The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you.
(How would you respond if the LORD, morning after morning, day after day, in ways obviously supernaturally, led you to and through exactly what He wanted to say, first to you and then to the world? Would you call it coincidence or acknowledge Him as the LORD God Almighty? Once, maybe coincidence; but year after year, decade after decade, the rational mind and sound reasoning can only come to one conclusion. Have you reached this place? entered His kingdom?)
The title is Zechariah 4:9, the following verse, in reference to the above, then asks, “For who has despised the day of small things?” The small things referred to here is referring us to David, as a pattern of Zerubbabel. The Hebrew word rendered “small” is qatan, and is the same translated “youngest” in 1 Samuel 16:1, and then again in 17:14, both describing David, who, because of this outward appearance, was thought unworthy of what God declared was His purpose for him.
Remember our conversations about Joshua and Zerubbabel (Zechariah 3 & 4) as patterns of the priesthood (the church) and the civil government cleansed and restored. Also, remember our other discussions regarding these institutions when symbolized as the sun and the moon, describing their created and intended forms, shinning and reflecting God’s light on the earth. We understand this is when and where His ideas are seen and held as superior, and thereby men rule with His Righteous Judgement. These are the presence and kingdom of God manifested first in those He enlightens; then through them, shinned and reflected on all in the world who choose to receive its blessing.
Friends, the small things are us, and we are for signs and wonders to be seen by the world. It is what God has declared for us from the foundation of the world. We are the star of His heaven, and meant to be governed by the sun and the moon as He created them.
Genesis 1
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
The house built upon the restored foundation starts with rebuilding these institutions. The foundation is Christ in us having now restored the light (understanding) – in the first days of the new creation. Remember, light is already in the earth, but as yet only comprehended by the few who have received it and become the sons (children) of God. (See the beginning of Genesis 1, and John 1.)
The word qatan appears in 1 Samuel 9:21 as the LORD, though Samuel, calls Saul from obscurity to rule as king over the people of God. Saul in responding uses qatan to describe the tribe of Benjamin as the “smallest,” and everything related to him in the same terms. We are told he himself is the largest and goodliest of all others in Israel.
We know the during (see 1 Samuel 28) Saul’s rule he degenerated, first into not waiting for God’s advice from Samuel, then not listening to God’s advice, and finally seeking the advice of the dead: those who have familiar spirits (necromancy), and wizards (as a woman). The chapter ends with a similitude showing the patterns of when Eve gave Adam the fruit, which she picked when following the advice of the serpent.
We know from many previous discussions this is the same pattern spoken of in Isaiah 8, first God’s leaders and people rejecting the waters of Shiloam, which we know is His word, counsel, that flows softly from Him, and instead were seeking life, advice, from the dead, those with familiar spirits, and wizards that peep.
The story in 1 Samuel 9 & 10 (and chapter 1 thru 3, & 28) is an embedded pattern telling of the fall the civil government (in Saul) and the death of the priesthood (the death of Samuel). All during its telling Saul is looking for lost donkeys, in a figure the same donkeys the LORD commands to be loosed, which he rides into Jerusalem. We know, this is foretold in Zechariah 9:9, which is also quoted in recording the event. We know, again from past conversations, these donkeys are God’s people in whom He appears, in lowly (small) fashion; His elect: who later in Zechariah 10:3 we are told become His goodly horse in the battle. The point of contrast, is Saul enters already large, and after him comes David, God seeing the size of what is inside: his heart, meaning a committed and sound mind; then God MAKES him who he outwardly becomes, as He does with us: His goodly horse in the battle.
In the midst of these verses telling of seeking what has been lost: the light of the sun and moon: understanding and its resulting Righteous Judgment in church and state governance, appears the parenthetical statement of 1 Samuel 9:9, saying, “(Beforetime [until this time] in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spoke [he said], “Come, and let us go to the seer:” for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)”
We know, (again, from prior studies), when 1 Samuel begins we are told of the priesthood becoming defiled by the sons of Eli, who had turned from God to idol worship. Their sin was not only taking the sacrifices offered to God, but also they caused the people to sin, stopped judging, and refused to listen to the LORD’s warnings. Samuel was raised up outside the order of this corruption (in the order of Melchisedec), and the LORD made him the restoration of the priesthood. He is the then called a prophet, when everyone knew, by the tingle in their ears, that the LORD was working through Him.
1 Samuel 3
1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.
2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call you, that you shall say, Speak, LORD; for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for your servant hears.
11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle [tsalal – only used three other times – 2 Kings 21:12, Jeremiah 19:3, and Habakkuk 3:16 – all describing this event, which should make all ears tingle – and the lips quiver of those who it is warning: the house of the corrupted priesthood].
12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knows; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.
15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD has said unto you? I pray you hide it not from me: God do so to you, and more also, if you hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto you.
18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seems him good.
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Understanding the great depth in these words begins in verse 1 above, in the Hebrew word yaqar, rendered “precious.” It is a thirty-six times used word first appearing here, and lastly in Zechariah 14:6 where it is translated “clear” in telling of the day only known to the LORD, when He comes, and all His saints with Him. Isaiah only uses the word one time, in Isaiah 28:16, where it describes the “precious” cornerstone, laid by the LORD God. We know this is the same stone the becomes our sanctuary, and to all others, a snare.
Isaiah 8
13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? [should they be looking] for the living to the dead?
20 [Or] To the law and to the testimony[?]: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Isaiah 28
3 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell [Sheol] are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious [yaqar] corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell [Sheol] shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
When Zechariah speaks of the day of the LORD, saying the light shall not be clear (yaqar), nor dark, meaning understating it will not be seen as having any value, neither will it be covered up, because (as 1 Samuel 3:1 says) “there is no open vision.”
Zechariah 14
…and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with you.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear [yaqar], nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
The word “open” in 1 Samuel 3:1 is parats, mean to break out or forth. It is telling a time when the word of God had not yet broken forth, as planned, upon His enemies. This breaking forth is referring us to Perazim, (the name from perets, from, and the same as, parats), mentioned in Isaiah 28:21, itself directing us to 1 Chronicles 14:11, when David comes to Baal-perazim. There the LORD broke forth upon David’s enemies, by David’s hand like a breaking forth of waters. We know this is speaking in a pattern of this word of God, breaking forth as He has, upon the enemies, the Philistines, meaning those wallowing in the mire stirred up by their own ignorance: their lack of vision.
Isaiah 28
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim [perets], he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the LORD God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
23 Give you ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
As we know, the above mention of Gibeon, meaning the heap of this same testimony, is referring us to Joshua 10:10 & 11, which says, “10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon [this testimony heaped up and waiting to break forth], and chased them along the way that goes up to Bethhoron [the house of the prison cell – the house that is the hole of the serpent], and smote them to Azekah [until it was plowed under], and unto Makkedah [until the inhabitants where herded in the direction God wanted them to go]. 11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron [they were attempting to return to the same captivity], that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah [until they were completely plowed under], and they died: they were more which died with hailstones [the waters that were frozen in heaven, reserved for this time and this breaking forth] than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.”
When 1 Samuel 3 above tells of Samuel hearing the call of God and thinking it was the call of a man (Eli), it is telling of the dilemma, the same temptation that all men are faced with, now and always, to believe, by understanding, it is God’s calling. When 1 Samuel 9:9 says those who were before called “seer” are now called prophets, seer is from the Hebrew word paniym, meaning face. It is the same word we saw in the prior post, rendered “countenance” in Psalms 11:7, and “presence” in Isaiah 19:1, both telling of the coming of the LORD in this way.
Isaiah 19
1 The burden of Egypt [the captivity of our minds]. Behold, the LORD rides upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence [paniym – face, the same word rendered “countenance” in Psalms 11:7 below], and the heart [the reasoning] of Egypt shall melt [as do the elements {the stoicheion} in 2 Peter 3] in the midst of it.
Psalms 11
1 In the LORD put I my trust: how say you [teachers of wickedness] to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain?”
2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily [with creations from their own imaginations] shoot at the upright in heart [in his sound mind].
3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
5 The LORD tries the righteous: but the wicked and him that loves violence his soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous LORD loves righteousness; his countenance does behold the upright.
What was lost, and is now found, is understanding the difference between a prophet and a seer: one is merely a messenger, speaking for God in His absence, the other is understood as God’s presence, speaking the message Himself from the vessel; one is an angel, the other a son, once, by understanding, knowing, by receiving the knowledge of God, and by it the mind of Christ.
Hebrews 6
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entered into that within the veil [into the presence of God];
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 7
1For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abides a priest continually.
Hebrews 12
…you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 1
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day have I begotten you? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And again, when he brings in the first-begotten into the world, he says, And let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And of the angels he says, Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8 But unto the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
10 And, You, LORD, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands:
11 They shall perish; but you remain; and they all shall wax old as does a garment;
12 And as a vesture shall you fold them up, and they shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Hebrews 2
1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
2 For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the LORD, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
5 For unto the angels has he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that you are mindful of him? or the son of man that you visit him?
7 You made him [first] a little lower than the angels; [then] you crowned him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of your hands:
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 Saying, I will declare your name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto you.
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God has given me.
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For truly he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor [rescue] them that are tempted [them that doubt the LORD’s presence].
Psalms 104
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with honor and majesty.
2 Who covers yourself with light as with a garment: who stretches out the heavens like a curtain:
3 Who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters: who makes the clouds his chariot: who walks upon the wings of the wind:
4 Who makes his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they hasted away.
8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which you have founded for them.
9 You have set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
10 He sends the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
13 He waters the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;
17 Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
22 The sun arises, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are your works! in wisdom have you made them all: the earth is full of your riches.
25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom you have made to play therein.
27 These wait all upon you; that you may give them their meat in due season.
28 That you give them they gather: you open your hand, they are filled with good.
29 You hide your face, they are troubled: you take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
30 You send forth your spirit, they are created: and you renew the face of the earth.
31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles: he touches the hills, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless you the LORD, O my soul. Praise you the LORD.
