December 9, 2011
GOD'S ACTION PLAN
Zechariah 13
Dan Washburn
Central Truth
Hundreds of years before Jesus Christ, our Shepherd, was even born, God the Father announced His plan to ordain the death and resurrection of His only Son as a sacrifice for us. Jesus Christ was working together with the Father to reconcile the world to God.
Key Verse | Zechariah 13:7
"Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,"
Declares the LORD of hosts.
"Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered . . . ."
(Zechariah 13:7)
Zechariah 13
1 On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
Idolatry Cut Off
2 And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. 3 And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.
4 On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, 5 but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’ 1 13:5 Or for the land has been my possession since my youth 6 And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ 2 13:6 Or on your chest; Hebrew wounds between your hands he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’
The Shepherd Struck
7
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who stands next to me,”
declares the LORD of hosts.
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8
In the whole land, declares the LORD,
two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
and one third shall be left alive.
9
And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”
Dive Deeper | Zechariah 13
"People do not plan to fail; they fail to plan, or they fail to follow the plan."
I am an action-plan kind of guy. Those who know me well often joke that I have an action plan for everything: my spiritual growth, ministry, work, play, and even an action plan to carry out all those action plans! Whoa!
The problem is not that I fail to plan; it's that I fail to follow plans, and, as a result, plans have fallen by the wayside before long. Not so for God! From the beginning of time, God had a plan for His people: "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).
Through the prophet Zechariah, God continues to announce His plan for the salvation of His people, as well as how He intends to follow through with His plan. Bear in mind that this announcement was given to God's people over 500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
God's Plan: Save the people through the coming of Jesus the Messiah.
(1) Out of His love for us, God the Father Himself will give the command for His sword to awake and strike My Shepherd. My Shepherd is a reference to Jesus Christ. Isaiah 40:11 says, "Like a shepherd He will tend His flock." God's follow-through: Jesus Christ was beaten and suffered death on the cross.
(2) God the Father also identifies the object of His wrath as "My Associate." The dictionary defines associate as a partner or colleague. God's follow-through: Jesus and the Father are one in divine nature.
(3) After the Shepherd has been struck, His sheep will be scattered. God's follow-through: In Matthew 26:31, Jesus quoted Zechariah 13:7 to His disciples just before His arrest and their subsequent abandonment of Him like scattered sheep.
As we submit to God with obedient hearts, He will reveal His perfect plan for each one of us. God always follows through with His plan.
Discussion Questions
1. Have you accepted God's plan for your salvation so that you can have a loving, intimate relationship with Him and know for certain that upon death you will go to heaven and not hell? Or are you still working on your own plan to earn your way to heaven? If you have not accepted God's plan, what seems to be holding you back?
2. If your answer to question #1 is "yes," have you asked God to reveal the next steps in His perfect plan for you?
3. If your answer to question #2 is "yes," has He revealed the next steps in His plan for you? Are you following through on them?
4. Why is it so hard to hear God's perfect plan for each of us?
5. Why is it hard for us to submit to Him in obedience and follow His perfect plan for us?
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
ZECHARIAH 9-13 (DECEMBER 5-9)
ACTIVITY: All of the prophets were telling about things that would happen in the future. This week, let's read a couple verses in Zechariah and then find their fulfillment in the New Testament. Fold a piece of paper in half. On the left side at the top, write Prophecy, and on the right side, write Fulfillment. As you read the passages below, write down the verse and what it tells us, both the prophecy and the fulfillment.
Read Zechariah 9:9.
Who is the king that came riding in on a donkey? Read Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-15. What are the three words that describe Jesus in Zechariah 9:9?
Read Zechariah 10:4.
Let's look at the fulfillment of this verse. Read Acts 4:11 and Ephesians 2:20. Who is the cornerstone?
Read 1 Peter 2:4-9.
If you have trusted in Jesus as your cornerstone, then what does God say about you in verse 9? What does He want you to show others?
Read Zechariah 12:10 and then John 19:33-37.
Who was pierced?
God gave the prophets information about when Jesus would come, and He was very specific. Seeing these prophecies fulfilled helps build our trust that what God says is going to occur in the future will actually happen.