DELIVER THYSELF
Zechariah 2:6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD. 7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. 9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
At first glance one would say, “Deliver thyself?” “How could they possibly deliver themselves from Babylonian and Persian captivity? It was God that placed them in this bondage! How can he now say, Deliver thyself?” But upon a closer look, with meditation, we will remember that it was their sin that placed them in this bondage! Therefore, the Lord must surely have done something about their sin for him to give this effectual command!
So just when can one deliver himself from bondage due to sin?
When the word comes in a day of bondage!
Zech. 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
In these two verses the time of the coming of the word was revealed by the earthly reign of Darius. But, nevertheless, the word that came was truly the word of the LORD! And when the sinner effectually hears the spiritual truth, it will set him free! 1Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
That word, Deliver thyself, was spoken in God’s power, the same as was “Lazarus come forth,” which was spoken to a dead man within a tomb! Therefore it was not merely a bare suggestion, but an enabling command from the Giver of Life! Then the sinner can deliver himself!
When the glory of God is at issue!
The Lord instructed the prophet that Jerusalem (the church) would be as towns without walls (v.4), for the church is not confined to any incorporated city, state, or national limits! It compasses kindreds, peoples, nations, and languages. (Rev. 5:9). Then in verse five, he instructs him that God Himself would be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
The true church is a spiritual organism, not a religious organization! Her members are the very members of Christ’s spiritual body! (1 Corin. 12:12, 20). Therefore she is compassed by the glory of the Lord as her “walls!”
Now in verse eight we read that the angel of the Lord, picturing Christ, states, After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: For the coming of Christ was most definitely for the glory of the Father! Read John 17:9, 10, 21-24.
And listen at John 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. Faith may be active when the glory of God is set forth! So when God manifests his glory in the matter of defining redeemed sinners, one can deliver himself!
When God would dwell in his people!
Twice in verses ten and eleven of Zechariah chapter two the Lord sovereignly states, and I will dwell in the midst of thee! The temple of God is never made with stone, timbers and mortar! The temple of the Lord is the bodies of his people as they are inhabited by the Holy Spirit! 1Cor. 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Listen to these verses: Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. So when the Lord God is invading the souls, minds and bodies of men – Deliver thyself! Cry out unto Him, “Pass me not of gentle Savior!”
When God is purifying the priesthood!
In Zechariah 3:1-10 we find a most detailed instruction of the Lord’s dealing with the sinful depravity of religious man! And that is a most needful work in this day of religiously lost souls in our land! In this instruction to us of God’s dealing with that current high priest, Joshua, we see the Lord as absolutely in charge of it all!
For it is the Lord who rebukes Satan! And it is the Lord who identifies himself to Satan as the electing God! – even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee! And He alone could possibly identify Joshua as one of his brands pulled out of the fire! Jude 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Satan thought Joshua to filthy to be Christ’s! But the Lord saw in him an opportunity for His glory, and thought him, in that regard, as too valuable to allow him to remain filthy!
And it was the Lord alone who removed his iniquity! Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. Listen to Psalm 109:31: For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
When the Lord God is sovereignly cleansing sinners, flee to Christ dear soul! Deliver thyself! For one can only Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isa. 55:6).
Jonah had to go to fish school to finally learn that Salvation is of the Lord! (Jonah 2:9). Listen to these verses that state without doubt that God alone is responsible for the sinner’s regeneration! Ezekiel 36:21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
And when God in his sovereign will, and for his own name’s sake is purifying sinners one may deliver himself!
When the debt is paid!
In Zechariah 1:11 the report is given to the angel of the Lord that all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. The heathen are restfully convinced that they are masters over Israel. But also, in the next verse we read that the threescore and ten years are up for the land to have enjoyed it’s Sabbaths! The purpose of the captivity is accomplished!
Therefore mediation and intercession take place in Zechariah 1:12. And the Lord God rises up in jealously for his people. (Read Isaiah 10:12). And once these events take place the results are glorious! Dan. 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Deliver thyself! The debt is paid!
Pastor Gene Breed
December 3, 2010
