Some weeks ago, when I was speaking on
Wednesday nights, you remember I dealt with the
book of Zechariah.
And I brought expositions from that book in
your hearing.
Then I said that when I spoke again
on another Wednesday night, I would conclude the
study of Zechariah.
Well, there are really two more studies in
Zechariah.
And I'm going to take the second-to
-last one tonight.
And then, the Lord willing, when I speak
again on a Wednesday night, I'll bring the
final one on the final chapter.
I'd like to ask you now, if you
will, to turn to the book of Zechariah,
if you have your Bibles with you.
Zechariah is the second-to-last book in
the Old Testament.
Just get Matthew, and all you have to
do is to go back from Matthew over
Malachi, and then the next book will be
Zechariah.
Second-to-last book in the Old Testament
Scriptures.
And if you have your Bibles with you,
I'd be so glad if you would turn
to these passages that I'm going to expound
tonight, because I'm afraid you'll not get very
much from them unless you have the Word
of God before you.
Turn to the ninth chapter of Zechariah.
We dealt with the first eight chapters.
Now I want to commence with the ninth
chapter.
So turn, if you will, tonight to the
ninth chapter of the book of Zechariah, and
the ninth and tenth verses, the ninth and
the tenth verses of this chapter.
Now the remarkable thing about this prophecy is
that sometimes the prophet writes about the first
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and immediately
after, in the very next verse, he writes
about the second coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
That's exactly what happens here, in the ninth
chapter of Zechariah, verses nine and ten.
In the ninth verse, he speaks about the
first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
then in the tenth verse, the very next
verse, he speaks about the second coming, or
the return of Christ.
Look at that ninth verse, if you will,
for a moment.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
Zion, of course, is another name for Jerusalem.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, thy King cometh, the King of Jerusalem,
the Lord of lords, the King of kings,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.
He is just and having salvation, lowly and
riding upon an ass.
And upon a colt, the foal of an
ass.
Now you know as well as I do
the story in the New Testament Scriptures, when
this prophecy was fulfilled.
Jesus sent his disciples to get this donkey,
upon which he was going to ride triumphantly
into the city of Jerusalem.
And the multitude, you remember, got branches of
palm trees, threw them down on the road
in front of him, and he rode on
that donkey, and his disciples walked along with
him, and the multitude gathered, and he entered
the city of Jerusalem.
Now all that was prophesied between five and
six hundred years before it took place.
It was prophesied in this verse.
Here it is very plainly stated.
More than five hundred years before it happened.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.
And you remember how the people shouted.
And you remember how they rejoiced, as Jesus
rode on the donkey into the city of
Jerusalem.
Behold, thy King cometh.
Thy King, the King of Jerusalem, the Messiah,
the Lord Jesus.
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.
He is just and having salvation, lowly and
riding upon an ass, and upon a colt,
the foal of an ass.
How are you going to explain that, unless
you accept inspiration?
How could any of the prophets living five
or six hundred years before the event, how
could they write all about it, definitely about
it, five hundred years or more before it
was going to take place?
If you want proof that the Bible is
the word of God, all you have to
do is to turn to the prophecies of
God's word, and you'll find that the predictions
are clear and unmistakable, and that they were
fulfilled, a great many of them, when Jesus
came the first time to this earth of
ours.
Jesus did ride upon a donkey.
The multitudes did rejoice.
There was singing.
As they entered Jerusalem, and this verse was
literally fulfilled when Jesus entered the city of
Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey.
Now when you come to the tenth verse,
you have something entirely different.
Between the ninth and tenth verses, there is
a period of two thousand years or more.
Two thousand years or more between these two
verses.
The church age is not seen in the
Old Testament scriptures.
Nothing is said about the church.
Therefore the prophet skips over the church age,
and he speaks about the second coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ, his return, as though
it happened immediately after his first coming.
Look at what it says in the middle
of the tenth verse.
Start in the very center of the verse.
And he shall speak peace unto the nations.
He shall speak peace unto the nations.
I think perhaps in the authorized version it
reads, unto the Gentiles, I'm not sure.
But in the Scofield reference Bible, the word
nations is used.
He shall speak peace unto the nations.
And his dominion shall be from sea even
to sea, and from the river even to
the ends of the earth.
Now that has nothing whatever to do with
his first coming.
The other verse, verse nine, has solely to
do with his first coming.
The next verse, verse ten, has nothing to
do with his first coming, but has everything
to do with his second coming.
Two thousand years or more have gone by
before the second verse, verse ten at least,
is fulfilled.
Then it says when Christ comes again, he
shall speak peace unto the nations.
I do not need to tell you that
there will be no peace on this earth
until the millennial reign of Christ.
There will be war and rumors of war
and disturbances of all kinds.
And there will be no peace whatever among
the nations of this world until Christ gets
back.
Two thousand years have passed already since he
was here, or almost two thousand years.
Now when he comes back again, the first
thing he'll do will be to speak peace
unto the nations.
And for a thousand years there will be
peace.
There will be no more war for one
thousand years while Jesus Christ takes over the
reins of government and rules and reigns in
millennial splendor and power and glory.
He shall speak peace unto the nations.
And his dominion, his reign, shall be from
sea even to sea and from the river
unto the ends of the earth.
In other words, it's going to be a
universal reign.
He'll reign over the entire world.
For a thousand years he'll dominate every nation
and he'll be the ruler.
And there will be peace in this world
and Christ will sit on the throne of
his Father David and he'll reign in power
and in glory.
Now turn to the tenth chapter and again
verses nine and ten.
The tenth chapter and verses nine and ten.
Isn't it strange that we have those same
verses in the ninth chapter?
We have dealt with verses nine and ten
in the ninth chapter.
Now we turn to the tenth chapter and
in this chapter we also deal with verses
nine and ten.
The same two verses.
What do these two verses say?
These two verses present the two-fold ministry
of our Lord just as the other two
verses did.
For these two verses tell about Jesus Christ
coming again and reigning upon this earth.
And this is what it says in verse
nine.
And I will sow them among the peoples
and they shall remember me in far countries
and they shall live with their children and
turn again.
Here you have the dispersion of the Jews
as a nation.
Now when you come to the next verse
you have the regathering of the Jews in
these two verses.
The dispersion in the first verse the regathering
in the next verse.
Let me read that first verse again, verse
nine.
And I will sow them among the peoples.
Did that happen?
Was that prophecy fulfilled?
Were the Jews dispersed among the nations of
the world?
You know they were.
You know that after the destruction of Jerusalem
70 A.D. the Jews were dispersed among
all the nations of the world.
And I doubt if you can find a
single country on the face of this earth
where there are no Jews.
They're in every country throughout the world.
That's what the prophet says here.
500 years or more before it happened I
will sow them among the peoples and they
shall remember me in far countries.
Far countries.
Look at the number of Jews there are
in the United States of America.
America is a long way away from Jerusalem.
It's a far country.
Look at the number of Jews there are
in Russia.
Russia is a long way away from Jerusalem.
It's a far country.
And yet you find the Jews in Russia.
You find the Jews in America.
You find the Jews in Canada.
You find the Jews in England.
You find them in all the countries of
the world far away from Jerusalem.
How did the prophet know that?
If it wasn't given to him by God
how could he be so sure about it?
How could he tell us that the Jews
were to be dispersed among all the nations
of the world?
And they shall remember me in far countries.
And they shall live with their children and
turn again.
Then in the very next verse following the
dispersion you have the restoration the regathering of
the Jews.
Verse 9 has been fulfilled.
Verse 10 is yet to be fulfilled.
It has not yet been fulfilled.
It's the restoration the regathering of Israel.
Verse 10 reads like this.
I will bring them again also out of
the land of Egypt.
They were brought once out of the land
of Egypt when they first came to Palestine.
God says he's going to bring them out
again.
All the Jews that are in Egypt will
be brought out again.
I will bring them again also out of
the land of Egypt and gather them out
of Assyria and I will bring them into
the land of Gilead and Lebanon back in
their own land their own country and place
shall not be found for them.
There will be so many Jews when they're
regathered that it's going to be difficult to
find places for them even in their own
land.
They will go back in great multitudes.
So in these two verses you have first
the dispersion of the Jews and then you
have the regathering of the Jews and in
the ninth chapter we have first the coming
of Jesus Christ as a babe.
In the next verse we have the return
of Jesus Christ in glory.
Both comings of Christ in the two verses.
In the tenth chapter we have the scattering
of the Jews and we have the regathering
of the Jews.
Look at verse 12 and I will strengthen
them in the Lord and they shall walk
up and down in his name saith the
Lord so that when the Jews come back
it will be a great and glorious experience.
They'll come back strong strengthened in the Lord
walk up and down in the name of
the Lord.
Now we turn to chapter 11 and again
there are two verses just as in chapter
9 and 10 and I want you to
look at these two verses in chapter 11
verses 12 and 13 this is what it
says in verse 12 and I said unto
them if ye think good give me my
price.
Now the prophet is speaking here Zechariah if
it seem good give me my price and
if not forbear shall they wait for my
price thirty pieces of silver.
Now you know when this was fulfilled in
Christ you know that he was sold by
Judas for thirty pieces of silver will you
tell me how Zechariah knew this five hundred
years or more before it happened and how
he didn't make a mistake and say forty
pieces of silver or twenty five pieces of
silver why did he say thirty pieces of
silver if this isn't God's word if this
isn't revealed by God if this isn't given
by the Holy Spirit then how is it
that it's so true and so exact and
so right it was thirty pieces of silver
that were given for Jesus Christ and Zechariah
writes of it way back here in the
eleventh chapter in the twelfth verse if ye
think good give me my price and if
not forbear so they weighed for my price
thirty pieces of silver and the Lord said
unto me cast it unto the potter a
lordly price that I was priced at of
them and I took the thirty pieces of
silver and cast them to the potter in
the house of the Lord now do you
remember how Judas came back to the priest
and how he wanted to return the thirty
pieces of silver when he found that Jesus
was actually arrested and was going to be
crucified he never dreamed of what happened Jesus
had worked so many miracles Judas thought he
could easily work another and escape from the
high priest and the other priests but this
time he didn't escape this time he didn't
work a miracle this time he allowed himself
to be taken and Judas sold him for
thirty pieces of silver and here it is
all predicted prophesied in the eleventh chapter of
Zechariah verses twelve and thirteen let me read
them again and I said unto them if
ye think good give me my price and
if not forbear so they weighed for my
price thirty pieces of silver not twenty-five
not twenty not forty but thirty and the
Lord said unto me cast it unto the
potter well that's what Judas did when the
priest would not take the money back he
just threw the money down on the floor
the priest said we can't keep it it's
the price of blood we'll have to give
it to the potter and so they went
out and they bought the potter's field with
the thirty pieces of silver and they cast
them to the potter in the house of
the Lord a prophecy literally fulfilled more than
five hundred years before it happened showing conclusively
that this is the word of the living
God and that God himself through his spirit
has spoken all right now you turn to
the twelfth chapter and we're going to look
at a very very wonderful important verse another
prediction literally fulfilled by Jesus Christ the twelfth
chapter of Zechariah and the tenth verse again
isn't this strange isn't it strange that this
verse should be the tenth verse just as
in the ninth chapter one of the verses
was the tenth verse and here in the
twelfth chapter again it's the tenth verse and
I will pour upon the house of David
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit
of grace and of supplication now God is
speaking here and he is saying that there's
a day coming when I'll pour out upon
the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of
supplication and they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced now if crucifixion had been
a Jewish custom then we might understand it
we might then say it was a good
guess but there was no such thing as
crucifixion so far as the Jews were concerned
they did not crucify their victims crucifixion was
a Roman custom and the Romans dispatched their
victims by means of crucifixion if this verse
is not by the inspiration of God then
how did the writer know that the hands
and the feet of Jesus Christ would be
pierced that he would die by crucifixion they
didn't know it God revealed it to them
and in this verse we have the revelation
they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced and you remember how they gathered around
the cross how they stood and gazed at
him as he hung there on the cross
between the two thieves looking upon the one
who had been pierced who had been crucified
and they mourn for him they shall mourn
for him as one mourneth for his only
son and shall be in bitterness for him
as one that is bitterness for his firstborn
when the Jews see Jesus Christ again when
they see the nail prints in his hands
the mark of a spear thrust in his
side the nail pierced feet when the Jews
see him again as he now is they'll
remember that two thousand years before they pierced
him they caused those wounds they demanded of
Pilate that he be crucified the Romans in
obedience to the wishes of the Jews to
crucify him his feet and his hands were
pierced how did they know the prophet how
did he know that this would be the
way that the Messiah would die only because
it was revealed to him by God and
so this verse says I will pour upon
the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem this will be in the day
when he comes again the spirit of grace
and of supplication and they shall look upon
me whom they have pierced the Lord Jesus
Christ now this is still future he hasn't
come yet again when he does come they'll
look upon the one they pierced the one
they crucified they shall mourn for him as
one mourneth for his only son and shall
be in bitterness for him as one that
is in bitterness for his firstborn this prophecy
will be literally fulfilled when Jesus comes again
now the thirteenth chapter and the first verse
in that day there shall be a fountain
open to the house of David in other
words to the Jewish nation and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness
yes when Jesus comes again he is going
to cleanse the Jewish nation a fountain will
be opened by him and the Jews as
a nation will be cleansed from their sins
as they look upon the one they pierced
and they'll bow to him and recognize him
as their Lord and their master now look
at verse six and one shall say unto
him what are these wounds in thine hands
what are these wounds in thine hands then
he shall answer those with which I was
wounded in the house of my friends now
look at this wonderful seventh verse awake oh
soul against my shepherd and against the man
who is my fellow for the
remaining portion of Dr. Smith's message please turn
this tape over sometimes
about his second coming it's very easy to
distinguish between the two this verse has to
do with his first coming when the shepherd
was smitten crucified put to death and the
sheep his disciples were scattered do you remember
how it was literally fulfilled they all forsook
him the New Testament says when the Roman
soldiers arrested him it says about his disciples
they all forsook him and fled not even
Peter remained they all forsook him they all
fled the sheep they were scattered and Zechariah
tells us more than 500 years before it
happened that it was going to take place
he says here awake oh sword against my
shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ the swords of
the Romans and against the man who against
the man who is my fellow sent the
Lord of hosts smite the shepherd Jesus Christ
was smitten and the sheep will be scattered
and the disciples were scattered they all forsook
him and fled the New Testament fulfills this
prediction right to the letter the sheep were
scattered and I will turn my hand upon
the little ones now when I speak to
you again the next Wednesday night I preach
I'm going to take the final chapter of
this great prophecy of Zechariah because the last
chapter is the greatest chapter in the book
and the entire chapter is a detailed prediction
of the Lord Jesus Christ and we'll take
this chapter when we meet again and see
what Zechariah has to tell us about the
Lord Jesus Christ our Savior what he has
to tell about his first coming what he
has to tell about his second coming and
the last chapter is so interesting so striking
so amazing that you cannot study it without
realizing that God gave to the prophet the
prediction of what was going to happen in
the days ahead some of these things have
already happened now happened when Jesus Christ came
the first time others will happen when he
comes the second time but they're all going
to take place they're all going to be
fulfilled right to the letter I hope when
we meet again you'll be here with your
Bibles and I wish I wish you would
read the 14th chapter very carefully word for
word before I expound it when we gather
once again on a Wednesday night shall we
bow together in prayer every head bowed and
every eye closed let us pray our father
we give thee thanks for thy thou knowest
father that the prophecies of thy are true
not because they were fulfilled but because the
prophecies are true not because we believe they're
true but father because your word is already
settled in heaven and therefore as we have
gathered here tonight we know that we can
trust in thee we can walk in thee
and just as sure as your prophecies are
so your guidance and the truth of your
word is to each one of us father
may we go from this place settled in
our own hearts that we're ready for the
coming of thy son and that we're walking
in the truth of thy word for it's
in Jesus name we pray amen