August 21, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“This is what the Lord says: ‘I AM returning to Zion and to dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.’” (Zechariah 8.3)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Often, we have looked at “if/then” scriptures such as 2 Chronicles 7.14. It says, “If the people who are called by My name will humble themselves, turn away from the sins and pray, then I will hear from Heaven, listen to their cries and answer them in forgiveness and the healing of their land.” Statements in scripture, such as these, speak to the actions of humanity before God and God’s righteous response. It speaks of a conditional relationship between God and the people of the world in general. It becomes specific when the people of the world respond in a certain way and are known then as “the people of God.” This “condition” is not ever intended to be exclusive. God’s desire is to include all people into the promise which He makes. It remains true to this day as we experience God’s response to the condition of the people in the world. What is God’s response? It is, of course, Jesus the Christ.

However, we do not see an “if/then” statement at the beginning of Zechariah 8. If we remember from chapter 7, it is the men from Bethel who come to Zechariah and Joshua to inquire about the necessity of prayer and fasting in their appointed months. As news of the exiles returning to Israel, to Judea and more importantly to Jerusalem, the question becomes “Is it still necessary to pray and fast for their return and our reestablishment?” They were immediately confronted with the sincerity of their “prayer and fasting” practices. It was not Zechariah nor Joshua who confronted them but God Himself. He pointed out that what they had been doing for seventy years was more “faking it till they made it” than “humbling themselves before God” with a 2 Chronicles 7.14 mindset. They partied and called it worship. They were not truly contrite before God and witnesses of the cycle of faithful living before all the world. It is important to see that God declares He is acting not in a conditional “if/then” manner but out of an unconditional love. He declares His jealousy for His people and a passion for their future as His people.

In verse 3, we are told what God is going to do in spite of what those in exile, both foreign and domestic, had done and were doing. This is all of God’s choosing to be their God. He acts in mercy and grace to bring those in exile home. He acts in reconciliation to those who were left behind. He does so because He is God who has committed Himself to loving them. They are His own people whom He loves fervently, passionately and with spiritual jealousy. What they are left with is how to respond to this goodness of God. Because they were admonished and confronted with the truth of their self-serving practices, God is making it clear that what is happening. He is doing this because He desires to do it. He is not cajoled or manipulated or negotiated. He is not appeased or teased or incited. We, the people, have no control over God. Ecclesiastes 8.4, Daniel 4.35, and Job 9.12 are all confessions that humanity has no control over God. We see such an attempt in the actions of Judas of Kerioth who believed that turning Jesus over to the authorities would force Him to be the kind of Messiah Judas desired. It wasn’t his desire alone. It had become the picture and understanding of the Messiah due to the severe political circumstances in which Israel found itself. Why were these Israel’s conditions? Is it not for the same mindset as what God spoke about to Zechariah? Is it not something similar, if not the same, for us in the world today? We have created a mess of life knowing we are powerless to truly change it. We know it needs to be changed. What is our response? We begin to rework the rules of engagement. We create the scenario for a “super hero” to do what we are unable to accomplish. We refashion the nature and being of God into our own image. It is not an image of us but of our choosing. We will even go so far as to blame God for what we have done. We will stand accusing God of a failure to act when God has been acting on our behalf the entire time. The failure? The failure is our lack of trust, faith and belief in the original manifestation of life. For those who perceive a “Big Bang” beginning there is now a “Big Thud.”

I might suggest the “big thud” is actually the other shoe dropping. It is not a “mic drop.” It is a sound of accountability. It is a reality check. It is not a boast of triumph or success. God’s promise to act out of love includes the sorrow and disappointment of “how this all has gone so wrong.” We know of another time when God lamented concerning the creation of people. Their desire and penchant for sin had become so great, especially under the influence of the Nephilim, that God chose to immerse the world and start again. If we were to consider it a baptismal story, it was Noah and his family in the Ark who were being baptized. I do not think that image does it justice, however. The Ark was not a submersible. It was not at any point “under the water.” Was the world cleansed? Was the act of God’s mercy to spare Noah, his family and all the creatures on the Ark truly successful? What God could not do because of His great love was to eliminate all living things, especially humankind, from the face of the earth. What we can find is the reality check that “God remains in control, even when He grants us freewill.” That reality check for Zechariah and the people of Israel came with God’s declaration that He was restoring Jerusalem and the Temple on His own volition. His will was going to be done. It would be the will of the people to believe it, receive it and become a part of this transforming act of reconciliation. Of course, the completion of that work remained prophetic. It would not be until the Messiah would come and set foot in Israel that they would truly be able to see what God had done and would do. Even then, the choice is for them and us to walk accordingly.

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 in order that others 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 so we would know we are Your people and 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.