Sermon Tone Analysis

There are times in life when things may seem impossible.

Our destination may seem to be a long way off but God, through His word, offers us encouragement that it is not impossible and will surely come to pass.

Today I want us to be encouraged that the impossible will come to pass.

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Background

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In 586 BC, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem and taken most of its inhabitants into exile (2 Kgs 25:1–21).

The Bible describes how Jerusalem was burned and plundered.

They took all of the gold, silver and other important vessels of the the temple away into Babylon.

They burned the temple, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem.

They broke down the walls around Jerusalem and they carried the people away into exile although they left some of the poor to care for the vineyards and fields.

Despite this catastrophe, God promised through various prophets to restore the people to the land (Jer 25:11–12; 29:10; Ezek 36:24).

The partial fulfillment of this promise occurred in 539 BC, when the Persian king Cyrus allowed the Jews in exile to return to the land and to rebuild the temple (compare the so-called “Cyrus Cylinder”; 2 Chr 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–4).

The Cyrus Cylinder is important because it shows that the common elements of ANE royal propaganda were also used by the Persian conqueror: for example the cylindar speaks about restoration of the temples, good care for the gods, the return of the captured exiles and the statues of the deities.

This is how the Bible describes the situation as well and was what led to the Jews being able to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

Though the Jews were initially enthusiastic to undertake these two tasks of returning and rebuilding, they soon encountered internal and external opposition.

This caused construction work on the second temple to stop until the second year of King Darius (Ezra 4:24).

Following Haggai and Zechariah’s exhortation for the Jews to finish what they had started, construction restarted in 520 BC (Ezra 5:1; 6:14).

Thus Zechariah the prophet appears on the scene in 520 BC.

The temple was completed in the sixth year of Darius (515 BC; compare Ezra 6:15).

The prophet Zechariah was sent by God to encouarge the people at a time when they were coming off 70 years of exile.

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An Exalted Jerusalem

Zechariah starts his message with a reminder to the exiles who have returned to the land.

He reminds them that it was the stubborness and rebelliousness of their ancestors that caused them to go into captivity.

God reminds them that they were warned what would happen and that He had made good on that warning;

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These returning exilees had experienced first hand that when God gives a royal decree it is certain to take place.

In the same way, through the experiences of God’s dealings with us, we know that He is righteous and that His word comes to pass.

But we know that if God brings His word to pass in discipline, He will certainly bring it to pass in times of mercy.

This deep experience with God’s discipline allows the people to also trust in the messages of hope that The Almighty had proclaimed through Zechariah.

At a time when Jerusalem lay in ruins before their eyes, all throughout the book Zechariah speaks to them about a time when Jerusalem will be exalted.

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When our physical eyes tell us one thing God’s word opens our spiritual eyes to see the certainty of another.

The exilees receive a message like this while they are standing before a hole in the ground where the temple used to be.

What once seemed an impossibility was now within their grasp.

They would soon see Jerusalem thrive.

But even beyond the immediate, Zechariah showed them a time in the distant future when Jerusalem would be exalted above all other nations.

They worked diligently with this fresh hope despite the circumstances being less than ideal.

How will we respond when our circumstances are less than ideal but the word of God is clear about our exalted future?

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In His Method and Timing

Zech is filled with great expectations delivered for the encouragement of the returning exiles.

Earlier we spoke about the proclamation of Cyrus and the Cyrus cynlinder.

Here is how the Bible describes his proclamation.

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You may be temtped to read a passage like that and think that Cyrus has decided to put his faith in the God of Israel as the Most High, a true devotion to the Creator, but this is not the case.

The fact is that God used an evil king to accomplish His purpose.

Cyrus was interested in his own agenda, to spread propaganda throughout the empires and put himself forward as a noble ruler, gaining the favour of all gods and peoples.

You see, he did this for many nations that were captured by Babylon.

The truth is that God uses a mortal ruler with evil and selfish intentions to accomplish His purpose.

He raised Cyrus up and accomplished His purpose in the proper time.

This is in fact how God displays His soveriengty and command of the universe.

We might ask, “why doesn’t God simply snap His fingers and stop all the madness in the world?”

I don’t think anyone has a perfect answer to this question for His ways are above ours, but in my opinion it seems to me that God has decided to administer His rule on the principles of justice and due process and it is His strict adherece to His own principles that appears to us as ‘delay’ or ‘inaction’.

I was once on a work trip with an athiest colleauge and we got into a spirited conversation.

Ultimately it came down to this very issue, my colleauge said;

“with all the evil in this world why isn’t God doing anything about it?

I can’t believe in a God like that.”

And my response was;

“Ah but God is doing something about it, in fact He gave up sent His only son for the sake of His creation.

So, He is doing something about it, but it is just that you don’t like His decisions on how to deal with it and the timeline that He has decided to implement those decisions.”

As God’s people in this world we need to be submissive to His method and His timing in all things.

The people were brought back from captivity after a long 70 years when God used a pagan ruler like Cyrus to bring it about.

And God didn’t return them with a large army to fight off those that opposed the rebuilding of the temple, no, the people tried to start but had to wait years before the opportunity presented itself.

However, this message of method and timing is not only for God’s people.

This message is for all of God’s creation.

Zerubbabel was one of the captives who returned to Jerusalem and he was one of the main leaders of the people of Israel who desired to build the temple.

A message of encouragement was given to him through Zechariah.

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You see, this message of method and timing is also for the enemies of God to come to terms with.

Even they must realise that nothing is truly accomplished by human will.

Here Zerubbabel is told that it is God’s Spirit that determines the outcome of man and because of that he can be assured, encouraged, confident that nothing will stand in the way of the rebuilding of the temple becuase the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has decreed it!

This is an encouragement for you as well.

When we face opposition from men that would prevent us in worshipping our king we must remember that the sovereign God of the universays it is not by might nor by power but by only by His Spirit.

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The Day of the Lord

An exalted Jerusalem might seem impossible for those now building the temple.

But through Zechariah the Holy Spirit reminds the people that in the future they won’t have to rely on their own strength, for on that day the Lord will fight their battles.

Tine doesn’t permit a full investigation into the topic so a cursory review will have to suffice.

The Scripture uses a range of descriptions for The Day of the Lord.

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“The Day of the Lord’s Judgment”

“The Day of the Lord’s anger” (Lam 2:22; Zeph 2:2–3)

“The Day of the Lord’s wrath” (Zeph 1:18)

“The great and terrible Day of the Lord” (Mal 4:5)

“In That Day or On That Day” (Zech 14.6)

There are also certain themes we see conntected with this day;

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Cosmic Events (Zech 14; Joel 2); Darkness (Joel 2:2; Amos 5:18–20; Zeph 1:15); Fire (Joel 2:3; Zeph 1:18; Mal 4:1; see also 2 Pet 3:10); War (Joel 2:7; Zeph 1:14–16); The Lord of Hosts (armies) (Isa 13:4; Amos 3:13; Zeph 2:9–10); Imminence (Isa 13:6; Ezek 7:7; 30:3; Joel 1:15; Zeph 1:7, 14; Obad 1:15); Renewal (Isa 35:1–10; Joel 3:18–20; Amos 9:11–12; Zeph 3:12–20; see also 2 Pet 3:13).

The Bible indicates several “days” of the Lord will have taken place before the final judgment arrives.

The prophets warn the northern kingdom of Israel as well as the southern kingdom of Judah that they will be defeated by a foreign power if they do not return to the Lord.

Their days of judgment seemingly takes place when the Assyrians attacked and destroyed Israel in 722 bc. and the Babylonian captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 586 bc.

In other words the Day of the Lord is a theme referring to God’s judgement and invovlement in His creation.

Only the context will determine whether the Day of the Lord is referring to the final judgement or to another judgement.

Nevertheless, in all of these instances in history of God bringing judgement we will find a glimpse of an ultimate Day of the Loard still to come.

The Day of the Lord doesn’t have to be a single day.

If I said to you, “back in my day I was top of my class”, then first of all I’d be lying, but second I don’t mean that back in that 24hr period.

So we need to allow language to have the proper flexibility where called for.