Zechariah: The Lord Returns by Youthworks

Contents

Foreword

Preface

vii

Introduction to Zechariah

Return to me (Zechariah 1:1–6)

The great reversal (Zechariah 1:7–21)

A tale of two cities (Zechariah 2:1–13)

Cleansed and commissioned (Zechariah 3:1–10)

Building God’s house (Zechariah 4:1–14)

The removal of sin (Zechariah 5:1—6:8)

The messianic ‘Branch’ (Zechariah 6:9–15)

Ritual religion (Zechariah 7)

109

God’s covenant promises (Zechariah 8)

122

10.

The king on a donkey (Zechariah 9)

137

11.

Bad and good leadership (Zechariah 10:1—11:3)

156

12.

The shepherd of God’s flock (Zechariah 11:4–17)

170

13.

The stricken shepherd (Zechariah 12–13)

184

14.

The day of the Lord (Zechariah 14)

206

Bibliography

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Chapter 1

Return to me (Zechariah 1:1–6)

The book of Zechariah begins with a call to repentance. The Lord’s first words to his people are ‘return to me’. Although the people had physically returned from captivity in Babylon, their hearts had not fully turned back to the Lord their God. The prophet Haggai, a contemporary of Zechariah, proclaimed that their neglect of the Lord was the cause of the physical scarcity they were experiencing. ‘You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.’ (Haggai 1:9–10)

Instead of returning to the Lord with all their heart, that generation had focused on their own comfort, building panelled houses for themselves while allowing the house of God to remain in ruins. This is the context into which the prophet Zechariah preached his message.

IN THE SECOND YEAR OF DARIUS (1:1) The first verse of Zechariah sets the book in its historical context. The ‘action’ begins ‘in the eighth month of the second year of Darius’ (1:1), or around November 520 BC. There are three things that make this date significant.

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The Lord Returns Firstly, the date is calculated with reference to a nonIsraelite king. Prior to the exile, dates were typically calculated with reference to the years of the kings of Israel and Judah. The naming of a pagan king in the date formula is a stark reminder that there is no king in Judah. Every time an Israelite wrote the date, it told them that things were not as they should be, because they were still subject to foreign rule. Jerusalem had lain in ruins since its destruction by Babylon in 586 BC, with no city walls, no palace, no king, and no temple. The form of the date tells us that the ominous clouds of exile still loom darkly over God’s people. Secondly, however, there is also a positive note sounded by this date. The second year of Darius was also the 67th year of exile. The prophet Jeremiah had foretold that the length of the exile would be 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11), and so the nation was potentially on the cusp of momentous change. (See comments below on Zechariah 1:12.) Thirdly, this date highlights the fact that Zechariah’s prophetic ministry overlapped with that of the prophet Haggai by about two months. The last recorded date in Haggai is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius (Haggai 2:10, compare 2:20), and this date is especially significant because of what happened on that day. It was the day when the foundation stone of the temple in Jerusalem was laid (see Haggai 2:18). Prior to this time, the people had neglected the house of the Lord, and had focused on their own material possessions (Haggai 1:1–11). However, in response to the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, the people commenced work on the reconstruction of the temple (Haggai 1:12–15; Ezra 5:1–2). The ministry of the prophet Zechariah occurred in the midst of these crucial events. Zechariah is introduced as the ‘son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo’. We learn from Nehemiah 12:4, 7 that Iddo was the head of one of the priestly families in the time of Joshua the high priest (whom we will meet in Zechariah 3). Zechariah is thus part of the priestly line in Israel (compare Nehemiah 12:16). The fact that Zechariah’s grandfather was active at this time as the head of a priestly family suggests that 12

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Return to me (Zechariah 1:1–6) Zechariah could only have been a young man in the second year of Darius.2 Not only was Zechariah from a priestly line, he was also a prophet. His prophetic ministry began when ‘the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah’ (1:1).

THE LORD WAS VERY ANGRY WITH YOUR ANCESTORS (1:2) The word from the Lord that Zechariah was given to proclaim was that ‘the L ORD was very angry with your ancestors’ (1:2). Zechariah’s prophetic message echoes the message of earlier prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who condemned the rebellious hearts of a former generation. The failure of that generation to repent had led to the judgement of exile in 586 BC. There is, however, one important difference between the preaching of (say) Ezekiel, and the preaching of Zechariah: through Ezekiel, the Lord condemns both the current generation and ‘their ancestors’ (that is, the former generation). They and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. (Ezekiel 2:3–4)

In contrast, the word of the Lord spoken by Zechariah is only against ‘the ancestors’, leaving open the possibility that the Lord may have a different attitude towards the current generation to whom Zechariah preaches. The phrase ‘very angry’ is literally ‘wrathed wrath’, with the verbal repetition highlighting the magnitude of God’s wrath. Though the message of God’s wrath against those who rebel against him is not popular, it is the unavoidable teaching of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments. For Zechariah’s generation, God’s anger at their ancestors’ sin was an undeniable fact of history. They knew that, for almost 70 years, they and their ancestors had been experiencing the Lord’s judgement because of that sin. 2.

Levites retired from active service at 50 years of age (Numbers 8:24–25).

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The Lord Returns Zechariah’s message, however, is that this is all about to change, if the people will return to the Lord.

RETURN TO ME (1:3) The word translated ‘return/turn/repent’ (it is the same underlying Hebrew word) is the keyword in this section. It occurs twice in this verse: ‘Return to me … and I will return to you’. It occurs in verse 4 in the words of the former prophets: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices’, and it occurs at the end of the section, where we are told that ‘they repented’ (1:6). ‘Return to me’ is a call to repentance. Repentance is fundamentally a turning around, an about-face. Instead of walking in the ways of their ancestors, this generation must turn back to God and walk in his ways. They must submit to God as God in their lives, and give him the honour and place he is entitled to. The Lord says to his people ‘return to me’. If God’s people will return to him, then he promises them, ‘I will return to you’. Although it is the same word, the Lord’s return is different from the people’s return, as it does not involve repentance. Instead, the Lord’s return has both relational and spatial connotations. The sin of the people had led to a relational rupture—the Lord’s anger had burned against his people (Jeremiah 4:8, Isaiah 5:25) and he had forsaken them (Lamentations 5:20). The promise of the Lord’s return means a restoration of relationship, turning from his anger (Hosea 14:4), and turning to his people in mercy (see Zechariah 1:17 below). Furthermore, the Lord’s return is also spatial, because it involves a return to dwell in the midst of his people, as promised in the book of Ezekiel. According to the vision in Ezekiel 10–11, the Lord had previously departed from the temple in Jerusalem, in response to the wickedness and idolatry taking place in his house (see Ezekiel 8:3ff). The departure of the glory of the Lord from Jerusalem signified the withdrawal of the Lord’s presence from his people. Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the

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Return to me (Zechariah 1:1–6) threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD’S house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. (Ezekiel 10:18–19)

Ever since the destruction of the temple in 586 BC, the people of God had known that God was no longer dwelling in the midst of his people. However, Ezekiel had also promised a day when the Lord would return and dwell in their midst. I will make a covenant of peace with them … and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. (Ezekiel 37:26–27)

The promise of God’s return in Zechariah likewise includes the promise to dwell in the midst of his people. This is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem’. (8:3)

This return will involve the restoration of the temple as God’s dwelling. ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt.’ (1:16)

THE EARLIER PROPHETS (1:4) Zechariah’s appeal to ‘return to the LORD’ is based on words spoken by the earlier prophets to an earlier generation. The words in Zechariah 1:4 (apart from one clause highlighted below) come from Jeremiah 25:5, 7. Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

Zechariah 1:4

Turn now, each of you from your evil ways and your evil practices

Jeremiah 25:5

But you did not listen to me, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 25:7

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The Lord Returns The message of the earlier prophets is central to Zechariah’s preaching. This is the first of many instances where Zechariah will quote from/echo/allude to the Scriptures, especially the ‘classical prophets’ like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Zechariah wrote to a generation who knew their Scriptures, and these quotations, echoes and allusions call on them to believe the promises and heed the warnings spoken in the past. However, Zechariah is not merely recycling old prophecies! The Lord is speaking a new word to Zechariah’s generation, which reiterates words he has already spoken in the past. The Lord’s message to ‘turn from your evil ways and your evil practices’ was not addressed merely to Jeremiah’s generation, but also to Zechariah’s. The same word that the Lord spoke through Jeremiah around 586 BC, he continued to speak—through Zechariah’s quotation of Jeremiah’s message—almost 70 years later. The word of God is never ‘past tense’—it always addresses us in the present.

EVIL WAYS AND EVIL PRACTICES (1:4) Zechariah, like Jeremiah before him, called the people to turn from their evil ways and evil practices. ‘Evil ways’ refers to immoral behaviour, like murder or stealing. ‘Evil practices’ refers to idolatry—giving something other than God the worship that he is rightly due.3 In Jeremiah 25:6 (which is the verse in between the two verses from Jeremiah quoted in Zechariah 1:4), Jeremiah identifies some of the ‘evil practices’ that the people are called to turn from. Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. (Jeremiah 25:6)

Returning to the Lord requires a turning away from both immorality and idolatry—one or the other alone is insufficient. Equally unacceptable to God are moral people 3.

See Jeremiah 7:3–11 for Jeremiah’s condemnation of evil ways (such as stealing, murder) and evil practices (for example, Baal worship).

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Return to me (Zechariah 1:1–6) who worship other gods (or no God), and religious people whose private lives are filled with injustice, deceit and oppression. The people whom Jeremiah addressed in Jeremiah 7 were very ‘religious’—they burned incense to Baal, and then they came to the temple at Jerusalem to stand before the Lord. But, far from being impressed by this religiosity, the Lord regards their ways and practices as ‘detestable’ (Jeremiah 7:10).

DO NOT BE LIKE YOUR ANCESTORS (1:4–5) Jeremiah had told his generation to turn from their evil ways and practices, but the Lord declares to Zechariah, they ‘would not listen or pay attention to me’ (1:4). The call to turn came from the lips of Jeremiah, but it was not merely his words alone. By refusing to listen to Jeremiah, that generation had also refused to ‘listen or pay attention to me’. The Lord himself had spoken through Jeremiah, and to reject the prophet’s word was to reject God. These same words that God spoke through Jeremiah, he re-spoke 70 years later to Zechariah’s generation. He continues to re-speak that same word as Jeremiah and Zechariah are read and preached to this day. Zechariah’s generation were faced with a choice. God was speaking the same word to them: turn from your evil ways and your evil practices. They could either respond like their ancestors and not listen, or they could be unlike their ancestors, and listen to God’s word, and return to him. We likewise have a choice. God continues to speak the same words to us. ‘Return to me and I will return to you. Turn from your evil ways and evil practices.’ The question is: will we respond like the ancestors, who ‘would not listen or pay attention’?

WHERE ARE YOUR ANCESTORS NOW? (1:5–6a) Verse 5 gives us the reason not to respond like the ancestors. It asks two rhetorical questions. ‘Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever?’ 17

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The Lord Returns The answer to the first question is obvious. As Lamentations 5:7 tells us, ‘our ancestors sinned and are no more’. The second question is less straightforward. The issue turns on whether ‘the prophets’ are true prophets or false prophets. If they are true prophets, then the second rhetorical question sets up a contrast with what comes next—prophets don’t live forever, but the word spoken through the prophets continues to be powerfully effective. However, on balance it is more likely that these prophets are false prophets, and that this second rhetorical question is asking the same question as Jeremiah 37:19: ‘Where are your prophets who prophesied to you?’ In the book of Jeremiah, the true prophets are explicitly described as such (for example, ‘my/his servants the prophets’), while the false prophets are just ‘the prophets’. The person familiar with Jeremiah who heard the bare phrase ‘the prophets’ would almost certainly have thought of the false prophets whom Jeremiah had decried, like ‘the prophet’ Hananiah, who died—within months—rather than live to see the return from exile he had falsely prophesied (Jeremiah 28). The two rhetorical questions in 1:5 thus make the same basic point: it will end badly for all those who ignore or oppose the true word of God. The fate of the ancestors is made explicit in Zechariah 1:6a: ‘But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?’ This description of ‘words and statutes’ which ‘overtake’ is an allusion to Deuteronomy 28 (especially verse 15). This connection made here between the words of the prophets and the words of the Mosaic covenant in Deuteronomy indicate that the prophet’s work was in complete continuity with the law of Moses. The ‘law’ and the ‘prophets’ provide complementary—not competing— explanations of the causes of the exile. Zechariah’s generation knew the facts of history. God had indeed judged his people, just as he had promised in the Law and the Prophets. Their ancestors had ignored the warnings, to their peril. What would Zechariah’s generation do? 18

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Return to me (Zechariah 1:1–6)

THEN THEY REPENTED (1:6b) Verse 6 goes on to tell what happened next: ‘Then they repented and said, “The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.” Who repented—the ancestors or Zechariah’s hearers? A number of scholars and Bible translations adopt the first alternative. On this view, the word ‘they’ in verse 6b refers to the ancestors in verse 6a, who repented when they were in exile. A factor that counts heavily against this interpretation is that Zechariah has exhorted his generation not to be like their ancestors (1:4) and instead to repent. Why would he say this to them if the ancestors had in fact eventually repented? The alternative—and better—view is to take the word ‘they’ in verse 6 to be the same group as those identified in the third person in verse 3, telling us how they responded. Translating verses 3 and 6 literally: 1:3 ‘Therefore, say to them … “Turn to me … ” 1:6b … and they turned …

That is, verse 6b records the repentance of Zechariah’s generation, and reads as the historical outcome of Zechariah’s preaching in 1:1–6a. The prophet Zechariah preached ‘Return to the LORD’, and his first hearers did just that. We know from Haggai 1:12–15 and Ezra 5:1–2 that the people did indeed respond in repentance to the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah. Zechariah’s generation—unlike their ancestors—made the right response. The second half of verse 6 says ‘they repented and said, “The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.”’ This generation responded to both parts of the challenge: the Lord had said ‘Return to me’ and they ‘returned’ in repentance; the Lord had also said ‘do not be like your ancestors’, who had thought that there was nothing wrong with their ways and practices. This generation, in contrast, acknowledged the error of their ways and confessed that they rightly deserved God’s judgement. Their 19

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The Lord Returns repentance involved a genuine confession of their sin. This generation was NOT like their ancestors. God had promised in verse 3, ‘Return to me and I will return to you’. Verse 6b tells us this generation did indeed return to God, which leads to the expectation that the time was ripe for the Lord to ‘return to them’. How the Lord would ‘return in mercy to his people’ and ‘return to dwell with his people’ is the theme of the eight night visions that follow in 1:7–6:15, which we will explore in subsequent chapters.

ZECHARIAH 1:1–6, JESUS AND US The ministry of Zechariah began with a call to repentance. The ministry of Jesus likewise opened with a call to repentance—Jesus’ first words in Mark’s Gospel are ‘The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ (Mark 1:15) Jesus also declared, ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (Luke 5:32). Becoming part of the people of God begins with the step of repentance. Jeremiah’s generation had told themselves they didn’t need to repent. They assumed that God was satisfied with their worship of him, and that God would surely never punish them for all the wrong they had done. That generation would not listen to the call to repent, and that generation perished. In Zechariah 1, God continues to speak to us the word he first spoke to Jeremiah’s generation, and then spoke again 70 years later through Zechariah. That same word is still speaking today—living and active (compare Hebrews 4:12)—as God addresses us directly, and says ‘return to me’. The call to repent is a call to turn back to God, which involves turning from both ‘evil ways’ and ‘evil practices’. In becoming a Christian, we turn our backs on our evil ways (immoral acts) and evil practices (idolatry). It is inappropriate for us to revert to those ways and practices. We must not be like ‘the ancestors’ in Jeremiah’s generation who went through the rituals of worshipping the Lord whilst 20

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Return to me (Zechariah 1:1–6) stealing and murdering, committing adultery and perjury and following other gods (Jeremiah 7:9). Zechariah 1:1–6 challenges us to learn from the past. The New Testament tells us that the examples of God’s judgement in the past have been written down as warnings for us, so that we don’t end up following their examples of disobedience (1 Corinthians 10:11). The warning of God’s wrath is confronting but necessary. The prospect of so many people facing God on judgement day is a horrible thought, and it is not surprising that many people want to pretend that God will never exercise his wrath against us. But 1:1–6 confronts us with the reality of God’s anger at those who continue to ignore and reject him. Because the ancestors turned their back on God, God withdrew his presence from his people for 70 years. This was but a foretaste of the final judgement, when God will give all those who continue to reject him what they have asked for—an eternity separated from his presence. Zechariah 1:1–6 doesn’t end in judgement, but on a note of hope. Zechariah’s generation were not like their ancestors. Their repentance opened up a very different future for them. Notwithstanding their sins—which they freely acknowledged in verse 6b—God promised to return to them. In the same way, our sins do not condemn us to experience the wrath of God. Because of the death of Jesus, God will return to us when we return to him in repentance and faith. Zechariah 1:1–6 challenges us to true repentance. A person becomes a Christian by repentance, by turning back to the Lord—the Lord Jesus Christ. We turn from our idolatrous worship of other gods and our self-serving immorality, to worship and serve the Lord Jesus, just like the Christians at Thessalonica. You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10)

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The Lord Returns

FOR STUDY, DISCUSSION AND PRAYER 1. Why was the Lord angry with ‘the ancestors’? 2. What are the modern equivalents of their evil ways and evil practices? 3. What does it mean to return to the Lord? 4. How do we ‘listen’ to what God is saying to us? 5. What does it mean for the Lord to return to his people?

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