Zechariah 1:4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.
5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
Fathers are supposed to be strong. They are supposed to know how to walk with God.
I John 2:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Fathers are supposed to be men of God. When we read the Old Testament, we find that God often compared one of the kings of Judah to David. David was not a perfect man. He sinned. He committed adultery, a sin that God said required the stoning of the guilty parties. However, God forgave David, even though David suffered greatly for that sin. He set a very bad example for his own children and for the nation of Israel.
There were things in David that God saw that He did not see in some of the kings of Judah, but things that He did see in some of the other kings.
In our text, God said that the nation of Israel should not be like their fathers. The former prophets had cried unto their fathers. They had not heeded the challenge to turn from their evil ways. They ignored the prophets. They liked where they were at. They could not explain why they did not know the peace that Israel had known in the days of king David. They could not explain why their crops did not do well as in earlier times. They could not explain that because they rejected the truth. They were too proud and too stubborn to see the need to turn back to God. They chose to remain in their evil ways and in their evil doings. They refused to listen to the LORD.
The people of Zechariah’s day needed to understand that even though he was the one speaking to them, he was speaking the Word of God to them. He was not making up his own words. His words were powerful because they came from the LORD.
Today as well, too often people attack a godly man because they do not like what he is saying. They refuse to see that the godly man is simply repeating Words that God had written down and preserved for every generation. Godly men do not take God’s Words and spin them to make them sound more appealing to the flesh. Godly men study God’s Word and motivated by the love of God, they teach the people the truth.
Wise people listen to what God has to say and do not stubbornly refuse to heed God’s Word. In verse 5 God asked where their fathers were. Did they live for ever? What about the prophets, did they live for ever? The fact is that we all will die. What will happen to us when we die?
In verse 6 we read that God’s Word did not take hold in their fathers’ hearts. Notice that God called the true prophets “my servants”. They were men of God. They were messengers chosen by God to speak the Word of God.
We read that after it was too late, they admitted that the LORD spoke the truth. He did to them exactly as He had promised. He warned them of the danger of rejecting Him. He does not break His Word.
This God that Zechariah was told to write about is still the same God today. He has spoken the Truth. He will not change to suit fallen man. He makes a way to be forgiven, on His terms. It is foolish to reject the Truth for the sake of convenience. This life is so short. Eternity is so long. Why allow your flesh to dictate truth to you when you will have to live with that for the rest of your life? An eternity apart from God is terrible. Jesus warned of the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Three times in the above passage, Jesus warned of the danger of rejecting His Word. Three times we read: “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” If you love the perversions, you will not find that warning three times. There is a reason for that. The perverters who put together the perversions do not want to think of what God says. They think if they ignore the Truth, it will go away. The fact is the Truth does not go away.
Zechariah reminded his listeners that their fathers found out too late that God was not playing games. He spoke the Truth, but they ignored it. That did not make the Truth go away. It just proved the rejectors of the Truth guilty.
Job 39:13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
God created the ostrich. He did not create her with intelligence. She lays her eggs and leaves them unprotected in the earth. She does not concern herself with the fact that a heavier animal might come along and crush those eggs. Verse 17 tells us that God deprived her of wisdom. Yet she looks at the horse and its rider, and she can outrun them. The thing that really matters is oblivious to her.
That was the problem with the fathers in our text. The thing that really mattered was oblivious to them.
The difference between the ostrich and man is that God has provided a source of wisdom for man. Man can change. He can learn. He can submit to God and be forgiven and saved. If he gets saved, He is changed. He desires to hear God and follow Him. If he chooses to reject God, he will be held accountable for his stubbornness.
Don’t be like the ostrich. You have the capacity to know the Truth and to walk in the Truth. Choose wisely and turn to the Lord. You will be glad you did.
Pastor Bartel