You and the Word

You and the WordPsalm 119 SummaryJanuary 21, 2024 When I was a child, at Christmas my maternal grandparents always had a candy gift bag for each of the grandchildren. But there was a requirement for receiving that gift: you had to quote a Bible verse from memory. We shared Christmas with them in my sixth […]

The Bible and Prayer

The Bible and PrayerPsalm 119:169-176January 14, 2024 At the beginning and middle of every new year, we spend one Sunday being reminded of the importance of the Word of God in our lives from Psalm 119. This morning, we come to the last stanza in this great text. We will find in this passage many […]

In that Day…God Remembers

In That Day…God RemembersZechariahOctober 22, 2023 In his book, The Body: a Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson tells us about our memories: Short-term memory is really short—no more than half a minute or so for things like addresses and phone numbers.…Most people’s short-term memory is pretty abysmal. Six random words or digits is about all […]

The Messiah’s Worshippers

The Messiah’s WorshippersZechariah 14:16-21October 15, 2023 Many years ago I took my first trip to Israel. The trip ended with several days in Jerusalem and I, like all the other visitors, was struck by the presence of armed military everywhere. In the markets, at the Wailing Wall, at the city gates, at the holy sites…it […]

The Messiah’s Victory

The Messiah’s VictoryZechariah 14:10-15September 24, 2023 One husband was complaining to his wife about their children, wondering if they would ever grow up. Saying, “Just a moment,” his wife pulled out a worn box that contained a frayed, yellowing diary — her diary from the year 1945. She read this entry from a particularly bad […]

The Messiah’s Return (Pt. 2)

The Messiah’s Return (Pt. 2)Zechariah 14:6-9September 17, 2023 The coming of the Messiah (Christ) as King is one of the dominant themes in the OT: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful […]

Israel’s upcoming exodus

Many details about the second coming of Christ are unknown to us (like the detail we most want to know — when?), but a great many details are revealed to us. Zechariah particularly provides a vivid picture of what the coming of Christ will look like: He will descend bodily from Heaven and will come […]

The Messiah’s Return

The Messiah’s ReturnZechariah 14:1-5September 10, 2023 In February 1942, the American war against the Japanese in the Philippines was not going well. It was going so poorly that by March 12, 1942, President Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur, who was stationed in the Philippines, to leave and relocate his command in Australia. MacArthur briefly considered […]

The Messiah’s Redeeming Work, Pt. 2

The Messiah’s Redeeming Work, Pt. 2Zechariah 13:7-9September 3, 2023 In his book, Rejoicing in Christ, Michael Reeves writes, “On the cross we are given not only the sweet salvation of God but the counterintuitive revelation of God. On the cross we see how humble, how self-giving, how perfectly generous and compassionate the living God is. […]

The Messiah’s Redeeming Work

The Messiah’s Redeeming WorkZechariah 13:1-6August 27, 2023 A few years ago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Invention Index conducted a poll, asking what five inventions Americans believed they could not live without. The answers (in reverse order) were: 5. The microwave4. The cell phone3. The personal computer2. The automobile1. The toothbrush Another survey found that the […]

God’s Salvation of Israel

God’s Salvation of IsraelZechariah 12:10-14July 30, 2023 John Piper writes about the unlikely conversion of a sinner — A great testimony to the power of the Word to beget and sustain faith is found in the story of the conversion and execution of Tokichi Ishii—a man who was hanged for murder in Tokyo in […]

Zechariah and The Day of the Lord

While Zechariah does not use the term, “the day of the Lord,” he speaks frequently (21 times) of “that day,” which is his abbreviated way of referring to the day of the Lord. So what is “that day” and “the day of the Lord?” In the Old Testament, the term generally is used to refer […]

God’s “I Will”

God’s “I Will”Zechariah 12:2-9July 23, 2023 In “If I Were in Charge of the World,” Judith Viorst’s popular child character Alexander opines, If I were in charge of the worldThere’d be brighter night lights,Healthier hamsters, andBasketball baskets forty-eight inches lower. If I were in charge of the worldYou wouldn’t have lonely.You wouldn’t have clean.You wouldn’t have […]

The end of this age

At dinner on Monday, I looked at my wife and said, “One down, three to go.” “What are you talking about?” she asked. “One 108-degree day is behind us, only three more (this week).” (I was trying to be optimistic, so I’m not going to think about August.) I often look forward to the ends […]

God’s Right to Speak

God’s Right to SpeakZechariah 12:1July 16, 2023 I loved my mom and learned so very much from her. She was a gift of great grace from the Lord to me. But she had one habit that I could never adopt, even though I understood it. One day I saw her reading a book that I […]