Apples of Gold
Radio Script for May 7, 2008
“The Zechariah Zone”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
It’s time to step into “The Zechariah Zone.”
When I read through the book of Zechariah, a lot of great verses jump out at me.
Like chapter 2 verse 5 when God says that one day Jerusalem will be a “city without walls.” Then He says, “And I myself will be a wall of fire around it.”
Man, you don’t need a wall around your city if the Lord is a “wall of fire” around it! Talk about securing the perimeter.
Since reading that I’ve made that a prayer. “Lord, be a wall of fire around me.”
But that’s not all. He goes on to say, “…and I will be its glory within.”
It doesn’t tell me to make that a prayer, but I love the sound of it, the presence of the Lord both around me and within me. So this is my new prayer, “Lord, be a wall of fire around me, and let Your glory rise within me.”
Now look at verse 13. “Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
I picture the whole world, prattling on day after day in all its busy-ness and self-centeredness. But then, a hush settles over the planet. All of mankind is still before Lord – because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.
One of the most quoted verses from Zechariah is chapter 4 verse 6, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
God was talking about how the temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt. It would not be by their natural strength, but through His Spirit.
Now stop and think. What on earth does that mean? Because listen, those guys still had to rebuild that temple, block by block. It was by their strength. In fact, twice in Zechariah chapter 8 God told them to let their “hands be strong” to build the temple.
This is hard to understand, unless you have ever been involved in a large building project. Last night my daughter was part of a choir that sang at Bradfordville Baptist Church. It’s a massive, new facility, absolutely beautiful. I had nothing to do with it, but I bet it took an amazing number of hours and dollars to make it happen. There are a thousand things that can stop a big building project. You can work as hard as you want, but if people don’t work together, it’s not going to happen. Sometimes all it takes is one person to oppose the project.
On a massive project like rebuilding the temple, what are the odds of everything coming together? All the workers, the finances, the vendors, even the weather. And in the case of rebuilding the temple, they definitely had some opposition.
So God was telling them, “Strengthen your hands for the work, because it is going to happen. This temple will be rebuilt – not because you are so strong, or so organized, or so well financed – but because I am going to make it happen.” It’s “by my Spirit” says the Lord.
Another well-known verse is Zechariah 4:10, “Who despises the day of small things?” This verse makes me look back over my life and I see many small things that turned into big things. It makes me wonder – when God is involved in our lives – is anything really a small thing?
Here’s another cool verse in Zechariah – chapter 8 verse 3. God said, “Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth.”
In fact, truth is a recurring theme in Zechariah. Chapter 5 has some strong words for anyone who “swears falsely.” It says God will send a curse into his house. That curse will “remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones.”
That is a great illustration of the rotting power of not telling the truth. Over the years I have met some tremendous liars. You can’t believe a word they say. And their lives are rotting. They rot in business. Their social lives are rotten. Their family relationships are rotten. To the degree that you don’t deal in truth is the degree that your life will rot. It’s a curse from God that goes right into your house when you deal falsely.
In 8:19 God says we should “love truth.”
Verse 16 says, “Speak the truth to each other…”
When it comes to swearing falsely, the Lord declares in verse 17 that He hates it.
If there is anything we can glean for ourselves from the book of Zechariah, this is a big one. We must work to avoid misrepresenting the truth in all things. Everything we communicate, even everything we think – let’s try to make it an exact representation of truth.
There a lot of other great passages in the book of Zechariah, including many prophecies of the Messiah. But I’m out of time, so let me close with this from chapter 8 verse 21, “Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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