Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: Literally during Zechariah's time, they're literally going through a drought, but they're also spiritually going through a drought during Zechariah's time. What's the answer to their dry time of literal and spiritual drought? The answer: ask.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador reminds us of Scripture's claim: "You have not because you ask not." I know it sounds so simple, but man, don't forget to ask. I think sometimes we think we've asked because we sat in church or we prayed prayers, but have we really just said, "Lord, here's my request"?

Despite everything they had done and gone through and things yet to come, God's divine influence has always been upon the people of Israel. From Zechariah 10, Pastor Brett Meador illustrates how this has specifically been manifested in them, and what we can similarly expect as children of God. In today's word, the importance of heeding the purposes of the Lord.

Brett Meador: Here in Zechariah 10, starting with God's divine influence and His work on the people of Israel, He's going to really reach into their lives personally and practically and speak about their spiritual health and well-being along with their physical health and well-being. There's kind of a crossing over of the figurative and the literal, and we'll see that in these sections. There are seven little sections within chapter 10. The first section is verse one. We're going to call this a "divine rain."

Check it out, Zechariah 10, verse one. It says, "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field." Here we have this admonition just to ask the Lord for rain. But interesting, the people of God here in Zechariah, this literal asking of rain. Now, is this a literal rain or is it a spiritual rain? That's a question you might want to ask when we talk about rain, especially in prophetic sort of contexts here. And the answer to this is both, literal and figurative.

When we talk about the former and latter rain, one of the things as if you're a Bible student, you start to recognize is that the Bible talks kind of about both, and that's the case, especially when you talk about the end times and what have you. One of the things that I like about this is God is speaking to the children of Israel about what He wants to do for them. He's talking about, "Just ask Me, and I'll give you rain. Ask for the divine rain, both spiritual and figurative." By the way, during Zechariah's time, there was a literal dryness and also a spiritual dryness, and the Bible speaks of both things.

Maybe you remember in the book of Joel, there were some prophecies that were given about the former rains and the latter rains. In fact, you might want to jot these down in context of verse one here. Joel 2:23, and this is more the literal rain. Remember the book of Joel was about the swarm of locusts that had destroyed all the crops. So the people, they needed some rain that new crops would grow. So there in Joel, he said, "Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month."

That was the prophecy Joel gave about a literal needing some precipitation, literal rain. But then Joel sort of mysteriously, his gaze goes further than the local drought. And then in chapter two of Joel, verse 28, a few verses later, he says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." The idea of pouring out rain, former and latter, and then pouring out My Spirit upon you. Of course, talking both spiritually and literally, they needed rain, both the Holy Spirit being poured out and water.

Water is often linked to the Holy Spirit, and so we see that link. In the Bible, there are several types of the Holy Spirit. You've got rain and water being a type of the Holy Spirit. You've got the holy anointing oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. What's another picture of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, anybody? The dove. Jesus told the disciples to go and wait for the coming upon of the Holy Spirit, and it'll bring you power. I've always liked to bring up the Greek word for power is that Greek word "dunamis," and it's where we get our word "dynamite." The Greek word "dunamis" means power; it's a mighty work, strength.

Back to our pouring out of the rain. It's interesting because the literal part, where they needed rain, this was happening all throughout Israel's history. Whenever Israel didn't have rain, what was the problem? Sin, right? But there were two kinds of sin. Do you remember when Elijah, there in James, we're reminded what happened there in James 5:17, where Elijah was a man subject like passion's like we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

When Elijah does this, he's doing this in accordance with the law of the Jews, the Torah. He got it from two main passages. It says in Deuteronomy 11:13, "It shall come to pass, if you hearken diligently to my commandments, which I command you this day, to serve the Lord with all your heart and all your soul, that I will give you rain in your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather thy corn, thy wine, and thy oil." But he goes on and says, "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you turn aside and swerve to other gods, to worship them; and then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and there shut up the heavens, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest you perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord gives you."

He says, "Man, if you go and turn aside and worship other gods, it'll cause there to be no rain." Interesting. The Lord would withhold rain because of turning away from the Lord. But what happened to Israel during the Ottomans? It dried up and became like a desert. And I told you about the Ottomans, how they taxed trees in Israel, so that anybody that had trees on their properties, they cut them all down. And they literally changed the climate of the whole state of Palestine, as it was called back then, changing the climate. After the diaspora, the Jews travel back and they start gathering again in Israel, and we're starting to see Israel turn the desert back into a place like a garden.

One thing you might want to ask yourself just personally as we learn from the Old Testament: Is if you're going through dry times—now, I've got to say this carefully because it's not always this, but it could be—if you're going through spiritually dry times, could it be that there's sin in your life where you're not really just doing what God wants you to do or behaving in a way that the Lord would have you behave? That's not always the case, and be careful on this one. If you're going to someone, "The reason you're going through dry times is because you're a sinner," don't say that. That's not what I'm saying. But sometimes it's true.

I need to remind you of John chapter nine. Remember the disciples made this mistake of creating sort of a false dilemma, when they said, "And Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth." And his disciples asked him saying, "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents?" Now, you've got to understand, giving the disciples a bit of a break here, the disciples were taught this is the way it was. It was either one way or the other. The reason a person suffers is because of a person's sin, or maybe because their parents sinned, but it had to be one of those two. So they're like, "Which one? Did this blind guy—was he blind from birth because of his parents' sin or because of something he was going to do?"

Jesus answers and says, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Isn't that an interesting thing that Jesus gave us this little story about the blind man that's in the Bible to make sure that we know that sometimes it's not because of sin at all? It's because God's doing something that's just a different kind of work in a person's life. God was manifesting Himself through this blind man somehow, some way. God's doing a work in him. It's not because of sin or a lack of faith in him. The Lord's doing a work and making Himself known through this man's blindness.

Okay, now I told you there's two places, by the way, that talks about the rain being held back. One is because of turning to other gods, but there's another one in Leviticus 26. Where there in Leviticus chapter 26, it says in verses one through four, "You shall make no idols or graven image, neither rear up a standing image, neither shall you set up any image of stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. And you'll keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. And if you keep my statutes and my commandments and do them, then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field yield their fruit."

One of the things that the Lord says I will hold back rain is if you don't keep the Sabbaths, and if you don't go to the sanctuary and worship with sincerity and with reality. Of course, the not worshipping images of stone, that goes back to the Deuteronomy one as well, but the Lord sort of adds to the list here in Leviticus about the holding back of rain because of just an indifference to reverencing the sanctuary of the Lord. A little different than Deuteronomy 11. The Lord holds back His rain from Israel, and that's what's going on literally during Zechariah's time. They're literally going through a drought. But they're also spiritually going through a drought during Zechariah's time.

What should they do? What's the answer to their dry time of literal and spiritual drought? The answer: ask. That's what it says in our verse. Back to Zechariah, it says there very clearly, the very first word of the chapter: "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain." I think this is one of the most simple things that the Lord asks of us to do, but it's one of the last things we do. I'm always amazed, like there's been several times in a situation where maybe I'm sitting and counseling with someone about their life and they're talking about stuff they're going through. And I like to just say, "Have you really asked the Lord for help on this?"

"Well, yeah, I'm doing that right now." Well, what do you mean? "I'm meeting with the pastor." That's not the same thing. I know some stuff about the Bible, but man, don't forget to ask. I think sometimes we think we've asked because we took the notes or we sat in church or we prayed prayers, but have we really just said, "Lord, here's my request"? And I know it sounds simple, but is that why Jesus had to say it so clearly in Matthew 7:7? "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." What a great promise of the Word, Matthew 7:7. James tells us, "You have not because you ask not."

I know it sounds so simple, but I think we go through times where we're sick or hurting or broke or in trouble and we just think, "Lord, where are You?" But have you—have you asked? You parents know what this is like. You moms and dads because there's times when your kids need something, but all you really want them to do is come and ask you for it. And it's part of their maturity, it's part of their growing up, it's part of them needing to know how to ask for help or where their help really comes from. There's lessons that you parents are teaching your kids when you say, "I'm not really going to do anything until they come and humble themselves and ask for help."

That's when I'm going to jump in. And man, you're ready; you're ready to help right there, right then, whenever they ask, but they need to humbly come and ask. And that's part of growing up. Same is true spiritually. This idea of "ask." Ask for the rain, and the Lord's going to send it. That's what He says. Well, I'll never forget when I was a young kid, we were just starting a church years ago—my family and there was some other people getting together—and we were in the middle of a big drought back in, oh, it was around 1976, when I was just a 10-year-old kid. And there was this real big drought in Southern Oregon.

Man, I remember, we lived on the river, Applegate River was in our backyard. And it was almost like a trickling creek. It normally was a river, but it was just—I remember, all the irrigation ditches of all the farmers around us, bone dry. It was just a real bad drought. And I remember when we got together as a church—and this was across the street from my house, remember those old Grange Halls? There was an old Grange Hall across the street from my house and we rented that place and got a bunch of the neighbors and we just started praying for rain because it was so, so dry. And it hadn't rained, I think we broke some new records back then. Hadn't rained for months and months, not a drop.

As we were praying, this is talking about Holy Spirit stuff, this will make some of you uneasy. But there was a guy—if you only knew the guy, his name was Don Mayne, and he was an old friend of mine and he's in heaven now—but Don Mayne, he actually spoke and said, it was like a word of knowledge or a word of prophecy, and he said, "Thus saith the Lord: I'm going to cause it to rain here in the valley, but not just in the valley. I'm going to cause it to rain." I don't remember the exact words. I remember as a kid going, "Yeah, right." I knew it was Don, and he was a solid dude, but still he said, "It's going to rain and the Lord's going to start something here spiritually, He's going to pour out His rain."

"And pour out His Spirit, even as He's going to start to rain, He's going to pour out His Spirit and that Spirit's going to start and cover the earth from the ends of the earth," He said. Well, true story. You're not going to believe it; you're thinking I'm making this up, but literally we said "amen" and everybody got up and we started putting the chairs away and all of a sudden we heard this noise outside. And I'm not kidding you: when we walked in, it was blue skies, hot, sunny. We opened the doors and it was one of the biggest downpours we'd seen in months and months and months, and it just rained and it rained and it rained. I remember thinking, "Wow, what a coincidence," as a 10-year-old kid.

I'm like, "That's really cool, it just kind of worked out." But then what I got to see: I got to see the Lord bless the movement that the Lord was doing in that church. In that little church in the little Grange, from that church spread a bunch of other churches, and this is one of those churches, Athey Creek. The Lord reminded me of this story once quite a few years ago. But I remember the Lord reminded me of that kind of word of knowledge that was given when I got an email from a girl who she said, "Pastor Brett, I am a scientist and I live on the South Pole."

She says, "I'm with 30 other scientists, none of them are Christians." And she said, "I'm the only Christian in this place on the South Pole." And she says a satellite—this was quite a few years ago, but she said—a satellite goes over once every so often and we know when that is so we can email and we can get some information. But she said, "Every time the satellite comes over, I download as many teachings as I can as the satellite's going over from Athey Creek." She just said how it just was feeding her the Scriptures and the Word of God. And I remembered that word from Don Mayne from the ends of the earth how the Lord would start to do something from that little meeting when I was 10 years old.

I just see how the Lord just is so faithful and His Word is true. I believe that's the kind of stuff we miss out on when we quench the Holy Spirit. But anyway, enough said about the former and latter rains. I just believe that the Lord is doing a great work and in the last days, you and I should expect even more of that because the Bible says, "In the latter days, I will pour out My Spirit." All that to say the first thing we see here is a "divine rain," verse one. Oh boy, only through verse one. Here we go, verse two. Not only a divine rain, but number two, a "divine recompense." Let's check that out, verse two and three.

It says, "For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. My anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them his goodly horse in the battle." Interesting, a divine recompense. What's this about? It's about the people that were listening to the false leaders. This is something that was happening in Zechariah's time, but even more so pre-exile in Babylon.

Do you remember the prophets who were giving everybody the things they wanted to hear? Meanwhile, the true prophets were saying things that the people didn't want to hear. The people chose to hear the things they wanted to hear and they blew off the true prophets. Remember that? That was a major theme in Jeremiah particularly, Jeremiah the prophet; they never listened to a word he said. Should we be concerned about that in the days we live? Boy, you better believe it. Matthew chapter 24, remember what Jesus said? Jesus said, "For there shall arise false Christ, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Jesus was talking about this when the disciples asked, "What's the end of the world going to look like?" and Jesus said, "This is what it's going to look like. This is one of the signs and wonders that He'd say: people following after signs and wonders and claiming to be teachers but are really just false prophets and false teachers." We have to really be careful about this because I've noticed that Satan has been ever so subtle. There are things that the church thinks is attractive and wonderful, but I'm pretty sure there's a lot of stuff going on in the so-called church today that is not the Lord at all, but it's actually Satan just pulling people off the rail just a little bit.

Satan doesn't need to completely derail you spiritually; he just needs to get you off the rail just enough to where there's going to be a train wreck in the future. That's what Jesus is talking about, that there's a deception where even the very elite, the very elect would be deceived, Jesus warned about. "Why are you so hard on some Bible teachers, Pastor Brett?" It's because I want people to recognize that's a wrong teaching. "Well, who are you, Brett?" I don't claim to be anybody, but here's what I do have, and you do too: we have the Word of God.

Anytime somebody says something against the Word of God or contrary to the Word of God, I feel like it's time to say, "I need to just speak the truth," even if people don't like it. Oh, there's a lot of people that don't like it. "Well, you shouldn't talk about them." Oh, I should, and I will. Because not because I'm just trying to be a jerk; it's because people just need to know what's going on. Watch out for false teaching, and it's ever so subtle. When you start diminishing Jesus, that's an essential doctrine of the Christian faith that you don't cross that line.

I'm going to keep as a Bible teacher, that's something we have to do. Acts chapter 20, verses 25 through 32, let me just read that to you real quick, just so you know, this is my role as a pastor and every other pastor too. It says, "Behold, I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more," Paul says. "Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. I'm free of a guilty conscience. For I have not shunned to declare unto you the all the counsel of God." That's why we go through the Bible.

He says, "Take heed to yourselves," that's the pastors of the church and the elders, "and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers." The word "overseer" there is "episkopos," which is the word more modernly translated "bishop." "Brett, do you have bishops at Athey Creek?" We don't, but we do have what we call governing elders; those are the "episkopos" elders. Those are the ones that are governing and leading the church. The Lord has made them overseers to feed the church of God, which he's purchased with his own blood. Man, that's a serious thing to be put in charge of, the Church of Christ.

For he says, "I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves," Paul says, "enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." People say bold things that are just untrue, but they're bold enough to where people go, "Oh, wow, that's amazing," and they're drawn to it. "To draw disciples away after them, therefore watch, remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend to you God, and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified."

The leadership at Athey Creek, we feel it's part of our job, especially our governing elders—that's the ones that are administratively and spiritually leading the congregation—we're supposed to watch over and warn the flock that Jesus purchased with His own blood. You know, that's what's being said here in this divine recompense here in chapter 10, verse two of Zechariah. There were a bunch of people that were ripping off the people. Notice some of the names: they were "diviners," verse two. What's a diviner? They're people that were not prophets, but they were telling the future sort of like a Psychic Friends Network.

Back in Bible times, they had false teachers; they would stone them to death if that happened. Today, you give them a letter with a check in it, the false teachers, sad to say. Watch out for the subtle counterfeit word from God. God condemns all of these things: diviners, those that have told false dreams, comfort people in vain. They were basically giving words like, "You're going to be victorious and you're going to be awesome, everything's going to be wonderful," and that's not true. They were comforting people in vain, giving words of affirmation when they should have been given words of warning. On and on it goes. This is evil at its best right here, and the people were duped by the evil shepherds. Lord says, "I'm going to thump on these guys." A divine recompense is what He says here. So that's verses two and three.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador reflecting on Scripture's warning of false teaching while heeding God's call to all believers to seek Him as our true source of provision. There's more to come in our verse-by-verse study of Zechariah in Today's Word next time. I invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me in the studio in just a moment. But first, Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church, just south of Portland, Oregon, where Pastor Brett Meador's the senior pastor.

Our vision on Today's Word is to proclaim the hope of salvation and help people know Jesus through careful study of the Bible. We invite you to find out more by going to todayswordradio.com. If you've missed any portion of this message, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com. All right, well, I have Pastor Brett with me now. Brett, as we continue in the book of Zechariah, it really is something how we see Jesus Christ mentioned by a prophet about 500 years before His birth. How is that possible?

Brett Meador: Well, Kurt, that's the miracle of prophecy. I love how the Bible, it's not just some religious book; it's God revealing the end from the beginning. Zechariah speaks about the coming King, the Shepherd who would be rejected, and the One that would be pierced, clearly that's foretelling the coming of Christ in great detail. How is that possible? It's really because Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It sets the Bible apart from every other book. God exists outside of time, and what is future to us is really already known to Him, which gives me great confidence in the Word. When we see these prophecies fulfilled in Christ, it should give us confidence in everything else the Bible talks about, including the things that are yet to come.

Guest (Male): Yeah, Brett, absolutely, and that really is an encouragement to know as well. I want to mention that if you'd like more information about Athey Creek Church, Pastor Brett Meador, or Today's Word, you can visit our website at todayswordradio.com. There you can find all of Pastor Brett's teachings, including this study series in Zechariah. Once again, go to todayswordradio.com. Well, next time, Pastor Brett shares that though the children of Israel were once scattered, the Lord has made good on His promise to restore their land with an additional divine regathering yet to come. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.