Reading for Today:

• Zechariah 4:1 Chapter 4 1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. –6:15
• Psalms 148:1-6 Chapter 148 1 Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens: Praise him in the heights. 2 Praise ye him, all his angels: Praise ye him, all his host. 3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: Praise him, all ye stars of light. 4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, And ye waters that are above the heavens. 5 Let them praise the name of Jehovah; For he commanded, and they were created. 6 He hath also established them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which shall not pass away.
• Proverbs 30:24-28 24 There are four things which are little upon the earth, But they are exceeding wise: 25 The ants are a people not strong, Yet they provide their food in the summer; 26 The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; 27 The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands; 28 The lizard taketh hold with her hands, Yet is she in kings' palaces.
• Revelation 17:1-18 Chapter 17 1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, 5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, `they' whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come. 9 Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth: 10 and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast. 14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they `also shall overcome' that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire. 17 For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished. 18 And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Notes:

Zechariah 4:10 the day of small things. Though the rebuilding of a temple smaller than Solomon’s may have been discouraging to some ( Ezra 3:12 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' `houses', the old men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: ; Hag. 2:3), the Lord announced that His pleasure was upon this work, and that His omniscient care (“7 eyes”) was watching over and taking pleasure in its completion. He said in effect, “Don’t despise what God is pleased with.” This was only a picture of the glorious restoration when the Messiah comes to reign. That temple will make all others pale by comparison (Ezek. 40–48).

Proverbs 30:24–28 four things which are little. These verses picture 4 creatures which survive due to natural instinct. The wisdom seen in each of these reveals the beauty of the wise Creator and His creation (Ps. 8:3–9) and becomes a model for the principle that labor, diligence, organization, planning, and resourcefulness are better than strength, thus implying the superiority of wisdom over might.

Revelation 17:5 forehead. It was customary for Roman prostitutes to wear a headband with their name on it (Jer. 3:3), parading their wretchedness for all to see. The harlot’s forehead is emblazoned with a 3-fold title descriptive of the world’s final false religious system. MYSTERY. A New Testament mystery is truth once hidden, but in the New Testament revealed. Spiritual Babylon’s true identity is yet to be revealed. Thus, the precise details of how it will be manifested in the world are not yet known. BABYLON THE GREAT. This Babylon is distinct from the historical, geographical city of Babylon (which still existed in John’s day). The details of John’s vision cannot be applied to any historical city (14:8). MOTHER OF HARLOTS. All false religion stems ultimately from Babel or Babylon (Gen. 11).

DAY 27: What is God’s word to inspire Zerubbabel to act on His promise?

Zechariah 4:6 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts. states: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel.” The purpose of the vision was to encourage Zerubbabel to complete the temple rebuilding, to assure him of divine enablement for that venture and the endless supply for the future glory of the Messiah’s kingdom and temple. The lamp stand pictured Israel fully supplied by God to be His light then and in the future. It must be noted that the church has temporarily taken this role presently (Eph. 5:8, 9; Rev. 1:12, 13, 20), until Israel’s salvation and restoration to covenant blessing and usefulness.

“‘Not by might…power, but by My Spirit.’” Neither human might, wealth, or physical stamina would be sufficient to complete the work. Only an abundant supply of the power of the Holy Spirit, pictured by the “bowl” (v. 2), would enable him to carry out the task and enable Israel in the Messiah’s kingdom to be a light again to the world by the operation of the Spirit (Ezek. 36:24).

“‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain’” (v. 7). Because the outcome is guaranteed (vv. 6, 9), any mountain-like opposition will be leveled by God to become like a flat surface. No obstacle will be able to stop the completion of the temple in Zerubbabel’s time or in the final kingdom of the Messiah (Ezek. 40–48).“‘He shall bring forth the capstone.’” The final stone of the building will be put into place, signifying its completion. “‘With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” This blessing signifying shouts of joy and thanksgiving came to pass ( Ezra 3:11 11 And they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks unto Jehovah, `saying', For he is good, for his lovingkindness `endureth' for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid. –13) over the completion of the temple. Contrast this attitude with that of the people seeing the unfinished temple (Hag. 2:3).

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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