Getting Ready for Days Like These
Zech. 14
You need to be prepared for days like these. Paul write to Timothy in :
2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
The NKJV has a note by that word perilous= times of stress. That sound familiar, doesn’t it? Jesus spoke along the same lines when He spoke to His disciples in Matt. 24 about the end of the age. After describing world wars, deadly plagues, persecution, and earthquakes, He adds
Matthew 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Whatever else the Bible says, one thing it makes very clear: living in the last days is not all fun and games. God always shoots straight with us. He wants us to be ready for days like this.
An old song says “Mama said there’d be days like this!” The singer recalls how mama tried to tell us life is not always sunshine and roses, not always laughter and light. Some days are dark and lonely. Some days you wonder how you’re going to make it through. Mama’s warnings are not meant to discourage us, but to prepare us to be ready to hold on tight until we got past days like that.
I think the Bible uses a similar approach. When you read about the “last days” the Lord doesn’t draw us detailed map of what will happen, when it will happen and how it will happen,. But He does warn us like Mama: there will be “days like this” when things get dark, and lonely, and you wonder how you’ll make it. He warns us not to be shocked when trouble comes, but be ready to hold on tight to Him, ride out the storm until it’s over.
God sent a message like this for the prophet Zechariah to relay to Israel as they rebuilt their temple and nation. This same message is addressed to you and me tonight to give us courage and hope as we live in the “last days” between Jesus’ first and second coming. Look with tonight at 3 things we must remember to get ready for days like these:
1. It often gets worse before it gets better. (v. 1-2)
David Roper writes: Somebody once told me, “Cheer up! Things could be worse!” And sure enough, I cheered up, and things got worse!
Do you ever have days like that? Bro. Mike, I have years like that! It’s not always easy to keep your spirits up when you’re going through hard times-especially when things go from bad to worse to worst! It’s worse when those days hit you when you least expect them. The Lord goes to great lengths to prepare us for the fact that in the last days, just as in life, it often gets worse before it gets better. Zechariah tells Israel in vs. 1-2. Behold the day of the Lord is coming!...I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem…
This is not a welcome message for the exiles. We’re still working on rebuilding this place after one army destroyed it—now you say there’s going to be another war against us? Worse than that—everything in Jerusalem will be plundered, the houses looted, the women raped, half the people in the city will be exiled, leaving only a few hiding among the ruins.
It is not clear exactly when these events will occur. Some scholars see Zechariah’s words as a description of what is called the “Battle of Armageddon.” Others see it as a description of a pattern replayed throughout Israel’s history: God’s people are often attacked and defeated, rebuilding, only to be devastated again. What is very clear here is that on the Day of the Lord—the last day---things will definitely get worse before they get better.
Nobody likes to hear news like this. It doesn’t sound reassuring, but it is realistic. God doesn’t pull punches with us; He tells it like it will be. It often gets worse before it gets better.
That’s certainly true in the last days. When anybody asked Jesus about what would happen right before His return to earth, He almost always started out with bad news—war, plagues, earthquakes. Paul tells us in
2 Thessalonians 2:3 …that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
A recurring theme throughout the Revelation is the horrifying, devastating events that happen before Christ returns. But the important thing to remember is that it usually gets worse before it gets better. After the “worse” comes the “better”. “Those days” don’t last forever—better days are ahead.
Luke 21:28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
This principle holds true not only for the last days, but also for any of “these days” you and I live through right now. Jesus never promised you and I smooth sailing in life. If you read the Gospels carefully, He clearly promises us hardship, persecution, and suffering.
Matthew 24:9-13 9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Jesus is telling you and I to expect days like these—days when things get worse before they get better---because they will come. They will come in the last days, but they might come tomorrow, or next week, or next year. Whenever they come, you and I have to be ready—ready not to complain and gripe and feel sorry for yourself—but ready to endure, to hold on to your hope in Him, no matter what happens, because, Zechariah says in vs. 3-8:
2. No matter how bad it gets, the Lord is faithful to His people. (v. 3-8)
A wise man once said the darkest hour still only has 60 minutes.
Dark days don’t last forever for God’s people. Our hope in Him keeps us going when things go from bad to worse because He always comes through. He is faithful to His people.
Zechariah describes in vs. 3 how God rides out like a soldier to fight against those who made war against His people. As He does, He begins by first clearing an escape route for His people by standing…on the Mount of Olives…(v. 4) and splitting it in two, making a new valley so that His people can flee(v. 5). They will flee to Azal—an unidentified refuge once used during a previous earthquake. Then the Lord rides out with His saints to finally and permanently defeat all His enemies. This scene foreshadows the later vision of John:
Revelation 19:11,14 11Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war…14And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
Vs. 6-7 tell us the day-night cycle that began with creation will cease, and yet there will still be light. Vs. 8 mentions a river of living waters which will not flood or dry up because of summer or winter. These 3 verses remind us of the words of John about the New Jerusalem in
Revelation 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
Revelation 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Why should you hold on to hope? Somebody asks Zechariah because God always comes through for His people. No matter how dark the days, He will eventually rescue us, deliver us, draw us to Himself. He will always come through.
There is a danger among Christians we need to beware of: getting so wrapped up in how bad things are we forget how good things will be. Have you ever talked to somebody like that?
“This world is bad, very bad, awful bad, terrible bad, unbelievably bad, and you know what? The world is getting worse, much worse, very much worse, terribly worse, unbelievably worse. Who knows how bad the world can get? Who knows how much worse the world will get?”
The Lord does not want us to focus on how bad things are or how worse they might get. He wants us to focus on our hope in Him—the Hope that He is faithful, that He always comes through for His people. He never leaves us nor abandons us, no matter how bad things get. He is always working in this world to rescue us, to draw us one step nearer to Him, to bring us one step closer to the day that He returns and remakes this world into the Paradise He originally created it to be.
This principle holds true not only for the last days, but also for any of “these days” you and I live through right now. If you are a Child of God, it’s always too soon to give up hope. God will always come through for you. He will always rescue us from dark days, He will always rescue us, deliver us, draw us close to Himself, if we will hold on to our hope in Him.
One day C. H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: “GOD IS LOVE.” Spurgeon remarked he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. “Weather vanes are changeable,” he said, “but God’s love is constant.” “I don’t agree with you…, Charles,” replied his friend. “You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is [saying] Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love.”
No matter which way the wind blows, whatever dark days or nights you might be going through, don’t give your hope in Him. Hold on to the Lord, ride it out, and He will bring you through because He is faithful. He always comes through for His people. In fact, God’s goal is to give history a happy ending, which comes when
3. The Lord will be exalted. (v. 9-21)
If you could pick out one time of year when the most people are prone to be joyful, when they’re more likely to smile, more likely to be kind and generous, what time of year would you guess? During what season do you suppose more people think about Jesus than any other season? I imagine that would be Christmas. I suggest to you the increase in goodwill and generosity is in large part due to the fact that, to at least some degree, Christ is exalted. People who never think about Jesus might tend to think about Him in a holiday that actually mentions His Name. (I think that’s also why the devil tries to nudge Christ out of Christmas.) But my point is this: the more the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted, the more love, joy, and peace we experience. That principle also connects with the idea of the last days: when Jesus Christ is finally exalted to His proper place, the world will become paradise!
Zechariah teases us with a glimpse of what that will be like in vs. 9-21 when he writes about the day when …the Lord will be King over all the earth…
First, there won’t be any disagreements, arguing, or fighting over religion any more. The Lord alone will be worshipped in Spirit and truth, or as vs. 9b puts it …in that day it shall be [confessed] “the Lord is One and His Name is One”…
Secondly, vs. 10-15 tell us God’s people will live in absolute security. Jerusalem will be exalted as God’s capitol city, all of her enemies shall be defeated and destroyed, and for the first time in many centuries, the city of peace will enjoy peace and security.
Finally, vs.16-21 tell us everybody will worship the Lord as King. Every family of the earth will go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
Even Egyptians and other Gentiles will worship God. Everything and everyone will be dedicated to exalting the Lord (Zechariah mentions ordinary things like pots and bells which sometimes hung on war horses to get them used to the noise of battle as having HOLY TO THE LORD inscribed on them.) The picture here is of a world where the Lord is exalted in every area of life, not just “religion.”
This is a dream come true for the follower of Christ: a world where Christ alone is exalted, where His peace transforms the world, where everybody and everything is devoted to His use, His honor, His praise. That is a world where human beings enjoy the greatest joys, the deepest love, the perfect peace: where Jesus is exalted.
Everybody doesn’t believe that. You might not really and truly believe that. Our depraved nature might sometimes be tempted to doubt it. Our sinful heart likes to imagine what a wonderful world it would be if only I could be exalted, if only everybody paid more attention to me, if only I could have everything I want.
But that dream is really a nightmare. When anybody but God is exalted everything falls to pieces, nothing satisfies, no pleasure or happiness lasts. Only when He is exalted can the world, can your life be what it was meant to be: a glad place, full of love, full of peace—almost like a great Christmas that never ends! No wonder Paul writes in 1 Cor. 16:22 Maranatha!= Come, Lord Jesus! No wonder John writes at the very end of the Revelation 22:20 Even so, come Lord Jesus!
The early church was excited about the return of Christ. They woke up anticipating today might be the day He came back to reign over the earth. When they prayed “Your kingdom come” they didn’t just mouthing words—they really wanted Christ to be exalted on earth as He is in heaven.
Are we as excited about His exaltation? Are we looking forward to His return? Maybe it’s because you don’t really realize what the exaltation of Christ will really mean. I love the way C. S. Lewis describes it in the last Narnia novel The Last Battle:
The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended; this is the morning…now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has ever read, which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
You need to be prepared for days like this. Yes, things will often get worse before they get better—you can expect that living down here. But God is faithful, and He will walk with you every step of the way, and carry you if He must. But beyond all of that, the last days mean we go home, home where we will be welcomed by our Father, our Savior, and all those who have gone before. The last days are not really the end, but the beginning of our lives. That is something to be ready for. Are you ready for those days?
