Zechariah 7

It can be very difficult to sort out the meaning of certain prophetic texts from the Old Testament. I am referring to those passages that could be pointing to the resurrection age which will have its full expression at the return of Jesus Christ. Does that kind of good hope in Zechariah refer to his generation and the return to the land of Israel? Is it about the coming gospel age, and the gathering and perfecting of the Lord's elect into His church? Is it somehow about the experience of those who go to be with the Lord during the age of the Law, or during the gospel age? Is it about the final age of full covenant blessing that will be ours at the resurrection of the dead? Is it possible that the right answer is some combination of these possibilities?

Perhaps we need to see these options as closely connected to each other, which they certainly are. Whatever our answer to the interpretive dilemmas of books like Zechariah, it should be clear that the Lord is speaking at various places throughout this book about things that are very good. It is also clear that in this seventh chapter the Lord is identifying a great problem. It should further be clear that there is a connection between our belief in the blessed hope that God gives us and our response to the Lord's commands and corrections. Our reaction to such a wonderful future must include obedience to the Lord who has secured His promises for us through the blood of His Son. Particularly in light of the price that God has paid for our redemption, our efforts to sincerely follow the One who saved us must be more than merely ceremonial. Our following of Christ and His Word must also be sacrificial and real.

God tells His people to render true judgments, and to show kindness and mercy to one another. We must not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor. We must not devise evil against each other in our hearts. If we will not hear these commands, then we will miss the opportunity to give true testimony to the greatness and the glory of our God's promises. The spiritual leaders of the people had become accustomed to leading the exiles in scheduled fasts as a display of humility before God during the time of their distress. Yet they did not do these things truly for God. Their desires were not for Him, but for themselves, just like their forefathers whom the Lord sent into exile.

There was much for the people of the restoration to learn from earlier prophetic warnings and from the sad experience of prior generations. The ethical requirements of the Lord had not changed. The attitude of heart and character of life that God insisted upon as announced in Zechariah 7 was no different from the words of men like Amos, Micah, and Isaiah. Yet the people of Israel and Judah did not listen to the word of the Lord given to them in those days before the exile. Would the people of God listen now to Zechariah, or would they risk yet further discipline from the Lord?

There forefathers had been very stubborn about their duty of repentance. Zechariah says, "They made their hearts diamond-hard." They would not feel conviction because they were so unwilling to change. They did not want to hear God's Word to them, and this led to great trouble. God had called them in His commandments, and they refused to hear His voice. When they would later call out to Him in their troubles, He would similarly not listen to them. This was now historical fact. The Lord had scattered them among the nations, and His pleasant land was made desolate.

When our Savior came as the faithful Israel, He did not behave as those who had ignored the voice of God. His heart was soft toward His Father. He eagerly received the Word of instruction and encouragement that came to Him as the Son of God. He knew what it was like to have an impenetrable heart, not because He possessed one, but because He encountered many who stubbornly rejected His Word. He faced many who were so sure of themselves and of their false opinions concerning the interpretation and purpose of the Law that they had completely rejected the Lawgiver when He came in person to save sinners.

Our Christ kept the Law. He rendered true judgments in the perfect holiness of His heart and in the sinless expressions of His lips. He had a flawless eye for kindness and mercy. He met the weak in their suffering and healed them. Though there were many who were devising wicked strategies against Him in order to kill Him, He never once devised evil against anyone in His flawlessly pure heart. It was this man who lived a life without blemish who died for our sins. He has secured for the church whatever blessing we enjoy in this gospel age. He experienced and won for us a life of joy and purpose with the Father that we will know during the time that our mortal bodies rest in the grave. He has led the way for us in the life of eternal resurrection and has granted this blessed hope to all who believe. Let us then not only believe, but also obey, for we have received the Word of blessing, and we know the will of the One who has won our salvation. He is building up a Kingdom of those who are willing to hear the voice of God in His Word and to follow our holy King.