(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
Rebuilding, part 2 (completing what we didn’t finish yesterday)
Intro:
Ok, this is funny. The state of CA put restrictions on churches that didn’t apply equally to other places people congregate, so one church pastor declared his church a…strip club. But I warn you, he apparently takes off his tie, so I know that might offend some of you…
Hey, I’m not sure what happened yesterday. I’ve gotten pretty good at planning a 22 minute show and yesterday, well, came in at 22 minutes by me chopping some stuff out. So…use the search function at forthehope.org to find yesterday’s show, #1263, and there’s some good stuff there (at least I think so). I’m also going to make today part 2 of yesterday’s focus question that didn’t happen — What’s the big deal about rebuilding the temple? What’s the meaning, and why should we care.
NEW TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
When we got into Galatians I told you that Paul was going to parse the gospel every way but Sunday, and he’s really making an argument for this thing he received (it’s not his opinion), and that they had received as he passed it along. Yesterday we heard him make this argument from human law and multiple places in the OT, going, “Hey crew…
To require circumcision and other Mosaic ceremonies such as dietary laws and Jewish holidays as a supplement to faith is to fall back from the realm of grace, faith, and freedom, and to come under the whole law and its curse, since comprehensive observance of the law is impossible.(1)
Passage: Galatians 3:19-4:20
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 31
Words: ~645
“Have I become your enemy because I told you the truth?” Paul makes a personal appeal, but this after making the point that to be adopted into God’s family is irrespective of race or gender or social status.
And one little translational factoid…here we use the Christian Standard Bible which most of the time translates something like “sons and daughters” to show the all-inclusiveness. So why did they leave it “sons” in what we just read? Because Paul’s talking about legal adoption which, to the culture he was writing to, carried special meaning. In other words, “You’re the heir.”
OLD TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
So yesterday we got into Zechariah’s prophetic ministry. We know that…
The earlier prophets had promised that after the exile there would be a glorious restoration (e.g., Isa 51:11). For the exiles who returned to Jerusalem in Zechariah’s day, the reality fell far short of the earlier prophetic hope. The community faced many challenges: financial hardship (Hag 1:6), opposition from outside enemies (Ezra 4:1–3), and low morale (Hag 1:14). …It was a time of disappointment, disillusionment, despondency, and guilt.
Zechariah calls the people to trust and obey God’s word. He calls on them to get on with and complete the rebuilding of the temple in anticipation of God’s return to establish his kingdom, a kingdom in which God will throw down all opposition by the nations and bring forgiveness and cleansing through his Messiah. In proclaiming this message, Zechariah maintains that the restoration hopes of the earlier prophets still stand, and he calls God’s people to live in light of these promises.(2)
Passage: Zechariah 1:7-3:10
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 37
Words: ~1061
Closely associated with God’s return is a future Davidic king (Messiah) who will serve as a priest (6:13) by cleansing sin and reversing its consequences (3:9; 13:1)….
After the Psalms, Zechariah is the most quoted part of the OT in the passion narratives of the Gospels. Zechariah understood, like Isaiah before him, that God’s kingdom would come only with the atoning death of God’s Messiah (12:10; 13:7; cf. Luke 24:25–27).
Zechariah anticipates the coming of Jesus, who won the victory over the enemies of God’s people through his death on the cross and who will fully realize this victory when he returns, when those from all nations will join God’s chosen people to worship and to feast in his presence.(3)
The bottom line:
Rebuilding, part 2 (completing what we didn’t finish yesterday)
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2244.
(2) D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1634.
(3) D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1635–1636.