Sermon Tone Analysis

Background

Zechariah is the longest of the Minor Prophets or one could say the least minor.

Genesis, Psalms, and Isaiah are the most quoted books in the New Testament, and when you consider their lengths and contents it is really not that shocking.

Maybe what would shock you is that 14 chapters of Zechariah is quoted about 40 times in the New Testament.

The book is easily the most Messianic and Christ-centered of the Minor Prophets.

The past part of Zechariah is the most quoted section of the prophets int he Gospel passion narratives.

The New Testament makes repeated use of this book and so should we.

Zechariah’s prophecies begin sometimes around October or November of 520 B.C. Chapters 1-8 can be precisely dated while the remaining chapters cannot.

Zechariah’s prophecies in the first 8 chapters played a crucial role in reestablishing Israel’s worship after the exile.

The theme verse of Zechariah is Zechariah 14:9.

The culmination of all prophecy is in the Millennial Reign of Christ - when He becomes King over the whole earth.

Zechariah’s Call

Introduction

Ever found yourself in that uncomfortable space.

You know the space of tension within a relationship.

Usually after a break in the relationship or an offense.

It happens in all relationships but its that space where you can be in the same room but feel miles apart.

The felt distance is a hard gap to close.

The only way to close that distance is to provide resolution to what caused the distance in the first place.

As we start in the book of Zechariah this is a book of prophecy that begins with night visions and then moves and ends with future visions of the coming king and His kingdom.

However before Israel can get to the visions they must first close the distance in their relationship with God.

They are returning from exile and wondering where they are with God and what this means for the promises from before.

We sort of relate if we think back to when we got in trouble as kids coming out of the discipline part wondering where we stood.

Zechariah’s call is the call to close the distance and before we decide that this message isnt for us - let us truly consider and think about our relationship with the LORD and consider our closeness with Him and let us keep in mind one recorded event from the White House during the Truman administration

Clark Clifford, who was White House counsel during the Truman Administration, was at a White House banquet one night when one of the guests turned to the woman next to him.

“Did I get your name correctly?” he asked.

“Is your name Post?”

“Yes, it is,” the woman said.

“Is it Emily Post?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Are you the world-renowned authority on manners?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Mrs. Post said.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because,” the man said, “you have just eaten my salad.”

(“Bits & Pieces,” [1/85], pp.

14-15.)

Knowing something and applying it are two different matters.

It is possible to be an expert on manners and yet eat the wrong salad!

It is possible to be an expert on the Bible and yet not apply that knowledge in your daily life.

So lets all agree to hear what the LORD is saying here this morning to us individually.

Call To Zechariah

Zechariah the prophet is like Haggai a post-exilic prophet of the tribe of Levi and born in Babylon.

Zechariah is identified as the son of Berechiah and the grandson of Iddo the priest.

Ezra and Nehemiah both identify him as a descendant of Iddo - perhaps implying that his father died young and Zechariah was the successor for his grandfather.

As Jeremiah and Ezekiel before him Zechariah was both priest and prophet.

Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai and while Haggai was old Zechariah was relatively younger.

If Haggai was all we had to go on we might conclude that God was interested in the temple.

Zechariah shows us that God was interested in lives also.

The three names given give us an idea of Zechariah’s call and message (like most of the prophets their names reveal much).

Zechariah means “the LORD remembers” Berechiah means “Jehovah will bless” and Iddo means “at the appointed time”.

All together the message is the LORD remembers, Jehovah will bless, at the appointed time.

Zechariah was sent to encourage the people in their calling and in their work for the LORD.

God is saying He remembers the plans and promises made previously, and He WILL indeed bless you at the appointed time — so endure persevere and dont give up.

Again the date setting based on a Gentile ruler was a reminder that they were in the times of the Gentiles mentioned in Luke 21:24 and Daniel chapter 2 and 7. Zechariah is the agent of the message and not the originator.

We read here that the word of the LORD came to him as it did to all prophets - from the LORD.

God is the originator of His word - even though He calls other men to speak it.

Call To Return

Zechariah’s first words was a statement of the LORD’s anger with their ancestors.

In an affirmation that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple as well as the exile witnessed and experienced by the previous generation was divine anger.

The LORD was in fact EXTREMELY angry.

The sin of their fathers had doomed them to exile.

Zechariah began with a reminder that their LORD is a God whose anger burns against sin.

The people then and the people today need to hear “The LORD simply cannot tolerate sin among His people” Beware of God’s holiness and respond accordingly.

This group was the remnant of those who had gone to Babylon, the 50,000 that did return were the most committed to the LORD and the restoration of Jerusalem.

They after 18 years returned in the land needed to hear this and heed the warning from the LORD.

God says to Zechariah so tell the people - because of what was said before - that He was extremely angry with their ancestors - The LORD of armies says “RETURN TO ME” and this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — I WILL RETURN TO YOU!

The sins of their forefathers we responsible for the desolation and destruction of the temple, their own sins resulted in the rebuilding of the temple being delayed.

God however despite both these things was extending an invitation of grace to repent.

Return to me - turn from this and turn back to me in other words the call is to repent.

The call to repentance is an invitation of grace to grace.

Notice that God didnt just want them to return to the work but that He wanted them to return to Him.

He wasnt calling them to return to the law but to literally return to HIM the LORD Himself.

The complete committed return to the LORD Himself would result in the LORD returning to them.

Adverse circumstances had discouraged God’s people and they perhaps felt God was far away - the land was desolate after 70 years of neglect, the work was hard, they didnt have much money or resources anymore - their crops were failing - hostile enemies resisting their work and the memories of easier times in Babylon all contributed to the feeling that God was far from them.

Zechariah was called to tell them the LORD is only as far away as they want Him to be.

Return to Him and He will return to you! James the apostle speaks the same thing in the New Testament.

James 4:8 (CSB)

8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

If we make the effort to return God promises that He will respond to us.

This is why when people share that they have tried getting close to God but He didnt answer I know that they havent truly tried.

Let God be true and every man a liar - either God is lying or we arent being truthful about seeking Him and drawing near to Him - because He has promised to turn to us if we turn to Him.

We must also remember that if we are far from God - it isnt He who has left, but we who have distanced ourselves.

It’s like the elderly couple driving down the road in their car with a front bench seat.

As they drove, the wife noticed that in many of the other cars with couples in the front seat, the woman sat close to the man as he drove.

She asked her husband “Why is it that we dont sit that close anymore?

He simply answered “It wasnt me who moved”

If we are far from God He hasnt moved

Sometimes we may wish that God would make us return to Him or make our loved ones return to Him, instead of calling us out of our own choice.

God wants our freely given love, so He prompts us to choose Him and return to Him.

In his disputations with Pelagius, Augustine gave careful attention to verse 3. Augustine strongly opposed the Pelagian view that God extended His grace based upon the recipient’s own merits.

In contrast Augustine argued that God gives grace freely, not on the basis of human worth to receive that grace.

When commenting on verse 3 Augustine wrote “One of these clauses — that which invites our return to God — evidently belongs to our will; while the other, which promises His return to us, belongs to His grace.”

He calls them to return based on the promise to return to them — the choice is theirs and the same choice is ours today as well.

Call To Remember

Zechariah is then directed to call the people to remember and to heed the warning - do not be like your ancestors.

It has been said “Learning from your mistakes makes you smart.

Learning from other people’s mistakes makes you a genius.”

Do not be like your ancestors - the earlier prophets proclaimed to them to turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds but they did not listen or pay attention.

They ignored in disobedience.

The earlier prophets are separated from Zechariah and his contemporaries by the years of exile.

Preexilic preaching and prophesying featured the call to repent.