Although I can’t claim I was the first to do so, I have found something very curious in my readings today. The passage I’m about to take you through comes out of the book of Zechariah, which my handy dandy Everyday Guide to the Bible tells me has more prophecies about Jesus than any other Old Testament prophet. While I can’t authoritatively say whether this is true or false, I can say that I already see how much Zechariah was talking about Jesus. Zechariah 2:10-11 reads: “The Lord says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you. Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me to you.”
I am coming to live among you, said the Lord. We can look back on the course of history and understand this: the Lord Jesus Christ came to live among us on Christmas, a couple thousand years ago. Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they, too, will be my people. This was probably a bit startling to any Jew that actually understood what was going on. Up until this point, there was one nation joined to the Lord, and that was Israel (or two if you count the divided kingdoms separately). When Christ came, many more nations were joined to the Lord, many nations were adopted into the family of God, and they became his people in addition to the Israelites. This is why we can look back at promises God made to his people and apply them to us: when Christ came, the family expanded, and they all became God’s people as well. God’s love and delight and promises have extended beyond the Israelites to all who believe in Him, all because of the day that God came to live among us, Christmas.
Another vision Zechariah has is about his high priest, in Zechariah 3:1-9. I invite you to read this on your own, because right here I’m just going to highlight bits and pieces. The story starts off with Jeshua, high priest of Jerusalem in Zechariah’s time, standing before the angel of the Lord and before Satan. Satan was there making accusations against Jeshua (v. 1), but the Lord turns to Satan and says, “I, the Lord, reject you accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire” (v. 2). We too have been made priests of God (see 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6), so I would like to apply what we’re seeing here to our eventual arrival at heaven’s gate. Satan will have accusations of sin against us, but the Lord will reject them and snatch us from the fires of Hell.
Jeshua’s story does not end there. Zechariah writes that Jeshua’s clothes were filthy, so the angel of the Lord ordered that his filthy clothes be taken and said, in verse 4, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.” So Jeshua was given clean new clothes and a clean new priestly turban to match. I can only imagine that this is how it may be with us, that we will come to Jesus and he will reject the devil’s accusations and clothe us in righteousness, a clean and new unlike the rags we lived our mortal lives in.
Revelation 13:9-10 says, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.” Although I’m not sure how much of life is necessarily predestined as much as it is crafted by the choices of humanity, I can say that this is a challenging encouragement. We must keep sharing Jesus and endure persecution and stay faithful, because if we’re going to die for sharing our faith, we will. That’s just how it is. God just calls us to endure, and keep running, and not worry about if you are going to jail, or if you are going to die because of His name. I can’t say I know anyone who is in the line of fire of persecution and lackadaisical about it, but they must exist, because it is God’s call to lose yourself to gain eternal life.
Unless there is an Internet connection in heaven, I’m fairly sure those among you reading this are in fact living, so we have not made it yet. Therefore, we are still in our sinful mortal flesh. Because we have not been rid of our sinful nature yet, we are still in the process of losing it. Psalm 141:3-5 says, “Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong. Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don’t let me refuse it.” As you strive to remove what is not Christ in your life so that you may become deeper involved with Christ, pray these words so that you may be built up by God and those around you to the righteous character you are called to live.
As Christmas approaches, life is hectic among those frantically shopping for presents and preparing for parties and celebrations, but I hope you take the time to remember God and let him bring you peace in your heart and in your life.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! (Luke 2:14)
-Zachariah