Dear church,

Zechariah 10 contains more promises God gave to Israel. God is the giver of the spring rains. He supplied the crops with what they needed. He gave the land its moisture.

God may have been pointing out here that he was the God who brings rain – unlike the false god Baal, whom the Israelites frequently were tempted to worship and whom God put to shame in 1 Kings 18. Read that amazing chapter when you have time!

God isn’t like the idols the people of Israel were in the habit of making. Those idols offered up nothing but “nonsense,” “lies,” “false dreams,” and “empty consolation.” Sometimes we chase after things we think will “work” for us. We find something amiss in our lives, and we seek to fix it on our own – or by putting our faith in something other than God. Some people run to crystals or to the “power” of positive thinking or their own words, trying to speak good things into existence. God answers back that we will find in those things nothing but nonsense, lies, false dreams, and empty consolation.

Apparently, the leaders of Israel were urging the people on in their false worship of these “household gods.” The One True God said his people were wandering “like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.” This was not just Israel’s problem in 500 BC. It still was Israel’s problem in Jesus’ day. You remember from our reading of the Gospel of Matthew: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). We can be led astray. We ought to be discerning. And we can trust Jesus has compassion for us. He is our good shepherd.

So God was upset with the “shepherds” – the leaders of Israel – and he promised to punish them. He also promised to care for his people, his “flock.” 

And then God promised he would provide the “cornerstone” and the “tent peg” and the “battle bow” for his people. Some scholars believe this is a prophecy about Jesus Christ. Of course, we know Jesus as the cornerstone (Isaiah 28:16; Ephesians 2:19-21). But you’ve probably never thought of Jesus Christ as your tent peg!

I once took a trip and was planning to camp out, but I couldn’t carry my tent pegs onto the plane. They wouldn’t make it through security. So my first stop once I landed was to go to the store and buy tent pegs. They are vital to the whole proposition of a tent standing upright and remaining in place!

Ah, the imagery here is rich! Thinking about the “tent” makes me think about the tabernacle – the place where God’s presence dwelt with Israel for so long. And it makes me think about the apostle Paul’s “tent” and his longing for a “heavenly dwelling” – “so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

God promised twice to strengthen the people of Israel (Zechariah 10:6, 12). He promised to bring them back into the Promised Land and to make them as strong as they were before they were carried off into exile. Both of the major “exiles” of Israel are mentioned here – exile in Egypt and Assyria (think also Babylonia). God is the shepherd and redeemer of his people.

As I read this, I thought about God as the God who acts. Listen to the verbs in this chapter – “strengthen,” “save,” “bring back,” “answer,” “gather,” and “redeem.” God is the subject of all those verbs. And yes, God may “scatter” his people, too.

Too often, we don’t seek out the God who acts. We seek out other things. And we’re left with nonsense, lies, false dreams, and empty consolations. For me, this passage today is a reminder to seek out God first. I’m reminded to take those sticky situations in life – those really hard problems – and to turn to God in prayer.

Maybe you could pick one of those verbs and apply it to a prayer of your own today. Maybe you ask God to “strengthen” you. Maybe you ask him to “bring back” a loved one who is on a wrong path. Maybe you ask for God’s “gathering” goodness in some area of your life. Think about it.

Chris

Dear church,

Jesus shows up again in the Old Testament – very clearly this time. But first, God told the people that he would vanquish their enemies. The land of Israel was in a delicate spot when Zechariah was writing this book of the Bible. The people had returned from exile. They were politically and economically weak. Numerous people groups had inflicted harm over them – and would inflict even more harm.

And God promised the people he would bring punishment on the enemies of his people. The description Zechariah gives in 9:1-8 is like a military campaign that moves from north to south. Zechariah gives us a list of places that will be defeated – Hadrach, Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Gaza.

Some scholars think Zechariah was speaking generally of the coming of Alexander the Great, the Greek general who would build an empire across the land – and whose army actually destroyed some of those cities in the 300s BC.

There’s a little bit of “missions” talk in this section, which is somewhat unexpected. In talking about the cities in Philistia, Zechariah records God’s promise that some of the people there would be “a remnant for our God; it shall be like a clan of Judah, and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.” Judah, of course, was the primary nation within Israel. Ekron was a pagan Philistine city, and the Jebusites were defeated by King David (they lived in what is now Jerusalem).

So there is destruction here, but there also is a taste of conversion – of people brought into the nation of Israel. The kingdom of God, even then, remained open to those who would come.

And then we find Jesus in Zechariah 9. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

This points to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The gospel writers Matthew and John actually quote portions of Zechariah’s writings here when they described that first Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:5; John 12:15). Jesus fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy. This text ultimately was about Jesus, even though it was written more than 500 years before the time of Christ.

King Jesus would enter Jerusalem in peace and humility – on a donkey – not on a warhorse like you might expect a king to ride. Jesus’ reign would be “to the ends of the earth.” And “he shall speak peace to the nations.”

Jesus’ kingdom would be a kingdom of peace. He is part of the “blood covenant” that God has with Israel – think of the cross – and would witness God’s setting prisoners free from the “waterless pit.” 

It’s OK to think of the patriarch Joseph here, who was thrown into a cistern by his jealous brothers and then sold into slavery in Egypt. But God brought Joseph out of that cistern – that waterless pit – to save the lives of Israel during a famine (Genesis 45:7). Life came out of certain death! Jesus also emerged from a waterless pit (the tomb) to save the lives of anyone with faith in him. Again, life came out of death. They are saved from the grave! You’ve been saved from a waterless pit.

The text then begins talking about war again. While Jesus’ kingdom is one of peace, it apparently is one of peace only for those who trust in him. Maybe, the “speaking of peace to the nations” is the speaking of the good news – the good news that humans can have peace with God (Romans 5:1). We can have forgiveness of our sins by the blood of Christ.

Zechariah promises that God will show up in person. He will appear “over” Israel. His arrow will go out like “lightning.” There will be the sound of a “trumpet.” And God will march forward in the “whirlwinds.” When God shows up – when he makes a physical appearance – it typically is accompanied by lightning and the sound of a trumpet. It happened that way for ancient Israel at Mount Sinai, and we are promised the same when Jesus returns (Exodus 19:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

And the people of God will “tread down” their enemies. We do have enemies, you know – and we do have a shield (Ephesians 6:12, 16). And there is more language of sacrifice, pointing to Jesus’ death on the cross – “drenched like the corners of the alter.”

In the last few verses, we also see a key characteristic of the Messiah, who is a shepherd like King David was – “their God will save them, as the flock of his people.” And I sense just a little bit of a hint of the Lord’s Supper. “For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.” Think bread and wine.

Some people may object to viewing Zechariah 9 in this light. They may object to seeing all these pointers to Jesus Christ, to his sacrifice, to his second coming, to his body and blood. Could Zechariah have intended all of this with this chapter? I doubt Zechariah even had the full picture of what God was going to do in Christ. God was at work here.

But again, if you are a Christian, you really should read the Old Testament – from Genesis to Malachi – with Christian eyes. Look for Christ. In this case, it’s pretty easy – as the gospel writers gave us a big help when they referenced this chapter as they described Jesus’ Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem. I think it’s OK to be aggressive in looking for what else God might have to say about his Son in the text. And as you can see, I find plenty there.

So what do we do with this chapter? It is up to you. What stood out to you in this text? What words, phrases, or images captured your attention? What excited you? Did you have any emotions as you read this text? Read it again and see where the Holy Spirit leads you.

Chris

Dear church,

Zechariah 8 paints a beautiful picture for the people of God. The nation was moving toward restoration – restoration of the city of Jerusalem and restoration of the blessed nature of the people of God.

This chapter has 10 sayings of God – 10 times where Zechariah says, “Thus says the Lord …” See if you can find them. I think they are worth breaking down one by one.

1. God had great “jealousy” for Israel. He was passionate toward his people and desired them only to worship him and him alone. The God of the Bible doesn’t let us fall into the trap that God doesn’t have any feelings toward humanity – that he is a distant, aloof, and uninvolved God. Our God has deep desire for his people – for you!
2. God was returning to Jerusalem to dwell with his people. This was the plan all along. Adam and Eve were familiar with God’s presence with them (Genesis 3:8-9), and their sin broke up their connection with God. So God’s saving mission was to bring people back into relationship with him and to dwell with them (Revelation 21:3). We enter into relationship with God through faith. You can have God’s presence with you today by trusting in Jesus Christ.
3. God described what his presence would mean for Jerusalem. The very old and the very young – the most vulnerable people in society – would live joyfully and freely. God’s presence brings security and life. Imagine the sound of children playing. There’s no better sound than that!
4. The restoration of Jerusalem would seem like a miracle – a marvel – to the people. Nothing is impossible with God. I wonder whether sometimes we expect too little out of God. Can God bring even the most “lost” person into a relationship with him? Can God root some clingy piece of sinfulness out of your life? Yes and yes.
5. Our God is the God of salvation. He “saves” his people out of the hand of their enemies. For Israel, this meant bringing his people back from exile from the east and west. Again, God would dwell with his people. And he gave them a covenant promise, “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.” Spend some time thinking about what God means by “faithfulness” and “righteousness.”
6. The sovereignty of God is in view here. God disciplined his people. He set “every man against his neighbor.” We ought not to lose sight of the sovereignty of God. He is in control. He was in control to discipline his people for their sins, and he was in control to allow for a “sowing of peace.” God would turn things around for his people. At one time they were mocked by the nations. Eventually, he would make them into a blessing.
7. Again, God’s sovereignty is in view. God was in control, and he demanded obedience from his people. He gave them four commands. They were to speak truth to “one another,” to render true judgments, to not devise evil against “one another,” and to refrain from making false oaths. You’ll notice two of these were commands for the people to do certain things, and two of them were commands for them NOT to do certain things. And two of them were “one another” commands. One another commands are important. How the people of God live with each other is important to God (John 13:34-35).
8. God redirected the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months to become fasts of rejoicing. These fasts likely had something to do with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple decades earlier (2 Kings 25:1, 3-5, 8-10, 22-25). In Zechariah 7, the people of Bethel had asked about how they were supposed to proceed with these fasts. Here’s the answer.
9. People would come from other nations to Jerusalem to seek the favor of God. This seems to be a prophecy that points, in part, toward Pentecost, which took place in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5-6).
10. People from other nations would seek out the Jews, grabbing hold of their robes, almost begging them, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” You can sense the urgency here.

This chapter is a joy to read because we can see the blessing God had in store for his people – indeed, for the blessing he still has in store for his people. The return of Christ will bring all of this to fulfillment.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away'” (Revelation 21:3-4).

The picture of God dwelling with humanity is a compelling one because he is the Creator of the universe. If you have the Creator, what else do you need? The difficult stuff tends to drop away because the Creator is with you.

God’s presence went along with Israel during the exodus from Egypt and was highlighted during the years of the first temple. After that temple was destroyed, the longing of the nation was that God’s presence would return. The prophet Ezekiel, about 600 years before the time of Christ, had a vision of a new temple and new city of Jerusalem. But the city would have a new name: “The Lord Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35). 

It’s pleasant to look forward to the End, when God’s dwelling place will be with humanity. But it’s also good to remember God already has begun – again – to dwell with humanity as the Holy Spirit lives in the church. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

And I keep coming back to that image Zechariah gives us of men from other nations grabbing hold of the robes of the people of God. “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

The people of God have something that others do not have. And it is appealing. Are we living out our lives as the people of God in the way God intended?

Chris

Dear church,

Chapter 7 marks a slight change in direction in the book of Zechariah. The eight visions Zechariah had seen are now over.

And in comes a delegation from the city of Bethel.

The group had a question for the priests and the prophets who were operating out of the temple, which was being re-constructed. As best we can tell, the work was about halfway done. The year was 518 BC.

The delegation wanted to know whether the residents of Bethel should continue to fast during the fifth month of the year. The people each year during the fifth month had been fasting and mourning the destruction of the original temple – which had been demolished by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:8-9).

Their question – or “entreaty” – was, “Can we stop now?”

God gave Zechariah the words to say, and God didn’t answer the question immediately. Instead, God answered the question with a question: “Was it for me that you fasted?” And God followed it up with another question: “And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?”

The people wanted to know whether they could stop the ritual practice of grieving over the loss of the temple. After all, the new temple was moving steadily toward completion. Surely they could stop this ritual practice. It wasn’t necessary anymore.

But God wanted to know whether that ritual practice had anything to do with Him in the first place.

This section of Zechariah’s book seems to be about proper worship. What is proper worship anyway? What do we do when we worship? Where should our focus be when we worship? Is it possible for us to worship wrongly? And by “worship,” we can include all the things we do for the sake of God – to honor or seek him. And this certainly would include fasting.

These are probably pretty good questions for today when our corporate worship lives have been upended. We haven’t been able to gather like we have gathered in the past. A lot of us feel that our freedom to worship has been encroached upon by the government. And I’ve found myself asking God, “Should we try to get the church together anyway? Should we defy the government’s order and just gather?”

I wonder whether God would answer me today like this: “When you gathered all those times before the lockdown, was it for me that you gathered?”

Ah, I wonder whether there is anything about our worship that God could criticize. It is possible to say we are doing things for God when we really are doing them for some other reason. It might be we do those things out of habit – because that’s simply what we’ve always done. “I always go to church on Sundays!” Or it might be because we feel like we need to be seen doing those things. Or it might be because we desire to alleviate our consciences by doing those things. Or it might be because we want some good feeling because we did those things.

And it might have nothing to do with the praise and adoration of our Creator and Lord – wanting to give him what he is owed.

Jesus had something to say about spiritual practice and motive:

“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. …

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. …

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. …” (Matthew 6:1-18).

Jesus clearly had nothing good to say about people who did spiritual things while simply desiring to look good in front of others. They were people who wanted to be “seen” by others. Jesus wants us to have pure motives. A desire for the One True God is the only pure motive.

When it comes to our own practices – why do we do them? Why do we read the Bible? Why do we pray? Why do we go to church (or, today, why do we desire to go to church)? Is there any motive other than simply the praise and adoration of the One True God?

Zechariah 7 closes out with God – through the prophet – urging the people to live in the way he had called them to live. They were to render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another, refrain from oppressing vulnerable people, and never devise evil against one another. These are four actions God’s chosen people were to carry out.

And God noted four reactions to his commandments that his people had in the past. They didn’t pay attention to him, they turned their “stubborn” shoulders to him, they stopped their ears so they couldn’t hear him, and they made their hearts as hard as diamonds against his Word.

The people’s reaction resulted in judgment. I suppose for the returned exiles of Zechariah’s day, this was a warning. If judgment came once, it could come again.

Overall, this rebuke of God’s people feels like a rebuke of selfishness, or of a self-seeking attitude. The principle here seems to be that God wants pure worship, pure obedience, and a humble and supple heart in his people. He doesn’t want them callously to turn away from God or their faith family. His people are to be marked by truth, kindness, mercy, and love.

We should probably ask ourselves, after reading this chapter – Are we listening to what “the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets?” 

The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). 

The writer of Hebrews wrote, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Are we listening to God speaking?

Chris

Dear church,

If you are a Christian, and you want something solid to read and to believe, you must go to the Old Testament. There can be no question about this – if you really are a Christian.

Some people, of course, claim to be Christians and then discount the Old Testament as myth or some lesser sort of scripture that documents the Israelites’ faulty view of God. These people, who claim to be Christians, might say the God of the Old Testament is angry and mean, or they might say they can’t accept some of the things that are recorded in the Old Testament – unspeakable horrors and things like that. I’m not sure what to say about people like this, other than that they don’t really believe what Jesus had to say. Not really. They may claim to be Christians, but they don’t really believe Him.

No, if you are a Christian – if you believe Jesus Christ is the God in the flesh – then you have a document on which to “hang your hat,” so to speak. And it’s the Old Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).

That’s a straight-up teaching of Jesus. “Pay attention to the Old Testament,” he said.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus said something that is maybe even more direct. He made an off-hand comment – just a little “aside” in talking about something written in the Old Testament. He said this, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). He was talking to Jews, and “Scripture” to them most certainly was what we would call the Old Testament. The Old Testament cannot be broken.

I say all that as we read Zechariah 6. It records the eighth and last of a series of visions Zechariah received from God. Zechariah saw chariots led by horses of different colors emerging from the temple (from between two bronze “mountains” that likely were bronze pillars similar to what existed in the original temple – 1 Kings 7:15).

The horses and chariots presented themselves before God and then went out “to the four winds of heaven.” That means the whole earth. This is, after all, “the Lord of all the earth.” And these chariots – these weapons of war – brought “rest” to the north country. That would be to Babylon. This rounds out the first vision Zechariah received of nations unduly being “at rest.” God was setting things straight.

Scripture cannot be broken. Not an iota, not a dot, will pass away.

And then Zechariah was given instructions about the high priest Joshua. The high priest was going to be given a crown. The offices of high priest and king would be combined. A “Branch” would emerge from Joshua. The temple would be built. The high priest would have “royal honor.” And people who were far off would come to the temple.

This is a prophecy about Christ. The prophet Jeremiah, decades earlier, had said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness'” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

Priest and king will be One. And he will be known as righteousness itself. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith'” (Romans 1:16-17).

Again, Scripture cannot be broken. Not an iota, not a dot, will pass away.

In uncertain times, it is good to have something on which we can “hang our hats.” We want something sure and steady on which to lean when the world around us feels a little bit shaky. These are shaky times, after all. I read today that unemployment next month in America is going to be at Great Depression levels – more than 20 percent.

We can’t lean on the economic strength of our lives. Too many people have lost their jobs for that to be true. We can’t lean on our physical strength. Too many people have gotten sick and died to believe that. We can’t lean on our emotional strength. Too many people are fearful in their homes, wearing masks all by themselves, to believe that.

I think Jesus would say we can lean on the strength of the Old Testament in times like these. I think Jesus would say we can lean on the strength of passages like Zechariah 6 in times like these. I think Jesus would reaffirm that Scripture cannot be broken.

And in Zechariah 6, we see a God who is completely in control of the things that happen on earth. He is sovereign over the nations. God has heavenly forces that can bring justice to the earth, that can protect and build up his people – that can preserve them from harm. If there is someone to seek after, if there is someone to return to, it is the God of the Old Testament.

And in Zechariah 6, we see a God who wants to bring blessing to the earth. He wants to dwell here with us as our priest-king. He wants to meet with us, and he wants to lead us into peace.

I am certain you aren’t reading along with us in Zechariah if you aren’t taking the Old Testament seriously. You likely believe Jesus when he said Scripture cannot be broken. So as you read, look for what this ancient book tells us about the God we worship. Look for what it tells us about Jesus. There’s a lot here to bring us hope in uncertain times.

Chris

Dear church,

Zechariah 5 is one of those chapters in the Bible that has some strange imagery. A huge, flag-like scroll flying through the sky? A basket with a woman sitting in it, carried by two angel-like figures flying like storks through the sky? Yes, this is strange!

But again, as with all these visionary texts, we must look for what God was intending to say to Israel as the returned exiles were working on rebuilding the temple. And we must look for how these truths about God might be speaking to us today.

The vision of the “flying scroll”  is interesting because of the scroll’s size. It was 20 cubits by 10 cubits in size. A cubit is about 18 inches, which means this scroll was about 30 feet long by 15 feet high. Basically, it was the size of a billboard. I get the impression the scroll was unrolled so that everyone could read it.

And the angel said God was sending out a curse across the land – probably the land of Israel – so that anyone who steals and anyone who swears falsely (that is, who bears false witness) would be “cleaned out.” This is a justice text. God’s justice is at work here.

The size of scroll might be important. It was big – 20 cubits by 10 cubits. That is the same size as the vestibule – or portico – for the original temple built by Solomon hundreds of years earlier.

In 1 Kings 6:3, we read, “The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house.” The portico of the temple likely was the place where justice was administered during the era of the first temple.

Perhaps the vision of the flying scroll marked for Zechariah and the people of Israel the return of the administration of justice by the priests. It was a new revival in the people’s adherence to the Word of God.

Meanwhile, the curse was interesting because it was personified. The curse would enter the house of the thief, and it would enter the house of the false witness. And it would remain in those homes and consume them.

The sins of theft and false witness appear in the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:15 says, “You shall not steal.” And Exodus 20:16 says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

I get the sense that these two commandments of God – part of his covenant with them – were being broken by Israel. And God was calling his people to account. This was a warning. This was a call to repentance. How often were the people of Israel taking from others what did not belong to them? How often were the people of Israel being deceitful? How often were they lying?

I am not sure why these two commandments were highlighted by God on this flying scroll. But the curse against the Israelites who committed these sins was severe, and it was active. The curse would be “sent” out. It would “enter” homes. It would “remain” in those homes. And it would “consume” them.

I think we would prefer sometimes not to think about God’s justice or his righteous rules. We would prefer sometimes to turn a blind eye to sin or to think that, “Well, God doesn’t really mean it.” But we would be wrong to have this attitude. God is perfectly holy, and he expects perfect holiness from his children. God’s people are to be a holy nation.

The apostle Paul said this in Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Paul said it is clear. You can’t enter the kingdom of God if you live in sin. God is a righteous judge who is supremely holy. There is a judgment that any sane person must fear.

And then Zechariah was shown a second, even more bizarre vision. It was the image of a basket that would have held an ephah – or about a half-bushel of grain. And a woman (it must have been a very small woman) was sitting in the basket. We know this because it seems the angel lifted the heavy leaden lid that was on the basket to let Zechariah peek inside. And then the angel shoved the woman back into the basket and slammed shut the lid. What a picture!

The angel didn’t want the woman to escape. A basket like that wouldn’t normally have had a leaden lid. The woman’s name? “Wickedness.” I get the impression this was a restless evil that was capable of doing much harm to the people of Israel.

And then a couple of women showed up, and the “wind was in their wings.” The word wind could mean “spirit” as well – even God’s “Spirit.” And those women who were borne along by the wind, or the Spirit, carried the basket and the “Wickedness” away. They took it back to “Shinar,” which is another name for Babylonia, where the Israelites had just come from. The women would put the “Wickedness” in a house – or maybe a temple? – in Babylonia.

What kind of wickedness could this be? This is a good question. The people of Israel at this time were struggling with intermarriages, something we know from our reading of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Perhaps this was the spirit of idolatry that so often was caused by the Israelites’ mingling with the people of the land. Idolatry caused the nation to stumble and ultimately be defeated.

The “Wickedness” also could have had to do with the trading of grain. Maybe they were cheating each other – using dishonest scales to weigh out an ephah of grain in baskets just like this one (Ezekiel 45:10).

Of course, the “Wickedness” here could just be a general wickedness – just an unjust and unholy social order.

The important thing, I suppose, is that it was carried away. This “wickedness” was bound – held captive in a basket with a leaden lid – and it was carried away, out of the land of Israel.

The land can become unholy, or unclean, by the deeds of the people who live in it. That’s what God had said. The Promised Land, before Joshua and the Israelites had arrived, was unclean because of the sinful works of the Canaanites. Leviticus 18:24-25 says, “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.”

And so God carried this “Wickedness” – whatever it was – away. Gone. Call it grace. And in reading this, I began to see what God has for me in this text.

In our lives before Christ, we had a problem. We had sinned. We had broken God’s law. Some of us had committed theft. Some of us had been false witnesses. Some of us had done worse than that.

And the blood of Jesus Christ – the sinless One – washed those sins away. We were forgiven. And now, we have this: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Our sins are forgiven. God’s justice was poured out on Jesus. He took the punishment for my sins. I am forgiven.

But that’s not the end of the story. God is faithful and just “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Something else is going on there. It is the “double cure.” Our sins are forgiven, wiped away. We are justified. But we’re also cleansed from “all unrighteousness.” We are sanctified.

And so I started thinking about sanctification when I thought about that “Wickedness” in the basket with the leaden lid.

On our own, we are unrighteous. Inside of us is this tendency to sin. We want to sin, to do our own thing, to take control, to satisfy our desires, to grab the apple. That unrighteousness is simply part of who we are. It drives us.

That is, it drives us until Christ comes into our lives. That’s when the work of sanctification starts. We’re not just forgiven. No, we’re forgiven and then we’re given the Holy Spirit to begin the work of rooting out the “Wickedness” in our own lives. The disciple Peter, in 1 Peter 1:2, called Christians people who were elect “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Christ.”

God doesn’t just forgive our sins. He begins to root sinfulness out of our lives by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. He begins to carry it away. He forgives us, and then he begins to clean us up so that we don’t even want to sin.

The apostle Paul in Philippians 2:12-13 said, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Sanctification is the work of God. We strive to walk with him. We constantly repent of our sins. We look for the flying scroll, and we decide which way we are going to go. But the actual work of rooting out wickedness from my life is done by God. He works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. He carries both our sins and our sinful tendencies away.

It’s not that we’re perfect – because we are not. The forgiveness of our sins is instantaneous – the moment we say “yes” to Jesus. But the work of sanctification takes a lifetime. And we stumble along the way, and we say “no” sometimes to what God is doing in us. And we find ourselves needing to repent – again.

Remember that passage from Galatians that we looked at earlier – the works of the flesh that disqualify us from inheriting the kingdom of heaven? That passage, fleshed out, goes like this:

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

“But if you are led by the Spirt, you are not under the law.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-15).

We need the Holy Spirit’s sanctification of our lives. Think today about what you would like to see sanctified in your own life. Take those things before God. Ask for his work in those areas – to carry them away in a basket with a leaden lid.

Chris

Dear church,

This is a chapter about the work of God in the world – and about how God works through people and how God seems to enjoy “small” beginnings.

Zechariah was awakened by an angel for his fifth vision. He was shown a lamp stand with a bowl on top of it that would have held oil and seven lamps that would have been fed from that bowl. There also were two olive trees on either side of the bowl.

Zechariah asked what these things were – that is, what they represented. As readers of books of the Bible that contain visions like these, we need to dig below the symbolism to see what God is intending to show us. Fortunately, the angel is there to help!

Of course, the angel seemed surprised by Zechariah’s question. “Do you not know what these are?”

The angel jumped in with an explanation. But before he did, he offered a prophecy about Zerubbabel, who was the local governor of Judea and (remember) a descendent from the line of King David, which made him a bearer of Israel’s expectation for the messiah.

Zerubbabel had been around since the exiles returned from Babylon (Ezra 2:2). Zerubbabel apparently had helped lay the foundation of the temple – a project that was abandoned for about 20 years before Haggai and Zechariah got the people moving again on the construction.

The angel said Zerubbabel would help finish the work, putting the “top stone” in place.

It is important to note how this would be accomplished. The angel was unambiguous. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” It wasn’t the power of humanity that was going to bring the new temple into place. It was the power of God – the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then the angel resumed talking about the lamp stand. The seven lamps were the seven “eyes” of God, looking about the whole earth. Seven is the number of perfection and the concept of seven lamps and eyes appears elsewhere in Scripture (Zechariah 3:9; Revelation 1:12).

Those lamps are fed oil from the bowl and apparently also by the olive trees to its right and left. Olive trees have special meaning in Scripture. They represent a position of blessedness. “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever” (Psalm 52:8). “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within in your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table” (Psalm 128:3).

Could these olive trees represent something special – a supply of oil that never will end?

Zechariah wanted to know what the olive trees represented. He asked the angel twice. The angel again acted a little surprised by the question, “Do you not know what these are?” Then the angel explained. “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

In that immediate context, this must have been the high priest Joshua and the governor Zerubbabel. God had put them in place to lead the people of Israel as the nation was being built back up after the exile. A priest was necessary to represent the people before God, and Joshua took up that role. (See chapter 3.) A king, then, would be needed to lead the people. Zerubbabel represented the Davidic monarchy that had been blessed by God to lead Israel into eternity.

OK. Now we look for Jesus. He is our priest, and he is our king. He is both olive trees.

The writer of the book of Hebrews described Jesus as our high priest: “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:23-25).

And the apostle Paul described Jesus as king: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

In Christ, the priest and the king of Israel are joined. He fulfills all the roles. He meets every need. Zechariah, again, points us to Jesus.

When I was reading this chapter, I was captured by the prophecy about Zerubbabel and his laying of the top stone of the temple. And the angel said, “For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

There must have been scoffers, or doubters, or “realists” in the crowd. There must have been people among the returned exiles who didn’t think it could be done, who didn’t think the temple could be rebuilt. And the angel said those people would see Zerubbabel at the end, finishing the job.

This is the story of salvation. This is how God chose to write it. Jesus Christ was born to a couple of poor young folks in a stable in Bethlehem and was raised as a carpenter’s son in a throwaway town called Nazareth. Nathanael couldn’t help himself, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

 And after they all learned, and more and more people came, it became clear. Yes. Nothing is impossible with God. “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

This is the story of salvation. A man on a cross, despised and rejected by humanity. And then, resurrection.

“For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice …”

I want to encourage you today. Our walk of faith can have small beginnings. And it can have small new beginnings. There are moments when we look out at our lives, and we see wreckage, or we see backsliding, or we see sins we just can’t conquer, or we see the work of Satan in the lives of our loved ones, or we simply see things that are frustrating and discouraging.

I’m not naturally prone to optimism. I tend to be pretty cynical. But the angel told Zechariah that people like me, who might want to despise “the day of small things” – we will rejoice in the end. We will rejoice because the power of God is at work, and God loves to turn things upside down and to surprise us and to raise dead things to life.

So be encouraged. Take that wreckage to the Lord in prayer. Trust in the God of small beginnings.

Chris

Dear church,

If ever you wanted to read about Jesus in the Old Testament, this is it. Zechariah 3 gives us a picture of the good news – more than 500 years before Jesus walked the earth.

Zechariah was given another vision. This is the fourth vision he has received so far in this book. In the vision, he sees the high priest Joshua in a heavenly courtroom. The prosecuting attorney is Satan. Apparently, Satan was accusing Joshua (and the people) of sin. After all, Joshua was standing there in “filthy garments.” Satan must have been saying, “This man isn’t worthy to be your high priest, and these people aren’t worthy to be your chosen people. See their sins! Look at those filthy garments!”

The high priest, of course, was responsible for representing the people before God. There’s no question the people of Israel had broken God’s Law. The filthy garments represented those sins.

But God would have none of it. “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”

Ah, do you see the love and the grace of God here – defending his chosen people against Satan, whose name literally means “Adversary”? God has chosen Israel. And so the filthy garments were removed. “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” This is called grace.

Joshua the high priest was told to walk in God’s ways, to keep the Law. If he did, he would be granted access to the heavenly courts. Joshua could be the high priest for God’s people. And Joshua and his friends (his priestly colleagues?) would be a “sign.” They would represent God’s “servant the Branch.” The Branch was a reference to the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1).

And God said, “and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.” For Zechariah and Joshua and the others in Jerusalem, this was a reference to the Day of Atonement, when the people’s sins were wiped away. The old customs of the Law could be reinstated now that Joshua had been “ordained” into his position as high priest.

“In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”

Like so many Old Testament prophecies, this one has a couple levels of fulfillment. First, the people of Israel really were returning to their position as God’s chosen people. He was bringing them back and reinstating the temple worship. The time of punishment for their sins was over, and the blessings were returning to the people and the land.

But there greater fulfillment of this prophecy was coming.

Jesus is our high priest. He picked up our “filthy garments” and put them on himself. The adversary, of course, could rightly say, “These people have sinned! Throw them out!” That’s not the end of the story.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6).

The apostle Paul said we were “dead in our trespasses.” God said of his people, “Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”

The removal of our iniquity did happen on a “single day.” It was the day Jesus Christ hung on the cross. And every one of us can now invite our neighbors to gather with us under the vine and fig tree of “the Branch.” And the call is no longer one of following the Law (which is impossible for us). The call now is simply to put our faith in Christ. (And I could not help but think about Jesus cursing the fig tree, ending a long season of fruitlessness for God’s people – Mark 11:12-25. Does Jesus represent a new “fig tree” – Micah 4:4?)

There is a lot going on in Zechariah 3, but all of it points to Jesus Christ and the way in which he atoned for our sins. Our filthy garments are removed. We are like brands, or burning sticks, plucked from the fire.

It is the good news of Jesus Christ, tucked away in the Old Testament – in a book (Zechariah) we rarely ever read!

In reading this, my mind latched onto that image of a brand plucked from the fire. That’s what we are as Christians. Really, we ought to be left in that fire. Because of our sins and the rebelliousness in our hearts, we have no business being in God’s presence. We ought to have been reduced to ash.

But we weren’t. We were plucked from the fire by Christ. He saved us. It was nothing we did on our own. It was nothing we deserved.

What’s the image that stands out to you in Zechariah 3? Is the burning stick plucked from the fire? Maybe it’s the filthy garments that were stripped away and replaced with “pure vestments.” Maybe it is the voice of God, rebuking Satan, for the sake of the Son (and you!). Maybe the image that stands out to you is that “single stone with seven eyes (facets)” that likely has something to do with the priestly authority given to Joshua – and later to Christ (Zechariah 4:2; Revelation 1:4).

The imagery is rich in Zechariah 3. Read it again. Put yourself into the text. Let God guide your prayers.

Chris

Dear church,

This is a chapter about good news. God not only was going to bring his people back to Jerusalem – out of their exile and back to the holy land – but God also was going to return to his people himself. His presence would once again be with them. This is good news all around.

In 520 BC, Zechariah had a vision of a man with a measuring line in his hand, apparently getting ready to measure the city of Jerusalem. But there was no need. The city would be immeasurable because it would be so populated, with people coming to it from all around.

And the city would be surrounded by the Lord’s “wall of fire.” Think about the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22). And think also about the “chariots of fire” that surrounded and protected the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 6:17). Some images reappear over and over in Scripture. When you find them, spend some time pondering them.

God then called out to the Israelites, urging them to return from their exile. The time had come – indeed, it had started some 20 years earlier – for God’s children to return to the Promised Land. And they would come from all around, because they had been scattered in exile to nations all around. These people are precious to God, and the nations who enslaved the Israelites would enable them to come back to the Promised Land enriched – much like the Egyptians did during the exodus.

And here’s the good news that runs throughout the Bible and carries right to the time of Christ: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people.” This prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus Christ, walking in the midst of Israel – throughout Galilee and all the way to Jerusalem. He came and he taught the masses and he healed the sick and he cast out demons.

He is Emmanuel – “God with us.” So he dwelt in the midst of the “daughter of Zion” – or the people of Israel – and he drew the nations to himself. Jesus Christ did not just bring good news to Israel. He brought it to the world. Forgiveness of sins is for anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, we got a glimpse of what this looks like, in the flesh. People from “every nation under heaven” were in Jerusalem, becoming joined to the Lord (Acts 2:5).

This is also a passage about reverence. Just a few verses after we’re told to “sing and rejoice,” we’re told to “be silent.”

“Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

We live in a culture of noise. The noise and activity comes at us from all directions – from our families, our televisions, our phones, our workplaces, our brains. Sometimes, I think we’ve forgotten what it means to be silent. Some people, frankly, are uncomfortable with silence. They need to talk, and they need other people to talk to them. For some people, sitting in silence before God is a waste of time.

“Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord …”

For Zechariah, God was about to do something wonderful. He was told to sit with a reverent anticipation, waiting for the work of God. Be silent and wait. Let’s face it, our culture isn’t good at either of those.

I spent some time yesterday in silence at the church building. The sanctuary was empty and quiet. And I just settled down. I sat. And I waited. And I listened for God. And a million thoughts raced through my mind. And I wondered if I would ever be able to “be silent” before God.

And I opened my eyes. And I saw a mouse, sitting in the middle of the church sanctuary, between two sets of chairs, spaced six feet apart. The mouse just sat there. And so did I. I suppose the mouse has gotten used to having the church sanctuary all to himself.

And he didn’t seem to mind me being there. After a few moments, he ran a few steps. And then he ran a few more steps. And I sat still. Silent. The mouse ran a few steps toward me. And a few more. Eventually, he ran right under the chair where I was sitting.

It was kind of crazy.

We need silence in our lives. We need to shut down the noise and sit still. We need to wait for God. We need to listen to him. The mouse reminded me that when we stop talking, when we stop moving, when we stop trying to create – when we just be silent – we make space for other things to thrive in our lives.

In silence, we can notice more about ourselves. We can notice where in life we feel peace and joy, where we are moved more toward faith, hope, and love. And when we are silent, we also can sense where we feel apart from God – and what things in our lives are driving a wedge between us and him. And we can attend to these things. We can bring these things before God, and we can listen for what he might have to say about them.

And in silence, we might be able to discern better what God is doing around us. We stop and listen and look and think. God is moving. Are we seeing it? I want more silence in my life, because I want to see God calling people into a limitless Jerusalem. I want to see those people come. I want to be a witness.

I’ve spent enough time in silent prayer to know God speaks quite often – if I will only speak less. Maybe today is your day to practice silence. Sit for a while in expectation of God acting. Don’t expect God to do anything in particular. (Don’t put him in a box!) Just know that he’s moving, and you may not see the fullness of his moving if you don’t stop moving yourself.

“Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

Chris

Dear church,

We start reading the book of Zechariah today. The prophet Zechariah did his work around the same time as Haggai. His first prophecy is dated in 520 BC – “the second year of Darius,” who was the king of Persia at that time.

So Zechariah’s aim was much like Haggai’s – to see the people return to the work of the nation of Israel. For Haggai, that meant getting the people moving again on rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. For Zechariah, that seems to mean getting the people ready again to worship in the temple.

As we move through Zechariah, we will see that he writes about some visions he was given by God about how God was at work in the world. Zechariah also records some very clear prophecies about Christ.

As I read Zechariah 1, I was struck by the demands of God that the people “return” to him. Repentance is a necessary step in salvation. That is, we turn from our sinful ways and seek God. Jesus preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). 

God noted the “fathers” of the Israelites had not returned to God. “Your fathers, where are they?” That was a rhetorical question. Most likely, for those listening to Zechariah’s message, their forefathers were dead – or they were scattered across the old Babylonian empire. Their “fathers” had refused to return to God’s ways, and so they were punished.

We have a just God. We have a holy God. He’s immeasurably more holy than we are. And I know we as Christians like to dwell on the loving nature of our heavenly Father. And we are right to dwell on that. But we ought not to forget God’s holiness and justice. God’s grace is so amazing because his holiness is so amazing. God does judge sinners. And that judgment is something to fear.

Because of the Israelites’ disobedience, God sent first the Assyrian army and then the Babylonian army to conquer them. The walls of Jerusalem were torn down, and the temple was destroyed. The people were carried off into captivity. That is severe justice. And in Zechariah, the people admit they deserved it. “As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.”

Read Deuteronomy 28, starting at verse 15, to understand how strongly God felt about disobedience from his people. It paints an awful picture. God is holy, and he demands holiness from his people.

And what’s so interesting to me is God’s punishment on Israel – the exile of the people and the destruction of their towns and the temple – was just the result of a “little” anger from God.

We see this in Zechariah’s first vision – of the man sitting on a red horse among the myrtles. Some scholars think this vision was of the Kidron valley outside Jerusalem, where myrtle trees grew. Other horses were present as well in this vision. They represented a “patrol” responsible for going throughout the world, observing it. This patrol returned with a report that all the world was “at rest.” This seems like a good report.

Only it wasn’t. God was displeased by the work of the other nations in bringing God’s punishment upon Israel. “And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.” God was angry “but a little” as he sent his people into exile? That’s what it’s like for God to be angry “but a little?” I would hate to see the fullness of God’s anger.

But God also was angry with the nations who brought his judgment to Israel. They went too far in their harsh treatment of the Israelites. The following vision that Zechariah received – of the four horns and the craftsmen – talks about God’s judgment on those nations, which certainly would have included Assyria and Babylon, which had been defeated by Zechariah’s day.

God is just. He also is in control. The movements of the nations carry out God’s purposes for his people – a people through whom he planned to bless the whole world (Genesis 12:1-3). In Zechariah, God reaffirms the covenant he made with Israel – the children of Abraham – by saying, “Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”

Good things were coming again to God’s people.

As I read Zechariah 1, I was drawn to the first vision – the picture of “a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen.” If you’ve been a Christian for very long, your mind likely will jump to the book of Revelation and the “four horsemen of the Apocalypse” (Revelation 6:1-18).

In Zechariah, I pictured a man sitting on a red horse, among the trees in a glen. It was a peaceful picture. But behind it is something fierce and holy and just. God was about to bring judgment on the nations who were opposed to Israel. And he was about to enter into Jerusalem itself and its newly rebuilt temple. He was going to bring prosperity to his people.

I think I want to hang out in this peaceful scene among the myrtle trees with God, without truly understanding the fullness of who God is. God is holy. Isaiah took one look at the holiness of God and thought he would die (Isaiah 6:1-6). Job heard God and put his hand over his own mouth and refused to speak (Job 40:4-5). The Proverbs tell us “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).

Spend some time today dwelling on the holiness of God and on his judgments. Spend some time considering what it means for God to be ultimately good and to not tolerate any measure of evil or sin. And God is the creator of the universe. He is sovereign. What he decides is final.

I don’t think we can have an adequate picture of God’s grace without an adequate picture of God’s holiness. The fierceness of God’s holiness is what makes the good news so GOOD.

Chris