At That Time…
I attended the Larimer County Republican breakfast this morning and was surprised to see my friend Ryan Frazier. He was equally surprised to see me outside of Jefferson County. Ryan has recently announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate and will be an excellent candidate.
This afternoon, I had a good workout at the fitness center. It was intense but hopefully beneficial. This evening I begin to teach a four week series at our Monday night men’s meeting at Timberline Church.
The “Respite Ball” Debbie and I attended on Saturday evening was a successful event. I have been to a lot of fundraising banquets, but I never have been to one where over $300,000 in donations was raised in one night. Debbie and I enjoyed meeting some people at our table from our neighborhood and visiting with State Representative Jenny Arndt from Fort Collins.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “Then the Lord will be king over the whole world. At that time there will be only one Lord, and his name will be the only name.” Zechariah 14:9 NCV
It is an advantage having the “Books” of the Bible as we do today. We are able to see the span of time covered in the revelation of God’s redemptive plan and “connect the dots.” As the Old Testament prophet Zechariah spoke God’s message about the Lord restoring His people to the Holy City and the land of Israel, it would have appeared that all those events would happen in the same context of time.
But as we see the events that have taken place and those that have not, we realize that Zechariah was “seeing” events that are still to take place as the Lord brings total and complete restoration of His plan and purpose for His people of all nations, for all time.
In the final chapters of Zechariah we see the future day of the Lord indicated with the words, “at that time.” Here are some observations.
The promise of divine protection. “At that time the Lord will protect the people in Jerusalem…. At that time I will go to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:8,9 NCV) We see in Revelation that description of a final assault on God’s people, “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” (Revelation 16:16 NIV)
The promise of salvation. “At that time a fountain will be open for David’s descendants and for the people of Jerusalem to cleanse them of their sin and uncleanness.” (Zech 13:1 NCV)
The removal of false and misleading prophets. “At that time the prophets will be ashamed of their visions and prophecies.” (Zech. 13:4 NCV)
The Lord’s sovereignty over time and earth. “On that day there will be no light, cold, or frost. There will be no other day like it, and the Lord knows when it will come. There will be no day or night; even at evening it will still be light.” (Zech. 14:6,7 NCV)
We see when Jesus’ disciples ask him about when certain events would take place He responded, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.“ (Acts 1:7 NIV) We also see in Revelation the description of God’s eternal home. “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light…” (Revelation 22:5 NIV)
The promise of life giving water. “At that time fresh water will flow from Jerusalem. Half of it will flow east to the Dead Sea, and half will flow west to the Mediterranean Sea. It will flow summer and winter.“ (Zech. 14:8 NCV) We see a similar description from the prophet Ezekiel and in Revelation, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Rev. 22:1 NIV)
The Lord will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. “…At that time there will be only one Lord, and his name will be the only name.” (Zech. 14:9 NCV) We see the description of the coming King in Revelation, “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.” (Rev. 19:16 NCV)
The proclamation of praise at everywhere. “At that time the horses’ bells will have written on them: holy to the lord.” (Zech. 14:20 NCV) The one dominate theme of God’s presence is continual worship and recognition of the holiness of the Lord. We see in Revelation the cries from the God’s throne of Holy, Holy, Holy. We see the verses that describe the culmination of the reign of the Lord in the anthem of praise in Revelation that declares, “…and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15 NLT)
With these and other declarations in the Old Testament, we see the God’s “time” has not experienced ultimate fulfillment. We see the parallel in the words of Jesus, the apostles and Revelation about the ultimate plan of God that will take place in His time and through His divine power.
That calls us to serve Him with full commitment, patience and devotion understanding “that time” maybe in “our time.”