Expository - OT
Zechariah 1 1
Zechariah 1 2-6
Zechariah 1 7-17
Zechariah 1 18-21
Zechariah 2 1-13
Expository - Zechariah
Zechariah chapter 1 vv 2-6by Graham Jones - The Church at Gun Hill
Zechariah - Call to Repentance
Haggai had given assurance, a month or two earlier, that there would be a time when the nations, the Gentiles, would be shaken (Haggai 2 vv 6,7,22), at which time Israel would return to her former glory (Haggai 2 vv 7,9) and blessing (2 v 19). The promise was and is sure, but God's grace could not be separated from human responsibility - this is a lesson that we also need to learn well: we cannot presume upon Divine grace.The Principle of Repentance
The fulfilment of the promises must begin with repentance. That was the message of John the Baptist; that was the message of Jesus as He began His public ministry (Mark 1 v 15). And the message which came through Zechariah was no different: "Turn to me," cried the Lord, "and I will turn unto you." (v3). The parallel passage in the New Testament is found in James 4 v 8: "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." This way to the blessing of God is a fundamental principle underlying the Gospel of our salvation. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted the crowd to, "Repent and be baptised..." Paul emphasised that his preaching insisted on "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Furthermore, a continual attitude of repentance, of turning away from the works of the flesh, is essential to our exercising faith in God at all times.Warnings of the Past
Zechariah warned the people to learn from the past and not to be like their forefathers who had failed to heed God's warnings. They had not repented of their evil ways. Amos, Joel, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah had all proclaimed God's words, but the words had fallen on deaf ears. God had been longsuffering, but despite that, eventually judgment did come (v6), just as God had forewarned right at the beginning, in Deuteronomy 28 vv 15-68. Let this be a lesson also for our own times: do not count God's longsuffering as slackness (II Peter 3 vv 9,15)."Where are your fathers?" challenged God through Zechariah. They had come to nothing. Their present situation, as people who had returned to the land after a long exile, was testimony itself to the failure and judgment of earlier generations
Warnings for the Future
God was again making His voice heard but all who hear God's Word need to act on it today. "Do the prophets live forever?" While God is speaking through His servants, that is the time to listen. At the time of the great Flood God warned that His Spirit would not always strive with man. To be sure, His word is eternal and what He has spoken will surely come to pass - He is the Lord of Hosts - but unless there is repentance, judgment is inevitable. Repent! That was the message to Israel, God's earthly people, years before in the time of Isaiah, but they took no heed: "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walks in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts." (Isaiah 65 v 2). That is still the message today: "But to Israel He says, 'All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.'" That repentance will eventually take place in the nation. Zechariah prophesied, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for HIm..."There will be a shaking of the nations. There will be a judgment on those who have afflicted God's people, but God's people must repent and return to God with all their heart.
