What Seems to Be Horrible...

 

Zechariah 13:“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
    I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8 In the whole land, declares the Lord,
    two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.
9 And I will put this third into the fire,
    and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” 

The closer we get to the end of Zechariah's prophecies, the more we see a future hope not only for Israel's restoration, but for distant hope of the Messiah.  We saw yesterday that they would "look upon the one whom they had pierced." Here the Shepherd would be struck and the sheep scattered.  But afterward, they would call upon the Lord, and He would answer. The relationship with God would be restored.  What seems to be a bad thing results in the most wonderful hope.

The One Pierced

 

Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 

This chapter begins with God saying: "On that day," indicating the day when He makes everything right. He goes on to announce His salvation is coming through Jerusalem and going out to surrounding nations. He then presents this picture of His coming in grace and mercy.  Note the pronouns above: when they look on ME, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him.  God speaks as if He is more than one Person - Me and Him.  When we respond to or reject Christ, we are responding to or rejecting Him, the One Who He sent to be pierced.  What a prophetic picture of Christ in this Old Testament Prophet.  

Worthless Shepherds

 Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.

The shepherds of the people - both the royal and religious leaders - had failed miserably. They had lived selfishly, not caring what happened to their people.  The nation was going down the tube. God instructed Zechariah to take the place as shepherd to signify this.  He was to violate his trust and then demand payment, just like the irresponsible leaders had done.  The leaders got the message - they knew that it was the Word of the Lord.  As payment, he received thirty pieces of silver, significant not only because it was the price of the slave, but it foreshadowed the price paid to Judas for his betrayal of Christ. When that happened, Judas also threw it into the house, and it was taken to buy the potters field to use as a cemetery. The rebellious leaders and their people were doomed to death.

Why Will God Do This?

 6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah,
    and I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back because I have compassion on them,
    and they shall be as though I had not rejected them,
    for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.
7 Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior,
    and their hearts shall be glad as with wine.
Their children shall see it and be glad;
    their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord.

Again we see the hope of this prophecy come to the surface in full view. God will strengthen, save, restore and rebuild Judah and Israel (Ephraim) together as a strong people. The big question is WHY? The answer, in short, is the compassion of God. In mercy He looks down, takes note, and acts. For the one who is open, they can "see it," and they will rejoice.  There is the rub: Can you see the compassion of God? It is there. He is at work.  He is full of mercy and grace even in the midst of judgment. Will you respond to Him?

Rejoice! Shout! Behold!

 

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

In these minor prophets, sometimes the thread of hope blends into the background, while at others it screams from the hilltops.  This is one of the latter.  We recognize this not only as an announcement of hope for the future of Israel after the exile, but especially of the coming Messiah, fulfilled by Christ at His Triumphal Entry.  He was peace in the flesh before them, and His coming brought peace to all who trust in Him.  This prophesy goes on to describe the overwhelming abundance and joy found in the King's presence.  May our hope shout in our hearts today. 

The Purposes of God

 Zechariah 8:14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

This chapter is full of Good News: Out of His Jealousy, God had chastised Judah for her infidelity, but now out of that same Jealousy, He was going to restore her and protect her.  In the next paragraph, God told His people to move forward, as He would provide the strength and resources they needed to rebuild. Here He reminds them of His purposes, both for Himself and for them. As He purposed to restore them, He called on them to carry out His purposes for them: truth, honesty, and justice. This would be what they all had longed for: True Peace.

Bad Diamonds

Zechariah 7:8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

The key word in Zechariah is Remember.  As he had just promised the rebuilding of the temple and the establishment of a King and Priest, at the same time God wanted to warn them not to repeat the reasons they had lost all these things: their diamond-hard hearts - their lack of compassion, justice, and mercy. If they were to experience renewed life and hope, they needed to not repeat these evils.