INTRODUCTION:

            Before Israel entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, Moses warned them against becoming proud and forgetting Yahweh who brought them out of Egypt.  Despite this reminder and others like this one, the Israelites failed to remember the Lord.  The book of Judges records for us the downward spiral of spiritual amnesia through Israel’s history.  Forgetting the LORD led the people of Israel into idolatry which resulted in judgment and captivity.  God, however, in contrast to Israel does not forget, He always remembers.  That is the theme of Zechariah and the meaning of his name, Yahweh remembers.  Throughout this book we will see how perfectly the Lord remembers.  The Lord has made multiple and specific promises throughout redemptive history, many of them He has already carried out, the others that are yet future He remembers and will fulfill them just as He said.  He will do this because He is faithful to His word.

            The number and character of His promises provide clear testimony to God’s amazing grace which He showers on those who are utterly undeserving.  God’s people are called to remember these promises and be encouraged because God remembers them and will fulfill every one of them perfectly.  God never forgets.  God even declared that forgetfulness is contrary to His nature.  This is recorded in Isaiah 49:14-16 where is says, “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me.’  ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.’ ” (Isaiah 49:14–16, NASB95)[1]

            The people of Zechariah’s day were wondering if the LORD had forgotten them if He had forgotten His promises.  They were experiencing trouble and they did not see God keeping His promises.  As we look at the conclusion of the first night vision this morning we will see that it showed Israel, that although His timing was different than theirs, He certainly had not forgotten His promises.  He remembered everything.  God remembers His promises to His people was the message that Zechariah was to boldly proclaim to the people.  Our passage this morning is filled with promises regarding the nations, Jerusalem, and future blessing for Israel, that God remembers all of these demonstrates the nature of His faithfulness.  Because Yahweh remembers His promises are certain and this fact should encourage the people of Judah to persevere in rebuilding the temple and it should give us hope because God remembers and He know the depth and the width of His promises, and He will uphold them and fulfill them all in every detail.  Let’s pray and then read our passage.

--PRAY--

 

SCRIPTURE:

            Turn in your Bibles to Zechariah 1:14-17, part two of Zechariah’s first night vision.  Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word, and follow along as I read.

     Zechariah 1:14-17,

            “So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, ‘Proclaim, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.  But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.’ ” “Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,’  declares the Lord of hosts, ‘and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.’” ‘Again, proclaim, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’ ” ’  ” (Zechariah 1:14–17, NASB95)[2]

GOD REMEMBERS HIS COMMITMENT (Zechariah 1:14)

            Zechariah had just witnessed the Angel of the LORD interceding for His people before God the Father.  God the Father, Yahweh of hosts had responded to the intercession of His Son by speaking gracious and comforting words to the interpreting angel that was speaking with Zechariah.  These words were so encouraging and hope filled that this angel said to Zechariah, “Proclaim saying…” which might be better translated as “Call out” or “Cry out.”  It is a command and uses a standard word for proclamation often used with the prophets.  It conveys the idea of a bold declaration.  Zechariah was commanded to boldly declare to those who were wondering if God had abandoned them, or if He was unaware of their circumstances, that He had not and He was fully aware, the prophet was to shatter their doubts with a forceful declaration of God’s faithfulness.

            First, the prophet was to call or cry out that God remembered His zeal for His people.  “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.’ ” (Zechariah 1:14b, NASB95)[3]  Again, the name Yahweh of hosts reminded the people how the LORD commands the entire angelic host to serve His purposes and support His people.  God had not abandoned His own but was powerfully committed to fulfilling His promises on their behalf.

            The words of the LORD of hosts show us the intensity of His commitment by saying He was exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.  The Ten Commandments was the first place where God spoke of His holy jealousy for His people.  In the second commandment God said, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20:4–6, NASB95)[4]  For us today the word jealousy has become a negative word.  When we hear the word we think of selfishness, envy, and malicious resentment of what others have.  But the jealousy of God for His people is something that is utterly untainted by any such mean-spiritedness.  As a truly loving husband cannot turn a blind eye if his wife acts unfaithfully, so Yahweh as a jealous God, refused to ignore the spiritual adultery of His chosen people.  With an entire history of judgment for spiritual adultery, the people of Israel were intimately familiar with God’s jealous love.  But here Yahweh was assuring His people that as zealous as He had been to punish them, He was equally zealous to restore Jerusalem and Zion.  Jerusalem was the capital of the nation, and Zion was the name of the hill in Jerusalem that David conquered and on which the temple was built.  In the coming kingdom, Zion will be the dominant city of the whole world, and the location of the Messiah’s throne.  Zechariah was to declare to the people God’s jealous commitment to fulfill His intentions for His people.  He had not abandoned them, nor had He forgotten His promises.  As Paul wrote centuries later, “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29, NASB95)[5] In other words, what God has said He will do.

GOD REMEMBERS THE NATIONS (Zechariah 1:15)

            Second, the prophet was to declare to the people not only that God remembered His commitment to His people, but that He was “very angry with the nations who are at ease…” (Zechariah 1:15a, NASB95)[6]  The phrase translated “very angry” is a word that means “extreme contempt and readiness to lash out in condemnation and judgment.  This is how God felt toward the pagan, Gentile nations who were at ease.  Remember earlier the horseback patrol had reported to the Angel of Yahweh, the promised Messiah that all the earth was peaceful and quiet, and this quiet was due to their own arrogant self-confidence and as we will see their flagrant sin.  For God’s plan for His people to be fulfilled, the nations would need to be overturned, and the prophet was to declare that God was not only angry with the nations, but very angry.  He stood ready to retaliate against the Gentiles in His full fury to complete all that He promised.

            The LORD also explained that the nations were ripe for judgment because He “was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.” (Zechariah 1:15b, NASB95)[7]  When God punished His people for their spiritual adultery He was only a little angry, a little angry towards them for their sins.  Because of this anger the LORD sent other nations like Assyria and Babylon, to punish and discipline His covenant people.  Those wicked nations, though accomplishing God’s discipline, went further with their disaster.  They reveled in Israel’s and Judah’s suffering and afflicted them with cruelty far beyond what was just.  God was fully aware of the atrocities committed by these nations.  So, what began as a little anger against His people, resulted in God becoming very angry against the nations.  God shows that He is determined to shift His fury away from His chosen people and multiply it against the nations that oppressed and afflicted His people.  The world scene may have seemed peaceful and quiet at that specific time, but God’s wrath had been kindled to shake heaven and earth for His people and against their enemies.

 

GOD RESTORES HIS COMPASSION (Zechariah 1:16)

            The third declaration that Zechariah was to make known to the people was that God remembered His compassion for Jerusalem and her citizens.  “Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Jerusalem with compassion.’ ” (Zechariah 1:16a, NASB95)[8]  Because of God’s jealous love for His people, and His wrath against the nations, He promises to return to Jerusalem with compassion.  We have seen this word “return” already in this chapter.  Zechariah began with a call to the people of Judah to return to the LORD and He would return to them.  This theme of returning in this chapter teaches us the way God will restore Israel at the end of the age.  He will return to them when they sincerely return to Him.  This return that He speaks of will include a return of His physical presence to Jerusalem.  Before Israel’s exile, the prophet Ezekiel saw God’s presence depart from Jerusalem, abandoning it to destruction and devastation.  But Ezekiel prophesied that God’s presence would return to Jerusalem and Zechariah affirms that prophecy with this declaration given to him by the LORD of hosts through the angel that was with him.  This return will reverse the previous judgment and bring unparalleled blessing.  Earlier in this vision, the Angel of Yahweh interceded for His people, crying out “How long will you have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah?”(Zechariah 1:12b, NASB95)[9]  The Father responds to His Son’s prayer, confirming His compassion toward Jerusalem and His people.  The Father will one day commune with His people with the tenderness of a mother loving her child.

            As He will return to Jerusalem with His great compassion, God revealed that one of the benefits of His return and His compassion will be that “My house will be built in it.” (Zechariah 1:16c, NASB95)[10]  Four years after this prophecy, the post-captivity temple was finished, but that did not fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy.  The completion of the temple in Zechariahs day evidenced and advanced God’s plan toward the fulfillment of these words in the millennial kingdom.  At that time God will build a magnificent temple that will demonstrate that His glory has filled the world, that His Spirit has indwelt the hearts of His people, and that He has returned to commune with His saints.  For this reason, it was not called a temple, but My house in which God will dwell, and there He will fellowship with His people.

            The LORD of hosts further declared that a measuring line would be stretched over Jerusalem.  Many years after this prophecy Nehemiah finished the wall of Jerusalem.  But that project, like the temple of Zechariah’s time, merely previewed and pointed to the city and temple to be completed in the millennial kingdom.  The measuring line recalled the angel with the measuring line in Ezekiel’s prophecy who measured the millennial temple.  God remembered what He had promised through Ezekiel.  God had previously stretched out a line to destroy Jerusalem, so He will one day extend a line over Jerusalem to ensure it is gloriously enlarged and rebuilt.  To those in Zechariah’s day who were laboring to rebuild the temple and the capital city, God confirmed that He was still compassionately committed to all His promises related to Jerusalem and her inhabitants.

 

GOD REMEMBERS ALL HIS PROMISES (Zechariah 1:17)

            The final proclamation that Zechariah was to make was the God remembered the outcome of His promises.  Having already commanded His prophet to call out, the LORD exhorted him again to proclaim the word of the LORD of hosts.  The word again is used four times in this verse, reiterating the certainty of Israel’s future restoration.  Because the nation will again have what they had in the past, and even far more, the angel commanded Zechariah to declare this message again and again.  This message was to be repeated to encourage and comfort God’s people.

            The LORD of hosts declared that “My cities will again overflow with prosperity” (Zechariah 1:16a, NASB95),[11] signifying the physical blessing God will lavish upon a restored and united Israel.  The people of Israel will inhabit their cities, and their wealth and prosperity will spread out from their cities.  Haggai declared this truth that will be fulfilled in the Millennium.  He wrote in Haggai 2:7-8, “‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.” (Haggai 2:7–8, NASB95)[12]  The prophet Joel also spoke of the prosperity during the Millenium in Joel 3:18, “And in that day The mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord To water the valley of Shittim.” (Joel 3:18, NASB95)[13]  Isaiah prophesied the complete transformation of the nation from waste to wealth in Isaiah 61:4-6, “Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. But you will be called the priests of the Lord; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast.” (Isaiah 61:4–6, NASB95)[14] The words Zechariah was to proclaim about Israel’s future wealth were not just empty words, but rather confirmation of the consistent testimony of the prophets who came before Him.         

            The economic prosperity of Israel will reflect the spiritual and relational restoration between God and His chosen people.  The Lord will call the towns of Israel My cities.  Just as the prophets predicted Israel’s physical return, they also prophesied Israel’s spiritual salvation, accomplished by the Suffering Servant’s work of atonement for His own.  His substitutionary sacrifice provides His people with justification, regeneration, the gift of the indwelling Spirit, true repentance, and the ability to obey God’s Word from the heart.  And praise God the through His great mercy and grace those same provisions are ours through faith in Jesus Christ and His substitutionary sacrifice.  The comprehensive salvation accomplished by the Servant of Yahweh will reconcile the nation to God and bring His people into full fellowship with Him.  At that time, God will truly call the cities of Israel, My cities.

            With the physical and spiritual transformation, Yahweh “will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 1:16b, NASB95)[15] In verse 13, in response to the Son’s intercession, the Father spoke comforting words, those words encompassed His plans for Israel’s future.  So, only after God has completed all that He has promised in this passage—His wrath poured out against Israel’s enemies, His return to Jerusalem, the building of His house, the reconstruction of Jerusalem, the reinstatement of the nation, and the renewal of His covenant relationship with Israel—could it be said that Yahweh has provided full and final comfort to His own.  Only then will the city of Jerusalem be Zion, the capital of the world under the reign of the Messiah King.  Only then will Yahweh again choose Jerusalem.  Throughout Israel’s history, God repeatedly declared that He had chosen Jerusalem.  But only when His people and their capital are fully restored will the Lord ultimately fulfill that declaration, since the city will be everything God desires it to be.  The declaration that God will comfort Zion means that He will have completely and exhaustively carried out all that He promised.  He will not forget even one detail, He remembers and will fulfill all.

 

CONCLUSION:

            The LORD showed His people that though things may have seemed quiet at the moment, He had not forgotten any of His promises.  To the Jews who had returned from exile who had lost sight of their priorities, God message in this vision was that He had not forgotten them.  Even when the Israelites were faithless, the Lord was faithful to His promises, His plan, and His people.  His zealous commitment to them was unwavering.  Though He would judge the wicked nations with wrath and condemnation, He looked upon Jerusalem with great compassion and favor.  Out of that love, He assured His people that what He promised He would one day complete.  For that reason, they could find comfort in Him, knowing that those who hope in the Lord will not be disappointed.

            What about you and me in our day?  We look at our world, our nation, our state, our county, our city, and maybe even our family and we too might think that God has abandoned us, that He is no longer listening to and answering our prayers.  This message that God gave Zechariah to proclaim to the people of his day can comfort us because God’s character has not changed.  He has given us many promises and if He remembers the promises He made to Israel then we can be assured that He remembers the promises He has made to us.  For the same reason, we can find comfort in our faithful Lord and Savior, knowing that those who hope in the Lord will not be disappointed.

--LET’S PRAY--

 

BENEDICTION:

     Hebrews 13:20-21,

            “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20–21, NASB95)[16]

 

[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Emphasis mine.

[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.