ReDiscover God's word verse by verse chapter by chapter this is real Bible study with teacher Tom Bradford welcome to Torah class we left off at uh verse 11 of Zechariah Chapter 1 where it was dealing with zachariah's vision of the three horses that were roaming the Earth to give a report to yov about the condition of the world at that time and before that I told you we talk some more about this recently introduced character called the angel of yov and we're going to do that now and later I'm going to speak to you about something curious but it matters that is only indirect connected to the book of Zechariah but first let's reread verses 89 10 and 11 of Zechariah Chapter 1 Zechariah chap 1 verses 89 10 and 11 it was night and I saw there before me a man riding on a russet colored horse he stood among the myrtle bushes in the valley and behind him were other horses russet chest chestnut colored and white and I asked what are these my Lord and the angel speaking with me said to me I will show you what these are the man standing among the myrtles said these are those whom adoni has sent to walk wander throughout the Earth they themselves answered the angel of adoni standing among the myrtles we have seen been we have been wandering throughout the earth and the whole world is quiet and at peace now to clarify even though what I just read you the complete Jewish Bible says angel of Adonai and English Bibles say angel of the Lord both are incorrect translations Adonai is Hebrew for the generic word Lord and so using the word Lord in English versions means that the Bible translators are implying that the Hebrew word In this passage they are translating is from adoni and that's false the words we find in the Hebrew scriptures are Mal yov angel of yov with yov being God's formal name now there are agendas Behind these decisions to mistranslate these words in the Jewish world it is a taboo that began in the 300s BC to not say or write God's name in the Christian world it was an attempt to remove the influence of God the father from The Bible and to replace it with God the Sun so who is this angel of Y how does he fit into this story and is this just another name for a character that's already been introduced now it's a common claim among Bible commentators that the figure of the angel of Y is the same as the man on the horse in the myrtles and I can't agree with this it is the way that verse 8 is worded in Hebrew that confuses the matter and it leads to a few different conclusions the vision is that an ish an ish a man is riding on a horse then the next sentence says he stood among the Myrtle branches so was the man writing or standing and if he was writing then the standing figure was a second person in the myrtles it is my position that the he who St stood among the myrtle bushes was not referring to the man but to the horse in other words the man was riding the horse was standing all right this also works better with the remainder of the passage if I'm correct and the he is referring to the horse then we could slightly reward the passage to better get its correct meaning across by saying it was night and I saw there before me a man riding on a russet colored horse the horse stood among the myrtle bushes in the valley and behind him were other horses see how that works I mean it really fits well together when you can recognize that so with that resolved that another figure that I call the interpreting Angel answers zechariah's question about those three other horses and that begins in verse 9 I asked what are these my Lord and indeed this passage asks in Hebrew what are these my Adon right that is God's name is not used so this figure is not a manifestation of God then we read that the man standing among the myrtles answered I will show you who these are so who is this man standing among the myrtles well this is yet another figure we have the man sitting on a horse and that the horse is standing in the myrtles now we have another man in the myrtles but like the horse this man is standing the standing man says that those three horses have been sent by yov to wander throughout the Earth next we read that they themselves spoke and they themselves are the three horses who say at the end of verse 11 we have been wandering throughout the earth and the whole world is quiet and at peace this is not to claim that like balam's donkey they were enabl to speak rather this was a vision and the horses were symbolic and not real back at the beginning of verse 11 we got a reference to the angel of yov standing among the myrtles this answers the question of who this second man in the myrtles is the man standing versus the man sitting on a horse the man standing in the myrtles is symbolic of the angel of yov thus this man isn't really a man after all rather he just had the appearance of a man in zechariah's Vision complicated isn't it well in this short passage we have four different figures involved not counting the horses Zechariah the man on Horseback the interpreting Angel and the angel of yov who looks like a man and is standing among the myrtles well who is this angel of yov is this literally a very high angel that is there to represent God or is this God himself or as angel of just an rather figuratives since in a certain sense all angels are angels of God since they are all under God's Authority I feel I can answer this rather definitively the angel of yov is a manifestation of God himself a manifestation that serves a particular role now this ought not to confuse us most Believers are familiar with the Trinity Concept in which God is Father Son and Holy Spirit but in fact we read in the scriptures of other persons or direct manifestations of God such as the shikina the glory and as here the angel of yov so so I have just listed six named manifestations of God that the Bible speaks of separately the Father the Son the Holy Spirit The Glory the shikina and the angel of yov now because of the man-made concept of the Trinity a word that it's never found in the Bible that Doctrine is they're not six or perhaps even more manifestations of God there are a total of three and thus every manifestation of God in in the Bible must be one and only one of either the Father the Son or the Holy Spirit and when speaking of the Trinity we need to understand what it is for what it is it's a church doctrine and there's not merely one universal accepted trinity church doctrine there are a few that typically revolve around whether all the manifestations are co-equal in Authority knowledge and purpose or they are in a hierarchy of authority knowledge and purpose or even even if they are merely different names for exactly the same person or entity see this is why when someone asks the question of do you believe in the trinity in reality it's an unanswerable question what I'm asked my first response is which one see that usually brings with it um an uncomfortable pause in the discussion because only very few Believers are aware that there are a few different Trinity doctrines but more I confess to you that while I believe in the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit I do not subscribe to the church created Doctrine called the Trinity Doctrine no matter which one it might be and this is because quite clearly there are several more than three manifestations of God spoken of in the Bible and it is intellectually dishonest to try to fit the others into the mold of the Father the Son or the Holy Spirit only for the purpose of maintaining a Doctrine further there is absolutely a hierarchy of authority knowledge and purpose that is presented to us as we find the father sits a top that hierarchy with all the other manifestations of him representing certain aspect for his will for his creation and for his creatures which the father uses to bring about his purposes I mean it's all very mysterious and so any attempt to thoroughly explain it always reaches a premature end that never quite satisfies even so that is no good reason to create a fanciful doctrine that tries to close the loop in a way that humans prefer God and His manifestations are not of this four-dimensional realm that humans reside in other than for Yeshua who seemed to belong to both the physical and the Heavenly Realms so we simply don't have the ability to comprehend the Heavenly Realm here in Zechariah then is presented a particular manifestation of God that we know from earlier Bible books and he is called the angel of Y his purpose is to communicate in a direct and visible manner to certain people that God has chosen let's take this one step further often if not typically these various manifestations of God will speak in the first person that is I me as opposed to a prophet who speaks of God in the third person he and yet when the speech gets more nuanced names or titles of these various manifestations of God often will be used instead of I or me we have one example of this before us here and it explains why it is so critical that we translate the Hebrew correctly and that we know God's name and who exactly that represents God's name is y and by this is meant the name of the father so the manifestation of God that is called the angel says it is yov God the Father who sent those figurative horses to wander the Earth as his Scouts and to report back what they see to him it was the father that sent them it was the father who wants the information not the Holy Spirit not the son not the glory not the shikina and not even the angel this is not meant to shake you up by the way it is simply meant to urge you to read the Bible critically and honestly and not through the lens of man-made Church doctrines nor man-made doctrines of Judaism once we can do that then difficult truths can finally emerge even if they're cloaked in mystery all right let's ReRe read Zechariah 1 now starting with verse 12 open your Bibles to Zechariah chap 1 start reading with me at verse 12 the angel of adoni better the angel of yov said Adonai z o how long will you keep withholding Mercy from yerusalem in the cities of udah you've been angry with them for the past 70 years Adonai and again every time I read that to you what it really says is yov Adonai replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me the angel speaking with me then said to me here is what Adonai Zava oat says I am extremely jealous on behalf of yusem and zon and to the same degree I'm extremely angry with the Nations that are so self-satisfied because I was only a little angry at yerusalem and seon but they made the suffering worse therefore adanah says I will return to jerus with merciful Deeds my house will be rebuilt there says adanas sa o yes a measuring line will be stretched out over yerusalem in addition Pro claim that Adan I Zava oat says my cities will again overflow with prosperity Adon I will again comfort seon and he will again make yusim the city of his choice well now that we understand that the angel of Y is as a particular manifestation of God we see that he asks now the father a question how long he says will you keep withholding Mercy from Jerusalem and Judah this time the father is addressed adding a title to his name yov of hosts the term the hosts are referring broadly to the Heavenly angels of no specific kind or category and this matches other places in the Bible that speak of one of the father's roles as being in charge of the created Spirit beings in heaven interestingly the Bible also informs us that just as the father delegates many of his purposes to his several different manifestations to carry out in heaven he does the same thing the father father delegates to the highest class or category a Divine beings in heaven called the Elohim who serve as his Divine Council their job is to be the administrators of Heaven in the same way that humans are to be the administrators of Earth now the question that the angel of Y asks that begins with for how long is in Hebrew ad mate and this is actually an idiom it's a protest it's a questioning of what is perceived to be wrong or unfair you know what it's like saying to our kids so for how long are you going to be irresponsible and not clean up your room we don't expect to get an answer back based on some amount of time it's our protest to them so the angel of yov questions the motive and the reason that the father isn't showing Mercy yet to Jerusalem into Judah and essentially we also could say that the angel of yov is expressing his his own compassion and care for Jerusalem and Judah now called yehud and so is begging on their behalf that the father return to showing them Mercy now I find it interesting that it is not the prophet Zechariah but rather the angel of yov that acts as a sort of intercessor for Jerusalem in Judah although such a thing ought not to surprise us because we regularly find Yeshua the son approaching the father asking for similar things for his people I mean when he dies when he's hanging dying on the cross Yeshua doesn't offer his own forgiveness to those people who put him there rather he asks as an intercessor that the father forgive them it was the son's purpose to die as the saving atonement that meets the requirements of the father to forgive now the angel of Y asked specifically about Jerusalem and Judah why not just Judah since Jerusalem had been judah's capital or why Judah not yehud I mean after all Judah as a Jewish Nation no longer exists the same approximate place is now the Persian province of yehud now some of this must be speculation on my part that said the words Jerusalem and Judah have been a regular biblical pairing for a very long time Jerusalem was always more than merely a capital city and it was always more than only a capital city of Judah it was the capital city of the entire promised land now of course the Civil War and the late 00s BC split the Israel of David and Solomon into two Kingdom kingdoms each governed by their own King and each with their own Capital City Jerusalem for Judah Samaria for Ephraim Israel and more importantly Jerusalem is the place where God puts his name that is Jerusalem is the spiritual capital of all Israel and as we look closer in the Bible it's the spiritual capital of the world in time it will be the capital of God's Kingdom on Earth where Yeshua will live Rule and Reign now it seems to me that despite the king of the Earthly Persian Empire giving it a different name to God that place is still Judah here's the point what the angel of Y is mostly concerned about in his protest in question to the father about Jerusalem and Judah by using the term for how long is not the Jewish residence per se but rather it is the political identification of the people and the land right now their political identification is Persian that is it's no different for those in yehud than all the other Gentile Nations now under Persian control Judah was the former name of a former set aart Hebrew Nation but now yehud is the name of the Persian Province where the judeans live they were in essentially the same political position as The Many Nations and places where the Jewish diaspora scattered and spread out to see just because Jews lived in some Gentile Nation it didn't turn those Gentile Nations into set apart Hebrew nations from an Earthly standpoint what made yud yud was that the people the land and the people were under the the political identity and authority of a gentile King what had made Judah Judah was that they were under the political identity and authority of a Hebrew king so the issue of concern for the angel of yahovah is when will God turn his Mercy back towards Jerusalem and Judah and rescue them from their current forced political identity as Persian and then return them to their natural Hebrew political identity now interestingly yov replies with words of kindness and compassion but as reply is not to the angel of yov who asked the question but rather to the interpreting angel that has been speaking with Zechariah now the Hebrew for words used here is deim it does mean words but when it is coupled with yov speaking them it then takes on the characteristic of a prophecy so y's answer as to what will happen will absolutely occurred just as any other re revelation of God when God speaks it it's a done deal now verse 14 says that yehovah's reply was I am extremely jealous on behalf of Jerusalem and Zion no direct mention of Judah Zion is a term that's used in different ways in different eras in zechariah's Era Zion was one of the more known names for the place upon which was built the temple I think is even more specific as the southeast Hill in Jerusalem where King David wanted to build the temple but his son Solomon wound up doing so the upper part of the city is where the temple was constructed the middle and lower part parts are where the city of David along with David's Palace was built the idea is that God was especially concerned over the city of Jerusalem and its precincts as well as the place where his Temple belonged Jerusalem the city where he placed his name Zion where the temple that would allow Fellowship between yehovah and Israel to take place that was the overriding matter to God so careful study as opposed to rushing through these verses reveals God's priorities now looking at the opening of verse 14 reveals another interesting line of questioning that isn't directly connected to our lesson today it's the one I mentioned at the beginning of today's lesson but I think it's worthwhile to take a brief detour to talk about it it involves the matter of root words and Associated words in the Hebrew language and how critical of a role that they play in understanding the intent of the various authors first there are few translations that translate verse 14 literally here is what it says the angel who speaks with me then said to me Proclaim Thus Spoke Jehovah of hosts I want to take a look at the word proclaim Proclaim that's an important word because of its weight it's an announcement that carries legal Authority the Hebrew word is Kar it is indeed proper to translate it as Proclaim at least when we understand it in terms of it referring to a Royal Proclamation what is fascinating is that it is from the same root or Associated word as the Hebrew mik now it might not look like it because we find a beginning meim in the Hebrew word Mika but grammatically the root F the root family of meaning of those two words is related and any good Hebrew lexicon can supply us their definitions mikar is often and most usually translated in the Hebrew scriptures scriptures as convocation that is the sense of it is as an assembly of people now interestingly as it was sometimes used in ancient times it could also mean a a reading okay that is much like its cousin word Cara that means to Proclaim something mikar has an alternative use of meaning something like a public reading now exactly what the Nuance is between a reading and a proclamation might have been in the minds of the ancient Hebrews I can't say but here's why I bring it up as a good example of the impact of understanding the nature of Hebrew root words as Bible students and especially those of us that adhere to the Hebrew Roots movement in Leviticus 23 we read a verse that is so very well known but it is always been something of a conundrum to deal with in Judaism the verse is this 233 work is to be done on six days but the seventh day is a Shabbat of a complete rest a holy convocation you are not to do any kind of work it is a Shabbat for Adonai even in your homes the puzzling part is this this verse seems to contain a command that on shabat the Israelites were supposed to get together for a formal assembly or to use more common terms modern terms a communal congregation service yet we find in Exodus 16 in the story of an incident about Gathering Mana to eat that because some people went out on the Sabbath to gather up mana after being instructed not to Moses confined everyone to their tents so by doing this had Moses gone too far all right and done this in direct Defiance of the command to meet together every Shabbat and when we examine the Old Testament from the time the very first instruction of observing a seventh day Sabbath was given and until the return of the Jews from Babylon there is no mention in the Bible or in any extra Biblical Hebrew literature source of Israel ever holding a worship service to observe the weekly seventh day Shabbat not even once rather biblically speaking Shabbat was determined to be primarily a strict day of ceasing one's labors what gives I mean one would think that reference to to shabbat meetings would be liberally sprinkled throughout the Old Testament since the importance of Shabbat is stressed historically however the evidence is that Shabbat worship Services only began to happen upon the creation of the synagogue system which itself was a post Babylon institution created and officiated by lay Jews non priests that is meeting on Sabbath seems to have Arisen from a from synagogue Traditions that developed but not something taken as a command from the Torah nor something associated to the temple now if we assume that we are not properly interpretating 233 Leviticus 233 then the one only weekly ceremony the Sarah the Torah called for and that was practiced for certain was the special Sabbath day sacrifices accomplished by the priests and it only involved the priests I want to be clear this is not to condemn or find any fault with we at Seed of Abraham or our Jewish friends of getting together on Shabbat for a worship service but I have serious doubts that the Hebrew term mik is found in Leviticus 23 is correctly translated as saying God commanded a communal assembly on that day because not even when Moses was alive did Shabbat meetings happen so far as any biblical or any other evidence exists see how words are translated matters the historical record of what Israel did and didn't do matters accuracy matters many years ago when I was in Israel I asked a kind Orthodox Rabbi why if shabb as a day of ceasing from our normal labors is he working by conducting Shabbat Services he smiled and he said it's a problem isn't it and I felt for many years there is something not quite right about the way we traditionally understand that Leviticus 23 instruction as regards the word mikra mean an assembly so here's an alternative way I believe the far more likely way considering all the evidence to translate Leviticus 233 that accounts for this strange anomaly which indeed Falls within one of this word's known definitions okay it's this work is to be done in six days but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest a holy reading you are not to do any kind kind of work it's a Shabbat for Adon even in your homes okay in any event it's always beneficial to look closely at the Hebrew and especially atot words that have Associated meanings much can be lent to our Biblical understanding by doing that no matter what book we are studying and Zechariah is no exception back to Zechariah now that we have a better idea of the likely more nuanced meaning of the Hebrew words K and mikar then What We Gather is that verses 14- 17 works together as a unit that gives the angel of yov a response to his pleas to the father to show Jerusalem and Judah Mercy this four verse response begins with begins a series Ser of three brief oracles or prophetic proclamations the first Oracle is in verses 14 and 15 so another Nuance of the word Cara Proclaim is to use it as meaning a notification of a new revelation and verse 14 says that God has great Zeal and jealousy for Jerusalem and Zion now in verse 15 what was just said is added to by exposing God's feelings of Wrath against those Nations Gentile Nations by definition Who currently are peaceful and at rest because up to now God has felt only a little anger against them even though they did Evil and this evil was likely something they did to harm Judah perhaps it includes harm to Ephraim Israel the notion is that when God has wrath against a nation he will cause turmoil and unrest to occur therefore the fact that all these nations are at peace indicates that his wrath was very small against them now recall that the horses sent out to wander the Earth reported well the world was peaceful no major Wars going on these nations are undoubtedly those who were swallowed up first by Babylon then later by the Persian Empire what exactly was the cause of God's newer and greater wrath well listen especially to the ending of verse 15 and to the same degree I'm extremely angry with the Nations that are so self-satisfied because I was only a little angry at Jerusalem and Zion but they made the suffer ing worse notice that God's Wrath has levels not a matter of great wrath and no wrath just as we learn in Revelation that tribulation has levels this is how God and His creation operate sin punishment Holiness uncleanness sacrifices and more all have varying levels of cost intensity severity depending on the situation so the cause of God's greater wrath had to do with what the Persian Empire did as regards Jerusalem and Zion they took them from God's people which is the same as taking them from God we're told that God has great jealousy over Jerusalem and Zion he will react harshly against those who mess with Jerusalem and Zion because they're exclusively his and when Persia refused to give Jerusalem and Zion back their independent sovereignty this provoked him to this new and greater level of Wrath but verse 15 also reveals that these nations made the suffering of his people worse than it needed to be that is yes God must have a little bit of anger towards those that He virtually caused to attack his people in order for them to carry out God's punishment for Disobedience and unfaithfulness but that punishment had limits God put a limit of 70 years on it it involved Exile not brutality and we begin to realize that while God intended the Judean be put under the control of Babylon then Persia after 70 years of punishment was to end and the judeans ought to be fully freed and so should the land of Judah Persia gave the former Judah a measure of sovereignty were not brutal with them but did not return them to the complete Independence God wanted this caused the level of his anger to increase from minimal to a lot more so now verse 16 is God saying that because of all the proceeding he will return himself to Fellowship in Jerusalem and that Fellowship will begin with with merciful Deeds to benefit his people key to this happening is that God's house the temple will be rebuilt because the temple is the place where is irreplaceable fellowship with them happens and ladies and gentlemen gentlemen despite what has been preached for centuries in churches worldwide this reality has not ceased Israel was to be exiled yet again in 70 AD by the Romans with that Exile not to end until just after World War II in May of 1948 this was the first step towards God restoring his fellowship with Israel and we see we will see that same pattern unfold in the modern era as we find here in Zechariah this means that God wants his Temple to be rebuilt on the hill of Zion in the city in which he has placed his name Jerusalem now it was a little over a century ago that the dispersed Jews of the world along with the leaders of several nations came to the conclusion it was necessary for Jews to have their own State however the Nations did not want want to give the Jews their ancient Homeland back because the Arabs were adamant against it and before them the ottoman Turks instead the Jews were offered a few different places the organization that represented the world Jews the word world Zionist Congress refused those other places but sometimes by only the narrowest of voting margins the most zealous were holding out for ancient Israel it was only because of the Holocaust that the world relented and gave the Jews back their ancient Homeland God was not ever going to allow Israel to be anywhere but the land he gave to them nor would the place where he would put his name be anywhere but Jerusalem and his Temple would never be anywhere than where it had always been on Zion once more this is exactly what we see in Zechariah but what this also means is the temple is going to be rebuilt in modern times in exactly the same place that existed up until 70 AD and despite all the religious rhetoric against it with most Christian denominations ations claiming that God never again wants a temple in Jerusalem it is going to happen because God does want it the temple is Central to God's covenant with Israel and God's covenant with Israel is Central to Gentiles having an opportunity to partake of the Salvation offered by God's son Yeshua verse 16 continues by saying that a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem what is this me measuring line also known as the Builder string this line is used to Mark the boundaries of the city walls this is not a measuring tape that was used to measure cubits to determine distances in other words this line describes where the city limits are and while there is no consensus about this in Bible scholarship I think this is an end times statement and just as the walls of the location of the temple were known to the returning judeans because the foundation was left mostly intact so were the walls of the city of Jerusalem the judeans returned to the city limits were already marked they were visible well established therefore this can only be referring to a situation whereby the city limits have to be reestablished most likely because the old walls are gone well verse 17 completes chapter 1 in Bible versions that are based on the Hebrew Bible but for those Bibles based on the words all in the same order are there with either version so don't be concerned so verse 17 also presents a third Proclamation or Oracle says this in addition Proclaim that Adan Isa oat says my cities will again overflow with prosperity ad and I will again Comfort sonon Zion and he will again make yusim the city of his choice well this new revelation of God is that the cities of the promised land will once again have great abundance and in the context of what this meant in that era it is part and parcel of God's blessings and mercy opening up once again that that that that ends inadequate rain General bad weather and the poor harvests that s such conditions cause instead God's blessing and mercy brings back good and predictable rainfall generally good weather which results in an abundance of produce and plenty of drinking water and while these results carry through to a modern meaning we can expand it to be indicating a general prosperity for the people of the land now when God says he will comfort Zion this is in relation to the former condition of pain and anguish over Exile and then the con this constant harassment of nations against them it also includes the idea of restored fellowship with God and full political autonomy the continuing Proclamation about Jerusalem again becoming God's choice of cities must be referring to the end times only once in 70 AD Jerusalem and Temple were destroyed and taken by Rome so one could say that God's choice of Jerusalem was put on pause even though in 1948 the former land of Judah was restored to a Jewish state it excluded Jerusalem in 1967 in the famous six- day war the Jews re took the city of Jerusalem however the most important part of Zion the Temple Mount is still mostly in the hands of Islam now this is going to change at some point because until it does Jerusalem isn't really the city of God's choice a temple needs to exist as the symbol of God's covenant and of his presence here in verse 17 is the proclamation by God it will change okay we'll begin Zechariah Chapter 2 next time for more teachings of real Bible study and to 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