“All the Glory Belongs
to You Oh God!”
This review is brought
to you by the Kentucky
First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.
LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, we will; acknowledge
the connection between God's promises to Israel for rebuilding the Temple and
the Israelites' obedience to Him; appreciate the community's restoration of the
Temple and God's restoration of the people; and articulate our thankfulness to
God for the blessing bestowed upon us for our obedience.
BIBLE TRUTH: The Spirit of God is the source of our success.
Haggai 2:23 | King
James Version (KJV)
23 In that day, saith
the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of
Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen
thee, saith the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 4:1-3 | King
James Version (KJV)
4 And the angel that
talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his
sleep.
2 And said unto me,
What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of
gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven
pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
3 And two olive trees
by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side
thereof
Zechariah 4: 6-14 | King James Version (KJV)
6 Then he answered and
spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
7 Who art thou, O
great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring
forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8 Moreover the word of
the Lord came unto me, saying,
9 The hands of
Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish
it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.
10 For who hath
despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the
plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the
Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
11 Then answered I,
and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the
candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
12 And I answered
again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the
two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
13 And he answered me
and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
14 Then said he, These
are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Last week we learned
that God began to bless the Jews on that very day, because they persevered
in obedience.
During this time, prophets
Haggai and Zechariah were cheering Zerubbabel on to finish up God’s temple. God
has already shown Zerubbabel that the latter house would be greater than the former
house (Haggai 2:9). Four years later, Haggai shared God’s promise that Govenor Zerubbabel
would receive a special blessing for taking on and completing this great work. It’s
a signet ring! What’s so special about a signet ring? Zerubbabel’s
great-grandfather, Jehoiachin, was referred to as the signet ring that God had
removed from His finger (Jeremiah 22:24). Because he was obedient, God is
making Zerubbabel into His signet ring, and this time, it will not be removed.
Restoration has come back to Zerubbabel’s lineage!
Side Note: Never underestimate the potential of your children, grandchildren,
and such. Our young people need encouragement and exposure to life’s
experiences that their parents were not afforded. By pushing them to do more,
you never know how someone in your lineage can be a point of spiritual,
economical, or physical restoration to your family.
Moving to the book of Zechariah,
we see that Zechariah is awaking from a vision. An angel asked him what he saw.
Zechariah saw a golden candlestick with a bowl on it, seven lamps on top of
that, and then seven pipes for the seven lamps.
Side Note: This is the picture of the Jewish menorah. Last week, we talked
about the Jewish holiday, Hanukah, based upon a celebration of the restoration
of the temple. The menorah is the seven-branched candelabrum used in the Jewish
sanctuaries today.
Zechariah saw another vision
of 2 olive trees and 2 branches and the two bowls, and he asked the angel for
an explanation of it. The two branches represented the “Anointed ones”, Zerubbabel
and Joshua. Both of these men were setting the stage of the coming Messiah,
Jesus Christ.
Side Note: At this point, some believe that the “Anointed ones” will change
to Elijah and Moses, since they never tasted death. We must follow on to know!
God told Zerubbabel, I
will make prosper you and give you the victory, but it won’t be because of your
human authority or strength. It will be due to God’s spirit, and the
supernatural work of God’s plan…not by power, not by might…truly God’s Spirit
is the source of our success.
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