Returning To The Lord, The Lord Returning (Zechariah 1:3)

 


Thursday, October 10, 2024


Psalms 92; 93

Zechariah 1:1-17

Colossians 4:7-18


Returning To The Lord, The Lord Returning (Zechariah 1:3)


Things are really starting to rev up as we get closer to rebuilding the city walls. Haggai, the old man who had seen the before and after effects of the exile, is joined by Zechariah, a young man born during the exile, in Babylon. Both men have been given words by God to speak to the people to encourage them to get to work.


While Haggai’s words were more appropriate to a man of years, full of wisdom and careful consideration, Zechariah is brimming with youthful eagerness, wanting to soak up as much as he can from the experience of his forefathers, so as to do as good a job as possible in his own generation. Haggai knows about patiently waiting on the Lord; Zechariah wants to learn for himself.


Zechariah is going to receive several visions all in the one night. Today we read about the first. And they all fall under the one big heading that we read in our verse for the day: return to the Lord, and the Lord will return to you.


The first vision addresses the fact that Jerusalem seems to be very much under the yoke of foreign oppression: the people, while returned from exile, are still not free. Meanwhile, the big baddies of the global empires are at peace; this is what the horsemen went out to discover. Not to worry, says the Lord, in the comforting words he spoke to the angel, passed on to the prophet: the love that the Lord has for his people is very great, a burning jealousy. God is making things right.


This inclination to compare ourselves to others is universal. The Jews were comparing their tough situation to the easy situation of the oppressors. But, the overarching message is: return to the Lord, and the Lord will return to you. Don’t worry about the Persians, or the Egyptians, or the bankers, or the non-government agencies, or anyone else. Return to the Lord, and the Lord will return to you. Our work in the church, to build the kingdom of heaven on earth, is entirely unique and special. We have the power of the supernatural behind us, and the Lord of everything guiding and supporting us. In every little and big thing, if it is for the Lord, then it is of utmost and eternal importance, and he will prosper the work of our hands.


Who do you compare yourself to? Who should you be judging your efforts by instead?


Lord of Creation, keep our eyes looking to you, so that we may be assured of your presence and blessing.

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