 Okay, good morning. If we can have everyone settle down, we will get started for our last and final session on Old Testament survey. So today we are looking at the three last books in the Old Testament. So we will be looking at Haggai, Zechariah and Malakai. Alright, so let's get started. Let's begin with the book of Haggai. Now all of these three books that we are dealing with today, they are written for people who had come back from the exile in Babylon. These are exiles who have returned back home and all the three prophets are speaking to them, addressing them. Now if you remember, when we covered Ezra, Nehemiah, we talked about Cyrus. We talked about the time when Cyrus allows all the exiles to return back to their homelands. And so at that point of time, around 50,000 Jews come back from Babylon to Jerusalem and they come back under the leadership of the governor, Zeru Babel, who has been appointed as the new governor of this region. And along with him, you also have Joshua the High Priest coming back. And there are two prophets who come along with them, Haggai and Zechariah. So these are things that we looked at when we covered the book of Ezra. So now with this very first batch, which is coming back to Jerusalem, you have Zeru Babel the governor, Joshua the High Priest, and you have two prophets Haggai and Zechariah who are returning back. So in fact, the book of Ezra very briefly mentions these two people Haggai and Zechariah and the work which they did when they came back from exile. So even as we are going to be looking at these two books today, Haggai and Zechariah, let's look at the introduction that is given about these people in the book of Ezra. So if we can have someone turn in their Bibles to Ezra chapter 5 and if you could read out for us verses 1 and 2, Ezra chapter 5 verses 1 and 2, where something is mentioned about who is Haggai and who is Zechariah. Ezra 5, 1 and 2. Maybe someone online as the students here are not ready. Go ahead. Ezra 5, 1 and 2. Here in the book of Ezra chapter 5 verses 1 and 2, we are told that these two prophets Haggai and Zechariah, they encourage the people to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And when the people obeyed and began constructing the temple, it says the prophets of God supported them, so that they would be able to complete the temple construction work. So I need the students here to pay attention. I mean, all of you are completely spaced out. Your brains are somewhere else. Please concentrate. So these two prophets are encouraging the people to start rebuilding the temple of God. And let's look at the outline. If you look at Haggai which has got only two chapters. In the first chapter, the focus is on this, where the prophets are encouraging the people and telling them, why have you delayed the construction work of the temple, get started on it. And in chapter 2, they give some encouragement about the blessings which will come to them if they obey. There are future blessings mentioned about what God will do in the future. There's even promises made about how grand this second temple is going to be in the future. All of those things are mentioned in these two chapters. So let's actually look at chapter 1 and what exactly Haggai says to the people to encourage them to start the rebuilding work. Because if you remember, immediately after the exiles come back, they eagerly start off work. They build the altar once again so that sacrifices can start being offered. And they also start laying down the foundation for the temple which is going to be made. And then opposition begins. Once the foundation work for the temple starts, then the nations which are around start opposing them. And there's a lot of tension at that time. And as a result of that, after the foundation is finished, the work just stops. Because there's too much pressure. There's too much opposition. The surrounding governors are sending letters back to Persia saying these people are trying to rebel and all of that. And so the work comes to a standstill. And maybe for the first few years, the people were anxious and they were thinking, when can we restart? When can we complete this house of the Lord? But slowly as the years go by, the people become lethargic. They become lazy. They stop caring about the house of God. So you just have the foundation which has been laid and they just leave it like that. They don't start building the actual temple building on top of the foundation. They just leave it like that. They start rebuilding their homes. They start establishing their fields once again. They start looking into their own interests and their own livelihood. And the temple of God is almost forgotten. You just basically have the foundation laid out. And of course, you have the altar which was constructed. So it sacrifices are being made. But beyond that, nothing at all is being done. So this is what God says to these people in Haggai chapter one, verses five to 11. Now that's actually around six to seven verses. But then if we could have someone read out for us, Haggai chapter one, verses five to 11, what does God say about this attitude of the people where they have completely forgotten about the temple and they are very busy building up their own personal lives. Whatever God says to them over here can apply even to us believers today. So even as one person reads out these verses, let us follow in the Bible what is being said and see some of the points which God is bringing out over here. Haggai chapter one, verses five to 11 please. Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. You have sown much and bring in little you eat. But do not have enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You cloth yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages earns wages to put into your bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build a temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified says the Lord. You looked so, you looked for much, but indeed it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why says the Lord of hosts? Because of my whole house that is in ruin, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew and the earth withhold its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and with and the oil. And whatever the ground brings forth on men and livestock and on all the labor of your hands is the word of God. Thank you. So it says over here that the people have been planting a lot in their fields, but the harvest is very, very little. And the Lord says you earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it. It's like as if they are earning from morning till night. They're putting in so much hard work, but finally whatever they earn, when they put it into their into their wallet, into their purse or whatever, it's like as if all the money is just disappearing. And nothing is left in their hands. By the middle of the month, there's nothing. So the Lord says in verse seven, Give careful thought to your ways. Why do you think this is happening? Why are you putting in so much hard work and you don't see any results? You're working in the field from morning till evening, or the crop when it comes, the crop is so little. So God says, Give careful thought to your ways. Why do you think you people are facing this kind of a scarcity? Why is there lack in your lives? And then the Lord says, Go up into the mountains and bring down timber, build my house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored. So the Lord is indicating you people are not honoring me. You're very, very busy building up your own lives and I am not being honored. And so God says, This is my response. You know, the law in verse nine, the Lord says, You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. You know, whatever with a lot of hard work, whatever you brought home, whatever finances you brought home, I just blew it away. And then the Lord says, Why declares the Lord Almighty, because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. And this is something that can happen even to us New Testament believers, where we are so busy building our own homes, our own lives, our own ministries, even ministry can also just become a distraction, you know, which is stopping us from honoring the Lord. So sometimes we become so busy in building our lives, our ministries, our homes that we have no time for the Lord. We don't spend time in His presence honoring Him, learning from Him, you know, practicing His ways. And so the Lord says, when you do that, you maybe are expecting much because of all the hard work you have put in. But see, what have you produced? It's very, very little. You know, and this happens even to people in ministry. And I'm specifically emphasizing that because, you know, most of us are over here in Bible college, preparing ourselves for future ministry. So when we are, you know, working hard and ministering, we expect much. But the Lord says, if you are finding very few results, give careful thought and ask yourself, why are the results so less? Is it because you have sidelined me rather than keeping me as the main focus? Have you pushed me into a corner and I know, are you worshiping your ministry? Are you building up your homes? Are you building up your finances? If that is what is happening, then I am not being honored. And God says, if you do that, it is possible that I will choose to blow away whatever you have brought home. And we see this actually, you know, in our lives. When we place the Lord first, the Lord, you know, honors us in return. You know, we see that even in the New Testament, Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, where the Lord says, Jesus is speaking and he says, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. So if you are focusing on his righteousness, walking in his ways, honoring him and if you are building his kingdom, you know, focusing on the king, not just on ministry alone, but on the king who is supposed to be in charge of the entire ministry. So if we are keeping him as our focus, the Lord says, all these other things which you require will anyway be added to you. So you don't have to be worried, you don't have to be concerned. And so here the Lord says in the Haggai passage, you earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it. How does this happen? I mean, you know, if you have earned a lot that particular month, in what way does that do all those finances disappear? What happens is a lot of unnecessary expenditures come in, you know, a lot of wastage happens, there will be repairs which have to be done, you know, maybe money gets stolen, you know, and then people borrow and don't return. There are different ways in which what you have earned just gets dispersed. So even though you're sincerely working and earning and earning, it doesn't stay in the house. It seems to all be going out and you're left with almost nothing. And the Lord says when that is happening, give careful thought to what is, you know, going on in your lives. This is a lesson that I learned watching my father, you know, so when my parents first became believers and they began to learn about these things, about, you know, the importance of placing God first in our lives, the importance of tithing, the importance of, you know, asking God for direction even in small matters before taking a decision. Even as I began to see my parents doing that, I could see a change in our entire, you know, position. Earlier, everything was so difficult. But then when we began to place God first, things began to improve. And something that my father pointed out to me once, you know, which has always stayed in my mind. He said, have you noticed my income has not increased? I'm a garment employee, what salary I was getting earlier, same salary I'm getting even now, nothing much has changed. But we seem to have more in our hands. Why is that? Because God is seeing that there are no holes in the pocket. You know, He's not allowing any wastage to happen. The repairs are almost non-existent. No repairs, no need to waste money on repairs. No money is getting spent on the basic things which have to be bought. It's like as if you're getting discount offers, this and that. You know, it's like God is making ways where He's allowing that little amount to be preserved so that it lasts till the end of the month. So that there is enough for, you know, for us right up to the end of the month. God prevents the holes from being formed in the purse. He preserves what little we have. If we have placed Him first. So my father said, you know, God, even though He has not made us rich, whatever we have is preserving it, protecting it so that it lasts longer, so that it's able to bring in more, so that we're able to purchase much more with the little that we have. And so I began to understand the importance of spiritual principles, which can bring about transformation even in our ordinary everyday lives. You know, I began to realize that if God is placed first, everything else is taken care of. Like it says in the Matthew 6 passage, all these things will be added to you. The pagans, they desperately run after these things. They have no one to depend on. So they have to fight, they have to struggle, they have to work hard to get those things. But those of us who are placing the kingdom first, those of us who are placing righteousness first, the Lord will add these things to us. We don't have to desperately run after those things because the Lord takes care. So these principles are being brought out in the first chapter of Haggai. And Haggai says to the people, change your ways. Why don't you start honoring the Lord first? And one practical way that these people are being asked to honor the Lord is by starting the construction work again. Yes, a position has been there. Yes, you know, for a while, Persia gave an official order that the work should be stopped. But all those issues have now been resolved. So why are the people still delaying? And so, you know, after a 15 year delay, now, you know, the prophets are saying, honor the Lord by restarting the work. And so when Haggai and Zechariah encourage the people in this manner, they actually respond, they listen to what the prophets are saying. And within 24 days of Haggai giving this message, they actually start the reconstruction work. So I think the people were willing to repent, they were willing to listen to what God is saying, and they begin the reconstruction work. So in the same way, you know, even if we were to apply these principles to ourselves, and in case we have not been placing the Lord first, if we are willing to do that, we too would see the Lord taking care of our needs. So you have Joshua, the High Priest who is there at that time, and you also have Zerubabel, the governor. Now, this is the word of words of encouragement, which the Lord gives to these two specific leaders, because they are the ones who are going to supervise the construction work. They are the ones who are going to, you know, guide the people, encourage the people. So in the book of Zechariah, the Lord says some very positive things for Joshua, the High Priest. Here in the book of Haggai, the Lord says some positive things for Zerubabel, the governor. So we'll look at this Haggai passage first, which talks about Zerubabel, the governor, and this is what God says to this governor. If we can have someone read out for us, Haggai chapter 2, verses 20 to 23, Haggai 2, 20 to 23. Shall I, Madam? Yeah, yeah, go ahead, please go ahead, yeah. And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the 24th day of the month, saying, speak to Zerubabel, governor of Yudha, saying, I will shake heaven and earth, I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms, I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms, I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them, the horses and their riders shall come down, everyone by the sword of his brother. 23? Yeah. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubabel, my servant, the son of Sheltiel, says the Lord and will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts. Amen. Yeah, so when the people first came back from exile, they were very excited because a lot of prophecies had been made about how a messiah will come, how the throne of David will be restored and all of that. They assume that as soon as they come back, all these things will start happening. The years were going by, there was opposition, there was struggle, things were not going the way they had expected. So slowly they lost enthusiasm for the things of God and they began to become very slack. So God over here he says, it is true that right now we are not seeing something great and spectacular happening, but continue to remain faithful, continue to do the things which I have asked you to do, because in the future there are some great things awaiting this nation. So he says, there's going to be a day when the heavens and the earth will be shaken, royal thrones will be overturned and the Lord says that he will take a descendant of Zarubabel and he will make him like his signet ring. So in verse 23, it sounds like as if the Lord is speaking this directly to Zarubabel himself, but then we see that this prophecy is not fulfilled in Zarubabel directly, but through one of his descendants. So the Lord says, I will make you Zarubabel like my signet ring. Now Zarubabel was actually a descendant of King David. So that is probably why Cyrus appointed him as the governor when this group of people were returning back to Jerusalem because he was from that lineage. So God is encouraging Zarubabel and saying there are great things awaiting your nation in the future. So if you will encourage the people, if you will be a good leader who will give them new vision, if you will encourage them to place me first, then I can do all the things which I have planned for all of you. So in the same way, even in our lives, when we have been expectantly praying and waiting upon God and we don't immediately see the results, we may start losing enthusiasm. We may grow discouraged and say, ah, where's the point? God is not doing anything much. So you know, let me just get on with my life. That should not be the attitude. It's never about just me building my life. It is always about placing Him first and placing His purposes first. So even though we don't see any miracles happening in the current present, we should continue to hold on to the Lord and continue to work with the same enthusiasm because a day is indeed coming when what God has promised will be fulfilled. So in our eyes, it may look like what God has promised is being delayed, but there's no delay because God has decided that He will do certain things at a certain time. So in the meantime, during our period of waiting, we need to retain the enthusiasm. We need to retain that hard work and that sincerity. And if we do that, when the time comes, God will shake the heavens and the earth. God will fulfill what He has promised. Now, it is significant what God is saying over here to Zarubabel who has come back over here as the governor and God is saying, I will make you like my signet ring. This is a very significant statement because of what had happened earlier. Let us look at Jeremiah 22, 24 and then we will see something that God says to one of the descendants of David in Jeremiah 22, 24. Again, the word signet ring is mentioned. And let us look at what God says over there, Jeremiah 22, 24. In Jeremiah 22, 24, God says, even if you were a signet ring on my finger, I would pull out the ring and I would throw it away is what God says. So this actually is Jehoiakin that God is talking to. Now, Josiah was a very godly king. Josiah's son was Jehoiakim and Jehoiakim's son was Jehoiakin. So Josiah was a godly leader, but both his son and his grandson Jehoiakim and Jehoiakin, these two are not godly kings. And the Lord is very displeased with them, which is why God says, so this is what the descendants of David are like, is it? You know, I made a covenant promise to David. I said that one of your, one of his descendants would always sit on the throne of Jerusalem. But look at the descendants, they have no respect for the Lord. They are not honoring the Lord. In fact, Jehoiakim and Jehoiakin are living completely sinful lives, having forgotten the example set by Josiah. So the Lord is highly displeased and he says, I am disgusted with this entire lineage. I don't want kings like this on my throne. And so the Lord says, even if you were a signet ring on my finger, I would take the ring, pull it out and throw it away is what the Lord said to one of the descendants of David. Now the signet ring was basically the ring which the king would wear on his finger, you know, which has got the royal seal, the royal emblem. So whenever the king wants to send some official message, you know, he would take the ring, he would use the pattern which is there on that ring to make a seal impression. You know, those of us who are familiar with older letters, you know, maybe would be familiar with this concept, maybe actually have that wax candlestick, you know, you melt a little bit of that wax onto the envelope and then you press the stamp of whatever emblem you want to put over there. So a signet ring is like that. The king would basically, you know, imprint his royal emblem using wax onto the messages which he wants to send. So the signet ring was something very valuable to something very important. And the Lord says, even if you were that kind of a signet ring, you know, the Lord says, as surely as I live, declares the Lord, even if you Jehoyakin, son of Jehoyakin, king of Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. But now God is looking at Zerubabel. Zerubabel is not a king, he's just the governor who has been brought back. God is looking at him, looking at his ways and the Lord is pleased with him and the Lord says, you know, if you will take your leadership position seriously, if you will encourage the people the way I am asking you to do, then I am willing to make you the signet ring once again, which means, you know, the lineage of David will continue. So it's actually a great honor that the Lord is bestowing upon this governor. So even though Zerubabel himself does not become king, through his lineage, you have the Messiah coming. So in the New Testament, you know, where you have the lineage of the Messiah being mentioned, you know, the ancestors of Jesus and how he, you know, who are the descendants through whom Jesus came, Matthew chapter 1 in verses 12 and 13, Zerubabel is mentioned in that lineage. Again in Luke chapter 3 verse 27, Zerubabel is mentioned in the lineage of the Messiah. So God decides, I will make this person my signet ring once more, because this seems to be a person who will be willing to do the task of leadership that I have given him. So all of us sitting here, we are going to be in different kinds of leadership positions. As a leader, what is God expecting of you? What does he want you to convey to the people who are under you? In what way does he want you to inspire them? In what way does he want you to guide them? Are you being a good leader? If you are really being an honest, sincere leader who is conveying to the people what God wants to be conveyed, then the Lord will look at you like as if you are a signet ring. Now I'm not saying that, you know, any Messiah is going to come from your lineage. You know, let's not take it out of context. But what I'm saying is God values leaders like that who are willing to pass on the vision which he wants conveyed to the people. So he values and appreciates leaders who are not just building their kingdoms, but who are willing to convey what God wants conveyed to the people, to lead the people in a way that the Lord wants them to be led. He values such leaders. So you and I who are here right now, we can choose to be that kind of a leader. So even though you're not going to be a signet ring from whom the Messiah is going to come, God will look at you as if you are as valuable as a signet ring. So this is a little bit that God says to Zerubabel, to encourage him. The words which the Lord speaks to Joshua, the priest, that is found in the other Book of Zechariah. Another one thing that we see over here in the Book of Haggai is regarding the second temple which the people have now started to reconstruct. If we look back at Ezra chapter 3, you know, when the foundation was laid, at that time we talked about this earlier, I think in a couple of classes, how when the foundation was first laid for the second temple, some of the people were very happy and some of the people were very sad. You know, just to remind ourselves, maybe we can just read out those particular verses. So in Ezra chapter 3, if someone could read out just verses 12 and 13, Ezra chapter 3, 12 and 13. Ezra chapter 3 verse 12 and 13. But many of the priests and levities and heads of the fathers houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes, yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the short shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout and the sound was heard of their... All right. So here it says that some of the older people who had been alive before the people were sent into exile, they still remember in their minds what Solomon's temple looked like, how grand it looked, how beautiful it looked. And so now when they look at the foundation which has been laid for the second temple, they look at that foundation and they think, oh, this building which is going to come up over here, it's not going to look like Solomon's temple. Solomon's temple was so grand, it was so beautiful. This on the other hand looks so simple, this foundation is so simple, so the building which is going to come up on it is going to be probably even simpler. And so some of the older people are weeping and crying and, mourning the glory which they had earlier, because all that glory is now gone. They have come back and they thought that something big would happen, nothing big has happened. In fact, a lot of opposition has been faced and now with some difficulty, they have put down one simple foundation. So the older people who remember the glory of Solomon's temple, they weep and they cry. On the other hand, the younger generation, they are grateful that at least they have been able to do this much of the construction work and so they rejoice. And it says that the shouting of, the shouts of joy and the sound of weeping combined together to make so much noise that the sound was heard far away. That is the response of the people when the temple foundation was laid. And so now keeping that in mind about 15 years later, this is what God is saying through Haggai. So if someone could read out Haggai chapter 2 verses 2 and 3 and also verse 9. Haggai chapter 2 verses 2 and 3 and also verse 9 please. We speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Celestial, governor of Judah and to Joshua, the son of Jehozaduk, the high priest and to the remnant of the people saying, who is left among you, who saw this temple in its former glory, and how do you see it know, it comparison with it? Is this not in your eyes as nothing? And verse 9, the glory of this later temple shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts. So the Lord is saying these things to Zerubbabel and to Joshua, the high priest, the Lord says to them, you may be feeling discouraged just like all the other people, you look at the simple foundation and you're thinking, oh once upon a time we had such a glorious temple, once upon a time we were a great nation, now what are we? Even though God has made promises, nothing much has happened. And so God is telling these two leaders, those of you who are left, you may see this house and you may think that it is nothing compared to the, what was there earlier? He says, who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? Does this simple foundation, doesn't it look like nothing compared to the former glory of Solomon's temple? But God assures in verse 9 and he says, the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house because the Lord says, in this place I will grant peace. So the Lord says, you may be looking at these things in the natural and you may think, oh with our physical eyes, this present foundation looks so simple. What was there in Solomon's time was so big and so majestic. So through our physical eyes, it may appear like that, but God says, when you look at this place spiritually through spiritual eyes, this is going to be a much more glorious place because in this current temple, the second temple, you literally are going to have the Son of God walking around. I mean in Solomon's temple, God didn't come down and walk around, but here in the second temple which was rebuilt, that is the temple in which Jesus literally walked around, healed, preached, did miracles. So the glory of this current temple is actually much greater than the glory of Solomon's older temple and also God says, in this place I will grant peace. It was in the second temple that we were given those words of peace where not only the people of Jerusalem and Judah and the Israelites would receive peace from God, but even us, all of us Gentile nations, we would one day have peace with God. God would no longer be brothful against us and we would be able to become part of the family of God. All these great things happened in this second temple which looked very simple back then. Of course, when Herod came along, he wanted to butter the people, so he made it grand and all of that, but up to the time of Herod, the second temple looked very, very simple. So sometimes when we look at what is going on in our lives, when we look at the contributions which we are making towards the Lord, when we look at what are the achievements that we are doing, maybe something as simple as the assignments that you are writing, in the natural what you're doing may look very insignificant. It may not look very high-fi, it may not look like anything great, but if you are doing it with a very sincere heart, like an honourable sacrifice to the Lord, giving it your 100%, when the Lord looks at it through his spiritual eyes, he doesn't just see something very insignificant. He in fact sees something very, very great, because you have given your very best to the Lord and he sees the value of that. So what you have sown in sincerity will one day reap a harvest that is very, very great. Never forget that. In the natural, some things look very, very insignificant, but if you have given your very, very best to that little bit which you have sown into the Kingdom of God, the harvest which is going to come out of that will be glorious, because the Lord will honour what you have sown. So never ever look down on what you have done with the Lord's backing, with your entire heart and passion, with prayers saying, Lord, I'm doing this unto you. If you have done something with that attitude, then when the time of harvest comes, the glory which will come from that will be very great, because the Lord will honour what you have sown in sincerity. On the other hand, if you have been doing your work, whether it is ministry or whether it is the responsibilities that you have in life, whether it is your private devotional life and your prayer life, whatever it is, if you have just been doing it as a ritual, then if you are sowing all of it in a very casual way, then the crop which will come out of it will have absolutely no glory. So the Lord does not look at things through natural eyes. He looks at it through spiritual eyes. So even though the second temple looked so simple, there was great significance, because out of this, what was being done sincerely by this Zerubbabel and Joshua, out of the simple thing which they were doing, God was going to bring out great and glorious things in the future. So these are all powerful lessons which come out to us through this book of Haggai. Very, very quickly to moving into the book of Zechariah. Now Zechariah basically has 14 chapters. So the first eight chapters of Zechariah were written before the temple construction was completed. So 24 days after Haggai gives us words of correction, the people start reconstruction work. So at the same time, even Zechariah is also ministering along with Haggai. So he writes the first eight chapters of his book before the completion of the temple and then after the temple construction is complete, he writes the next few chapters. Chapters 9 to 14 are written after the completion of the temple. So in the first section, the first eight chapters, these are the kind of prophecies that he makes. He talks about all the visions which God is giving him, visions of correction, visions of judgment, visions of what God will do in the future. So a series of visions are described in the first eight chapters. He also encourages the priests to take their work more seriously, to be more sincere in serving the Lord. He also encourages the people to come back to the true faith, to honor the Lord by obeying him. So all those things are there in the first eight chapters. So in his own way, the Lord is using him to encourage the people to return back with their hearts, to do the construction work with sincerity, not with hypocrisy and so all of that. And then in the chapters 9 to 14 are completely different. They have an apocalyptic message that word apocalypse basically talks about the end times, the time of judgment, the time when God will do the final things which he has planned for the earth. So chapters 9 to 14 are more apocalyptic in nature where he talks about the judgment which will come upon the enemies of God and all of that. And there are many passages which talk about the Messiah who was going to come. So all those things are described in very complex language in chapters 9 to 14. Let's look at some significant things from this latter portion. If somebody could read out for us some of the prophecies of the Messiah which are given in this second portion, chapters 9 to 14. If we can have someone read out for us Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9, which is actually a very famous prophecy about the Messiah. Zechariah 9 verse 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, loudly and riding on a donkey, a cult, the foal of a donkey. So here in Zechariah 9 verse 9, the Lord says, when the king comes to you, he will come to you riding on a donkey. I think we have covered this earlier. Very difficult to remember what was covered in which class. A horse, a war horse represents violence. It represents judgment. On the other hand, a donkey represents peace because it's not an animal of war. It's just a peaceful animal that is used for transportation purposes. So the point that God is making over here is that when the king comes, he will not come to judge Judah. He will not come to destroy the Israelites. He will come on a donkey to signify that he is coming in peace. He's not coming to judge them or to destroy them. Rather, he is coming to help them, to save them. So that is what it talks about over here. It says, see, your king comes to you righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey. In some of the versions it will say, with humility is coming humbly. So the king of kings and Lord of lords, when he finally comes to the nation of Israel, after all their years of sinfulness, he will not come to destroy them. Actually that would have been the correct thing to do. The people never honored the Lord. The people never respected him or obeyed him. So now when the king finally comes, he should actually be coming on a war horse to finish them off. But instead, he comes with humility, it says over here. And he comes in peace to restore them. Another term that is used over there, he comes victoriously. So just because he's coming on a donkey does not mean that he doesn't have victory in his hands. Just because he's not seated on a war horse, it doesn't mean that he's not coming with victory. Even though he's coming with humility, even though he's coming with peace in his heart, he is also coming with great victory. So just because the king of kings came on a donkey, the evil forces, you know, Satan and all his demons, they thought that they could finish him. But then they realized that even when the king of kings comes on a donkey rather than on a horse, he's just as powerful. And so the Lord is able to accomplish on the cross what he had purposed. So he comes with victory, he comes with humility to save Jerusalem and to help the people. There are a few prophecies that we can look at about the Messiah. We will look at those after the break. So yeah, thank you.