June 21, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty. Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” (Zechariah 1.16-17)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Newton’s Third Law of Motion says this: For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. Of course, Sir Isaac Newton did not create the law of motion but observed its presence in the midst of the world. We see it in action every day. We are a part of it in most everything we do from walking to talking to thinking to decision-making to simply living simply or complicated. We are examples of this “law of motion.” We see it here in God’s word to Zechariah concerning the current state of affairs for the nation and people of Israel. The time has come for the redemption of Israel to be made manifest. His judgment over them in Zechariah’s day is akin to the same as happened in the days of Moses and Joshua for the unbelieving generation of Hebrews who came out of Egypt after 400 hundred years of “slavery.” Because of the people’s belief in the word of the Ten Spies out of Twelve whom Moses sent in to survey the land promised to them by God, that generation was exiled in the wilderness for thirty-eight years. There in Kadesh Barnea, the nation of Israel waited until justice was served. It was not what God intended nor hoped for. Yet, it was sadly what God expected because the people of that generation came from a culture and climate of hardship and weakened faith. Even witnessing the mighty works of God in ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the giving of the Ten Commandments confirmed in a stand against unrighteousness with a devouring earthquake, manna from heaven, quail beyond number, water from a rock in Meribah, the defeating of their enemies, and the bounty which the naysayers brought out of Canaan was insufficient to bolster a faith in God to deliver. Finally, the time of sojourn, justice and waiting was over. Just as Joshua would lead a new generation of God’s people across the Jordan so now the word of the prophets like Zechariah were to lead a new generation of God’s people to be a part of the restoration of the Temple and Israel’s place in the world as a center of faith.

God saw what the foreign nations, which were actually and unintentionally on their part to be sure servants of God’s will and justice, had done to His people. The punishment far exceeded the crime of faithlessness and disbelief in God’s estimation. And who among us should criticize God or doubt His wisdom about such things. He was and is the Judge of All things. He alone would know the extent to which His justice should “roll down like thunder.” It was time to effect the reconciliation of His people in mercy and grace. In this we see by the history which the prophets themselves provide the pendulum swing. I have to believe that this “law of motion” gives us a paradigm for our own lives. What we can learn from it is that “mercy and forgiveness” is his blessing over repentance and humility. Remember what Solomon repeated upon the completion of the first temple as the blessing of God? He said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, repent and turn away from their evil deeds, then I will hear them from Heaven and listening will bring blessing to them and prosper them as a nation.” God didn’t see the people as perfect and worthy to do His will. God did see them as a people who had learned from experience that negative thinking leads to negative consequences when the opposite was thought to be the truth. Have we ever been guilty of such thinking? Have we deluded ourselves at some time into believing that cutting corners, telling “white” lies, skimming off the top (and the bottom) and enforcing our will as “concerned” people for others wouldn’t increase our good fortune? Remember in the story of Joseph and his brothers upon his reveal to them in Egypt. They feared he would exact cruel punishment upon them for what they had done to him. Instead, Joseph said “What you intended for evil (believing you would gain much by being rid of me), God is working together for good.” Of course, they had been haunted this whole time by feelings of guilt especially when they saw the sorrow of their father day after day. But it was tolerable in the moment to not have to deal with Joseph. Now they had to. Now they had to face the consequences of their actions. And what would have seemed worthy of extreme measure was counted as sufficient. Joseph extended grace and the next chapter began…only to be forgotten. That is another story for another day.

In this chapter where we find Zechariah, the nation of Israel is scattered, a melting pot of culture and climate and a remnant of exiles who are returning to Jerusalem that does not resemble anything remembered by those who could in life or those who had heard the stories. Their brokenness became now the fertile soil of replanting a nation to serve God and the world as witnesses of His power and might as well as His blessing and favor. This is what the Temple in Jerusalem was intended to mean and represent. For those who believed and shared in its restoration there was blessing and favor. For those who stood against them and plotted their downfall so that Israel would not return to its place of power challenging the rest of the world there was trouble. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Push against God and God will push back. Co-labor with God (and we can read collaborate) and God will co-labor in return. Ah, the wonder of the promise laid out in scripture as in the words of Paul in Romans 8 “If God is for us then who can stand against us.” Or as I have heard it restated, “If God is for us then who cares who stands against us.” However, let us remember what it means to “stand with God” as well as what it means to “stand against God.” Regardless of those who deny God’s existence, we see in nature the very resolve of creation to “push back” in an equal but opposite manner. If there is a master design and thus a master designer, then it stands to reason that there is a master response and a master responder.

Mighty ones of God, it is far better to “stand with God” even when the world may seek to drive us to our knees to do otherwise than to “stand against God” kneel before the enemy. Jesus shows us the truth of this in the Wilderness following His baptism and God’s spirit of blessing descending upon Him as a dove. It was a blessing of peace and power to confront the enemy with His word even if it meant, and it did, that He would lay down His life for our sake so that our sins would be forgiven. Let us also see in the Pentecost experience in the Upper Room following Jesus’ ascension into Heaven, the spirit of God’s blessing descending in tongues of fire. It was not meant to be a fire of destruction but of construction. In being empowered from on high to become a priesthood of all believers, those who were became the builders of a new nation bound in the service of God. What others intended for harm, God would work together for good. But woe to those who stand in God’s want. His will shall not be thwarted. Still, every opportunity will be given for repentance and alignment in righteousness for the benefit and blessing of those who were once against but now choose to be for so that what was before is now put aside. It has happened before. It can happen again. How many times will that opportunity be given? If it were a cat with nine lives, I surely wouldn’t want to bet on how many lives were left. Seize the day and stand with God. He will make a fearsome and undefeatable enemy.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.