Project 119: Zechariah 1:1-6
| Project 119 | Amy Hirsch
Have you ever had that feeling of seeing someone you know, someone you’ve met several times, come up to you...and you just can’t quite remember who they are? I have to admit that this has happened to me several times. One of the helpful things about the prophets is that they often give themselves a helpful introduction (even if you’ve read them before and can’t quite remember who they are) - and Zechariah follows the trend here in the first verse of his prophetic work. We learn that Zechariah writes in the second year of Darius, the Persian King, which would have been 520 B.C. You’ll remember from reading the minor prophets that the people had been exiled to Assyria and Babylon because of their sin; they had broken God’s covenant and He allowed foreign nations to judge them. But in 538 B.C., after Persia had overtaken Babylon, the Persian king at the time, Cyrus, allowed the Israelites to travel back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. 50,000 Israelites made their way to their homeland. They had been longing for this day for years while in exile - for the day when they would see the sites of Jerusalem again, for the day when they would rebuild the temple and worship the Lord there, for the day when they would be back home among their people.
But things aren’t as bright as they first seemed. The Israelites arrive back in Jerusalem to find it plundered. The destruction of the temple probably brought back painful memories of how God had brought judgment on His children through Babylon. The prophets had pointed forward to a day when God would dwell with His people, when they would no longer be under the thumb of foreign oppression, when they would want no more. But times were hard as they tried to rebuild an economy while still serving under the Persians. I can imagine that their enthusiasm quickly faded as the reality of the task before them began to weigh on them.
Zechariah spoke into such a situation, bringing encouragement and hope to God’s people while calling them to choose faithfulness. Zechariah’s first words from the Lord sounds like messages heard in the other minor prophets, don’t they? The message is simple: repent. In the Hebrew, the word for repent means to turn—to turn from our wicked ways (and not just the evil deeds of our hands, but also the twisted intentions of our hearts), and to return to the Lord.
But God’s people had not repented. They chose to put their trust in idols, in foreign nations, in the strength of their own hands. And because they did not turn to the Lord, He had allowed them to be exiled. But in His mercy, God had brought His people back home. They had returned to their homeland. And now, through His servant Zechariah, God gave the people an exhortation: “Your forefathers did not listen. They chose disobedience. But the story can be different for you. Turn to Me.”
There’s no doubt that Zechariah understood the significance of this exhortation. He was born in exile, in a land far from home. Zechariah was from the tribe of Levi, a prophet and a priest, so he knew God’s law, and he had seen the pain and suffering caused when God’s people chose to turn away from Him. And so I imagine his voice as he delivered this message from the Lord was kind and sincere, full of longing and hope. “Things don’t have to be the way they were anymore. We can start fresh. Trust in the Lord and hold to His promises. Turn away from anything that distracts you from His purposes. His words are eternal.”
And this call to repentance is the same call Jesus gave in the gospels—and it’s the call that He gives us today. Repent and believe in the gospel, for the kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15). The choice set before the Israelites post-exile is the same choice set before you and me today: will you repent and believe?
Zechariah 1:1-6 (ESV):
A Call to Return to the LORD
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”