Family Group Night | July 17, 2022

Zechariah 4:8-10

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

Zechariah preached to the people about 525 years before Jesus to the Jewish nation when they were discouraged. They had rebuilt the foundation of the Temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel who was governor of the nation, but the work had stalled. When they laid the foundation of the temple the elderly members of that society wept. They could already tell that this Temple would be smaller and nowhere near the former glory of Solomon’s Temple that had been destroyed 70 years earlier. Also, the spiritual renewal the earlier prophets had predicted was not happening. Discouraged about the Temple, discouraged about the moral decay, and discouraged because their nation was not free. They were just a vassal state of the Persian Empire. They had no significance on the world stage. No influence. No power. Under these circumstances, many people concluded that theirs was a “day of small things” and they hated it. “We don’t matter anymore,” (or so they thought), not knowing that the “seven eyes of the Lord” (meaning His perfect vision) was watching them to rejoice in their progress!

1. The people had grown discouraged because they were in the middle of a stalled project. Have you ever felt paralyzed in the middle of a task? How did that feel?

2. Zechariah’s prophecy encouraged Zerubbabel. His hands laid the foundation of the Temple and would also complete it. How does encouragement help you to keep going with a project? With your faith?

1. Even if your life seems to be stalled and going nowhere, “Do not despise the day of small things.” God is always at work doing something great.

2. God’s eyes “range throughout the earth. Make sure to always live your life as though someone is watching you. After all, the Lord always pays attention to you!

3. Zechariah prophesied that the eyes of the Lord would “rejoice” when the final stone of the Temple was laid, and Zerubbabel’s work was completed. What are you doing to make God rejoice today?

Dear Lord, please turn any discouragement with my situation into expectation as I give you every circumstance of my life. My wisdom and power are so limited that I control very few of the things that happen in my life. So, help me to learn to wait on You, to hope in You, to trust in You, to delight myself in You and to unreservedly commit my ways to You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.