Zechariah’s words for today
by David Sellnow
If a prophet were to arise in our country today, what would you hope he would say?
Maybe you hope for a prophet to speak out against the immorality and lies and corruption that prevail all around us. The powerful call what is evil good, and what is truly good they say is evil. You’d like a prophet who would set the record straight, who speaks up for godly values—for loving our neighbors, for walking in righteousness, for mercy and justice.
Maybe you hope for a prophet who would speak to the sluggishness and indifference that exists even inside God’s church. The people of God seem to have given up in defeat, or given in to worldly concerns, or given out in exhaustion. They just want to sit in their own comfortable homes, live out their lives, stop working so hard for God’s priorities in a world that doesn’t seem ever to align with God’s priorities anyway. You’d like a prophet who would speak to godly people who are tired, who are weak, who are worn, a prophet to the weary and frustrated.
Maybe you hope for a prophet who would speak out against the nations (including our own) that pursue wars and aggression and claim they are doing so with God’s approval—as if God wants war and will bless them for inflicting violence. You wish someone would challenge the bullies and grifters who increase their riches and advantages at the expense of everyday people and then dare to claim that their greater wealth and power is a sign of God’s blessing. You hope for someone to expose the false preachers and misguided philosophies that battle against genuine Christian hope and faith.
You want a prophet who will speak for you because you don’t know what to say, a prophet who reminds you that you have a Savior, that Christ will bring you more life and truth and fullness than this world can offer … and that waiting for him is worthwhile, no matter how long you have to wait. You hope for a prophet who would remind you that you are not forgotten, that the LORD remembers his promises, and he has promised you salvation.
About 2500 years ago, a prophet arose in the nation of Judah and reminded God’s people that God does remember his people and his promises. The prophet Zechariah’s own name was a reminder; his name meant “the LORD remembers.” Zechariah ministered after God’s people had gone through centuries of history, had been carried off into exile and back again, and had returned to a pattern of life in their home country that was nothing special, quite mundane, not at all glorious. It was not the high-powered kingdom of David and Solomon anymore. It was a leftover kingdom, a remnant, an afterthought. They needed to be renewed in hope that God indeed still was remembering his promises. And Zechariah provided that reminder.
Often in our lives under God today, we need the same sort of reminder. We need reminders and promises for our own souls. We are so easily entrapped and enslaved in our own sinfulness. We keep on doing evil, even if we don’t want to or try to avoid it. We keep failing to do good, even as we try to be good (cf. Romans 7:15-20). Our pride gets in the way, because we’re confident that we can do the things God wants us to do… but we really can’t. We do not do the good we want, but the evil we do not want is what we keep on doing (Romans 7:19). We need God’s deliverance and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Romans 7:25).
We need reminders, too, about our country and world. We get tired, frustrated, discouraged. The world seems to be in chaos. Our country seems to go from one crisis to the next. Our leaders’ supposed solutions seem more often to make things worse. We find ourselves wondering if we’re going to be ok. We wonder if the ultimate kingdom of our LORD will ever come in answer to our hopes. The word of a prophet like Zechariah—indeed the Word of our LORD through all his prophets and apostles and from Jesus himself—is what we need to reawaken our hopes, reinspire our confidence, and spur us on in faith.
Prophetic voices like that of Zechariah remind us that the LORD remembers. No matter how much our hopes are challenged and burdened—by what happens in our history, in our nation, in our world—we can know that God does not renege on any of his promises. The Messiah is real, not imagined. The promises are true. The day of the Lord will come. And when that day comes, the LORD will remember us as his own.
The fact is, we are in the last days, the end times, the final chapter in human history. How do I know that? Because Jesus has appeared on this earth once already. The events of his birth, life, death, and resurrection were the inauguration of “these last days” (as the Bible terms them). Everything that has been happening since the Son of God became a man is a part of the final chapter of the human story.
The history of time essentially consists of two chapters. There was the old testament, the beginning chapter, the ancient time in which people who hoped in God looked forward to the coming of the Anointed One, the Messiah that God had promised. Humanity had no answer to its own sin and problems, to death and isolation from God. Only God himself could solve the human condition. Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, the incarnate God, came and fulfilled the ancient word, living and dying in the place of frail humanity, rising out of death and ascending again to heaven as the hope of our future.
Now we live in the new testament era, the concluding chapter, the days in which we wait for Christ to come again. We know he is the Savior, the King, the Lord of all things. Before he ascended into the clouds, he promised us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is Lord over all things that happen—even when it appears to us that he couldn’t be further away and this world couldn’t be more of a mess.
Before he ascended into the clouds, Christ also commissioned us: “You will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We have a calling, a purpose, to extend the promise of Christ’s name to others while we can, while this earth still endures in its broken state.
Zechariah spoke of the last days in the way that prophets of old saw the time Christ would come to the world. They saw the arrival of Christ and the end of time like mountain peaks in the distance, appearing as if they were very close together. Zechariah’s prophecy wove images of Christ’s first coming—such as his Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem—together with images of Christ’s second coming—his judgment of all nations. Zechariah encouraged the people to rejoice because their true King and Savior was coming to them. When he first arrived, the Messiah would come in humble fashion, yet at the same time triumphant and victorious. The coming of Christ’s kingdom cuts off the horses and chariots and weapons of war. His kingdom extends over all the earth and he calls for peace. He promises to those who have placed their hope in him will be set free from bondage and restored to strength in double measure (Zechariah 9:9-12).
Zachariah’s book of prophecy also includes messages of Judgment Day. At Christ’s second coming, those who have opposed the Lord will be caught in his judgment like persons caught in a lightning storm. They will be destroyed like Goliath was brought down with a stone from David’s slingshot (Zechariah 9:14-14). At the same time, there is peace and hope for God’s people. When Judgment Day comes, Jesus is bringing redemption to those who have struggled and suffered. “On that day the LORD their God will save them, for they are the flock of his people” (Zechariah 9:16).
God gives great beauty and glory forever to his people, who are his in Jesus. They—we—will sparkle like jewels for eternity. No matter how oppressed we may feel in our days of earthly existence, no matter how many enemies we encounter who oppose God and the faith we have in him, God is our rescuer. The kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
And so meanwhile, in these last days, what do we do? We proclaim the message that Christ himself proclaimed. He proclaimed peace to the nations. He breaks the battle bow and takes away chariots and warhorses. He is the King who came to his people in lowly fashion, riding on a donkey—indeed, on a colt the foal of a donkey. The sword our King has given us with which to fight battles in his name is not a weapon of war, but rather the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NIV).
In these last days, we yearn for and lean on the word of the Lord, which empowers and strengthens us, lifting us up out of hopelessness. In this world of uncertainty and sin and confusion, we rely on our humble, gentle-of-heart Savior to be with us. “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens,” he said, “and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). That’s the word of our Lord on which we rely. And we go forth with his goodness and promises, trusting that he indeed is the Lord and is in control, confident that he, the LORD, remembers his promises and will safeguard his people … all the way to the very last day, all the way into eternity.
Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Other quoted version: THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture says (Isaiah 49:15): “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?” In the next breath, that same scripture acknowledges that human parents may forget and neglect their children. I work in a human services agency, where child protection services and child support enforcement are ongoing concerns. We celebrate Mother’s Day for all the good that comes from mothers. We celebrate Father’s Day for all the good that comes from fathers. Yet we also acknowledge that there are no perfect parents in this world, nor any perfect children, and family life is frequently problematic.
We will walk through troubles in this life. That doesn’t mean that God our Father has forsaken us. Rather, in times of trouble especially the Lord’s word rings true, telling us, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted” (Isaiah 66:13). We are assured that the Lord keeps track of all our sorrows, as if collecting all our tears in a bottle. He has recorded each one in his book (Psalm 56:1). We can take comfort in times of suffering, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,