McElroy Baptist Church

08/31/2026

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS
Zechariah 8

The word of the LORD which came to Zechariah the second time in the fourth year of King Darius (see 7:1) continues. God tells Zechariah that He was jealous for Zion. Many think that God shouldn't be jealous, that jealousy is something bad. But one little word can make a big difference in what is meant. God said He was jealous FOR Zion, not OF Zion. In other words, God loved His chosen people like a husband loves His wife. He wanted Israel to worship and adore Him only. The reason for His great fury was that instead of loving and worshipping Him, Israel went after false gods and practiced idolatry and other wickedness. Because of this, Israel has suffered great affliction and persecution through the centuries will continue to suffer until the return of Jesus Christ at His second coming to earth.

That puts us at verse three. God says He is returned unto Zion. That is exactly what will happen when Christ comes and defeats the antichrist and his army. Christ will then take His throne in Jerusalem and rule over Israel and the whole earth. During those one thousand years, everything will change. Verse 4 tells us that there will be many old men and women because people will once again live to a very great age, as in the time before the flood. Also, the streets will be full of children playing. There will be multitudes, and they will have no fear of anything happening to them. The remnant of Israel which has made it into the Millennium will be amazed and astonished at the marvelous change. The LORD their God brings them all back to the Promised Land from around the world. And from that time forward, they are His people and He is their God.

In verses 9 and 10 we see that while God is speaking to Zechariah of future events, there is also intertwined what was going on in Zechariah's time. The laying down of the temple foundation and then its actual building later on is seen in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. But verse 12 puts us right back into the Millennium, when God will take the parched desert ground and make it grow bountifully again. The people of Israel will no longer be looked on as a curse by the world, but as a blessing. All the nations which remain on earth will come to Jerusalem to worship Christ. And instead of thinking to do harm to His people, God will do well unto them and give peace. God commands the people to be just and truthful and peaceable. Then they will be able to take joy in their days of fasting and in their holy feasts.

Verses 20-23 speak of how the Gentiles will seek to go to Jerusalem in the Millennium to see Jesus Christ. They will ask Jews to take them there so that they can pray before Him. They will see and know that Christ has blessed the Jews, and that He is God.

08/31/2026

08/25/2026

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS
Zechariah 7

The word of the LORD comes to Zechariah again in the four year of the reign of King Darius, about two years after God first spoke to him. Two men, Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their delegation are sent to the Temple with a question for the priests and prophets. They ask if they should continue to weep and mourn in the fifth month as they have been doing throughout the captivity. This was not the Day of Atonement, which took place in the seventh month according to the law. What the Jews had done was set aside other extra days in the year to mourn and fast for their sins.

God's reply is that when they fasted and mourned all those years, they did it to themselves and not to Him. When they ate and drank, they did so to themselves and not to Him. Nothing they did was unto God. They went through all the motions, but their hearts were far away from Him. God tells them to listen to His word which He gave to the prophets that came before when Jerusalem was prosperous.

What God had asked of them was simple: be true in judgment, show mercy and compassion, take care of the widows and orphans, help the poor, and don't devise evil against anyone. Their mourning and repentance should have been followed by obedience to God's commands. But they would not listen and obey. That brought the wrath of God on them. When they cried out to Him, God did not listen, just as they had not listened. Instead, He scattered them throughout the heathen nations and the land of Israel was made desolate.

08/18/2026

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS
Zechariah 6

In the next part of Zechariah's vision, he sees four chariots emerging from between two mountains of brass. Each chariot has a different colored horse pulling it - red, black, white, and grisled/bay. Zechariah asks what they are. He is told they are the four spirits that go back and forth between God and the earth. The black horses go into the north, and they are followed by the white horses. The grisled horses go toward the south. The bay, or red, horses go throughout the earth, back and forth. The angel of the LORD tells Zechariah that those that have gone into the north have quieted his spirit.

As we have seen from the beginning of the vision, the things that Zechariah sees are looking forward to the Tribulation. Brass represents judgment in the Bible, and so the passage deals with God's judgment in the Tribulation. It is natural to want to compare the four horse-drawn chariots with the four horses and riders of Revelation 6. But they do not match up. Zechariah's horses are spirits of the heavens which are sent out by God. The horses of Revelation are the antichrist, war, famine and death. The order of the colors also does not match. Zechariah sees the black go first, which is then followed by the white. And both quiet God's soul in the north country. The antichrist does not do this. The four horse drawn chariots Zechariah sees are spirits sent by God to specific areas on earth with tasks to complete.

Next, God gives Zechariah some instructions to carry out. He is to gather those who are of Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah. These men were priests, so Zechariah is to gather together all those of the priesthood who came out of the captivity in Babylon. He is to take them to the house of Josiah. There they are to make crowns of silver and gold and set them on Joshua, the high priest.

The high priest Joshua is a type, or picture, of Jesus Christ. So, we see the BRANCH, which is Jesus Christ, in connection with Joshua. He is wearing two crowns - silver and gold. The silver crown symbolized the priesthood, and the gold crown symbolized deity. Joshua was not a king and did not have a throne. But Jesus Christ is both our great High Priest, and He is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. And one day, He will have a physical kingdom and a throne here on the earth. This is what is happening in verse 13. Christ returns to the earth, the temple is rebuilt, and He will sit on the throne in Jerusalem for a thousand years. The crowns on Joshua's head reminded the priesthood of Zechariah's time that one day their Messiah, the Priest-King, would come and rule over them.

The final verse of chapter 6 speaks of the gathering of the Gentiles to Christ's throne in Jerusalem during the Millennium. Those nations who were judged at Christ's coming and found faithful to Israel will come to Jerusalem to worship and will help in building the Millennial Temple. Those that Zechariah had gathered were told that all this would come to pass if they diligently obeyed God. The first time Christ came, the Israelites rejected Him. But when He comes back again, the heart of His people will turn back to Him, and all of these things will come to pass.

08/10/2026

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS
Zechariah 5

Zechariah's vision continues in chapter 5. When he looks up again, he sees a flying roll - a scroll. This is no ordinary scroll. It is very large, measuring about 30 feet by 15 feet. The angel tells Zechariah that this roll is a curse that will go over the entire earth. The curse will fall on thieves and blasphemers and will enter into their homes and consume them.

In chapter 4, Zechariah had seen the vision of the two witnesses who will preach on the earth during the Tribulation period. Since the vision continues into chapter 5, the things that Zechariah is now seeing are still in that time frame. A curse will come down on people during that time. God specifically mentions thieves and blasphemers, which are two great characteristics of the antichrist. He is both a thief (John 10:1) and a blasphemer (Revelation 13:5). This curse will affect him and all those who follow him.

There is a particular disease in the Bible which not only affects people, but also clothing and even houses. It is the disease of leprosy. The book of Leviticus deals extensively with how it is recognized and dealt with. During the Tribulation, everyone who worships the antichrist will be cursed with a "grievous sore" (Revelation 16:2). That sore is leprosy. Zechariah is seeing the unleashing of this disease during the Tribulation.

Next, Zechariah sees a flying ephah. The ephah was a unit of dry measure during Bible times, measuring approximately a bushel. What Zechariah was seeing was most likely a bushel basket. This ephah was moving through the air, as the roll had. Zechariah also sees a talent of lead and a woman sitting in the ephah. The angel declares it as wickedness and throws the lead into the basket. When he does, two winged women emerge from the basket and lift it between the earth and the sky. Zechariah asks where they are taking the ephah. The angel tells him they are taking it to the land of Shinar. It is there that the woman will be established and set on high.

The woman in the basket is the same woman seen in Revelation 17. She is "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT," the harlot which rides on the great red dragon. The land of Shinar was the birthplace of Babylon, where the tower of Babel was built in Genesis 11. Baal worship took form there, and a central part of that was worshipping "the queen of heaven" (Jeremiah 44:17,18). The two women with wings like storks are her demons. Storks were considered unclean birds (Leviticus 11:19) and represented unclean spirits (Revelation 18:2). They were also associated with the worship of pagan fertility goddesses in various heathen religions, all of which go back to Baal worship.

The woman in the ephah, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT," is the return of the Babylonian religious system during the Tribulation. It will be the one world religion led by the antichrist's right hand man, the false prophet. Once it is established, Baal worship - with all of its wicked practices - will be in full swing again.

08/04/2026

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS
Zechariah 4

Zechariah's vision continues with the angel showing him a candlestick and two olive trees. The candlestick was like the one that had been in the temple - one central stand with seven gold lamps. The bowl in which the oil was poured was on the top and seven pipes went from it to the seven lamps. On either side of this candlestick Zechariah saw the two olive trees. According to verse 12, there was also a pipe going from each tree to the bowl on the candlestick. Zechariah asks what these things are. The angel says, 'don't you know?' But Zechariah doesn't.

The angel does not immediately answer Zechariah's question. Instead, he gives Zechariah's God's words to the governor Zerubbabel. The task Zerubbabel has been given to rebuild the temple will be accomplished. But it will not be done in his own strength and power. It will happen through God's power, might, and spirit. Those who go against Zerubbabel like mighty mountains will be brought low by the LORD. He began the work, and he will finish it. That is exactly what happened in Ezra 6.

Within this prophecy is another pointing to end times. Zerubbabel is a figure of Christ. The headstone also represents Jesus Christ, the cornerstone. At His second coming to earth the mountains will be brought low as prophesied by Isaiah (see Isaiah 40:4). The temple will be rebuilt, where He will rule and reign for 1,000 years. And the "seven," the eyes of the LORD going through the earth, speak of His omnipresence and omniscience (Proverbs 15:3).

When the prophecy concerning Zerubbabel is ended, Zechariah asks again what the two olive trees are and the pipes coming out of them that are pouring oil into the bowl of the candlestick. The angel answers that the two trees are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord. These two persons are the two witnesses of Revelation 11. They will prophesy during the second half of the Tribulation period. The identity of these two men was reveled on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:3. Jesus, the Light of the World, was flanked on either side by Moses and Elijah. They will prophesy and preach before the second coming of Jesus Christ.
With that in mind, the candlestick then is a picture of Jesus Christ. He is the Light of the World and the Anointed One of God.

07/28/2026

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS
Zechariah 3

The vision in chapter 3 is of the cleansing of Joshua the high priest. Along with the governor Zerubbabel, Joshua was tasked with rebuilding the temple as written in the book of Ezra. But in Zechariah's vision, Joshua is standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan ready to accuse him of his sins. Satan is the great accuser (see Revelation 12:10), and he can still bring up our sins before God, just as he did to Joshua the high priest and how he tried to do to Job (Job 1 and 2).

Satan's efforts are useless, though, when the person being accused belongs to God. He rebukes Satan, reminding him that Joshua is a "brand plucked out of the fire." In other words, Joshua has been saved from the burning flames of hell. No, he isn't perfect - you can still smell the smoke on him. He's standing there in his filthy, sinful rags. But he is God's man now, and that leaves Satan no foothold.

The angel of the LORD commands that Joshua's garments be taken away and new ones given him. He has been cleansed of his sins and is a new man, wearing the righteousness of the LORD. He is also given a mitre to wear on his head. This mitre was worn by the high priest in the Tabernacle. Joshua is crowned as the rightful high priest in the LORD's service.

Then the angel of the LORD speaks to Joshua. He tells Joshua that if he continues to follow God and do right, he will judge and rule in Israel. The same charge is given by Christ to the twelve apostles in Matthew 19:28. Their obedience would result in a place of prominence in Christ's earthly kingdom during His thousand year reign on earth. So, the final verses of chapter 3 are looking forward to the second coming of Christ and the Millennium. The Branch of verse 8 is Jesus Christ. The stone of verse 9 also represents Christ. He is a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence to those who refuse to follow Him. The stone is laid before Joshua because he must make the choice whether or not he will walk in God's ways. The seven eyes of the stone are the seven manifestations of the Holy Spirit (see Isaiah 11:2). They are on the stone just as they are on Jesus, the Lamb of God, in Revelation 5:6.

The vision ends with God's declaration for the nation of Israel. In the day when Christ comes back to take His throne, He will remove the iniquity of the people. They will see Him and know He is their Messiah, and they will repent and turn to Him. The Promised Land will once again be theirs, and they will dwell in peace under Christ's rule. Their restoration will be complete and will last forever.

07/21/2026

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS
Zechariah 2

Chapter 2 continues Zechariah's vision. He looks again and sees a man with a measuring line. Zechariah asks where he is going, and the man tells him he is going to Jerusalem to measure it. Then another angel comes and tells the first that Jerusalem will have so many inhabitants, both man and beast, that it will be as a town without walls. There will be no need for walls of protection because God's glory will be a wall of fire round about.

This prophecy falls in line with that in Ezekiel 48, where the actual measurements of Jerusalem are given. The time frame is the Millennium. It will be the only time that Jerusalem will be a city without walls. In Old Testament times, Jerusalem had a wall built around it. That was destroyed when the Babylonians invaded and then rebuilt under the direction of Nehemiah. It will not be the New Jerusalem described in Revelation; that city also has a great wall around it. Only in Millennial Jerusalem will the city be wide open and full of multitudes. At that time, God's glory will surround the city.

Verses 6-9 deal with the calling of the Israelites back into their land. They have been called out of Babylon the Great (Revelation 18:4) and restored to their rightful place. God has judged and spoiled all of the nations that were against them. In verse 11, the nations which are judged and found faithful to Israel will also seek the LORD and worship Him during the Millennium. Jesus Christ will take His throne and Israel will be the holy land once again.

07/19/2026

Sunday School 10am
Morning Service 11am
Evening Service 5pm