The Covenant Fulfilled

Pastoral Prayer for the Service & Preaching of the Word.

Read Zechariah 5.

The law exposes our sin, restrains the unruly, provides a guide to life. But Jesus is the heart and soul of the Decalogue. The first use of the law is the christological.

Peter Leithart

Key Question: Do I have a deep appreciation for God’s redeeming work?

I. God’s Holiness and Law are Perfect and Unchanging. (v. 1-2)

Mark 12:29–31 LSB

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Regardless of the punishment for their sin, or the time spent in Babylon, God remembered His covenant with Abraham, David, and the people of Judah.

The key insight we glean about God in this passage is that he is a holy God, who by nature of His holiness is unchanging and unbending.

To the unrepentant, holiness and unchanging nature are a source of great distress, but to the disciple of the Lord Jesus the same characteristics of God are a comfort and a joy.

II. Humanity’s Curse is Crushing. (v. 3-4)

Matthew 11:29–30 LSB

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Sin is what led the people of Judah and Israel into exile, the 10 to be dispersed among the nations, the people of Judah to be scattered among the kingdoms of the earth.

The work of men and ritualistic worship, like the one of pagan religions cannot accomplish the need in the heart of men. Therefore, the problem of sin crushes those who lack repentance that leads to faith.

What God promised to the Hebrews in Moses’s time; to the Israelites in David’s time, and to the Judahites in Zechariah’s time, is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

III. YHWH Alone Removes Iniquity and Unrighteousness. (v. 5-9)

Romans 5:5–8 LSB

and hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God removes evil from His presence and from His children, while he returns it back to its place of origin.

The real issue we find is that the world is the current kingdom where evil and wickedness would pretend to hold the ultimate authority, while Zechariah proclaims the truth that God holds the sway over all things, including the limits of evil and sin in the world.

It is the picture of the empty measure of wickedness in all its seductiveness that is locked away and taken to its place of origin that reminds us that a Holy God is far more powerful than our favorite idol.

IV. YHWH Keeps Evil at Bay. (v. 10-11)

Psalm 103:12 LSB

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

God continues to make the point that the world is affected by sin, and therefore by the influence of the accuser, but it all stands under God’s authority.

The Prophet shows how evil, sin, and wickedness signified in the woman are contrary to the work and true worship based in obedience to God’s Word.

While the influence of evil may continue to crawl around, we see that there will be a time when God will deal with it and its consequence accordingly. The first, with the inauguration of the kingdom (Christ’s first coming), then at the consummation of History (At the End of Human History).

YHWH has not forgotten, He made a way through His Son for His glory.

V. What is YHWH Teaching Us?

The Whole of God’s Word is both a judge and a comfort to humanity.

God is faithful to keep His promise to redeem His people.

What The OT calls for, the NT fulfills perfectly—God makes His children new.