Sunday of Prayer for Peace in Jerusalem
Sermon: “Why Israel Matters”
Zechariah 8:2-3
A sermon for October 6, 2024
Pastor John Bright
Zechariah 8 “2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal;
With great fervor I am zealous for her.’
3 “Thus says the Lord:
‘I will return to Zion,
And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth,
The Mountain of the Lord of hosts,
The Holy Mountain.’”
It has been an intense couple of weeks in the two wars that Israel is waging against Hezbollah and Hamas. Both of these groups do the bidding of the country that funds them – Iran. You may have heard before that there will never be peace there, but we have faith… not for what we see. We have faith for what is not seen or believed to be so. That’s why we pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.
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My earliest memories of Jerusalem were black and white pictures on the walls of my Sunday Class rooms when I was a child. We heard about Jerusalem every year on Palm Sunday when we waved the palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna!” All those church memories create a connection within us to a land on the other side of the world where Jesus walked and where King David sat on a throne. It’s a place most of us will never see.
When King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon took over Jerusalem and exiled the people of that land, many believed they would never see their homes again. God kept his promise and in 537 BC they were allowed to return. Among them was a priest named Iddo (Nehemiah 12:4) and his grandson, Zechariah (Neh. 12:16). Being a young man, Zechariah would have been born in Babylon. He would have heard stories of the great walled city of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple that was built by King Solomon. That was not what they found. The Babylonians has destroyed the wall around Jerusalem, burned the Temple and the Royal Palace. Jerusalem was in ruins. Prophets, like Zechariah and Haggai, were giving messages to God’s people who had to rebuild and start over.
A message from THE LORD OF HOSTS
“2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal;
With great fervor I am zealous for her.’
“The name “LORD of hosts” occurs some 261 times in the Old Testament Scriptures. God is first called the “LORD of hosts” in 1 Samuel 1:3. The word LORD, capitalized, refers to Yahweh, the self-existent, redemptive God. The word hosts is a translation of the Hebrew word sabaoth, meaning “armies” - reference to the angelic armies of heaven. Thus, another way of saying “LORD of hosts” is “God of the armies of heaven.” The NIV translates YHWH saboath as “LORD Almighty.”
https://www.gotquestions.org/Lord-of-hosts.html
That is one of the names of God that I love the most! It is a reminder that Jehovah Sabaoth is fighting for me every day. The army of angels that protects us is surely guided by His mighty right hand. That thought brings me a great peace.
The apostle John was given a vision of a terrible battle that would come after the fall of Babylon at the end of Rev. 19:11-16 “11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
This is a picture of Jesus that you don’t see on stained-glass windows. Babylon represents the world/culture that is opposed to God. Today, part of modern-day Babylon are the folks who want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. They hate the Jews and they us – Christians and Americans. All of Babylon will be defeated one day in the future. Revelation 20 begins with 1000 years of peace.
This first message of the prophet Zechariah tells the Israelites that have become discouraged in their rebuilding efforts that Jehovah Sabaoth is “zealous.” This a word that describes strong emotion. Have you ever been to a football game and watched folks screaming at the top of their lungs for one team and maybe yelling louder against the other team? 😊 That’s a picture of zeal. God is for the Israelites but can’t tolerate their sinful ways. God has used the other nations to discipline His people but can’t tolerate their ongoing abuse. Is God the same today? Last week we talked about the attribute of immutability. God can’t change.
Romans 8:31-39 “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Please repeat after me: GOD IS FOR US! (Keep saying it.)
God is Zealous for Israel
3 “Thus says the Lord:
‘I will return to Zion,
And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth,
The Mountain of the Lord of hosts,
The Holy Mountain.’”
Would you all agree with me that God cares for people? I like to say, “The most important thing to God is not a thing – it’s people.” When we recite John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” what is “the world”? Is it the planet with trees and rocks and rivers? No – they don’t need saving. The “world” is the people who inhabit the earth. He cares about people so much that Jesus died on cross to offer each one eternal life.
Would you also agree that God cares about a place? Humans have to have a place. We DO NOT float around. We live and work and go to school in a place. God knows this so, from the beginning, God gave people a place. That first place was Eden and that’s where Adam and Eve lived. Remember what happened there? Later, God called a man named Abram to follow Him. Genesis 12:1-3
“1 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God makes an unconditional covenant with Abram – who becomes Abraham. God promises to give him a place and to make his family very, very large. First – Abraham, second – Isaac, and then came Jacob, who also had a name change – he became Israel. Isreal had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. Those 12 tribes leave Egypt and end up in the Promised Land. Why do we call it that? Because God promised the land to the descendants of Abraham way back when.
There is a great debate today over the right of the Jewish people to claim Israel as their home. That’s what they did on May15, 1948. This is part of the document they signed on that day: “THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
Since that day there has been war after war after war - 1948-1949, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and right now. They have survived rockets and bombs, and armed terrorists over the decades. Their Olympic athletes were murdered in Munich. They were taken hostage on an airplane and held in Uganda. Then, on October 7, 2023 – Hamas terrorists, thousands of terrorists, broke through the border fence and slaughtered families at home as well as young people attending an outdoor concert and hundreds of soldiers at the border. They tortured, raped, burned, and mutilated, the Jewish people and took many as hostages. We know this because they filmed it and released the video. Just like 9/11/2001 – we must NEVER FORGET!
God cares about the people in Israel just like God cares about the people in Varina, Virginia. Amen? People have lived here a few hundred years, but Jews have lived in Israel for a few thousand years. It is precious to them and it is precious to Believers. Israel is where our Savior – a nice Jewish boy from Nazareth – was born, was murdered, and was raised from the dead. Israel is where Jesus promised to return. That return, known as the Rapture, is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 “15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.” What kind of trumpet? Our brothers and sisters in Christ who are called Messianic Jews believe it will be the ram’s horn or shofar. Then, at the end of time, when the New Jerusalem is established on the earth – where will it be? Henrico County? Of course not – it will be in Israel. So, one day, that is where all Believers will live in one place. Amen.
Homework:
• Look up all the Bible verses on your teaching sheet. What have you been told about the future of Israel? Did you realize we will all live there one day?
• Will you commit to praying for Israel every day? Look to Psalms 80-83 for prayer points.
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TEACHING SHEET
October 6, 2024
Sunday of Prayer for Peace in Jerusalem
Zechariah 8:2-3
“Why Israel Matters”
When King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon took over Jerusalem and exiled the people of that land, many believed they would never see their homes again. God kept his promise and in 537 BC they were allowed to return. Among them was a priest named Iddo (Nehemiah 12:4) and his grandson, Zechariah (Neh. 12:16).
A message from THE LORD OF HOSTS v. 2
“The name “LORD of hosts” occurs some 261 times in the Old Testament Scriptures. God is first called the “LORD of hosts” in 1 Samuel 1:3. The word LORD, capitalized, refers to Yahweh, the self-existent, redemptive God. The word hosts is a translation of the Hebrew word sabaoth, meaning “armies” - reference to the angelic armies of heaven. Thus, another way of saying “LORD of hosts” is “God of the armies of heaven.” The NIV translates YHWH saboath as “LORD Almighty.”
https://www.gotquestions.org/Lord-of-hosts.html
Revelation 19:11-16
This first message of the prophet Zechariah tells the Israelites that have become discouraged in their rebuilding efforts that Jehovah Sabaoth is “zealous.” This a word that describes strong emotion. Have you ever been to a football game and watched folks screaming at the top of their lungs for one team and maybe yelling louder against the other team? 😊
Romans 8:31-39 GOD IS FOR US! (Keep saying it.)
God is Zealous for Israel v. 3
Would you all agree with me that God cares for people? John 3:16 eternal life.
Would you also agree that God cares about a place? a man named Abram to follow Him. Genesis 12:1-3
God makes an unconditional covenant with Abram – who becomes Abraham. God promises to give him a place and to make his family very, very large. First – Abraham, second – Isaac, and then came Jacob, who also had a name change – he became Israel. Isreal had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. Those 12 tribes leave Egypt and end up in the Promised Land. Why do we call it that? Because God promised the land to the descendants of Abraham way back when.
May15, 1948. “THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
Since that day there has been war after war after war - 1948-1949, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and right now. They have survived rockets and bombs, and armed terrorists over the decades. Their Olympic athletes were murdered in Munich. They were taken hostage on an airplane and held in Uganda. Then, on October 7, 2023 – Hamas terrorists, thousands of terrorists, broke through the border fence and slaughtered families at home as well as young people attending an outdoor concert and hundreds of soldiers at the border. They tortured, raped, burned, and mutilated, the Jewish people and took many as hostages. We know this because they filmed it and released the video. Just like 9/11/2001 – we must NEVER FORGET!
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
Homework:
• Look up all the Bible verses on your teaching sheet. What have you been told about the future of Israel? Did you realize we will all live there one day?
• Will you commit to praying for Israel every day? Look to Psalms 80-83 for prayer points.
