Zechariah 14, 1 Peter 3

(Zechariah 14)

As I wrap up Zechariah, I have to admit, I miss him already. It’s a weird feeling since Zechariah brings prophesy of so much hope as well as destruction. I’ve never felt an affinity for the writing of Zechariah, but I am reminded this morning that it is the living Word of God. It is written with the authority and power of the one who spoke, and it was.

Chapter 14 wraps things up speaking of the Day of the Lord. Can you imagine when the day comes and God will be revealed for all that He truly is. There will no longer be skeptics, critics, or doubters. Revelation tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. What a day.

That gives me amazing peace and hope. But in the same breath, I am reminded of our opportunity to represent the King while we wait on that day. There are so many who do not know Him. There are so many seeking a full life, that Christ alone promises, those who just need someone to share the life God has given them. Can you imagine what it would be like in that moment to see his Glory and realize that you’ve rejected it? Can you imagine what it will be like for us, to realize for the first time the full gravity and magnitude of our faith in Christ?

Father, this morning, help us to rejoice in our future as children of the King. Give us a Holy Passion for those who are far from you, that we might share through our lives and words, the live changing message of Jesus. On that day, may we be found faithfull.

(1 Peter 3)


In prior chapters, Peter has given instructions on how to live as chosen people. He gives us a list of standards for how to live under authority and with one another. It’s interesting to me how much we put emphasis on how we live and treat God, which fulfills the first and greatest commandment, but neglect one another (the second one that Jesus says was like the first)

In the beginning of the chapter, Peter gives us instruction that not only increases our relationship with each other, but also impacts our relationship with our God. MANY times we take verse 7 out of context, especially men. So I chose this verse today to make sure we don’t any more.

In verse 7, Peter tells us, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” It’s our nature to jump to the weaker partner part. But let’s look at this in context.

The original text tells us to live (or dwell) with our wives “according to knowledge”. This phrase literally means “in varied relations, according to knowledge”. Given the condition of first century Christianity, knowledge was key. Not everyone had the background or experience in speaking the truth. As a result of their culture, women, in particular were much more varied in their understanding of God’s Word than men were. In NO WAY was Peter saying ALL of the women were to be lumped into this group of “ignorance”, but he challenges us to recognizes and relate to each other in varied ways and levels based on where your understanding is. That will be different for each of us, even more so today as we apply this truth to our wives. In fact, most of us have many things we could be learning from our wives.

I believe Peter was addressing two issues: (1) primarily, the women who were not as knowledgeable, telling the men to be patient, leading, and loving with them and (2) the women who were growing in knowledge to be encouraged and could and should be given the respect they deserve. In addition to that, drawing light to the fact that most men were (and are) threatened by what their wives bring to the table (then and now). The key is not to “put them in their place”, that’s awfully prideful. The key is to realize the gift they are to us.

They key, however in this scripture is found in the treatment of our wives, which Peter reminds us are heirs with us in this gracious gift of life. An heir is a “participant in common”. This does not illustrate a hierarchy of any kind, but a team. He tells us to treat them with respect. Translated literally to give value, honor, and dignity. These are three very distinct offerings.

Another thought about how Peter calls certain wives, “weaker vessels”. The word “weaker” which is “asthenes” in the Greek, does indeed mean “without strength”, but we must also look at the root of this word to find it’s intention, it comes from the word “sthenoo” which means to “strengthen or confirm in spiritual knowledge and power”.

Peter’s intent was not only to draw attention to their shortcomings, if it was anything like today, many of our wives outshine us on any given day. Let’s not forget the list of amazing women of faith that were referenced throughout scripture. His intent was to draw our attention to the opportunities at hand to encourage, value, honor, give dignity, and lead our wives to grow in faith and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing privilege we have in this relationship with our beloved wives.

We should view each of our relationships like this. Why? It honors God.

Finally, when we don’t. What happens? What happens when we do not love others as ourselves, much less our wives? What happens when we disobey the second greatest command that Jesus says was “like” the first? What happens when it’s to our wives? Bottom line, it hinders our relationship with God. Peter clearly says that we should do this, so that “nothing will hinder your prayers.” The word, hinder, literally means to “exscind”. It means to “cut out or off”.

Once again we are reminded how critical it is that we embrace the command of Jesus when he said, “A new command I give to you, that you would love one another, as I have loved you, so you must love on another.”

Father, give us a heart like yours. It’s so easy at times to neglect our own wives. Help us father to give them the respect and love they deserve. Help us to be encouragers, lovers, builders of dignity, vessels of praise, communicators of value. Thank you God, that you view this as worship and that we honor you as we honor our wives.

Zechariah 13, 1 Peter 2

(Zechariah 13)

"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

Clearly, this was a word picture of the coming Christ. Scripture goes on to share the dark fate of anyone who claims to be a prophet from that point on. It gives a clear picture of how insignificant the names of idols will become from that point on. Those were two HUGE things in OT culture. And they will be done with. Why?

Jesus said it best with his last words, “It is finished.”

Father I thank you for completion through Christ. Thank you that no longer must we wait on what’s yet to come. Instead, we can just live in Him. Help us to eliminate the idols in our lives, help us to “forget their names”.

(1 Peter 2)

Verse 1 challenges us to, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”

Each of these words, either have to do with issues of authenticity, malignity, or condemnation of others. It’s amazing how each one of these characteristics or actions have to do with either how we view others, ourselves, or how we think they view us. When we take Christ OUT of the equation, whether it’s with a friend, a perceived enemy, a co-worker, ex-business partner, a family member, or stranger, it’s almost impossible not to allow some minor form of this list to play a role.

Not only is Christ the finisher and perfector of our faith (see Zech 13) but also the exact point in which our faith began and continues. He must always be our cornerstone in which we gain all our perspective. He’s our leveling agent that all our thoughts and feelings must be held to. Only then will we see the contrast when we are off line. These things are so easy to know, and yet in our flesh, so difficult to live.

God, give us the constant reminder through your Spirit that all our decisions, actions, emotions and feelings should be held captive to your ways and standards. Lord, may we not view your standard as burden, but as a privilege and a shield. Give us courage to move forward under your protection and guide. May we never look back.

Zechariah 12, 1 Peter 1

(Zechariah 12)

(vs.8) “On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them.”

Father, I pray for your shield of protection. I pray that as we follow you and seek you as our God that we will find strength in you, that our church would be a house of prayer and worship and that you, dear lord, would go before us each moment of our journey.

(1 Peter 1)

(vs 5-7) …for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Here’s that word again from Zechariah: Shield. We are shielded by God’s power. It literally means “to be a watcher in advance, i.e. To mount guard as a sentinel (post spies at gates); figuratively, to hem in, protect.”

This is what’s available to us through our God and his power. Scripture goes on to say that in this we can greatly rejoice. And although we “may suffer grief for a while”, those moments come only that our faith may be proved genuine and in that, glory and honor to God and HIS power. Once again we are reminded of what God brings to the table. This is not of our strength, but his.

God, give us strength that our faith might be proven genuine.

Zechariah 11, James 5

(Zechariah 11)

Matthew Henry’s remarks on the closing verses of Chapter 11 speak so much to me: “God, having showed the misery of this people in their being justly left by the Good Shepherd, shows their further misery in being abused by foolish shepherds. The description suits the character Christ gives of the scribes and Pharisees. They never do any thing to support the weak, or comfort the feeble-minded; but seek their own ease, while they are barbarous to the flock. The idol shepherd has the garb and appearance of a shepherd, receives submission, and is supported at much expense; but he leaves the flock to perish through neglect, or leads them to ruin by his example. This suits many in different churches and nations, but the warning had an awful fulfillment in the Jewish teachers. And while such deceive others to their ruin, they will themselves have the deepest condemnation.”
God, as we shepherd your people, give us a holy passion for the ways of the Good Shepherd.
(James 5)

"Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." (v16) This scripture presents some insightful truths about effective prayer, trust in relationship, and righteousness. One of the profound things that stand out to me is the power of confession. There is something that happens when we admit the reality of sin in our lives. When I think about the type of sins that destroy a person, a family, a relationship, or a church, they always seem to be private sins that have taken over. We must do all that we can to sharpen one another that the seed of sin does not come to full bloom in our private lives. So for us, to confess to one another has multiple values: admitting and healing. It’s the same with God, the only difference is, he already knows we’ve sinned.”

Last week, my youngest was feeding my dog goldfish crackers. He didn’t know I knew. I asked him, “Caleb, are you feeding the dog goldfish?” He replied, “No”. I asked him, “are you sure?”, he said, “yes”. So I walked him outside and we stood there as the dog was at an attentive “sit” position with orange crumbs all around his mouth. And I said, “Are you sure?”

Every time we confess to God, we aren’t just admitting to him what we did, we’ve got Goldfish crumbs on our face. He already knows. What we’re doing is actually admitting that what we are doing is sinful. We’re not just admitting we did it, we’re admitting that it’s wrong. Something amazing happens when we do that. It’s called, honesty, transparency, and authenticity. We need more of that in our lives. Why? Because through it, the journey begins to healing.

Zechariah 10, James 4

(Zechariah 10)

Name it and claim it, right? Wrong. We are sometimes so confused on how prayer should really work. Does God really want to bless us? Yes. But does He bless in His language of love or ours? I’d be lying if I said I knew for sure how that worked, so would both of us, but it seems He blesses in both ways. We just seem to see it mostly in our terms. One thing we can be assured of, His blessings are timely and appropriate. Zechariah says, “Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime; it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone.”

There is so much more in this scripture than just asking God for rain. It talks about a timing (springtime) in which the result of this prayer is most effective. It recognizes God as the provider of not only the rain, but also the storm clouds that they come from, and reminds us that the fruit of that rain is available to all. How cool is our God?

Father, may we seek your best as we pray. May we seek your timing and trust your provision to provide fruit not only for us, but also for others. Take away our selfish prayers, dear Lord, that all may see your Glory and love.

(James 4)

“You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

What do we do with this scripture? That completely depends on how you interpret what it’s saying. So many times we use it as an indictment on another person for having friendships with those who are not Christ followers. So many times we feel like it means to stay far away from the word and keep isolated as believers, out of protection. If so, it would significantly impact the ways believers should do church or ministry. But I don’t think that is what it’s saying. This scripture does not tell us to keep away from people, instead it tells us, to keep away from having affection for their ways.

The word friendship comes from the Greek word meaning “actively fond”. To take it a bit further, let’s look at what the dictionary says about the word “fond”. It’s defined as having a liking or affection for. Loving. It even goes so far as to describe it as excessively tender or overindulgent or cherished. The root of the word “fond” means foolishly credulous our trusting. That’s awfully telling in my book.

This scripture is not a calling to isolation. Remember, isolation does not mean holiness or purity. Jesus did not remain isolated from the world. But NEVER and I mean NEVER did he hold affection for the methods of the world. Never did he have a sense of overindulgence or cherish the world’s ways, much less find a trust in them.

I believe with all my heart that this is what this scripture means. If we find places in our hearts that cherish the methods and ways of the world, we have to do business with it. Understand that those methods and ways are the ways that required the death of Christ on the cross, the exact opposite of God’s ways and standards. Scripture tells us that when we are in that place, we become enemies of God. If you were look at the original text, you would see that the word enemy is the same word to describe Satan. It’s that significant.

God, help me identify in my life, the areas in which I still use worldly standards as my base foundation. Give me distaste for those ways. Give me strength and wisdom to turn to you and place them at your feet and seek your ways as we seek to be used in this world in a way that shows your love. “For God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only begotten Son.”