Zechariah prophesied at the same time as Haggai and we first read about both of them in the book of Ezra, where they had their roles in rebuilding the temple. Zechariah’s genealogy is given as the son of Berechiah, which traces his lineage to a priestly clan. Like Haggai, his ministry is dated in the reign of King Darius, some 20 years after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon. Before Zechariah, Jeremiah had spoken of a day when the Israelites would be restored and their fortunes returned. But the people understood this as the restoration of their fortunes, not of their relationship with God. None of it had come true. The land was not giving them what they wanted, and the temple still stood in its primitive, shambolic state.
Addressing a Discouraged People
The challenges in front of them seemed insurmountable. Opposition came from every side, and even their own people turned against them. As we read in Ezra, there were informers reporting to the officials of the Trans-Euphrates region, and there were constant disputes. On top of it all, whatever they harvested did not reward them, and they were not enjoying the fruit of their labour. Into this discouragement Zechariah calls the people to trust and obey God. His mission is to give them a forward-looking attitude and turn their eyes towards the Messiah, who would restore all their hopes, cleanse the temple, and bring Jerusalem back to its former glory.
His dreams and visions deal with Jerusalem and the temple. They also challenge the high priest Joshua and Zerubbabel, showing them that they have important roles to play in the project. Beyond the reconstruction of the temple, the visions point to God Himself coming to live among the citizens of Jerusalem. They also promise a future King in the line of David, and all the nations of the world will come and reside there.
The LORD was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.
Zechariah 1:2-3 (NIV)
While in exile, the people had adopted foreign gods and their customs, and even after returning, their hearts were still far from God. They began working on the temple only because the land was not producing what they desired. When they saw that the new temple did not compare with its former glory, they lost heart again. They had also ignored the warnings of Ezekiel, who kept telling the remnant what would happen to them and how they would be carried away.
Now that they were back, they seemed to be slipping into the same routine and even questioning whether God was there, hearing their pleas. We choose to walk away and abandon the relationship, and then we ask why God is not listening to us. Time and again the Bible authors tell us the same thing in different forms. It is the central theme of the entire Bible.
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
James 4:8 (NIV)
If we return to Him, He will return to us. If we are broken and looking for Him, He is very near. Yet in every other relationship we think differently. Imagine a teacher who was very kind to us and whom we treated badly. When the teacher has retired or moved to another school, we say, “I wish we could have that teacher back.” We blame ourselves and miss the person. With God, however, the blame always goes to Him, and we feel He has hidden His face from us.
We say that God knows everything, so why is He not there when we need Him most? We forget that we are the ones who left, and that He is still there if we go back. Often our intention is not really to go back to Him but only to get things back to normal. We are missing the benefits, not God. It is not the peace of being with Him that we look for. We need Him only when we are in trouble. When life is going well, the distance begins, and we keep God as a backup plan for when we need Him again. The more we know about His unconditional love, and the verses that say He will come to us if we go to Him, the more we take him for granted.
Do Not Be Like Your Ancestors
The second line of Zechariah’s message is a warning.
Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.
Zechariah 1:4 (NIV)
Where are they now, and what fate awaited them? The people took pride in their ancestors and their accomplishments, yet God was rebuking them for everything those ancestors had done. In worldly life we never settle for what our ancestors had. If they had a house, we want a bigger one. If our father or grandfather earned a certain income, we want to earn more. We use our wealth, inheritance, endowment, or privilege as a base and build upon it. If our ancestors had one house, we would want to buy the property next to it. We assess and reassess how they invested money and built relationships, and we want to do better.
In spiritual life, we are content to walk in their footsteps. We do the same rituals and customs, maybe even less than they did. We may add a new festival or tradition to suit modern times, but we never ask why they did it, or whether they had a real connection with God. Our parents added some formula, we add some formula, and our children will follow it. We do not challenge ourselves to grow beyond what our fathers did at their age.
We have far greater access to God, at least to His text. In Jesus’ time people had to go to a place to hear God’s word read out, because many were illiterate or had no access to the scriptures. If they missed it in a given week, they might wait years for that portion to come around again. Today the word is on our phones, and yet in many gatherings it is not read at all. Someone else’s opinions, or the words are read instead. Having the scriptures at any time we want is a luxury that our ancestors did not have.
So what our ancestors built, their faith and knowledge, should be a base, and what God reveals to us should build upon it. If our parents had a million dollars, we would want to invest it and grow it. If they had a relationship with God and an understanding of Him, we should build on that, not settle. Otherwise, we are either fooling our parents or thinking that we are fooling God.
The people responded to Zechariah’s call, repented, and agreed: yes, our ancestors did these things, and what happened to them was what their actions deserved. Our response is often very different. We may or may not aspire to go beyond our ancestors spiritually, but we usually do not accept that they deserved God’s punishment. Whatever they did seems right in our own eyes. We keep protecting the image of our predecessors, because otherwise we would have to re-evaluate the formula—the template—we have copied from them. If what our parents and grandparents did was not pleasing to God and we are simply emulating them, then it means we are also in the wrong. So instead of changing our ways and redirecting our walk toward God, we keep following the same well-trodden path and fail to heed the call to return to our LORD.
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