Zechariah 1:1-21

Zechariah writes to the same audience as Haggai, the captives who had returned to build rebuild Jerusalem.  Haggai had promised that they would prosper if they built the temple of the Lord and they started the work, but here we are several years later and the people seem to be dragging their feet.  Zechariah comes with a message of warning as well as promise for the people to be motivated to get busy with the task at hand.  It is easy for us to become distracted from the work God has called us to do.  We must be careful not to be negligent of the priorities God has established for us.

A CALL TO REPENTANCE: Zechariah’s first word is a word of warning.  He calls for the people to look back at the rebellion of their fathers and see the consequences that they suffered as a result.  They had been repeatedly warned by many prophets but had not paid any attention to the constant warnings.  Now they found themselves in a very similar situation.  God had allowed them to return to the city and they had been given the task of rebuilding the temple.  Haggai had told them what they must do and they had listened but now they were slipping back into their old ways.  Zechariah calls them to repent of their sinfulness and renew their commitment to obey the Lord in order to avoid the consequences of sin that their fathers had suffered.  We must be careful to obey the voice of the Lord as revealed in His Word.  When He calls us we must obey and not become complacent.  It is always a dangerous thing to ignore the Word of God.

A PROMISE OF RESTORATION: Zechariah now receives a vision from the Lord of several horsemen who have been out riding and inspecting the world.  These seem to be angels who are represented by riders on different horses.  Their report is that all the nations are at ease.  These nations had been used of God to tear down the nation of Israel and judged God’s children.  However, they had also been very cruel in their execution and God was not pleased with them for having done this.  God lets the people know that these nations will not be at peace for very long.  He will restore the nation of Israel and He will flood Jerusalem with prosperity once again.  He has a plan to restore those who have been judged in the past.  God is a restoring God and longs to see all men reconciled to fellowship with Him.


A WARNING OF RETRIBUTION: Zechariah’s second vision is one of horns that signify the judgment of the nation of Israel and then of craftsmen who are coming to tear down theses horns.  God has a plan for taking out His retribution on the nations that had been used to judge the nation of Israel.  They had been arrogant and cruel and though they were now resting in peace, but God is about to change all of that very soon.  We can rest assured in God’s sovereign control over the nations.  He set them up and he tears them down according to His determination.  It may seem like the world is out of control at times and we would certainly think that something should be done one way or another.  We are to trust in His sovereign will.

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