THE GOVERNORS OF JUDAH
Zechariah 12:4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. 6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
Here we have the Lord revealing to Zechariah the ministry of his “governors” in the spiritual and eternal kingdom which shall come in at Pentecost. They are symbolized by himself as lowly, riding upon the colt of an ass (9:9), not trusting in, or acting from, the ‘high horses’ of prideful human effort! For his kingdom shall be ruled, as he has instructed in chapter four and verse six of Zechariah: Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Only the Holy Spirit is authorized to rule over his people! 1 Peter 5:3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
And these governors are to invite all to come unto One who is meek and lowly of heart, in order to find rest. Matt. 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Let’s look at that Hebrew word, here translated, governors. For we tend to think only of this word in political terms! But the Lord’s kingdom is not political! It is a spiritual kingdom! It is not a democracy! It is a theocracy! It is not to be contemplated only in the realm of the physical, but in the realm of the spiritual! Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
That Hebrew word governor is seen in Psalm 55:13, translated into the English as my guide! Then we find this exact same word translated in Psalm 144:14 as our oxen! For these are the spiritually strong, but gentle laborers, yoked with Christ, that guide and edify the church!
Then we also find this Hebrew word translated as chief friends in Proverbs 16:28. For there is no greater friend than one who lays down his plans, and the intents and ambitions for his own life in order to give guidance and comfort to the Lord’s people! John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
And finally, we find this same word translated captains in Jeremiah 13:21. For these spiritual governors are assigned the responsibility to “rule” by feeding! (One of the Hebrew words, “feed” carries the meaning “to rule.” Study 1 Samuel 17:15.) The Apostle Peter was told that the expression of his love to Christ would be seen by feeding Christ’s sheep! (John 21:17). Therefore the rule over the sheep is incorporated within the true love of Christ!
Therefore these New Testament governors are those who must give an accounting of the quality with which they carry out this responsibility to the Lord Christ Himself! Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
I Will Open Mine Eyes
We find these words in verse four of our Zechariah passage. It is of great value to the spiritual church that the Lord be their eyes. For he is presented both as the stone and the Lamb with seven eyes. (See Zech. 3:9 & Rev. 5:6). Both our foundation, with the chief corner stone, and the sacrifice, have perfect discernment attributed unto Him! For Christ Jesus is that Word that is a discerner of the thoughts and the intent of the heart! There is no creature that is not manifest in his sight! (Heb 4:12,13).
But why were these eyes ever closed? The answer is recorded in the Apostle Paul’s message on Mars hill. Referring to the times before the glorious gospel came as times of this ignorance, he instructs us that God winked! For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Romans 5:13. Therefore there was a winking, a brief shutting of the eyes, an ‘over looking,’ until Christ came!
But at the time of Christ’s coming everything changed! For at the point of his sacrifice, Satan was cast out and righteousness judgment was reestablished! John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
And with the coming of the Light of the world, (Christ), and the gospel church being both salt and light, the responsibility of mankind is greater! Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
In the Old Economy under the law, Moses was refused a look at the face of God wherein the eyes are encased! Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. Someone said that God didn’t have a face yet, for the Incarnation had not taken place! That is true, but the main reason is that the blood of bulls and goats, (which had not, at that time even been instigated), would not support such an intimate approach to God!
For none can approach the hill of the Lord without clean hands and a pure heart! (Psa. 24) And the law, even with it’s hundreds of thousands of animal sacrifices, never took away one single sin! Hebrews 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: Only faith in the completed atonement of Christ can do that! Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Therefore, the face of God, with his discerning eyes are now revealed by a spiritual view of Christ! 2 Corin. 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Moses had to vail his face due to its shining forth of his approach to God under the law. (2 Corin. 3:13). But that glory was nothing compared to the glory that excelleth! (2 Corin. 3:10). For compared to the brilliant glory of Christ shinning forth in the gospel, with completed atonement, Moses’ glory seems to be but a penny match!
Seeing the Person of Christ by faith through the gospel is a life changing thing! 2 Corin. 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. For as the Spirit continually reveals increasing glimpses of Christ to us, we are changed from one degree of glory to another!
The Governors of Judah
There are some things that we must notice concerning these ministers of Christ. First, they are a spiritually minded group. They say in their heart! They seek not bare knowledge, which puffs one up in pride, but adhere to the words which are spirit and life! (John 6:63).
Therefore they do not seek to originate, nor publish an agenda that is more suitable to the natural mind than that which God has set forth. For that which they confessed from their hearts was that the present inhabitants of Jerusalem were completely acceptable to be their strength in the Lord! They were not trusting in more numbers coming back from the captivity! They were not trusting in some supposed future glory, but in the presently reigning Lord, being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (Romans 4:21).
But remember what this fully meant! For in the previous chapter, God, as their Shepherd had broken both of his shepherd’s staves! He was getting out of the shepherd’s business, as far as national Israel was concerned! (See Zechariah 11:10,14) God broke his covenant with them, and then broke their brotherhood among themselves! We see this latter breaking also in the bringing forth of the red horse, who takes all social peace from the earth, which is not founded in Christ! Revelation 6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
Even with the closest of relationships as two in the same bed, one shall be taken into the spiritual kingdom by regeneration, and the other left to themselves. Luke 12:52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. This breach eventually winds up as the great gulf fixed that separated the rich man from Lazarus! (Luke 16:26).
Therefore these governors, like Isaiah said, when God hides his face from Israel, it will just be I and the children which the Lord have given me! (Isaiah 8:18. This was also referred to Christ in Hebrews 2:13).
No more confederated, national forces! No more confederation of tribes to defend. Now it is just individual, personal faith by even just the two or three gathered together in God’s name, knowing that the Lord would be there in the midst of them! (Matt. 18:20). 1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Read carefully Isaiah 8:8-15 and see that God now stands against both the houses of Israel, sealing up his gospel from them!
Dear soul, God is not going to establish any nation in his conquest of mankind, except the holy nation, that is, the church! 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Consider this word: Psa. 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
And notice the results of this personal, individual faith in God’s revelation. For in verse six of our above listed passage. These same governors of Judah will be made by God as fire in the midst of religious hay, wood and stubble! These are those who would have power with God to call down gospel revelation fire upon the world! Rev. 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Those who hold fast in faith to the presently reigning Lord have the effectual power of heaven attending their mission. But those with futuristic hope of some, yet to be realized, imaginary reign have to kindle their own flames! (See Isaiah 50:10,11). They can get people excited about some Scofield fantasy for a while, but sooner or later they will think, My lord delayeth his coming; (Matt. 24:48). And that, dear reader is exactly why we are plagued with such apathy among us today! 2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Be assured that the Lord will come at an hour when ye think not. (Lk. 12:40). And all this massive wealth of error concerning our Lord’s return is greatly burning out the masses to no longer care, or be able to get excited about his return! So the false looking for his return is preparing the hour when no one even thinks about his return. And that is when he shall return!
Only the true, spiritual church, (an organism, not just an organization), shall be looking for him, and that by the unction of the Holy Spirit! Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 2 Thess. 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
Jerusalem Inhabited Again
Galatians 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Revelation 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
The things which are made, the natural order of things, are to reveal the spiritual, invisible things! (Romans 1:20). And the physical Jerusalem, which now is, has her true, eternal counter part in the Jerusalem, the Church, which is from above, which is the mother of all who are born of the Spirit.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Pastor Gene Breed
June 5, 2011
