(xaris and shalom)

Where even to start today?   Zechariah 12:1-9.  Look at how God defends His people.  He makes their enemies look drunk, hurt themselves, be burnt up.  He will so clearly fight for His people that it will be said, "The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through Yahweh of hosts, their God." v7-8 are cool.  It really seems to me to go with Romans 9-11, and how the new Israel fits with the old Israel.  He gives salvation to us -- the Gentiles -- first, so that their glory may not surpass ours. BWAH.  BAM!  He saves us -- Jews and Gentiles -- He gets the glory!  [Editing note:  That is seriously what it says in my notes.  I think I've been in the Greek II class for a while.] AND THEN.... Zechariah 12:10-11.  Arrow straight to Jesus, anyone? God does pour out a spirit of grace on us.  And pleas for mercy for having pierced Him.  Crazy, isn't it, that the firs t plea for mercy for us was from the one pierced?   Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Matth

Then I said to them, "If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them." And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then Yahweh said to me,  "Throw it out to the potter"  --the lordly price at which I was priced by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of Yahweh, to the potter. --Zechariah 11:12-13-- There is more than a hint of irony here.  Thirty pieces of silver have two other very different connotations in Scripture.  But the rather sarcastic irony is first seen in the prophet's words, "The lordly price!" (ESV).  NJKV says, "That princely price!"  NLT says, "This magnificent sum at which they valued me!" The sarcasm is that there is NOTHING princely about such a sum.  Thirty shekels of silver was the price to be paid in restitution for a slave who was killed (Exodus 21:32).  Magnificent?  Lordly?  Hardly. The irony is much intensified by the passage in Matthew 27

Zechariah 9:11 is beautiful. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Is "the waterless pit" Babylon, as Matthew Henry says?  The flames of hell?  Either way, the prisoners are redeemed.  By blood.  By YOUR blood.  You are good. It was actually Zechariah 9:16-17 that caught my eye first. On that day Yahweh their God will save them, as the flock of His people; for like the jewels of a crown,  they shall shine on his land. (16) The imagery is glorious.  God's people are like jewels in a crown.  US!  Made from DUST!  Thinking about that makes me smile and at the same time makes tears spring to my eyes.  It's SO much more than I deserve.  It is awesome.  I shiver in the dreadful joy of God's love. Verse 17 continues: For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!  Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women. The last two lines, rather obviously, made me

Reading Zechariah -- with the perspective of the whole New Testament -- makes me want to laugh.  Of COURSE the Messiah's name was Jesus, a variant of Joshua.  It is SO heavily foreshadowed.  Look at Zech 6:11-13 . Joshua.  The Branch.  (Look at Is 53:2 and chapter 11 -- especially 11:1 .)  And then in Zechariah 6:13 , He is "a priest on his throne" (NKJV).  Priest AND King.  The NLT finishes that verse, "and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles." Joshua son of Jehozadak.  Jesus, the priest-king.  I think Zechariah and Hebrews have some fascinating connections, and I want to study them! Revelation 15:3-4 is an amazingly beautiful song.  I'm glad that I know the Judy Rogers version, but I can't wait to sing it around the throne of God!! Revelation 15:6 provides a nice answer to the question which came up yesterday in my family about why we think angels are clothed. And Psalm 143 ... I looked at it in the NLT, and it is... sweet. I lift my