Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, the hosts methodically show how Scripture is one cohesive story. Critical Thinking with a little bit of theology and apologetics and you have what this podcast is about. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity today must address woke, deconstruction, and progressive Christianity, all topics that are addressed if we go purposefully through the Bible. Join Glenn and Steve weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S2 || An Invitation to Redemption || Zechariah 1:1-6 || Session 2 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
Join us on Reasoning Through the Bible as we explore the profound themes of God's righteous anger and compassion in the book of Zechariah. What if God's anger is far more complex and grounded in holiness than we often perceive? We'll navigate the opening verses of Zechariah chapter 1, unraveling the historical context that Zechariah provides, and contrasting God's anger with human tempers. Discover how the nature of God's righteous anger is rooted in justice and holiness, offering a timeless reminder that His stance toward sin and disobedience remains unwavering. The practical truths found in Zechariah guide us in building a relationship with God, reminding us of the timeless and unchanging nature of His Word.
Hello and welcome to Reasoning Through the Bible. Today we are in the book of Zechariah in the Old Testament, one of the minor prophets. If you have your copy of the Word of God, turn there. It's one of the later books in the Old Testament, wonderful book. We're going to go ahead and dive in chapter 1, verse 1. Steve, if you could read the first three verses of Zechariah, chapter 1.
Speaker 2: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 Edu, saying the Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore, say to them Thus, says the Lord of hosts Return to me, declares the Lord of hosts, that I may return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
Speaker 1:These verses open the book and set the context for the book of Zechariah. It introduces our man here, Zechariah the prophet it gives in the first verse. It tells us who this prophecy was given to. It tells us his ancestry, who was his father and his grandfather. It tells us who was king at the time and the year and month of the revelation. So it sets a very specific context. It's documenting the book and telling us where it came from and who it was given to.
Speaker 1:These things, of course, not every book of the Bible does this, but we have it here. God was very concerned with documenting these things when he wanted to. Therefore, we have a person, a context, a history, a date, a location. All of these things come into play when this is very heavily documented. With that, Then, in verse 2, it tells us that God is angry with their fathers. Verse 2, the Lord was very angry with your fathers. That brings up the first question, Steve Does God get angry, and does he get angry in the same way that we get angry? Does he get angry for the same reasons that we?
Speaker 2:get angry. This word that's mentioned here in Hebrew is a verb that means to be angry, but it means to provoke to anger. It's a word that arose because people failed to perform their duty. This is the anger that God is speaking about here. Their ancestors did not obey the statutes, didn't do what they were supposed to do, went off several times and worshiped other idols, and over and over again. That's all recorded throughout their history. They constantly were going after and leaving the Lord. Many times he would say come back to me. But that's the anger that he's talking about. He's provoked anger because they didn't do what they needed to do in following him.
Speaker 1:That's very true. We have here what's presented a holy God that does indeed have anger for sin and disobedience. That's a concept that isn't taught in some circles, but God can and is an angry God at times for disobedience. Now, we would hold that God's anger doesn't really change. His anger and frustration with sin is always there, and His love and compassion towards repentance our response to Him is always there. He is always angry with sin and he is always loving towards repentance. When we are disobedient, we are under His anger. When we are repentant and go back to Him, we are then under his compassion and love. He doesn't change. We are the ones that change relationship with him based on our response to what he has given us. Here God is telling the prophet Zechariah I have been angry with your fathers and your forefathers because of their disobedience.
Speaker 1:Now, god's anger is a righteous anger. It's a justified anger. He is perfectly angry for the right reasons. We, as fallible humans, we tend to get angry for the wrong reasons. When we get angry, we lose control of our faculties and say things and do things that we wouldn't do in cold blood. God doesn't have that problem. His anger is based in his righteousness and he is infinitely wise when he should be angry and when he should be loving. So God does not, therefore, get angry in the same way that we get angry. He doesn't get angry for the same reasons that we get angry. He doesn't get angry for the same reasons that we get angry. We tend to wink at sin, and God is always angry at sin. He is always just and holy. Steve, today we don't often hear about God's anger. Does God still have anger today towards sin and disobedience, even in this modern world?
Speaker 2:He absolutely does. And in the New Testament, through the epistles and the apostles, and even in the gospels, we're told that this righteous anger that God has. Jesus went in and cleared out the money changers that were in the temple and said my father's house will be a house of prayer yeah, he does. In the temple and said my father's house will be a house of prayer. Yeah, he does. Maybe not a better way, but another way to put it would be that he's disappointed or he's put out with a people and it's provoked him to this righteous anger, because they just won't realize who he is and worship him in the right way.
Speaker 1:You rightly pointed out, jesus cleansed the temple, took a whip and whipped the cellars of things throughout of the temple. If you don't believe God can get angry, read Matthew, chapter 23. In all its passion and emotion, jesus had righteous anger. God opens the book of Zechariah saying I am angry and have been angry with your fathers. God can and does and still has anger towards disobedience, and we can be assured that if God is angry with the people of Israel back in Zechariah's day, then he can be angry with us today, because we are no different than they, and our fathers and even us have been in sin and rebellion.
Speaker 1:God can and does have anger. He's not just a sugar daddy that always brings presents on our birthday he does indeed give blessings, but he is also a God that has righteous anger and we need to be very aware of that. When we teach about God, we need to teach the full aspects of God and not just the parts that we like and the parts that we find good. It's not pleasant speaking of God's anger. What God loves is repentance. That's really. Again. He's telling people I'm angry, but in this book he's also going to be telling them I'm going to do a great work in you.
Speaker 1:God is both an angry God towards sin and rebellion, but he is also loving towards his people, and this book shows that. Even in his anger, he is giving a book that shows them how to return. That's going to be one of the main themes in the book of Zechariah is God has been angry with the Jewish people of Israel and how do they get back right with him again? That's the message here. Then, in verse 3, he says Therefore, say to them Thus says the Lord Return to me.
Speaker 1:Declares the Lord of hosts. God calls himself the Lord of hosts, and that is a military term that is used in the term of a leader of an army or a leader of a military force, leader of a group of people that is going to go out for battle or go up against an enemy. The hosts of heaven are all of the angels and the heavenly beings that God has created for his various purposes. He is the Lord of all of the heavenly beings that are set up to go do his will and to do battle for him. When he calls himself here the Lord of hosts, he's saying that he is God over all the armies of heaven, all of the beings of heaven, in that he is the most powerful being that has ever existed.
Speaker 2:I think it's also interesting here, glenn, when he says return to me. Previous verse he says I've been angry with your fathers, your previous generations of the nation. Verse three say to them return to me. I looked up this phrase, return to me in my studies. It's roughly in the Old Testament, mentioned about 19, 20 times. Roughly about 10 or 11 of them are in the prophets spoken in the same way of the nation of Israel to return to God, to Yahweh. It's in Jeremiah, hosea, malachi, amos and here in Zechariah as well. I do find it interesting, glenn, that even though all through the hundreds of years that the nation of fathers, the generations, were disobedient, going after other idols and to provoke God's anger, that he's still wanting them to return to him. I think that that's a pattern that God shows and we'll find out in a few other verses why he's that way with the nation of Israel. But I think that's just an interesting thing Even though he's been provoked to anger, he still wants them to return to him.
Speaker 1:That's a great, great insight, because he is angry but he's also compassionate at the same time. We tend to emphasize one or the other, but he has righteous anger, but he at the same breath, the same sentence, he's wooing his people back. He wants them to return With that when he says in verse 3, return to me, that I may return to you. The first question there is what does it mean to return to God? What is that? We use this New Testament word repentance, but what does it mean to return to God? How do I do that on a practical, everyday basis?
Speaker 2:Well, this Hebrew word has the inference of repentance in it. It has there to go back, to do again, to change, to withdraw, to bring back. There is that inference of what we see in the New Testament, of repentance to change one's mind. He's asking them come on back to me, do again of worship with me, what you worshiped with me before. He says there, so that I may return with you. He wants that relationship restored with the nation of Israel that he's had before.
Speaker 1:With this, I think we can have a great insight into not only the full character of God, but the nature of salvation and the nature of sin and separation from God, and the nature of sin and separation from God. If God always has righteous anger towards sin and he always has compassion and love and acceptance towards repentance, then when we sin we become separated from God and we repent and return to him. We now have fellowship with God. Who moved? Who changed? It wasn't God. God didn't change. He was always angry with sin and always loving towards repentance. We were the ones that up and decided to go sin one day and separate ourselves from God. We then were the ones that repented and decided that we wanted to be back in fellowship with God again. That's what he's saying Return to me. This implies they can return to him. Ought implies can. You ought to return. I'm commanding you to return. Therefore, you have the ability to return. Your fathers did not. I'm giving you another opportunity here because I'm a loving God. Return to me that I may return to you.
Speaker 1:God doesn't move. It's us that moves in relation to him. He is always the same yesterday, today and forever. We are the ones that change relation to him based on our sin. He is always offering a compassionate opportunity to return. We just merely accept that. I find that all bound up here in this one verse. Stephen, it's just really phenomenal.
Speaker 2:It is phenomenal because, as you've pointed out, god didn't move, they moved. So, again, I think it's a great thing to know that if we return to God, he's asking them to do it. It's a great thing to know that if we return to God, he's asking them to do it. We can take the parallel with our lives in this age. We return to God after we've moved away from him. He's there, waiting for us to return to him and again restore that relationship.
Speaker 1:Then, in the next verse, zechariah 1.4 says this do not be like I was saying just a minute ago. He said your fathers ignored the prophets. They had the opportunity to return to me. Now I'm giving you the same command return to me, don't be like they did. Instead, return to me. This implies they can. It implies they have the ability to make the decision to either return or not. He's saying your fathers chose to not return to me. I'm offering the hand of fellowship back to you again. Return to me, as we're going to see it's.
Speaker 1:The context of what he's saying is both physical and spiritual. They were physically still separated, many of them, or still scattered abroad. He's saying physically, come back. But also emotionally and spiritually, come back to me, which is really the most important part your fathers. I sent prophets to them. They didn't listen, they didn't return. I had to judge them. I scattered them amongst the nation with Babylon and Assyria. But now please return to me and I will return to you. Don't be like your fathers. The response of the forefathers was to ignore the prophets, kill them and walk away from God. He's saying don't be like that, glenn.
Speaker 2:There's something there that you said that I don't want to just brush over. You said that they had the ability to return to them. It's very clear that throughout Scripture that there was always and always has been a remnant of the nation of Israel who stayed faithful to God, but the vast majority of them, through their leadership, would reject God and do evil in his sight, and very much in Judges we see that they would go off and do what was right in their own eyes. Much in Judges we see that they would go off and do what was right in their own eyes. But here he's saying return to me. He's talking to those ones who have left and done evil so that they can come back. They have the ability to do that.
Speaker 2:I think that's something that we shouldn't just fly over. Even though there's this remnant that's always stayed faithful to him, there's a group that are not faithful to him, have gone off and done their own things, but they have the capability to return to him, or else he wouldn't be saying return to me and go away from your evil deeds that you've done. Let's just don't fly over that. Let's really take that to heart, that God is welcome and wants those people who do not currently worship or acknowledge him to come to know him in a loving relationship way.
Speaker 1:In the Scriptures there's many commands to do things and if we ought to do those, that implies we have the ability to do those. He commands them to return, it implies they have the ability to return. Then, in the very next verse, verse 4, he specifically says I sent prophets to your fathers. They did not listen. I want you to listen, steve. This was a very long time ago. These were very ancient peoples. God had sent prophets to them with a message from God. These people did not listen. Therefore, god was angry with them. He is sending Zechariah with the same message return to me. Are we any more sophisticated now because we're so modern and educated and we're so good, and these were just ancient people that had ancient problems? But are we any better than?
Speaker 2:they? This was roughly taking place around 500 BC. The answer to that question is no. We're not any different from them. They are people, just like we are people, human beings. They had the five emotions like we do. We're really no more different than Adam and Eve from the very beginning. Satan continues to work in the same way that he worked against Eve to deceive her. We're probably a little bit more knowledgeable I wouldn't necessarily say smarter. We're certainly more knowledgeable. We have more technologies and we have the abilities to go across the earth in a matter of hours and things like that that we have in our day, that they didn't have in their day. But no, we're the same as they are. We are human beings susceptible to deception from the devil and everything else doing evil and not worshiping God the ability to choose whether to worship God or not worship God. We're the very same human beings that they were even in 500 BC.
Speaker 1:Our culture has really gotten the same message. I mean, the Bible gives the same message, which is we are sinful and God is angry at sin and he is loving towards repentance and that we ought to come back to him. But our culture has done the same thing as the Jewish forefathers did. He mentions here in the first few verses of Zechariah. God is still today angry with sin and he has sent out the same message repent and return to me. He offers this through the Lord Jesus Christ. That message has been out there for quite a while now and the people are still in rebellion and he is still asking please return to me, that I may return to you. He is still the same loving father that reached out to the Jews in the ancient day after their disobedience and their ignoring him. He is still reaching out to us.
Speaker 1:My friend, if you can hear this message, it's still not too late for you. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, but it is a great thing to fall into the arms of a loving Father. That's the choice we will either be falling into the hands and the arms of a loving Father or we're going to fall into the hands of an angry God. We are no different than these ancient peoples. The New Testament word for turn from your evil ways is repentance. We should each ask ourselves have I repented since I heard this message? Have I turned to God? Did anyone in the past ever give me this message? I was ignoring it. Did I ever walk away like the Jewish forefathers did? Did I ever walk away like the Jewish forefathers did? Why do you think, steve, so many people today ignore the prophetic message to repent and return to the Lord?
Speaker 2:God? It goes back to the previous question you asked and the answer is that they're human beings just like we are. They have the minds to take in what's being proclaimed to them and whether or not to follow God or not. There's a principle here that we've mentioned in our other book studies is that God has sent, throughout the generations and centuries, prophets, people to go out and give them the word of who God is, who Yahweh is, and to worship him, of who God is, who Yahweh is and to worship him.
Speaker 2:In our day and age, we don't have prophets per se, but what we do have is we have podcasts, we have visual videos that are out there among the really worldwide tens of thousands of people that are out promoting and giving the gospel message throughout the world to people. Those people have the same capability of whether to follow God or not follow God, whether to follow Jesus Christ or to reject Jesus Christ. God is faithful in that way. He's merciful in that way. That is another principle that we can see. Even though there's not specific prophets like in this day and age, there are programs such as this that speak his word and promote his word and tell people about Jesus Christ and the good news, the gospel message.
Speaker 1:Also in verse 4, notice again what he's saying. He's saying Also in verse 4, notice again what he's saying. He's saying do not be like your fathers, who ignored the prophets. Instead, return to me Now. Put yourself in the shoes of a Jewish person.
Speaker 1:Even today, the Jewish people have a high regard for tradition. They have a high sense of pride and sense of belonging, that they descended from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, that they were given all these benefits from God. And what God is directly pointing to here is your tradition was flawed. Your fathers didn't listen to me. The tradition is that your fathers weren't following me, and he is commanding them to not be like their fathers. He's commanding them all of your sense of belonging and pride because of your Jewish traditions. Don't be like that, because the truth is they didn't follow me. They rejected the prophets. I'm sending you another prophet don't be that way. That is very counter-cultural to the Jewish ear, very counter-cultural to the sense of people that had all this tradition. On one hand, god is trying to pull the rug out from under this whole sense of Jewish pride and tradition, but on the other hand, it's also very encouraging.
Speaker 1:Verse 4 could be a great word of encouragement, even though our fathers didn't listen. We have a chance. We have the opportunity now to be right with God. Remember the context here. These were the people that had just spent 70 years in this radical punishment where God had pulled them out and sent them to Babylon, very pagan nation. This was a spanking, if you will. This was punishment. He was scattering them into a foreign land, and this was a radical punishment. Many of them died, many of them would never live to come back. He's therefore saying here's another opportunity, in one breath. He's saying don't be like your forefathers that ignored this. I'm giving you another chance. That's the word of encouragement here.
Speaker 2:I absolutely agree with all of that. Do not be like your fathers, your previous generations. The nation of Israel was formed by God. It's his nation, not formed out of any other nations. One of the reasons he did that he expresses in the Hebrew scriptures is so that they could be an example to the other nations of how he interacts with Israel and what type of a God that he is. This is what he's doing. That's how we can take practical things from Zechariah. Even though it's addressed to the nation of Israel, he's showing how compassionate he is to them. To return Don't be like your previous generations. There's the same message in our day. Don't be like our previous fathers who rejected Jesus Christ. Change your mind, Repent, Believe that he is the Messiah, Believe that he has come, Death, burial and resurrected and that he has promised us eternal life. So we can take a parallel in regards to God through this, even though this book is written specifically to the nation of Israel.
Speaker 1:The next couple of verses are still God speaking to the Jewish people through the prophet Zechariah. So chapter 1, 5, and 6 say this your fathers, where are they? And the prophets do? They live forever. But did not my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants, the prophets, overtake your fathers. Then they repented and said, as the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us, in accordance with our ways and our deeds, he has dealt with us, zechariah. There is saying your fathers died, the prophets died, but my word is as good as ever. My word is going to last forever. Steve is the word of God, for today he talks here about. Okay, your fathers died, the prophets I sent, they died. My word's still here. Is the word of God still here after all these years?
Speaker 2:It is here. It's what we've been talking about, where we can take something from these scriptures as well. He's still the same God. He's merciful, he's compassionate, he is righteous and he is going to judge sin. But if we come to Jesus Christ, who will cover that sin, we can be declared righteous through him and follow Jesus, then, yes, that's returning to God. So his principles are there today, just as they were with the nation of Israel. Follow me, have a relationship with me, and I will love you and I will take care of you.
Speaker 1:The image here is really interesting because it says in verse 6 that the word of God overtook the fathers. It overtook them. The word there for overtake means to reach the fathers or outlive or outlast them. The imagery here is that the fathers were running away from God as fast as they can, but the word of God reached out and overtook them. It outlived them, it outlasted them. It is the thing that's permanent, the idea for a rebellious people that are headed to death. The word of God is going to outlive you and it is going to run you down. We do our part by running away from God as fast as we can and God does his part by sending out his word and it will overtake us by sending out his word and it will overtake us.
Speaker 1:The last half of verse 6, the result was that the people realized why God was dealing with them in judgment. He says there that I sent Babylon in to judge you and I sent the word of God out to reach you and it overtook you, it outlasted you. Then they repented and said as the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us, in accordance to our ways. They realized once the word of God reached them, they realized oh, now I see God was really serious about these things. The people said God was dealing with them. Quote in accordance with our ways and our deeds. The picture in verse 4 through 6 is very clear. The people heard God's word. They were in rebellion and rejected it, but God's word eventually reached them and they repented. That's the image here. That's the idea. Are people today still in rebellion, and is the word of God still a quick and powerful two-edged sword that will divide between soul and spirit? Will it run us down?
Speaker 2:today, the word of God is everlasting and never changing. That word repented that's translated. Repented is the same Hebrew word that's earlier in the verses, talks about return. He says they return and said as the Lord of hosts purpose to do so. Yes, the word of God is never ending, never changing. It's something that we can take and know and realize how to have a relationship with God, our Father, and also how to worship Him and find out more about Him.
Speaker 1:Such a great message and we've really just got our foot in the door here into Zechariah. But all of this has been very practical, very down to earth. Steve, I just have been guilty myself of not spending as much time as I should in some of these Old Testament passages, but boy is it sure, practical and down to earth for our lives today.
Speaker 2:It is. It's uplifting to know that we can draw parallels of how God's relationship with the nation of Israel is, how that can be encouraging to us and our relationship with Jesus Christ in today's time.
Speaker 1:Next time we're going to get to the visions that start here in Zechariah, chapter one. Be with us next time as we reason through the word of God.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.
