Zechariah 4:10 For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice… 1. God's great mind, so infinitely above our level, does not perceive all the distinctions we are wont to make between what we denominate great and small. To a person greatly elevated, all below — people and buildings — appears equally small, even so Jehovah is too high to perceive the various grades of greatness and littleness into which we are accustomed to divide the affairs of life. 2. It has ever been God's plan to work from apparently small beginnings; had He chosen He could have commanded great things at once into existence, but He has said, "A little one shall become a thousand," etc. (Isaiah 60:22). The great Saviour came into the world as a weak babe: His great kingdom commenced with twelve men, most of whom were unlearned. Mark the insignificant beginnings of modern missions, of Sunday Schools, or of our Christian Endeavour Movement! Truly, "God chose the foolish things of the world that He might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world that He might put to shame the things that are strong," etc. (1 Corinthians 1:27). 3. These who despise the day of small things will never accomplish great works. It is dangerous and disastrous to make light of the small beginnings of evil, sin, or bad habits. The modern scientific theory of germs may be used as an apt illustration, showing how the neglect of even infinitesimal atoms is the cause of so much fatal disease. 4. The tenderness of God comes out in His regard for the small and weak. "A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory" (Matthew 12:20). Our Lord often referred to the small beginnings of His kingdom, comparing them to "seeds," "a grain of mustard seed," "a little leaven" (Matthew 11.). The day of small things is the day of precious things, but we are not to be satisfied until it becomes the day of great things. 5. Small things marked the beginning of the work in the hand of Zerubbabel, so small was the foundation in the eyes of those who had seen the glory of the former temple, that "they wept with a loud voice" (Ezra 3:12) at the comparison; but God assured them that, in the latter end, its glory should be greater, inasmuch as the Messiah Himself would stand within its walls, and His Gospel be proclaimed therein (Acts 5:42). 6. There is great comfort here, for all depressed builders of the spiritual temple. The work progresses so slowly, that we are often discouraged. But let the work of grace be ever so small in Its beginnings, the plummet is in good hands. The great Master Builder will surely accomplish that which He begins. Jesus Christ lathe finisher as well as the author of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). 7. "God's blessing on it" is the secret of all success. Work, great or small, without this is utter failure. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zechariah 4:6). (E. J. B.) Parallel Verses KJV: For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. |
    |