Sensitive to God
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Important messages
This study only attempts to
bring out that which God has planted in the book of Zechariah. I see the words
of our text below, sent from the heart of God with a design to draw from the
heart of a true Christian a longing to be close to His heart, to feel what He
feels. Only a true Christian can respond to that challenge, for only that person
possesses the love for God, with which one can respond. Do you feel the tug at
your heart strings?
As you read, have a Bible
open to Zechariah, so that you can follow along verse by verse.
“I am
exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.”
Zechariah 8:2
An expository
study from Zechariah, chapter 8:1-9
The jealousy of the Lord
The Bible is the revelation
of God in written form. No vision or dream will ever send a clearer message to
your heart concerning His personality and attributes. From chapter 6 on, we
have been studying revelations that have been spoken with the intention that
they should be written. You will note that time and again the expression “the Lord of Hosts” is repeated (v.1). It
is in almost every verse of chapter 8 and in some verses, it is found twice. I
think that we ought to mention it every time that it appears and know the
reason that it is used. I just read the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, where the
Lord came against the army of Pharaoh and triumphed. When the divided waters of the Red
Sea fell on the Egyptians, we see the Lord demonstrating that He utilizes His creation
as an army to fight in His favor against the enemy. In this verse the Lord of
Hosts relates to revelation. He moves
heaven and earth in order to manifest His word and to keep it faithfully. His
word is powerful; it is pure, refined seven times, as silver is refined
(Ps.12:6).
In the preceding chapter, we
studied the reason that Israel kept certain fasts. God questioned their
motives, knowing that they were doing it for their own benefit. Now we find Him
expressing His sentiments: “Thus says
the Lord of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for Zion!” (v.2) Does anyone
care? We are moving now into something that is very close to the heart of God
and it should be of great concern to us. Are we sensitive to the Lord’s feelings? Do we care? God
is obviously passionate towards His people. How about you and I? Do we have
this passion for Him? I think that we fail
as Christians, if we cannot feel what He feels in all circumstances.
In chapter 1:12-14, the Angel
of the Lord intercedes, imploring the Lord of Hosts, and both express their
love and jealousy for the people: “Then
the angel of the Lord said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will You have no
compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah…?’ The Lord answered the angel
who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words… Thus says the
Lord of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.’” The Lord
of Hosts speaks again in 2:8: “He who
touches you, touches the apple of His eye.” He is expressing these things
with a purpose in mind; He wants us to hear this. I am convinced that He is
seeking intimacy with us.
The disciples remembered that
the Scriptures wrote, concerning the Messiah, that “zeal for Your house will consume me” (Jn.2:17). They were citing
Psalms 69:9 and the verse continues, “the
reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me”. It was Paul who
quoted the second part of the verse in Romans 15:3. Christ let His own sentiments
be dominated by those of His Father. I learned that the word Christian is a diminutive of Christ… a little Christ. If that is true, and if
Christ lives in us, then we also should be very sensitive to God and the reproaches,
in word and deed, committed against Him in these times, especially those that
are related to His church. How many of those reproaches keep us awake at night?
How many of the blasphemies, irreverent words and acts, and false doctrines in
the church provoke our anger?
Meditate on all that God has
planned, chosen and developed with great love, in order to have a people, so
that He could be their God. In order to pray The Lord’s Prayer we must possess this longing for sensitivity,
because it is based on the first two lines: “Hallowed be Your name; Your kingdom come.” That is the secret to
praying in the will of God. If you are not sensitive to Him, you might repeat
it and sing it as many times as you will, but you ought to know, in that
condition, that those words are hypocritical. This prayer is for people who
care for the name and kingdom of their Father.
The restoration
The
Lord’s covenant with Samson depended on his obedience in not cutting his hair,
but Samson broke the covenant. However, immediately his hair began to grow
again. The God of the Bible is the God of restoration. Mount Zion will be
restored (v.3) and the Lord will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. The name Jerusalem
means the City of Peace; it will also be called The City of Truth, The Mountain of the Lord
of Hosts, and The Holy Mountain. The
prophets spoke clearly many times that, although the Lord will punish His
people, He will never cast them away for ever (Is.54:7-10; Is.57:16; Jer.4:27;
5:10, 18; 31:37; 33:24-26; 46:28; Lam.3:31-32… it would be time well spent, in studying
these verses and many more along the same line).
Due to the restoration of
those characteristics mentioned in the last paragraph, the people of Jerusalem
will arrive at advanced ages (v.4). The old men and women will rest in the
plazas, living in peace. Their lives will not be cut short because of war,
crimes, plagues and sicknesses. Many boys and girls will be playing in the
streets and the squares (v.5). When the situation pleases the Lord, it’s good
for everybody. This is how He wants it to be… that His people should be secure
and happy.
The remnant is accustomed to
barely surviving days that were very evil and this promise seems impossible to
them. But remember, He that speaks is The
Lord of Hosts, and He has a supernatural army prepared to make everything
possible (v.6). May He grant that we see things through His eyes! Towards that
purpose, we must develop more and more our relationship with Him. We must live
close to His heart to be able to feel it beating and be sensitive to what He
feels. Then, we will have the advantage to see things as He sees them and
believing, experience His unlimited power. After the final and most terrible
persecution against Israel, a remnant will come to experience precisely what we
are reading here. They will reign in the peace and joy that comes from the
Prince of Peace.
This prophecy is for the end
times (v.7). There are many promises that speak of the Lord drawing His people
from all parts of the earth. In the time of Zechariah, the people of Israel
were estranged in a country to the northeast, put here it says that he will
draw them, not only from the east, but from the land of the setting sun… that
is, the west, such as Western Europe and the Americas. The Lord will bring them
into downtown Jerusalem, where He reigns. It will be a people with their King
(the King of Kings) in the midst (v.8). What a happy time! He will be their God
and they will be His people, living according to His attributes of truth and
righteousness.
The people in Zechariah’s
times had to see that the things that were occurring and that the things with
which they were involved were related to these prophecies. We, as well, in
praying “Your kingdom come”, must be
sure that we are involved with the eternal work that is leading toward the Millennium.
Because of discouragement, the Jews left the foundation work of the temple, and
the building stood idle (v.9). Now, through the word of God spoken by the
prophets, it was time to put up the walls and raise the roof. In two years, the
temple was completed (Ezra 6:15) and just before the time of Christ, Herod the
Great impressively embellished and enlarged the same temple. It was to this
temple that the Lord suddenly came, healing and teaching the full word of God
to the people. This word will be the basis to the coming kingdom, of which we
have been studying. It will give the impetus to building the third and final
temple.
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