Remember... #14

 Read: Zechariah 14

Background:  Zechariah was used by God throughout his ministry to constantly and repeatedly remind his people of God's character and activity in their past as a motivation to trust and obey Him in the present. God had called on them to return and reboard, trusting Him to provide, protect, and empower them while they built the temple, walls, and city.  Mixed in with this encouragement was also a warning attached to God's faithfulness; He still would discipline selfishness, infidelity, and disobedience. They were to stay the course.  In this final chapter Zechariah is told to bring up a theme common in the Minor Prophets: The Day of the Lord.  "On that Day" enemy nations would once again come up against Jerusalem to invade and plunder.  At first it would seem that they were succeeding in their wicked intentions, as half of the city fell.  But then the Lord will step in to fight for them. He will send plagues, panic, and punishment on all those who had attacked them, then they will come and depend on Him as Israel did in the wilderness.

Key Verses: 20 And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.

Thoughts:  This final paragraph was intended to be a special encouragement to the people.  They were being challenged to do their part to rebuild the temple, the holy place of the Lord.  They were not to lose sight of that fact that Jerusalem was to be the earthly reminder of God's holy rule over all the earth.  When Zechariah began his prophecies, the people were selfishly working hard for food and worldly goods, but they could never seem to get ahead or even get enough, while they also neglected building and supplying for temple worship.  Now, there would be food in every pot, especially the one in the House of the Lord.