“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey’s colt…. Your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.” – Zechariah 9:9-10 NLT
The purpose of the Prophet Zechariah’s message was to encourage the people of Judah as they completed the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and give them hope by revealing God’s future plans regarding the coming of their Messiah. The prophet encouraged them to put away all sinfulness and remain pure until their Messiah comes. They were cautioned to avoid hypocrisy, shallowness and sin in general.
Zechariah made sure the people understood that the Messiah was not coming upon the completion of the Temple. As it turned out Messiah wouldn’t come for another 520 years. This is exactly why followers of Christ must have patience. God’s timetable often does not line up with ours, yet he is never late. Knowing the beginning from the end and everything in between is the reason why. While it can be difficult for man to accept that the Lord knows what is best for them at all times, it is a learned trait that must be cultivated. It’s simple really…God knows and we do not.
God was not at all pleased when his people ignored his prophets. Disobedience has always been the Jewish peoples problem back then. It was the root cause of all their misery thru the years. In spite of that, God was merciful and forgave when forgiveness was sought. Just as Jesus told his disciples to forgive others 7 x 70 times (which was symbolic for always forgiving others), God will forgive us an infinite amount of times as long as our heart is sorrowful and we have every intention of turning from our bad behavior. This was encouraging news for those inhabitants of Judah then and it should be encouraging news for us now. Imitate Christ and be free from sin. Recognize your place in his world and follow the Lord daily with a servant’s heart. Until next time, walk with the king and be a blessing! rlkeller
Resource: The Life Application Study Bible.
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