God's Cleansing Grace

Read Zechariah 1
 
Zechariah 1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
 
MOST of us relate to Revelation and Daniel as the Bible’s books pointing to the end of time. For some reason Zechariah is ignored. So we’re here to change that mindset. The visions in this book are inspiring and even joyful as they point to Jerusalem’s’ restoration after the exile, then to the first and second comings of Jesus Christ.
   Who is Zechariah? As the Jews return to Jerusalem from the exile – in the second year of Darius – it is in November of 520 B.C. to be more precise. God inspired two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage the Jews to rebuild the temple and point them toward the Messiah and even the final triumph on God on earth. If you quicky read the two chapters of Haggai, you will see three prophecies God gives to him in successive months and weeks of that same year. And Zechariah’s visions are in this same time. God was at work to renew his promises to Israel.
   The first six chapters of Zechariah are a series of eight night visions. To understand the images and messages, we’ll carefully walk through these visions to know they are also God’s messages to his people and church today. We begin with the first part of chapter 1.
 
Zechariah 1:3 “Return to me…and I will return to you. 4 Do not be like your forefathers.”
 
God’s faithfulness to his eternal purpose remains secure. His first affirming message through Zechariah is essentially to say, “I have a way and a purpose for you. Join me. Follow me.” God invites Israel into his blessed care. Jesus has called his disciples in the same way, and he is calling you now. Following God is becoming as God, living more and more into purpose for your life. The LORD urges Israel to receive what so many have rejected. The good Father lovingly desires a close relationship with his people.
 
Zechariah 1:8-11 During the night I had a vision – and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses. 9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.” 10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.” 11 And they reported to the angel of the Lord, who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”  
 
The man on a red horse in a grove of myrtle trees is considered an appearance of Christ as “the angel of the LORD”. There is a second angel here, too. He is the one who interpreted the vision. He tells Zechariah these horses had observed the whole world and found it at rest and in peace. But the Jews in Judah were still very oppressed and insecure. The world can often be at “rest” in its disobedience while agitating opposition to the church.
 
How do you see yourself and/or your church in view of these scriptures? Have you responded to follow the Lord? Do you rejoice in his blessed care? Are you sure your life is purposeful toward his plan for you? God wants you to answer, “Yes!” to the questions in faith because you know his eternal purpose includes you.