A Call to Repentance

Zechariah 1:1-6

November 10, 2002

 

"Zechariah was less concerned with the actual work of reconstruction than he was with the theological significance of what was going on" (Craigie 205).

 

Zechariah began his prophetic ministry after Haggai started but before he finished.  Haggai began in the 6th month of the second year of Darius' reign and Zechariah the 8th.  After Haggai's "persevering" prophesy in the 7th month, Zechariah followed with his prophesy. 

 

While Haggai's mission was the rebuilding of the temple - taking care of their obedience in the externals, Zechariah aimed for the internal - the rebuilding of the spiritual ruins.   They were to do more than build.  There's a wonderful point for us:  acts of service whether in the church or toward the needy, cannot take the place of an intensely devoted relationship to the Lord.  Though it is oversimplified to suggest that Haggai was only concerned about the externals, it is fair to point out that his major mission involved rebuilding the temple.  But that in itself was an act of obedience that showed outward fruit.  No less so Zechariah called for deep repentance that would result in outward fruitfulness. 

 

I. A Condition upon which to Reflect

 

Tim Moore:  "Whilst God is love, and whilst the preachers of the gospel must preach this glorious truth, they must not conceal the fact that God is a consuming fire, and angry with the wicked every day" (124).

Kaiser:  "It is a mark of a sick society when we are willing to listen only to pronouncements of god's love and not to messages that also declare God's wrath with sin" (297).

 

1. The Lord's anger

- what it means

- contrast with love

- show Old Testament and New Testament use (Exodus 34:6-7; Deuteronomy 7:7-11; John 3:16,36; I 

  Thessalonians 1:6-10)

 

2. The aim of His anger

 "In the Old Testament, the wrath of God is directed towards people, not to sin in the abstract, if there could be such a thing" (Baldwin 90).  This stands in marked distinction from "God hates the sin but not the sinner" ...the separation is akin to Gnostic dualism.

        - toward the Father (not toward this present audience, Jeremiah 3:11-14)

        - what caused it?  Hebrews 3:7-12 (same pattern)

        - not hating sin but loving sinners

        - straightforward explanation of God's anger (II Chronicles 36:15-16)

        - the Lord has the right and even the just reason to be angry

       - yet accompanying the declaration of God's anger is the call to repentance

 

II. A Call to Repentance

 

Though they had broken covenant the Lord shows mercy and grace.  They could make "a new start" (Baldwin 87).

        - God's great mercy is shown

        - in light of exile they cannot argue that God's anger has substance to it

 

1. Nature of Repentance

 

"Return to Me" - Kaiser: "No single work epitomized the prophets more accurately than this single work to 'turn' or 'return' (297)

        - acknowledge waywardness and disobedience

        - turn from sins in specific manner - "God's call to reverse our direction" (Kaiser 297) 

        - obvious that particular sins put them in exile:  Isaiah 55:6-7; Joel 2:12-13; Malachi 3:7; Mark1:15

        - turn from oneself and the stubbornness of pursuing one's own way

        - a passionate, diligent, whole-hearted turning to God; Baldwin notes "not to my law of my way of life, but

          to Me, your covenant God" (90); note repetition of "the Lord of hosts" who calls for our repentance and

          the one to whom we return; Acts 20:21, repentance toward God; I Thessalonians 1:9, turned to God

          from idols to serve a living and true God--emphasis on a personal relationship, one that God pursued, not

          vice versa

        - There can be nothing casual in this.  It is radical dealing with sin and attitude and ambition.

 

2. God's gracious response - "that I may return to you"

 

Calvin: "Though God meets sinners, and is ready with extended arms to embrace them, his favour cannot come to those to whom it is offered except a real feeling of penitence leads them to God" (20).


        - Here is God's kindness at its highest expression:  forgiving and restoring sinners to Himself.

        - Shows that repentance is not merely a psychological or emotional act, but the restoration of a

             relationship.

        - This is what was at root of Israel's need - the relationship was cut off by rebellion.

        - Without repentance there is no relationship with God.

        - Obvious that repentance is not a one-time event but ongoing.

 

III. Learn from the Past

 

1.      Israel and the prophets

        

        - the repetitive story among the prophets is that of Israel rejecting their word, shown here by repetition of

            "fathers"

        - note that it was God's Word that they rejected (here Zechariah affirms the prophets' words as the word

            of God)

        - He does not have to detail their sins because the wounds of exile were still fresh on their minds

        - Kaiser, "The previous generations cited for their negligence, inattentiveness, and disobedience" (299)

 

v. 4    

(1) "Evil ways" - "denotes a direction, mind-set, path or tendency always to go toward the evil option"

(2) "Evil deeds" - "denotes the actual practice or activity of evil"; "Some will only lean toward evil, while others will actually do evil.  Both forms of evil are condemned" (Kaiser 299).  "Surely, it is risky business to waste

the lessons of previous generations" (Kaiser 299)

 

The track record of Israel in responding to the prophets is pathetic.  Pagan Assyria repented at Jonah's preaching more readily than Israel.  So it is a call to remember the stubborn pattern that left their parents in exile.  The human tendency is to ignore the lessons of history; pride and arrogance drive people to follow their own selfish ways - thus the need for divine intervention.

 

2. Brevity of life  v. 5

 

Two questions are intended to awaken them to the reality that life is short.  Not even the prophets escape life's brevity.  T. M. Moore:  "What we have to do for God in life should be done quickly, for life is rapidly passing; to evil and good there comes alike the swift shadows of the sunset" (125).

 

3. Certainty of God's word   v. 6

 

Though the fathers and prophets died, God's word remains - echoing Psalmist (Psalm 119:89) and Christ (Matthew 5:18) and Isaiah 40:8.

        - "overtake your fathers" has roots in the covenantal promise of blessing and cursing, literally meaning 

          "hunting you down"; like a state trooper overtaking a speeding car.

        - "It is that permanence, immutability or unchangeableness of the word of God and His purpose that

           distinguishes them from His servants the prophets" (Kaiser 300).

        - Deuteronomy 28:15, 45:  "God's words, meeting with rebellion, brought curse instead of blessing, in

          accordance with Deuteronomy 28, until eventually the curse had worked itself out on the immediate

          predecessors of his hearers...the curse of God pursues and catches up on the wrongdoer to put him to

          death. The exile, which involved the removal of leaders and the destruction of national institutions was

          the death of the nation (Ezekiel 37:11)" (Baldwin 91).

        - Those in the exile "came to their senses," which is the idea of "repented" in this context. They realized

           that the Babylonian captivity was God's promised doings due to their rebellion against the Lord.

        - Suggests the idea that some of this audience remembered when the exile took place and were openly

           admitting the nation's sin and God's righteousness.

 

Application:

 

(1) God has never changed his attitude toward win. All sin is ultimately against God (Psalm 51), so therefore it is

     God who is angry with sinners. "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" is more than a sermon title - it is a

     reality that we see in the Old and New Testaments.

(2) The call to repentance demonstrates urgency and God's favor. To help with their response he issues the call

     to repentance in light of the certainty of God's anger.

(3) Repentance is relational - personal relationships... "Return to Me." We are not dealing with an abstract

     religious concept but a relationship. In essence, repentance is a turning away from anything that hinders

     your relationship to God, and returning to Him as Lord of your life!

(4) We must learn from history. The judgments of the past foreshadow the judgments of the future.

(5) Life is short so give heed to God's Word now. See the urgency of returning to the Lord and living in a

     personal relationship with Him. 

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