God's Call to the People to Return to Him and Live in Obedience to His Demands - The Offer of a New Beginning (Zechariah 1:1-6).
Zechariah is the prophet of the new beginning, but as is always so with God, if there is to be a new beginning there must be repentance, and so his work commences with a call to repentance.
‘In the eight month, in the second year of Darius, the word of YHWH came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying “YHWH has been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore you say to them, ‘Return to me', says YHWH of Hosts, ‘and I will return to you', says YHWH of Hosts”.'
The dating of the section in terms of Darius, king of Persia, indicates Jerusalem's subservient position. She has no king by which the dating can be indicated. She is merely a small dot in a much larger Persian province.
Zechariah's first charge is to call the people to repentance from past sin. This is, as ever, the first requirement when God is about to act. In the same way John the Baptiser would come preparing the way for the coming of Jesus (Matthew 3:1-2).
He is to remind the people of God's displeasure with the sins of their ancestors which had resulted in the exile. And to warn them that they too are incurring God's displeasure, because, in spite of a new beginning, they are neglecting the work of God and not listening to His voice. He warns them that they must return to God and His ways. If they do so they can be sure of one thing, that God will return to them and act on their behalf. Thus as ever the success of God's people will depend from a human point of view on their response, and their attitude and obedience towards Him.
He wants them to recognise that God has begun His new work. That is why they are back in the land. But he warns them that He will not bring them success unless there is a true response of heart from them. His sovereign activity must be accompanied by obedience. The very fact that the Temple has not been properly built and established is a sign that all is not well with their devotion to God.
‘YHWH of Hosts'. It is the God of the covenant (YHWH) and Lord of all creation (of Hosts, the hosts of heaven and earth and of all within them) Who is speaking to them. He is keeping His part in the covenant by restoring them to the land. They must respond by obeying His laws and living to please Him in every way. Note the twofold stress on YHWH of Hosts. The twofold witness stresses the truth of what is said (Deuteronomy 19:15).
‘Of hosts' is a reminder that, while they have no army, the hosts of Heaven and earth are at their disposal if they are true to Him. The term includes the angelic heavenly ‘hosts' as well as the universe, the sun, moon and stars, and all that is in the earth (Genesis 2:1). Thus those who truly respond will not lack for resources.
“Do not be like your fathers to whom the former prophets cried, saying, ‘Thus says YHWH of Hosts, return you now from your evil ways and from your evil doings.' But they did not hear or listen to me, says YHWH.”
They are to learn a lesson from what happened to those who were before them. God had in the past called on their fathers to repent, to leave behind their evil ways and their evil activities. He had sent prophets to them to plead with them and warn them. But they had refused to listen to those prophets and in so doing had refused to listen to God. That indeed was why disaster had befallen them. Now the restored people are in danger of doing the same. They are letting the cares of the world interfere with their allegiance to God. His hearers must now make sure that they do listen to God's messengers and respond. In the end sin, of whatever kind, is direct disobedience to God.
‘The former prophets.' This is the first use of the term. Here it refers to the pre-exilic prophets. Compare Jeremiah 35:17; and see Jeremiah 25:4-5; Jeremiah 18:11.
The lesson taught here is one that we must all learn, and that is not to be so wrapped up in earthly affairs that we neglect what is really important.
“Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers?”
God reminds them that man's life is temporary. Man is like the grass that quickly withers (Psalms 103:15). In a short while it is gone. On the other hand God's purposes are permanent, indeed the only real permanence in a changing world. For their fathers this had meant only judgment because of their disobedience. Now they too must consider their ways. They cannot therefore afford to keep putting things off. They must choose between their fleeting ways or God's permanent activity.
The fathers died. The prophets also died. For even those men of God had only a temporary existence. So man is as grass that flourishes, and then wilts and dies. And the consequences of the sins of their fathers overtook their fathers. Their brief, fleeting lives were spoiled because of their disobedience. The question is, Do they want the same thing to happen to them?
Thus his hearers must remember that it is God and His ways which alone are permanent, and respond accordingly. Let them note that what He had warned through His prophets took place. Their fathers did suffer the consequences of their refusal to listen and respond, and, indeed, they themselves are still suffering the consequences to this very day. So they would be wise to consider their ways.
This is ever the choice that faces the people of God. Will they live for what is passing and temporary, or will they concentrate on what is eternal and everlasting? (see 2 Corinthians 4:18).
‘And they turned and said, ‘Just as YHWH of Hosts thought to do to us, according to our ways and according to our doings, so has he dealt with us'.”
The people acknowledge that what the prophet says is true. They and their fathers have reaped the consequences of sin, and those consequences are their own fault for they have resulted from their own failure to follow God's ways, choosing rather to walk in their own ways. They have not obeyed God but have chosen to do what they wanted rather than what He wanted. God has thus done to them what He determined to do in such circumstances.
‘They turned.' His words have woken them up to their state and they declare that they have now learned their lesson and have resolved to change. The verb could equally well be translated ‘returned'. The turning leads to returning. Either way it indicates that they have responded to God's word to them.
Note the double stress all the way through on ‘their ways' and ‘their doings'. If our hearts are set on the right way then what we do will also be right. But if our hearts are set on the selfish ways then our doings will be similar. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.