Partakers Christmas Thought 8 December 2021 – Christmas 11

Partakers Christmas Thought

8 December 2021

Looking Ahead to Christmas – Part 11

1 Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime;
it is the LORD who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
2 The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
3 ‘My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders;
for the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg, from him the battle-bow,
from him every ruler.
5 Together they will be like warriors in battle
trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.
They will fight because the LORD is with them,
and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.

(Zechariah 10:1-5)

During the time of Zechariah, the Temple was being rebuilt. The Temple, as you may or may not be aware, was central to Jewish worship. Indeed, central to Jewish life. But who would help give advice and solve the multitude of problems they were facing? Who cared about them? Well, Zechariah speaks into their situation with wise words. He has already likened the nation of Israel as being like sheep, and that God is their shepherd

“Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over his land. “ (Zechariah 9:16)

Throughout Zechariah 10, it is repeated again and again, that God will care for and bless them. But in order to receive the blessing and care, the nation of Israelites must respond appropriately!

In the podcast today we continue looking ahead to Christmas and its consequences, by seeing what the prophet Zechariah had to say concerning the coming Messiah’s leadership. Zechariah call Israel to respond to God, but how are Israel to respond to God? How does Zechariah describer the leadership of the coming Messiah? How does any of this have relevancy for Jesus Christ?

 

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