The Times of Zechariah
(originally for June 15, revised and preached on July 6, 2008)
Intro:
Last month we began a study of one of the small books tucked at the end of the Old Testament that often go unnoticed, the book of Zechariah. We talked about how the thing that makes these books difficult for us to understand, and thus to hear God speaking to us through them, is that we don’t know the context, we don’t know what was going on in the lives of the people to whom these words were originally spoken, we don’t know what challenges they faced and thus the words we read seem very foreign to us.
We saw where Zechariah fits in the grand story of Biblical history. He wrote near the end of Old Testament times, beginning around 520BC. This was after the great times of King David and Solomon, after the northern Kingdom of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians. The southern Kingdom, Judah, which included the city of Jerusalem and the amazing Temple build by King Solomon, thought they were safe. But they weren’t living any differently, they weren’t obeying God, they weren’t listening. That is where I want to start the story today.
Warnings Ignored, Jerusalem Punished:
Jeremiah 25 Seventy Years of Captivity
1 This message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah. (605BC) This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon began his reign.
2 Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem, 3 “For the past twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now—the Lord has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened.
4 “Again and again the Lord has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention. 5 Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever. 6 Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.’
7 “But you would not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer. 8 And now the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me, 9 I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. 10 I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out. 11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 “Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord. “I will make the country of the Babylonians[e] a wasteland forever. 13 I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book—all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations. 14 Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”
That was what Jeremiah prophesied in 605BC – let’s jump ahead 17 years and 27 chapters and see that this is exactly what happened: Jer 52
3 These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 So on January 15, (588BC) during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 5 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.
6 By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, (586BC) the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 7 Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley. (they got caught though…)
12 On August 17 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. 14 Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, then took as exiles some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind in Judah to care for the vineyards and fields.
The passage continues, describing in great detail how they sacked the temple, stole all of the holy items, stripped the precious metals, and left it in ruins. There’s more detail about the capture and torture of the soldiers and the king, but we can imagine the scene. God’s people, and God’s temple, destroyed just as they had been warned. And then carried off into captivity to Babylon. Sad times, indeed, for God’s people. There are a number of familiar stories to us of those times in exile – Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, which only Daniel could interpret; Daniel thrown in the lion’s den; Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
Back to Zechariah:
This is all critical to us understanding the book of Zechariah. Imagine what the people of God felt like as they were captive in Babylon, imagine how they longed for home, for the freedom to practice their faith, to see the land that they had known for almost 1000 years. But how would they get free? What might happen?? Would God still see them, would God find a way to help them, would God keep any of the promises He made to His people??
Before continuing the story, let me pause there and ask us a question. Do we ever feel a little bit like that? Like things in our lives have carried us into dark places, like we are exiles wondering if God is anywhere out there, wondering if the promises God made to us are real or valid, wondering if God is going to do anything to help us out of this mess?? Why is this happening? Where is God?? I think most of us have, which is one of the reasons Zechariah is going to be meaningful to us.
Introducing Cyrus of Persia:
Way back when Jeremiah had prophesied destruction, God had also promised deliverance. (Jer 25) “12 “Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord. “I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever.”
So now let me introduce you to King Cyrus of Persia. We first meet him in the prophecies of Isaiah 44-45: “28 When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’
1 This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again. 2 This is what the Lord says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness— secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name. 4 “And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.”
Cyrus was the king of Persia, which became the dominant world power. The Persians marched across the known world at the time, and defeated Babylon to take control of much of the known world. Cyrus had quite a different take on what to do with the people he had defeated – Nebuchadnezzar took the “fear me” approach: destroying temples, killing the leaders and taking the others as slaves. But Cyrus took the “love me” approach: he set people free to return to their land, to rebuild their temples, and to have local leadership as long as they continued to recognize Cyrus as their king and pay their taxes. The book of Ezra details this:
“1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, (538BC) the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: 2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! … 7 King Cyrus himself brought out the articles that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods. 8 Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah.”
Grabbing the Significance:
A moment ago I asked if we’ve ever had times when we felt like the Jews in exile in Babylon – forgotten by God, wondering if His promises are true, wondering if He is going to do anything to help. That makes this passage, now, incredibly important. Remember it was 586BC when Jerusalem was destroyed; now it is 538BC, and God is keeping His promise. It has taken 48 years!! That is a long time!!! But God has kept His promise, and Cyrus has conquered the world and allowed the Jews to return home and begin rebuilding the temple.
A couple of lessons for us here: first, the obvious – it might take awhile, but God always keeps His promises. What has He promised you? Maybe you feel like you are stuck in some type of Babylon at the moment, but what has He promised? To give you strength? To set you free? To restore, to heal? To comfort? Maybe you are wondering, even doubting. This story gives us reason to hope. To believe. To trust, that God will keep His promises just as He always has. And as He always will. Wait, patiently, for the Lord. He will deliver us.
The second lesson here is this: be prepared for God to answer His promises through someone we don’t expect. Cyrus was not a Jew, He wasn’t one of “God’s chosen people”, from what we know he didn’t believe that the God of Israel was the one and only God – yet God chose and God used and God empowered him. Be open to that in your life – for God to move powerfully through someone you don’t expect, wouldn’t anticipate, and might be surprised by.
So, the Jews are Free:
Back to our story – so Cyrus sets the Jews free to return home and begin rebuilding the temple, and a number of them do exactly that. Ezra 2 tells us that about 50 000 people return. And now the work starts.
Can you imagine, just for a moment, how overwhelming that must have felt? Yes, there is the elation of being set free by Cyrus after 50 years in exile – a whole generation just about. But imagine how they felt when they got home and saw the destruction – the walls torn down, the buildings burned, houses toppled, the glorious temple of Solomon completely stripped and burned and toppled. Where do you start, especially in a time without backhoes and bulldozers and dump trucks and building cranes!
The people start with the most urgent needs – food and shelter. Ezra 2 tells this: “68 When they arrived at the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders made voluntary offerings toward the rebuilding of God’s Temple on its original site, 69 and each leader gave as much as he could. The total of their gifts came to 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for the priests. 70 So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled in villages near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their own towns throughout Israel.”
Enter Haggai and Zechariah:
All that brings us to the time of two of the latter prophets – Haggai and Zechariah. About 18 years have passed, and the people have been rebuilding their lives and their homes. And we might not be surprised to discover that rebuilding their homes and lives has taken a higher priority than rebuilding the temple. I think that was ok with God for the first while, but it has been too long, and so God sends Haggai with the message that it is time to get priorities straightened out:
“2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”
3 Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? 5 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! 6 You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!
7 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! 8 Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. 9 You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses...
A Warning for us?
There is a little more there that I want to read to you, but first we must pause and let Scripture ask us a question or two. After all God had done in keeping His promises and allowing this remnant of people to return home to Israel, the people had gotten caught up in the blessings for themselves and lost the focus on God. They’d gone too far, not just building homes that would meet their needs but turning them into “luxurious houses” and ignoring God. Now I’m not concerned here about physical buildings when we apply this to our lives, I’m concerned about priorities. Haggai is all concerned about rebuilding the temple, Zechariah is all concerned about rebuilding the people of God, and the “rebuilding the people” is the focus for us here. The Jews who had returned had lost sight of God first, and had put themselves first. What they wanted, what they thought was important, what brought them pleasure. Have we? Have you?? It is an easy thing to do – our needs and wants and pleasures almost always feel more pressing, more immediate, more motivating. And yet, we find that when we pursue these things we “eat but are not satisfied, drink but are still thirsty”. Obedience to God always brings the best, fullest, most meaningful life imaginable.
The last part of that passage from Haggai is worth reading: “12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!”
14 So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, 15 on September 21 (520BC) of the second year of King Darius’s reign.”
Conclusion:
We are coming to the end of our time together this morning, and it seems strange to me that this sermon on Zechariah has been in almost all the books of the time except Zechariah! And I had so much more of the history and background that I still want to share.
But I hope we are already starting to see some of the connections between our time and this period in Scripture. We, too, know what it means to be at the mercy of forces far beyond our control. We, too, know what it means to believe the promises of God and yet be forced to wait, wondering, to see their fulfillment. We, too, know times when we see the glorious beginnings of God working in our lives, and we also know how it can be a lot of work to clean up the rubble and start to rebuild. We know, too, the importance of keeping God as our first priority, we know what it is like to chase after other pleasures and yet be found empty. And we know, too, what it is like when we begin to obey, and hear God say “I am with you!”, and when God “sparks our enthusiasm” to serve Him in His Kingdom.
Let me wrap up with one verse from Zechariah, which we’ll get to see next week: “Shout this message for all to hear: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong.”
