Inducing labor, i.e., the beginnings of sorrows

"From the Book of Malachi to the Book of Matthew is about a period of 400 years and there's just a blank page. God said, 'You're going to go around looking for the Word of God and you won't find it; they'll be a famine for the Word.'

"God says, 'I'm not going to speak to you, give you information over here in that period of time.' That's why He writes down--that's why you have writing prophets in the Bible," explains Richard Jordan.

"I've often thought, you get to heaven, walk around New Jerusalem, mosey up to Obadiah and he says to you, 'How'd you like my book?'

"I've often thought, you're sitting on a park bench talking to Obadiah and Elijah walks by and you want to shout, 'Hey, Elijah, why didn't YOU write a book?! You've got a lot more to say, you led a more interesting life than Obadiah did! We don't know who this dude is!'

"Elijah led a real interesting life. I wish he had written a book. How about Elisha? That would have been a good book, too. Now, I'm using this as an illustration; don't push it too far. But my point is there are a lot of prophets in the Bible.

"There are 28 other men in the Bible named Zechariah. You know, wouldn't you like to hear from some of them? Well, yeah, but they aren't in the Bible. Why didn't Elijah write a book? Why, because God didn't tell him to write a book. He prophesied; he spoke in the name of the Lord. He's as much a prophet as Zechariah, Malachi, Hosea, Amos.

"He didn't write because at that time they had open vision. God said, 'There's going to come a time I'm not talking, so I'm going to write it down that it can be read.' He doesn't leave himself without a witness.

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“Zechariah is the bridge from Daniel to the Book of the Revelation. Zechariah is part of that returning remnant back to the land after the 70 years of captivity in Babylon.

“Haggai and Zechariah are visions to encourage the people who return to continue on. They encourage them by saying, ‘You know, what’s going on right now in this return isn’t the end. Doesn’t look so great right now, but there’s a real end coming.’

“What begins in the first vision in Zechariah is concluded in the last vision, and in between you get information about how that’s going to be accomplished. Chapter 1:8: [8] I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.

“Verse 10: [10] And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

“These horses in chapter 1 are going to do exactly what the horses in chapter 8 do. They’re going to walk to and fro in the earth. He begins to ask him how long’s that going to be.

“When they go to and fro in the earth here’s the report they give. Verse 11: [11] And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

“That’s those angels God sends out to observe in the earth. They come back to God and report, sort of like the situation in Job where the angels give account to themselves and their assignments to God. They see all those Gentile nations are at ease out there.

[12] Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
[13] And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
[14] So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
[15] And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
[16] Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

“So In verse 15, He says, ‘I am very sore displeased with the heathen at ease. They’ve taken my people captive and they’re out there just enjoying themselves.’ He says, ‘for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.’

“I love that. The Lord says, ‘I’m mad at them guys.’ There’s another one of those great Bible verses: ‘helped forward the affliction.’ He’s saying, “I’m going to take the time of sorrows and push it forward. The tribulation is described as a ‘woman travailing with child.’

“Jesus says in Mark 13, [8] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

“Well, how do you cause the labor pains, the sorrows, to begin? You induce labor.

“The Lord has some angelic hosts that he’s going to use to induce the time of sorrow. In 1:16 you notice, [16] Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

“What do you read in Zechariah 6? The Lord’s going to return, set up His kingdom, rebuild Jerusalem. The point is there is a comparison between the two.

“There’s going to be judgment against the nations and then the kingdom’s going to be set up and that’s the gist of Zechariah, the gist of Daniel and the gist of the Book of Revelation.”

(new post tomorrow for sure. happy to report I am feeling much better after a wild bout of intestinal flu that I've since learned is going around these parts. Still have queasyish stomach and upset bowels, but I'll take it. At least I'm able to eat, albeit stuff like rice pudding and fat-free cream of mushroom soup. What I'm looking forward to is a big juicy burger, preferably with bacon and cheddar cheese.)