Zechariah 7:8-14 says....Bible reading week 34, day 5

Today's verses are Zechariah 7:8-14, which read,

v.8-10 - Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying, "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'"

The Lord gives us some commands to follow here.  The first is to dispense of true justice and to dispense the practice of kindness and compassion to our families.  We are to speak the truth and we are do this with love in word and deed.  The first place we are instructed to put in place the commands of God is with our families.  God then reaches out to the widows and the orphans and they are not to be oppressed by us.  We are to make life happen for them in a way that they do not suffer more than what they are suffering already.  He then brings in the stranger and the poor, two more suffering groups.  The opposite of oppression is freedom.  We are to offer some freedom to those who have lost married loved ones and have no parents and are foreigners or outsiders to the group and are struggling to have their needs met.  The last command is to not devise evil in your hearts against one another.  Don't hold a grudge.  Don't seek revenge.  Don't revel in others falling down.  We are to be people who from our hearts see others as people to love in the name of God.  There is so much wisdom in these commands of God.  

Will they follow these commands of God is the question.  Will we?  Will we speak the truth in love with our families and our church family?  Will we seek ways to bring freedom to the widow, orphan, stranger, and poor?  Will we have hearts that are described as promoting the good in others and for others?  These are actions to be practiced.  These are the opposite of what sinful nature does.  You will be swimming of upstream in our world if you follow God's words in this passage.

v.11, 12 - "But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.  They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts has sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts."

Don't you just want to yell "NOOOOOO!"  God could not be any plainer in His instruction but their response was to not look at Him and turn a cold shoulder to Him and put their fingers in their ears or better yet turn up the volume of whatever song they are playing through the earbuds in their ears.  It was more than just the outward response of not looking at, turning away, and plugging their ears but an inward response that goes all the way to their hearts.  If something was going to change it was not just to outwards actions but also an inward one.  They had plenty of warnings send by God to them but a great wrath was coming.  

God is saying, "Don't be surprised.  I told you over and over and over again."  The wrath of God is described here as "great."  It is large.  It is terrible.  It has volume to its negative effect on you.  It is not a slap on the hand or try better next time Johnny.  God has a day and on that day those whose hearts are not His will feel His wrath.  Those hearts that are His will be doing what He says to do.  

v.13, 14 - "And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the LORD of hosts; "but I scattered all the nations whom they have not known.  Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate."

Prior to the exile the warnings of God went out to the people of Israel through His many prophets.  God released the nations from their boundaries to invaded Israel's boundaries.  Those nations made the land that was once the land described as the land flowing with milk and honey to be desolate.  At this point the people of Israel start calling out to the Lord but He gives them what they did to Him.  He doesn't listen.  He allows them to be swallowed up by these other nations and taken into exile.  They did not heed the word of the Lord.  They did not take seriously what God said.  They adopted a bunch of rituals but they ended up to be things done for themselves rather than in honor of God.  Those rituals did not translate into heart actions of love and truth but heart actions of oppression and devising of evil toward others.  They looked good on the outside but the inside was rotten to the core.  God said, "That's enough!"

Now we have come full circle and the people of Israel are back in the land and they are asking to skimp on what God has said.  Just like they did before and a little skimp here and a little skimp there will lead to eyes diverted, cold shoulders turned, and ears listening to other voices than God's.  Are you going to go down this road again Israelites?

What about us?  What about you and me?  What is coming out of our hearts?  Are we in love with God's words?  Are we seeking after His commands?  Are we not asking what's the least I can do to look holy but pushing ourselves to be humble before God to glorify Him more?  How serious are we about what He says?  The day of great wrath is still coming.  He showed us a picture of it here with the Israelites and their trek into exile.  Maybe you have been down that road of not following after God and righting the boat only to find yourself veering off course again.  You realize that His words are not just cute on a refrigerator magnet or a Facebook quote but they are commands on how His children are to live seriously for the glory of Him.  Let us pray.

"Lord, I have come full circle at times.  I have slacked on what Your word says and it has never benefited my life.  There is no way out of that situation but back on my knees before You and to be raised up by You to obey You.  Help us to see that Your words are not optional when it comes to the glorification of You from us.  Amen."

Pastor Adam