And I will warn you ahead of time You're gonna have to think with me tonight, okay? It's Sunday night. It's after Christmas. But I wanna, there's some things that I want us to see tonight that if you can hang in there and pay attention, you might wanna take some notes if it'll help you to pay attention. It's just amazing to me when we read the word of God and see some of the things that God revealed in his word. We're coming to Zechariah chapter 9. It begins a new section in the book of Zechariah as we've been going through this book chapter by chapter. One commentary notes that chapters 1 through 8 refer primarily to Zechariah's own time, though not exclusively. We do know as we looked at those visions that Zechariah had that some of them did talk about things to come. But the purpose in the first eight chapters was God giving encouragement to the people as they were rebuilding the temple. That's the setting for the book of Zechariah. The people would come back to build the temple. They started. They quit. because of opposition and apathy, and so God sent Haggai and Zechariah to stir them up to get back to the work that they were supposed to be doing. And so chapters one through eight, as God revealed these visions and messages to Zechariah and he delivered them to the people, they were intended to encourage them as they're doing that work. But the second half of the book is looking to the future. And what God is going to do was going to do with the nation of Israel, not just with them, but with the world. These chapters may have been written, the truth that's revealed in there may have been given to Zechariah later in his life and ministry. But you can also divide this last section, chapters 9 through 14, into two parts, and let me show you this, because, you know, part of studying the Bible and understanding the Bible is seeing how it's all put together, because it isn't just haphazard. Even the men who wrote the Word of God, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they, it is literature, and it does have logic and order to it. And so even as you look at this, if you'll notice the very first words of Zechariah 9, it says, the burden of the word of the Lord. And then if you go over, to chapter 12, you'll find that same statement, the burden of the word of the Lord, that indicates the divisions of this part of Zechariah. So chapters 9, 10, and 11 are about what God is gonna do in the Gentile world, God's judgment of the Gentile world. But then chapters 12 through 14 have to do with God's judgment of the nation of Israel, purifying them for the millennial kingdom. And so you see that. And the word burden speaks of something that is heavy. These are messages of judgment or chastening, as God is speaking. judgment to the nations and judgment to the nation of Israel. And David Levy in his study on Zechariah stated that some of the clearest and most abundant messianic prophecies of the Lord's first and second advents are revealed in Zechariah 9 through 14. We not only see what God's message of judgment against the Gentile nations and the nation of Israel, but we see prophecies concerning the coming of Christ or His ministry. And even in this chapter, chapter 9, is one of the very familiar prophecies that is at least, that is partly fulfilled when Jesus was on earth. The first time in verse 9 of chapter 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. And we know that that was fulfilled in what event in the life of Christ? What we call the triumphal entry as Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we refer to sometimes as Palm Sunday, the Sunday before his crucifixion. So in chapters nine and 10, these two chapters kind of go together, and then 11 we'll fill in after this, but there's a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. Chapter nine and verse nine is a key in these two chapters, and they do go together. We're gonna take several weeks to look at just these two chapters, but I've entitled it The King is Coming, because that really is what it's about, the coming king, the Lord Jesus. And I just want to focus in on the first eight verses tonight, because we want to think about what this chapter says, first of all, about readying for his coming as the world events prepare for his coming. And it's interesting to me, for those of you that were here a couple Sundays ago when Stuart Rogers spoke in Sunday morning service about the fullness of time, it is interesting to me how God often puts things together. because some of the things that he talked about, we're gonna talk about tonight, and God gives us in this chapter some more detail beyond. It focuses in on a certain portion of what was talked about and gives us more detail in some of those things. So we see in this chapter how world events prepared for the coming of Christ, and in chapters one through eight, we have what we can call the conquest of Greece or the conquest by Greece. And then we will see in the latter part of this chapter, beginning in verse 11 and down through about verse 15 or so, the conflict with Greece. So what you have in the first eight verses of this chapter is a description of Alexander the Great in his conquest of the Middle East. And it's fascinating, whether you love history or not, what ought to fascinate you is what God says in this chapter and how accurately it was fulfilled as Alexander the Great made his conquest of the Middle East. And then in the conflict with Greece, we see Israel fighting against the remnants of the Greek Empire. And we won't get to that tonight. We'll deal with that next Sunday night. But again, it's fascinating. And one of the things that makes all this so interesting is that when we talk about the conflict with Greece, Israel's battle with Greece, that we read about in the latter part of this chapter, the events that we think about there happened and are memorialized in a feast of Israel today that they are currently celebrating. Do you know what that is? What is Israel or the Jewish people currently celebrating? We celebrate Christmas, they celebrate Hanukkah. Well, the events that Hanukkah memorializes are described in this chapter. So why did we come to chapter nine at this time when some of the events that we're talking about in chapter nine are actually being celebrated right now? I just think it's fascinating the way God puts things together. And the fact that he gave that burden and that message to Stuart Rogers two weeks ago, and then we're picking up kind of on the same line tonight and next Sunday night. So God just putting all this together, and it just reminds us God's in control. And that's what we see in this chapter. Because, again, we have the conquest of Greece, looking at chapter 9 and verse 1, the burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and Damascus shall be the rest thereof when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord. And Hamath also shall border thereby, Tyrus and Zidon, though it be very wise. And then he describes some things about Tyrus we'll see in just a moment. And then Ashkelon, verse 5, we'll see it in fear. Gaza shall see it and be very sorrowful. And Ekron, And it mentions Gaza and Ashkelon and Ashdod. So what you have in the first portion, you have the, first of all, Hadrach. And there's some debate about what is Hadrach? What does that name refer to? And it's not entirely clear, but Many believe that it is a designation for Persia. Warren Wearsby says it was a region to the far north of Palestine, bordered by the Euphrates River. But as Alexander began his conquest, he defeated the Persians at a place called Isis, and then he turned south and he moved through these areas. So if Hadrach is a name for Persia, we find that's exactly where Alexander started his conquest of the Middle East. He began with a battle against the armies of Persia. Darius was the king. Darius was at that battle. The Persians were defeated by the Greeks, but Darius fled. By the way, the Persians had an army that was about 10 times the size of Alexander's, and yet Alexander was victorious. I want to encourage you to come back next. I'd love to share this with you tonight, but I don't want to get out of order here. So next, it's fascinating what the Lord did. And we'll see that next Sunday night about what the Lord did and how he was involved in what Alexander was doing. But he began with this defeat of the Persians. It wasn't the final conquering of them, but it was a defeat that then had him turn south. And he then turns attention to Damascus. and Hamath and can anybody tell me, I'm trying to keep you engaged tonight, what those cities are part of what nation, even today, Damascus, And Hamath is not as familiar to us, but Damascus would be Syria. And if you look at a map of the Middle East, as you come in from, Alexander's coming from the West, and he's coming across Turkey, and he's coming to then that battle at ISIS with the Persians, kind of where Turkey meets the Middle East, that when you turn south and you come to Syria, And so there is judgment against Damascus and Hamath. And Alexander took those cities. In Amos 6 and verse 2, Hamath is referred to as Hamath the Great. In that day, it was a great city. And Alexander conquered those cities of Syria. And then he moves down and he attacks Tyrus and Zidon. And those are cities of what nation today? Tyre and Sidon are cities in what nation today? They're in the news today, right now, concerning Israel. They're Israel's northern neighbor. Lebanon. Yes. And so, you know, and Syria and Lebanon have been at times during David and Solomon's days, they were allies of Israel, but they have been enemies of Israel. And as Alexander moves south, he comes through and he has that battle with the Persians. And then he moves down and he conquers Syria. And then he moves down into Tyre and Sidon and the cities of Lebanon. And he conquered Lebanon. But you'll notice that God singles out Tyre. And it's Tyrus or Tyre, and I may refer to it as Tyre, that's how we know it, Tyre and Sidon. But you notice what it says in verse three, Tyrus did build herself a stronghold and heaped up silver as the dust and fine gold as the mire of the streets. The people of Tyre were very prosperous people. They had a fortress, a strong fortress. They were a strong people. There actually were two cities of Tyre in ancient days. There was a city on the mainland, and Nebuchadnezzar ultimately defeated that city, destroyed the city on the mainland. And so the people moved out to an island off the coast, I don't remember exactly how far it is, but, and they established a second city out in the ocean and built a strong fortress there, and they carried on trade through shipping, and they became a very wealthy people, so much so that dust, silver was like dust, plentiful gold, it says, was like the mire of the streets, gold and silver so plentiful that gold was like garbage. I mean, it was that prevalent. It's like the stuff you'd throw away. It was so abundant, entire. They were a very wealthy people. and they had this stronghold, this city that they considered to be impossible to overcome. Matter of fact, the Assyrians, that city by the sea, they laid siege to it for five years. and had to go home empty-handed. They didn't succeed in conquering it. And the Babylonians attacked that city, and Nebuchadnezzar did, and besieged it for 13 years, and went home empty-handed. Although, if you'll turn to Ezekiel 29 for just a moment, and again, you know, especially when you're studying prophecy, but throughout, the Bible ties together. Things in the Word of God tie together. So we're reading about Tyre. And Ebekeneser, again, he took the mainland city, but he couldn't take the island city. And so in Ezekiel 29, God speaks about this. Now, when was Ezekiel written, do you know? Anybody know when Ezekiel was written? Okay, and contemporary with, Ezekiel was contemporary with who? Daniel and also Jeremiah. Jeremiah was, remained in Israel. Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon along with Daniel, and they're ministering there. So in the Babylonian captivity, that's the days of Ezekiel. And so God is speaking there. And we'll come to chapter 28 in just a moment, but in chapter 29, beginning in verse 18, I want you to notice what God says. Son of Man, that's a name for Ezekiel. Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, that's we normally think of him as Nebuchadnezzar, just another spelling of his name, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus. Every head was made bald and every shoulder was peeled. So you get the idea, you know, butting the head against, rubbing the shoulder, attacking the city of Tyre. But you'll notice that it says, yet he had no wages nor his army for Tyrus for the service that he had served against it. He was not victorious. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I'll give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall take her multitude and take her spoil and take her prey. and it shall be the wages for his army. And I've given him the land of Egypt for his labor, wherewith he served against it, because he hath wrought for me, saith the Lord God." And what Nebuchadnezzar was doing was from the hand of God. What Alexander the Great did was from the hand of God. And so God promises to give Nebuchadnezzar, because he fought against Tyre and didn't succeed in defeating her, that God was going to give him a spoil from Egypt as his payment for doing God's work. But God promised that Tyre would fall because of her pride and because of the way that she treated the nation of Israel. Back in chapter 28 of Ezekiel, beginning in verse 1, the Lord says there, And thou hast said, I am a God. I sit in the seat of God in the midst of the seas. Again, that's that island fortress. Yet thou art a man and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel. There's no secret that they can hide from thee. With thy wisdom and with thine understanding, thou hast gotten thee riches and gotten gold and silver into thy treasures. And by thy great wisdom and thy traffic, By carrying on trade, you've increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches. And therefore, thus saith the Lord God, because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God, behold, therefore, I'll bring strangers upon thee, and the terrible of the nations, and they'll draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they will defile thy brightness, and bring thee down to the pit, and thou die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. And verse 10, you'll die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken, and saith the Lord God. And so, you notice, let's look at one other passage in Ezekiel 26. beginning of verse one, it came to pass in the 11th year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Set a man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken, that was the gates of the people. She is turned unto me, and I shall be replenished. Now she is laid waste. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up, and they'll destroy the walls of Tyrus, break down her towers, I will also scrape her from dust, and make her like the top of a rock, and it will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. For I have spoken it, saith the Lord God, and it shall become a spoil to the nations." And so because of their attitude towards Israel, And because of their pride, and they thought, you know, we're like God, nobody can bother us, nobody can defeat us. We are powerful and mighty and we are indestructible. God promised that they would be brought down. And by the way, I would suggest that there's a lesson for us today as Americans. God has certainly blessed America. We are a world power. We are the greatest power on earth. Today, I think we could still say that, that we are the dominant world power. Our dollar is a world economy, and we influence world events, and we are one of the superpowers. We have a lot of influence still in the world, but we have to be careful. There is a, I suppose, a legitimate pride of nation, but we have to be careful that we don't become so proud of being Americans that we would bring down the wrath of God, that God would have to say, let me show you that you are not who you think you are. What is Egypt today? It still exists as a nation because God has preserved it, but it was a world power at one time. It's not today. Where is Assyria today? Where is Babylon today? Whereas Greece today, they were all world powers. They were all like America. They no longer exist, or if they exist, they do not have the power and the influence that they had because God brought them down. And two reasons, one, because of the way they treated Israel. Because God made that promise to Abraham, I'll bless as it bless you and curse as it curse you. And that still holds true today. And secondly, because of their pride in their power, and they begin to think that we have done this ourselves, we have made ourselves this great people and we can preserve our greatness and we look to ourselves instead of looking to God. And as God has brought down other nations, he will bring down our nation if we turn against Israel and become so filled with pride of who we are that we forget God. I think that ladder for many, we're there. There are many people in our nation, many of our leaders that do not want to acknowledge God or God's blessing or the fact that God has made us who we are. And the more true that becomes across the board in our nation, the more danger we have of facing the annihilation of God, or at least God reducing us to nothing as far as any world power influence is concerned. And so God promised Tyre, because of her pride and because of her attitude toward Israel, that he would, going back to Zechariah chapter nine and verse four, the Lord would cast her out and smite her power in the sea and she would be devoured with fire. And when Alexander came against the city of Tyre, he took the leftovers from where Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the mainland city. He took the leftovers and he built a road from the mainland out to the island fortress of Tyre. And in seven months, the city of Tyre fell. The Assyrians couldn't take it in five years, the Babylonians in 13 years, and Alexander took it in seven months. Why? Because God allowed that to happen, because God made it happen, because God was done with Tyre. I'll put up with your pride and your treatment of Israel as long as I'm going to. There is an end to God's patience. And so, what happened, what the Lord said here. And the interesting, Zechariah is writing in the, this is, I don't know exactly when these last chapters were written, but the earlier chapters were written in 519. We know that the visions that he had were on December 7th of 519 B.C. And Alexander conquered this area in what is it, the 330s, late 330s BC, so about 200 years, God is telling, He is declaring this truth 200 years before it happened. And God can do that because He doesn't just know history, He is writing history, He is making history happen. And again, everything that Alexander did, and he told Daniel, There's gonna be four world kingdoms. The one that exists now is Babylon. After that is gonna come Medo-Persia, and then Greece, and then Rome, and then Rome will disintegrate, and eventually there's gonna be a revival of the Roman Empire with the 10-nation confederation that makes up a revived Roman Empire that will exist in the last days when Jesus comes again, and he will bring it into that one. But that all happened. just as God had said it would because God was ordering those events. History is truly His story. And so when we study history, it's interesting to study the lives of people and the events of history, but we need, as believers, we need to study an understanding that God is the one that is orchestrating all of that history. The people that have been movers and shakers in the world throughout the history of the world, God has been in that. God is working out His purpose, His purpose for the nation of Israel, His purpose for the Gentile nations, His purpose for us. And so we see God 200 years before, and even before that with Ezekiel and Daniel, prophesying, predicting what is going to happen. He uses that, by the way, in the book of Isaiah, in the 700s, he uses his declarations of what is going to happen to refute idolatry. He says to his people and other Gentiles that would worship idols, can your idols do this? Can they predict the future? And God says, they can't because they're nothing. And I can because I'm writing history, because I am ordering history. And when these things happen, you will know that I am God. Matter of fact, the liberals want to tell us that, you know, Daniel wasn't written by Daniel because his prophecies are so accurate. It must have been written after the fact. Matter of fact, one of the most fascinating chapters in the Bible is Daniel chapter 11, because of the detail that God gave Daniel about events that would happen in the time between the Old and the New Testament, the 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the things that were going on in the world in those days. In Daniel chapter 11, you have a detailed account of many of the things that would happen between the Old and the New Testament. And the detail is amazing. So much so that, again, those that want to deny the inspiration of the Bible tell us it must have been written after the fact. That's the only way it could be so accurate. And the same thing is true here. As the Lord says, Tyre is going to be destroyed. Her power would be cast into the sea. That city was destroyed by Alexander and pushed into the sea, and the remnant was burned with fire, just as God said it would happen. And so then the next thing, as Alexander has that battle with Persia, and then he moves in and takes Syria, and then he moves in and conquers Lebanon, and then he moves down to another place that is in the news today and pertaining to Israel, and it's not what it was in that day, but nonetheless, it's the same area, and that would be what? Gaza. which in ancient days was part of what? What nation, what group of people? The Philistines. And so there were five major cities of the Philistines. There are four that God mentions here. Someone has suggested that the fifth, Gath, is not mentioned here. And someone suggested it was because in the days of Uzziah, Gath was defeated, conquered by Uzziah, and that may be. But you read about Ashkelon, in verse five, and Gaza, and Ekron, and Ashdod, those were four of the five major cities of the Philistine peoples. Ashkelon will see Tyre fall, and the natural response, I mean, this is the city that the Assyrians couldn't take, and the Babylonians couldn't take, and spent years trying to, and then Alexander comes in and in seven months takes it. They're scared to death. This guy's coming our way now. And Gaza will also see it and be very sorrowful. And Ekron, for her expectation, shall be ashamed. She's depending upon, these people are depending upon, Alexander's going to be defeated at Tyre. He's gonna go home empty-handed because he won't be victorious there. And Tyre falls and it's like, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. We were expecting that they were gonna stand and they didn't. Her expectation is ashamed. And so the king perishes from Gaza. Ashkelon will not be inhabited. I think it was Gaza where it was said that Alexander the king was brought to him. He had him tied behind a chariot and drug around the city to his death. God said, the king will perish, and that's exactly what happened. And Ashkelon would not be inhabited. And in Ashdod, there would be foreigners that would be placed there. That's what it says, a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod. Alexander put foreigners in that city. And God says, I'll cut off the pride of the Philistines. Again, they were perpetual enemies of Israel. And God says in verse 7, I will take away his blood out of his mouth and his abominations from between his teeth. But he that remaineth, even he shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. God says the remnant of the Philistines will be absorbed into Israel. You notice he says they will be like the remnant. God will take away the blood out of his mouth, the abominations between his teeth, that is their idolatry. They will cease to worship idols, and the remainers will be for our God. They'll be like governors in Judah, and they'll be like Jebusites. The Jebusites were the people that inhabited Jerusalem when David took the city. And those that survived were kind of absorbed into Israel. Matter of fact, there's a well-known Jebusite. When David numbered the people at the end of his life, and God was displeased with him. And so God sent the death angel and there was a plague and 70,000 of Israel's men were slain. And as the death angel is coming to the city of Jerusalem, the Lord stops him. David encounters him. And David is told to offer a sacrifice to God. And he's at the threshing floor of a man named Arunah. And David buys the property and the bullocks and the yoke. And he offers a sacrifice to God. And that became the place where the temple of God was built. But Arunah was a Jebusite. He had become part of Israel. And so when God says about the Philistines that they will be destroyed and then they will cease to be, there are no Philistines today. There are people in that area, but they're not the descendants of the Philistines of old. They were absorbed, the remainder were absorbed into Israel. In verse eight, God says, but I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth, and no oppressor shall pass through them anymore, for now I have seen with my eyes. The Lord said, but I will preserve my people. Alexander, he says, I'll encamp about mine house. Where is the house of God? Where was the house of God in Jerusalem? Matter of fact, they're building that house. you know, at this point, it may have already been completed. When he had his visions, they were halfway, the last vision, they were halfway through the work of rebuilding the temple. But God says, I will protect my house. So let me tell you the story. And some discredit it, I don't know whether it's true or not, but Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that as Alexander was besieging the city of Tyre, he sent word to the high priest in Jerusalem and he asked for men and provisions to help. And the high priest refused, stating that he had sworn allegiance to the Persian king, Darius, and he wouldn't go back on his word as long as Darius lived. So when Alexander took Tyre and then he moves in again, he takes the Philistines and then he turns towards Jerusalem. The high priest finds out Alexander is coming our way. He's defeated all everybody else. He's coming our way. They were scared to death, just like the Philistines. And so the high priest called on the Jewish people to fast and pray to God for protection. And Josephus tells us that God warned the high priest in a dream to take courage, to adorn the city and open the gates. And the people were to dress in white garments and the priests were to dress in their priestly garments. And when Alexander came, they were to go out and meet him and the Lord promised to protect them. And so they did. And when Alexander saw the high priest in his priestly garments and the turban on his head with the gold plate inscribed with the words holiness to the Lord, he approached the high priest alone and bowed before him and greeted him. Well, his men were astonished. They had never seen their general, their emperor, do this to any of his enemies. And so they asked him, you know, what, why are you doing this? And so he said that before he began his conquest, he had a dream in which he saw a man dressed just like the high priest who told him, this man told him that he would be victorious over the Persians and stated that he was fighting under divine guidance. And so when he saw the high priest, he recognized him as the man he had seen in the vision that told him he was gonna be victorious over the Persians. And he said, I'm bowing not to the priest, but to the God of the priest. And they took him into the temple and they offered sacrifices. He offered sacrifices to God at the temple through the high priest. And then it was said that he was shown in the book of Daniel what God had said concerning the Greeks defeating the Persians. And so he allowed, he did not take the city, he did not harm the people. Matter of fact, he granted them religious freedom and it was said that many of the Jews who had boys born that year named them Alexander in his honor. Is it a true story? I don't know, but what is true is Whether Alexander saw a vision or not that said, you're going to be victorious over the Persians, God was giving him victory. And God did exactly what he said he would do. 200 years before, he said, but I'm going to encamp about my house, and they're not going to take this. They're going to take the Persians and the Syrians and the Babylonians and the Philistines, but they will not take my people. I will protect my people. And God did. However he did it, he did it. And as a result of all that, You go back to verse one, and it tells us that all this is happening. When all this is happening, the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, are towards the Lord. The result of all this is men are seeing the hand of God at work, and they're glorifying God. Now, that's the conquest by Greece, and we'll look at the conflict with Greece in another message. But let me close by quoting from Warren Wiersbe's commentary. He says, why all this concern over the conquests of Alexander the Great? Well, his conquests helped prepare the world for the coming of Jesus Christ. By building Greek cities, encouraging his soldiers to marry women from conquered nations, and spreading Greek culture in the Greek language, he unified the known world And when the Romans took over, they found an empire all prepared for them. Greek was the language of literature, and our New Testament is written in the common Greek language of the people of that day. The combination Greek culture and Roman government, roads, and laws was just what the early church needed for the spread of the gospel. Now, I don't know about you, and when I first read this chapter, I didn't see all this, but as I began to dig, then I'm fascinated by the fact that this is my God declaring what is going to happen. A foreign king is going to come down into this area, and he's going to do just exactly what God said. And I read it, and then I read the history, and I realize it fits perfectly. And so the result should be that I should be amazed at my God. I should be able to give greater glory to my God. When I see these kinds of things, when I read and study Daniel chapter 11 and see the detail and the fulfillment of that, it should cause me to magnify, to glorify my God. What a mighty God we serve. and know that he's in control. And just as he controls world powers, he's also in control of your life and mine. And I can trust him to take care of me. If he can rule nations, he can rule my life. Well, let's stand together for prayer. Father, we are reminded tonight of your greatness and your glory and your majesty and your power And we thank you that you have chosen to not only predict the future, but to allow it to be preserved for us, that we might study it even some 2000 years later and marvel at your greatness. And Father, may you stir our hearts tonight with just how mighty of a God you are. And would you help us to trust you with our lives? and to not worry, but to rest in you and to know that you are in control. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. As we close tonight, let's sing one more Christmas hymn and