I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
The prophet Zechariah begins his ministry with a call to return to the Lord. He tells us not to be like those of the past who the prophets called to return to the Lord that did not listen. They are long dead, yet what God said through the prophets that He would do came to pass. Those in the past repented when they saw the Lord’s judgment come to pass, will we do the same.
In the next section the prophet describes a vision where he sees riders mounted on horses. The angle tells him that they are the ones that the Lord has sent out to patrol the earth. The horsemen report that they have finished going throughout the earth and found the world at rest and at peace. On my first pass through this passage, I read this as being four horsemen but upon re-reading it I realized that the passage does not tell us how many horsemen there are. When I re-read the passage, I got the impression of a troop of horse scouts for an army. After the horsemen report, the angel who is Zechariah’s guide in this vision calls out to God asking how long God will remain angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah which have been subject to God’s anger for 70 years at this point. God replied to the angel and the angel gave Zechariah the message. Zechariah reported that God was angry with the nations that were experiencing peace and feeling secure. God had been angry with Judah, but the nations went too far in punishing the children of Israel. The prophet reports that God had told him that the towns of Judah (and Israel?) would be overflowing with people once more. Today’s passage ends with a vision of four horns and four craftsmen (blacksmiths in NLT). Zechariah is told that the four horns represent those nations which had scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem. He is told that the four craftsmen have come to throw down the nations that have lifted themselves up against the land of Judah.
The writer sees a vision of a woman about to give birth and of a great dragon. The dragon stood before the woman so that it could devour the woman’s child when it was born. However, when she gave birth the child, a son, was swept up to God away from the dragon. Then the woman fled into the wilderness. At the same time the woman fled there was a war in heaven between Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels. The dragon was defeated and he and his angels were cast out of heaven. The writer tells us that the dragon is the ancient serpent (a reference to the serpent in the Garden of Eden?) who is called the devil, or Satan.
Then a voice cried out that the Kingdom of God has now come because the one who accused “our brothers” before God has been cast out of heaven. They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and because they did not love life so much that they were afraid to die. When the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the child, but she was given refuge from the dragon. Since the dragon was thwarted in his attempts to destroy the woman, he went to war against her other children, who the writer tells us are those who follow the commands of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
This passage refers to the coming of Christ and the persecution of the Church. The passage refers to the woman going to a place in the wilderness where she would be nourished for 1260 days and at another point the writer says she would nourished there for “a time, times, and half a time.” The Kingdom of God has come and Satan has been cast out of heaven. He can no longer stand before God and bring accusation against those who follow the Lord. Satan is now seeking to destroy those on this earth who strive to live in God’s love. Let us not love this life so much that we are afraid to die in service to God.
The psalmist cries out to the Lord for protection from the plots of evil people. He asks the Lord to not let him fall into their traps. I pray to God that He not let me fall into the traps and snares set to lead me to sin. I praise the Lord because I know that He will protect those whom the evil plot against and give justice to the poor. I will live in God’s presence and follow His path. As long as I keep my eyes upon God, He will keep me from being led onto paths of sin.
Those who mock their father and despise their mother’s instruction will be blinded and walk in darkness.