Vision 7: God at Rest; His People at Work? (Zechariah 6:1-8)

“Then he cried to me, ‘Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.’” (Zech 6:8)

This seventh and final vision of Zechariah closes the loop for the first section of the book. The search for rest is over; the mission is complete. Where the other visions looked back into history, and around at the present, this vision sets our eyes toward the future. God saw the plight of his people, executed a plan of salvation, and now sits in perfect victory. After the days of his work, he rests.

We have a weekly memorial of this; that is, if you have eyes to see and ears to hear. One day in seven we also rest, and remember that God has brought salvation through his Son and has secured for his own an eternal rest. This is what it means that Jesus is our Sabbath rest. He is the one through whom we have been reconciled to God, by faith, no longer enemies of God because of the law.

After Jesus’ work on the cross, he sat down; and now sits in the victor’s seat. Christian, be at rest this day because God is at rest. The victory has been won for you; he who began a work in you will be faithful to complete it at the day of his return and your resurrection!

Vision 6: Don’t Wear the Lord’s Name Vainly! (Zechariah 5:1-11)

“Then he said to me, ‘This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side.’” (Zech 5:3)

Something we hear very little of these modern days is judgment. Even at church, few among us take the words very seriously. A sermon on judgment is forgotten just as easily as a sermon on missions; and just as missions is for missionaries, judgment is for those jogging around outside the doors of the church.

But the Bible teaches that judgment begins at the house of God. The third commandment was not about swearing, but about saying you’re a follower of Yahweh and living like you’re just another follower of self. Jesus came to bring judgment to the House of Israel, and he called out the “broods of vipers” who “wore the name of Yahweh in vain.” They claimed the name of Yahweh, but with every unrepentant, self-serving act of worship they proved their true allegiance.

God promised to cleanse the nation in the preceding visions, and now we see that the process begins at the doorstep of every person who wears the name of Yahweh. As in the tenth plague on the Egyptians, judgment flies overhead and consumes the house of every enemy; but how terrifying now to see that the target is Israel! Those who maintain an empty claim to Yahweh’s name are not covered by his protection but are rather swept away, finally exposed as the traitors they have been all along.

Oh Christian, don’t wear the name of Christ in vain. Are you a follower of Christ, the King? Then live for him! Let the reader understand: no one who says, “I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart” will inherit the Kingdom of God. God’s horsemen patrol, and no false one escapes their notice. Fear, indeed terrifying fear, is the appropriate response here. Only do not fear as those who have no hope. Hope in God! He has provided a way of escape: the same Son, Jesus, who is both King and Sacrifice!

In Jesus there is grace enough for all your sin, and his kind mercy is deeper than the Pacific. True followers of the King are not those who never sin, but those who confess their self-serving wickedness to King Jesus and continually rely upon his Spirit for renewal and strength to live free for God. Say you’re a Christian with your life this day!

Vision 5: On Life Support (Zechariah 4:1-14)

“Then he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.’” (Zech 4:6)

Fuel is the most important ingredient to the world. Without fuel nothing can run, because nothing on this planet is self-sufficient.

This fifth vision of Zechariah contains, perhaps, the most enigmatic of objects: two trees, a lampstand, a bowl, and (to top it all off) pipes between the objects. How could these possibly bring any message of worth, much less a note of encouragement, for 21st century life? A vision of God’s knowledge that spreads over the whole earth has led to another of his sovereign vengeance for those who thought they were getting away with persecuting God’s people, then a promise to make his people too numerous for containment lead to God cleansing his people to make them worthy to be a kingdom of priests; but, now, we find a couple trees and a strangely-piped menorah.

The focus here shifts indeed, from draftsman to master bricklayer. Take your eyes off of the brush strokes for a moment, and take in the entire painting. Find in these strokes that which so boldly furnishes the colors of God’s provision for his promises. The lamp of his covenant people will never go out because he is the tree, and oil from such a source never fails. God’s promises will shine like a light! Success will not be judged by the heat of his people, but by their fuel.

Do you not feel bright today? Have you sinned yet again, adding stain upon stain upon cleansed garments? Entreat the Vine: “Pour forth your fuel!” Yes–the promises do not blaze or flicker by your might, but by the Spirit’s constant renewing work in his people. “Whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice” because she who comes to the Father in Jesus’ name will by no means be cast out (4:10; John 6:37). The master builder will certainly complete the work he began in you!

Fuel is the most important ingredient to the life of the Christian, because no Christian is self-sufficient. As the fourth vision is about Jesus who cleanses us, this vision is about the Spirit who continually supplies us with strength to go on.

Vision 4: You’re Invited! (Zechariah 3:1-10)

“I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” (Zech 3:9b-10)

The great promise and dream of a salvation city too numerous for walls, yet too safe to be breached by evil, cannot be realized until her foes are vanquished. And, oh, what a foe there is! The Accuser, Satan, stands in the middle of today’s reading ready to play the foil. “Why grant such a city to these pathetic, rebellious people?” he accuses. He does not speak utter nonsense. There stands Joshua, the representative of the covenant people, and he is filthy. Tensions rise in the Lord’s courts as the Accuser’s sly reasoning based on fairness seems to make a lot of sense. Maybe the great promise was just a pipe dream after all.

Oh Christian, stop looking to your feet and gaze upon your gracious King! Here the promise of Christ is given! God sends the Branch, and he has removed the sins of the people in a single day. On a single cross, in one horrific ceremony of traitors being forever silenced, the King’s Son died in our place, in our behalf. Yet Jesus was indeed not a traitor as are we, so he was rightly justified by the Father and raised from death to resume his position at God’s right hand.

Joshua was filthy indeed as he stood before the King. Embarrassed, he must have waited apprehensively for an assenting nod from the king to his accuser. “Satan’s right,” he must have thought, “I am pathetic, unworthy—a true brand destined for the fire.“ But in that fateful moment, the beauty of grace shone brightest. The beauty of grace is it makes life not fair. Your life is not fair, it is graced. And it is the power of the all-leveling resurrection that enables verse ten’s wonderful opportunity to invite all neighbors to come to the Vine and rest under the shade of grace and life. Rich or poor, brilliant or dumb as a rock, all are welcomed to be raised as a inheriting child of Abraham.

Soli Deo gloria! Satan has been rebuked and death is defeated. We now look back upon the cross and invite our neighbors!

Vision 3: Heaven is Better than Eden (Zechariah 2:1-13)

“And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.” (Zech 2:11)

There is perhaps nothing more joyful and integral to the Gospel than that the promise extends to the whole world. Anyone, regardless of status, descent, or history can be reconciled to King Jesus though the paid-penalty and resurrection. In this third of Zechariah’s night visions we find another glorious stone laid in the monument of Christ’s work. Not only does King Yahweh see the plight of his people and act on their behalf to bring rescue, he furthermore reveals that each step has been part of his master plan to bring life and salvation to all people—even the nations who have worked so hard against him!

And God’s plan is not a mere return to the glory days of Solomon. Just as the tents of the tabernacle in the wilderness were a constant reminder to the wandering Israelite nation that they were not yet in their final resting place, so the temple of Solomon, with all its pomp and circumstance, was to be a reminder that God is bigger than any house, his plans bigger than any walled city. Zechariah’s man with the measuring line goes out to Jerusalem and determines that it is too small to house God’s plan for his people. Solomon’s gilded walls were nice, but they are two small for God’s imagination. God will have his people dwell in a city without limitation, protected by the fiery determination of God.

Jesus is the fuel of the promise of salvation for the whole world. Eden was wonderful, a paradise between rivers; Heaven is better than Eden, covering the entire world and without danger of talking serpents.

Vision 2: The King Arrays for Battle (Zechariah 1:18-21)

“‘These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.’” (Zech 1:21)

This second of Zechariah’s visions is short and at the heels of the first. This is not by mere chance, but rather communicates to us the quickness of God’s action in behalf of his children. The King not only sees, but acts. He not only knows what is going on, but has full control and can at any time bring full resolution. The problem of evil may be the Gordian knot of human philosophy, but it is certainly not so to the Creator.

Zechariah opens the window beyond God’s good intentions to God’s promised, acted salvation. Behind each promise in the Scriptures is the concrete action of God. God does not make empty promises, but each is built on the countless testimony of action. This is another such promise. Though the Israelite nation had been in trouble before, Yahweh had delivered them from every trouble.

Think on your life this day, Christian. The promise of the resurrection and ultimate salvation is not empty in your life. Not only do you have the biblical and historical record of Yahweh’s past action, but in your own life you have myriad testimony of God’s faithful and insurmountably gracious action. Though your sins yesterday are without number, you were sustained all last night with breath and life to live today. What a gracious, forgiving, merciful Creator! Will he who never forgot you while you forgot yourself in sleep, forget you now or evermore? Certainly not! No, Yahweh not only sees and knows every trouble in your life, but at just the right time will array for battle and bring sovereign salvation.

Vision 1: God Does Not Desire World Peace At Any Cost (Zechariah 1:7-17)

“‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ … Thus says the LORD of hosts: … I am exceedingly angry.” (Zech 1:11, 14-15)

We live in a world and society that will do anything for world peace. Never before achieved, the world continues under the age-old, prideful delusion that the world can be united around one tower. The nations at rest means victory (however temporary), and no one wants to rock the boat. But not so with God. He will not rest while his people are held hostage by the nations. He will not sit idle while his children are beset by their enemies. The anger of a father toward a kidnapper is the best news a for child. The anger of a president against slave drivers is the deepest request of those in bondage. So too, the anger of Yahweh against those who oppress his people means inevitable salvation, for no one can stand against the one, true, sovereign King.

Our passage this day, yes even Yahweh’s anger, is a reminder of his unending love. This first of Zechariah’s night visions recalls God’s knowledge going out into the world and bringing back a report that all the nations (a term that nearly always excluded Israel) are at rest. While God’s children are in bondage, the world at rest is bad news. Though they deserved no favor, God would not divorce his people. The myrtles represent Yahweh’s church, and there is the Captain of the Angels standing in their midst. At the precipice of the great deep, God is right there with us. One of the greatest promises of the Bible is this: Yahweh Yireh, “The LORD Sees.”

Let not your eyes be darkened. The plight of the church is never ignored by God. His horsemen are gone out into the world and bring a full, accurate report. He is not blind to your suffering this very hour, nor is he blind of the truest state of the world. The sovereign Yahweh does not want peace at any cost. No one who truly loves wants peace at any cost, and the Creator sent his only Son to die while we were still sinners so that we could be saved from death. God has sent his Son and given his Spirit as a down-payment. He will set all things to right. Though the world seems at rest with its technology and self-worship, God will not settle to forget his children!

The Rest of the Christians

“Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.” (Zechariah 1:4)

All of us seek rest continually. It’s human—part of our fabric—to seek rest either for ourselves or for those we really care about (which is perhaps the same as the former). The search for our dream mattress is simply a parable of the search for rest before God. It was Augustine who so astutely (and thus famously) said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

Implicit in today’s passage, we see the generous persistence of God in providing that rest. The sheer grammar of Zechariah’s introduction—quotation, inside quotation, inside quotation—stands as a herald to us that God is both patient and kind. He has spoken the same message again and again and again, despite the often ambivolent response. Zechariah is commanded to tell the people that which the prophets before reported from the prophets before them: “Return to the life which comes through the worship of Yahweh, the one true God!” The message has been the same from the beginning. From the first chapter of creation to the present day, the message has been this: there is one King and Creator of all things, and all things are created for Him and through Him—let us therefore no longer live for ourselves, but for him.

Sound familiar? We are reminded of John the Baptist’s call to return to King Jesus. Paul names Jesus as the avenue and goal of all creation (Col 1), and Hebrews 3-4 name Jesus as the one to whom we are meant to return for rest. The writer of Hebrews gives us something special, because his message is so remarkably aligned with Zechariah. “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience,” he writes, in reference to those who hardened their hearts in days of old (Heb 4:11). When following Jesus gets tough, and everyone around you scoffs and giggles (or worse), don’t back away in fear. Hold your confidence to the end, and stand firm in face of giants with the King—the Lord Jesus. The message is the same as it was from the beginning: “Return to the LORD.”

Yet we learn one more thing about God’s people—about ourselves. The Jews of Zechariah’s day presumed that they were of Abraham and took rest in their passport. Faithful Christians do not think this way. They do not merely want a ticket into Heaven. The Jews retained the name of God, but their actions betrayed a deeper allegiance to themselves. Let us beware, lest we do the same! This is indeed the true meaning of the second commandment: You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain.

Weekend. Brooklyn. Music.

Saw some awesome music this weekend in New York’s best borough. The videos don’t have the best sound quality, but hopefully you’ll get a taste. The first two are from a little place here in Brooklyn called Littlefield. The bands were all from a local label called Primary Records. The Andrew Bird concert was just a few blocks from my apartment!

The Chives @ Littlefield (Brooklyn, NY)

Pony of Good Tidings @ Littlefield (Brooklyn, NY)

Andrew Bird @ Celebrate Brooklyn! 2011

Loving NY.

Zechariah: Obscure, Forgotten, Long; Bright, Vivid, and Strengthening

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

The Book of Zechariah is among the most quoted Old Testament books in the New Testament—spurring some 54 citations across 67 New Testament passages—for one main reason: the Book of Zechariah is about Jesus, God’s sent Son. Zechariah details for us a coming prophet, priest, and king of apocalyptic proportion. This is the kind of stuff that must have made prophets dream. But, now, mystery revealed! We see Jesus, sent for us, and we worship.

Prophet. We worship Jesus: the prophet greater than Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist. Zechariah’s opening visions have much to say about the prophet who would come as a sword dividing wheat from chaff (5:1-4). Jesus was the final prophet who would come to Israel, and the entire world, with the same message: “Return to me, and I will return to you” (1:1-6).

Priest. We worship Jesus, our Great High Priest. The central character in the Book of Zechariah is a priest named Joshua, the Hebrew form of the Hellenized name Jesus. When the Greeks read this prophet in their Bible, they would have seen the name Jesus. Zechariah is about Jesus the one who bears the sins of all, yet is clothed in robes of righteousness for the justification of God’s people (3:1-10). Joshua is the crowned priest who rebuilds the temple (6:9-15). He could not more loudly point to Jesus who is crowned king and raised up the temple in three days (John 2:19)!

King. We worship Jesus, our Creator King. Especially the latter chapters of Zechariah drive us up the hill to the pinnacle of history: when King Jesus returns, and all is set to right. As C. S. Lewis describes, “It will be too late to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not.” (Mere Christianity, 66)

God’s story has never changed or been different. Like a great seamstress weaves hints of the end pattern into the opening stitches, He who wrote the story of history knows the end from the beginning. Jesus has been that plan from the beginning, and not a molecule or life has gone awry since. Let us give all glory to the sovereign master architect of redemptive history this day! And let us fear him, honoring him as king, lest we ignore the prophet’s words and befall a fate worse than exile.

Note! This (and a whole series of posts on Zechariah) will be part of a cool, fresh devotional blog series over at Cross to Crown Ministries focusing on Jesus in all the Scriptures. Stay tuned as these roll out starting June 2011!