God's Call to Return
Notes
Transcript
There is no king in Israel or Judah now. The Davidic line is off the throne, and the Times of the Gentiles are in progress.
Zechariah is prophesying in the same time frame as Haggai. These verses are placed between the second and third messages of Haggai, in 520 B.C.
There is no date given for this introductory word, only that it is given in the eighth month (falling in October-November) of 520 B.C.
1. God’s Gracious Call, vs 1-2.
1. God’s Gracious Call, vs 1-2.
Zechariah has been given the word of the LORD. Zechariah means, “God remembers.” both his father and grandfather are mentioned, adding his genealogy to this first verse.
Zechariah is called the prophet; he is recognized as a person who speaks divinely inspired messages from the LORD, proclaiming God’s will to the people.
His father Berechiah was not as well known as the Grandfather Iddo, who was one of the priests who returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel. This indicates that Zechariah was of the priestly line.
In the remaining verses of our text today is a synopsis of a sermon of Zechariah to the remnant which has returned to Jerusalem. Over and over again God has communicated to man many truths and here is one announced by the prophets: The receiving and enjoyment of God’s promises must be prefaced by genuine repentance.
Zechariah, building on the work of Haggai, encouraged the people by revealing God’s plan to establish His rule and identifying the rebuilding of the temple as the initial phase of this plan
Zechariah tells the people the reason they had been in captivity by the Babylonians in verse 2.
Their forefathers had sinned against God.
A very emphatic statement, “very angry” emphasizes that the LORD simply cannot tolerate sin among His people, and as He was “very angry” at their forefathers, so the people of Judah are warned that if they continue in their sin, God might punish them again severely. How angry? The emphatic use of the words here indicates, “vehement displeasure, almost to the extent of abhorrence” (Baron, The Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah, pg. 10).
Here is the theological reason for the exile, found in 2 Chronicles 36:15-21
The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;
but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.
Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand.
All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon.
Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.
Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,
to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.
2. Return for Restoration, 3.
2. Return for Restoration, 3.
Zechariah does not dwell on the anger of the LORD, but now speaks of the tender love the LORD has for his people in the invitation of verse 3. The people of Judah should fear God’s holiness and respond accordingly. In all of Scripture, the one prerequisite to receiving any of God’s blessings is to “turn” or “return.” This is not just to the land or even a return to the rebuilding of the temple. It is a return to the LORD Himself. This is God’s call to us to reverse our directions from following our own aims and goals and to seek Him to follow His aims and goals. As believers, we are positionally near in Christ Jesus Eph 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Yet we are also called to draw even nearer, James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This is the consistent promise of God to His people
Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Forsake sin, return to the LORD (who has never left). It is always time to repent of our sins if we wish to experience the power of the gospel and the joy of walking with our Lord. We need to turn our backs on our sins and turn to face Him, the source of every blessing.
3. Learn from the lessons of history, 4-6.
3. Learn from the lessons of history, 4-6.
Zechariah now reminds the people not to follow the path of their fathers, their ancestors. In verse 4, Zechariah says the very same message went out by previous prophets. They called on their fathers to repent of their sins and return to the LORD. The fathers had sinned in two ways: in their evil ways and in their evil deeds.
Evil ways describes a mindset or tendency to always go toward the evil option.
Evil deeds describes the actual practice or activity of evil.
Regardless of whether some only lean toward evil or actually practice evil, both forms of evil are condemned.
The former prophets had spoken the truth, pleading with the previous generations to “please turn back to the LORD.” But, as Zechariah said, they did not listen or give heed to the LORD.
They are not to be like their fathers, who had perished, but to return to the LORD, to a personal relationship and allegiance to Him. They were to become the kind of people that the LORD can bless!
The former prophets were no longer alive to continue warning the people. They would not have endless opportunities to repent. They have experienced the punishments that the former prophets had warned their ancestors would come. Just as their fathers and the former prophets are now dead, they have little time to do anything for the LORD’s glory before they too will be gone.
Likewise, our time on earth is fleeting. if there is so little time in which to do anything for the glory of God, how important is it that we should do so now while we have life and breath.
The Word of God is NOT fragile nor temporary, Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
It is the permanence, immutability or unchangeableness of the Word of God and His purpose that distinguishes them from His servants the prophets. The prophets, even the best of them, were weak and frail servants compared to the abiding truthfulness and eternal effectiveness of the message that these prophets bring! Our trust is not in the prophet, nor is it the preacher, nor the teacher, but our trust is in the LORD who sent them and in the truthfulness of the word they speak for that word belongs to God.
“Did not My words … overtake your fathers?” Cf. Deuteronomy 28:15
“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
The word of God would do what it promised or threatened to do. The plan and purpose of God would be carried out for Judah and the nations. The LORD has done exactly what He planned to do, Daniel 4:35
“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
As we close, let us not go through the motions of repenting of our sins by external rituals. Joel beseeched the people in his day, Joel 2:13
And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.
Let those who have never turned to the LORD before, and those who have but who have gotten away from Him and have fallen into sin, repent and turn 180 degrees to face the One who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.