Year 3, Day 276: 1 Chronicles 1-2

Chronicles - Background

There is much we don’t know about Chronicles.  We don’t know when it was written, although it is likely written after the Hebrew people return from exile as a reminder to the people about God’s faithfulness to His promises.  That’s why we put off reading it until this point in the reading plan.  We also don’t know who wrote it, although many have speculated that the author was Ezra the priest as he was returning to the land and looking to inspire the people.  We also don’t know why it was split up into two books as originally this book was a unified whole.

So what do we know?  We know that the Davidic line is important to the chronicler.  We know that this book focuses on God’s promises to the people through the line of David.  We also know that the book focuses primarily on the history of Judah while leaving out much of the detail of the northern kingdom of Israel.  We also know that the temple and the priesthood were important themes to the chronicler.

Genealogy

The first two chapters of 1 Chronicles are devoted to moving us from Adam to David.  I know what you are thinking.  Back to genealogies?  Didn’t we happily leave these behind in the Pentateuch?  Well, the answer is no.  We have them here for a mighty purpose!

Remember that this book was written to a people who are returning home from captivity.  For the past few decades – or in some cases centuries – they have had their status pulled out from under them.  They have become nothing on the face of the earth.  They were dragged away into captivity and their identity as God’s chosen people was forgotten.

Therefore, as the people return to the land it is important to reestablish who they were.  They were a people who could trace their lineage back to Adam.  Of course all people are of Adam’s line, but how many people can trace it back?  These people were also a people of Noah.  Again, all people are of Noah’s line, but how many people can trace it back?  Furthermore, these two genealogical notes give the Hebrew people claim to the promise of dominion over the earth through Adam as well as the promise of never being destroyed through Noah.  This promise would be especially potent as the remnant indeed returns from exile.

From Noah, through Shem, we then move to Abraham.  Abraham brings about a status that not all people can claim.  It is in this lineage that we have divergence from the Gentiles.  While all people can claim relation to Noah and Adam, not everyone can claim lineage to Abraham.

What is it that Abraham brings to the people?  Abraham brings the covenant.  God told Abraham that his descendants would be in number like the stars of the sky or the sand of the earth.  Abraham is told by God that his people will be special among the people of the world.  Abraham is told that his descendants would be a blessing to the people of the earth.

Again, these promises would bring incredible peace to these exiles.  Although they had been treated like captives under the Babylonians, they were actually a blessing to the people.  The Babylonians didn’t know what they had in their midst until God’s judgment wrenched it away out of their hands!  Although the Hebrew people had been forgotten by the Babylonians as just one of the people who were conquered, God proved that they were still special to Him by bringing them alone out of captivity and reestablishing them in the world.

From Abraham we move to Jacob.  Jacob is important primarily for the remembrance of the twelve tribes of Israel.  It also explains the appearance of Judah, from whom the kings of the Hebrew people would arise.  In focusing in on Judah, we see that the chronicler is indeed interested in the Davidic line and the promises that come from God through David.

In chapter 2 we focus on David’s family.  The Chronicler brings us to David and that line follows the path outlined in the book of Ruth.  The point here is that God has fulfilled His promise to lead His people.  There would be a king, and through that king there would be an even greater Messiah.

However, we also have a fair amount of text on the family tree of David.  Honestly, this text doesn’t really do much for us.  There isn’t any great wisdom here except for genealogical knowledge.  However, what it does do is to remind us of the context of family.  David was a great king.  He was a powerful man.  He sired a great line of leaders.  But the truth is that he came from a humble beginning with normal family just like the rest of us.  What made David great was his devotion to God, not the uniqueness of his lineage.  The same would be true for the exiles returning from Babylon.  The same is true for us, too.

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Year 3, Day 275: Malachi 3-4

Some of My Favorite Passages

Malachi 3 contains some of my absolute favorite verses.  We will begin with verse 2.  “Who can endure the day of His coming?  Who can stand when He appears?”

These questions should not bring us comfort.  In other prophetic books, the prophets often spoke about the day of the Lord’s judgment with respect to other nations.  However, by the time that Malachi is on the scene all of the nations have fallen and been judged underneath the growing Persian Empire.  The only people who still have yet to be judged and refined are His own people – His own rebellious people.

This passage leads us straight into looking for Christ.  You see, Jesus Himself identifies John the Baptizer as the messenger who would come before.  Who did John the Baptizer point us towards?  Jesus!  And what did Jesus do during His ministry?  He sifted through the Hebrew people looking for those who were willing to follow and be discipled.  In short, Jesus refined them.  He took them and purified them as one purifies silver or gold.  He found and removed the impurities and focused upon the faithful.  Most of the Hebrew people rejected Him, but there was some silver and gold among the slag that was worth keeping.

However, this point is also a personal point.  Look at what Jesus did within His disciples.  He took fishermen, tax collectors, and regular flawed human beings and refined them.  He reached within them, challenged them, shaped them, molded them, and pushed them.  He refined them personally, not just as a group from out of the midst of the Hebrew people.

Perhaps the most meaningful interpretation within this passage goes back to the original question.  Who can endure His coming?  In other words, an encounter with Jesus is going to inherently hurt.  Yes, salvation is blessed.  But Christ seeks to shape us, mold us, change us, and transform us.  He looks to create something within us that only He can see.  That is inherently going to be a challenging and painful process – even if the end is absolutely and completely worthwhile.  As silver and gold heats up and changes matter states, so we too will undergo the difficult process of change when we encounter Christ.

Robbing God

Malachi then turns to challenge the people.  He reminds the people that they have always been rebellious.  For the record, has anything changed in the following two millennia?

God accuses the people of robbing Him.  You see, God asks for a tithe.  Literally, the tithe was a tenth of the harvest.  That meant grain, livestock, etc.  The tithe was to be used in order to support the religious institution as well as to provide a surplus that could be used to care for widows, orphans, foreigners, and other people who might not have the means to care for themselves.

However, the people have stopped contributing to the tithe.  Or perhaps they have reduced the amount they are giving.  Or as we saw earlier in the book, perhaps they have started to give the portions of the harvest that are easy to give up – the surplus, the damaged, the sick, or the blind.

Whatever the reason, we can see that God isn’t pleased.  He doesn’t want our surplus.  He doesn’t want our excess.  He doesn’t want that which is easy to give.  He doesn’t want that which we also don’t want.  God wants us to trust Him.  He wants us to rely upon Him.  He wants us to give out of what He has already given to us knowing that we are merely stewards of all that is already His.  He also wants us to remember to give so that those who cannot support themselves can find comfort.

Therefore, God calls His people to repent.  He calls us to repent.  He calls us to turn to Him and to truly rely upon Him.  Then we will be blessed.  Then we will know His true generosity and compassion.  When we truly release control, turn to God, and trust in Him we will indeed delight in Him and know His blessing.

The people hear Malachi’s rebuke and they do indeed repent.  Here at the end of the Old Testament we see the people once more agree to remember the covenant.  Once more the people are interested in being God’s people and following His ways.  In a sense, Malachi brings us full circle in the Old Testament.  We began in Genesis with creation and rebellion.  We then heard a long story of rebellion and more rebellion overshadowing the occasional story of righteousness.  Then we’ve heard about judgment.  Now, finally, we see the people to respond.  The curse of judgment of sin is confronted by the promise of grace.  They will be spared and treasured if they but remember to follow God and obey His ways.

The Final Message

The last chapter of the Old Testament reminds the people of God’s promise.  The Day of the Lord will come.  Elijah – a prophet – will come before the day to announce its coming.  It will be a great and incredible day.  Those who are evil will be judged and burned.  But those who are faithful – fearing the name of God and being obedient to God’s command – will know righteousness and healing.  God will turn their hearts of stone into hearts of relationship.  In the beginning of the Old Testament we heard about the breaking of relationship.  Here we hear about how relationship can be reforged through Him.

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Year 3, Day 274: Malachi 2

A Message to the Priests

The opening section of Malachi 2 is fairly challenging and downright scary when you think about it.  Malachi comes against the priests and tells them about their offenses before the Lord.  What I think is amazing about this is that the people to whom Malachi is speaking are still just recently returned from exile.  If anyone would have an easy time remembering to take their faith seriously, you would expect it to be the people just coming out of exile.

What do the priests do that is offensive?  Well, yesterday we heard a nice list regarding practices and sacrifices.  But today Malachi also focuses in on their teaching.  The priests are to guard knowledge and the people are to desire instruction.  But the people have turned away.  Either the priests are instructing falsely or more likely the priests simply aren’t instructing at all.  In other words, religion is becoming a rote practice with little actual meaning behind it.

This is troublesome for me on two levels.  First of all, if there is any danger to organized religion it is when behavior becomes rote.  When we are simply going through motions, we are in danger.  When there is no purpose to our actions and words then there is no transformation.  If there is no transformation, then are we really with God?  There is my worry.  I know that if I give myself to God then He will transform my life.  So if there is no transformation occurring, then am I really giving myself to God?  As my life becomes more and more rote and less and less meaningful what happens to my relationship with God?

The second reason this passage is troublesome is because I am a firm believer in the New Testament concept of the priesthood of all believers.  The same critique that Malachi offers up here of the priests in his day can be asked of the followers of Christ in our own day!  Are the followers of Christ dedicated to being teachers of His ways?  How many of us come to the Sunday morning experience desiring to “be fed?”  How many of us look for opportunities for our own growth?  Now don’t get me wrong.  I should desire spiritual food and I should desire spiritual growth.  But Christ’s greatest call is to make disciples!  My focus should not be on coming to “learn” as much as it is on coming to learn and grow so that I can take it out to others.  That’s what it means to be a priest!  That’s what it means to follow Christ.  Jesus needs disciples who can make disciples, not stalwart bastions of unapproachable knowledge.

A Conversation about Marriage

Malachi now turns to another problem among the Hebrew people: intermarriage among the Gentiles.  Of course, when taken into exile a certain amount of intermarriage would only be natural.  As the Hebrew people were scattered under the Assyrians and the Babylonians it would make sense that many of the Hebrew people would fall from their faith and be absorbed into the Gentile culture.  While certainly not acceptable by God’s standards, it is understandable how such a reality could come about.

Here’s the thing.  God doesn’t really have an issue with Gentiles.  After all, He sent His Son to die for all.  He sent Paul specifically to minister to the Gentiles!  He has called Gentiles into His kingdom.  So the issue for God isn’t so much that they are Gentile as that they are pagan.  He doesn’t want His people being pulled away from Him.

This is a very important point, especially when considering marriage.  It is difficult to remain faithful to God throughout one’s life.  It is even more difficult when you have a spouse pulling you in another direction.  We know the Hebrew people had trouble being obedient to God on their own, much less when temptation pulls them away! 

The same is likewise true for us.  Even today, it is difficult to follow Jesus every day.  It is difficult to be obedient to God’s desires.  When considering a spouse, it is of great importance to choose someone who will encourage you in your faith rather than detract from it!  In fact, from God’s perspective we can see here that marrying someone who does not support you in your faith is actually displeasing to God. 

That being said, notice that even in the midst of their rebellion with respect to marriage God desires faithfulness.  God desires that we as men be faithful to our wives.  He likewise desires that wives are faithful to their husbands.  Here is another reason to marry someone who can support your spirituality.  Marriage is almost as difficult as being obedient to God.  You want to marry someone who takes the difficult nature of marriage as seriously as they take your relationship with God.

Making the Lord Weary

The final verses of Malachi 2 are simple yet profound.  Malachi tells the people that they have made the Lord weary.  How have they done so?  They have not paid attention to righteousness.  They allow that which is evil to exist and even be pronounced as good.

Again I am reminded that these are a people of recent freedom.  They have just come from captivity!  Yet, because of their human hearts they are quickly turned.  How true is that for all of us!  We all turn to sin and our own desires far more quickly than we should.  It is far too easy to forget the Lord and be disobedient to His ways even in the midst of His blessing.

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Year 3, Day 273: Malachi 1

Malachi – History and Background

Malachi was a prophet in a time period just after Haggai and Zechariah.  Haggai and Zechariah wrote in order to urge the people to complete the temple; and the people responded.  However, their work was purely physical.  When the temple was completed and the Messianic age didn’t begin, the people lost faith.  Their worship became shallow once more.  Malachi comes alongside the people to remind them to repent and live truly spiritual lives.  It is possible that Malachi comes alongside the people around the time of Nehemiah when the wall of Jerusalem is being restored.

Burden

Since the writing of the New Testament we have grown to understand the true message of the prophetic writings – especially as they pertain to Christ as the Messiah.  Thus, we have come to translate the opening of many of the prophetic books as “an oracle.”  However, in true Hebrew context the word means “burden.”  So this book – and many of the prophetic books, actually – says, “The burden of the word of the Lord.”

What is this burden?  It is simple.  Covenant promises require covenant faithfulness.  The burden of Malachi was that even after the return from exile someone needed to stand up and tell the people that they were doing it wrong!  Even after the exile things headed down a bad path.  The burden of the word of the Lord is that we always focus on the wrong things and need to be reminded to repent.  The burden of the Lord is that the call to faithfulness is a difficult call that many people don’t want to hear.

Life was tough for the Hebrew people returning from exile.  The people were subject to the Persian governors.  The people were subject to the threats of the native interlopers who have come since the exile occurred.  It was a dangerous time, and the people grew angry with God that they had to live in such circumstances.  So they rebelled once more.  Malachi had to come and remind them that their rebellion would be pointless.

Pollution Among the Priests

God now sets Malachi loose among the priests.  God gives two analogies regarding His relationship to the people.  God is either Father or Master.  If God is Father, then there needs to be relationship, identify, and submission through honor.  If God is Master (King), then there needs to be power and authority through fear.  When God looks at the people – especially the priests – God sees neither honor nor fear.  The priests do not honor Him as a son would honor their father.  Neither do they fear Him as one fears their ruler.

The priests ask God what it is that they have done wrong.  God’s reply is that they are giving to Him to worst of the portion.  They are offering blind sacrifices as the leftovers from what they didn’t give in tribute to the Persians and take for themselves.  God’s point isn’t that He doesn’t want the blind or the outcast.  God loves the blind and the outcast and the downtrodden and the oppressed.  God’s point is that He wants to be first in the pecking order.  God wants the people to desire relationship with Him more than anything else. 

This isn’t a passage telling us that we must dress up when we go to church or look our best when doing ministry.  This is a passage to get us to question our motivations.  Are we putting God first in our life?  Are we giving God what He desires that we should want to give Him?  Or are we pursuing our own needs first and giving to God out of whatever should remain?

Here’s the scary part of this passage.  If the priests couldn’t be counted on to be in a faithful relationship with God, then who could be counted on?  If the leaders of the culture fall away, then what is the best that can be hoped among the people?  This is God’s issue with the priests.  As they lead, the people will follow.  Again it seems as though we come back to the issue of burden.  To be a spiritual leader is also to embrace the burden of leadership.  As the leaders do, so shall most of the people.

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Year 3, Day 272: Zechariah 14

The Day of the Lord

Once more we have this indicator of time.  The Day of the Lord is declared.  Given most of the content of this passage, it is easy to see this chapter as a time that has not yet been fulfilled.  After all, have all the nations gone up to fight against Jerusalem?  Do the major nations send representatives to Jerusalem to worship God?  No, of course not.  Therefore it is easy to read this chapter as a chapter of the fulfillment of time to come.

However, we also need to be careful to not read this chapter as though it is speaking of the Day of Judgment, either.  As we read through this chapter, certainly the possibility for rebellion still exists even after the Day of the Lord should happen.  Through Zechariah, God tells about the punishment for those who do not come up to Jerusalem and worship God.  Zechariah tells us that there will be no rain upon those lands in addition to the plagues upon the people.  Certainly rebellion is possible after the Day of the Lord that is being spoken about in this chapter.

So what are we to make of this time?  Again, I think that this chapter has more than one time of fulfillment.  It shouldn’t surprise you, then, that I believe much of this chapter is symbolically fulfilled in the first coming of Christ.

Christ as the First Fulfillment

How is it possible to see Christ as the fulfillment of this chapter?  Well, for starters we can look at the nations coming to war against Jerusalem.  In Jesus’ day, Rome was considered the master of most of the known world.  Rome controlled a significant portion of Europe, a significant portion of northern Africa, and a significant portion of the Middle East.  What happens within a few decades of Jesus’ crucifixion?  Rome comes to Jerusalem to put down a rebellion.  The city is sacked.  The temple stones are pulled down and left in ruin.  Rome – essentially the whole of the known world – comes and plunders Jerusalem.

What happens to Rome after this?  Their leaders become increasingly prideful.  Soon people from Africa begin to rise up and threaten Rome.  Vandals from northern Europe come down and threaten Rome.  The Empire begins to fall.  It is eventually split into an Eastern and a Western Empire.  They fall into disarray and the Roman Empire crumbles, leaving the broken European states as we know of them today.

For the record, in the time since God has become increasingly forgotten we’ve become focused on our own needs, our own satisfaction, our own knowledge, our own understanding, even our ability to think that we can save ourselves.  As we’ve forgotten God, our world has experienced turmoil.  Has anyone recently seen studies on the growing desertification of the world over the past millennia or so?  Less and less rain falls.  Humanity has grown to fear things like the Bubonic Plague, Smallpox, Cholera, Measles, Anthrax, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Malaria, and I can go on.  I’m not saying that these are all the direct cause of rebellion, certainly.  Rather, I lift them up so that we can see that humanity history is riddled with epidemics and plague and lack of rainfall.  Symbolically at least, we can see truth in these words of Zechariah even in the days since the first coming of Christ.

Christ as the Second Fulfillment

Having said that, I think it is absolutely possible to look into the future and see a second fulfillment of this text.  Certainly when John wrote the book of Revelation he saw a day in the future when the might of the world would be amassed against the might of the Lord and His heavenly host.  John saw this in a very literal way of conflict, much more than the symbolic interpretation I put forth in the last section.  Therefore, I believe that we can look forward through the lens of Zechariah into events to come.

This concept of multiple fulfillments can be hard to accept at first.  After all, we tend to see prophecy as being spoken about one time in the future and then it is done.  However, much of human behavior is truly cyclical.  We repent, know forgiveness, then rebel, and need to repent all over.  Generation after generation moves along an even greater cyclical pattern of repentance and rebellion.  In fact, we saw it in the Hebrew people as we’ve moved through our study of the prophets!  Again and again human beings cycle.  So this concept of multiple fulfillments on varying levels really shouldn’t bother us.  If it was God’s plan to send His Messiah to the world twice, why shouldn’t we also accept multiple fulfillments of other prophetic voices, too?

In the Day of the Lord to come, we can expect a much more literal understanding of these words.  God will come to earth.  He will fight against the nations who rise up against Him.  Even after God displays His superiority, humanity will still rebel.

But we can take comfort in several of the images at the beginning.  On that day there will be a different kind of light in the world.  In a sense, we have a taste of that already in the spiritual light that Jesus brings into our life.  But we will get a much greater taste of His incredible light in the day to come.  His truth will guide our paths.

Another image that we can take solace in is that there will be a spring to rise up out of Jerusalem.  This is described as living water – water for the true sustaining of life.  We will know that true sustenance comes from God and the things of God rather than through our human and natural endeavors.  Again, we see this symbolically in Christ when He came the first time.  We will see it on more than spiritual terms when He comes again.

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Year 3, Day 271: Zechariah 12-13

The Stone upon which the Nations Hurt Themselves

I’m going to go away from the typical “millennial” interpretation of the end of Zechariah which often sees Zechariah 12-14 in terms of the last days, God’s Judgment, the Battle of Armageddon, etc.  Mind you, it isn’t that I think such an interpretation is invalid.  Rather, it is that I think there is a more easily understood interpretation in the past.  This leaves the future understanding often spoken about as an addition fulfillment of this scripture as only the Holy Spirit can do.

In these verses we hear about Jerusalem becoming a cup of staggering.  We hear about something happening in Judah upon which all the nations will stumble.  Anyone who tries to enforce their will upon this thing that is happening will truly hurt themselves.  In that day light will come into the world as the clan of Judah will become like a blazing torch.  In that day Judah will be saved first.  {Note the use of the word first, not only.}  In that day the feeblest among the faithful people of Judah will be like David.

Now, when I hear those words I cannot help but think not of the second coming of Christ but rather of the His first coming!  Is not the life and death of Jesus one of the preeminent discussions of “stumbling” for most of the world?  Do not those who try and enforce themselves upon the Gospel of Christ – either from within or without – eventually end up hurting themselves?  Is Jesus Christ not the light of the world, bringing in a truth through humble submission unlike anything else we’ve ever known?  Did not salvation come through Judah to the Jews first?  In Christ, are we not all transformed into priests – even the lowest and feeblest among us?

Say what you will; let the commentaries be silent.  I think that it is clear that these verses first look to the coming of the Messiah – the humble servant Lord Jesus Christ who was to be crucified.  Only after we see them in that light can we look ahead to a future interpretation.

Him Who Was Pierced

Again I see the first coming of Christ in the closing words of Zechariah 12 – although to be fair I would confess that clearly these words speak about the time following the crucifixion.  Certainly we live within a time period when people look upon the Christ who was crucified and mourn with sorrow.  We mourn because we know that it is our human sinfulness that put Him there.

At the same time, those of us who do contemplate Jesus upon the cross are struck with a sense of mercy and compassion.  We do seek grace.  We do plea for help.  We do mourn on account of our recognized sinfulness.

And I do believe that there is a fountain that has been opened for us.  In the coming of the Holy Spirit we have access to a bubbling fountain within.  Yesterday I spoke of the fact that the Holy Spirit works on sanctifying our heart.  Today I again assert that it is this Holy Spirit dwelling within us that is a fountain of life within a dark and dying shell of life.  Through God we receive grace and the purification of our souls.  We are cleansed because of what we have found in Christ.  The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of that salvation.

Idolatry and False Prophesy

Here again we have scripture that is being fulfilled in our midst.  Idolatry is put away.  When we truly turn to Christ, we put away the idolatry that our flesh craves.  It is happening within us here and now and has been happening in the people of the world for nearly two millennia.

Furthermore, we also see an end to false prophesy.  People who truly accept Christ and who truly listen to the Spirit within are coming to an end of their false prophesy.  The messages change from “do as you desire” and “do what feels good” to “wait upon the Lord” and “follow what He says is good.”

However, here we also get a sense that these words of Zechariah 12-14 may yet be fulfilled again in a new way.  For you see, not all people have put away their idols.  Even within those of us who try, we still have idols.  Not all of us have put away false prophecy.  Even in those of us who try, the occasional false prophecy slips out.  I believe a day is coming when all idolatry and false prophecy will be done away with for good.  I believe these words were fulfilled in Christ.  I also believe that in Christ’s second coming they will be fulfilled again and fulfilled on a new and universal level.

Shepherd Struck

It is this passage that leads me even more fervently to believe that we should see Zechariah 12-14 as pointing more to Christ’s first coming than His second.  After all, the authors of the New Testament seem to agree.  For example, see Jesus’ own words in Matthew 26:31 and the surrounding context of that verse.

We see that in Jesus’ days He is struck and His disciples scatter.  We see that while a good number of Jews do convert to Christianity at Pentecost and beyond – it is certainly a minority that converts.  Even into the present day, much of the Jewish nation has remained true to the traditional Judaism rather than converting into Messianic Judaism.  We do understand that the time following Pentecost but before Christ’s second coming is indeed a time of spiritual refinement.

Those who follow Christ are God’s people – be they Gentile or Jew.  He will listen when they call to Him.  Because they follow spiritually and not just in show they will indeed be welcomed into His fold and refined by His hand.  Again we are left with a sense of being welcomed into a dynamic that we certainly do not deserve.

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Year 3: Day 270: Zechariah 11

The Flock

This passage is a bit confusing to hear at first, because in Zechariah’s context things seem to be going well.  The people are returning from exile.  Communities have become established.  The work on the temple is progressing nicely.  So why would Zechariah come among a people that appear to be headed in the right direction only to proclaim a message like this?

I believe the answer is that appearances can be deceiving.  Even the healthiest looking person can have a cancer deep within them working upon them.  The most stately and ornate building doesn’t necessarily have health happening within its walls.  The most glorious nation in the world may not have the healthiest of infrastructures or unity among the people.  Just because things appear to be going well doesn’t mean that they actually are.

I believe this is the case here in Zechariah.  This is another point in which we can read the words coming after the exile and realize that the inclusion of humanity has introduced sin into the system.  Yes, the people were changed through their exile into Babylon, but that doesn’t mean that sin can’t rear its ugly head.  In fact, we know that it does.

Let’s look at the progression of Judaism after the exile.  In order to try and not make the same mistakes that led to the exile, the religious leaders establish a long list of legal ordinances that must be obeyed.  The Pharisees develop as masters of how to apply the Law to one’s life and they become impressive managers of the smallest of details.  We know how Jesus responds to this cultural dynamic when He comes upon the scene.  Jesus rebukes their legalism.  They have gone too far in the other direction!

This is exactly what Zechariah is speaking about here with respect to the “flock.”  The flock has gathered, but the flock isn’t being the flock that God desires.  They are a flock doomed for destruction, which would be a hard word to hear having just come out of exile!  They went through the motions, but their heart was elsewhere.

I actually love this focus upon this particular dynamic of humanity.  Here’s what we can see as we look upon the story of the Hebrew people.  When given freedom, the human heart turns away and ends up in rebellion.  When corrected, the human heart turns to legalism and still ends up in rebellion.  It is a problem of the human heart.  We cannot be righteous regardless of our focus.

Why do I love this?  It’s simple.  This understanding brings alive the incredible dynamic of truth found in the New Testament.  Jesus came to atone for our sin.  However, God knew that atonement is enough to save us, be we still need more help to sanctify us.  Our hearts are horribly corrupt.  After Christ dies we have the Holy Spirit come to us to dwell within us.  The Holy Spirit takes our corrupt heart and begins to transform it slowly over time.  God knows our problem is a problem of the heart.  So He sends us Christ to deal with our human nature and He sends the Holy Spirit to deal with the human heart.  Without God dwelling within us, we would always be a flock doomed for slaughter.

Good Shepherd

So Zechariah is told to become a shepherd over this flock doomed for slaughter.  Zechariah becomes a foreshadowing of Christ – the ultimate shepherd.  Zechariah takes into His hand the rods of Favor and Union.  Note that Christ was about favor and union.  In Christ, we see God’s favor upon a people who do not deserve it.  In Christ we also see two aspects of union: we see that we can have union with God and we also see that Jews and Gentiles alike can have union through our union with God. 

As the shepherd, Zechariah demonstrated his superiority of the three shepherds.  We aren’t told who these three shepherds are, but traditionally the three shepherds are thought to be the prophets, priests, and kings.  In this act, Zechariah is demonstrating that the true shepherd will be master of all things.  He will rule over our lives with respect to our spirituality as well as our civil action.  God’s Messiah will govern all.

However, the flock under Zechariah could not bear his leadership.  Soon the rods are broken.  Soon favor is forgotten.  Soon unity is rejected.  The flock doomed for destruction is cast away by the shepherd.  God’s Messiah is rejected.

What is sad is that the natural outcome of the rejection of God’s Messiah is a breaking of unity.  We no longer desire God’s favor.  We no longer desire unity among each other.  Look at the world around us.  Do we desire God’s favor?  Do we really desire unity?

Unfortunately, I also have to look within the church.  Do we truly desire God’s favor within our midst?  If we do, then why are we a disunited people?  I heard a scary statistic the other day.  Prior to Martin Luther, there was one Christian faith.  In the ensuing 500 years, we now have more than 30,000 Christian denominations.  I can’t help but wonder how many of those denominations are a direct result of rejecting the unity that should come from being under Christ.

Worthless Shepherd

Then Zechariah is told to portray a wicked shepherd.  The wicked shepherd comes because the flock rejects the true shepherd but they realize they still need to follow someone.  So they follow anyone.  Like the humans they are, they follow a shepherd that only cares for himself and not for the needs of the flock.  When we reject the true shepherd, we are only left with imposters who can’t help but lead us into wickedness.

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Year 3, Day 269: Zechariah 10

Restoration

 Zechariah 10 is a chapter about the restoration of the Hebrew people.  As I’ve mentioned often in Zechariah, remember the situation of the people.  Yes, they are returning from exile.  But there is much work ahead of them.  There is the danger of the interlopers who have come into the land while the Hebrew people were in exile.  Their restoration has begun, but it is a difficult road ahead.

However, there is a point that we need to remember as we move forward.  Restoration comes from the Lord.  The Lord is the one who acts.  Let’s look at the message of this chapter and hear just how much the Lord promises to do for His people.

The Lord reminds His people that it is He who brings the rain!  The Lord makes the storm clouds.  The Lord brings the showers.  The Lord does not forget the fields, even though the only things dwelling in them are plants!

The Lord brings about good leadership.  The Lord makes men mighty in battle.  The Lord rallies the warriors simply because of His presence.

God has compassion when it is undeserved.  God forgives when He is clearly the one who was wronged.  He is the one who treats the rejected as though they are not.  He answers the call when we call upon Him.

He gathers His people in.  He whistles and we come to Him.  He creates home within us.

We don’t deserve any of this, yet He lavishes all of these things upon His people.  It is truly Him and His hand at work.  Salvation comes, and it comes from His hand.

The Shepherds

Outside of the wonderful words of restoration upon which we have just now focused, there are some very scary words back at the beginning that I would like to go back and ponder.  The Lord speaks about the shepherds of His people.  The Lord has nothing too favorable to say about them, either.

God says that His people wander as though they are afflicted with the lack of a shepherd.  In other words, although there are leaders, the leaders didn’t do any true leading!  You see, in the world leadership is all about the life of the leader.  Worldly leaders get people to make their lives easier.  Worldly leaders get the people below them to do all the hard work.  Worldly leaders live off of the fat of the land.  This is how the leaders of the Hebrew people acted, and I daresay that leaders in the modern era are likely to follow in such example. 

But Godly leaders are to be the opposite.  God expects His leaders to choose godliness over worldly gain.  God expects His leaders to choose Him even when everyone else is choosing the world.  God expects His leaders to be an example of submission to Him in a world that struggles to submit.  Rather than leading the charge of His people into sin, He expects His leaders to be a bastion away from sin.  In a nutshell, God expects His leaders to be different.

But this was not the case with the leaders of God’s people.  They led the people into sin.  They encouraged unrighteous behavior.  Their behavior made it easy for people to lose faith in God.  Therefore, the anger of the Lord burns against them.  What an awful position to find oneself!

Future Hope in a Familiar Package

As we now turn to the ending of this passage, we see how it is that the Lord drives home the point of salvation.  God has already spoken about how He will save His people.  Now to drive home the point He reminds His people about the Exodus.  His people shall pass through the trouble of life just like the Hebrew people of old passed through the sea.  The waves of the sea of life will be struck down by God just like the waves of the sea were driven back so that His people could walk across on dry ground.  As the pride (wealth) of the Egyptians (and Assyrians, for the record) was plundered, so shall the world be laid low in the face of the redemption of God’s people.  In summary, when God comes to save His people, He is capable of fulfilling His promises.

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Year 3, Day 268: Zechariah 9

Judgment Upon the Nations

Here in Zechariah 9 we hear Zechariah look towards the nations and forecast doom.  Of course, this is a theme with which we have grown quite familiar.  Let’s take a look at what Zechariah says with respect to the reason for judgment.

If we look at Syria (Damascus) and Phoenicia (Tyre and Sidon) we see that the usual issue rears its ugly head again here in Zechariah: wealth.  These people were merchants and were masters at it.  They made money through their business transactions.  What does Zechariah say about them?  They heap up silver like dust and fine gold like mud on the streets.

Imagine a place where gold is so common it seems like mud on the streets!  Or imagine a culture where silver is so common it is described in the same sentence as dust!  Yes, the main issue with Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon is their wealth.  They were a shrewd, affluent, and economically focused pair of nations.  They made profit from others, consuming more than their fair share of wealth – disproportionately way more than their fair share!

What does the Lord promise with regard to them?  The Lord will strip her of her possessions.  Yes, it is indeed wealth that is their issue.  Their wealth has come between them and any understanding of God that they might find.  Their affluence has become an obstacle – an obstacle that has become so commonplace that they value it about as much as one values dust!

Zechariah next turns to Philistia (Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza).  The issue here is violence.  They are bloodthirsty.  They enjoy war.  Their enjoy conflict.  They enjoy physical confrontation.

What will happen to Philistia?  God will rise up against them.  The Philistines will either be driven out or merged with the Hebrew people.  They will become like His own children as the Jebusites did under the time of David.  The Jebusites were the native population of Jerusalem before David conquered the city.  When it was conquered, the people of Jerusalem (Jebus) were assimilated into Hebrew culture.  Philistia would not endure when judgment came.

Before moving on to the next section of text, I can’t help but wonder what God might do to a nation that had all of the problems mentioned so far.  If wealth brought about God’s wrath as did having a people who love violence, then what about the country that is wealthy and that loves violence?  What might God think about such a place?

The Lord’s King

In the next section Zechariah talks about the coming king of the Lord.  The Lord speaks about the one who will rule.  Naturally, the ruler in the time of Zechariah was Zerubbabel, but he was no official king.

Let’s look for a moment at how this king comes.  The king comes riding in on a donkey (you should think about the Triumphal Entry, here).  The king will also be reason for the people to shout and call out loud (here is more evidence of the Triumphal Entry).  The king has salvation with him when he comes (you should think about the crucifixion here).

However, there is more subtle evidence here that tells us that these verses bring us to Christ as a fulfillment of God’s words.  Notice that in these words the chariot and the bow and the war horse are cut off.  The Lord’s King will not come and become king through warfare and violence.  Rather, it is through peace that the Lord’s King shall be known.

When I think of Jesus, I always think of peace.  Yes, Jesus healed people and drew the outcasts to Him.  In that respect He was about peace.  But even more importantly and far more deeply Jesus was about peace between mankind and God.  Until Jesus died on the cross, mankind and God were at war.  With Jesus’ atoning death upon the cross mankind came into peace with God.  The cross more than any other part of His story is an implement of peace.  How is it that Jesus comes to be the Lord’s King?  He dies so that we might know peace with God.

Protection

In the last section of the text we hear about a time when the Lord will protect His people.  We don’t truly know when it is in history that Zechariah is referring.  But in the end, that isn’t really all that important.  What we can glean from this text is that the Lord fights for His people.  He is their deliverance.  He saves.  He lifts up His people like jewels on a crown.

Passages like this remind me just how awesome God is.  He could have walked away from us and let us destroy ourselves.  He could have judged us all into misery.  But instead He saves us and treats us like jewels upon His crown.  That’s an amazing God!

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Year 3: Day 267: Zechariah 8

Promise of Peace

In the last chapter we spoke a good bit about ritualism.  In this chapter we speak about the other extreme.  Here in this chapter Zechariah will put the emphasis upon conformity to God’s will.

God tells Zechariah that He will come and dwell among His people.  He will come to Jerusalem and be with His people.  Because He comes back to Jerusalem, it will be called the faithful city.

But the profound effect of the presence of God is in the inhabitants.  People will grow old there.  This may not seem like a big deal, but remember their context.  They are rebuilding a city that has been torn down because they themselves have been in captivity for several generations.  Hebrew people haven’t been growing old at all in captivity!  So for God to promise that there will be old people in Jerusalem implies that the city will still be around in which they can grow old!

However, Jerusalem will not just be full of old people.  Young boys and girls will play in the streets.  So there will be a healthy mix of intergenerational people.  And the city will be safe in which to play.  Remember that before Jerusalem fell, they were under siege for a few decades.  It had been almost a century since children had the freedom and the desire to play in the streets of Jerusalem!

This is what happens when God comes among us to dwell and we receive Him.  Sure, we as human beings will never live in a utopia and we will always get things a little messed up.  But when we are humble about our failings and still live with God in our midst, things will go better.

To emphasize His point, God then speaks to those who have been a part of the return from exile from the very beginning.  He reminds them that times are changing.  Life used to be difficult and dangerous in the land during the exile and even when the refugees were returning.  But now that they have undertaking the rebuilding of the temple as well as their homes, God is going to allow them to sow peace.  God promises the people that He will make them strong.  Their remnant will keep hold of the land.

Purpose

God then reminds the people about His promises and His own faithfulness to His Word.  Before the exile, God purposed that the people would be destroyed and they were.  Because of their rebellion, God promised that they would reap the destruction that they sowed.  God also reminds the people that He did not relent.  When His anger came due, it was paid in full.

But now God promises that He will bring good.  As His promises came true in the past, they will likewise come true in the future.  When God purposes good for us it will happen just as often as when God purposes judgment against us.

What do the Hebrew people need to do in response to this promise?  Speak truth.  Render fair judgments.  Make peace.  Do not devise evil for another person.  Do not enjoy false oaths.  Again we see a common theme in the Minor Prophets: God is about righteousness in the heart far more than He is about a shallow yet public demonstration.

So what is the end of all of this promise?  Why are the Hebrew people brought to this moment of glory?  Is it all about the Hebrew people after all?  Is it all about their fame and glory and supremacy?

No.  It is all about God.  People will come from far and near because the Lord dwells in Jerusalem.  People will come because these people are in relationship with God.  People will come to seek the Lord.  Jew and Gentile alike shall desire to be in the presence of God.

That day has begun to come.  Gentile did begin to come to God.  Then Christ came and even more Gentiles have come to follow God.  One day in the future all people who remain on the planet will come and seek God.  What a glorious day that will be.

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Year 3, Day 266: Zechariah 7

The First Message

We’ve just finished up a series of visions that Zechariah received from the Lord about the time that the temple building project was restarted.  After two years – about half the time that it took Zerubbabel to rebuild the physical temple – Zechariah receives a series of messages from the Lord.  Note that these are not visions like the chapters before.

The first message is in response to a query that came from some of the exiles.  Be aware of where the question originates.  The people come from Bethel, which is a city 12 miles north of Jerusalem.  Bethel was one of the two major places of worship for the northern kingdom that went into exile under the Assyrians.  It is in Bethel that things went tragically wrong as the people of the northern kingdom fell away from God.  To put it bluntly, the return from exile is still in its first stage and … well … here we go again!

These people come from Bethel and ask Zechariah if they need to continue the fast in the fifth month.  Note that this fast wasn’t a divinely appointed fast from the Law of Moses.  Rather, this fast to which the people from Bethel are referring is a fast that was instituted to remember the Ammonite treason with respect to the murder of Gedaliah.  Gedaliah was the regent set up by the Babylonians, and it is the murder of Gedaliah that ultimately brings about Jeremiah’s kidnapping and his removal to Egypt.  In this way, the Hebrew people were denied both Gedaliah’s leadership under persecution as well as Jeremiah’s spiritual leadership throughout their captivity.

Therefore, through the first message to Zechariah God asks the people who it was that originated the fast.  Was it God’s Law that told them to fast for Gedaliah or was that an event of human institution?  If it was an event of human institution, then humans have every right to stop it, too!  Why does God need to get involved in the process of breaking things that He did not even ask to establish?

As I read this first message I can’t help but return to the concept of organized religion.  How much of what we do in our public worship is instituted by God?  How much is instituted by mankind?  Perhaps the more important question is how much of the way that we worship is of God and how much is of man?  Have we bound ourselves to the traditions of God and the freedom to fulfill them as we are called?  Or have we bound ourselves to obedience of manmade fulfillment?  Are we truly going through a spiritual process when we gather for worship or are we simply passing through manmade routine in a rote manner?

I should be clear here that I am not intending to place judgment on any particular style.  I truly believe that one man’s rote behavior can be another person’s genuine spirituality.  What is important to me is not how things are done but that things are done by all people with a true sense of spirituality.  It is the spirit of the act that is more important to me than the act itself – and I believe this is part of God’s first message here in this chapter.

The Second Message

Here is the second half of the chapter we get Zechariah’s second message from God.  God’s point is blunt.  God says that He cares more about rendering true justice to the poor and the weak that about ritualistic observances.  In a sense, God is saying that He cares far more about the status of the heart than the physical act.  This is very much kin to Jesus’ teachings on the Law when He says, “You have heard it said that you should not _____, but I tell you that one who has _____ed in their heart is already guilty.”  {See Matthew 5:21-30 as a great example of this.}

God doesn’t want us to put on a false image.  God doesn’t want some public show or demonstration.  As a wise woman that I have the privilege of discipling continues to bring to the front of many discussions, God wants us to be the same person in church that I am with my wife, while watching TV, while shopping at Walmart, etc.  The spiritual walk is not about periodic grand demonstrations of showiness.  True spirituality is about unifying my walk and being true to God in every circumstance.

The people who have come to Zechariah shut their ears.  They just don’t want to hear it.  As I said earlier, here we go again.  They are simply proving how people need to be constantly reminded of this point!  God gives us a little success and the next thing you know we are off on some tangent thinking we are invincible and no longer wanting to be obedient to God.  We constantly need people in our life to remind us to be not just observant but submissively humble and obedient.  We need people to remind us just how ridiculous we look when we stop up our ears and refuse to listen to God.

As I hear of the reaction that these people from Bethel have to God’s word through Zechariah, I can’t help but think of a few Bible stories.  Proverbs 1:31 tells us that “they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices.”  Revelation 3:20 reminds us that Christ stands at our door and knocks, but we must open to door and submit to listening to Him.  Matthew 25:1-13 reminds us of the peril of just going through spiritual motions while not actually preparing ourselves to truly be spiritual people.

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