Evangelism According To Zechariah Series

Intro

Our text today begins in Zechariah 8:14. There are ten oracles in this chapter.

Last week we examined oracle #6 in verses 9-13. There God encouraged His people to take heart. During their 16 years of disobedience, times were hard for them. But under Haggai’s and Zechariah’s preaching, they had repented and resumed the construction of the temple. With that repentance comes a radical change of circumstances for them. Instead of scarcity, there will be prosperity. Instead of conflict, there will be peace. Instead of God’s curse, there will be God’s blessing.

Now in ORACLE #7-----God provides additional assurance of His determination to bless them. Follow with me as we read Zechariah 8:14-15.

“For thus says the Lord of hosts: [That phrase introduces this as a new oracle.] 'Just as I determined to punish you When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,' Says the Lord of hosts, 'And I would not relent, 15 So again in these days I am determined to do good To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear.”i

They knew what it was like to be under God’s correction. They had experienced it in Babylon, and they had experienced in during the previous 16 years when they discontinued the assignment God had given them to do. Would the future be truly different? Would God’s blessing be short-lived, and all the trouble return? To those questions, God says at the end of verse 15, “Do not fear.”

If we stay under the canopy of God’s grace, we have nothing to fear. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Nothing can “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”ii David put it this way: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me” (Ps. 23:4).

These people were not perfect,iii but they were sincere in their repentance. Therefore, God assures them of His blessing. We are all work in process. We all come short of the glory of God.iv God provides daily cleansing for that. If we follow Christ with a sincere heart, He will lead us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. He will bless us. First John 1:6-7 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”v Under that ongoing cleansing and enablement, we have nothing to fear.

To assure these Jews of His unwavering commitment to bless them, God reminds them of His consistency in the past when He was correcting them. In Zechariah 8:14 He says, “'Just as I determined to punish you When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,' Says the Lord of hosts, 'I would not relent, 15 So again in these days I am determined to do good To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.”

Here is something about God that we need to understand. He is slow to wrath. He is longsuffering and patient. But once a judgment is decreed, God does not relent unless we sincerely repent. And even then, there may be consequences to our bad choices. When we were kids about to get a spanking for bad behavior, we would sometimes try to avoid the correction by crying out, “I’ll be good; I’ll be good.” It didn’t reflect a genuine change of heart. We were just trying to avoid the correction. For Israel, God decreed 70 years of correction (Jer. 25:11; 29:10). Although those people wept and mourned and fasted, God did not relent. He was steadfast in His determination to correct them.

By reminding them of that, God is assuring them of His steadfast determination to bless them. He is not fickle in His decisions. Just as He would not relent in His decision to punish them, He is unwavering in His decision to bless them. That should bring comfort to them and encourage them to put their hearts in the work He has given them to do.

We are not to presume upon God’s goodness. His blessing should lead us into obedience. Grace is never an excuse for sin. Grace is an empowerment not to sin. Grace is an encouragement to live pleasing to God. After expounding on the grace of God, Paul asked the question in Roman 6:1: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” He answers the question in the next verse: “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Likewise, after declaring God’s blessings in today’s text, Zechariah 8:16-17 states God’s expected response: “These are the things you shall do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace; 17 Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor; And do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate,' Says the Lord."vi