Today Zechariah prophesies about our coming Savior. “Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey…He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.’”

Jesus will partly fulfill this prophesy later in the Story when He will triumphantly ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11) and a week later be crucified and defeat death with His resurrection by providing salvation for those who put their trust in Him. But He won’t come as the conquering king the Jews were expecting, who would take down the Roman Empire. He won’t totally fulfill this prophesy until His second coming when He will defeat all enemies and bring peace to the ends of the earth.

“It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Later in the Story when Jesus is hanging on a cross a solider will pierce his side with a sword and John will say, “For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled…’They will look on him whom they have pierced’” (John 19:36-37).

The Lord says when the Good Shepherd is struck that the sheep will scatter and it will be a time of testing and trials for the people. Many will perish but the Lord will bring His people through the fire and “refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say ‘This is My people’; and each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

The Book of Zechariah ends with hope for the future. “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming.” The Lord will fight a great battle and have victory. “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.”

Tomorrow there is a dedication to the new temple 🎉 and we meet a lady named Esther. Keep reading.

(Zechariah 9:1-14:21)

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#chronologicalbibleteaching

Today we see another prophesy of the coming Messiah. The Lord has Zechariah make an elaborate crown and place it on the head of Joshua, the high priest, and say, “Behold, the Man whose name is the Branch…He shall build the temple of the Lord…He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” Jesus Christ is this coming branch and through His life and death we can be grafted into the Kingdom of God.

So another attempt is made today to stop the rebuilding of the temple when Tattenai, “the governor of the region beyond the River,” and others ask the Jews, “Who commanded you to build this temple and finish this wall?” “But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they would not make them cease till a report could go to Darius.”

King Darius responds to Tattenai by saying, “Keep yourselves far from there. Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site.” King Darius also tells Tattenai to pay the cost of rebuilding the temple from taxes on the region beyond the River and to give the Jews anything else that they need day by day without fail.

We end the reading with the people asking if they should still fast now that the exile is over and the temple is almost complete. The Lord tells the people that fasting for show or self-pity accomplishes nothing. The purpose of fasting is to bring humility and repentance which leads to righteousness. God promises to restore His people and to turn their fast into “joy and gladness and cheerful feasts” which will result in the multiplication of His people. “In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

The Lord is restoring His people through His plan of sending the Branch, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins and give us new life. Therefore, we should walk in the newness of life so that our lives will draw others into the fellowship of Christ.

Zechariah speaks more about the coming Savior tomorrow so keep reading.

(Zechariah 6:1-15, Ezra 5:3-6:13, Zechariah 7:1-8:23)

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Today the Lord tells Haggai to encourage the people to get back to rebuilding the temple. “‘Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, 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. ‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’”

About a month into the rebuilding, Haggai tells the people that “The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former” so they are not to worry about comparing it to the old temple. The outside structure is not what makes something great, it is the Lord’s presence.

God calls the people to consider their current situation since they resumed rebuilding the temple. Although it has been a tough road the Lord says, “But from this day I will bless you.” The Lord promises an abundant harvest for His people who are now walking in obedience.

We also hear from Zechariah, a priest who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. We read 7 visions that the Lord gave Zechariah, which all communicate that the Lord is restoring His people. In the 4th vision, Joshua, the high priest, is standing before the angel in filthy clothes and Satan is there to oppose him. The Lord rebukes Satan and says to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” The Lord goes on to say, “For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.” Jesus Christ is the Servant who is coming to die for us so that we too will be clean, washed white as snow, before the Lord. As illustrated in the last vision, our sins will be taken away and the Lord’s people will be freed from their sin so they can faithfully serve Him.

Tomorrow another attempt is made to shut down the rebuilding. Keep reading to see if the opposers succeed.

(Haggai 2:1-9, Zechariah 1:1-6, Haggai 2:10-19, Ezra 5:2, Haggai 2:20-23, Zechariah 1:7-5:11)

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It has been 2 years since the first wave of exiles returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The rebuilding has stopped bc of opposition from the ones surrounding them. During this time, Daniel is over in Babylon mourning for God’s people. At the end of his 3 weeks of mourning he receives a vision. An angel tells him, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.”

The angel tells Daniel about a spiritual warfare occurring in the heavenly realms. He says he would’ve been there sooner to encourage Daniel but he was held up for 21 days by the evil prince of Persia until Michael, one of the chief angels, arrived and helped him. See, not only do we face earthly battles that we can see but there is also much more going on behind the scenes that we can’t see. The Lord is always fighting for His people and His ultimate victory will come in His perfect timing.

The angel gives Daniel insight about future conflicts between the nations but says that at the appointed time “Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book” will rise to everlasting life in glory but others will rise to shame and everlasting contempt. ”Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” 🌟

Over in Judah, the Lord sends Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people to continue rebuilding the temple. So the rebuilding continues…keep reading.

(Daniel 10:1-12:13, Ezra 4:24-5:1, Haggai 1:1-15)

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Just as the people went into captivity in 3 waves, they return from captivity in 3 waves. The 1st wave of people, led by Zerubbabel, a descendant of King Jehoiachin from King David’s bloodline, and Jeshua, the priest, return to rebuild the temple. Ezra will lead the 2nd wave and return Bible literacy to the people. The 3rd wave will be led by Nehemiah and they will rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and establish government with Nehemiah as governor.

When the first wave returns, they gather together as one, in Jerusalem, and worship the Lord with offerings and by keeping the feasts as written in the law. Zerubbabel and Jeshua lead the people in rebuilding the temple, with the Levites appointed to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. When the foundation is laid they sing praises to the Lord: “For He is good, for his mercy endures forever toward Israel.” There are mixed emotions in the crowd of people. Some are rejoicing and some are weeping. The ones weeping remember the magnificence of the old temple and are sad that the new temple won’t be as awesome. But God is still working His plan through His people to send our Savior and when He arrives on the scene there will no longer be a need for one physical temple to worship the Lord.

While they are building, some men of the region come and try to discourage the people of Judah. “They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purposes all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

Tomorrow Daniel receives another vision over in Babylon and the Lord encourages His people in Judah to keep building His temple. So keep reading.

(Ezra 2:1-4:5, 1 Chronicles 3:19-24)

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An excerpt from “The 14 Era” booklet by Iva May:

The Return Era

Esther; Ezra; Nehemiah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi

(Approximately 85 years)

At the end of the 70-year period, God raised up a king named Cyrus (prophesied by Isaiah). He sent the first wave of exiles back to Jerusalem—just as God had said—to rebuild the city and the temple. He sent with them the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar had taken when he captured the city. When the people grew weary of the work,

God spoke through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to call them to finish the temple. Jewish captives living in Persia were threatened by a powerful person in King Ahasuerus’ government, so God raised up a Jewish girl, Esther, as the queen of the Persians, to save her people from certain death. God also raised up Ezra, a faithful priest, to return His people to the land He had promised Abraham. Ezra, along with the godly governor Nehemiah, led the people to observe the Book of the Law, to worship God, to rebuild the wall and the city, and God protected them from their enemies by His power. The hold of idols on the people was broken. For the rest of Israel’s history, they never again turned to images made by man; however, the prophet Amos (prophesying to Israel) had warned the people that there would be a famine of the hearing of the Word of God (Amos 8:11). The last prophet of this period, Malachi, called the priests to honor God with their sacrifices and called the people to honor God with their tithes.

What does the Return Era reveal about God?

God Speaks

• God raises up prophets who faithfully warn Israel of judgment and to prophesy of future events.

God Acts

• God raises up leaders who bear His heart for His people.

• God accomplishes His purposes in the geo-political realm.

God Reveals

• God revives the hearts of His people when their leaders teach His Word and they obey His word.

• God places people in strategic places to advocate on behalf of His people.