DEVOTIONAL

Today, the story in Zechariah makes a shift while still building on what the visions taught us. There is a lot packed into Zechariah 7-8. God speaks to the people in Jerusalem through Zechariah to signal a time for change. Fasting over the last seventy years symbolizes the destruction and rebellion of Jerusalem. God calls for a new season of feasting to celebrate his renewal of the people and city of Jerusalem. God returns to Jerusalem to dwell with his people. And the people of God show true repentance and faithful obedience to the Holy One of Israel. Sounds pretty good to me.

Before Jerusalem moves forward with a fresh start, it is important to remember their past seventy years. Zechariah 7:3 mentions the fifth month which is when King Nebuchadnezzar destroys God’s temple in Jerusalem. The people weep and fast specifically in the fifth month over the next seventy years while they live in exile under King Nebuchadnezzar. I like the honest back and forth in 7:3-10. Do we continue to fast even though we are back in Jerusalem and God is with us? God responds with a question he already knows the answer to: did you fast out of habit or desperation for me? (7:5) God knows fasting turned into a habit the people felt obligated to do. Let’s get fasting out of the way so I can go back to what matters to me. It’s like half-hearted faith in God spiraled into selfish ambition they were willing to achieve at any cost. Cany anyone else relate? The lack of faithful obedience caused them to turn a deaf ear to God. In Zechariah 7:9 the invitation is for the people to practice “true judgements and show kindness and mercy to one another.” Return to the ways of God. It is time to lay down half-hearted faith. It is time to lay down my ways. It is time to choose the ways of God. I am a lot like the people in Jerusalem. Sometimes I try, but I cannot fool God to believe my heart is in faithful obedience to him while holding idols in my hands. Why? The answer is in Zechariah 8.

And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain.

Zechariah 8:1-3

God is jealous for his people in a good, beautiful way. His jealousy is not like a forceful tyrant. His jealously is like a loving father. God made us in his image. God chooses to rescue and redeem us. We are the ones, like the people in Jerusalem, that run and live in disobedience from a faithful God. What is the good news? God promises in Zechariah 8:8, “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and righteousness.” God repeats this promise to his people from generation to generation in the Old Testament. Regardless of how much they spiral into rebellion, how dark things get, the light of the world steps into their darkness to rescue and redeem. And every time, I am in awe and wonder of God’s steadfast love to forgive over and over again. To forgive Jerusalem. And to forgive me too.

The next section in Zechariah 8:9-19 describes ways God chooses to redeem his people. The nations will no longer curse Jerusalem, but Jerusalem will be a blessing. In the days of rebuilding the temple, God plans to bring good to Jerusalem. Disaster is behind them. Now is the time to sow peace. And where they once were weak, God is restoring their strength. Jerusalem moves from fasting to feasting. It is a big shift for them. True repentance and faithful obedience to God transforms the people in Jerusalem. God is doing a big work in their lives. The inward change is celebrated outwardly by feasting. In Zechariah 8:18-19 God tells the people to replace fasting with feasting because it is a season of joy and gladness. Why? God rescues. God redeems. God remembers his people.

In our lives, I feel like we end the story here. God rescued me out of darkness and redeemed me to his marvelous light. This is awesome and absolutely worthy of praising God! But let’s pause and ask the question, what happens to a community after one life is rescued and redeemed by God? It starts to change. Word spreads about what God is doing and people respond to God. This is how Zechariah 8 closes. I love it! God says that other nations will draw near to Jerusalem because God is there. Zechariah encourages the people in Jerusalem to be faithful to God because God is with them and will bless them. God plans to shine a bright light through his people to draw others to him. As a believer following Jesus, can the same be said of your life? Think about where you live and work and spend your time. Do people around you see a change? Are you a light for others that believe differently than you? Each day presents opportunities to practice the love of God and some days I do great, but other days I fail. However, I love that the grace of God meets me on both days. The challenge I take away from the passage today is Zechariah 8:23 which says, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” The change of God’s people from fasting in exile to feasting back home in Jerusalem comforts me because the constant in the story is God. Just like God is with his people in both seasons, God is with you and me in whichever season we are in. The choice is ours to walk in faithful obedience to God or not. My hope is we choose God and allow his light to shine through each of us to be the change that draws others to him. All for his glory.

Q: Are you fasting or feasting? Think of three ways God is present in your life right now.