Monday after the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 23, 2023 by under
Scripture: Zechariah 1:1-16 (NKJV)
1:1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.”’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.
5 “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6 “Yet surely My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, Did they not overtake your fathers?
“So they returned and said:
‘Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: 8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses: red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then I said, “My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”
10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”
11 So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly.”
12 Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?”
13 And the Lord answered the angel who talked to me, with good and comforting words. 14 So the angel who spoke with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal.
15 “I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease; For I was a little angry, and they helped—but with evil intent.”
16 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord:
“I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts, “And a surveyor’s line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’”
Devotion
Luther said, “This prophet lived after the Babylonian captivity. With his colleague, Haggai, he helped to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple and to bring the scattered people together again, so that government and order might be set up in the land again. He is truly one of the most comforting of the prophets.” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 35, pg. 330)
The theological teaching of this book is Messianic, as well as apocalyptic and eschatological. Zechariah foretold Christ’s coming in lowliness and humanity, His rejection, betrayal, and crucifixion. The prophet also foretells Christ’s priesthood, kingship, coming in glory, and building of the Lord’s temple. He also prophesies of Christ’s reign and the establishment of enduring peace and prosperity. These Messianic passages are abundantly quoted by Christ, giving added emphasis to Jesus’ words divinely recorded in the New Testament.
“Zechariah” can be translated as “Yahweh remembers.” This title beautifully reveals the central content of the book, which continuously reminds the Old and New Testament believer that Yahweh remembers His divine promise of sending a Redeemer to ransom His Elect from their sin, hell, and the devil. We can join the faithful people of the Old Testament period in rejoicing over the words prophesied in our appointed verses, as well as throughout this blessed book. This prophet calls us to remember that our Lord remembers His promise and continuously calls sinners to return to Him and His divine grace.
Prayer: Grant, we beseech Thee, Merciful Lord, to Thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve Thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
