of God and share the truths that they've been
given. But time after time, they started chasing
their own empire, starting to chase their own
palaces, then building the kingdom of God. What
do I mean by that? Well, the rich kept getting
richer, and the poor kept getting poorer. The
rich would oppress their poor, their cousins,
to maybe start off as their servants, and they
were paying their servants quite well, but then
later and later, they would pay them worse and
worse. And God kept telling guys, If you want
to be my people, I'm calling you to administer
justice, mercy, and compassion and grow my kingdom.
Stop focusing on your own kingdom and your own
empires. And in this time, God would send his
prophets. Prophet by prophet would come and say,
guys, return back to God because these scary
dogs outside want to get us. These scary empires
are coming and they're going to be stronger than
us. And if we don't have the power of God, they're
going to take us over. So time by time, different
people groups would come and they were going
to come to take over the Israelites. And there
in fear, the Israelites would turn back to God
and say, God, we're sorry. We realize we're going
to be taken over. We don't want this. We want
to come back to you. We want your help. And God
in his great compassion, time after time would
forgive his people and they would come back.
And by time again, they would fall again. And
this happened 14 times. 14 times. God sends his
people. Help when they were going to be overtaken.
And finally, with the last prophet, Jeremiah
comes and he says, guys, repent. Stop praying
to your idols. Stop chasing your own dreams.
There's people out here that we have to reach
for the kingdom of God. And when are you going
to stop chasing your own wealth, causing more
oppression? But the people didn't want that.
So finally, Jeremiah gives one of his last. as
you could say to his people. And if you guys
want to turn with me to Jeremiah 25, 8 -9. Therefore,
the Lord Almighty says this. Because you have
not listened to my words, I will summon all the
peoples of the north and my servant, Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon, declares the Lord. And I will bring
them against this land and its inhabitants and
against... all the surrounding nations. I will
completely destroy them and make them an object
of horror and scorn and an everlasting ruin.
This whole country will become a desolate wasteland
and these nations will serve the king of Babylon
70 years. And just as Jeremiah had prophesied
what happens, the king Zedekiah, the last king
of Israel, it reads in 2 Chronicles 36, 11 through
14. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became
king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 11 years. He
did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and
did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet,
who spoke the word of the Lord. He also rebelled
against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him
take an oath in God's name. He became stiff -necked
and hardened his heart and will not turn to the
Lord, the God of Israel. Furthermore, All the
leaders of the priests and the people became
more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable
practices of the nations and defiling the temple
of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
And that same year, as Jeremiah gives his last
sermon, saying, guys, we're going to be taken
over by Nebuchadnezzar. Surely that happened.
Nebuchadnezzar came over and took the people
back to Babylon. And now this becomes like the
stories that we've grown up with, with Daniel
and his three friends. This is him. So this is
Daniel that's taken over. to Babylon, and they're
there in exile for a long time. Here, as they're
taken over, King Nebuchadnezzar comes and conquers
the city and takes all of the people back with
him. Instead of murdering everyone and causing
them all to be their slaves, like the Israelites
have been doing to their own brothers, what does
King Nebuchadnezzar do? He shows them compassion,
mercy, and justice, what God had been calling
his own people to do. And why do I say that?
We hear the stories of Daniel arriving to Babylon,
and what's waiting for him? Torture? Feasts!
The most beautiful places they've been set in,
the nicest Airbnbs of the town, the best food.
And yes, maybe their theology is different. The
feasts were all the food at the feast were given
to their idols. But it's King Nebuchadnezzar
that God says, my servant, shows the Israelites,
the way that they were supposed to live, administering
compassion, mercy, and justice. And there, 50
years pass, and many Jews become very high up
in the government, and there's good relationships
between the kings. The people are still asking,
God, this isn't our home. We want to go back,
and how are we going to get back? So the people
are there during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
II, Amal Murdoch. Naraglisar, Labish -Marduk,
and finally, Belshazzar. And as most of us know
the story of Belshazzar, Belshazzar is the king
of Babylon, the most powerful nation on earth.
Nothing could overtake Babylon. They were completely
fortified. Not only were they extremely fortified
and their military was the strongest, they had
the most... Beautiful palaces all around. I mean,
it was gorgeous. We hear about the stories of
Babylon and the streams and the gardens. They
had everything. So as Belshazzar, the king, knows
that the Persians are coming to overtake Babylon,
he feasts. He's not scared. What do the Persians
have against Babylon? I mean, we have the strongest
city. There's absolutely no way they're going
to get through the walls. Impossible. So the
night that he hears that Cyrus the Great and
Darius are outside his city walls, he feasts.
He drinks wine. He has a great time. He has women.
He has food. And he mocks at the face of who
will ever overtake Babylon. And that night, as
we all know, the handwriting on the wall and
what happens, Daniel comes in, interprets, Babylon,
you're going to fall. And what happens that night?
Well, Cyrus the Great, as most of us know, he
was the general of the Persian Empire. The Persian
Empire's king was King Darius. And that night,
I'm sure for a long time they were building this
strategy. But what happens that night? As Belshazzar
is there feasting, nobody could ever get me down
from this kingdom that I've built for myself.
Cyrus the Great has an incredible idea. Babylon.
Babylon was completely fortified except for one
place. There was the river Euphrates that ran
through Babylon. But it wasn't just an open river
where you could take your kayak down and go into
Babylon and then go out of it. No, absolutely
not. There was a massive bridge over, also heavily
fortified. And on top of that, there were even
these big claws underneath the bridge. So people,
you couldn't just swim through and find your
way into Babylon. And that night, Cyrus the Great,
in his greatness, truly, decides that they are
going to build side channels of the Euphrates
River. So that night, over 100 ,000 of his men
trade their swords for shovels, and they create
channels. And in one night, they're able to get
all of the water of the Euphrates out into different
channels, and they walk through Babylon. The
king there, Belshazzar, is completely drunk with
all of his men, and none of his great generals
can fight against the Persians. And in one night,
great Babylon falls. And again, you would think,
well, with a new kingdom, with a new king coming
over and taking over Babylon, of course, they're
going to make everybody their slaves. They're
probably going to torture most people, treat
them horribly. But what happens again? God uses,
again, the Persians. to show the Israelites how
they are to treat their neighbors with compassion,
mercy, and justice. Why do I say that? Well,
we know the stories. Daniel stays in his high
position with the new Persian Empire. And it's
here with this new Persian Empire, with Darius
and with Cyrus the Great, where we hear of the
story of Daniel in the lion's den. And it was
there, it was about between two years, because
Darius, the king of Persia, stays in Babylon
for two years until he passes away, and that's
where Cyrus the Great comes into power. So Cyrus
the Great and Daniel are friends, and some scholars
say it was Daniel that showed Cyrus the Great
his true identity. And what do I mean by that?
Cyrus the Great is not only considered the great,
but also God calls him Cyrus my shepherd and
Cyrus my anointed. What? Where does God say that
about Cyrus? I can just imagine one night Daniel
and Cyrus are there talking, probably around
a lot of food and a feast, and they're sharing
wisdom on how to keep going. How can they make
a great empire together? And Daniel calls them
out and says, Cyrus, do you know that you have
an extremely high calling? Do you know that you
have a God -given anointed calling? And Cyrus
says, I mean, look at me. I'm the ruler of the
greatest kingdom. Of course I have a calling.
And Daniel says, no, you actually have a higher
calling than that. You know, I'm a holy man.
And as this holy man, we have this book called
the Torah, which guides us with wisdom, and we
believe that it's God's words. And over 100 years
ago, your name has been written down in my holy
books. And your legacy has been written down.
And he opens to the book of Isaiah and he reads
it to Cyrus saying, and if you guys want to turn
with me to Isaiah 44, 28. Who says of Cyrus,
he is my shepherd and will accomplish all that
I please. He will save Jerusalem, let it be rebuilt,
and of the temple, let its foundations be laid.
This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to
Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue
nations before him and to strip kings of their
armor to open the gates before him so the gates
will not be shut. And jumping to verse 13. I
will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness. I will
make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my
city and set my exiles free, but not for a price
or reward, says the Lord Almighty. And that day.
The Holy Spirit came over Cyrus and he accepted
the calling of his life. And the next day there
was great rejoicing in Israel. Finally, they
were able to go back. Finally, they would be
able to enjoy the hills, the rolling hills that
they had heard about and the streams that their
grandparents had told them about. Finally, they
would be able to eat their own food in their
own city. And finally, they would be able to
rebuild the temple of God that they so desired.
So Cyrus sends 100 ,000 Israelites back. to Jerusalem.
He not only sends them back, well, go as you
please, he sends them with tons of funds to be
able to rebuild the walls and rebuild the temple.
Not only does he send them with tons, but he
sends with money, but he sends them with military
force that nobody could attack them and that
they would be protected to build the city of
God again. So the Israelites finally get back
to Israel, to Jerusalem, and they're so excited,
finally. God's prophecy is being fulfilled. They
said for 70 years we would be in exile. For 70
years between the time of the old temple to the
new temple, it would be rebuilt. So they're back,
and everybody works together. It's not just the
blue -collared men. It's the women, the children.
Everybody's working together to rebuild the temple
walls and to rebuild the city walls. But slowly
by slowly, they fall back. just like their ancestors,
just like their grandparents. The rich kept getting
richer, and the poor kept getting poorer. They
cared more about, let me make sure that I have
a bigger piece of land than my cousin Larry.
Let me make sure that I have a bigger, nicer
house, so when I invite the family over, they'll
look at me and say, wow. And it started off with,
you know, hiring some servants on their land
to oppression, to slavery, once again. The Israelites
that had just lived through that 14 times had
fallen back to the same thing. And in 16 years,
the only thing that happened back in Jerusalem
was the foundation of the temple. The foundation
of the temple and the altar was built. But there
was no temple itself built. The only thing built
was people's own palaces. So the other exiles
that are still in Babylon cry out to God saying
the same thing. God, how are you going to fulfill
your promise of this 70 -year prophecy that this
temple is going to be rebuilt? Because there's
only four years left for you to do this. And
when are you going to do it? Because we're sitting
here in Babylon. We're ready to go home. So I
was there finals week asking the same question.
God, how? How am I going to get over this person?
How am I going to get over these finals? What's
your answer for me? And as every morning went,
I would open my Bible, have my worship, and then
I would start studying. As I was opening up to
the book of Luke, which I love because Luke is
apparently a doctor. He was a physician. And
most of his stories, if you read through them,
are healing stories. So a lot of times when you
were like reading about... It would be, like,
literally that week I was learning about leprosy,
and I was like, oh, my goodness, this is so cool.
Like, I get it. God, you're so cool. So I was
opening up to Luke, and I just felt the Holy
Spirit saying, Zechariah 5, Zechariah 5, Zechariah
5. I was like, what? Zechariah 5? So I opened
up to the book of Zechariah 5 that morning, and
I'd like you guys to open up with me, too, and
we can read it together. I looked again, and
there before me was a flying scroll. He asked
me, what do you see? I answered, I see a flying
scroll, 20 cubits long and 10 cubits wide. And
he said to me, this is the curse that is going
out over the whole land. For according to what
it says on one side, every thief will be banished.
And to what it says on the other side, everyone
who swears falsely will be banished. The Lord
Almighty declares, I will send it out, and it
will enter the house of the thief and the house
of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will
remain in the house and destroy completely both
its timbers and its stones. Then the angel who
was speaking to me came forward and said to me,
Look up and see what is appearing. I asked, What
is it? He replied, It's an ephah. And he added,
This is the iniquity of the people throughout
the land. Then the cover of lead was raised,
and there in the ephah sat a woman. He said,
This is wickedness. And he pushed her back into
the ephah and pushed its lead cub over onto it.
Then I looked up, and there before me were two
women with the wind in their wings. They had
wings like those of a stork, and they lifted
up the ephah between heaven and earth. Where
are they taking the ephah? I asked the angel
who was speaking to me. And he replied, to the
country of Babylonia, to build a house for it.
When the house is ready, the ephah will be set
there in its place. What, God? Why do you want
me to read Zechariah 5? So I pulled out a silly
little conclusion. I was like, well, this curse
is going out for liars and for thieves, and I
don't feel like I'm either of those. But if there's
not truth in my life, God, reveal to me truth
and help me be a truthful person. And from the
second part of this prophecy, help me not have
any iniquity and evilness in me. But I was like,
okay. So I prayed that prayer, and I kept on
with my day. The next morning, I was like, okay,
back to Luke, back to something more normal.
And as I was opening up to Luke, God says again,
Zechariah 5. Zechariah 5. And I'm like, what?
This cannot be. So I opened up to Zechariah 5
and I was like, well, I'll just read Zechariah
6. Because yesterday I didn't get anything out
of Zechariah 5, so I might as well just read
the next one, right? So I read Zechariah 6. And
God, the whole time as I'm reading Zechariah
6, he's like, Zechariah 5, Zechariah 5, Zechariah
5. And I'm like, okay, God, Zechariah 5. So I
reread it again. And truthfully, I came to the
same conclusion. God. Make me more of a truthful
person. Keep evil away from me. Help me not to
be an evil person. I don't feel like I'm quote
-unquote evil, but, like, help me be more like
you and your character. I close the Bible. I
have the same prayer, and I move on with my day.
And now the third time. The third morning, I'm
opening up again to Luke, and God says, Florence,
I'm not joking. Zechariah 5. And at this point,
I'm like, okay, God. obviously there's a lot
that I'm missing here and I need you to reveal
to me what you're trying to tell me. Zechariah
was a prophet for the Israelites during this
time period where they were finishing up the
temple and it wasn't being finished up. And I
believe the answer that he had for them and what
he had for me and what he has for us today as
God's end time people is crucial to understand.
So we're going to break it down a little bit.
If you're anything like me, I'm a very visual
person. So we're going to kind of break down
these two prophecies. There's Zechariah 1 to
5, 1 to 4, and then 5 to the end of the chapter.
So what we see is a massive flying scroll in
the air, 10 by 20 cubits. And on the scroll,
there's a curse for two people. There's a curse
for the liars and the thieves. And then what's
going to happen to the liars and the thieves?
Well, the scroll is going to enter their house
and completely destroy it. So there's a destruction
of home. For liars and thieves. And then the
second part, the second prophecy, is that there's
this ephah. This ephah is another word for a
basket. And what was used back in the day, it
was a measuring basket. So if you're going to
go and trade, I don't know, you're going to trade
some corn for some rice. They would put it inside
of this measuring basket. And they would say,
okay, this is how much you're bringing. You can
trade this much of whatever. So it was a measuring
basket of judgment. and what was inside of it
was evilness. There was this evil woman found
inside that it was said it was evil, and it was
being carried off to Babylon. And what would
happen? This basket was going to be carried off
to Babylon where a house would be built. So in
one story, there's the destruction of a home
of evilness, and in the second story, there's
the construction of a home to store evilness.
So what? Well, a flying scroll. If you've grown
up in Adventist, if you hear something flying
in the sky, it might ring a bell to you, the
three angels' message, and there was a message
of angels that were flying in the sky, and the
three angels' message has three parts. The first
part, guys, judgment has come. Judgment has come,
and there's an invitation back to worship the
creator God. This judgment, part of this basket.
that weighs evil. And God says, guys, judgment's
coming. But before it comes, there's one last
invitation to follow the creator God. And just
like this remnant message that the Israelites
were given to keep inviting people into the kingdom
of God, we're given the same message to invite
people into the kingdom of God. So the first
one, judgment is coming and a call back to worship
the creator God. And the second angel's message.
Babylon is fallen. Get out of Babylon. This basket
that's being sent to Babylon with evilness. Well,
in the first prophecy, it says it's going to
be completely destroyed. Any house with evilness
is going to be destroyed. And what does God say?
Get the heck out of there. There's forgiveness.
10 by 20 cubits. Why would the Bible say 10 by
20 cubits of this flying scroll? I mean, yeah,
they could say it's a massive scroll or just
a scroll or a small scroll, but 10 by 20. Well,
there's two references of 10 by 20, and it took
me forever to finally find them. The first measurement
of this reference is from the holy place. And
inside of the tabernacle, there was the outer
courts, there was the holy place, and there was
the most holy place. And in the outer courts
is where... the sacrifices were done, where people
would come and confess their sins, say, God,
this is not who I want to be anymore. I'm really
sorry. Would you forgive me? And they would come,
and they would kill a lamb, and then in the holy
place is where God would forgive them. And then
in the most holy place is where sin was finally
eradicated forevermore. So God is telling them,
judgment's coming. Babylon is going to fall,
and if you find yourself in Babylon, You're gone
for. But in the holy place, there's forgiveness.
All you have to do is accept it. The second reference
of 10 by 20 is in Solomon's court. And in the
tabernacle of God, there was, in the temple of
God, sorry, in the temple, there were the four
entrances and there were four different courts.
And so one of the courts is called Solomon's
porch. And here we have the... Famous story of
Jesus. If you can see what I'm doing, you probably
already know what Jesus is about to do in Solomon's
court. He comes and he flips over the tables.
Why? Because there was injustice in his house.
There was oppression. The rich getting richer
and the poor getting poorer. What was happening
in Solomon's court? Where people would be spending
all year long. to get enough money to buy a poor
little lamb to be able to sacrifice the lamb.
And what are they doing? They're making it so
expensive, saying, you have to pay for this forgiveness.
God isn't just going to forgive you if you don't
pay for it. So Jesus walks in, and he flips over
the tables. He says, you're making my house of
prayer into a den of thieves. He's calling out
injustice. He's calling his people to walk with
mercy and compassion. So this was his message
for the people of Israel. There was four years
left for this temple to be done. And in 16 years,
they had just put the foundations down. The foundations
and the little altar. There was nothing else.
And they're asking God, when is this going to
happen? And how is this going to happen? And
God says, when you do justice, love mercy and
walk humbly with your God. And when you start
building the kingdom of God and focusing more
on building my temple and my kingdom, then your
temple and your palace is in your wealth. The
foundation's already built, guys. And maybe our
temples, our kingdoms are going to look a little
different for them back there. I think for my
generation, it's more of our image. Are we building
our image? Are we building the kingdom of God?
Are we building our social media empire so people
can see us in one light? Are we using the tools
that God has given us to build his kingdom and
focus on building his kingdom and his temple?
Maybe for the past generation, it's investing
in more toys. Big boy toys I'm talking about,
not just little Legos. But building your toys,
building your empire. And maybe even for the
past generation before them, It's building this
empire of wealth, big palatial homes, keeping
on to all of our funds. Maybe if the end of the
world comes, I'll have all my cash in hand under
my mattress. And God is saying, guys, the foundation
is built. And in four short years, we can finish
this temple. Are you focusing on building my
temple, my kingdom, or are you focused on building
your kingdom? Dear Heavenly Father, I just pray
that you convict us, you convict me. God, we
believe that we're part of this last day generation
where you want to come so soon. God, and I believe
that just like them, you're telling us the foundation
is built. And as long as you focus on building
your own empire, your own palace, it'll never
get done. But God, you want to use us and we
want to be used by you. So I just pray that.
You convict us on how we can use what you've
given us to build your kingdom. May we be faithful
and may we be more created in the image of God
and his character and having a heart of compassion
and justice and mercy for the people around us.
In the name of Jesus, amen.