The last four chapters of Zechariah deal with the prophesied coming of Messiah, His rejection by His own and His triumphant return. As is often the case in prophecy, there exist multiple fulfillments of Zechariah's pronouncements.
Recall that Zechariah wrote his book during a time of relative peace. The Hebrew people were being drawn back to Jerusalem and the promised land, even though they were still vassals, you might say, of the Persians at that time. As time went on, there were minor skirmishes, but essentially, they dwelled in the land for the next 500 or so years, until after Christ's first earthly ministry was completed. During those years, they were governed by the Persians, then the Greek Empire and finally, the Romans who, being the most oppressive of their rulers, kept their hob-nail boots on the Jews' necks.
During Zechariah's day, however, the people were returning from Babylon in waves. I mentioned yesterday that Zechariah was numbered among the first wave of exiles to return. Work to rebuild the city, and most notably the temple, had begun.
1The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.
2This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”
3This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”
4This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. 5The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”
6This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” declares the Lord Almighty.
7This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. 8I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”
Don't you often pray that "the word of the Lord Almighty" would come to you? I do! I am often reminded that my own wisdom is a bunch of foolishness; the consequences of my decisions and actions amply prove that to be so. This verse establishes the credibility of Zechariah's vision and demonstrates the way that God revealed Himself to mankind in this era. He did so by individual revelation, as opposed to the way He deals with man today, which is by making His word available equally to all men through Jesus Christ. It is hard for us American Christians to conceive of a time when we did not have a Bible readily available. This is God's written revelation of Himself to us! We can draw near to Him, commune with Him, deepen our relationship with Him as we pore through its pages. The people of Zechariah's day had "writings of God" (the Law, Psalms, Proverbs and other Old Testament books). But, other Old Testament books were still being written. The events of the book of Esther, for instance (which I'll move into soon, being as Purim has begun) occurred near the end of Zechariah's life, during the reign of the Persian king, Artaxerxes. Furthermore, the Holy Scriptures were not in the hands of the common people. They were closely held, preserved, expounded on by the scribes and the priests. The common people were largely illiterate and could not have read them, had they had them in their possession. This was according to God's design, for the preservation of the accuracy of the Old Testament writings.
Our jealous God! What on earth does that mean? Isn't it bad to be jealous? Isn't it wrong for us to exhibit the character trait of jealousy? The word here is the Hebrew "qin-ah". It appears many times in the Old Testament and is variously translated "jealousy", "zeal", "anger" or "envy". The word is applied to both God and to man. However, when applied to God, it is translated "jealousy" (Zechariah 1:14 and 8:2) or "zeal" (Isaiah 42:13 and 59:17). Charles Wesley had this to say about this character trait of God, as revealed in Zechariah 8:2 - - - "With great care that she should not, as formerly, sin against my love, and her own welfare, and with a great desire to do her good, and to rescue her from her enemies ... with heat of anger against her enemies."
For those of you who are parents, it will be easy for you to understand this analogy. Your family has gone over to visit friends who have a large dog. Your small child approaches the dog to play with it and the animal lunges for your child, with many snarls and growls. You react quickly, snatching your toddler from the dog's reach, just in time. Why did you do this? Because of your great love for your child, you instinctively rescued her from the current peril, from "her enemies".
This analogy begins to break down when you consider that the innocent child was not "sinning". The aspect I was attempting to portray was the rescuing attribute of God's jealousy.
There is another aspect of God's jealousy. When we, His beloved, "sin against His love" (as Wesley put it), His jealousy is aroused on our behalf. By contrast, when we as people are jealous, the root of that emotion is devilish. Numbers 5:14 and 30 speak of a "spirit of jealousy" in a person. The origin of that sinful emotion is insecurity which desires the welfare of the one who is jealous, not the welfare of the object of that jealousy. Human jealousy such as this comes from Satan, not God. This is not the trait we see in God our Father.
He wants us to love Him "with all our heart, soul and might". (The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:5-9). This is His desire so that we will enjoy His greatest blessings on our lives and bring Him glory. God does not need us in order to affirm Himself, to enhance His own opinion of Himself. The thought is laughable...On the other hand, we desperately need Him to transform our lives by His Holy Spirit. He knows this so much better than do we; and, it is this supernatural love for us which provokes His holy jealousy.
Though His love is aroused, His jealousy provoked, He does not force His will on us. He never has and He never will. It is against His character. Our love for Him is meaningless unless we choose to love Him, of our own free will. Adam and Eve were free to choose, and so it is to this day. I know that I have chosen well, and I pray that you have (or that you will) also.
The remaining verses of this passage refer to Zechariah's present day and also to that future day when Jerusalem will again belong only to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The re-gathering began anew in our present-day in 1947, and it continues to this day. When the full number of Jews have returned to the land of Israel, the last days will truly have begun.
Heavenly Father, thank you for being jealous over me, for your intense desire, born of love, to rescue me from my spiritual enemies and to urge me not to sin against Your grace. I know that Your grace to me is not a license to practice sin. Please wash me clean, again and again, and keep me Yours only, by Your great mercy. Because of You, I am able to walk....resplendent. In Jesus my Savior's name, amen.
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