your King is coming

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250419

Cloud Vortices off Isla Socorro [Detail] by NASA Goddard Photo and Video is licensed under CC-BY 2.0

your King is coming

Zechariah 9:1-17

Zechariah 9:1 A pronouncement: The word of Yahveh is against the land of Hadrach, and Damascus is its resting place – for the eyes of humanity and all the tribes of Israel are on Yahveh –
Zechariah 9:2 and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.
Zechariah 9:3 Tyre has built herself a fortress; she has heaped up silver like dust and gold like the dirt of the streets.
Zechariah 9:4 Notice! Yahveh will impoverish her and cast her wealth into the sea; she herself will be consumed by fire.
Zechariah 9:5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid; Gaza too, and will convulse in great pain, as will Ekron, for her hope will fail. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be lived in.
Zechariah 9:6 A mongrel people will live in Ashdod, and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.
Zechariah 9:7 I will remove the blood from their mouths and the abhorrent things from between their teeth. Then they too will become a remnant for our God, like a clan in Judah and Ekron like the Jebusites.
Zechariah 9:8 I will encamp at my house as a guard, against those who march back and forth, and no oppressor will march against them again, for now, I have seen with my own eyes.
Zechariah 9:9 Loudly shriek ecstatically, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Notice, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the donkey’s foal.
Zechariah 9:10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The bow of war will be removed, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the land.
Zechariah 9:11 As for you, because of the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless cistern.
Zechariah 9:12 Return to a stronghold, you prisoners who have hope; today I declare that I will restore double to you.
Zechariah 9:13 For I will bend Judah as my bow; I will fill that bow with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece. I will make you like a warrior’s sword.
Zechariah 9:14 Then Yahveh will appear over them, and his arrow will fly like lightning. Yahveh God will sound the ram’s horn bugle and advance with the southern storms.
Zechariah 9:15 Yahveh of Armies will defend them. They will consume and conquer with sling stones; they will drink and be rowdy as if with wine. They will be as complete as the sprinkling basin, like those at the altar’s corners.
Zechariah 9:16 Yahveh their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people; for they are like jewels in a crown, sparkling over his land.
Zechariah 9:17 How lovely and beautiful! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.

your King is coming

Not only will the LORD rescue his flock from the present oppressors, but the next world dominating empire that Daniel predicted (Greece: Daniel 8:21) will be overcome as well. Then, a king will arise who will speak peace to the nations. He will be righteous and have salvation. He will enter humbly, riding on a donkey. He will rule from sea to sea. The prisoners are told to return to their stronghold, because the LORD promises to restore to them double what they lost.

LORD, thank you for the promise of restoration, and the restoring king who entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey.

Posted in deliverance, Jesus Christ, peace | Tagged | Leave a comment

the objective of the rescue

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250418

Photo by Alexander Dummer on Pexels.com

the objective of the rescue

Zechariah 8:1-23

Zechariah 8:1 The word of Yahveh of Armies came:
Zechariah 8:2 Yahveh of Armies says this: “I am very ready to fight for Zion; I will fight for her with great wrath.”
Zechariah 8:3 Yahveh says this: “I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of Yahveh of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.”
Zechariah 8:4 Yahveh of Armies says this: “Old men and women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of advanced age.
Zechariah 8:5 The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in them.”
Zechariah 8:6 Yahveh of Armies says this: “Though it may seem impossible to the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible to me?”– this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies.
Zechariah 8:7 Yahveh of Armies says this: “Notice – I will save my people from the land of the east and the land of the west.
Zechariah 8:8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”
Zechariah 8:9 Yahveh of Armies says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words that the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of Yahveh of Armies.
Zechariah 8:10 For prior to those days neither man nor animal had wages. There was no safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I turned everyone against his neighbor.
Zechariah 8:11 But now, I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days” – this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies.
Zechariah 8:12 “For they will plant in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the sky will yield its dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.
Zechariah 8:13 As you have been a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Don’t be afraid; let your hands be strong.”
Zechariah 8:14 For Yahveh of Armies says this: “As I resolved to treat you badly when your fathers provoked me to anger, and I did not relent,” says Yahveh of Armies,
Zechariah 8:15 “so I have resolved again these days to do what is pleasing to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.
Zechariah 8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make valid and sound decisions within your city gates.
Zechariah 8:17 Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love perjury, for I hate all this” – this is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zechariah 8:18 Then the word of Yahveh of Armies came to me:
Zechariah 8:19 Yahveh of Armies says this: “The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.”
Zechariah 8:20 Yahveh of Armies says this: “Peoples will yet come, the ones living in many cities;
Zechariah 8:21 the ones living in one city will go to another, saying: Let’s go at once to plead for Yahveh’s favor and to seek Yahveh of Armies. I am also going.
Zechariah 8:22 Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahveh of Armies in Jerusalem and to plead for Yahveh’s favor.”
Zechariah 8:23 Yahveh of Armies says this: “In those days, ten men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

the objective of the rescue

The LORD’s rescue of his people will bring peace and prosperity. It will be an opportunity to witness to the goodness and faithfulness of God by a display of the goodness and faithfulness of the people toward him and each other. This is the objective of the rescue the gospel offers as well. The streets of the city should be full of signs of blessing, the elderly and playing children. This image is particularly delightful in a weary, strife torn land. It speaks of a well-being that the nations will envy.

LORD, give us the wisdom to display your goodness and faithfulness – even while we wait for the fulfillment of your promises.

Posted in faithfulness, witness | Tagged | Leave a comment

the fast that really matters

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250417

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

the fast that really matters

Zechariah 7:1-14

Zechariah 7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahveh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev.
Zechariah 7:2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to plead for Yahveh’s favor
Zechariah 7:3 by asking the priests who were at the house of Yahveh of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?”
Zechariah 7:4 Then the word of Yahveh of Armies came to me:
Zechariah 7:5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and passionately demonstrated sorrow in the fifth and in the seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?
Zechariah 7:6 When you eat and drink, don’t you eat and drink simply for yourselves?
Zechariah 7:7 Aren’t these the words that Yahveh proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was lived in and secure, along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were lived in?”
Zechariah 7:8 The word of Yahveh came to Zechariah:
Zechariah 7:9 “Yahveh of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another.
Zechariah 7:10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear.
Zechariah 7:12 They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that Yahveh of Armies had sent by his Breath through the earlier prophets. Therefore, intense anger came from Yahveh of Armies.
Zechariah 7:13 Just as he had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen, says Yahveh of Armies.
Zechariah 7:14 I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.”

the fast that really matters

Chislev was the month designated for fasting, to remember the destruction of Jerusalem. Now that the temple was being rebuilt, some of the people requested that the fast be discontinued. Zechariah’s answer from the LORD was that the fast that really matters is a change of heart, resulting in a change of life. If that does not happen, it does not matter if there is a physical temple or not. God wants his spiritual temple in the land. We are it.

LORD, turn us into people who demonstrate your kindness and mercy and justice to others. Soften our diamond-hard hearts.

Posted in discipleship, love, mercy | Tagged | Leave a comment

He’s making things right

Posted on April 16, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250416

Photo by ThisIsEngineering on Pexels.com

He’s making things right

Zechariah 6:1-15

Zechariah 6:1 I looked up again and noticed four chariots between two mountains. The mountains were made of bronze.
Zechariah 6:2 The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot black horses,
Zechariah 6:3 the third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot spotted horses — all strong horses.
Zechariah 6:4 So I asked the angel speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
Zechariah 6:5 The angel told me, “These are the four winds of the sky going out after presenting themselves to Yahveh of the whole land.
Zechariah 6:6 The one with the black horses is going to the land of the north, the white horses are going after them, but the spotted horses are going to the land of the south.”
Zechariah 6:7 As the strong horses went out, they wanted to patrol the land, and Yahveh said, “Go, patrol the land.” So, they patrolled the land.
Zechariah 6:8 Then he summoned me saying, “See, those going to the land of the north have pacified my Breath in the northern land.”
Zechariah 6:9 The word of Yahveh came to me:
Zechariah 6:10 “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.
Zechariah 6:11 Take silver and gold, make a crown, and place it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
Zechariah 6:12 You are to tell him: This is what Yahveh of Armies says: Notice a man named Branch; he will branch out from his place and build Yahveh’s temple.
Zechariah 6:13 Yes, he will build Yahveh’s temple, be clothed in splendor, sit on his throne, and rule. There will also be a priest on his throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between them.
Zechariah 6:14 The crown will reside in Yahveh’s temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen, son of Zephaniah.
Zechariah 6:15 People who are far off will come and build YahvehY’s temple, and you will know that Yahveh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen when you fully obey Yahveh your God.”

He’s making things right

The final apocalyptic vision of Zechariah is similar to the first. Only, the four horses are now attached to chariots. They no longer spy out the lands surrounding Jerusalem, but patrol it as weapons of warfare and protection. The tide has turned, and now power is coming from Israel, and creating rest for it. The Branch is coming. His precursor stands already, Joshua ben Jehozadak. He will serve with the prince to restore the people. Both these sections cry out: good things are coming, trust God.

LORD, give us the courage and insight to trust you to make things right.

Posted in future, peace, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

drive sin away

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250415

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

drive sin away

Zechariah 5:1-11

Zechariah 5:1 I looked up again and noticed a flying scroll.
Zechariah 5:2 “What do you see?” he asked me. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”
Zechariah 5:3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for everyone who is a thief, contrary to what is written on one side, has gone unpunished, and everyone who swears falsely, contrary to what is written on the other side, has gone unpunished.
Zechariah 5:4 I will send it out,” – this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies – “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones.”
Zechariah 5:5 Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Look up and see what this is that is approaching.”
Zechariah 5:6 So I asked, “What is it?” He responded, “It’s a measuring basket that is approaching.” And he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.”
Zechariah 5:7 Then I noticed as a lead cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.
Zechariah 5:8 “This is Wickedness,” he said. He shoved her down into the basket and pushed the lead weight over its opening.
Zechariah 5:9 Then I looked up and saw two women approaching with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between the land and the sky.
Zechariah 5:10 So I asked the angel speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”
Zechariah 5:11 “To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “When that is ready, the basket will be placed on its pedestal.”

drive sin away

These two visions show what the LORD is going to do to rid the land of sin. He is going to curse the houses of the thief and the one who swears falsely for personal gain. Since they both sinned for personal gain, what they gained will be taken away. Their houses will be cleaned out.

He is going to remove idolatry from the land, symbolized by the woman in the basket, described as wickedness herself. Many of the idolatrous practices of the Canaanites involved sexual sin, just as pornography today is this same kind of idolatry. Also, taking foreign wives often led the Israelites to apostasy. But the LORD shows here that he is not judging females in general by this singular phenomenon: the angels who deport the wicked woman are portrayed as women themselves!

LORD, clean us out, drive sin away from our houses.

Posted in depravity, judgment, pornography, sanctification | Tagged | Leave a comment

God’s Breath will do it

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250414

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

God’s Breath will do it.

Zechariah 4:1-14

Zechariah 4:1 The angel speaking with me then returned and roused me as one awakened out of sleep.
Zechariah 4:2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see – I noticed a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. The lampstand also has seven lamps at the top with seven spouts for each of the lamps.
Zechariah 4:3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
Zechariah 4:4 Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
Zechariah 4:5 “Don’t you know what they are?” replied the angel who was speaking with me. I said, “No, my lord.”
Zechariah 4:6 So he answered me, “This is the word of Yahveh to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by my Breath,’ says Yahveh of Armies.
Zechariah 4:7 ‘What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it! ‘”
Zechariah 4:8 Then the word of Yahveh came to me:
Zechariah 4:9 “Zerubbabel’s hands have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that Yahveh of Armies has sent me to you.
Zechariah 4:10 For who despises the day of small things? These seven eyes of Yahveh, which scan throughout the whole land, will rejoice when they see the ceremonial stone in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
Zechariah 4:11 I asked him, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”
Zechariah 4:12 And I questioned him further, “What are the two streams of the olive trees, from which the golden oil is pouring through the two golden conduits?”
Zechariah 4:13 Then he inquired of me, “Don’t you know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied.
Zechariah 4:14 “These are the two anointed ones,” he said, “who stand by Yahveh of the whole land.”

God’s Breath will do it.

Joshua and Zerubbabel were the two sons of new oil, the newly reestablished priesthood and the governor will work together to see to it that God’s light continues to shine. The obstacles will be removed not by the might of human ability, nor the power of human influence. God’s Spirit will do it.

LORD, when the task seems too great for us, remind us that it is your Holy Spirit who will do it.

Posted in discernment, leadership | Tagged | Leave a comment

clothed in clean clothes

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250413

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

clothed in clean clothes

Zechariah 3:1-10

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of Yahveh, with Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.
Zechariah 3:2 Yahveh said to Satan: “Yahveh rebuke you, Satan! May Yahveh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
Zechariah 3:3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
Zechariah 3:4 So the angel of Yahveh spoke to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to him, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with festive robes.”
Zechariah 3:5 I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So, a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him in garments while the angel of Yahveh stood nearby.
Zechariah 3:6 Then the angel of Yahveh charged Joshua:
Zechariah 3:7 “This is what Yahveh of Armies says: If you walk in my ways and keep my mandates, you will both rule my house and care for my courts; I will also grant you access among those standing here.
Zechariah 3:8 “Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign to notice that I am about to bring my servant, the Branch.
Zechariah 3:9 Watch the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. I will engrave an inscription on it” – this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies – “and I will take away the iniquity of this land in a single day.
Zechariah 3:10 On that day, each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree.” This is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies.

clothed in clean clothes

As soon as God decided to bring revival, Satan showed up to accuse the temple leaders of being unworthy to lead it. The LORD shows Zechariah a vision in which Joshua, the high priest, is clothed in clean clothes, to replace those which are literally covered in excrement. The LORD imputed righteousness to him, in order to make him qualified to lead others to him. That is what he does for us as well. We cheapen grace if we stop at the personal salvation. We are saved to be priests, leading people to the Branch, king Jesus.

LORD, thank you for the new clothes. Give us courage to walk in your ways and keep your charge.

Posted in holiness, ministry | Tagged | Leave a comment

time to escape

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250412

Photo by Vladislav Murashko on Pexels.com

time to escape

Zechariah 1:18-2:13 (JDV)

Zechariah 1:18 Then I looked up and noticed four horns.
Zechariah 1:19 So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
Zechariah 1:20 Then Yahveh showed me four craftsmen.
Zechariah 1:21 I asked, “What are they coming to do?” He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so no one could raise his head. These craftsmen have come to terrify them, to cut off the horns of the nations that raised a horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
Zechariah 2:1 I looked up and noticed a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Zechariah 2:2 I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem to determine its width and length.”
Zechariah 2:3 Then I noticed as the angel who was speaking with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him.
Zechariah 2:4 He said to him, “Run and tell this young man: Jerusalem will be lived in without walls because of the number of people and livestock in it.”
Zechariah 2:5 The declaration of Yahveh: “I myself will be a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory within it.”
Zechariah 2:6 “Listen! Listen! Flee from the land of the north”– this is Yahveh’s declaration– ” because I have scattered you like the four winds of the sky” – this is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zechariah 2:7 “Listen, Zion! Escape, you who are living with Daughter Babylon.”
Zechariah 2:8 For Yahveh of Armies says this: “In pursuit of his glory, he sent me against the nations plundering you, for whoever touches you touches the pupil of my eye.
Zechariah 2:9 You see, notice, I am raising my hand against them, and they will become plunder for their own servants. Then you will know that Yahveh of Armies has sent me.
Zechariah 2:10 “Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, notice – because I am coming to dwell among you”– this is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zechariah 2:11 “Many nations will join themselves to Yahveh on that day and become my people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that Yahveh of Armies has sent me to you.
Zechariah 2:12 Yahveh will take possession of Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem.
Zechariah 2:13 Let everything with skin on be silent before Yahveh, for from his holy dwelling he has roused himself.”

time to escape

Those who scattered Judah will themselves be shaken, and the people will return to a city protected by the LORD himself. Those who have been living in Babylon are told to flee from that land of the north, and escape to Zion.

Where are you living today? Are you at home in the LORD’s land, or do you live in the land of Babylon? You cannot stay on that foreign soil. The LORD is about to judge it. Escape to the LORD’s protected city.

LORD, we have been living in Babylon too long. Give us the courage to escape it, before it is too late.

Posted in deliverance, judgment | Tagged , | Leave a comment

horse report

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250411

Photo by Tomasz Filipek on Pexels.com

horse report

Zechariah 1:1-17 (JDV)

Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahveh came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:
Zechariah 1:2 “Yahveh was extremely angry with your ancestors.
Zechariah 1:3 So tell the people, ‘This is what Yahveh of Armies says: Return to me– this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies — and I will return to you, says Yahveh of Armies.
Zechariah 1:4 Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what Yahveh of Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to me — this is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zechariah 1:5 Where are your ancestors now? And do the prophets live forever?
Zechariah 1:6 But didn’t my words and my statutes that I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? ‘” So, the people repented and said, “As Yahveh of Armies decided to deal with us for our ways and our deeds, so he has dealt with us.”
Zechariah 1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahveh came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:
Zechariah 1:8 I looked out in the night and noticed a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the valley. Behind him were red, brown, and white horses.
Zechariah 1:9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking to me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
Zechariah 1:10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones Yahveh has sent to patrol the land.”
Zechariah 1:11 They reported to the angel of Yahveh standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the land – notice — and right now the whole land is settled and quiet.”
Zechariah 1:12 Then the angel of Yahveh responded, “How long, Lord of Armies, will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that you have been angry with these seventy years?”
Zechariah 1:13 Yahveh replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.
Zechariah 1:14 So the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim: Yahveh of Armies says: I am very ready to fight for Jerusalem and Zion.
Zechariah 1:15 I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was a little angry, but they made the destruction worse.
Zechariah 1:16 Therefore, this is what Yahveh says: In mercy, I have returned to Jerusalem; my house will be rebuilt within it– this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies– and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.
Zechariah 1:17 “Proclaim further: This is what Yahveh of Armies says: My cities will again overflow with prosperity; Yahveh will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”

horse report

The horses of Zechariah may represent the races of the nations surrounding Jerusalem and Judah. Their riders go out in each direction, spying out the lands. They see that the Gentile nations are at rest. They report this back to the man riding the first red horse, ho may be the angel representing Judah itself. The three different colors might represent the various descendants of the three sons of Noah. The point is that the surrounding nations are at rest, and Judah is not. God is going to change that.

LORD, we are grateful that you see our predicament. We trust you to change what needs to change.

Posted in future, sovereignty of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

Diotrephes

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250410

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Diotrephes

3 John 1:1-15

3 John 1:1 The elder: To my cared about Gaius, whom I genuinely care about.
3 John 1:2 Cared about one; I pray that everything is going well with you and you are in good health, just as your throat is going well.
3 John 1:3 I was very glad when brothers came and testified to your loyalty to the truth—how you are walking truthfully.
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children walk truthfully.
3 John 1:5 Cared about one, you are living faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers.
3 John 1:6 They have testified to your care before the congregation. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God,
3 John 1:7 since they set out for the Name’s sake, accepting nothing from Nations.
3 John 1:8 That is why we ought to support such people to be coworkers with the truth.
3 John 1:9 I wrote something to the congregation, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not welcome us.
3 John 1:10 This is why if I come, I will remind him of what he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He refuses to welcome brothers and even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the congregation.
3 John 1:11 Cared about one: do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
3 John 1:12 Everyone speaks well of Demetrius—even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, so you know our testimony is true.
3 John 1:13 I have many things to write to you, but I don’t want to use pen and ink.
3 John 1:14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
3 John 1:15 Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.

John’s third letter exposes a different danger from the one addressed in the second. Previously, the concern was naïve hospitality toward deceivers who promoted teachings that went beyond the apostolic message. Here, the problem is not gullibility but control. Diotrephes, apparently a prominent figure in the congregation, rejected a legitimate ministry that John himself endorsed. His refusal was not doctrinal caution but personal ambition. He used his influence to block support for faithful workers and even expelled those who disagreed with him. The issue was not truth but territory. He narrowed the church’s attention to himself, treating the congregation as his possession rather than Christ’s.

This pattern is not unfamiliar. In many modern settings, pastoral authority has expanded far beyond the New Testament’s vision of shared leadership, mutual submission, and the priesthood of all believers. The result is a culture that unintentionally produces Diotrephes-like leaders—individuals who equate their own preferences with divine direction and assume that resisting them is resisting God. When Jesus’ disciples asked about greatness and authority, he did not outline a hierarchy. He placed a child in their midst and taught them to take the lowest place, to consider others as more significant, and to live in glad submission to one another. Leadership in his kingdom is cruciform, not self-protective; it is marked by relinquishing control, not consolidating it.

There remains a real need to reject false teaching. John’s second letter makes that clear. But the third letter reminds that the church must also guard against rejecting what is good. Many ministries, callings, and gifts are genuine works of the Spirit. They deserve recognition, encouragement, and partnership. Discernment requires holding both truths together: resisting what distorts the gospel while embracing what advances it. The danger lies in confusing personal authority with spiritual fidelity, or in assuming that the Spirit’s work must always flow through a single leader or structure.


Lord, grant wisdom to recognize and support every true work of the Holy Spirit. Guard the church from counterfeits that harm, and from leaders who cling to control rather than embodying the humility of Christ. May the community of faith be marked by generosity, openness, and shared ministry under the one true Head of the church.

Posted in authority, church, discernment, leadership | Tagged | Leave a comment