One of the joys of being at the women’s retreat last weekend was seeing a pair of beautiful bald eagles soaring through the air, gliding effortlessly around in circles.

It was a wonderful weekend-a very renewing, life-giving time. It went by much too quickly. But to be honest I must also say that last Sunday afternoon, as I was returning from the retreat I was feeling weary from the combination of early morning leadership meetings, intense conversations, pulling the Sunday morning worship together.

As I turned onto my street I was thinking about the work I needed to do to get ready for a Kenya mission trip orientation session that night and to get ready for today’s services. Right at that moment I looked up, and what did I see but a pair beautiful bald eagles circling overhead, directly overhead. I just had to pull over and watch them for a while.

I love eagles. They remind me of the verse in Isaiah that “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not be weary. They will walk and not faint.” I found myself praying: Thank you, Lord, for these beautiful, soaring creatures which remind me of your strength, your creativity and your presence with me. The eagles were signs of hope to me at a time when I was feeling weary.

I tell you this story because there are lots of signs and symbols in the book of Zechariah–the sixth minor prophet for us to study in our sermon series of “Majoring in the Minors.” If you like thinking about symbols, you’re going to love Zechariah.

The text of Zechariah is challenging. Today’s passage has been called “obscure, confusing” by just about every scholar whose commentary I read. But with the visions and signs and symbols, Zechariah is trying to communicate hope to the people of Isreal.

Before we turn to the text, I’d like to briefly set the scene. Zechariah is telling about a vision he had regarding rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. This rebuilding process has been taking a long time, and the people are thirsty for hope. In this vision, God is encouraging Zerubbabel (the governor who is overseeing the temple reconstruction) to not be discouraged, but rather to depend not on might, nor power, but on God’s Spirit to deal with the obstacles they face in their rebuilding process.

That’s when the rebuilding–the spiritual renewal–happens in our lives: when we let God’s Spirit do the work.

So with that long introduction, let’s turn to our text for today.

Who was this prophet called Zechariah? We don’t know a lot about him. The first six verses of the first chapter set the scene, and we learn that Zechariah is the grandson of a priest named Iddo. Many have deduced that Zechariah would be at least familiar with priestly rituals–and probably is a priest himself. The name Zechariah means “Yahweh has remembered.” And this is what Zechariah is trying to remind the people of Judah: that God has not forgotten them.

Return, Restoration and Rebuilding.

These words sum up the people of Judah’s situation in today’s text. Because the language of Zechariah is so full of visions and symbols, it really helped me to study the context of this passage. And I’m hoping you’ll find it helpful too, so I’m going to give a brief overview of the history of the Israelites in which you'll notice the cycle of rest, exile and restoration.

After 450 years in Egypt, the Israelites are led out of Egypt (by Moses) in 1450 BC and then spend 40 years wandering through the desert before entering Canaan. Skipping through the period of the judges (during which the Israelites repeat a cycle of disobedience, oppression and deliverance) we arrive at the year 1050 when the Kingdom of Israel is established. Saul is Israel's first king. Later David is crowned King and then his son Solomon becomes king in 970 BC.

It is during the reign of King Solomon that the first Temple was built, completed in 959. (A bit later I’ll talk more about the significance of the Temple.) The days of Solomon's reign are considered by many as the best time in Jewish history.

But then a combination of bad kings, idol worship...lead us to hear from the prophets we’ve studied so far in our series on minor prophets. The prophets Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah and Habakkuk--their ministries took place between 760 and 600 BC. Along with giving encouragement that God was with the Israelites, these prophets kept warning the them that the Lord would judge them if they weren't living up to their part of the covenant to be God's people.

The warnings went unheeded, and in 587 BC Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians. The temple was destroyed and its treasures were taken to Babylon, along with everyone who survived the Babylonians’ attack. This began what is now commonly known as the exile. I realize that this is a lot of history to take in. 2 Chronicles 36:15-23 is a good description of what happened.

In 538 King Cyrus of Persia (Persia had overtaken Babylonia) issued a decree that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and start rebuilding the Temple. Our prophet Zechariah is among those who returned to Jerusalem. So when our passage takes place, the people are in a time of return to Judah/Jerusalem. It's 18 years after they have returned from exile-the year 520 BC. The Samaritans and other neighbors have strongly resisted the rebuilding project and essentially stopped it by getting the Persian government to cancel the building permit. Eighteen years have passed and not much has happened on the rebuilding of the Temple.

Then Darius the Great came into power as king of Persia, and he gets things going again. Zerubbabel, as I mentioned before, is the governor of Judah and is very respected by the people. He, along with Joshua the high priest, is overseeing the project. Zechariah is eager to see this rebuilding project reach completion, so he urges Zerubbabel to keep things moving. In our text it’s the 24 th day of the 8 th month in the second year of Darius (or in our calendar, February 15, 520 BC).

Restoration.

The time of our text (along with being a time of return) is also a time of restoration for the people–the restoration of God’s blessing and rest. The concept of "rest" is an important one for God's people. It goes back to before the first temple had been built. In Deuteronomy 12 the people are looking forward to the day when Yahweh will choose a place to “put his name and make his habitation there (12:5), and Yahweh makes it clear that this “place” will then be the only legitimate site for worship. The site cannot, however, be located and sanctified until the Israelites have entered their “inheritance,” and Yahweh had given them “rest” from all their enemies (12:8-11).

Faith in Yahweh did not end with the destruction of the sanctuary, no doubt in part because his prophets had predicted the events and proclaimed their place in Yahweh’s purposes. In fact, the prophets did more. Beyond judgment they saw-in Yahweh’s time-restoration. And in the restoration of Yahweh’s people to the promised land of their ancestors, a new temple as a mark of Yahweh’s renewed favor and blessing was inevitably a part.

So now they have the opportunity now to be restored geographically, physically, emotionally, spiritually. And a big part of this restoration process includes having the Temple amongst them again. This leads us to …

Rebuilding.

The rebuilding is incredibly important because the temple is more than just a symbol. They need this place to help them be restored in spirit. It’s where they went to worship, to make sacrifices, to make their vows to God, to behold God’s beauty, to fast in times of crisis.

What the Lord wanted then and wants now, more than anything, is to restore his people to himself--and for his people to worship him with pure hearts (Deuteronomy 10: with all our hearts, souls and minds). So in Zechariah’s visions he is urging Zerubbabel to keep the work going on the temple. He is trying to offer new inspiration for this new time in the life of the people of Israel.

Rebuilding the temple of our own lives.

It can be hard to "get going" again. I imagine that in one way or another we can all relate to the sense of our “temple” torn apart. We can all name some of the “great mountains” (opposition to rebuilding) in our lives.

You might be missing a loved one who died, and it seems hard to regain energy for life.

You might be between jobs and finding yourself tired of sending out resumes, wondering where God is the searching process.

Maybe you're wanting to get back into a regular time of reading Scripture and prayer, but the pressures of work, meeting the needs of family... seem like a mountain of opposition.

It can be hard to see what God's plan is in the midst of life's challenges. Dealing with the mountains and the desert times can make us so thirsty for something more, for something better than what we have. One of our tendencies is to try to tough it out and work harder. Another tendency is to turn to things that will numb the disappointments in life: alcohol, movies, magazines, TV, food, computer games.

What God wants is for us to turn to him. That's why God gives us signs of hope: through scripture, creation, the kindness and encouragement of others, even through the harder words. We all need prophets in our lives to hold us accountable, to offer encouragement. And at times we need to be the prophetic voice for others.

That might sound daunting, but the good news is that so often it is in our weakness that we can experience God’s strength. When we realize and admit that we can’t do it on our own, that God then has more space in our lives for the Spirit to work–to lead and guide us. The question usually is, "How do we start the rebuilding process?"

In our text the imagery is that of a lampstand and the olive-tree. This is a picture of the Spirit-filled life. Oil often refers to the Holy Spirit, and here were olive trees continually dripping oil out of their branches into a lampstand, and it was burning brightly. This is wonderful symbolism of the fact that the Lord within us is continually giving us inner strength so that our lives might burn brightly in the midst of the darkness in the world.

The key to this passage is from v.6:

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

Zechariah is telling Zerubbabel that it won’t ultimately be human power that will rebuild the Temple, but it will be God’s Spirit at work within them. Zechariah was more concerned about what was going on internally with their hearts and their spiritual lives than what was happening externally. The Lord of hosts will supply what we need internally to deal with the mountains of opposition that we face in life. "What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain…”

I thought about this image of removing mountains, and it seemed like it might hit a sore spot for so many of us who love gazing upon the mountains all around here. So I’m going to go with wall imagery…

About as far back as I can tell, people have built walls for a variety of reasons. Some are for the wonderful purposes of providing a place for people to worship, to live and have shelter from the harsh elements, to provide places of rest and hospitality. But too often walls are built out of people’s felt/perceived need to protect themselves, to keep others away.

The wall that really breaks my heart these days is the huge one (over several hundred miles long) being constructed for over two years by the Israeli government. It’s hard to speak on the subject without oversimplifying a complex situation. That said, the hope for this wall is to keep suicide bombers out of Jerusalem and other Israeli communities. But sadly, if people want revenge, it seems they will find a way, wall or no wall. And part of the harsh reality of that wall is that it is keeping families from being able to see each other. It is keeping people from being able to get to their jobs. It is giving more fuel to the fire people are feeling about living under occupation. To people on all sides, it’s a symbol of a deepening division between people.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, said the Lord of hosts to Zerubbabel…

Another picture of the Berlin Wall, constructed on August 13, 1961. It was 96 miles of barbed wire barricade and a concrete wall with an average height of 11.8 feet. It’s purpose was to keep the people of E. Germany in. On November 9, 1989, that wall came down. There had been indicators that it wouldn’t last forever, but most people were surprised by the timing. Later, stories came out that groups had been praying and praying for the wall to come down. The situation is not perfect now, but rebuilding of lives is happening. There is a new freedom that has come to people on both sides. And this is my prayer for the situation in Israel/Palestine.

Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.

Sometimes walls are built with the purpose of doing good, but end up being something we try to force upon others. There are too many stories of missionary efforts to “save” people that have turned out to be more destructive than constructive.

For us today, in matters big (such as addressing world concerns) or small (how to keep our own hearts pure), we need to look at the issue of the temple in the light of the New Testament. Jesus made the claim that he would replace the temple “made with hands” with one “not made with hands.” (Mt. 14:58) The temples in the Old Testament served a great purpose, but with Christ the New Covenant was established.

When Jesus spoke with the woman at the well (John 4), they had a discussion about what was the legitimate place for worship. Worship at the temple in Jerusalem was doubtless part of God’s purpose at one time, for Jesus affirms that “salvation is from the Jews” (4:22).

But then he goes on to say that “the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. And indeed, it is just such worshipers that the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth.” She was so thirsty for a good life. Jesus tells her that he is the one who can offer living water to satisfy her spiritual thirst. With the coming of Jesus (the “truth”) into the world, the old order of worship is done away and replaced by the worship of those who come to God through His son.

In the New Testament epistles we meet the conviction that the individual Christian (I Cor. 6:1; 2 Cor 6:16) or the Church of Christ as a whole represent the temple of God, because here God’s Spirit has taken up residence. The Old Testament sacrificial system (and with it the temple in which it was carried on) is done away by the perfect sacrifice of Christ; and the gift of God’s indwelling Spirit to each believer is a mark of the new age; that God is living and active in the midst of the community of His restored people.

In my own life, I am so thankful for a friendship God gave me which taught me what it takes to rebuild walls, to persevere. Ellen and I started playing volleyball together in 7th grade, but at that time we were hanging out with different groups of friends. Then in 10th grade we suddenly started spending a lot of time together. She invited me to go on her church’s high school ski retreat, which is where my faith caught fire. Our friendship was very focused on growing in Christ.

But boy, did we have some challenges (which I’m convinced were from spiritual attack). We had misunderstandings; we had crushes on the same guy in high school… There were times when our friendship seemed like a lot of work. But thanks be to God, we were able to look to God for help, and it was by God’s Spirit that we were always able to rebuild our friendship in those early years. She taught me how to not run away from tough times.

The longer we were friends, the more we learned how to support each other. (We learned to always first take each other's side when a boyfriend made us angry–and then later slowly point out that the boyfriend might have had a little bit of a point.) The trust grew stronger and stronger as we learned that with God’s help our friendship had a solid foundation. We ended up at seminary together which was so fun, and then ended up serving in churches across the country from each other, but the friendship remained deep.

A very fun thing that happened recently is that she and her husband Jeff just came on the staff of First Presbyterian, Seattle as co-pastors. Part of the reason I tell you this is because as some of you know, First Presbyterian used to be a very large church here in Seattle. It started/planted a number of churches, including University Presbyterian Church and Bethany. Over the years, the church has struggled.

Ellen and Jeff sensed the "fire in the gut" call to be part of a renewal process there. They sensed that the spirit of the Lord was blowing there, and they wanted to come be part of what God is doing there. My hope for them and the church is that they realize that rebuilding will happen “Not by might, not by power, but by God’s Spirit”. I encourage you to pray for God’s spirit to flow through First Presbyterian and for many other churches which are in similar situations. Pray for signs of hope to keep them encouraged.

Prayer is the best way to look to God’s spirit to rebuild the temple within us, the temple of God’s people together. As much as we'd like to change/rebuild ourselves, our spouses, our children, our bosses, our friends, it is ultimately going to be a work of the Holy Spirit in people's hearts. Zechariah's message is that it is by God's Spirit that transformation will happen. It was true then, and it's true today.

Let us pray.