Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
2 The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
Bible prophecy is important. That is obvious because God put it into the Bible. Approximately one quarter to thirty percent of the Bible is prophecy. God did not put this in His Word so that we could ignore that much of the Bible.
It is very important that we keep II Timothy 2:15 in mind in any study of God’s Word.
II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Discipline is required in any Bible Study. True Bible study should always allow God to be God and to carefully consider what He has said. Much of Bible prophecy can be understood if we let the Bible be our authority. Sometimes God will use symbols and when He does He will tell us that is what He is doing. If God uses a symbol and does not reveal what He is talking about, we are wise to leave it at that. There is no shame in admitting that I do not understand something God has given us. There is shame when God tells me, through His Word, what He wants me to know and I ignore what He says because it does not fit what I want to believe.
In verse 1 of our text we read that this Zechariah began this prophecy during the reign of Darius. This helps us to know something about the man and the time of this prophecy. This prophecy began at about 520 B.C. In modern commentary on the Bible, you will sometimes see the abbreviation B.C.E. instead of B.C. There is a subtle message that writers want us to grasp when they use the letters B.C.E. B.C.E. stands for: “Before the Common Era”. It is a subtle attempt to get rid of the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ. B.C. stands for “Before Christ”.
I refuse to use the more modern term because I am not interested in getting away from the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. God directed Zechariah to write a little longer book than that of Haggai. Both were directed by God to address the need for the Jews back in Israel to get the Temple built. Zechariah’s prophecy covered about thirty three years. He was also a contemporary of Ezra. He is mentioned in Ezra 6:14.
in verse 1 of our text, God helps us to know which Zechariah this is. It tells us who his family was. He was the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. We are also told this was in the eighth month of the second year of Darius. We are also told that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah. God often reminds us that His Word is inspired by Him.
Zechariah did not have some free time and decide to write some things. He wrote what God told him to write. It is important for us to approach the Word of God with a right understanding of this book. It is not simply a book written and assembled by men. It is God’s Word. This is again why it is important to understand the Bible issue. There are people who want to assume they are intelligent and because they believe they are intelligent, they refuse to accept that God has preserved His Word in a manner that is clear and absolute. They prove they are not very intelligent when they make that assumption. God tells us that He preserved His Word “from this generation and for ever”. God wants us to know Him and know what He had to say, as much as He did when He spoke to Zechariah.
The name “Zechariah” means “Jehovah remembers”. God never forgets anything or anyone. That is good news for those who want to know Him. It is not good news for those who want to ignore Him. Either way, God is keeping an accurate record. He forgives the sins of those who come to Him in repentance and faith. When He forgives, He also forgets. That is very important to note. As we see in this book there were things God remembered that some of the people at least would likely wish He would forget.
In verse 2 Zechariah was directed to get down to business. God does not use flowery language. He speaks plainly and with purpose. We read here that the LORD had been sore displeased with the former Hebrew men/fathers. The term fathers here speaks of those who were to be the leaders of the nation.
God had sent the south/Judah into exile at the hands of the Babylonians. He did that because of the sins of the fathers. Most of those fathers never sought forgiveness. They did not turn to God in repentance. They did not acknowledge their sin before Him. In Daniel 9, Daniel was directed by God to remember why he was a captive in Babylon. Daniel acknowledged his own sin and the sins of his fathers. He understood that his captivity was completely justified. Daniel did not suffer in exile. He walked in the fear of the Lord and thus God could use him to speak to several kings. God used Daniel as an evangelist for Him in a foreign and hostile land. God gave Daniel great liberty in that land. Yes, he spent a night in the lion’s den, but that was nothing compared to what those ungodly men that had spread lies about him, faced. They were crushed and eaten by those same lions. Their souls went to hell and they have been in torment ever since, and they will remain in torment for all of eternity.
It is always important to keep God’s Word fresh in our minds. That is why He tells His children to mediate on His Word day and night.
In verse 3 we see that the LORD of hosts told Zechariah to tell the people that they needed to turn unto Him. That means they needed to repent. Biblical repentance is a turning to God in humility, acknowledging sin. We see in verse 3 as well that God will not throw His pearls to the swine. The person who does not want to acknowledge his sin to God, will not find forgiveness from God. God wants to forgive. That is why He gave these words to Zechariah. God wanted Zechariah to give the Jews the facts right off the top. He wanted that current generation to understand what was going on and why they were in the mess they were in.
Three times we find the phrase “LORD of hosts” in verse 3. God was reminding Zechariah and the nation of Israel that He is God over all. There is no God that is greater than He is. Too many of the Jews had forsaken God and chosen idolatry as their religion. That was a gross error in judgment. They had no justification for such a move. They did not benefit from rejecting the true God. Yet they were still in trouble with God, even after seventy years of exile.
God’s Word is there for us to learn from today as well. Most of the people that will read my devotional are Gentiles. Gentiles also need to know the true God. Gentiles also need to understand that many of our fathers have followed a lie. That is no justification for us to follow a lie.
We do not have any prophets today. We do not need them present with us now.
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
God gave us the apostles and the prophets which we have recorded in the Scriptures. You notice He gave “some apostles and some prophets”. There are individuals today who think they are apostles or prophets. They are deceived. There were false apostles and false prophets in the time of the true apostles and prophets. We can benefit greatly if we accept the true apostles and prophets.
In Ephesians 4 we are told that He gave some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Not all evangelists are God-fearing men. Not all pastors and teachers are God-fearing men. In fact we have women who assume they are called of God to be evangelists and pastors and teachers. They are deceived and those who would subject themselves to listening to such are also deceived.
We have God’s Word and we are challenged to be careful we are not holding on to vain traditions of men rather than the sure Word of God.
Pastor Bartel