Zechariah 1:1,2 says...Bible reading week 28, day 3

Today we start a new book to study during our morning devotional times.  It is the book of Zechariah.  Here are some background information about this minor prophet book.

The authorship of the book is a man named Zechariah which was also a very common name.  His name means, "The Lord remembers."  Zechariah was a priest.  He was one of the 120 set up by Nehemiah of the Great Synagogue over the people of Israel who have journeyed back from Babylon to Jerusalem.  He was born in Babylon and journeyed back with his grandfather Iddo with the first group of exiles led by Zerubbabel so he would have known Haggai who we just studied.  Just as the book of Zechariah follows after the book of Haggai, it is also true in light of physical history.  Zechariah picks up where Haggai leaves off.  It seems that Zechariah is also younger than Haggai.  Throw into the mix the priest Ezra and you have a trio of holy men who are proclaiming to the Israelites the need to keep focused on God.

Some say that this book is the most messianic, apocalyptic, and eschatological in the Old Testament.  It gives a healthy dose of the One to come prior to the 400 years of silence when God shuts His mouth to the people of Israel.  Zechariah will give us prophecy but he will also give us practical lessons about repentance, divine care, salvation, and holy living.  An outline of Zechariah starts with a call to repentance followed by 8 night visions, 4 messages, 4 responses, and 2 burdens.

Let's venture this morning into looking at the first two verses, which read,

1 - In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying, 

2 - "The LORD was very angry with your fathers."

The eighth month on the Jewish calendar would equate to our October/November and the year would be 520 B.C.  This would be two months after Haggai gave his messages to the remnant who have returned from Babylon to Jerusalem.  It is interesting that the dating of these two books and others is based not on their own kings but the kings of the Gentile nations.  They have no king at this time so they have to base time of years off of the world but record the months in relationship to those God had given them.  We have credibility here because the elements to measure the validity span beyond the pages of the Bible into the pages of secular history.  Darius the king is brought into the pages of the Bible to establish historical data that the Bible is recording a historical event.  It is ironic that now the Bible is many times the book that is verifying what happened because it has written down these accounts.  Many archeologists, Christian or not, go to the Bible as a source to understand what they are digging up.  All these names and dates are very important in giving validity to the message that is going to come from God through Zechariah's lips.

We find God not just angry but very angry.  The literal translation would be, "to break out in long-controlled indignation."   This was God going to give a long speech laced with condemning information that would nail them to the wall.  His voice is raised and the veins in His neck and on His head are popping out.  He has some fire in His eyes and the tone is harsh.  His words come out harshly but with complete justice as He recalls one event after another where no escape can be found.  You want to crawl under the table but no table is there.  God is the judge giving His final "say so" in His court of law and He is feed up with you and your shenanigans.  He is throwing the book at you.  That would be my attempt to describe God and what that anger might look like to us today.

Would you describe God as angry at you?  Does He have something to be angry at you about?  What are you doing about that?  Are you allowing God to continue to be angry at you?  Why?  You need to answer those questions before we go on because we need to have a tender heart to what God says.  We need to act appropriately to God's anger and that His anger is there for a purpose and for our good.  Let us pray.

"Lord, prepare us for what You have to say through the pages of Zechariah.  May we see the history of the people of Israel, the remnant who have returned, but may we also see our similarities that are recorded for our benefit.  May Your angry be turned to joy as we respond with repentance and obedience to You as truly our Lord God and Savior of our souls.  Amen."

Pastor Adam