PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

In the midst of a pretty dark chapter, what is called an oracle here, we find verses that we have used for centuries which shape and mold our understanding of the joyous and victorious entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  Read vs.9 and you will hear a verse that I bet you have heard at some time in your life if you have been in church on Palm  Sunday.  Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, but Matthew in chapter 21:7 states: “they brought the donkey and the colt (italics mine).”  

I think the safest thing to say is that Matthew misunderstood Zechariah’s descriptive terms which called out a donkey, nay a colt, nay a foal of a donkey.  We are lucky Matthew doesn’t have Jesus riding three animals the way Zechariah described it.  But it seems like these verses nestled in this chapter are the only ones which give us warm fuzzies as we think of the way in which we have celebrated Palm Sunday in the past.  The rest of this chapter is pretty intense.

Look at vs.15 where we read that the battle will be fierce and as a result “they will drink their blood like wine…”  But then there is a stark transition in vs.16 where we read that the Lord God will save them.  The reason given for him saving them is that they are the jewels of his crown.  What an image of who we are in God’s eyes.

What an idyllic vision of the way things could and should be.  Keep in  mind that the people to whom this prophet is writing are coming back from one of the most traumatic times in their nation’s history.   They had family members who did not make the journey from the land of exile back to home. They have to rebuild all of their structures, all of their institutions, reshape and fashion government and even religion.  For some of you reading this it may sound pretty appealing.  But trust me, if you ever live in a context where these things are missing, it is not appealing.  It is the wild west and you never know when you might be targeted next.  But the picture that is depicted in this chapter is that one day things will come together again.

But there is a very focused understanding on what will allow that to take place.  Look at vs.5 before we get that answer. Who wouldn’t want: “boys and girls playing in the streets”?  He says it may seem impossible to you who have just returned from decades in exile, but who is to say to the Lord that it isn’t possible, that He can’t make it happen?  He charges them with these words in vs.13: “Do not be afraid, and let your hands be strong.”  

Then he says: “This is what you should do.”  We have to read these verses to understand what the Lord requires us to do.  Read this chapter with new eyes and understand what is expected of us.  Let’s list some of the things.  Speak the truth to one another, do not devise evil.  Love truth and peace.  Gather your neighbors and go worship.  When that happens then those around us will say: “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”  What a great legacy to leave behind.  People followed him/her because they could tell that God was with him/her.

In this Scripture we are told exactly when Zechariah received this word from the Lord.  In vs. 1 all those funny words translate to December 7, 518 BC.  Zechariah is given a reminder of the way that things used to be.  “Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity along with the towns around it.”  We get in the following verses an understanding of what created this time of prosperity.  It was not right thinking, it was right acting.

If you look at vs.9 we see that in the time of prosperity people rendered true judgment, showed kindness and mercy to one another, did not oppress the widow or the orphan or the immigrant or the poor.  Instead, the opposite happened, they looked internally and tried to make sure that they had what they needed at the expense of those above.  God doesn’t play that way.  God doesn’t like that.  God moves in a different direction than those who are selfishly focused on their own needs.  It is a good lesson for all of us today.

All of this Scripture is tucked into the narrative of the people of Israel having returned from exile and their need to build a temple.  The horses that we see in this chapter are scouting the land and those who come back from the north are able to put the mind at ease of the person who has sent them out.  It is important to note that the exile took place in the north and that those who were returning from exile were coming from the north.  This could be an attempt to say: this is now behind us, let us move forward.

From there we have an attempt to instill a new ruler, but one that historically is not known.  All of it is summarized in vs.15 where we read that those from far away shall come and rebuild the temple.  But none of this will take place if the people of Israel turn their back on the Lord.  All of this will happen if they diligently obey the voice of the Lord.  

Just imagine what could happen if we were turn our eyes upon Jesus and recognize that when we turn away, so does our ability to follow his desires and our ability to understand what His desires for us might be.

The term that is used in this Scripture for basket is ephah.  Ephah is a measurement that is equal to about 5 gallons.  Most scholars understand this reference to be in relationship to the measurement and what Zechariah is seeing is the weight of the sin of the people of the land and the need to eliminate that sin.  You see that eventually that sin is brought to a certain place and it is destroyed.  

But the ephah is not the only vision in this chapter, it is actually the second one for this chapter.  The first is that of a flying scroll which is used to judge against those who would steal.  Any who steal have as their recompense a curse which is in the form of this scroll which is  flying.  At the root of these Scriptures and these visions, we are now up to 7 visions in all, is the need for God and humanity to come to terms with each other and for humanity to recognize its sinfulness and its need for a God who will forgive and allow to live.

There is a lot that is hidden and relegated to the time when this was written.  But there is some that we can read and understand.  One of our favorite verses is found in this Scripture.  Look at vs.6 where we read “not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.”  I might just  end today with the song.  

This isn’t the best rendition, but you get the point.

So far we have had visions that are similar to Revelation with horses and creatures, but here we have a blast from the past with the warrior Joshua who in this passage is seen as a high priest.  We knew him as the one who led his people into the promised land, who was an accomplished warrior, but in this passage he is the protagonist who is being antagonized by Satan.  Remember, the term Satan in Hebrew simply means: accuser or adversary.  There really wasn’t a formal concept of a creature named Satan like we have today.  Rather, anyone or anything which was our adversary could be considered a satan.

This Joshua has to be a personification of Israel as he is wearing dirty rags and then has them replaced and as we read in vs.9 that the Lord will remove the guilt of the land in a single day.  The only way that this could be accomplished is through the sending of a Savior who dies for his people and in that death and resurrection we have been redeemed.  That could happen in a day.

Have you ever heard the phrase: “apple of my eye”?  Well, we find it here with the Lord referring to the people of Israel.  At the beginning of this chapter we have the good news that the city of Jerusalem will become populated again, to the point that people will not be able to live in houses because there are so many people who are living in the street and in the city.  

Starting in vs.6 you then have the call for the people of God to come back to the holy land.  Throughout the recent history of the very young, modern nation of Israel you have had this appeal for people to come back to their homeland.  I know many people who are Jewish who have spent time, a significant amount of time, in Israel on a kibbutz or some other communal setting which reinforced this sense of coming back to the mother land.  

We see the Lord being a protecting agent who puts a ring of fire around Jerusalem, then he raises his hand against those who would threaten Israel.   The final command is to be silent before the Lord because he is back in his holy dwelling, which would be the temple in Jerusalem.  That is the final goal in all of this.

Here we have a prophet who served during a very specific and well known time period in the history of Israel.  We know for sure that his prophecies take place in October and November of 520 BC and December 17 in 518 BC.  Remember the people of Israel had just been in exile and now they are back in the land and looking to rebuild.  Zechariah was very adamant that the temple ought to be one of the first things that was rebuilt.  This book of the Bible is divided very clearly into two sections.  The first section, chapters 1-8 and the second section is 9-14.  Let’s look at chapter 1.

The name Zechariah means in Hebrew: “God remembered.”  What a wonderful name for a son whose family is heading back into Israel after years of  captivity and slavery in a foreign land.  They are finally settling back into what they know had been assigned to them by the Lord as the promised land.  But since their nation was unfaithful, they had to leave, they were taken, and now they are back.  Now, after all these years, God remembered, and we are back.  

Do you notice which word is repeated quite a few times?  The word return and specifically the phrase: “return to me”  is repeated quite a few times which makes sense since that just happened and the people are “returning” back to the place that they understand as being their home.  But they are also returning back to the Lord and his commandments.  Nothing reflects that more than rebuilding the temple which is in essence the presence of the Lord in structure form.

Then you get this image of horsemen who were sent to protect and guard over the earth.  It seems like we went from pretty normal prophecy stuff of returning home to now all of a sudden some pretty apocalyptic revelation type stuff that causes a lot of our eyes to glaze over.  The good news is that it is pretty explicable.  There is peace over  the land as the horses find themselves in a quiet meadow.  If you look at vs.16 you will see that a measuring line has been drawn over Jerusalem which indicates new construction.  The first thing on the agenda is the reconstruction of the temple.  Then we move  forward with the people who have returned.

I told you that there was going to be a chapter of encouragement and a time when God is going to turn around and look for an opportunity to bless.  The change in tone is seen in these words which are found at the end of vs.13 where we read “no one shall make them afraid.”  Isn’t that a part of what all of us want?  There can be an overriding desire in all of us to make sure that we do what we can so that we are not afraid, so that we do not find ourselves making decisions based on fear.  What a relief to hear that we shall not be afraid, at least at some point in our history.

From that things only get better.  We start in vs.14 with a song of joy.  It is a song of joy because as this chapter began with a castigation against Jerusalem, so it ends with things being restored under the watchful and caring hand of God.  So we went from a castigation against Israel in chapter 1, to a castigation against the nations in chapter 2, and now 3 begins with a castigation against Jerusalem.  

If you look at vs.10 you see a reference to what some people say is the scene at the birth of Christ where the wise men offer him gifts.  It is a reference where people from afar bring offerings.  What a great way to finish the chapter.  From destruction and desolation to a song of joy.