As you look around the world it’s easy to think to yourself, "Why doesn’t God do something?" Whether it’s East Timor, or Kosovo, or Rwanda not so long ago, whether it’s the rising level of AIDS around the world, or young children dying of cancer, or other people dying on the roads, whether it’s people suffering as the victims of violent crime, you wonder why does God allow this to continue? Surely he could do something to stop it. It’s interesting that at the end of last century there was a lot of optimism about the future. The 20th century was going to bring advances in science, an end to poverty and war, and a better world due to advances in health and education. Well, at the end of the 20th century, after 2 major wars and countless smaller ones, with poverty and corruption, famine and disease, still as prevalent as ever, the only thing we’re looking forward to now seems to be the effect of the Y2K bug. So it’s no wonder people ask "Why doesn’t God do something?"
Of course that’s not a new cry. We of the 20th century haven’t invented it. In fact one of the recurring themes of the Bible is the incompleteness of God’s plan. All through the Bible you find that God’s plan for the world is awaiting a conclusion. Well, that was certainly true for the people of Israel waiting in exile in Babylon at the time that Zechariah writes. They must have been thinking "Why doesn’t God do something about our situation? Doesn’t he care that we’re stuck here in exile among these idol worshippers. He’s said that he’ll rescue us, so when’s he going to do it?"
The people in Jerusalem may have been thinking similar things as they looked around at how few they were; as they saw the way nothing had really changed, how there was just as much laziness and corruption as there was before the exile. "What’s God going to do about it?" they were no doubt asking. What’s happened to us being a holy nation set apart for God? Why haven’t God’s purposes been accomplished after all these years? So God sends Zechariah another message, to show what he’s going to do to bring about the restoration of Israel, and to establish his dwelling place on earth. The message comes in a series of visions or images: of a scroll, a basket, chariots, and a crown.
The first vision is of a giant scroll. "Again I looked up and saw a flying scroll. 2And he said to me, ’What do you see?’ I answered, ’I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.’" This is like one of those banners you see flying above the cricket or the football, with a message like, "Marry me, Stella!" Or "I love you Darren!" It’s big enough to be read clearly from a distance, and there are a couple of other interesting features to it. Its dimensions are interesting, to start with. It isn’t just big. Its the same size as the Holy Place in the Tabernacle (Ex 26:15-28). That may or may not be significant. If it is then it may be intended to remind us of the covenant requirements of holiness and obedience. The second feature is similar: it has writing on both sides, the same as the tablets of the law. So this scroll represents the law of God, going throughout the land, clearly visible for everyone to see, telling them of the curse on those who disobey. And what is the curse? "Everyone who steals shall be cut off, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off."
Let’s think about that for a moment. These two may be linked, in that the thief if he’s caught would swear by the name of God as a way of establishing his innocence. On the other hand, it’s a little bit reminiscent of the later prophets, like Amos, who accused the rich of exploiting the poor, of stealing their birthright from them and of using lies and bribery in court to cement their position. In which case the purpose of this scroll may be to highlight those sins which led to the downfall of Jerusalem in the first place.
So in the first vision we see God’s judgement on evil going forth throughout the land, seeking out and destroying all evildoers.
Then the angel comes and tells him to look again. This time he sees a basket coming out. A measuring basket. The sort that would have been used to measure grain. And what’s it for? To measure the iniquity of those in the land, or perhaps even in the whole earth, though the land seems more probable. Again, this measuring basket may be meant as a reminder of the way the rich had exploited the poor by fiddling the measurements of basic commodities.
Well, as he looks, the lid is lifted off the basket and he sees a woman sitting inside it. "This is Wickedness" he’s told. Now before the feminists among us start to get upset about a woman being used to personify evil, notice that the agents of judgement and purification are also women. Well, the woman is pushed back into the basket and the lead cover is pushed down again. The basket is then picked up by two women with wings like those of a stork, that is wings for flying long distances, and off they fly with it. Zechariah asks where they’re taking it, and the angel replies "To Shinar, that is, Babylon, to build a house there for it."
Now do you see what’s going on here? The woman represents the evil of the land. The measuring basket implies that the evil of the land has been measured out and this is all of it. What sort of evil isn’t exactly clear, but the fact that they’re going to build a house there for it implies that this may have to do with false worship. The house is in fact a temple to an idol. So what Zechariah is seeing, is God removing all evil from the land. You see, that’s the only way the land can become a fit dwelling place for God. While there’s still evil in the land God couldn’t possibly dwell there.
So God is going to send a scroll, to bring his judgement on those who do evil, and he’s going to remove all evil from the land.
Next we see a vision of 4 chariots pulled by 4 horses. Now we’ve seen the four horses before, back in ch 2, where it was just the horses that went out to spy out the land. There they were a symbol of God’s omniscience, his ability to watch over the whole earth. But here it’s the chariots that are important. They represent God’s power going out into the world to overthrow the powers of evil in the world; to conquer the nations and to bring the whole world under his authority. So they go to the north, the south, the west, and presumably to the east. The word impatient should really be translated they were straining to go. There’s a feeling of power as well as eagerness to go and execute God’s judgement on those nations who refuse to follow him. And as Zechariah looks, he’s told that those going towards the north have given his spirit rest in the land of the north, that is, in Babylon. In other words, God’s judgement has been carried out. In fact we know that God’s judgement on Babylon came about in 539 BC when Cyrus the Persian defeated them, leading to the return from exile of Ezra & Nehemiah and now Zerubbabel and Joshua.
But even that isn’t enough. Again he word of the Lord comes to Zechariah. He’s told to go and take some of the silver and gold that Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah have brought back from Babylon, take it to Josiah, who’s presumably a goldsmith, and have a crown made. He’s then to set the crown on the head of Joshua the high priest. Now that’s an unusual thing to do isn’t it? The high priest could never have been a King because he came from the tribe of Levi, not Judah. But listen to the words of prophecy that Zechariah is to say over him: "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Here is a man whose name is Branch: for he shall branch out in his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. 13It is he that shall build the temple of the LORD; he shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. There shall be a priest by his throne, with peaceful understanding between the two of them." In fact the last sentence would better be translated: "he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two." In other words what Zechariah is foreshadowing is a time when God will place a King upon the throne of David, remember that’s what’s meant by this term ’the Branch’ but he’ll not only be a King but a High Priest as well. In this one person the two roles will be in harmony. Never again will the King lead the people astray against the warnings of the priests. Never again will the king need to keep the priests in order. Both roles will be exercised by the one person.
Well, again, we know now that the person Zechariah was speaking of was none other than Jesus Christ, who, according to Hebrews 4-7, was a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, who was also King of Salem, that is Jerusalem. Because he lives forever, his priesthood is permanent. So he’s able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Heb 7:24-25). And so there’s harmony between his kingly role, seated at the right hand of God, and his priestly role, forever interceding at God’s right hand for those who have come to him.
Finally. Zechariah is told to take the crown and give it to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah son of Zephaniah, to be kept as a memorial in the temple of the LORD. This prophecy was still to be fulfilled. Like so much of the Bible, the fulfillment was only in part now. The final fulfillment was yet to come.
Why doesn’t God do something? Well, he has. He’s sent forth a scroll, a basket, his chariots, and a crown.
Well, what is it we want God to do in the world? If you ask that question of 10 people, my guess is you’ll get 10 different answers. That’s because we all think we know what’s wrong with the world. I mean if God were to really fix up the world, for some of us that would mean we’d no longer have guitars in church. Others would never have organ music. If your neighbour has some annoying habit, like they always play loud music on a Saturday night when you’re trying to get some sleep, then you might think that God needs to do something about that.
Or perhaps you’re of a more serious mindset and you think God ought to remove all evil from the world. Well, let me ask you, how have you succeeded at removing evil from your life? If you haven’t been able to do that, why do you complain that God can’t do it from the rest of the world? Of course God could remove evil from the world, but would you really want him to? When you realise that for God to remove evil from the world would mean that everyone who does evil would have to be judged? That’d be the death sentence for the human race. You and I haven’t been able to remove evil from our lives, so we’d be equally under God’s judgement along with everyone else. You see that picture of the scroll going forth to seek out and destroy evil doers is a scary thought isn’t it? Everyone who tells lies! Doesn’t leave many out does it?
Or the picture of the chariots going forth to conquer those who are opposed to God’s rule. That’s most of the nations of the world, I’d guess, at this time in history. It makes the Y2K bug fade into insignificance, doesn’t it?
You see, those who cry out for God to do something are like those in Amos’ day who were longing for the day of the Lord, the day when God would come and overthrow his enemies. But listen to what God said to them through Amos: (Amos 5:18-19 NRSV) "Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light; 19as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake." / Before you cry out to God to do something about evil in the world think about what that will entail. And it’s not just the Old Testament that talks about this. Here’s what we’re told in 2 Thessalonians 1: "For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10when he comes to be glorified by his saints" What was it that Paul told the people of Athens when he spoke in the Areopagus? (Acts 17:30-31) "While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." God has set a day when he will do something about the evil in the world. But it won’t be a day of light. It’ll be a day of darkness.
In the meantime though, God has done something. He’s sent his Son to provide the way for us to escape this day of judgement. The day is delayed not because he couldn’t do anything about it but because he wants to avoid as much suffering as he can. Peter tells us: (2 Pet 3:9) "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance." God is delaying acting against evil to give us time to tell others the gospel. Jesus’ coming has provided a time of amnesty, like the government proclaimed a few years ago for holders of unlicensed firearms. A period of time in which we can come to God, admit our sins and ask for forgiveness. A period of time when we needn’t fear the judgement to come. But if a person fails to heed that call to repent, if they fail to come to Jesus Christ for cleansing, then the day will come when God will do something; when he’ll remove all evil from the world, when those who don’t belong to him will be those whose house the scroll will enter and destroy them.
So next time you think "Why doesn’t God do something?" I want you to think about these visions of Zechariah: of a scroll, a basket, chariots and a crown. God has set a day when he will judge the world. There will be a day when all evil will be removed from the world, when all who oppose God will be overthrown, and God will establish his rule forever. But also God has sent his Son to be both King and Priest. To provide the perfect sacrifice for our sins. To rule in justice and to intercede for those who call upon him.
When you cry for God to do something, make sure that you’ve responded to what he’s done already, so that you’re ready for when he does something final.
