Introduction

Good morning, everyone. Let us turn to the Book of Zechariah. This book is quite similar to the Book of Revelation. Over the past few years, I have been quite perplexed in my reading of this book. Now, I will make another effort to see if I can explain it clearly. The theme of the first chapter of Zechariah is Return to me, and I will return to you. Actually, identifying the theme is a very difficult task. If the theme is not grasped accurately, it will be impossible to connect the contents of this chapter.

God Was Angry with the Ancestors of Israel

In what era did Zechariah live? Actually, he lived in the same city as Haggai. Did he know Haggai? Although we do not know, think about it: Jerusalem was not very big more than two thousand years ago, so they should have known each other.

Let us think further. When did Zechariah receive God's revelation? It was in the second year of Darius the king, in the eighth month, actually on September 24, before God was preparing to bless the Israelites. At that time, the Israelites still had a half-hearted attitude, and they were still complaining: What is the use of building the temple? My family's work has not been done yet! That was their attitude.

So Zechariah began to say: The Lord has been very angry with your ancestors. Do you know why? Do you want Him to continue to be angry? The scripture says this:

The Lord has been very angry with your ancestors. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? (Zechariah 1:2-5)

These words are actually very heavy! It means: Take a look at what your ancestors experienced. For those who returned from Babylon, whether they were ordinary people or officials like Zerubbabel, where is your heart? I tell you, people's hearts are all in this world. If people do not have a heart to pursue eternal life, then they are just muddling through life on this earth, waiting for death.

I especially like to participate in funerals. Why? Whether it is burial or cremation, I find it quite interesting. You might say: Teacher, how can you be like this? Because seeing dead people can give me reflection and make me feel especially sober! I am thinking: What can people get in this world? Living day after day, and then before long, tubes are inserted, and after they are plugged in, they are pulled out, and then they die. What are all these things?

I must tell you, if people do not often go to crematoriums and cemeteries, then they live very seriously and earnestly! They argue about others being unfair to them, trivial matters fill their minds, and then they cannot stand this and cannot stand that! They think they are the masters of this world, but in the future, they will become ashes.

So it says: Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? Actually, none of them do! The meaning is: If people's hearts are all focused on the world, not turning to God, not knowing that this life is not long, and then they muddle through, in the end, they have nothing, but they live very earnestly. To what extent are they earnest? They are thinking about: How to divide Dad's property? How to divide Mom's property? They are arguing about that! So our brothers and sisters must know that if a person lives very earnestly in this world, your heart cannot turn to God.

If your heart is all in this world, then how can you turn to God? If your heart is on the ceiling of your house, on the exquisite decoration, on living a comfortable life, then you will live and live and then disappear, and then incur God's anger. But if you do not believe in the Lord, it is fine for you to live like this! Living and living, you will see Black and White Impermanence, and living and living, you will see Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and then you will know the consequences!

Brothers and sisters must know that the ancestors of the Israelites in the days of Zechariah were all stubborn, not knowing the end of loving the world. If you observe a little, you will know why they abandoned God? Why did they provoke God to be angry with you? If God is angry with you, then how can you live your life?

God sent prophets again and again to warn: You must turn back! You must turn back! But they just wanted to live a comfortable life, and the ending was very miserable! God sent Old Ma to deal with them. Who does Old Ma deal with? It specializes in dealing with those who believe in the Lord, and of course, it also deals with those who do not believe, but Old Ma specializes in dealing with those who believe and love the world.

If you are dealt with by Old Ma, you have to think about it: How did I live my life like this? Because people's hearts are all on the trivial matters of the world! It is a blessing to be able to hear what I am saying. Look at the words you usually say, all of them focus on money, work, and living a comfortable life. Then where do you put God? God is angry with you there, so we really have to turn back to God.

As a result, the Israelites began to be blessed on September 24, but in August, their minds were still full of stubbornness! After the prophet Zechariah finished speaking, these Israelites felt that it seemed to be the case, and God's temple was desolate, so we were living under a curse. They connected what Haggai and Zechariah said and understood! So they said: We repent.

The Hearts of the Israelites Turn to God

The Lord said: The words and decrees I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors?” Then they repented and said, “The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.”’ (Zechariah 1:6)

It is not easy for the Israelites to turn back! Describing a person as very beautiful is called high return rate. When we say that something has a high return rate, it means that it is very good. This time, the Israelites turned to God, and the return rate was also very high! They began to willingly build God's temple, and they said, The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do. The Israelites finally understood.

I tell you, as a person, whether you believe in the Lord or not, God will repay people according to what they do. Is according to what you do behavior? No! It is because you have stubbornness in your mind. If we experienced the era of Haggai and Zechariah, like the Israelites at that time, what should we do? The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do. We must repent!

I once again call on everyone to remove the things of the world from within you, because it will attract Old Ma! Old Ma is very powerful. How do I know? I have a good relationship with Old Ma! It said to me: In this world, I have hardly ever been defeated. Can you imagine that? The people in this world are all under the hand of the devil, and Old Ma is doing this.

Old Ma is sent to roam the earth, and when it sees someone who loves the world, it deals with him; when it sees another person who loves the world, it thinks: This person's thoughts are the same as mine, so deal with him! If you are targeted by Old Ma, it will be very miserable! Some people just take a shower, and suddenly! They fall down. Although people fall down, has their hearts changed in the end?

It is very difficult for people to remove Old Ma's things, because they have no concept of God, no divine logical system. All they see is what they see with their physical eyes, and they cannot see anything that their eyes cannot see! Then isn't this person ruined? When you open your spiritual eyes and take a look, you will find that Old Ma is playing with you! Giving you some illnesses, fractures, small disasters, or big disasters. Some people experience a big disaster, and their lives come to an end.

But people experience these things, but they do not know how to repent. Isn't this strange? You must know that turning back to God is a prosperous path. Look at the miserable way you are living now. I can only say in faith that your finances will be turned around! But people's hearts must first turn back to God. Return to me, and I will return to you, this is what God said.

Actually, God loves us super much. To what extent does He love us? Even if we are so foolish, suddenly one day we turn back to God, and God turns back to us. What a great grace! Sometimes when I see those fools, I feel that God is especially gracious! Such foolish people are still living well, and I think: God, why didn't you pinch him to death? Later, I thought about it: It would be bad for me to think like this! If that were the case, God would have pinched me to death back then! But God did not.

I tell you, God's grace and mercy are immeasurable, so God does not want to ruin us, but to let our hearts turn back and let us walk on the path of life. Let us not be like our ancestors, nor like those prophets who eventually turned into ashes. That is meaningless! Therefore, the Israelites finally realized this, but have you realized it?

Why have some people not realized it yet? Because when people's hearts are bound by the world, they think everything is reasonable, even if they suffer a lot, they still feel it is very reasonable! Because there is no concept of eternal life in their minds, nor is there a spiritual concept.

We have been saying in all our courses that the spiritual realm is real. When you come to our Chinese Mingding Doctrine, the first lesson of the 101 course is The Spiritual Realm is Real. If there is no spiritual realm, what are you doing?

Those Who Ride Horses are Sent by the Lord

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo: During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses. I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”

Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.” And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at peace and at rest.”

Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?” And the Lord responded with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and I am furiously angry with the nations that feel secure. (Zechariah 1:7-14)

How long will God withhold mercy? Does this matter have anything to do with these horses? It has a great relationship with these horses. Why is the relationship so great? First, Zechariah had seen Old Ma, that is, the one riding the horse, and John had seen Old Ma in Revelation chapter 6. What does Old Ma do? This Old Ma specializes in dealing with those who love the world.

God said: Don't you love the world? Isn't your heart turned to the world, forsaking me? Old Ma, go and deal with him. How do I know? I figured it out by dealing with my mother's Alzheimer's disease. Having Alzheimer's disease means that Old Ma is on the body.

Back then, when my mother had Alzheimer's disease and was playing with feces in the toilet, I thought: Zechariah had seen Old Ma, John had seen Old Ma, and now I have also seen an Old Ma. As for whether they are the same horse, I don't know. How did I discover that Alzheimer's disease was Old Ma? At that time, I knew that Alzheimer's disease must be a demon, so I drove out the demon.

Oh my God! I put in a lot of effort to deal with this thing. After dealing with it again and again, it opened its mouth and spoke. I said: Who are you? It said: I am Old Ma! I was very surprised at the time and thought: I have never seen this thing before. Does it conform to the Bible? Don't be fooled by it!

But this is roaming the earth. People with Alzheimer's disease love the world, and I found that they have one characteristic: they especially love to count money, and what they have in their hearts is related to money. We must know that Old Ma is sent by the Lord.

At the end of the year before last, an old man was sitting on the bed, with stacks of RMB next to him, but he could not count clearly because he was already demented. Don't look at the old man's pension. At the age of eighty or ninety, his pension is about ten thousand a month. The old man counted stack after stack, and as he counted, he became demented and became silly.

Later, I had a friend who brought his father-in-law to me. I asked him: What's wrong with your father-in-law? He said: Oh my! He counts money every day. He wanted me to help him deal with his father-in-law's Alzheimer's disease.

So why do people with Alzheimer's disease love to count money? Because they feel that they have to have money to live. Look at this logic, can you survive on money? Didn't they all die? So what is it like to be dealt with by Old Ma? It is that people love the world, Old Ma comes, and then Old Ma makes these people obedient.

In the eyes of Old Ma, the whole earth is at peace, but is it really peace? Old Ma says: We have taken good care of these people, everyone obediently counts money, and they have no time to cause trouble. You know, when Old Ma pushes people into the pursuit of money, people desperately make money, and the world is indeed much quieter, because people are living small lives.

Therefore, the whole world lies under the sway of the evil one. Do not think that the evil one is not sent by Jehovah. The evil one is also sent by Jehovah, specifically to deal with the people who love the world and love God.

Some years ago, we cast out many demons, but now we cast out even more demons than before. In the past, when we cast out demons, they were quite easy to manifest. It would say: I will not go. I said: Why won't you go? It said: Because this person loves money very much, so everyone must be careful.

I cry out again and again to everyone: people's hearts must return to God. God will not make mistakes, nor will Old Ma make mistakes. Only people make mistakes. So it is not that God does not save people, it is that people's hearts are inclined. If people's hearts are inclined to the world, it is bad. The whole world is in the hands of the evil one, and Old Ma comes to deal with you legally.

If people love the world, you will think it is very reasonable, but God thinks it is unreasonable, because you are conforming to Old Ma's reason. If people love the world, even if the demons do not come to deal with you, God will send a demon to deal with you! So after we have experienced these things, we must know what we should do.

What is Zechariah writing these prophecies for? He wants to encourage God's people to return to God and live a God-centered life. But after saying this, it is almost as if nothing has been said. Someone says: Teacher, what does it mean to live a 'God-centered' life? What should I do? What should I do? But this is not about what to do? How should I do it? What shouldn't I do? In fact, it does not have much to do with these things, but with the logical system in the heart.

Some people come to the gathering, but they are still twisted in their hearts, constantly thinking about their own affairs. They also say: Teacher, what else do you want me to do? I have already come to the gathering. In fact, I don't really need you to come to the gathering! People say this kind of thing, which means that there is Old Ma's logical system inside. What I think is: If I don't worship God, what am I going to do? But what they think is: If I come to worship God, how much will I delay making money! So it is still a matter of the logical system. Remember, if you don't want to be dealt with by Old Ma, start now to return to God and live a God-centered life.

In the second year of King Darius, in the eighth month, the Israelites began to repent, and they began to live a God-centered life; in the ninth month, on the twenty-fourth day, God began to bless them; in the eleventh month, on the twenty-fourth day, Zechariah received another revelation, and God told him the logic of Old Ma.

We must make it clear, what does it mean to love the world? It means to be rooted in this life. What does Old Ma do? The Old Ma described in Revelation chapter 6, verses 1-8, the first is the white horse, the second is the red horse, the third is the black horse, and the fourth is the pale horse. All the diseases in the world are related to the pale horse; all the business in the world is related to the black horse; all the wars between countries and people attacking people are related to the red horse; the one who releases lies in the world is the white horse.

God is extremely zealous for Jerusalem and Zion

Jerusalem and Zion refer to the church, and God is extremely zealous for the church.

Then the angel who talked with me answered me with good and comforting words. So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the harm.’

“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. The measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty. “Declare further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” (Zechariah 1:13-17)

Everyone carefully read this passage of scripture. God is waiting for God's people to return to Him. Returning to Him means valuing God's temple and God's city. So they began to build God's temple and God's city. What is this for? To allow them to live a God-centered life, to allow them to worship when they should worship, offer sacrifices when they should offer sacrifices, and keep festivals when they should keep festivals. Why do they do this? It is to occupy a lot of their time and dedicate their time to God. If people do not have time to dedicate to God and only have time to labor, then Old Ma has definitely arrived.

God is extremely zealous for the church. God eagerly desires to be with His people, but people's hearts do not believe in God, they believe in money, they believe in hard currency. God says: My house will be rebuilt in it, who built it? People built it! Why do people want to build the temple? Because people want to live a God-centered life. What will happen if they live this kind of life? My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and people will become more and more prosperous.

If you observe carefully, are those who truly love God poor? Let's start calculating from the top. Was Abraham poor? Were Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph poor? Were David and Solomon poor? No one was poor! They had money! But even if they didn't have money, they wouldn't love the world.

How did they get their money? It's not that they didn't experience poverty. When Joseph was poor, he didn't even belong to himself, he was a slave, but later he became the prime minister of Egypt and was extremely wealthy! It's not that Joseph didn't love God when he was poor and only loved God when he was rich, but that he loved God when he was poor and loved God even more when he was rich.

You need to know that living a God-centered life is the key to financial turnaround. But some people are inherently mercenary, wanting to seize this opportunity and that opportunity, and they don't know to hold on tightly to God. They treat God as an extra thing, but God wants to be the center of their lives. If you treat God as one thing in your life, then you can't worship God, because God is a jealous God, you can't worship both mammon and God.

Building God's temple is the key to human prosperity, therefore, Chinese Mingding Doctrine is full of enthusiasm for building the church! Because this is the key to blessing people. If we want to bless people, we must build the church, and then God will dwell among us. If people do not build the church, they will provoke God's anger, and then, the nations will come to harm you and ruin you, so it is said that people's hearts must return to God.

If people's hearts do not turn back, nothing you do is useful! Many people think that going to church is to pray, and then their knees are worn out, but is that building the church? That's not it! They have gone the wrong way, they have not followed our God, they are only doing a religious act.

We must know God's will. God is extremely zealous for His church, Jerusalem, and Zion, but what does God get in return? The people of Israel repeatedly abandoned God, from the time the Israelites left Egypt, all the way to the time of Zechariah, even including the Israelites in the time of Zechariah, who were captured and returned from the Persian Empire, and then said: Alas, the time to build God's temple has not yet arrived, the opportunity is not yet ripe!

God is anxious and extremely zealous, so He sent prophets again and again to encourage the Israelites, so that they know how important it is to build a God-centered logical system and have the concept of eternal life!

I tell you, from the moment a person is born, they reveal a worldly logical system inside and out. People are born like this! People have to develop a new logical system, which is all learned, so it is necessary to destroy the old logical system and rebuild a new logical system.

Someone says: Are we building a church? I tell you, it is a church! A group of brothers and sisters who love the Lord gather in the name of Jesus Christ, and God dwells among us. This is the temple of God, this is Jerusalem, this is Zion, this is the temple, so there are many testimonies of blessings among us.

Those who are not yet blessed, don't complain and say: God, why do you bless him and not bless me? Don't argue with God, just remove the click in your head, and God can easily solve your financial problems. But if the click in people's heads is not removed, it is very troublesome. Don't think that you have already removed the click.

We must establish a God-centered life and establish a God-centered logical system! This is what Zechariah said: So we return to God, and God returns to us.

I tell you, the Israelites returned to God in August, and they were blessed on September 24. From that day on, you will see God blessing them. Does God need time to bless them? Yes! But some people think: If I return to God now, I will have a big order tomorrow! That is idolatry.

When people return to God, God raises them up.

Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.” (Zechariah 1:18-21)

This passage of scripture is a bit convoluted, let me explain it. What are the four horns that were seen at the beginning for? They are four authorities that completely scattered Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. These four horns are the world's powers. When you mention the horn, everyone thinks of the Bull Demon King's horn, but what does this horn represent? It represents strength and authority. The world's powers are a horn.

At that time, relying on power, the Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel, the Babylonian Empire destroyed Judah, and later a king of the Babylonian Empire destroyed Jerusalem. These people were very ruthless! Later it was proven that if people abandon God, power will scatter you; if people trust in God, they will prosper.

The scripture also mentions four craftsmen. What do they do? These four craftsmen are breaking down these powers. How do they break down these powers? They are building God's church. Are they an army? No, but building God's church is more powerful than power.

So brothers and sisters need to know that building the church is a complex system engineering, and you must not build a shoddy project carelessly. Be rigorous, and carefully build the church according to God's revelation, working with God. The powers that originally could scatter Judah, Jerusalem, and the people of Israel were defeated by the four craftsmen who built God's glorious church.

Who are the four craftsmen? It should be Zerubbabel, the high priest, Joshua, and possibly Ezra or Nehemiah. They are all craftsmen who build the church. When people build the temple, God is pleased. When you pull the measuring line, prepare to measure, plan, and plan to build the temple, God is pleased. God begins to bless them from that time.

When we return to God, God raises us up above all nations. You must know the gospel we believe in is the gospel that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, it is a powerful and awe-inspiring gospel! Brothers and sisters must not think: Alas, this gospel is a waste of time, can this thing be used as money? Of course, it can be used as money.

Our brothers and sisters must be careful, the worldly logical system subtly exists in our hearts, but the God-centered logical system is the power of God, which can trample all things underfoot. Relying on the power of God, not only things in this life, but even things in the afterlife are surpassed.

However, I am very surprised, why don't people live a God-centered life? Why do people have so many clicks in their heads? You either don't believe in the Lord, or if you believe in the Lord, you should become a resounding Christian! Don't be like a half-bucket of water, not only will God be angry with you, but Old Ma will also come to deal with you, making you a neither fish nor fowl, that is a tragedy!

Summary

We return to God, and God returns to us; we turn to God, and God turns to us! How do we return to God? It is to build His temple and His church according to God's word. Brothers and sisters must begin to live out God's glorious image through building God's glorious church and building God's temple, because people are completely renewed from the inside out!

So brothers and sisters, don't worry and be afraid. If God does not allow it, not a single hair will fall from your head! But I have said so much, how much can you really take in? But I think it is better to say more than to say less.

We will share this much this time, may God bless everyone!