at that time, and the priests and the kings were bad shepherds and bad leaders.
[00:28:37] Verse 7 then says that the Lord would become the shepherd of this flock, this flock who is doomed, which is Israel.
[00:28:48] So that next section describes what this is talking about. Jesus. It's describing what Jesus would do and what would happen to Israel because of the new covenant he would establish.
[00:28:57] So we must not deny Jesus, who is the good shepherd.
[00:29:03] He offers favor and union. We must not deny Jesus. He's the good shepherd.
[00:29:08] The shepherd in this dramatic depiction has two staffs, you might remember from the reading. And he breaks the one that is called favor in verse 10, which says, and I took my staff favor and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
[00:29:25] Now, the word underneath that word peoples is actually a little confusing. It's a little bit different than a word we might use to refer to nations. So I think this is really, actually referring to the people of Israel specifically.
[00:29:40] And that makes sense with the covenant that God had with the people. So what is going to happen is that Jesus, the good shepherd, will break his covenant of favor for Israel.
[00:29:53] Now, Hebrews 8 talks about this. Hebrews 813 tells us this. In speaking of a new covenant, Jesus makes the first one obsolete. And Hebrews 8:6 says, but as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
[00:30:14] So now when you hear covenant, think of a promise that shows how God relates to his people. What Hebrews is telling us is that Christ changed it.
[00:30:22] This covenant with Israel, he. He's saying it is annulled. It is considered obsolete, as the author of Hebrews says.
[00:30:31] And so you today should not deny the good shepherd because he has made better promises. He has made a better and sufficient and eternal sacrifice that by faith you can be considered righteous and live with him and be a part of his flock.
[00:30:47] Israel. However, and this is what he was talking about, Israel rejected and crucified him. So why this staff is broken? And his death and resurrection, you know, in his death and resurrection, that old covenant that he had with Israel was made obsolete. It was made old news.
[00:31:06] There's a new covenant that promises that anyone from any nation can trust and follow Jesus and be one of his sheep, be among his people.
[00:31:17] Now, in this depiction, he doesn't just break the one staff, he breaks his other staff, which is called union. Verse 14 he says, Then I broke my second staff union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
[00:31:30] So the union or this connection, this brotherhood between his people, will be broken in order to make way for his people that come from all nations. What this means for us is that you must not deny the good shepherd, like Israel rejected Jesus.
[00:31:48] For those that put their faith in Christ, the good shepherd, there. There are two promises wrapped up in here. Now, these are. These are judgments that are being predicted, these broken staffs. These are judgments that come upon Israel. But there are promises kind of in the midst of them for us.
[00:32:07] The first one is that for those who put their faith in Christ, you will be favored.
[00:32:13] You will be favored. And the Lord does favor his beloved children, which I think is such a comforting truth. We see this idea through the Scriptures. Psalm 5:12 says, for you bless the righteous, O Lord. You cover him with favor as with a shield.
[00:32:29] Psalm 84:11.
[00:32:31] For the Lord God is a Son and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor.
[00:32:36] No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
[00:32:40] In Psalm 90:17.
[00:32:42] Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands upon us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.
[00:32:50] The Lord's favor in these psalms is like a shield that protects you and covers you from judgment and the schemes of the devil. His favor is a shield.
[00:33:01] The Lord's favor is a gift.
[00:33:03] It's a gift that God gives to those who follow the good shepherd.
[00:33:09] The Lord's favor also helps to establish the work that you do. It helps to establish nothing you do. For the Lord will be for nothing.
[00:33:17] Even if it doesn't seem like it, it is for his glory.
[00:33:21] So you receive this favor from the Lord. And also, if you trust in Christ, you will be unified.
[00:33:28] Christ has begun to, we say, reconcile. That means bring together people of all nations to himself. We've talked about this theme multiple times already in this book. The one nation of Israel, you know, back in Israel, history divided into two, you know, the northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah, and this that happened half a millennium before this passage was written.
[00:33:51] But now they can look forward to the bringing in and unifying of all sorts of people into God's one family.
[00:34:00] And so what should we do with that, knowing that we're in the midst of the fulfillment of that and looking to an even greater fulfillment in the future? Well, you should pray for unity in the church.
[00:34:11] That's the idea. Pray for unity in the church.
[00:34:15] It reflects heaven, it reflects God's character, his intention, to bring people together. So we should do what it takes to unify the church.
[00:34:25] So in simple, it can be simple, simple ways you can do this. You can invite in people that are different than you. You can.
[00:34:33] And I'm not necessarily just talking about like how people look, how, who they are, where they come from, their personality type. People are all sorts of different, you know, mixtures of personality and how they look and like so many different things, I can't even listen. Whoever it is, love them, invite them in, even if it's just to play a game or to have a conversation, get to know them. These sorts of things build unity in the church and reflect the gospel to the world.
[00:35:00] And in doing that, we are obeying and following the good shepherd. So do not deny the good shepherd, Jesus Christ. And we've learned he calls his sheep to himself.
[00:35:13] So do you hear him calling? Do you might feel a tug on your heart, a knot in your stomach, a flicker in your mind. Now, our feelings don't always dictate reality, but if you feel drawn to the Lord, don't ignore him. Respond to him.
[00:35:28] Give your life to Him.
[00:35:31] Have faith that Christ fulfilled everything we just read, that he lived and died and rose again on your behalf.
[00:35:39] He promises he's eternal favor and a perfect union with his beloved people if you trust in him and so follow the shepherd king. And you can't stop him from being king. He's already reigning. So you need to submit to his rule and bow down to him. And if you do this, you will be restored, restored.
[00:35:59] Not to some time whenever you may have peaked. Now, maybe a lot of you haven't peaked yet, but it's not restoring you back to some time where you felt really good about yourself. He's restoring you to an original perfection that you have not even experience. The original perfection he intended for all of mankind, a perfect and glorified existence.
[00:36:19] And in, in doing this we, we know and remember that the main idea that the King will come to shepherd and to restore his people in this way. And so what do we need to do? Well, you must submit to his rule and follow him. Let's pray.
[00:36:37] Father, thank you for your word. Lord, we pray that we would remember the king that is coming, that we would be bowing down and submitting to your rule even now, seeking to know your word that we may obey you and follow you closer. Lord, we praise you that you are a good shepherd who loves and protects and guides the sheep that you call us and we come, that you hold us in your hand and that we cannot be snatched back out. Lord, we praise you for that reality. We pray all this in your son's name. Amen.
