The Law of Connection Part 11

Reception, Not Rebellion-Jeremiah 52:1-11

God judged Zedekiah because he rebelled against the king of Babylon. Zedekiah forgot that even the leader works for someone. His rebellion led to the downfall of Jerusalem. Leaders must remember they are stewards of the people God has given them. A leader’s rebellion leads to rebellion among the people.

Joel Uses Times-Joel 2:1-32

Leaders understand how to be relevant. Relevance means using temporal events to say what is timeless.

The Prophet uses the current events of his time to share timeless truth. Every Hebrew knew of the plague of locusts. When that subject came up, everyone paid attention. Joel grabbed their attention with a current event and used it to illustrate God’s coming judgment. He and God communicated in these ways:

1. Creatively: They use word pictures and current events.
2. Constantly: They continued to speak until the people understood.
3. Consistently: Their messages didn’t contradict each other.

Encouragement-Zechariah 2:3-13

Through a vision, Zechariah tries to encourage the people concerning their future. God plans to gather them again and expand their population. God promises to bless His people in the following areas:

1. More people (v. 4)
2. More livestock (v. 4)
3. Divine protection (v. 5)
4. Deliverance from enemies (v. 9)
5. Conversions of other ethnic groups (v. 11)
6. The return of the favor of God on His people (v. 12)

Leaders know that encouragement is the oxygen of the soul. Notice that Zechariah’s encouragement was:

1. specific; 2. personal; 3. public; 4. detailed; 5. hopeful; 6. sincere; and 7. centered around results only God could pull off. Leaders who encourage always draw more from their people than those who don’t.

Join me next time for The Law of Connection Part 12