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How God lays out prophecy in the books of Haggai and Zechariah
Fred R. Coulter—May 13, 2023
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One of the biggest things that people are deficient in, because they're not seeking the knowledge of God, is to understand that even IF we
- are the most educated in the world
- have the greatest number of degrees
- have the greatest following of people, for whatever
IFwe don't understand that everything comes from God, THEN what do we really know? Think about it!
- IFyou don't know God and you don't know that He is the Creator
- IFyou don't have any understanding of His plan
You can be the smartest richest person in the world, but it won't do you and good!
I have a report here of something that all of the scientists never knew, but it is astounding and it is: What Lies Beneath the Ocean? As we see the top of it! When you look at the ocean, you see this great expanse of ocean.
I remember when I was in the Army and we were on our way to Korea, when we were standing on the deck ready to load onto the troop ship, and you think WOW that's really a big troop ship. We all got on there and I was very lucky to get a middle bunk; they had them stacked four high. So, we got on there and then the ship went out past the Golden Gate Bridge. We were all looking out to see what was going on and it started to get rough and lot of us got seasick and vomiting over the edge of rail. It was quite an introduction to the Pacific Ocean.
Then you get out into the Pacific Ocean and there's nothing around you. You look everywhere! There it is! For all of you flat-Earthers, you better wise up. The Earth is round! There is something under the water that they did not understand until just recently.
From what they have discovered so far in the search that they have done in the Pacific Ocean. They have found that there are 19,000 volcanoes on the ocean floor, and they're active! When the lava comes out, because of the pressure of the water, it builds a mountain. Some of them are miles high. One in particular was six-miles high coming from the very depths of the ocean.
The government reported that two nuclear submarines of the United States crashed into one of those mountains and killed one of the crewmembers and all were injured. Then there is one right off the coast of Oregon—60 miles off the coast—which has a hole six miles across! They're worried that if that one blows off, there's going to be a big tsunami and a great earthquake along the Pacific coast.
How many remember what happened Fukushima, Japan, with the atomic production that they had there. There was an earthquake that actually moved the whole island six inches to the north and west. They had a big tsunami! Remember the pictures of the tsunami coming in and just wiping everything out.
So, as Eduardo said, we need to get to know God, because He has made everything! {note message: The Knowledge of God, by Eduardo Elizondo} Also, when these volcanoes work under the ocean, they put minerals into the water and it rises up. When they had a volcano in Alaska some years ago, there was all this ask that came down on the ocean. Then later there was abundant harvest of salmon and they traced it back to the volcano. We really don't know much, do we? Remember what it says in 1-Cor. 2 that the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard what God has prepared for those who love Him!
If you look at the picture that we can see of out there in the universe, you know that God has created it all. That it all holds together by the word and power of Jesus Christ! We need to keep that in mind! This is something to be our whole way of thinking of:
- how great God is
- how loving He is
- how merciful He is
- how kind He is
Yet, on the other hand, for those who go contrary to Him, He comes with wrath, anger and death! Here's the admonition for all of those who think they're intelligent, wise, smart and have two or three doctorate degrees after their names:
Isaiah 40:12: "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand…"
How much water is there on the earth? Really, when you get to it, we can't get along without water! How only would you last without water? Then on top of that, without food?
"…and meted out the heavens with a span?.…" (v 12).
Has any of us had enough power to stand up and there's a creation from what we say? NO! When you look at the heavens and see all that is there, and the beauty, power and vastness of it, our mind cannot comprehend it!
Then you watch like they've been running on the science channel recently about how the universe works. You have all of these astronomers speaking glibly about billions of years and traveling in space and all of this sort of thing. It hasn't dawned on them that you can't get very far from the earth. We're bound to the earth! The only way you can leave the earth a little bit is to take with you oxygen, food and water!
"…And who has comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD…" (vs 12-13).
That's quite statement! Let's look at reality, and what's important, which is every word of God is true, and it will not fail! Everything that has been created, God has made! There's no such thing as evolution! There is variation, but not evolution! All of the great minds we have read of recently, who profess themselves to be wise, very few even believe there's a God.
So God says that they are foolish! And the Greek word for foolish is 'moron'—that where we get the English word moron!
"…and who was His counselor that he might instruct Him?" (v 13).
Did God come down and ask anyone, 'Tell me what I should do.' Job tried it, and that's why we have the whole book of Job. Even when you do what God says, you give God the credit! That was the lesson of Job! He did what God said. Job mouthed the words of God, but got all exalted and inflated in his own ego and goodness. Job even said that he wanted an umpire between him and God so that God would know how righteous he was. God took care of him!
Verse 14: "With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and made known the way of understanding to Him?"
Think about this the next time you get inclined to think how great you are, or how much you know, whatever it may be, think about this:
Here's how God is compared to all the nations, all the people, all the kings and rulers, and in our world all of the scientists, elite, super rich, who think that they're so smart that they're going to improve on the Creation of God! Let's put all of that in perspective so we understand what God is telling us.
We have a nice globe in our meeting hall, and it shows all the nations, all the oceans, and there's more dark blue on there than there is land. Some of the dark blue goes seven miles deep from the surface of the water.
Verse 15: "Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket…"
Have you ever had a little dropper out of a small bottle, when you squeeze one drop, that's all the nations that have ever been compared to God and what He can do, and what He knows. Why is this important for us to understand? So that we can have, as Eduardo said, that relationship with God the way that we need it! So that we can understand the Word of God, and the things that God wants us to know, and in the way that He wants us to know.
Verse 17[transcriber's correction]: "All nations before Him… [past, present and future]…are as nothing; and they are counted by Him as less than nothing, and vanity."
He doesn't say that to put us down. He says that so we understand how great God is, and that we're make in His image and in His likeness. He has a great plan for us, and He wants to shall all of this with us. But it can't be accomplished by human means. It must be accomplished God's way!
Verse 18: "To whom then will you compare God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?" Then Isaiah talks about idols! Think about that!
Hardly any Catholic thinks anything about it when they walk into a Cathedral or whether they go to Rome and go to the so-called St. Peter's Basilica. They go in there and there are statues, pictures, paintings and all of these 'righteous' people running around doing the things that they do. They don't think about all the idols.
Those who are dedicated Catholics and are really 'religious' going to communion and they have their rosary session with the beads, they pray to Mary. If there's only one mediator between God and people—Jesus Christ—does any man have the power to declare what the Catholics have declared concerning Mary, that she was a perpetual virgin, that when she died she ascended to heaven bodily, and she is there to make intersession for those who pray to her. Vanity! Lies! Why? Because they don't read and understand the Word of God!
They could if they would obey Him, but God has put in the automatic blinding mechanisms that IF we read His Word and don't believe it, and do it, THEN we can't understand it. Then Satan is there to move in to fill in the vacuum every time that people turn their back on God. Then Isaiah talks about what the workman does and the goldsmith making the idol. Then he bows down to it and worships it. The God says:
Verse 21: "Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?"
The knowledge of God has been known! But people reject it!
Verse 22: "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers; it is He Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."
That's why today when we have all of these magnificent pictures of the universe that we ought to understand these words more than anybody!
Verse 23: "Who brings the rulers to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth as vanity. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, then He shall blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away like stubble" (vs 23-24).
Look at every civilization of the past, where are they? They're discovering some of them by digging them up; what God has already buried or covered over with jungle! Yet, do they come to God?
We need to know everything comes from God! Not one word of what He says is going to fail! That is so important.
I had a man recently write me an e-mailand he said, 'What is the government structure of CBCG? Is it like United Church of God or Living Church of God?
I sent him back an e-mail with the link to the booklet that he could download Is the Ministry the Government of God? And then the message that I gave on that The Sleight of Hand. What did Jesus say of those who were to be serving and teaching, even the apostles, and even Himself:
You're not to lord it over them! You're not present yourself as a great benefactor! You are to serve them! Who is greater, the one who serves, or the one who is being served? The one who serves!
That means that whatever God gives us—individually and all of us and to any of the elders or teachers—it all comes from God!
Whenever you have a situation where anyone thinks, like all the world thinks, that they can come and change the Word of God and change what God has said, they don't realize that they are setting themselves up as God! Think about that!
If you think you're going to improve on God, you're actually making yourself greater than God. Look at how many lives were destroyed in the Churches of God because ministers from the top down were told to rule over the brethren. No! We're to serve; we're to teach!
Verse 25: "'To whom then will you compare Me, or who is My equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, Who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number?" (vs 25-26).
Look at the trillions of stars! Amazing! We can't do anything without it coming from God!
"…He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power; not one fails" (v 26).
Then he comes back to how He's dealing with Jacob, and this is so true.
Verse 27: "Why do you say, O Jacob, and O Israel you speak, 'My way is hidden from the LORD and my cause is disregarded by my God?'"
- Why is that?
- Why is that happening?
If you watched the news this week, how man are going to come over the border as quickly as they can come? It fulfills one verse and a couple after that, that 'the stranger within you shall rise up high above you and you shall come down low.' Then like the men of Israel would say, 'Lord, why did You do that?' The answer is right there in Deut. 28, because you didn't serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness for all the things that He has given you!
As Paul wrote and spoke to those in Athens right there at the philosophical center of the world, and all of these philosophers to this day are glorified in advanced studies in universities and theological centers, as well: the philosophies of the pagans! Paul says that:
You have out there this inscription 'To the Unknown God' and I'm going to tell you that in Him you live, move and have your being. I'm preaching to you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, resurrected from the dead so that you may believe in Him—and not your philosophies—so that you may live!
What happened? Just a few believed! Amazing! The greatest minds in the world at that time at the Parthenon in Athens!
We have a lot to learn with what God has for us today!
- to be joyful in the Lord
- to be thankful in God
- to praise Him that He has done all of these things
- to praise Him so that we may have in our mind the right emotion and feeling toward Him
when we
- pray
- study
- deal with each other
We're to have the love of God dealing with each other!
John wrote that 'he who hates his brother or sister in his heart does not have the love of God.'
So all of those things are in play today with everything that we are looking at with the prophecies, circumstances, nations and what's happening here.
The book of Haggai is a very interesting book, indeed. This was as a time that Daniel prophesied of the 70-weeks prophecy. It's only two chapters but we're going to learn a lot from it.
You will see, especially in the minor prophets, and later in Zechariah that it's talking about what is present right before their eyes, what is future and then what is way future. It's kind of all mixed together kind of like scrambled eggs. You can't find the yolk and all the whites have turned yellow.
Sometimes that's the way the prophecies of God are. They're all mixed together and the only way we're going unmix it is that we understand about the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and God's Plan as depicted through that.
Remember it said in Dan. 9 that it would be 49 years in reconstructing the city and the temple. The people got discouraged because it was difficult.
Haggai 1:1: "In the second year of Darius the king in the sixth month…"
Darius took over as king of Babylon after Cyrus conquered it and then issued the decree for the Jews to go back to Jerusalem to build the temple. This is all early on here.
"…on the first day of the month, the Word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah…"
Sidebar: From Zerubbabel and Shealtiel that was the line that came down through the genealogy to Joseph, the husband of Mary. In Luke 3 you have the linage from Mary's father all the way back to Adam. That why the two genealogies are different in Matt. and Luke.
Verse 2: "Thus the LORD of hosts speaks, saying, 'This people says, "The time has not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built."'"
Just because there were troubles they were saying they shouldn't build it.
Verse 3: "Then came the Word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 'Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your finished houses, and shall this My house lie waste?'" (vs 3-4). They were putting all of theirs first!
Verse 5: And now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, [#1]'Consider your ways.'"
We're going to learn different things out of this that apply to them, that apply to things in the future, and that applies also to the Church; so that we understand that the Word of God is always teaching us something that we need to learn.
Verse 6: "You have sown much, but bring in little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you dress, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
Today we call that inflation! So, we can learn from that.
Verse 7: Thus says the LORD of hosts, [#2]'Consider your ways.… [look at the number of times that He says consider your ways] …Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build this house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,' says the LORD" (vs 7-8).
In other words, what have we always heard about our relationship with God? Put God first!
Verse 9: "'You looked for much, and behold, it came to little! … [if you don't put God first, you won't be successful] …And when you brought it home, then I blew on it. Why?' says the LORD of hosts. 'Because of My house that is waste, and you, each man runs to his own house.'"
Perfect lesson for all of us all the time. What is the true household of God today? The Church! How many in the Church are doing their own thing, rather than coming to God? I don't know, each one has to calculate that out themselves!
Verse 10: "Therefore, the heavens above you have held back the dew, and the earth has held back its fruit."
Whenever things are raised in such a way that God is last, then it's not going to be successful!
Verse 11: "And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon men, and upon livestock, and upon all the labor of your hands."
That is called punishment because you don't put God first! Look at America today, and with the different nations:
- Is that applying to them?
- Is that what is happening right now? Yes, indeed!
- Why?
- we say on our currency, 'In God we Trust,' but we don't trust in God
- we say that we are nation founded upon Judeao-Christian ethics, which we don't
Verse 12: "Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared before the LORD."
This is why God always has teachers and prophets, and they are to teach the way of God in everything! Here's what God said to Haggai:
Verse 13: "Then Haggai, the LORD'S messenger, spoke the message of the LORD to the people, saying, 'I am with you,' says the LORD."
That's interesting; whenever we are with God, He is with us! When God has something that He wants done, He will be with those who are doing it, provided that they put Him first!
Verse 14: "And the LORD stirred up the Spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the Spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the Spirit of all the remnant of the people.…"
That's what needs to be with the people of God today. We need to come to God, and like Paul wrote to Timothy, 'Stir up the Spirit that is in you with the laying on of my hands.'
We don't know what God has to do for what He wants us to do. But we have to put Him first in everything, and we have to be busy building the character of God!
"…And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, in the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king" (vs 14-15).
You will see that these things come rather closely here.
Haggai 2:1: "In the seventh month… [Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, Last Great Day] …in the twenty-first day of the month, the Word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying, 'Now speak to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, "Who is left among you who saw this temple in her first glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison, is it not in your eyes as nothing?"'" (vs 1-3). You haven't even started it!
Verse 4: "'Yet, now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' says the LORD…."
What are we told in the New Testament? We are to be strong in the Lord! This tells us that when you come to God, you have God's strength! When you rely on God, He gives you strength and endurance! He will intervene and help you and your faith will grow. It's an active, living thing!
Our relationship with God, and the Spirit of God with us and in us is an active relationship that goes on all the time! The key here in chapters 1 & 2 is to put God first! In building the house, how do we build the house today? By each one of us developing the mind of Christ and building the character of God within us! That's important because we are building and working toward the resurrection.
What will the resurrection be? The Family of God, which will be the whole household of God spiritually speaking!
We're coming to Pentecost in a couple of weeks. I cover that for the Day of Pentecost! That's quite a thing that God has that's going to come to the world, and is going to be the result of all the work of the Churches of God down through history!
"…'And be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong all you people of the land,' says the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' says the LORD of hosts" (v 4).
What is the lesson here? As long as you're working, God is with you! When you're not working, and you should be working, God kind of holds back waiting for you.
What does He say to all the seven churches in Rev. 2 & 3? I know your works! If you have faith, as James says, you will have works. Think about that!
Verse 5: "'According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.' For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Once again—it is yet a little while…'" (vs 5-6).
Here we go, here's how some of the prophecies come together. All of this we've been reading about up to this point has to do with building the second temple. Then all of a sudden, here's an interjection of something that's going to be in the latter times.
Verse 6: "For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Once again—it is yet a little while I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all the nations; and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts" (vs 6-7).
That house of glory is going to be… This goes to the second coming of Christ and goes to the beginning of the Millennium. Right there in those two verses, right in middle of His telling them what to do to build the temple.
Isa. 4—and Isaiah is like this all the way through. You go to certain places in Isaiah and it's right at the time he's speaking, then a little later, right in the same context it talks about John the Baptist and then the return of Jesus Christ. This is the first part of Isa. 40 where it says that every hill shall be lowered and every valley shall be exalted, talking about what's going to happen when Christ shakes the whole heavens and the earth. Here's the glory of what that tabernacle is going to be:
Isaiah 4:5: "And the LORD will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a canopy. And there shall be a tabernacle for shade by day from the heat, and for refuge, and for shelter from storm and rain" (vs 5-6).
There's not going to be a temple; there's going to be a tabernacle! It's going to be glorious as it says in Haggai. But you wouldn't know what that glory will be until you read Isa. 4, which interjects this right in the middle of other prophecies.
Haggai 2:8: "'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the LORD of hosts. 'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than that of the former,' says the LORD of hosts.…" (vs 8-9).
The latter temple is not the one they were building, because the one they were building was smaller than the one that was destroyed. This is talking about the one in Isa. 4.
"…'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts. In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Now ask the priests concerning the Law, saying…" (vs 9-11).
God wants the priests to function properly; tie in the book of Malachi; quite a condemnation against the priesthood at that time as well.
Verse 12: "'If one carries Holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and touches his skirt to bread, or boiled food, or wine, or oil, or any food, will it also become Holy?' And the priests answered and said, 'No.'"
So, here's the point; v 13: "Then Haggai said, 'If one who is unclean by a dead body touches any of these, shall it also be unclean?' And the priests answered and said, 'It shall be unclean.'"
Then he draws an analogy between God, the temple and the people:
Verse 14: "And Haggai answered and said, 'So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,' says the LORD. 'And so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.'"
Think about that in relationship to the churches of establishment Christianity! They fall right into this part right here: because they're not doing it the way of God it's unclean, it's unacceptable!
When they put Sunday above the Sabbath and say they have the right to do it, what are they doing? They're sitting in the seat of God and saying that God doesn't know anything! We'll tell God what to do!
Verse 15: "'And now, I ask you, consider from this day and onward—from before the placing of a stone upon a stone in the Temple of the LORD— How that one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, and there were but ten; one came to the wine vat to draw off fifty measures from the winepress, and there were but twenty. I struck you with blight and with mildew, and with hail, in all the labors of your hands; yet, you did not return to Me,' says the LORD" (vs 15-17). Think about that in relationship to:
- to the nation of Israel today all the descendants, isn't that what they do in their professing of God?
- the Church—Are the things that some of the Churches are doing are really not in accord with the will of God the way that it should be? Yes, indeed! They need to change!
Verse 18: "Now [#3]consider from this day and forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid, [#4]consider this"—stop and think!
The temple that is coming, and there is one that is coming. Could the cornerstone be laid on this day? Who knows! They have a lot things ready to go, but they don't know where to put the temple, yet; God has blinded their eyes to it so that when the time comes it will be in the right place.
Verse 19: "Is the seed still in the barn? Yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not brought forth. From this day forward I will bless you."
Think about that! It has everything to do with how you live. Everything comes from God!
Verse 20: "And a second time the Word of the LORD came to Haggai in the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 'Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, 'I will shake the heavens and the earth'" (vs 20-21).
This is clear into Rev. 6. So, you can see how this comes with prophecies. Everything is mixed together, and you need to have the Sabbath and Holy Days to properly separate it out, and how they fit.
Verse 22: "And I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms…"
- What throne is that? Rev. 13, the Beast Power!
- Who gave him his throne and great authority? Satan!
"'…and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. And I will overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall come down, each one by the sword of his brother. In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'I will take you, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says the LORD, 'and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,' says the LORD of hosts" (vs 22-23).
In that case, that applies to the governor of Judea at that time, but also it applies to Christ.
The Two Witnesses:
Now we come to the book of Zechariah, which has many of the same features as Haggai. I want to focus in on Zech. 3 & 4 because we're going to examine about the two witnesses.
We have had in the Church proclaimed in the past… Remember years ago all expecting to go to Petra in 1972; that never occurred. They were saying that Herbert Armstrong and Garner Ted were the two witnesses. Not so, they're both gone.
How do we know they weren't the two witnesses? When they died they weren't called to ascend up to the Throne of God like we find in Rev. 11 with the two witnesses. Herbert Armstrong died in 1986 and Garner Ted Armstrong died in 2003.
There is one minister saying that he's so important that he's going to be over the two witnesses! That's not so! His name is David Pack. There's another one who has said that he's one of the two witnesses, and his wife is the other of the two witnesses.
The two witnesses are not coming from anyone in the Church! God is personally going to raise them up just exactly like He did with Joshua the high priest here in Zech. 3.
As we read this, some people read that and have asked: Could this refer to Jonathan Cahn today, because he's of the priestly line. Well, if it does refer to him, then we'll see a vast change in Jonathan Cahn. If it doesn't apply to him he won' t change!
So, let's read it; it starts out with the high priest. So, the high priest comes first!
Zechariah 3:1: "And He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him."
So, here's a great struggle between God and Satan and the one who is the high priest, in the middle.
Verse 2: "And the LORD said to Satan, 'May the LORD rebuke you, Satan! May even the LORD Who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?'" That means close to committing very difficult sins!
Verse 3: "Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments…"
- What is the righteousness of the saints? Keeping the commandments of God!
- What is the righteousness of the high priest? The pure white linen, which pictures the righteousness of God!
Verse 4: "And He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, 'Take the filthy garments from off him.' And to him He said, 'Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with ceremonial robes.'"
Also, as we will see in Rev. 11, sackcloth and ashes! This is interesting; God is going to choose two men, two only! He will make it known by the circumstances at the time, when it should be known.
Verse 5: "And I said, 'Let them set a clean miter on his head.' And they set a clean miter on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by. And the angel of the LORD charged Joshua, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My charge, then you shall also judge My house, and shall also keep My courts, and I will give you places to walk among these who stand by"'" (vs 5-7).
We will see that has to be, because there's a temple t to be built in Jerusalem.
Verse 8: "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men wondered at, for behold, I will bring forth My Servant the Branch!" That's the second return of Christ!
So again, we have what is taking place currently/contemporaneously, then all of a sudden an interjection of something at the end.
Verse 9: "For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua: On one stone are seven eyes.… [that's symbolic of the seven eyes of God (Rev. 1; 4; 5 and 2-Chron. 16).
These are the eyes of God going into all the earth to keep track of what's going on in the earth, and who is out there seeking God.
Let's look at from your own personal experience. What happened to you in your life when you were out there wandering around and all of a sudden BING, something happened! You started to think on God! You began to see your own sins! That's why the seven eyes of God are there doing it as we'll see a little bit later.
"'…Behold, I will engrave its engraving upon it,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'you shall call, each man to his neighbor, to sit under the vine and under the fig tree'" (vs 9-10).
It projects forward to the Millennium! Isn't that what it says there in Micah 4 and Isa. 2? There it is right there!
So, we have one who is of the linage of the high priest, and that has to be of the house of Aaron. We will have to wait and see when God raises him up; then we will know!
This we don't know: how much of a ministry will he have between the time that he begins and the time that he becomes one of the two witnesses! The high priest may be there functioning and working with the temple that they're building. But when does he become one of the two witnesses? We'll just have to wait and see, because God is going to give them special powers at that time!
Now, here we come to the other of the two witnesses right here.
Zechariah 4:1: "And the angel that talked with me came again and awakened me, as a man that is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see, and behold, a lampstand, all of it gold, and a bowl on its top, and its seven lamps upon it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps on its top'" (vs 1-2).
A lot of people think this is the menorah that was in the temple, but this is constructed differently. When you go to Rev. 1, who are the lampstands? The seven lamps, the seven Churches!
Verse 3: "'And two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it.' And I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, 'What are these, my lord?' Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, 'Do you know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, 'This is the Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD of hosts'" (vs 3-6).
When we look at the two witnesses, that's what it's going to be. Think about this: Two men (Rev. 11) clothed in sackcloth and ashes resisting the Beast, the False Prophet and the whole world! Think about that! That's why it says: "…'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts."
Verse 7: "Who are you, O great mountain?… [the whole world system (Rev. 13 & 17] …Before Zerubbabel… [a great mountain] …you shall become a plain; and he shall bring forth the Headstone with shoutings, 'Grace! Grace unto it!'"'
Who is the Headstone? Christ! So, this is the return of Christ.
Verse 8: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it.' And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you" (vs 8-9).
There are going to be great things that will be happening in the area of Jerusalem and what is known as Israel today in Palestine.
Verse 10: "'For who has despised the day of small things?.…"
Think about that with the two witnesses! Can you get anything smaller than the two witnesses against the great powers of the world and Satan the devil? Just two men! That's astonishing!
"…For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth" (v 10).
So, God knows what's going on everywhere all the time!
Verse 11: "And I answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on its left side?' And I answered again and said to him, 'What are the two olive branches beside the two golden pipes, emptying the golden oil out of themselves?'" (vs 11-12).
This is the Holy Spirit coming directly to the two witnesses in all power!
Verse 13: "And he answered me and said, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' And he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand by the LORD of the whole earth'" (vs 13-14).
This is something! This is how God is going to choose the two witnesses!
So, between Haggai and building the temple, we have the third temple that is yet to come as pictured by Haggai. Then we have the two witnesses: the priest of the temple and the governor of Judea! Who they will be we won't know until we see what they do! This is why we know there has to be a third temple built. How do we know this? Because Jesus said that the Great Tribulation will not come until there is the abomination of desolation stands in the Holy Place!
What is that abomination of desolation? (2-Thess. 2) the Beast Power going into the Temple of God and proclaiming himself to be God! That he's greater than anything else on the earth.
Revelation 11:1: "Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, 'Arise and measure the Temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court that is within the temple area, and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy city for forty-two months. And I will give power to My two witnesses…'" (vs 1-3).
That's what the oil is in Zech. 4. That's how God gives the power. He gives them:
- strength
- faith
- protection
- extraordinary powers
that no other men have ever had on the earth
"…and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.… [notice v 4, because this ties right in with Zech. 4]: …These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the God of the earth" (v 3). These are big time events to happen!
- God is the One Who does the selecting!
- God is the One Who give His Spirit!
Imagine how frustrating this is going to be for the beast and the false prophet for 1,260 days! Think about it! You go back and look at how Pharaoh reacted to Moses and Aaron.
- What were they? They were two witnesses to Pharaoh!
- Who was Pharaoh? He was the king of Satan!
So there's a parallel here! Pharaoh couldn't do anything to stop the plagues that Moses and Aaron brought upon the Egyptians. Same way here:
Think about all the power that the world has, all the munitions, guns, super-weapons, and there are two men filled with the Spirit of God directly connected to God who was witnessing to them. Let's see the power that they had:
Verse 4: "These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the God of the earth. And if anyone attempts to harm them, fire will go out of their mouths and devour their enemies…." (vs 4-5).
David Pack, that means if you're going to be over the two witnesses, you would have more power. But you're not! Any man who claims those kinds of things, God is going to take care of!
"…For if anyone attempts to harm them, he must be killed in this manner" (v 5).
Think how frustrating that's going to be to the people on earth! To the beast! To the false prophet!
Verse 6: "These have authority to shut heaven so that no rain may fall in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will."
Think about that! That's something! They're going to torment the whole earth! Satan's plan of his one-world government is going to be stopped in it's tracks, right there with the two witnesses! Think about that! God always let's them have their way for a little time:
Verse 7: "And when they have completed their testimony, the beast who ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (vs 7-8). Right there in the streets of Jerusalem!
Notice what a great thing this is going to be for the people on the earth!
Verse 9: "Then those of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations shall see their bodies three and a half days, for they will not allow their bodies to be put into tombs. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and will make merry, and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets had tormented those who dwell on the earth" (vs 8-10).
They're going to have three and a half days of what they think is a glorious victory. But just as Christ was resurrected from the dead, so these two witnesses will be raised from the dead, and in a special way.
Verse 11: "Then after the three and a half days, the Spirit of Life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them."
Will this be televised worldwide? Who knows! Think about it! If all of this is televised worldwide! Look what it's going to be. This is going to come on that last Day of Pentecost and the last two who were martyred will be the first two who are raised from the dead!
Verse 12: "And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, 'Come up here!' And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were filled with fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming immediately" (v 12-14)—which is the sound of the last trumpet, and the resurrection takes place on Pentecost!
We will see that when we have the Day of Pentecost. This is quite a fantastic event that's going to be. All of it! We're living in the days leading up to it and all the troubles that we see around us in it.
This applies to us, that we need to stay really alert and have the oil of God's Spirit!
- we need to draw close to God
- we need not be discouraged in anything regardless of how bad it may appear or be or become
God is with us in everything!
This is the ultimate victory of it and this is why we need to look at the prophecies and put them together with all the other Scriptures so we get the full understanding of the prophecy.
Scriptural References:
- Isaiah 40:12-15, 17-18, 21-27
- Haggai 1:1-15
- Haggai 2:1-7
- Isaiah 4:5-6
- Haggai 2:8-23
- Zechariah 3:1-10
- Zechariah 4:1-14
- Revelation 11:1-14
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- 1 Corinthians 2
- Deuteronomy 28
- Daniel 9
- Luke 3
- Revelation 2; 3; 6; 13; 11; 1; 4; 5
- 2 Chronicles 16
- Micah 4
- Isaiah 2
- Revelation 1; 13; 17
- 2 Thessalonians 2
Also referenced:
Booklet: Is the Ministry the Government of God? by Fred R. Coulter
Messages:
- The Knowledge of God by Eduardo Elizondo
- The Sleight of Hand
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 5/17/23
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