Zechariah 6:12-13
And say to him: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Here is a man whose name is Branch; for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord; he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne. He shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
We Have an Enemy Who Wants to Defeat Us
Our universe, with all its galaxies, solar systems, and vast expanses of space, size, and mystery, was created by God before time. There are other realms and dimensions beyond our created universe. Despite its beauty, there is something wrong in creation! The presence of evil, death and struggle are evident on our planet. The human race has an enemy who hates and wants to destroy us. We find Satan described as a serpent in Genesis 3 tempting our ancient parents and destroying their home. We find him testing Job and losing. We find Satan provoking David to trust in numbers instead of God: “Now Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel” (1 Chron. 21:1). We find Satan resisting the ministry of worship in Zechariah’s time: “Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! Is this not a burning brand taken out of the fire?'” (Zech. 3:1–2). The Christian must balance the fierceness of the enemy with powerful resources on our side of this spiritual battle. When this is done, we will exclaim with the prophet Elisha of old, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than with them” (2 Kings 6:16). {eoa}
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