“This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:”
~ Zechariah 12:1
Hi James and Ellen,
Which basketball, volleyball, baseball or soccer team would you want to be on – the basketball, volleyball, baseball or soccer team that won or the team that lost? How would you feel if you were on the winning basketball, volleyball, baseball or soccer team? How would you feel if you were on the losing basketball, volleyball, baseball or soccer team? When you become old enough to play on a basketball, volleyball, baseball or soccer team, will you play to help your team win or will you play just for the fun of playing? When you become old enough to play on a soccer, baseball, volleyball or basketball team, will you do whatever you can do – such as cheating, complaining and/or fighting, to win or will you play within the rules of the sport that you are playing? Your grandpaa never played soccer until he was an old guy. Your grandpaa was living in Bolivia when he began to play soccer. Even though it was quite obvious that your grandpaa was not a good soccer player; your grandpaa knew that if he always stayed onside in front of the other team’s goal that the soccer ball would sooner or later find him and . . . when your grandpaa was living in Bolivia administrating with your grandmaa El Centro de Capacitación – the rural resident leadership training center that was in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez, your grandpaa and the students who were at the Centro de Capacitación would go weekly to different villages that are located near Concepcion to play soccer. The Centro de Capacitación guys one year did not lose a single match of the twenty-four or so soccer matches that they played against different nearby villages. Your grandpaa scored over thirty goals in the matches that year.
Which team do you want to be on when Jesus returns to planet Earth to claim the guys, gals and kids who His Father specially chose and elected for His team before He created planet Earth? After God made it possible for His specially chosen guys and gals to return to the land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem – which was located in the land of Judah, after spending years of being exiled in Babylonia, God sent one of His prophet spokesmen to these guys and gals to affirm them and to tell them that there is going to be a day when the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids – who are God’s specially chosen guys, gals, and kids, as well as God’s specially elected guys, gals and kids, will win the final battle. Per what Zechariah scribed in Zechariah 12, God told him to tell His specially chosen guys and gals that the final battle will be fought in the land of Israel – with the fighting primarily taking place in the city of Jerusalem and in the land of Judah. Zechariah lived on planet Earth as a God-ordained prophet to God’s specially chosen guys and gals about 500 years before Jesus was first born. It is now 2500 or so years later. Your grandpaa thinks that the final battle that Zechariah wrote about in what became the Zechariah Book is getting really close to taking place. Per what Zechariah wrote – as God the Spirit breathed on him to write what he did, the guys and gals who are on the Israelite people group’s side or team are going to be on the winning side or team while every other people group’s or countries’ of guys and gals – who are not on the side or team of the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, are going to be on the losing side or team. The winning side or team of guys and gals is going to give God the credit for their impossible, implausible and miraculous victory. The losing side or team of guys and gals will all be destroyed by God – just as a flaming torch of fire will destroy dry sheaves in a field of ripened grain.
What Zechariah scribed and which became the Zechariah Book are God’s words. Verse 1 says, “This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:” What is going to take place – possibly really soon, has been choreographed by God to take place. The guys and gals who are living in the land of Israel are probably the most hated guys and gals today who are living planet Earth. There are guys and gals everywhere on planet Earth who really, really dislike Jews – who are the Israelite people group’s guys and gals. God is allowing the spirit of hate to exist in the hearts of all the guys and gals on planet Earth who hate Jews – God’s specially chosen guys and gals. There is going to come a time – which grandpaa believes is sooner than later, when guys and gals who really hate Jews – God’s specially chosen guys and gals, are going to conclude that they really have to completely destroy the country of Israel, the land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. Anti-Semitic skinheads, Palestinian liberators and Muslims want Jews – God’s specially chosen guys and gals, completely purged from planet Earth. When God gives His specially chosen guys and gals the victory over the guys and gals who want to destroy them – which is like a tiny speck defeating a monster blob, God’s specially chosen guys and gals are going to be very sad versus being very glad. God’s specially chosen guys and gals will realize that the incarnated Guy who they killed centuries earlier has returned to planet Earth to save them. God’s specially chosen guys and gals are going to feel really bad that they were the ones who were responsible for having Jesus nailed to a cross to die. Zechariah is writing about two events that were still centuries away from happening. One event was God coming to planet Earth as God the Son – where He died on a cross to redeem the sins of His specially chosen and elected guys, gals and kids. Your grandpaa has no doubt that God – again as God the Son, will again return to planet Earth – this time to wipe out all the evil guys and gals who will be living on planet Earth. If you want to be on the winning side or team when God the Son returns to planet Earth, you will want to be on the side or team that supports Jews – God’s specially chosen guys and gals.
Zechariah 12 (378)