Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 1:3
I resume my study of the last four books of the OT (complete: Zephaniah, Haggai; to complete: Zechariah, Malachi) - using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book. For this morning, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Zechariah 1:1-3, which the commentary outlines as the first of three divisions for the text vv1-6 (1:1-3, 1:4-6a, 6b). The introduction to this chapter of the commentary shares "[t]he hope of the gospel is that lost people can be found and that distant and wandering believers can come back to the Lord....Jesus calls us to return when we wander far from Him." The commentary then shares how believers are not immune to straying from God and it points out how believers still struggle with divorce, pornography, racism, lack of tithing, etc. Zechariah and his family are described in v1 - Berechiah - his father, and Iddo - his grandfather. These names in Hebrew are defined with Zechariah's name meaning "the Lord Remembers," Berechiah's as "the Lord blesses," and Iddo's as "in time" with the combination of these names describing how the Lord remembers and blesses as His set time. God gave Zechariah a message to encourage His people who had returned from Babylonian captivity and exile to continue in their efforts to rebuild the temple - yet due to various factors work stopped. Haggai delivered a similar message. The commentary describes God's people as being complacent and discouraged in their fellowship with God - and God became very angry. Zechariah exhorts God's people to a "renewed closeness of the Lord," and the commentary outlines three divisions, each of which provide a motivation to return to the Lord. The first division or motivation provided by the commentary is God’s Righteous Wrath Calls Us to Return to Him. In v2 Zechariah share how angry God was the people's ancestors and their lack of faithfulness and resulting sin. We are referred to Psalm 78:10-11 that describes God's people and their spiritual state prior to Babylonian captivity and exile. Zechariah implores God's people to see the God they are spurning - the Lord of hosts - He who reigns over all, creator of Heaven and Earth and all of its inhabitants. We are reminded that yes God is love, compassion, mercy, etc. but he is just, we are commanded to love Him (most important commandment), and scripture is clear that the "wages of sin are death" (Romans 6:23). As such, when we sin and especially when we spurn God we should be clear that God has every right to be angry. He may be slow to anger (Nahum 1:3) but a righteous and just God does get angry with us when when we sin. The commentary shares: "[w]hen people deliberately take the path of sin and rebellion, when we determine to distance ourselves from Him, we experience God’s anger, His righteous wrath, just as the Jewish people did in their history. God is angry at sin in my life and in your life. And when we rebel against Him, we place ourselves into His anger zone." We should be very careful straying from God and a reverent fear of God should drive us into His arms - John Piper refers to "fear as a preservative," helping us understand that God may love us but at the same time He is just and all powerful and can mete out His wrath and judgement just as easily as He can love.
Comment and discuss this post.
My Prayer: Lord God You are an awesome God who loves and save - thank You Jesus for Your amazing grace. I am not deserving of such incredible love. My sin is great and it continues...daily. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.
