Zechariah 8:1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
In the secular world we might assume that someone who keeps repeating themselves is quite forgetful. We might even be a bit concerned about such a person.
However, the Bible is God’s Word. He never forgets anything, except sins that have been forgiven through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Creator. He knows the massive change that took place in man after the fall. We forget very quickly. Not only that, but we also doubt the facts very easily. Thus God reminds us often that He is the Author of His Word.
This makes the perversions a great danger. They too claim to be the Word of the LORD. They are corrupters of the truth. They copy parts of God’s Word and they substitute words and phrases where they want to. They also remove certain verses where they choose to. They claim to have legitimate reasons for what they are doing, but they are not being truthful. They have excuses for what they are doing, but they are not legitimate. God warns us against adding to or taking away from His Word. He does not make idle threats. Those who want to tamper with His Word are in grave danger. God says they will not enter heaven. God wants us to know Him. We cannot know Him if we use a corrupt manual to learn of Him.
I have worked as a mechanic in the past. I am partial to GM vehicles. I have done engine jobs on GM vehicles. I know how the older vehicles work and how to rebuild them. There was a time when we had a Dodge van. The motor in that van was using a fair amount of oil and our boys were young at that time, and I thought it would be good for them to learn what a motor looks like from the inside.
We took that motor out and took it apart and ordered the necessary parts to rebuild it. Since it was a Dodge and not a GM, I followed the instructions, just in case there was something different in that motor. Sure enough, some of the head bolts went right into the water jacket and thus they needed a special sealant on the threads before installation. This was to keep the antifreeze from creeping up the threads and causing a leak into the engine. It was a good thing that I read the instructions for that motor. Had I followed the instructions for the GM’s we would have had a problem with that motor.
You need the right manual if you want to know the true facts. The Bible is the right manual to know about the true God. He is the Author of the Bible. The devil does not want us to know God. He wants us to believe him. We are born on the devil’s side. We are not possessed by him, but God directed the apostle Paul to call him the god of this world. God also directed Paul to remind us that Satan comes across as an angel of light. He is not light, but he is quite adept at convincing us that he is light.
God is good and He gave us a conscience through which we can discern basic truth. Lost people can know there is something wrong when they hear a lie. The wise lost person will ask someone who knows the true God to help them to understand where truth is. Most lost people remain in their sin. They are too spiritually lazy to bother to seek out the truth.
God called me to be a pastor over thirty years ago. He has taught me many things from His Word. He has also warned us in His Word that anyone who chooses to be a pastor will be held accountable by God for what he teaches and preaches. I am well aware of that and do not want to be guilty before Him. I know I have been wrong at times. When I am wrong, it is my responsibility to confess that wrong to God first of all and then to anyone I taught wrong.
I know there are people who have accused me of false teaching because they do not like what I say. In one area where I pastored, there was a group of people who spread lies about me, claiming I had my own personal translation of the Bible. They were wrong and could easily be shown to be wrong because I used the King James Version then just like I do now.
Jesus warned:
John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
We have been studying the prophecy given to Zechariah. He was just a man, but he was a man who knew the LORD. He had come to the place where he trusted in the true God and believed in the prophecies that spoke of the coming of the Messiah. He is what we would call an Old Testament saint. He looked forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. When He died his soul was taken to what is called “Abraham’s bosom”. He was kept safe there until the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross and shed His blood and died there. When Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, His Spirit and Soul were still very much alive. Ephesians 4 tells us that He went and released the Old Testament saints from Abraham’s bosom and brought them into heaven. They needed to await the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ before they could enter Heaven.
The book of Hebrews makes it very clear that only the blood of Jesus Christ can take away sin. The blood of bulls and goats could only atone for the sin. They could cover for the sin, but the blood of Jesus Christ took away the sin. Today we do not need bulls and goats because Jesus Christ has shed His blood and died and risen again and He is seated on the right hand of His Father. He is the Saviour of mankind. Those who trust in God and repent toward Him and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for their salvation are granted eternal life by God.
This is all very important to understand and accept. The Truth is found in God’s Word. God wants us to know the Truth and be free from the bondage of sin. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can set a captive free. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour, why not trust in Him today. He will set you free and give you peace and joy you have never known.
Pastor Bartel