365 Reflections

Zechariah 11 is a metaphorical chapter wherein the prophet is called upon by the Lord to play the Lord's part in Israel's history.  Zechariah 11:4 (ESV)  Thus said the LORD my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.  The Lord tells the prophet to become the nation's shepherd. Zechariah 11 continues by reminding the nation that the Lord had bought them from the hands of those who abused and exploited them. Zechariah 11:5–6 (ESV)  Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the LORD. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.” Zechariah is, then a picture of the Lord's saving grace upon Israel.  Zechariah 11:7 (ESV...

Zechariah is a book about restoration. Restoration comes to God's people when they remember who made them and who alone can restore them to what they were made for. Only too often, the people of God are weakened by sin and immorality. It is God alone who can redeem them and repurpose them for powerful living in the World.  Zechariah 10:1–2 (ESV) Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field. 2 For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd. Zechariah makes a simple appeal to the people. Ask the Lord for rain when it's supposed to rain. Instead of the "household gods" the people made with their hands and bowed down to, Zechariah appeals to the nation to return to the God who is in charge of...

The prophecy of Jesus' arrival in the city of Jerusalem is situated in a chapter you'd not expect. Zechariah 9 is the announcement that Israel's king comes not on a warhorse but on a donkey. It's quoted on Palm Sunday almost every year in every Church. It signifies that Christ came not to kill and condemn but to be killed and save.  Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)  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. That verse we recognize from Matthew's and John's Gospels. But in the context of Zechariah 9, it is most unexpected. The chapter is very similar to Amos 1-2, in which God delivers words of prophetic doom to the nations that persecuted His people during their exile.  Zechariah 9:1–4 (ESV) The oracle of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach and Damascus is its resting place. For the LORD has...

God has promised to do good to Israel once again in Zechariah 8. In fact, He promised to do them good just as passionately as He promised to discipline them for their sin.  Zechariah 8:14–15 (ESV) For thus says the LORD of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. And when they are restored, they are to live with hearts of compassion, honesty and justice toward one another.  Zechariah 8:16–17 (ESV) These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.” Another thing God does in this chapter is promise to turn the years of fasting for their redemption out of exile into times...

God's love works in two ways. First, He loves His people with a perfect love filled with care, provision, protection, and abundance. Love is expressed in this way throughout His dealings with Israel in history. He saved them from Egypt and brought them out with great abundance. He protected and provided for them in the wilderness and gave them the land that flowed with milk and honey.  Second, God's love will also bring divine correction, serious discipline, and great wrath against the sinfulness of His people. He sent them into exile, He took away their abundance, their temple, their nationhood, their land, and in LOVE disciplined them far away in foreign lands.  Zechariah 8 declares that God, who has done those things in the past, will come again to live with His people in the restored city. But He is still the God of jealous love and wrath for the people He has chosen.  Zechariah 8:2–3 (ESV) “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I...

Zechariah 7 is two years into the prophet's ministry. He has seen the visions and now he will proclaim God's Word, interpreting them for the people of Israel and us.  Zechariah 7:1–3 (ESV) In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD, 3 saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” The chapter begins with people from Bethel seeking the Lord's favor and asking the priests about fasting. You can understand why they sought these answers. Their nation was in a desperate place, recently returned from exile, and as the Temple would be rebuilt, they wondered about what sort of religious practices they should follow. The natural heart of man tends toward rebellion OR self-righteousne...