Zechariah, chapter number 12, beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads,
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the
heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they
shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
Now, the first thing that I want to point out in this passage is in verse number 1,
where the Bible talks about the Lord being the one who stretches forth the heavens and
layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Now a lot of people will take scriptures like this that use poetic language to describe
the earth as, for example, having a foundation or that the heaven is stretched forth as a
curtain as it says elsewhere.
And they'll use this to say, well, you know, the Bible's not really scientifically accurate.
The Bible is teaching a view of the earth that's not compatible with what we know about
the world that we live in.
And if you would flip back to Deuteronomy chapter 32.
And I want to show you the first time, you know, this idea really comes up in the Bible
of the foundation of the earth or the foundation of the world.
This is something that you'll see repeatedly in the Bible, the foundations of the earth
or something like that.
And some people will attack the Bible and say, the Bible's not scientifically accurate.
When in reality, exactly the opposite is true.
The Bible is beyond science.
The Bible knew the things that we know today before the scientists discovered them.
For example, if we look at the Bible, we'll see statements like the fact that God is the
one who sits upon the circle of the earth.
We'll find statements such as the fact that he hangeth the earth upon nothing.
And people are just mixed up about these statements about the foundation of the earth.
I'm going to show you what the Bible actually teaches here.
But in fact, I was just out soul winning today and I brought up to a lady that I was talking
to just the accuracy of the Bible when you think about medical practices.
You know, the Bible taught thousands of years ago to wash your hands in running water in
order to be free from germs.
Remember, Elisha poured water on the hands of Elijah.
That's how they were taught to wash up.
And the Bible goes into great detail in Leviticus 15, that if someone has a sore and there's
blood or pus coming out of that sore or wound or whatever the issue, that they were to wash
the bed, wash the sheets, if they sat on a chair, wash the chair, bathe their flesh in
running water, change their clothes, wash their clothes.
We see that germs are something that the Bible understood existed and so God laid out a sanitation
that was really only understood in modern times about 200 years ago.
And if you go back a few hundred years, doctors would literally wash their hands in a basin
of water, not running water, but in a basin of water.
And then the next doctor comes and washes his hands in the same water and then the next
doctor comes and washes his hands.
And so hospitals were some of the most unsanitary possible places because they're just spreading
germs, spreading infection.
Imagine the fact that God talks about the importance of keeping all human waste outside
of the camp, outside of where they live.
Whereas we look at Europe in the dark ages where all the waste is right there in the
city and all the plagues and sicknesses that are spread by the lack of sanitation.
God had it right all along.
And the Bible has been shown to be right over and over again.
And the Bible is right about the shape of the earth and about our standing in the universe.
Now look at the Bible in Deuteronomy chapter 32 and this is the first time we see this
idea of the foundation of the earth that I could find.
It says in chapter 32 verse 22, and this by the way, also not coincidentally, the first
mention of hell in the Bible, the first time the word hell is used.
Look at verse 22, for a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest
hell and shall consume the earth with their increase and set on fire the foundations of
the mountains.
So when we see this term, the foundations of the mountains, it's associated with hell,
right?
We see that hell is kindled in God's wrath and that is where the foundations of the mountains
are set on fire.
Everybody got that?
Now flip over to Jonah chapter 2.
Jonah is toward the end of the Old Testament, those little books of the minor prophets after
the great big books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
And if you find Jonah chapter 2, the Bible reads in verse 2 and said, I cried by reason
of mine affliction unto the Lord and he heard me.
Watch this, out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardest my voice.
Do you see that?
In verse 2 he says, out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardest my voice.
Now look at verse 6, he says, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, which is
similar to what he said in the first mention of hell where he talked about the foundations
of the mountains being set on fire of hell.
He said, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars was about
me forever, yet as thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
Now you stay there in Jonah.
I'm going to quote for you Matthew 12 verse 40 where Jesus said, for as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.
So Jonah obviously did not literally go to hell.
Jonah is where?
He's in the belly of the whale.
He's not in hell.
He's in the belly of the whale.
But when he prays unto God, he says, out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardest
my voice.
He says, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars was about
me forever.
He's prophesying of the Lord Jesus Christ one day who as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the whale's belly would someday be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth.
He's prophesying that, sort of like when David said in Psalm 16, thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
The Bible clearly tells in Acts chapter 2 that he was not talking about himself because
he said his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
His body did see corruption.
But he said this spake he of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell,
neither did he see corruption.
So when David said, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, he's not talking about himself,
he's talking about Jesus.
When Jonah said, out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardest my voice, I went
down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars was about me forever.
He's not talking about himself, he's prophesying of Jesus in this passage.
And there are many other examples like that.
For example, you know, the question is asked in Acts chapter 8 where he says, you know,
when Isaiah 53 is read, he said, is the prophet speaking of himself or is he speaking of some
other man?
And it's that famous passage from Isaiah 53 and that's where Philip shows him that he's
speaking of Jesus in Isaiah 53.
Psalm 16 is no different, Jonah 2 is no different.
You know, Genesis 22, Psalm 22, these are all passages that prophesy and foreshadow
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now notice what the Bible says here in Jonah chapter 2 verse 6, look down at your Bible.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars was about me forever.
What does that word, about me, mean?
Did you ever memorize the prepositions as a kid, aboard, about, above, across, after,
against?
And who had to memorize that list as a kid?
We are the ones who got a real education, there's only about five of us here tonight.
We know, only A though, and I can't really know, I don't remember beyond A, but anyway,
we had to memorize that list.
About can be used metaphorically speaking if we talk about something, but it also has
a very literal meaning of being around something.
The Bible talks about being compassed about, it means that you're surrounded.
So when the Bible here says the earth with her bars was about me forever, it means it
was surrounding me, it was around me.
Now this is exactly what Jesus is saying in Matthew 12.40 when he says that he was in
the heart of the earth.
Now if you're in the heart of the earth, then the earth with her bars is around you at that
point, it's about you.
Does everybody see the consistency between Jonah 2 and Matthew 12.40 which is pointing
us to Jonah 2 and referring back to Jonah chapter 2?
So the earth with her bars was about me forever is a reference to the heart of the earth where
hell is located.
So when the Bible talks about the foundations of the earth being on fire, we're talking
about below our feet in the bedrock, that is the foundation of the earth because we
have to understand that what does the Bible define earth as?
The Bible defines the earth as the dry land because if you remember in Genesis chapter
1, God divided the dry land and the sea and it says he called the dry land earth and the
gathering together of the waters called the seas and he saw that it was good and so forth.
So we got to use the Bible definition here.
When the Bible talks about the ends of the earth, it's not saying you're going to come
to the edge of the earth and fall off.
When the Bible says the ends of the earth, it's talking about where the dry land ends
and you have a great ocean.
So you're living in Israel, the ends of the earth are going to be if you went all the
way to eastern China and that's where the earth ends and now you have a great ocean
or if you went west to Spain and Portugal, that is one of the ends of the earth there
and we could look all the times up in the Bible that talks about the ends of the earth.
It's not that the Bible is scientifically stupid or inaccurate.
No it's just people don't understand the Bible.
They don't want to believe the truth.
It's like I preach about on Sunday morning, they're willfully ignorant of the truth because
if they would take the time to study, they would see that the foundation of the mountains
is something that is set on fire of hell because hell is that which is in the center.
Now if we were to just look at a diagram of the earth even drawn by an atheist, drawn
by anyone who knows the basics of science and geology, we would see that our earth has
a crust and then the theory is that there's a mantle and a core and that's the way it's
drawn for you in a science classroom and not only that, the crust is one to ten miles in
thickness depending on where you are on the earth.
Now if you think about the fact that the diameter of the earth is approximately 8,000
miles and that the crust is one to ten miles thick, that means that where we're standing
right here, if we were to go down ten miles, you would reach fire and brimstone in the
form of what's known as the mantle, magma, fire and brimstone, just ten miles beneath
our feet and you would have nothing but fire and brimstone for 7,000 some odd miles until
you got to the other side, you'd have this other little thin layer of crust, one to ten
miles thick. But did you know that the bedrock is so difficult to penetrate that in 2016
with all of our technology, we have never penetrated the bedrock and reached the mantle.
Forget reaching the core. Forget journey to the center of the earth. We as mankind have
never even reached the mantle. We have not even discovered, to use the Bible word, the
foundations of the mountains. We've not even uncovered the foundations of the mountains
because we've never reached the mantle. Now there are plans in the works to try to penetrate
the crust and I read an article that talked about how there's a group of scientists that's
you know receiving government funding to drill down into the crust and reach the mantle for
the first time in human history and they're saying hopefully in the mid 20s or late 20s
like 2025 or something. But I'll bet most people think we've already reached the mantle
but no 2025 is the goal to penetrate the crust. Look it up. And it's so hard because they
kept having to change out the drill bit literally. I mean have you ever tried to drill through
something that's really hard and you have to keep changing out the drill bits and they
overheat and everything. So they're going to a place in the ocean where the crust is
pretty thin and then they have this giant drill bit that's more than a mile long and
they're you know and then they have to keep changing the drill bit on it and this drill
to try to drill into the mantle. It's a really difficult thing to do because the bedrock
is so strong. Now the word core, you say why do we call what's inside the earth the core?
Because core is French for heart. Like for example you've heard of Richard the Lionhearted
when you read about Robin Hood. Richard core de Leon is what he'll be called many times
because core is French for heart. So when the Bible says that the Son of Man would be
in the heart of the earth synonymous with that would be Jesus Christ would be in the
core of the earth for three days and three nights. Referring to the fact that his soul
was not left in hell. It was resurrected. So therefore the Bible is crystal clear that
the earth has a heart and that that is where hell is located. Hell is located in the heart
of the earth and the Bible knew this thousands of years ago. I mean if you're living in Israel
and you're looking around at all the mountains and valleys and fields and farms and you know
what would make you think that just everywhere you step there's fire and brimstone below
you all the time. I mean these people weren't writing the Bible from Hawaii right and you
know and seeing the volcanoes and think about that. No I mean the Bible was right because
it's written by God and God's the one who created it so he knows that the whole thing's
fire and brimstone. But it blows my mind how the average person has never even stopped
to think about the fact that this whole earth is filled with fire and brimstone and that
if we use an apple as a model for the earth the skin of the apple is way thicker than
the crust is. I mean if it were to actually be an accurate representation of the earth
the skin would have to be much thinner because the crust is only one to ten miles thick out
of eight thousand miles of diameter. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that just a mind-blowing
fact? What is it that's keeping it so hot down there? For thousands of years it just
keeps on burning. Thousands of degrees. What's keeping it so hot? And you know scientists
have theories about it's working as a nuclear reactor and so forth down there. But it's
truly an amazing thing. I believe that it is kindled by the wrath of God. That's what
the Bible says. The Bible says a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest
hell. The lowest hell. So hell is beneath. The Bible talks about hell being beneath us
in the lower parts of the earth but it also refers to hell as being in the heart of the
earth, in the core of the earth. So this is what the Bible teaches. Now there's a really
ridiculous thing that's come along in the last few years and I never thought that this
would happen but there's this idea now that the earth is really flat and we've been lied
to all these centuries and that it's not a sphere at all. It's actually completely flat
and it's actually a great disc. Who's heard of this thing? This flat earth theory. Now
it's so ridiculous right on the surface you wonder how can anyone believe in this but
this is what happens when people are uneducated and I'm not talking about the world's education.
I'm talking about actually just reading the Bible or reading books. To sit there and say
NASA's lying to us, the world's really flat. The thing that's so ridiculous about that
is that people knew that the earth was round way before NASA ever came out. You don't have
to trust, you trust NASA? I trust the Bible. We don't have to trust NASA because people
have been sailing around the world in ships for centuries and they'll say well you know
but you can still do it if it's flat. You can still go around in a circle because it's
a big disc but here's the thing that only works for the northern hemisphere. See if
you look at the flat earth model the northern hemisphere stays the same and then it's like
they peel out the bottom of the earth. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? To make
it a flat disc. So basically all the geography in the northern hemisphere stays the same
but the southern hemisphere now things are just ridiculously far apart now because you've
peeled it outward. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? Anybody have a picture of
that? So like according to their model you know Chile at the bottom of South America
would be much further away from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa or much further away from
Australia than what the globe would show because on the globe they're not that far apart but
this would make them really far apart if you peeled it out into a big disc the way that
they show you. And of course these distances are not representative of reality because
people have been sailing around the tip of Africa for hundreds and hundreds of years
now in order to go from Europe to India. You know you can even read about missionaries
like William Carey. Oh that would require you to read books though wouldn't it instead
of watching YouTube videos. But you could for example read books about William Carey
that talk about the journey that he took and the exact route that he took from England
to India and how close they came to the coast of Brazil as they came along Brazil and then
whipped around under the tip of Africa and then up to India because they knew that the
earth was a sphere and that Brazil and Africa are the distance apart shown on a globe. But
that's all part of a great big conspiracy where the government is just hiding this from
us and spending billions of dollars you know just to deceive us because if we knew the
earth was flat then we'd all believe on Jesus Christ as our savior and you know they don't
want that to happen. So there's this big lie about the fact that it's you know that it's
a globe. And they use the word ball which is not the right word. You know no offense
to the ball family but a ball is a toy that you play with. A ball is something you throw
around with a bat and glove okay. The correct word would be a sphere or a globe all right.
But the thing that really infuriates me about this movement of people on the internet saying
the earth's flat and you say Pastor Anderson why would you even bring this up it's so ridiculous
why would you bring it up. Yeah but when they put up a video and it gets a quarter
million views and it has way more likes than dislikes. Three thousand likes five hundred
dislikes or whatever. It's unreal. So that's why I'm addressing it because it's a big issue.
And you know there have even been people in this church that have come through here and
said it's flat and I'm just blown away by it because this is a movement that's out there.
And so this is what infuriates me about it though is that they'll say the Bible says
it's flat. And you know what that does? That is that basically is blasphemous to the Bible
because then it makes people think that the Bible is a book of lies. Because there are
actually some people in this world who are smart enough to realize that there's no way
that the earth could be flat. And then when you go around saying that the earth's flat
according to the Bible, the Bible says it's flat. Then what you're doing is you're saying
that the Bible is a book that is scientifically stupid and scientifically inaccurate is what
you're doing at that point. And actually you're giving a bad name to God's word. Now it's
interesting I wanted to bring this up because Paul and I we just flew to Montana and we
did an interview with Pastor Chuck Baldwin up in Kalispell, Montana. And you know how
it is when you're sitting on an airplane. It's not fun, is it? You're kind of crammed
in there and you're in coach and the altitude's messing with you. So you want to find something
to pass the time, right? You know you're looking for some good entertainment. So Brother Paul
recommended that I watch this documentary on Antarctica. And it was called Antarctica
a Year on Ice. And he said you got to watch this, it's really interesting. So I pull this
thing up and I start watching it. It's a fascinating documentary where this guy goes through what
it's like to live in Antarctica. He lives there year round. Because there are actually
about 8,000 people who live there in the summer months. You know the summer months when it's
only like 20, 30 below zero or whatever. A lot of people work there in the summer months
but in the winter it gets so cold that a lot of machines can't operate. They can't really
do much and most people can't handle it. So it gets down to 700 some odd people, 600 some
odd people in the winters that actually stay there year round, 600, 700 people. And so
this guy documents the whole thing because he's one of the diehards. He's like done I
think nine winters down there. His wife has done eight winters or something. So this guy
is hardcore. And you could tell that the movie was, that the guy was just a photographer
that this is kind of a pet project of his. But he really did a nice job on this documentary.
I thought it was great and it was on YouTube. So we downloaded it and we watched it on the
airplane. And I'm watching it on the airplane and he's going through the fact that in the
summer months the sun never goes all the way down. Now you've heard of Alaska and Norway
being the land of the midnight sun where in the summer the sun never goes down. Or in
the winter they'll have months of just total darkness. Well here's the thing, it's the
same in Antarctica, same exact phenomenon where you have months of just total light
and months of total darkness. Now these flat earthers will sit there and say oh well we
have this model of the earth that works. It's a flat earth and it's like a disk. And then
they show the sun like going around in a circle above the disk. Going like this. And in the
winter you know it gets closer to the outside of the disk and then it you know or I'm sorry
I'm mixing that up aren't I? Basically the sun gets closer to the middle in the summer
and then further out in the winter okay. So in the winter it's going around like the outside
of the disk and then in the summer it's going on the inside of the disk. And they say see
this explains all the seasons, this explains everything. This explains Alaska and Norway
and all the phenomena. But here's the thing, the southern hemisphere again is completely
ruined because they don't even believe that Antarctica is real. So they believe that Antarctica
if you think about it because remember they're peeling the globe out. They basically believe
that Antarctica is like an ice ring all the way around the outside. That that's the edge
of the dome. You know the dome and the disk because we're in a giant snow globe according
to them. So basically you've got this ice ring so in that model then if you're on the
edge of that ring and they've got the sun going around in a circle you'd basically just
have the sun go by you for a few hours and be in darkness the rest of the time. Think
about it. Is everybody thinking, I know this is complicated stuff but here's their disk
right. So if the sun's going around in a circle and you're on the edge of that circle in Antarctica
then you'd see the sun pass you by and then you'd have to wait a while, wait a long time
to see it again. Sometimes it'd be closer than others, brighter than others, higher
in the sky than others but that's what it'd be. Well this guy, I'm watching this film,
nothing to do with this foolishness of a flat earth but I'm watching this film and I get
around you know minute whatever and I nudge Paul and I said Paul, this movie just disproved
the flat earth because I said, this is what the guy does, the guy literally does a time
lapse where he points the camera at the sun and he follows the sun all the way around
for 24 hours. He shows the sun go around him and it kind of goes up and it kind of goes
down but it goes around him, okay. So basically think about this, if the earth's a globe which
we know to be true, it makes perfect sense. He's on the bottom, he's in Antarctica and
so there it is, the sun's going around. Now it's not that the sun's going around him,
it's that the earth's spinning. The sun's here, the earth spins so from his perception
on the earth, the sun is going around in a circle. He documents it. You can watch him
do a time lapse where he shows the video of the town that they're in in Antarctica and
you can watch the sun go around. It's like he condenses it down to like 60, 70 seconds
but according to the flat earth model, that wouldn't happen that way but according to
the globe that we know to be true, it makes perfect sense. But anyways, it was pretty
interesting to learn about Antarctica, just the wonders of God's creation. It's really
an amazing place. I thought it was just all ice down there but actually there's a lot
of dry land that's not even covered in ice. It's fascinating but anyway, I don't want
to spend the whole night on that, okay. But you know what, it's worth it to get up and
educate you on it because of the fact that this movement is spreading like wildfire because
of just people's ignorance, people's foolishness and people's gullibility. They're just so
gullible that they'll just believe whatever's told them. Just watching the whole documentary,
he shows so many pictures of the sky because he's a photographer. He's really into the
time lapse so you see the stars moving and you see the northern lights. It disproves
it like 20 times but that was the most dramatic when he shows the sun go around it. And that
wasn't his goal with this documentary but this guy really killed two birds with one
stone on this documentary whether he knows it or not, okay. But anyway, let's go ahead
and go to the next script. We got to get into Zechariah 12 here. I got to crank through
this material because there's some really important material that has way more value
than what I just talked about for the last however many minutes. But you know, you got
to cover this stuff, right? Okay, Zechariah chapter 12 verse 2, Behold, I will make Jerusalem
a cup of trembling unto all the people round about. Again, a good definition of the word
about, isn't it? Round about. I said round about but anyway, it's that when they shall
be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem and in that day will I make Jerusalem
a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in
pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. So what's
God saying here? God's saying that no matter who comes to attack Jerusalem, he's going
to defend it at that particular time. Now there are other times when the children of
Judah or the children of Israel were not right with God and he allowed them to be invaded.
He allowed them to be defeated. But in this particular case, in Zechariah, he's trying
to encourage them and he's trying to tell them that he will protect them if they serve
him, if they follow him and that's a theme that we've seen in the first 11 chapters here.
It's important that we don't just jump into Zechariah 12 and forget what we've read for
the last 11 chapters. Think about how clear it was in the early chapters where he says
pretty much that if you follow my word, you're going to be blessed, you're going to be protected,
etc. and if not, you won't. So he's explaining that whatever enemy comes against them, he's
going to protect them. God gives us the same promise in the New Testament where he talks
about how he will be a shield unto us and he will protect us and he will surround us
and be our fortress and our strong tower. The word of the Lord is a strong tower. The
righteous runneth into it and is safe. And there's so many scriptures about God's protection
and God's care over us. That's what's being taught here because you have to get the context
of Zechariah. Remember, they've been in captivity. They've been defeated and taken to a foreign
country. Now God's bringing them back to the promised land in the days of Zechariah, Ezra
and Nehemiah and so he's saying, I'm going to bring you back. I'm going to establish
you in Jerusalem and then I'm going to protect you from all the enemies that would come against
you. Now a lot of people will blow this part at the end of verse 3 out of proportion where
it says, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. And they'll
say, see, everybody in the whole world in this chapter, it's documenting a time when
all the people in the world are going to come against Jerusalem. Now that's not what that
says. That does not say at a future time all the people in the world will come against
Jerusalem. Now there are other scriptures that talk about times when the surrounding
nations would attack Israel or when Gog and Magog and the nations of the earth would come
against Israel. This is not one of them. This passage is not one of them because this passage
says that in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that
burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces. He's saying whoever attacks them is
not going to win, is not going to prosper. And then he says this, though all the people
of the earth be gathered together against it. Now what does that mean, though all the
people of the earth be gathered together against it? Well to get some examples of what he means
by the word though, let's look at Amos chapter 9. And while you're turning to Amos chapter
9, I'm going to read for you from Psalm 46 verse 1 where the Bible reads, God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed. You getting this? Though the earth be removed and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea. We're not going to fear. Now what's he saying there?
He's saying even if. In our modern vernacular we wouldn't use the word though. We would
use the word even if. How about this, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. What's Job
saying? Even if God slay me, even if God kills me, I'll trust him. In our modern 2016 vernacular.
So look at Amos 9 for another example. Verse 2, though they dig into hell, again a reference
to the fact that hell is literally beneath us in the earth. Though they dig into hell,
thence shall my hand take them. Though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them
down. Let me ask you this. Is the Bible saying that there are people who literally will dig
into hell here? Or that they will literally climb up to heaven? Or is he just saying well
even if they did that I'd still get them? He's just trying to be dramatic and say look,
I don't care where they go, I'm going to get them. And it's just the same thing in Zechariah
when he says look, whoever attacks Jerusalem is going to be destroyed even if it's everybody
in the whole world. He's just saying I don't care who it is, I don't care how many people
they bring, they're going to be defeated. Now you say why do you make such a big deal
about that? Go back to Zechariah 12, I'll show you why that's really important. Because
people will twist this passage and they'll try to take Zechariah 12 and they'll try to
put it in the end times. They'll try to put it at the second coming of Christ. They'll
try to put it in the book of Revelation and create this whole doctrine about how you know
God's going to defend the nation of Israel over in the Middle East. I mean the nation
in 2016 that's over there. You know all those blonde haired, blue eyed, white people over
there that call themselves Jews. Basically God's saying that he's going to defend them.
That's what they'll try to take passages like this and make it an end times thing. Why?
To advance a political agenda that says America must support Israel. Now what does the Bible
teach? The Bible teaches that Israel is anti-Christ because of the fact that the Bible says who
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is anti-Christ that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father but
he that acknowledgeeth the Son hath the Father also. So according to the Bible, if you don't
have the Son, you don't have the Father. Now this shouldn't be complicated to us as Christians.
I mean as Christians wouldn't you think everybody would know John 14.6 that no man cometh unto
the Father but by me? Who here would say I'm pretty familiar with that verse, I've
heard that verse for many years now. That's a real popular verse. I would put that as
one of the top five verses in the entire Bible. Who thinks that that's probably a top five
most, you know John 3.16, John 14.6, I would say those are both top five verses. Well what
does that verse say? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man
cometh unto the Father but by me. Now is he talking just to Gentiles there? Actually
he's talking to a Jew there when he said that. He said it to Thomas who was Jewish and he
says to him, Thomas, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. But yet somehow people think
that people over in Israel today are praying to the Father without Jesus. Thereby denying
John 14.6. Because according to John 14.6 they can't access the Father unless they go
through Jesus. Oh come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give him the glory. Great
things he had done. But yet they're Jews so they can actually bypass that. You believe
that? I don't believe that for one second. But yet they'll post a picture of an Israeli
soldier saying that he's praying to the Lord. The Lord of darkness. Lord of the rings. Lord
of the flies. It's not the Lord Jehovah God because you've got to go through Jesus to
get to him. So that's why this is important because people are twisting these scriptures
in Zechariah 12, 13 and 14 and trying to use them to advance a political agenda known as
Zionism that is contrary to the teachings of the New Testament. And so we need to study
to show ourselves the proof. Now let's read the rest of the passage. And I'm not just
expecting you to just trust me here. I'm going to prove it to you from the Bible. That this
passage is talking about that which is in the past, not that which is in the future.
Because keep in mind this is written centuries before the time of Christ. Look at verse 4
and let's keep reading. 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. 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. So what is the strength of the inhabitants of Judah? It's the Lord. The Lord's their
strength and the governors are realizing that. So what we're talking about here is the day
that Zechariah lived in. We're talking about Jerusalem being re-established. The wall is
being rebuilt in the days of Nehemiah. The temple is being rebuilt. Ezra is there. Haggai
and Zechariah are preaching and Zerubbabel is that governor, right? And Zerubbabel, the
governor here, is one of the governors of Judah where the Bible says that they're going
to say in their heart, the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord
of hosts, their God. That's where the strength comes from. It comes from the Lord. And by
the way, you can't separate the Lord from the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to prove
that in just a moment. So this is back then. This is before Jesus's first coming. Because
when, let me ask you this, when Jerusalem was re-established and when they came back
from Babylon and set up the nation again and Israel was back in the promised land once
again after 70 years of captivity, were there enemies that wanted to shut that down? Were
there enemy nations that wanted to put a stop to that? Well, read Nehemiah. Remember all
the enemies? And when they rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, they had to hold a weapon in
one hand and a work tool in the other hand. And that's literally how they built because
there was so much of a threat to their security. That's what we're talking about. Then of course
we know that later on the Greeks would come in and attack and so forth. And there was
a time when God allowed the Greeks to come in and defeat them. But then of course they
defeated the Greeks. And this we know historically as, you know, the invasion of Antiochus Epiphanes,
you know, the Greek leader that came in and did that. But when we read here in verse 6,
it says, 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 on the left and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place
even in Jerusalem. What's he saying? This is before they're securely in the promised
land. Zechariah is preaching and giving them encouragement and assurance saying, you are
going to be re-established in the promised land. Jerusalem is going to be blessed by
God once again and chosen by God once again. This already happened hundreds of years before
Jesus walked on this earth. It happened. So don't try to put this in the New Testament
and let me prove it to you further. What does the Bible say next? It says in that day, what
verse are we on? 7? Okay, thank you. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first,
that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not
magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and he that is feeble among them that day shall be as David and the house of
David shall be as God as the angel of the Lord before them and it shall come to pass
in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Now,
when he says here the house of David, he's talking about the governors. He just finished
saying the governors are going to be like the fire that burns everybody up and the governors
are of the house of David because Zerubbabel and his family are of the house of David.
That's what that reference is to. Now, look at verse number 10. It says in verse number
10, and I will pour out, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in
bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Now, I'm going to tell
you the false doctrine that this verse is used to teach and then I'm going to show you
why it's wrong, okay? This is a verse that people will use to teach a false doctrine
and the TV preachers love this because they love to talk about the current events in Israel
and of course they are paid by the Jewish media that puts them on TV in the first place
that owns all the TV stations and, you know, is their meal ticket in the first place. But
what happens is they get up and preach and say, here's what's going to happen. In the
end times, all these nations are going to be against Israel and God's going to defend
Israel from all these nations, okay? And then when Christ returns and the children of Israel
see Christ's return, they're all going to realize, what have we been doing? Where have
we been all our life? And they're going to receive Christ as Savior. And I've heard this
my whole life. Who's heard this? When Jesus comes back, the Jews will accept him as their
Savior. When he comes back, here's the problem with that. There's a guy that's coming that's
going to claim to be Jesus and the Jews are going to accept him as their Messiah and it's
the Antichrist. So these TV preachers are preparing people for that by saying that when
Christ returns, the Jews will accept him. That's a really dangerous teaching because
really the Antichrist is coming and the Jews are going to accept him. But here's the thing
about it. It doesn't make any sense because of the fact that if the Jews reject him now,
why would they believe on him then? Oh, well, because God's going to do a work in their
heart. What are you, Calvinist? Like they literally think that if you're just lucky
enough to be a Jew, when Christ returns, you just get automatic salvation because God gives
you a new heart. Now, that stinks if you just missed it. So all the Jews in the 20th century
that hate Jesus, reject Jesus, they go burn in hell because they didn't believe in Jesus
because no man cometh unto the Father but by him. But if you're lucky enough to be a
Jew that makes it to the second coming of Christ, well then you just automatically are
going to get saved because, I mean, you're going to see him. Well, here's the thing.
We're not saved by sight. We're saved by faith, not sight. Don't sit there and tell them,
oh, but when they see him, they'll believe. Oh, really? That's kind of like what the rich
man told Abraham when he was burning in hell in Luke 16. Remember the rich man's in hell?
And he says, send Lazarus to go war in my family for I have five brethren and I don't
want them to come to this place of torment. And Abraham said what? They have Moses and
the prophets. Let them hear them. Nay, Father Abraham. But if one return from the dead,
he said, they will be persuaded. Send Lazarus from the dead so that they'll know it's the
truth. And he said, if they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded
if one comes to them from the dead. Think about that. And guess what? Jesus raises a
dead body to life right in front of him. Lazarus, remember? He said Lazarus, come forth, different
Lazarus. But he brings Lazarus out of the grave and you know what? Then the Pharisees
went out and held a council against him how they might destroy him. So did they see and
believe? So why would today's Pharisees see and believe? Come down from the cross that
we may see and believe. No, a wicked and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign
and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth. You know what the sign is that the Jews need
to believe in? The resurrection of Jesus. You know what the Jews need to believe in
tonight? You say, don't you love the Jews? Of course I love the Jews. That's why I want
to tell them how to be saved. It's by believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. It's not by seeing Christ coming in the clouds and having a sudden nationwide
change of heart. That is a lie. That is a fraud. That is false. And that is a weird
teaching that people just automatically get saved because they're Jewish. Wrong. You make
the decision to get saved. You have to choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You have
to put your faith and trust in Jesus and call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
It's not automatic. God gives you a new heart after you believe in Jesus. Now, if you would,
let's keep reading because that's what they're teaching. They're saying, well look at this
scripture right here. God in verse 10 is going to pour out upon the house of David and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his
only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness for his firstborn.
They're saying, see they're going to mourn for him and be like, oh man, I'm so sorry,
why didn't we believe in him? That's what they're trying to twist this as. So they're
trying to put it in the end times. Okay. Let's prove that it's not in the end times. Okay.
First of all, keep your finger there in Zechariah 12 and go to John 19. Go to John chapter 19.
John chapter 19. And I'm going to prove this beyond any shadow of a doubt. If we were in
court right now, I'd be proving it beyond a reasonable doubt, but we're not in court.
I'm proving it beyond any shadow of a doubt. All right. Even more proof. But go to John
chapter 19 and the Bible reads in verse 30, when Jesus therefore received the vinegar,
he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore
because it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath
day for that Sabbath day was in high day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken
and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first
and of the other, which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that
he was dead already, they break not his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced
his side and forthwith there came out blood and water. And he that saw it bear record
and his record is true and he knoweth that he saith true that you might believe. For
these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not
be broken. And again another scripture saith, they shall look on him whom they pierced.
Now the Bible talks about the fulfillment of this scripture being the fact that Jesus
Christ's side was pierced when he died on the cross and that they would look upon him
whom they have pierced. Now what they will say to this is they'll say, well no, it's
when Christ comes back, you know, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and
they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, even
so amen. So they'll say, it's not when they looked at him on the cross and looked upon
him whom they pierced, it's at the second coming they're looking upon him whom they
pierced. Does everybody understand? That's what they're saying, it's at the second coming.
I'm saying it's at the first coming. Okay, so who's right? Well, let's go back to Zechariah
and find out. Now the question is this, first of all, was there, were there those who mourned
for Jesus? Were there those who mourned for Jesus in great numbers when Jesus was hanging
on that cross the first time and they looked on him whom they had pierced? Well, here's
a scripture from Luke 23 that says, and as they led him away, they laid hold upon one
Simon a Cyrenian coming out of the country and on him they laid the cross that he might
bear it after Jesus and there followed him a great company of people and of women which
also bewailed and lamented him. The Bible says that when Jesus was walking up to Golgotha,
there was a great company of people mourning him and bewailing him and sad that he was
being crucified. What does Jesus say to these people? Jesus turning unto them said, daughters
of Jerusalem, weep not for me but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold
the days are coming in which they shall say blessed are the barren and the wombs that
never bear and the paps which never gave suck when they shall begin to say to the mountains
fall on us and to the hills cover us for if they do these things in a green tree what
shall be done in the dry. So the Bible documents a great company of people mourning and weeping
for the Lord Jesus Christ when he was crucified. Now, the scripture that they're talking about
in Revelation chapter 1 when it says, behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall
see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of him even so amen. That's not saying they're going to wail because of him like, oh we're
so sorry we're ready to get saved now. They're going to wail because of him because the Bible
says they're going to wail and say to the mountains and rocks fall on us, which is what
Jesus just said. He said you're going to be wailing when the rocks and mountains are going
to be a blessing to you if they would fall on you and crush you. Don't weep for me, weep
for yourselves. So they're not going to be weeping for Jesus at the second coming, they're
going to be weeping for themselves. Okay, does everybody understand that from the scripture?
Okay, but you say, well Pastor Anderson, I'm still not convinced that you're right. I mean,
you know, this is not what the TV preacher told me, but let's see what the Bible says
in Zechariah that can give us the timing. Does everybody understand both sides? I just
gave you both sides. Here's what they're saying, here's what I'm saying. Okay, who's
right? Verse 10 of chapter 12, and I will pour out upon the house of David and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall
look upon me whom they've pierced, again another proof of the deity of Christ since it's Jehovah
God speaking, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall
be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Here's the
first key to the timing, verse 11. In that day, shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem?
So we're talking about the same thing, right? As the mourning of Hadad Rehman in the valley
of Megiddon, and the land shall mourn every family apart, the family of the house of David
apart and their wives apart, the family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives
apart, the family of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart, the family of Shimei
apart and their wives apart, all the families that remain, every family apart and their
wives apart. Now, let me ask you this. Do these verses, 12 through 14, have significance,
or is God just filling up space here? I mean, is he just, you know, let's just make the
book of Zechariah a little longer, or do these verses have meaning that is significant to
what we're reading? Now, think about this. If we go with what I'm teaching, is it possible
that verses 12 through 14 could actually happen? That the house of David could mourn separately
from the house of Shimei, which is separate from the house of Levi? Yes, because at the
time of Christ, they still knew what tribe they were. Remember what Paul said? I also
am an Israelite. He said, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. Multiple times, Paul knew he
was of the tribe of Benjamin. And the Bible does mention other people of being of this
tribe of that tribe. It talks about people being a Levite. They still had that priesthood
after the order of Aaron. They had the Levitical priesthood in place. So, when the Bible says
the house of Shimei, which tribe does that represent? Well, Shimei was a very prominent
Benjaminite. David was a prominent one of the tribe of Judah, and of course, Levi. Who
are the three main tribes of the southern kingdom? The southern kingdom of Judah, which
later became known as Judea, was predominantly populated by the tribes of Judah, Benjamin,
and Levi. There were, of course, people sprinkled in from other tribes. There's one person in
the New Testament that we see. There's a woman of the tribe of Asher, you know, that's
down there. Because some of them got saved and didn't want to live in the wicked northern
kingdom, so they crossed that border into Judah, and they came to Judah. So, you know,
there's an Asherite here and there. There's going to be people sprinkled in. But it's
predominantly, by and large, Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. So, at the time of Christ, you could
have the tribe of Judah apart, you know, the Shimei apart, you could have Levites
apart. That makes sense. Verses 12 through 14 make sense now, in that respect. Okay,
now let's test these verses against what the TV preachers are telling us, what the Zionists
are telling us, which is that this is about the second coming of Christ. Well, here's
the problem with that. How can the house of David mourn apart today when no one knows
what tribe, they don't know if they're of Judah, they don't know if they're of Benjamin,
they don't know what tribe they are, they're all mixed and they just call themselves Jews,
and it's just a mixture where no one knows what tribe they are. And we asked an Orthodox
rabbi and he said, no one knows what tribe they are, it doesn't matter. He said the priesthood,
the Kohanes, they know, according to him. That's sketchy. But he claims, well they know,
do the Benjamites know, those of Judah, any of the other tribes? No, we don't know. Look
it up online and see if they know what tribe they are. Look up these tribes, they don't
exist. There's no 12 tribes of Israel over there today, it's just a bunch of people who
are Jews. There's Jews and there's Palestinians. That's what they talk about. They don't talk
about Reuben, Issachar, Simeon, Asher, it doesn't exist, my friend. So how could this
verse be referring to the second coming of Christ when these groups no longer exist?
These distinctions no longer exist. But then they'll say, well, they may not know what
tribe they are, but God knows. God knows they're, you know, of Judah, God knows they're a Benjamin.
Yeah, but this says that they're separating into those groups. Apart, you know what apart
means? They're not in the same place. Saying like, over here, you've got those of this
tribe and over here you've got those of this tribe and over here you've got, how could
you do that today? I mean, maybe they could separate into like, you know, the tribes of
Germany and the tribes of Poland. Those are the real tribes over there. The Spanish apart.
Look if this verse said the Spanish apart and the Germans apart and the Polish apart,
like that would make sense. The Sephardic apart and the Ashkenazis apart and the Palestinians
apart. Is that what it says? No. So this scripture could only have meaning at the time of Christ.
That's when it was fulfilled where they looked upon him and they were pierced and they mourned
for him. At the second coming, they're going to mourn for themselves and beg for the mountains
and rocks to fall on them. That's what the Bible actually teaches. Okay, you say I'm
still not convinced. Okay, look at chapter 13 verse 1. Because remember the chapter divisions
were put in after the fact. Those are a feature of our English Bible and they're very helpful
but you know, you can't get too hung up on that chapter division. You know, we keep reading
here. In that day, in verse 1, so we're talking about the same thing in verse 1 here. In that
day, there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
for sin and for uncleanness. Okay, let me ask you this. When was that fountain opened?
How about when they pierced his side and blood and water came out? Rock of ages cleft for
me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which
float, be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Or how about this?
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's. What are we talking about
here? Look at verse 1. In that day, there shall be a fountain opened to the house of
David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. What's that fountain?
It's the blood of Christ. That blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin, that washes
us from our sins in his own blood. That's what we're talking about. Okay, keep going,
verse 2. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will
cut off the names of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered
and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirits to pass out of the land. You
know, and if you keep on reading, everything fits Christ's first coming. In fact, even
later in chapter 13, he talks about smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered,
which is about Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane getting arrested. So, you know,
this idea of taking this and just warping it into the New Testament with no support
in the book of Revelation whatsoever, it falls apart. It's not scriptural. And if we take
the scripture for what it actually says in chapter 12, we clearly see that this is about
something that already took place in the past. Why is that important? Because the Bible teaches
from cover to cover that God's going to protect you and God's going to be your God and you're
going to be his people and he's going to be your refuge and your fortress when you believe
in him. And that if you don't believe in him, you don't have those benefits. So, to sit
there and apply this to a group of people that don't believe in him and say, well, it's
because he knows they're going to believe in him later, so he blesses them and protects
them and puts them in the land. No, no, that's just made up false doctrine. It's totally
made up and it's totally false and it really damages the doctrine of personal salvation,
which tells us that it's up to us to personally receive Christ as savior not to just wait
for some lightning bolt to hit us of all of a sudden God just makes us get saved. And
people say, oh, but that's what happened to Paul. That's not what happened to Paul. Christ
appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and he got saved three days later. He did not
get saved on the road to Damascus. He called upon the name of the Lord three days later.
He asked the Lord what he wanted him to do. He said, go to Ananias. Ananias will tell
you what to do. Ananias preached Christ unto him. That's when he called upon the name of
the Lord. That's when his sins were washed away three days later. He was saved by hearing
the gospel preached unto him from a human being. Sort of like the Lord appeared unto
Cornelius and sent him to Peter and said, get the gospel from Peter. And Peter gave
him the gospel. We'll close with that. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father,
we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and we thank you that your word is perfect
and that no matter what science comes out with, you were already ahead of science. You
know the end from the beginning. You've always taught that the earth is a sphere and that
hell is in the core. Not that it's at the North Pole or something of that nature, Lord,
but that it's in the center of the earth. And so we pray that you would please just
help us to read our Bibles, study to show ourselves approved, and to be aware of all
the false doctrine that's out there, Lord. Help us to just study our Bibles and know
what to believe and why from an in-depth knowledge of your word. And in Jesus' name
we pray. Amen.