The Narrow Path

  Tuesday, November 26, 2024 Psalms 65; 70 Zechariah 14:12-21 Revelation 11:15-19 Observance: Ember Day Holy To The Lord (Zechariah 14:20) The wild ride of the prophet Zechariah comes to its glorious conclusion, and it is wonderful reading it alongside Revelation. We have the new Jerusalem, with people being brought in from all around the world, and everything has become “HOLY TO THE LORD”. No longer is there a separation between holy and profane. (It might be worthwhile going back over our study of Leviticus to remind us of the importance of this separation.) There is no need for any separation; there is no longer anything profane to worry about. Everything is now holy; from the bells on the horses to the crockery in the kitchen. God is in the midst of his people. You may already be starting to get a sense of the fact that this separation is already starting to break down. We still have profanity in this world, but the number of things that f...

  Monday, November 25, 2024 Psalms 62; 63 Zechariah 14:1-11 Revelation 11:1-14 Observances: Ember Day, James Noble, pioneer Aboriginal deacon (d. 1941) Light In The Evening (Zechariah 14:7) Here we are, in the final week of our journey through The Sword And The Trowel. We have returned from exile and restored to the land. The temple and the city walls are rebuilt. God’s Law has been set as the standard for the law of living. Yet for all this good work, the promise of the prophets – that the great king is coming and his people will be set above the God-haters and scoffers – has not yet come to pass. As we conclude Zechariah and look through Malachi in this final week before Advent, the melody line will be like this. To our eyes, everything that can be done has been done. So why has Christ not yet returned in glory? Where is the great revival? In today’s section of Zechariah we get a good picture of how God works with his creation in this regard. ...

  Saturday, November 23, 2024 Psalms 54; 55:1-12 Zechariah 13 Revelation 10 Observances: Ember Week [ Prayers for the ministry of the Church are appropriate this Ember Week ]; Clement of Rome, bishop and martyr (d. c. 100) Striking The Shepherd, Scattering The Sheep (Zechariah 13:7) The explicit Jesus references have been coming thick and fast over the last few days, and today is no different. Today’s verse is explicitly quoted in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark as referencing Jesus’ arrest in the garden: the Shepherd was arrested, and the disciples scattered, ducking for cover. Something that may have popped up for you while reading through Zechariah the past few days is the fact that these prophecies are not linear. We began with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem; skipped to the resurrection (or Second Coming, depending on how you look at it); looked back to the Great Commission and the in-gathering of God’s people from around the world; then ...

  Friday, November 22, 2024 Psalm 51 Zechariah 12 Revelation 9:13-21 Spirit of Grace and Supplication (Zechariah 12:10) What wonderful imagery we have here in this oracle of the prophet! Prophesying to the returned exiles, happily returned to their homeland, yet struggling to return to God, Zechariah comes up with all these themes for them to reflect on. As we read through them, it is difficult not to move without bumping into Jesus. There is the immovable rock against which all the nations are gathered; the stone of stumbling, the rock of offence, the one upon whom the peoples fall and are injured: the Lord Jesus Christ. The blind leading the blind, because the Lord is with his people; the Lord Jesus Christ. The flaming torch of the Holy Spirit, sent down at Pentecost; the Spirit promised by the Lord Jesus Christ. The one whom they have pierced; the Lord Jesus Christ. Mourning as for an only child, a firstborn son: the Lord Jesus Christ. This pas...

  Thursday, November 21, 2024 Psalm 50 Zechariah 11:4-17 Revelation 9:1-12 The Handsome Price (Zechariah 11:13) If you read this passage from Zechariah and felt like a spiritual wave swept through you as you did, then I would like to confirm for you: yes, this is an explicit prophecy of the betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. St Matthew, in his gospel, says that the betrayal was a fulfilment of the prophet Jeremiah: it is alluded to in more detail there (and over several chapters), but here in Zechariah it is more plain and in fewer words. Christ is the Good Shepherd; and if you do your morning prayers out of the old prayer book like me, then you might be singing Psalm 100: “Be ye sure that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Zechariah’s prophecy concerns this imagery of sheep in the pasture; of good shepherds and of worthless. And there is a special condemnation for the ...

  Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Psalm 48 Zechariah 10:6-11:3 Revelation 8 In Distant Lands (Zechariah 10:9) Going through all these Old Testament prophets as closely as we have been runs the risk of us falling into a couple of traps. One of these is that, since so much of God’s eternal message is wrapped up in local imagery, us Christians out in the boonies might not see how it applies to us. Another is that we start thinking that, since the concepts are so high and mysterious, then it must apply to some time far away, and have little to no relevance to us. Yet we must remember that God’s thoughts are so far removed from ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) that he has, in his generosity to us, “dumbed down” his message so that we can have a chance of understanding just what exactly he is getting at. As much as we might think otherwise, we humans don’t do so well with dry facts; we do much better with narrative and story. This story God is telling us has some wonderf...

  Tuesday, November 19, 2024 Psalm 48 Zechariah 9:11-10:5 Revelation 7:9-17 Observance: Elizabeth of Hungary, princess and philanthropist (d. 1231) Like Jewels In A Crown (Zechariah 9:16) Today’s prophetic word from Zechariah does a really good job of showing us how we fit into this universe in an enchanted way. Yes, one does have to acknowledge that Zechariah is alluding to what happened during the inter-testamental period, when Alexander the Great came along and conquered Israel, and the Maccabees later led a successful revolt against them. But the prophet is doing what prophets do: talking about future history in a way that tells us what the grand pattern of God’s story is. The grand pattern of God’s story is one of redemption; of evil tyrants getting their comeuppance, and a great king coming to free his people. While the Maccabees might have successfully removed the Greeks from power, it wasn’t long until the Romans came and took over. After tha...

  Monday, November 18, 2024 Psalms 41; 44:1-9 Zechariah 9:1-10 Revelation 6:12-7:8 The Return Of The King (Zechariah 9:9) Now that we have covered the history of the return of the exiles from the memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah, we return to the prophets who were preaching at the time. Zechariah was, as we hopefully remember, one of the two loudest prophets during the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Haggai was the old man of wisdom and patience, while Zechariah was the young man of zeal and energy. We have picked up where we left off – Zechariah had a wild night of vision, of flying scrolls, horses, angels and so forth. Now he is being given some, shall we say, more traditional prophetic words to speak. To quickly cover some Bible-reading basics, if you are getting confused about Revelation and the horses and scrolls in there, it might be worth going back to the start of Zechariah. God’s word is uniform across the whole Bible, and if we read about the same thing in di...

  Thursday, October 17, 2024 Psalm 106:1-24 Zechariah 8:9-23 1 Peter 2:4-10 Observance: Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. c. 115) Happy Festivals (Zechariah 8:19) One of the tricky things about reading the Old Testament is trying to separate out what words were for the original audience, and what words we can take as promises for ourselves today. If we had only read the prophets before the exile, with the invading army just over the horizon, then we might risk falling into pessimism. With only that picture in mind, we would be walking around with a cloud over our heads, worried of stumbling, because at any moment the Assyrians or Babylonians might come in and destroy everything as a result. Adding in more context – as we have today, with Zechariah prophesying after the return of the exiles – the commands from God to “speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgement in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbour, an...

  Wednesday, October 16, 2024 Psalm 105:1-22 Zechariah 7:1-8:8 1 Peter 1:18-2:3 Observance: Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, bishops and martyrs (d. 1555) Marvellous? (Zechariah 8:6) There are several phrases that, when we see them in the Bible, should make us sit up and pay attention. Anything to do with the “Day of the Lord” is one of them; another is when God speaks about when “they shall be my people and I shall be their God”. This second phrase, which, because of its frequency, risks becoming bland to our hearts, is so tremendously deep and rich in what it speaks of, is nothing less than the gospel of Jesus Christ. We remember way back in Genesis that God would walk through the Garden of Eden in the cool of the afternoon and speak with Adam and Eve about their day. One can imagine the scene: an enchanted place, a place with no evil, our first parents probably bouncing along, joyfully telling their loving Maker about all the wonderful things the...

  Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Psalm 104:1-25 Zechariah 6 1 Peter 1:10-17 Observance: Theresa of Avila, teacher (d. 1592) The Priest On His Throne (Zechariah 6:13) Our prophet’s series of visions now come to an end – the most incredible night of his life draws to a close – and what a glorious end it is! This Branch, the coming Messiah, is to be enthroned in the temple as both priest and king. No mere human could ever hold both titles; there has always been some degree of separation between church and state. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of heaven and earth, the Incarnate one who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, is worthy and able to sit on this throne of thrones. The promise towards, and aspiration of, all of God’s people has been for a government that loves God. How exactly we are to work this out has been an ongoing effort; our current phase of this effort is a pretty poor one, however. A separation of church and state ...

  Monday, October 14, 2024 Psalms 108; 109:20-30 Zechariah 4:8-5:11 1 Peter 1:1-9 For All To See (Zechariah 5:1) As we get further into these visions of Zechariah, one cannot help but feel the same sense of overwhelming confusion one gets when reading through the book of Revelation. Something very profound is being communicated to us here, and God has spoken through Zechariah to us in the form of visions, rather than propositional statements. In our lectionary reading we have been given two visions: a flying scroll, and a basket being carried by winged women. Perhaps in three years’ time, when this reading comes back around again, we can look at the basket. Today, though, lets look at the scroll. This picture of a flying scroll reminds me of those planes that sometimes fly around with a banner behind them, or perhaps of those sky-writing planes. Big letters, up in the sky, for all to see. If you are an advertiser and want to get your message out, then ...

  Saturday, October 12, 2024 Psalms 99; 100 Zechariah 3:1-4:7 Philemon 15-25 Observance: Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer, England (d. 1845) Given A Place Among Them (Zechariah 3:7) This must have been quite a night for young Zechariah: these visions are coming thick and fast. God opened the evening with the vision of the horsemen, reassuring him the love God has for the people. Now God is starting to get more specific – well, as specific as apocalyptic literature can get – and Jesus is beginning to become clearer and clearer. Joshua is the name of the current high priest, and his clothes are filthy. This is no way to be dressed before the Lord of creation! But, just as God gave Adam and Eve clothes of animal skin, and this high priest clean clothes of religious office, God has taken away our filthiness and dressed us in the pure linen of the saints. God did not have to do this for us. But (have we got the message yet?) God’s love for us burns so brigh...

  Friday, October 11, 2024 Psalms 95; 96 Zechariah 1:18-2:13 Philemon 1-14 A Wall Of Fire (Zechariah 2:5) At the risk of jumping ahead in the historical narrative, we’ve got to touch on the fact that at some point soon we will be considering the fact that the people will be rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Yes, for now, we are with Haggai and Zechariah, who just want to see the temple over and done with. There has been enough prevarication already; get the worship back on track, then we can worry about everything else. But this point of history is dripping with spiritual messaging. We are in the second-last book of the Old Testament, almost at the budding point before everything is fulfilled in the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And so while these returned exiles are being roused to finish the temple, they will then have to rebuild the walls, and then those will both come crashing down again in the future. But we will then finally understand this has all been...

  Thursday, October 10, 2024 Psalms 92; 93 Zechariah 1:1-17 Colossians 4:7-18 Returning To The Lord, The Lord Returning (Zechariah 1:3) Things are really starting to rev up as we get closer to rebuilding the city walls. Haggai, the old man who had seen the before and after effects of the exile, is joined by Zechariah, a young man born during the exile, in Babylon. Both men have been given words by God to speak to the people to encourage them to get to work. While Haggai’s words were more appropriate to a man of years, full of wisdom and careful consideration, Zechariah is brimming with youthful eagerness, wanting to soak up as much as he can from the experience of his forefathers, so as to do as good a job as possible in his own generation. Haggai knows about patiently waiting on the Lord; Zechariah wants to learn for himself. Zechariah is going to receive several visions all in the one night. Today we read about the first. And they all fall under th...