Readings:
Zechariah 6-8
1 Timothy 6

Zechariah 6-8

The four chariots seems to be a foreshadowing of the four horsemen from Revelation. They go to the four cardinal directions and “patrol” the earth. Not entirely clear what this means.

The following Prophecy about the “branch” looks like it’s immediate fulfillment is again Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest, but it’s ultimate fulfillment is the Davidic messiah and king of the Jews, Jesus Christ.

Matthew drives this point home when he tells about the Holy Family returning from Egypt and going to live in Nazareth. He quotes this Old Testament prophecy as “he shall be called a Nazarene” but those words don’t show up anywhere in the Old Testament as a prophecy. What Matthew is quoting is the many Old Testament passages that talk about this “branch” and then you find out Nazareth’s name in Aramaic would sound close to Branchtown if given a word for word translation.

God gives another promise of restoration, and only asks that the people pursue righteousness. The things he’s asking isn’t very difficult, it’s not like reading the beatitudes and think how hard it is to Love your enemies, no these bare minimums he’s laying out should be what every decent person is doing anyway. But this promise of restoration goes beyond restoring them to how they were, he’s going to make them greater than they were, and the prophecy of all nations coming to Jerusalem is fulfilled in the church.

1 Timothy 6

Paul goes after the false teachers who teach things contrary to what the apostles taught, and he ties the roots of all of their False Teachings to pride. When people start trying to place themselves in the spotlight rather than directing people to Christ, that’s when false teachings really begin to creep in.

Paul using the very famous quote here about money, but it isn’t quite the same as how you may have heard it. It’s often misquoted as “money is the roof of all evil” but that’s not what he said. Paul says that the love of money is the roof of all evil. Acquiring and utilizing wealth is not in itself wrong, but when you begin to love money is when you enter dangerous waters.

The love of money is all consuming and leads people to do things that they wouldn’t have ever imagined doing. It begins to consume people and can’t be quenched. This is why greed is such an insidious thing, it’s never satiated, it doesn’t matter if you made 100 million on a business deal, because it’s never enough. Seneca said that poverty isn’t in the lacking, it’s in the constant desire for more.

We’re reminded in the passage here about the “good fight” that we’re going through. Like a boxer in the ring we have to constantly keep our guard up, and go the distance. It’s not enough to just get in the ring and then pretend like it’s all finished, we have to fight the fight and run the race. We have to participate in the graces God provides and remain in him like the branch remains connected to the vine.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Zechariah 9-11