Join our journey through the book of Zechariah, as we delve into Chapter 7 and uncover the profound lessons embedded within age-old rituals. In today’s episode, we explore what happens when religious practices become routine, and how a revival of genuine faith can transform our understanding. With a powerful letter from Idaho and personal testimonies, we reflect on the marvels of God’s spirit making His Word real in our lives.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s a great day to be in God’s Word, and we’re so glad that you’re along for the ride as we journey through the Bible together. Now we’re going to continue our study in the Old Testament book of Zechariah, picking things up in chapter 7. So if you’ve traveled with us before, you know that we love hearing from our fellow passengers, and we love sharing your letters too. And why is that? Well, because there’s some of the clearest evidence of how God’s word is changing lives. And that tradition goes all the way back to our founder, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. In fact, here’s Dr. McGee with one of his favorite letters.
SPEAKER 01 :
I would like to share with you today one of the most remarkable letters that we have had. I’m not going to give the place because it’s a small place up in Idaho. I think it’s an outstanding letter. Will you listen to it? I was an intellectual Bible student and Christian for 80 odd years. Tuned into your program 10 months ago. Did not agree on many points, but listened each day because of the good things you said and taught from the Bible. I admit I was prejudiced, and I prayed sincerely that I might be kept from receiving any erroneous teachings. I thanked God each session for the blessings I’d received and put what I did not agree with on the shelf. Through the weeks, I found more and more that I could agree with, and the shelf became more and more empty. The Bible began to be illuminated, and my hunger for the things of God became ravenous. I laid aside all books and depended entirely upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit in my study of the Word. Now I’m reveling in the depths and heights of the wonders of this precious Word.” Oh, the mercy and patience of a loving Heavenly Father with such stupid souls as I. How multifarious are his ways. Praise God for your radio ministry. I’m on solid ground now and know that I have been born again into the family of God. And friends, if our radio ministry didn’t accomplish anything but just a letter like this, I frankly think it is worthwhile. But these can be multiplied. And the thing that’s remarkable about this letter, of course, is this man is over 80 years of age. And it’s marvelous what the Spirit of God can do when He takes the Word of God and makes it real to us.
SPEAKER 02 :
That really is true. As Dr. McGee often said, it’s marvelous what the Spirit of God can do when He takes the Word of God and makes it real to us. Let’s ask Him to do just that. Heavenly Father, we come with open hearts knowing that You’re able. Would You take Your Word and make it come alive to us through the power of Your Spirit? And we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Now let’s join Dr. J. Vernon McGee for today’s journey in Zechariah 7 on Through the Bible.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, last time we got to the 7th chapter of Zechariah, and we moved down actually as far as verse 6. And I’m going to move up to verse 4, but in case we have some new listeners today or someone that missed it last time, let me give the background for this particular section. This is a historic interlude in the prophecy of Zechariah. We had the ten visions, and now there’s a historic interlude. We have here a delegation. that came down from Bethel, or Bethel as we customarily call it. It means the house of God. And they came down from there. It was called the house of God. But Jacob, when he thought he had run away from God as well as his father and his brother Esau, when he got there and spent the night and God gave him that vision, he said, this is the house of God, the very gate of heaven. But unfortunately, the northern kingdom under Jeroboam put one of the golden calves in Bethel. It was a place that belonged to the northern kingdom. And so this delegation that came down from Bethel indicates that people from the ten so-called lost tribes weren’t lost at all. Some of them were Bethel. And if you’d read Ezra very carefully, you’ll find out that those that returned came from cities all around the Sea of Galilee, so that the entire 12 tribes were represented, but very few of any of them actually returned, less than 60,000 all told. Now, they came down, and they came down with a question. And their question was a very simple one. In a way, they had begun to fast before the Babylonian captivity and during it, You’ll remember in Psalm 137, by the rivers of Babylon, we sat down. We wept when we remembered Zion. They put their hearts on the willow trees, and they just sobbed out their soul there. And so that became a religious function. Now, actually, God never gave fast days. He gave feast days. It was their own idea to fast. And even when they fasted, they’d never done it really to the Lord, as we indicated last time. But God didn’t come out and say that it was wrong to fast. And he didn’t say it was right either. He didn’t answer the question directly. And yet he answered the question. And so you have here in the answer that he gives in verse 4, I read, Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, Now Zechariah will give them God’s answer concerning this. And we’re going to find that there actually is a threefold answer to this question concerning a religious ritual. Their point is this. We’ve been fasting. We’ve been weeping and wailing. And it looks pretty silly now, and it’s got very boring. After all, it’s a religious rite we’re going through, and we’re not getting any results. God doesn’t seem to be blessing us. And what’s wrong? What should we do about it? Well, there’ll be a threefold answer. The first is, beginning here with verse 4, when the heart is right, the ritual is right. And that goes down through verse 7, from verse 4 to 7. Then verses 8 through 14, when the heart is wrong, the ritual is wrong. And then the third answer we’ll get in chapter 8. God’s purpose concerning Jerusalem is unchanged by any ritual. And that ought to answer the question of a great many folk today who are saying, oh, let’s do this or that and hasten the coming of Christ. My friend, you couldn’t move it up one second by anything that you do. Don’t you know that he’s running this universe and that anything that you do is not going to interfere with his plan or program? You can’t interfere with him. And these people thought that a ritual might have something to do with changing God’s plans. God lets them know in chapter 8 he intends to accomplish his purpose. Now, let’s notice this first of all. The ritual is right when the heart is right. Verse 4, we read, “…then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month.” And that was August and October, even those 70 years. Now, that’s during the 70 years captivity. Did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me? God makes it very clear to them. And actually, a good translation would be, did you really fast? Did you really fast unto God? Did you really do it unto him? After all, God’s making it very clear now. that he does not approve, nor does he condemn the ritual. He inquires into the motive, and he actually avoids the question. In their specific case, they’d fasted as they said these so many years. Oh boy, you can read between the lines there. It had become boresome to them. Worshiping God had really become boresome. And the Lord is saying to them, if you really want to know the truth, God says, I was bored with you also. I thought you were very boresome. I’ll be very frank with you that I think there are a lot of so-called Christian services today that causes God to yawn. I think that he says, oh, here they go again, jumping through some little hoop as if they think that will please me. Now, God says you didn’t do it unto me, and God produces evidence. Verse 6, “…and when ye did eat, and when ye did drink.” Did not ye eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? When the fasting was over, you couldn’t wait to get to the table. When you were eating, did you do it unto me? You remember Paul says to the believer, meat doesn’t command us to God, whether you eat or whether you don’t. But whatever you do, whether it be to eat or to drink, do all to the glory of God. Now, if you can fast to the glory of God, you fast. But if you are doing it, for some reason other than high motive, then don’t do it. That’s exactly what he’s saying. It’s the same thing that he says faith without works is dead. Our Christian faith is not a Sunday affair. Sunday clothes that are put away on Monday morning, no good. And the test of the Sunday service is the life the next day. And he’s going to deal with them in the last part of this chapter on these very specifics that had to do with their business dealings, their social contacts, their amusements. And these were the things that revealed that what they did, they did not do it unto the Lord at all. and that there’s something more important than a ritual. And that will determine whether the ritual is right or not. Verse 7, “…should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets?” when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and its cities round about it, when man inhabited the Negev and the Shephelah. The Shephelah were the plains around Beersheba. That’s the plains. That section and driving, in fact, all the way up from Beersheba, whether you go to Hebron or go over toward the coast toward Ekron, why you are in what looks like big pasture lands. It reminds me of the plains of West Texas. That’s the reason I didn’t like it, because as a boy, I lived in West Texas. That’s in the days before they irrigated that land there. And I want to tell you, when a wind came through, it could really blow up a sandstorm, the lack of which you’ve never seen or heard of before. And that land is the same thing. God says to them, you went through all this ritual before. And when you were in the land, and what happened? Why, you went into captivity. Why? Because you did not obey me. And then he’s going to begin in verse 8 to show that a ritual is wrong if the heart is wrong. And when he does that, actually, that’s not a way of saying the same thing. God will put down on their lives, as we said, specific commandments. and the commandments that have to do with the man’s relationship to man as well as God. And my friend, this idea today that we can serve Christ, even go through a little ritual of doing something, and we’re not really right with him. The Lord Jesus said to Simon Peter, you remember, and I think it’s the most wonderful thing. You know what I would have done if I’d have been in his place after his resurrection and had come to Simon Peter? I would have bawled him out for denying me. And I would have told him what kind of a fellow I thought he was. You know what the Lord Jesus said to him? He said, do you love me? My friend, it’s not the ritual you go through. I want to pass on to you something now with this tremendous thing before us that is very pertinent for us today. Some church members, to them, religion is a rite or a ritual or a legalistic and lifeless form, a liturgical system marked by meaningless and wearisome verbiage. You know, there’s a lot of religious garbage in our so-called conservative and evangelical churches today. There is a ceaseless quoting of tired adjectives and a jumble of pious platitudes. I hear this today. Let me pass on some of them to you. We want to share our faith. Most people don’t have enough faith to share, friend. It’s not your faith that you share about how wonderful you are or what wonderful things God did for you. You witness to Jesus Christ. who he is and what he did for you. You’re not sharing anything, but we use that. And now we talk today in salvation, commit your life to Jesus. Commit your life? What do you mean? Well, they say, yield your life to him. Do you think he wants your life? He says our righteousness, even our so-called good deeds are filthy rags in his sight. What are you going to do? Send him your dirty laundry? God doesn’t want your dirty laundry, my friend. We’ve gotten a habit of using words that are taking away the real meaning of the gospel. And here’s another word that sure is being worn out today. The tread is really becoming thin on the word love. And that’s a high word of scripture. And it’s been worn out on the freeway of present day usage. It’s been emasculated of its rich, vital, virile, and vigorous Bible meaning. It’s been degraded to the level of a bumper sticker that says, honk if you love Jesus. And a fellow in a little car the other day, I noticed people ahead of me were honking and going around. And he was driving very slowly in the fast lane on the freeway. And the car had to detour around this. And I came up and I thought, well, I’m going to honk at this fellow. And then I saw the sticker. The sticker said, honk if you love Jesus. And I went around him and I gave him a look. And I felt like if I could have got to the place where I could have spoken to him, I would have told him that if you love Jesus, you don’t run around honking your horns. If you love Jesus, you’re going to live a life of obedience to him and you will be courteous to other people. Well, may I say to you that today there’s a great deal of churchianity that’s bland and bloodless. tasteless and colorless it’s devoid of the warm and feeling there’s no personal relationship with christ that is meaningful and productive it’s like that liberal he said it made him sick to hear people talk of a personal relationship with christ well i’d sure make him sick if he listened to this program because that’s the thing you have to have my friend is a personal relationship with christ And your ritual and your liturgy is not worth a snap of your fingers unless it’s got a life that is related to Jesus Christ. Now, may I move on? If there’s no deep yearning for a life that’s well-pleasing to him, no real study of his word, no stimulating desire to know his word, no real study of the word, not excited about the Bible and the word of God. Church membership for a great many people today in certain churches, it’s just like a young man falling in love with a furnished apartment. And marrying an electric stove and a refrigerator and a vacuum cleaner and a garbage disposal and a wet mop. That’s just about what it means. I heard of a maiden lady years ago who was asked why she had never gotten married. And she gave this very interesting answer. She says, well, I have a stove that smokes. I have a dog that growls around the house and I have a parrot that cusses and a lazy cat that lies around all day loafing and then out half of the night. Says, why do I need a husband? May I say to you, that’s the kind of a relationship that a great many folk have to God and to Christ today. And yet they have a ritual in which they jump up and down and run all around. But it’s meaningless. Let’s stop playing church today and start loving Christ and living for him. I want to share with you right now two of the most remarkable letters that I’ve had in many a day. The first one comes from a little town in Tennessee. And I’m not going to identify it because I do not want to identify these people. They’ve written wonderful letters. Listen to this. I discovered your program out of Memphis only about six months ago, just when I needed it most. Isn’t that just like our lovely Lord? I am a born-again Christian, only two years old. That’s really something for a 55-year-old grandmother to have to admit. My husband is a retired regular army dentist. heart patient. We moved 33 times in 26 years before retiring on this little farm here in the boondocks. We played church. I even taught a women’s Sunday school class, and my husband was a deacon. I can’t speak for him, but all I had was head knowledge and very little heart knowledge. And a young minister in the church where we have gone for 14 years is so liberal he thinks the belief in the virgin birth unnecessary and sees no conflict between transcendental meditation and Christianity. We stuck it out for a year and then left the church. I would be less than honest to say I don’t miss a church home since I’ve had church homes like that. Now, will you listen to the other letter? It comes from Southern California and I’ll not identify the place. And this is a very remarkable letter. Well, you’ll hear it carefully. I am a wife and mother under 30. And I’ve been a Christian since I was three and a half. I’ve often thought of writing but didn’t think I had anything meaningful to say. Well, I’ve changed my mind. Several years ago, I knew a lady quite well who was constantly pushing your program at me. This lady was a terrible housekeeper, had an unhappy husband and marriage and five unruly children. But she listened to her Christian programs from morning till night. Naturally, I associated her fanaticism with you and would not listen. During the past three years, however, I’ve been listening to you weekdays and sometimes on Sunday before church. And I found you to have a rare gift and so on. I’m certainly glad you dedicated your work to Christ and so on. Now, I’m dropped down. I love the study of the Word. I get so much. from your theology and your knowledge of the Scriptures. I wish I could find a pastor locally who preached as well. Now, will you listen? Our time is so short, and I’m glad you’re filling each minute with the vital news of God. I wish I could have seen past that latest disorderly life a long time ago. God bless you in your work, thou good and faithful servant. I want to say to you, friends, here was a woman, oh, listened to all the Christian programs and a fanatical Christian and had a home and a life that was a disgrace to the cause of Christ. My friend, a ritual is no good for a person like that. There’s nothing wrong with a ritual if you’re right with God and you love Jesus Christ. I still love the story of the three bears. You bet the little girl. You remember that I’ve told this before on this program. Their mother was having guests for dinner and sent her upstairs to go to bed early. And she gave her instructions. She knew how to undress and put on a gown or pajamas and get down on her knees and have her prayer. And so the next morning, why the mother asked the little girl at the breakfast table how she did, said fine. Says, did you say your prayers? The little girl says, well, kinda. She says, what do you mean, kinda? Well, she says, I got down on my knees to say that memorized prayer I got, and it just occurred to me that maybe God got tired of hearing the same thing all the time. So I just crawled into bed, and I told him the story of the three bears. My friend, you know, I thank God enjoyed that evening. That precious little girl already is sensing that there’s something wrong with the ritual when the heart is wrong. And the ritual can be all right. And I thank God listened to the story of the three bears. I wish that some church services today could be that interesting, by the way. And I think it would get God’s attention. Why all these problem churches today? Why all these problem Christians today? I’ll tell you why. It’s because, my friend, that we go through a rite, we go through a ritual, we perform a liturgy, and I don’t care. Even we in fundamental churches open with the doxology and close with the benediction, and we do have something in between, and we feel like we’ve been matured. Really? Have we? Have we been drawn to the person of Christ? Do we know him? Do we love him? And friends, if you do that, you can go through any ritual you want to. You can stand on your head, and that’ll be all right if you’re right with the Lord. We’ll pick up there next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
If you’re looking to make sure things are right between you and the Lord, we’ve got some helpful resources for you. Just click on How Can I Know God at ttb.org or in our app. There you’re going to find clear biblical answers to guide you. Or call 1-800-65-BIBLE and we’ll send a few resources to you by mail. And don’t forget to sign up for our monthly newsletter. It’s a great way to dig deeper into what we’re learning from Dr. McGee and to stay connected with what God’s doing through this ministry. Another resource you might be interested in is Dr. McGee’s digital booklet, On the Other Side of Prayer, What Happens in Heaven When We Pray on Earth. Ever wonder if God is really listening or how he responds? Well, Dr. McGee walks us through four powerful parables in the Gospel of Luke to help us understand. This booklet and so many more are available for free in our app or at ttb.org. And if you’d like to help find a resource for your personal study, well, just email us at BibleBus at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE. I’m Steve Schwetz, praying that God blesses you as you walk with Him and His Word.
SPEAKER 03 :
All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 02 :
Our story on the Bible Bus today is just one step in a five-year journey through the entire Word of God. Come along for the ride, and you’ll study both the Old Testament and New Testament, discovering God’s great redemption story. Is this your story too?
