Today, I am reading and commenting on Zechariah 11-14.

Last year I wrote that today’s passage is a bit confusing.  Today as I read it I find myself thinking that I just don’t see how it all fits together.  We have the prophecy concerning the shepherds and the thirty pieces of silver, then a little later the prophecy about people looking on the one they had pierced.  These are both prophecies concerning Jesus but I do not see how they tie together, if they tie together.  Having said that I want to go back to the beginning of the passage where Zechariah gives a prophecy concerning shepherds.  At the end of that prophecy, God tells Zechariah that He is going to raise up a shepherd who will not care for the lost, seek the young, heal the injured, or even feed the healthy.  This shepherd will exploit the flock for his own pleasure.  God completes this prophecy by condemning this worthless shepherd.  It seems to me that this part of this prophecy is a warning to us about those leaders who rise up seeking only their own interests with not care for the interests of those they lead.  All too often the Church allows itself to be deceived by leaders who seek their own advancement rather than serving the Lord.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Zechariah 7-10.

Zechariah prophesies that at one time God called on people to administer true justice, to show compassion and mercy each other, and to not plot evil against their fellows, but the people did not listen.  As a result God said of them, “When I called, they did not listen, so when they called, I would not listen.”  Once again God has determined to do good for people and calls on them, on us, to speak the truth to each other, to not plot evil against others, and to not love telling lies.  If we listen to God, then those occasions we have set aside to mourn  past tragedies will become times to celebrate how God has used those tragedies to transform us into His people.

Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a colt to remind the people of His day of this passage in Zechariah.  By doing so, He declared that His victory had already been won.  He has sent us, not to fight His battle but to declare His victory.  That victory means that God will no longer tolerate leaders who deceive their followers, or those who scatter His flock.  He will scatter His people to spread the word of His kingdom to all peoples.  Then He will gather those who choose to join Him into His kingdom.  So, let us listen to God and speak truth to each other.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 1-6.

Early in today’s passage it tells us that God says, “Return to me and I will return to you.”  Then at the end it says about the good things it prophesies, “This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.”  The passage contains prophesies about what the leaders of the Exiles who returned to Jerusalem, especially about their two leaders.  It also contains imagery which influenced the imagery which John used in the Book of Revelation.  Some of the prophesies concerning Zerubbabel, the governor of Jerusalem, and Joshua, the high priest, are also prophecies concerning Jesus.  God tells us that He had set a “stone” in front of Joshua through which (it is actually a little more complicated than that) He would the sin of the land in a single day.  Zechariah also speaks of the “capstone” (or, perhaps plumb line, as the translator’s notes mention) which will finish God’s temple.  I believe that this partially refers to the rebuilding of the temple by the Returned Exiles, but it also refers to Jesus, who is the capstone of the Temple God is building which is the Church.  Jesus is both the capstone of the Church and the plumbline by which each of us is measured to see how God’s Spirit needs to align us to bring glory to God in His Temple, which is the Church.  Let us return to God and diligently obey Him, and allow His Spirit to align us into the structure of His Church which brings glory and honor to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 11-14.

Zechariah prophesies a day of destruction when God will refine His people.  On that day, all the nations of the world will attack God’s people and suffering will abound, but it will result in living water pouring out from God to all those who call Him Lord.  On that day God will call everyone who calls Him Lord His people.  I will be perfectly honest, reading today’s passage both fills me with fear and with hope.  The fear comes because it seems to suggest great suffering to come for God’s people.  The hope comes because it says that God will accept as His people, and will shield them.  The thing about this passage is that I am sure that it prophesies the hope portion.  And while I am sure it prophesies the fear portion, it seems to me that when it does it talks about a time which has already come to pass.  I am not fully convinced of this, but I am inclined to think that the time of great suffering for God’s people which Zechariah prophesies here occurred around the time of Jesus.  I am hesitant to interpret a passage in that manner, but today I do not fully understand what Zechariah is writing and the portion I do understand refers to Jesus’ life on this earth.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 7-10.

In the past I have seen chapters seven and eight as having different themes.  Chapter seven stands as a bit of condemnation for us when we worship God and perform the rituals He has commanded for our own sake, rather than for God and for others.  Chapter eight focuses on God’s promise to restore the people of Israel, and by extension to build the Church.  I want to interject that I do not believe that the Church has inherited all of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel.  In this particular case, I believe the prophecy concerns both the people of Israel and the Church, in slightly different ways.  Having said all of that, today I realized that there is a theme running through both chapter seven and chapter eight.  In chapter seven God tells those who consulted Zechariah the following: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.”  Then in chapter eight God says this to His people: “Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. ”  This is the same message.  And it is a message which God sent through His prophets again and again.  God keeps trying to tell us that His commands are designed to either empower us to do those things, or to show us how to do them.  When we start to think we can follow His commands by going through the steps without caring about people, we miss the point.  When we start understanding that following God’s commands are not about what’s in it for us, but rather about helping others, then we are starting to truly do as God desires.  And when we do that we will see what God prophesied through Zechariah here.  Ten people will latch on to one of God’s people because they see that God is with them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 1-6.

There is a line early in this passage that I think is worth thinking about.  God says the following, “I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.” The context suggests that God sent nations to punish Israel and Judah. but that those nations went above and beyond in bringing suffering upon those people.  Zechariah’s vision goes on to show him craftsmen coming from God to throw down and terrify the four nations which scattered the people of Israel and Judah.  Which is interesting because I am not sure to what four nations the prophecy is referring.  I would think that two of them would be Assyria and Babylon, perhaps Egypt would be a third, but I have no ideas for a fourth.  I did come across someone who suggested that it was four nations against whom Ezekiel prophesied who were destroyed by the Persians.  Those four would be: Ammon (Ezekiel 25:1-7), Moab (Ezekiel 25:8-11), Edom (Ezekiel 25:12-14), and Philistia (Ezekiel 25:15-17).  I find this suggestion fascinating, but I am not sure about it.

However, I want to combine Zechariah’s visions about the high priest Joshua and the governor Zerubbabel to look at the message I see in them today.  The vision concerning Joshua begins with the Accuser, Satan, accusing him before God, but God rebukes the Accuser.  God takes away Joshua’s sin and dresses him in righteousness.  God does the same for us before all who will accuse us, the most important of those accusers being ourselves.  God rebukes those who accuse us of sin, not because we do not sin, but because He has taken that sin from us.  All He asks of us is that we walk in obedience to Him going forward.  Which brings me to the vision concerning Zerubbabel.  In that vision, God tells Zerubbabel that it is not by might or power that Zerubbabel will do God’s will, but by God’s Spirit.  In the same way, we will not do God’s will by might or power, but by God’s Spirit.  So, God has taken our sins from us and dressed us in His righteousness, let us not start relying on might and power to overcome sin.  Instead, let us rely on God’s Spirit.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 11-14.

I struggle with today’s passage because it seems to be composed of multiple separate prophecies, and I am unclear where the breaks are between one of them and the next.  I am not quite sure of the implications of the first thing which struck me.  As Zechariah speaks about the ways in which God provides shepherds for His people, he writes that God will raise up a bad shepherd over His people.  One who will not care about the lost, nor seek the young.  One who will not heal the injured or feed the healthy.  A shepherd whose only concern will be for what is in it for him.  The context seems to imply that God did this (will do this?) because His people did not value the Good Shepherd He had given them.  When I read about that bad shepherd it reminded me of so many of the leaders we have today, religious, political, and even business leaders.  Leaders who are not concerned with the care of those whom they ostensibly lead.  God has given us such leaders because we have stopped following the Good Shepherd He sent to care for His flock.  I want to point out that thinking of it that way can be very scary.  Until you think about what Jesus said when He took upon Himself the mantle of Good Shepherd.  He is looking for, and caring for, the sheep who have wondered away.  Let us follow His voice when He calls us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 7-10.

When we go to church on Sunday, or any other time, are we really doing that for God?  Or, are we doing it for ourselves?  When we celebrate Christmas and Easter, is that for God, or for us?  When we do those things they are supposed to remind us of what God really wants from us.  He wants us to show mercy and compassion to each other.  God wants us to show His love to those around us.  Let us not be as those who saw visions which are lies and recount dreams that are false.  If we love truth and seek God, He will do good for us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 1-6.

I see a lot I could write about in today’s passage, but there are two quotes which God gave to the prophet I want to focus on.

‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’

and

‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

The first of these quotes addresses how we should respond when we feel cut off from God.  The second reminds us of how we carry out the missions God gives us.  For me this means that when I look at society around me and see how far it is from God, I must return to God and pray that He returns to those around me, drawing them unto Him.  I will not transform society around me, or even myself, by my strength, my power, or even my wealth (not even should I miraculously acquire the wealth of Elon Musk).  I will not transform society around me by teaming up with others and pooling our strength, power, and wealth.  Transformation of our society will only happen by the Spirit of God.  Transformation of individuals will only happen by the Spirit of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 11-14.

I am unsure what to make of this passage.  Everything from chapter 12 to the end of today’s passage reads to me as being part of the same prophecy, but different parts of it seem to be about different events while all pointing to “that day”.  So, here is what I see the parts I think  I understand to say.  The nations of the world will unite against the nation of Israel and suffer a devastating defeat at the hands of Israel.  I will state that this seems to be intended to be taken as hyperbole: fulfillment of this prophecy does not require that no nations ally with Israel, just that Israel face overwhelming odds against it.  This event will lead the people of Israel to praise God and acknowledge the great things He has done for them.  Also on that day, or perhaps on another “that day”, God’s grace will pour out on the people of Jerusalem, cleansing them of their sin and impurity and causing the names of idols to be forgotten (another case of possible hyperbole where the names are not actually forgotten, but are just no longer considered names of power).  Finally, on “that day” there will be neither sunlight nor darkness and God will be the only Lord over the earth.  All of the peoples of the earth will worship Him.  So, what does all of this mean for us?

1. 1. Do not go to war against Israel or God’s people
   2. God reigns supreme over all of the earth, and sooner or later everyone will acknowledge His rule
   3. God freely offers to cleanse us of our sin and corruption

• I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.