September 5, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“A prophecy: The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak and will come to rest on Damascus— for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord.‘” (Zechariah 9.1)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I will be honest, not that I have been dishonest, but I will confess that some words in scripture are not always the easiest to understand. I am not speaking of speaking and individual words but the whole of a phrase or statement. We ought to remember that when God revealed His word to the human community, whether they were believers or unbelievers as He did so to both, it was within a context of time and place. As we pour into this time with Zechariah, we cannot forget the centuries of conflict internally and externally with Israel as a nation. It continues today and in, I surmise, similar fashion: internally and externally. By internal, I speak of the understanding of their faith journey in relationship with God who called them into being beginning with Abraham. And the word “journey” is a good way to understand how Israel came to be as they literally and figuratively moved through lands and cultures based on their faithfulness and faithlessness to God. It is this “journey of faith” which is also expressed in their religion and their politics. Regardless of one’s beliefs, even today, there is no separation of “church/religious institution and state/political institution.” The movement of “Israel” from the Ur of the Chaldees and Babylon to Egypt might be looked upon as a spectrum whose midpoint is Jerusalem/ Israel. With this construction and framework of thinking, we might see that time itself moves across a similar spectrum with the centering of all time falling on the same midpoint: Jerusalem and Israel.

It is in this regard, that the announcement of “prophecy” at the beginning of Zechariah 9 may well need to be considered. For Zechariah and the Temple leadership headed by Joshua, there is the sense that they have arrived at a midpoint of transition in the future of Israel. They are in a prophetic “today” seeing the justice of God (dare we read “vengeance”) being proposed to provide the consequence for the past actions of those who opposed Jerusalem, Israel and most of all God? In this we have heard the nuances throughout the first eight chapters. Those nuances, however, were not of the invaders and enslavers but of the internal failures of leadership to remain faithful to God and rule with justice according to the Law, the rules of engagement, which God had already provided. Now are we seeing some of that external accountability in chapter 9? Verses 1-8 address those nations immediately to the north of Israel (both the Israel as the Northern Kingdom and Israel as the United Kingdom). Those cities such as Hadrach/Hadrak and Hamath/Hama as well Damascus were powerful capitals of trade and commerce in their day. Perhaps we can include religion and politics since they cannot be ignored nor separated out. Regardless of their identities based on the aforementioned, it is their position geographically which plays an even greater importance. They were gateway cities and provinces through which the invading forces of the north entered Israel. It was through these territories that Abram and Lot and their families also entered into the “Promised Land.” Across and around the Fertile Crescent from Babylon beyond the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers did these people and nations travel. They did not follow the southern trade routes through the barren desert. Now God is, let me borrow from Ezekiel, becoming the “watchman” who stands guard on the walls to assume responsibility for sounding the alarm of approaching enemies. As we see in verse one: “…for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord.” The question is proposed “What will God do?”

It is one thing to hear that “God will act.” In that regard, we are given to a prophetic utterance. Prophecy may be more correctly defined as “speaking the truth.” In general, prophecy is understood to be a truth spoken which spans no less than a generation and no more than a century. Maybe scholars say this because, especially in relating to the people of Israel and their history, a lifespan was 40 to 100 years. Regardless, the truth declared by God is that there will be a reckoning or an accountability. There will be a price to be paid as an exacting of judgment upon those who have been faithful to God and those who have chosen to either be faithless to God or simply those who refused to believe in Yahweh Elohim as the One True God. The basic truth which this prophecy provides is that God will act. God has always acted. God has acted on behalf of His chosen people. They were chosen with a specific purpose in mind: to be a light to the world that the world might know God, believe in Him and call upon His name as His people. It was not to rule the nations. It was not to rule the world. It was not to dominate others for their own gain and call it the “will of God.” It was to lead, guide and direct in the paths of righteousness. It would happen for those and with those who, like Joshua and Caleb, chose to believe the Word of God regardless of the present and given circumstances. Sadly, it is always a remnant of people and not the whole which seem to accomplish this compliance and this call. Oh, that it would be more. It is in these eight verses that we see the prophecy, the speaking of truth, as it relates to those of Israel’s past, internally and externally. Remember, “all eyes are on God.” Does this sound familiar? It should for the mighty ones of God in whose ears God’s word echoes “…and on that day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Isaiah 45, Romans 15, Philippians 2, Revelation 22) Hearing that prophetic word, we will consider the rest of Zechariah 9 tomorrow.

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.