Lent 1 - March 5, 2017 Zechariah: Revelations of the Messiah 1. The LORD of Angel Armies Is: Zechariah 1:8-17

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, When I was a student at our Seminary, I was called upon to play organ in a beautiful old church on 6th St. in Milwaukee. It was a fantastic building, as you can see, with exquisite stained glass windows and a huge pipe organ that was a joy to play. But there was one big problem: there was only about 25 people that came to worship that day. This was 40 years ago and way back in the 1970’s, it was a dying church, and I couldn’t find out on the web was has happened to it. It is no longer listed as a WELS church.

The name of it? Zebaoth Lutheran Church. As far as I can tell it was the only church in our country with that name, and now it no longer exists. I found only three other churches in the whole world with that name: in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, Bogar, Indonesia and a church in Denmark.

Where does this name come from? It is one of the special names for the Lord that Zechariah uses frequently. Four churches in the whole world, yet Zechariah uses this name for God nine times in in the first 17 verses of his book. You don’t find it spelled that way in the Bible because it is actually a Hebrew word. You’ll find it in our translation as “the Lord Almighty,” but it really means the Lord of hosts, the Lord of Angel Armies.

Chris Tomlin wrote a modern song using this name: “I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind. The God of Angel Armies is always at my side.”

There are a couple of reasons why I’ve made such a big deal about that name. First, it is a unique feature of the book we’re going to study in the weekends of Lent. Zechariah is a very special prophecy with many visions that remind you of the book of Revelation, and he is always pointing to Jesus. That’s why I have given this theme for his book: “The Revelations of the Messiah.” And today we’re going to see “The Lord of Angel Armies.”

Secondly, even though the churches with that name are few or no longer with us, the Lord Sebaoth, the Lord of Angel Armies is always at your side. But because you cannot see him or his power or his angel armies, there are times when you may feel that his power and his presence is just not there, or at least not much where you are. That’s why we need God’s Word, we need Zechariah, to pull of the blinders from our eyes, and let us see the Lord of Angel Armies. Whether you can always see it or not, Zechariah wants us to know that the Lord of Angel Armies is in control.

This happened very vividly in the life of the prophet Elisha. The King of Syria had sent an army to surround his village and capture him. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The hills were full of horses and chariots of fire. That’s what Zechariah sees too: he sees horses who sometimes pull chariots of fire. This is one way the angel armies showed themselves to human eyes. And this is the message that God was encouraging Zechariah with and us too: “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” No matter how bold the attacks of the devil are, no matter how serious the evil in the world seems to be, no matter what ills and problems are dragging you down, the Lord of Angel Armies is still in control.

Let us join Zechariah in his vision. Please look at vv. 8-11 with me in the bulletin. 8 During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses. 9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.” 10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth.” 11 And they reported to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.” First I want you to identify who is in this vision. You have Zechariah of course and then there is a man mounted on a red horse, who is standing among the myrtle trees. Then in verse 9 you have an angel who is talking with Zechariah. In verse 10 the man on the horse in the trees explains that the horses have gone throughout the earth. The horses? They are the angels. And then in v. 11 the man among the myrtles is called “the angel of the Lord,” and all the angels report to him. “The Angel of the Lord” is a term used throughout the Old Testament to describe when the Lord takes human form and appears to people on earth. This is none other than the Son of God. To sum up:

The man riding a red horse = the man standing among the myrtle trees = the Angel of the LORD = the LORD himself = the preincarnate Son of God

So what we have here is a vision of the Messiah! Zechariah needed this vision because things were not going well in Jerusalem. It has been 16 years since the first group of exiles had returned to the ruins of Jerusalem to begin rebuilding their home. The first order of business was rebuilding God’s house, the temple of the Lord. They made a good start when they first arrived, but then enemies bothered them from the outside, and concerns for themselves bothered them on the inside. They needed to build homes to live in for themselves. When you have no shelter from the cold and the rain, God’s house gets set aside.

God’s people also had stopped their rebuilding efforts, partly because they felt the Lord was treating them unfairly. The rest of the heathen world is at peace, while they have it rough! Have you ever felt that way? Has it caused you to also become lax and careless about the things of God? Have you felt, "It doesn't matter what I do anyway?"

And the Lord said, Enough of this pity party. . It’s time to get back to work for me! Look who is among you – the Lord of Angel armies and the Messiah himself!

What happens next? See verse 12. 12 Then the angel of the LORD said, “LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” 13 So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. This is the Son of God, the angel of the Lord, yes, Jesus himself interceding and praying for his people! He is praying to the Father to bring some relief for the believers in Jerusalem. And the Father responded immediately, first by bringing “kind and comforting words” to the angel who was Zechariah’s tour guide. So our Angel of the Lord, our Jesus, does exactly the same for us. He is our mediator, the one who intercedes for us with is prayers. There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Tim 2:5. B So Jesus speaks to the Father for us: Father have mercy on them, forgive them their sin, Father, because I have paid for every one of them, when I sacrificed my life.” The cross gives Jesus the authority to be our Savior, and he still intercedes and makes sure that every one of our prayers is heard, even if it’s a complaint, or a questioning of God’s ways.

It is just as Paul wrote in Romans 8: Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. And the result? So who shall separate us from the love of Christ? We have the Love of God guaranteed!

And that’s expressed in a very unusual way in the next verse: 14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, The Lord of Angel Armies is Jealous for his people. What does that mean?

He wrote in the Ten Commandments: I the Lord your God am a jealous God. What does that mean that God is jealous? We usually think of that word as a sinful thing, like a jealous husband, who is totally possessive and always suspicious of his wife. But for God who is holy and has no sin, there is a positive side to this. He is like the husband and we are his bride. We are his and he is ours, and just as he is faithful to us, so we have promised to be faithful to him. He doesn’t want to share us with anyone else – no other gods should ever come into our lives.

So the Lord says here that he is jealous for his people. This cuts two ways. First. he doesn’t want anyone or anything to compete with Him for first place in your life. He doesn’t want your career to compete. He doesn’t want your hobbies to compete. He doesn’t want your money to compete. He wants to be front and center. He wants to be the most important part of your life.

Secondly, he loves us so much that he doesn’t want to share us with anything or anyone else! He is totally committed to his bride the church and will not let any enemy or foreign god attack us or control us. He is the Lord of angel armies and he uses his angels to protect us and ward off the onslaughts of the devil. And for those who would try to take us away from him, he says this: 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’ 16 “Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the LORD Almighty.

The key phrase is “I will return to Jerusalem with mercy.” The Lord of Angel Armies is merciful. The word that Isaiah uses is a very special word of closeness and family love. Think of grown son who is in trouble. The judge may have mercy on him because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. The parents have mercy on him because they love him and they think he will change. This word is only used for those whom God cares about deeply. It expresses the deep, deep love of God that led him to send his Son into the world as a human being so that he might suffer and die for us.

An even better word to translate this Hebrew word is “compassion.” Compassion carries with it the love and care of family. There is an emphasis on our close bond with the Lord. For example, everyone agrees that bullying in school and on the internet is bad and should be stopped. People care in a general way about all the children who are growing up and want them to be protected. But if it’s your child who is being bullied, you’re meeting with the principal and the teachers, it’s got to stop right now!! That’s compassion.

That’s our Lord of angel armies – the one who controls all the greatest forces in the world, is the one who has a personal love for us, that shows itself in being jealously compassionate about us, his people.

And the result? 17 “Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” Remember where we began with Zebaoth church that died? Maybe the earthly organization faded away, but the people did not. Some moved on to other churches. Most of the original members have gone on to the heavenly church, Jerusalem the Golden. That’s our goal too, but in the meantime you can be sure that the Lord will bless us with prosperity, comfort us with the forgiveness of our sins and assure us that he has chosen us to be his! The Lord with his angel armies leads the way! We cannot fail! Amen