Zechariah’s Call
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Background
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.
9 On that day the Lord will become King over the whole earth—the Lord alone, and his name alone.
The culmination of all prophecy is in the Millennial Reign of Christ - when He becomes King over the whole earth.
Zechariah’s Call
Zechariah’s Call
Introduction
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.
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo: 2 “The Lord was extremely angry with your ancestors.
3 So tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: Return to me—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies. 4 Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the Lord of Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to me—this is the Lord’s declaration.
5 Where are your ancestors now? And do the prophets live forever? 6 But didn’t my words and my statutes that I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors?’ ” So the people repented and said, “As the Lord of Armies decided to deal with us for our ways and our deeds, so he has dealt with us.”
Call To Zechariah
Call To Zechariah
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:
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
Call To Return
2 “The Lord was extremely angry with your ancestors. 3 So tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: Return to me—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.
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.
2 “Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
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
Call To Remember
4 Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the Lord of Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to me—this is the Lord’s declaration. 5 Where are your ancestors now? And do the prophets live forever?
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.
9 They are a rebellious people, deceptive children, children who do not want to listen to the Lord’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy the truth to us. Tell us flattering things. Prophesy illusions. 11 Get out of the way! Leave the pathway. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”
Remember their place, remember their sinful deeds, remember their call, and remember their choice - disobedience. Do not be like your fathers in their stubborn disobedience. The pull to be like our fathers is great and its hard and takes conscious effort to avoid. Much of what a child picks up is not explicitly taught but rather inadvertently caught. Many fall into their parents sin before they realize what we’re doing.
How do we respond to the referees on the TV screen? How do we handle frustration? What about driving? When we see the idiots on the road and we call them such and then we hear the seat next to us or behind us repeat the same thing. Be careful to not be like your ancestors who disobeyed and did not pay attention to Me the Lord says.
It was their sin that facilitated their abandonment of God.
They chose sin over God.
And God warned them over and over through the mouths of the prophets
But they would not listen or give heed.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.
25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
James said a man must be “quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”
That is not a verse necessarily about the attitude; that is a verse about how you handle the word of God.
• Be quick to hear what God has to say.
• When God speaks don’t argue with it.
• And when God condemns you don’t’ get angry, be humble.
• For if you argue with God or ignore what He has to say you will never achieve the righteousness He requires.
Zechariah also speaks the caution of the LORD about time running out and the peril of delaying. Where are your ancestors now? Do the prophets live forever? The answer to the question is they are dead and buried. Dead from sword, famine, pestilence, and natural causes. The implied answer for the second question is no. The ministries of the prophets were brief and the opportunities for the repentance they preached should not be ignored. The death of the prophets indicate the loss of opportunity for the nation and the people. God had given the Jews ample time to repent and escape punishment but they instead ignored and wasted the opportunity and now the opportunity had passed.
“Do you think God just warns and warns and warns and warns and ever does anything about it?” NO! This isnt a joke God was serious then and is serious now.
1 Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive.
Remember do not delay spiritual opportunity does not last forever. Their ancestors had died. The prophets also had died. Guess what? We also soon will be dead! If we do not respond obediently to the Lord today, we may not have tomorrow.
Call To Realize
Call To Realize
6 But didn’t my words and my statutes that I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors?’ ” So the people repented and said, “As the Lord of Armies decided to deal with us for our ways and our deeds, so he has dealt with us.”
God’s promises outlived and outlasted all the previous prophets and ancestors. Though the people and the prophets died God’s words lived on to be fulfilled. His words overtook them because they are certain to be accomplished an fulfilled.
Verses 5 and 6 together show us, “Although your fathers died and even God’s prophets died, His Word is still with you, and it is always true.” When God’s Word warns of His discipline on our sin, it is not an idle threat. God’s Word overtook their fathers. The word “overtake” is a hunting term in the Hebrew and has the idea of relentlessly pursuing and hunting down. The idea is, “be sure your sin will find you out”. Realize this that God always wins, so it is futile to think that you can get away with or continue in your sin!
23 But if you don’t do this, you will certainly sin against the Lord; be sure your sin will catch up with you.
You cannot dodge God’s Word when it warns,
7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
The call to realize God wins and His word is inescapable.
24 For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.
That word tells us of God who judges all sin, but who also invites us to return to Him, not for judgment, but for blessing. And our return is not just one time, but over and over, as often as we sin. I know that you know that, but make sure anyways that you’re eating the right salad!
Conclusion
Conclusion
The call could not be clearer — the nation was given a choice to repent from their sins and turn to God or remain stubborn and obstinate in disobedience and receive the same fate reminiscent of Judah of old. Zechariah similar to the other prophets had the heart of God to see the people spared.
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
11 Tell them, ‘As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?’
God judges sin
Past judgments are a warning to us to turn from sin
Obedience brings blessing
Like God Himself, the word of God is inescapable
The future appears bright, but the prophet offers no unbridled optimism. A promising future rests on the people’s willingness to humble themselves before the Lord in submission to His covenant and its holy demands. The profound promise of v. 3, “Return to me … and I will return to you,”.
In his call for the people to return, God through Zechariah was preparing them to receive the words he would later give them, for unless our hearts are right with God, we can’t hear His Word with true spiritual comprehension.
“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:7).
We usually hear the call for lost sinners to repent, and this is good and biblical. But we rarely hear God’s people being to called repent, this however was the message of the prophets, John the Baptist, and Jesus.
“The last word of our Lord to the church is not the Great Commission,” said Vance Havner. “The Great Commission is indeed our program to the end of the age, but our Lord’s last word to the church is ‘Repent.’ ” It’s one thing to ask God to bless us but quite another to be the kind of people He can bless!