The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 01 :
What if I told you that Satan doesn’t create, he counterfeits? From the Garden of Eden until now, he’s been running the same tired scheme. Mimic what God promises and lure us in with the knockoff. But how can you spot the imitation and hold tight to the one defense that never fails? That’s what we’ll uncover today as we journey through the Old Testament book of Zechariah together. Welcome to Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. I’m your host, Steve Schwetz. And before we dive into Chapter 10, let’s hear Dr. McGee’s thoughts on the coming millennial kingdom.
SPEAKER 02 :
Out yonder in the future, there is a kingdom that’s coming on this earth. a millennial kingdom, and it’s going to be a fantastic kingdom here upon this earth, and not a fanciful one by any means, but in reality and truth, the Lord Jesus is to reign here. And there are certain spiritual characteristics of this kingdom, and we’ve talked about the fact there’ll be peace in the world for the first time. since the sin of man. And then there will be also justice. And that’s such an important world, because the world today is filled with injustice. And we have all kinds of movements today to bring justice to the peoples of the world, and it just doesn’t seem to work at all. Well, when he reigns on the earth, there will be perfect justice We’ve seen some of the characteristics of justice, that God cannot be bought. You can’t buy your salvation. It’s a gift, and he offers it to you. You don’t offer him anything. You come as a sinner, just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. And he’s impartial. He doesn’t play favorites. And then the other thing is that God judges according to truth. That is the thing that’s all important. And if there’s one thing we need to get in our minds, and that is this, God is always right. Now, that doesn’t mean that you feel like that he’s wrong in some things. But your feeling and my feeling, and I have to confess along with you, that there have been many times that I felt that God was a little harsh or he let somebody off that he shouldn’t have let off. But when we get right down to the nitty gritty, God is always right. And if we don’t think he is, the problem is not with God, it’s with us. Because we are ignorant or because we are biased and prejudiced. Now, I want to come today to another facet of this, and it’s found in Isaiah 45, 21. And I’m reading, “…tell ye and bring them near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? There’s no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me.” Now, God sets himself apart as being the only one in his created universe that is a just God, and at the same time, he’s a savior. And that means that the judges on the Supreme Court of the United States are not to exercise mercy. They are to enforce the law. I wish that judges today could get that into their head. We have so many soft-hearted and soft-headed judges. They think that they are the great givers of mercy. And believe me, you cannot give mercy. You have no right to extend mercy. You’re to enforce the law. The law must be enforced.
SPEAKER 01 :
What a powerful reminder. God is always right. He’s the only one who can be both perfectly just and endlessly merciful. And because of Jesus, we get to call this righteous judge our Savior. That’s grace. And we see that grace in action every day through stories from around the world, like this one from a woman who’s part of our Through the Bible family in Cambodia. She calls herself Ye, which is a term of endearment or respect for an older woman or grandmother. She writes this, Though age has weakened me physically, my love for the Lord remains strong. Every week I walk nearly half an hour to attend church. Even when I’m tired, each step is filled with gratitude for all that God has done for me. Recently my heart overflowed with joy when I received a player with your teaching in Khmer. It was an incredible blessing. Before my evenings were spent in darkness, simply waiting for the morning light so I could resume my daily chores. But now the radio fills my home with God’s word and songs of praise. It truly feels as though God has placed his hand upon my life, gently reminding me of his love in the smallest moments. You’ve brought spiritual warmth into my home, reminding me daily of God’s grace and presence. What a great story. Here’s another one. This is from a listener in Burundi, East Africa. God’s word has captivated me. Before I started listening to your French programs, I was leading a sinful life and didn’t know Jesus. However, after listening to your sermon on repentance from the scriptures, I have accepted Jesus as my savior and redeemer. I now experience freedom from sin with Jesus empowering me daily to withstand temptation. Well, these are just two of the thousands of lives that are being changed through the Bible and through your prayers. If you’re not already a part of our World Prayer Team, you know we’d love to have you join us. Sign up through our app or at ttb.org. Now let’s pray together as we open God’s Word. Father, thank you for your justice and mercy and for transforming lives. From rural Cambodia to the heart of Burundi and even right here where we are. Give us ears to hear and hearts ready to obey. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. We’re off to Zechariah 10 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now I’m coming today to the 10th chapter of Zechariah and that very wonderful 9th chapter that we looked at and spent some time with. But there are those that believe that chapter 10 is just a continuation of chapter 9. Now, it’s a belief of, I think, some very fine commentators today, men that are fine Bible expositors, one of them Dr. Unger. And he feels that verse 1 belongs to chapter 9. And the reason I mention that is that I accept that, but that the rest of the chapter is separate. And we’ll see that, I think, as we go along. Now, he has been describing to them in chapter 9 the future deliverance of both the northern and southern kingdom and how God is going to use them in the future. and that the millennium will be set up with these people actually being priests to the Gentile nations of the world. Now, chapter 10, I have labeled this chapter, Judah and Israel are to be scattered again, but they will be finally regathered. Verse 1, though, does belong with chapter 9, the glorious, wonderful picture of of the millennium that’s coming upon the earth. And he says here, “…ask of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain, so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field.” Now, first of all, let me say that when he says rain here, that’s exactly what he means. He’s speaking of literal rains. Because you see, God had promised Israel, who were an earthly people, earthly blessings. He promised them that which he’s never promised the church. We are told we are blessed with spiritual blessings. They were to be blessed with physical blessings, temporal things. And naturally, they would come through the rainfall that would come to that land that would bring forth the crops. And actually that land in that day, as we’ve already seen, was like a Garden of Eden. And today it almost looks like the opposite place. Why? Judgment has come upon that land and it hasn’t been lifted. Now, God says that He intends to send the latter rain. Now, we find here that when He says latter rain, He means latter rain. And you will find that God has mentioned this several times, and that the thing that denotes judgment is the withholding of rain. And that is what has happened in that land today. I would say that the next problem to the Arab problem in Israel is the water problem. How to get more water? Well, the best thing would be, and the easiest thing actually for them would be to turn to God and then experience physical blessings that would come through rain. But they haven’t turned to God. and the rain has not returned. I was told that the latter rains had returned to the land. Well, they haven’t returned. They are getting more rainfall, that is true. But some of those groves that they’ve set out If you were there in late summer, you will know that they need rain. And they need it bad, by the way. And there’s not enough, actually, for the irrigation. They can’t irrigate near the land that needs to be irrigated. Now, the latter rain, or as it’s called the spring rain, comes in the months of March and April. And it has returned, I’m told, to a very limited degree. They’re not getting near the kind of rain that would be indicated here. But God says that he intends to send them rain in the time of the latter rain, and that there would be plenty of grass for the stock, for the animals. There would be plenty of rain for the trees and for the crops that they plant. and for the fruit that they would like to set out. That is the picture that is here, and it entirely refers, and the interpretation is to that which is physical. Now, I think it’s also typical of spiritual refreshment. And it’s used that way in the prophecy of Joel, for instance, in 228. We’ve been over that. I’m not going back over it. And here it has that connotation also, that that which physical rain does For the land, why, the spiritual rain are the pouring out of the Spirit of God upon these people. And the prophecy in Joel and this prophecy here have definite reference to the millennium, to that period which is coming. And there will be a pouring out of the Spirit of God in that day. So that you have here, I think, this twofold meaning. Now, when you get to verse 2, you have turning again back to the fact that there must be judgment of that which is wrong in both the northern and southern kingdom. And God intends to strengthen them for the last days, and he intends to bring them into the millennium. But there are certain things that are radically wrong in their midst. Now, that’s called to our attention here in verse 2. For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they went their way like a flock. They were trouble, because there was no shepherd. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats.” For the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and hath made them in his majestic horse in the battle. Now, we have before us here that which was really the thing that was causing the trouble in the nation. That was the thing here. And he says, for the idols. Now, the word for idols here is actually the teraphim. And the teraphim utter wickedness. And the diviners envision lies, dreams of vanity. They will speak and will comfort emptily. That is, actually, they have no comfort to give, although it may seem like it. Now, this was one of Israel’s great sins, their former dependence upon idols and diviners. And the Word of God had a great deal to say against that. These idols that he’s talking about, teraphim, they were small household oracular divinities. And they are spoken of elsewhere in the Scripture. I’d like to turn to the 21st chapter of Ezekiel. And verse 21 reads, “…for the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of two ways, to use divination. He made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.” All right? Now, that’s quite helpful. Dr. Unger, who is quite a Hebrew scholar, and he’s written, actually, several books in this area of demonism and that which is satanic and demonic in our day and also in the past. Now, I’m indebted to him for this bit of information. that modern archaeology has given us some new information on the teraphim at an ancient site that’s right near Nineveh. It’s called Nuzu. Never heard of it before myself, and it’s not as familiar place as Pasadena, California, to me at all, a place called Nuzu, and it’s near Kirka. And that hasn’t helped me much because I didn’t know where Kirkuk was. But the important thing is that in the excavations that are made back in 1925 up through 1941, they found tablets that illustrate the customs that were as far back as the patriarchs. And you will remember that when old Jacob took his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and left Uncle Laban, old Jacob had trouble with Uncle Laban, you know, and he was glad to leave. And Rachel actually took the teraphim. That’s in Genesis 31, 34. This information now that’s been found shows that the possession of those household gods implied leadership of the family. In other words, when she stole those gods and then sat on them, on those idols. and said that she was with child and couldn’t get up. Well, she was really covering a whole lot of ground there and all of these household gods. That meant old Jacob was going to inherit everything Laban had. Let me tell you, that fellow Jacob was a rather clever boy. The fact of the matter is, Rachel stealing them was a very serious matter. That’s the reason that Laban was so wrought up over this. And he surely didn’t want old Jacob to get his estate by any means. He felt like he got more than he should have when he left. Now, the teraphim were used actually by the diviners. And we’re told here the diviners envisioned falsehood. Now, the method that was used was a very pagan method that was used. Divination is an occult, heathen imitation of biblical prophecy. The devil has always imitated that which is biblical. He never gets far from the Bible. And every one of the cults and isms in Southern California and even Satan worship is using the Bible. Certainly they are. That’s the devil’s method. Now, on that day, he imitated biblical prophecy through divination. Actually, the word divination means to cut or to divide. And it had to do with taking a sacrifice and cutting it open and looking at its innards. In other words, looking at the liver and the form of the liver and the way it was shaped. And that was called hepatoscopy. That sounds like a medical term to me. And I had gallbladder surgery, and I’m almost sure that there was a word similar to that that was used. And I hope they weren’t looking at my liver for that reason, by the way, to try to figure out the future from it, because I don’t think it had much of a future. But the thing is that then they attempted to interpret the future that way. And as they looked at the lever, the shape of it would tell them the shape of things to come. And that’s the way that it was done, because they considered the levers the very seat of life itself. Now, these diviners, Balaam was one of them. The Philistines had them, the Babylonians had them, and the false prophets of Israel used that method. This man, Zechariah, considers the diviners as envisioning falsehood. They were not getting their information from God, but it was demonic inspiration and not the Spirit of God. And you find that all of the prophets deal with this. And God had put down a law concerning this, as you well know, that they were to have nothing to do with divination. They would have nothing to do with these sorcerers at all. It was entirely satanic. Now, I’m not going into this in any great length today. And I’ll tell you why, because when we get to the book of Revelation, we will be dealing with it. And I do not want to spend too much time in this area. And I’ll tell you why. I think that for a long time, the pulpit neglected this type of thing. I remember about 25 years ago, I brought a series. in downtown Los Angeles, and we averaged over 3,000 people every Sunday night that came in, and we spoke on this matter of demonology and of demons. And at that time, I was pretty much alone. Several of my preacher friends kidded me. One friend that I play golf with, he said, McGee, you’ll do anything to get a crowd. Now you’re speaking on demonology. Well, I must confess, I did that then because I felt it was needed. But I feel like now today the pendulum of the clock has swung to the other side, and there’s too much talk in the church on demons and upon Satan. Now, we are seeing a manifestation of this. Someone asked me the other day, have you seen the exorcist? I said, no. Are you going to see it? Answer, still no. And they said, why? You ought to be informed. I said, I don’t care to go in to see that type of thing. I believe for years, this is not something new with me, that Satan and demonologists are a reality. But I don’t think he’s working on quite that low level today. I’m of the opinion that he’s out working on the front where the Word of God goes out. And that’s the reason that my physical problem I’ve had, and I’ve had a little too much of it. For me, at least that’s what I told the Lord. I thought he was overdoing it. But I don’t think that he really is the one that has done it. I think he’s permitted Satan to get to me. And I think it’s been satanic. I think Satan would like to stop the teaching of the Word of God. That’s the place that he would work naturally. And no wonder many of our so-called Bible churches have gone off on an ego trip where they are playing up some program. and something where they’re bringing in the crowds to something that’s new and novel. My friend, the only thing that God is permanently going to honor is His Word. And I’ve attempted very candidly during these days to keep my eyes centered on the person of Christ. What is the answer to all of this? false thing today. And I think the devil will deceive you. And I think, friends, that he can probably destroy the reputation of most anyone. And that’s the reason we need the protection of God today, as we have never needed the protection of God. But we need to keep our eye upon Jesus Christ. And that’s the reason that we have called attention to Him so much. Because if you stay close to Him, you’re going to be very far away from the devil. And demons, I can assure you, and all of this talk about casting out demons today in the church, I think instead of casting out demons, we ought to do a little casting in of Christ. That’s the important thing. You remember that there was a parable the Lord gave about a man that had a demon, and the demon went out of the man, and the man got all swept clean and garnished. He got rid of the demons. But you see, he didn’t have anything to fill up the empty apartment. And so this demon got tired of walking around. And he remembered this fellow and he went back because he was an easy mark. And he brought some friends with him, some more demons. And the last estate of the man was worse than the first. So my friend, if you’re casting out demons, you sure better put somebody in the apartment in a hurry because the demon has a lot of friends and he’ll be bringing them back and he’ll be moving in. So that this is a remarkable prophecy that you have here. For the idols, the teraphim, they’ve spoken vanity. They’ve lied to you. They always have. And the diviners have seen a lie. They are the ones that have used this. And they told false dreams, dreams they never had. They comforted in vain. Therefore, they went their way like a flock. They were troubled because there was no shepherd. There was no true shepherd to lead the people. And today, the great need of the church It’s not for more new programs or new gadgets, new methods. What we need are shepherds that will feed the sheep with the Word of God. That’s the important thing in this hour. It’s the only thing that’s going to deliver the church. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 01 :
The greatest need in the church today, well, it’s for shepherds who will feed the sheep with the whole word of God. We hope this five-year study will encourage more pastors and teachers to do just that. So pray. Pray for your pastor and for faithful shepherds all around the world who are leading God’s people with this truth. And if you’d like to connect with us, whether to share your story, ask a question, or request resources, we’d love to hear from you. You can drop us a note in our app, email us at biblebus at ttb.org, or call 1-800-65-BIBLE. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll meet you back here next time for more great teaching in God’s Word.
SPEAKER 03 :
All to him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 01 :
Through the Bible is a five-year study of God’s entire Word, and together we discover God’s purposes in history and our lives, found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know Him yet?
