Zec 1:2-3 | KingComments | STEP | The prophet cuts right to the chase. He wants to strike his fellow citizens in their conscience. They are no better than their fathers. Because of the guilt of the fathers the temple is destroyed. But they are also negligent in rebuilding it. It is easy to get used to our circumstances, without paying attention to the hand of the Lord Who put us in those circumstances because of our unfaithfulness. The prophet does not elaborate on the cause of the anger. By speaking about it in this way, he asks them, as it were, to examine in their memories the occasions on which that anger has become visible. This should lead them to discover what caused it. That will stop them in their unfaithfulness to the LORD. The prophet warns in a clear way that God does not allow Himself to be mocked. They have returned to the land of God, but not to God Himself. Their exile and the destruction of the city and the temple are clear proof of God’s anger. But there is a way back and that is the way of conversion to the LORD with their whole heart. That is why in the following verse the offer of grace follows after the anger.

‏ Zechariah 1:2-3

The Anger of the LORD

The prophet cuts right to the chase. He wants to strike his fellow citizens in their conscience. They are no better than their fathers. Because of the guilt of the fathers the temple is destroyed. But they are also negligent in rebuilding it. It is easy to get used to our circumstances, without paying attention to the hand of the Lord Who put us in those circumstances because of our unfaithfulness.

The prophet does not elaborate on the cause of the anger. By speaking about it in this way, he asks them, as it were, to examine in their memories the occasions on which that anger has become visible. This should lead them to discover what caused it. That will stop them in their unfaithfulness to the LORD. The prophet warns in a clear way that God does not allow Himself to be mocked.

They have returned to the land of God, but not to God Himself. Their exile and the destruction of the city and the temple are clear proof of God’s anger. But there is a way back and that is the way of conversion to the LORD with their whole heart. That is why in the following verse the offer of grace follows after the anger.

Return to Me

Because they no longer give priority to the rebuilding of the temple, “therefore” Zechariah must now call them to repent. It is a command of the LORD to Zechariah.

Three times Zechariah speaks about conversion, or returning, in his introductory verses: Zec 1:3 ; 4 ; 6. He does this precisely to those who may think that they have repented because they have returned from Babylon. Conversion is usually seen as something that belongs only to a gospel message to unbelievers. But that is not correct. Here we hear about the need for conversion for the people of God. It is the call to God’s people to turn from the way they go and return to the LORD with repentance. Then He will return to them with blessing and not with curse. First the people must return to the LORD, then He will turn to them (Mal 3:7; Jam 4:7; 2Chr 15:2; Jer 3:12; Eze 18:30; Mic 7:19).

Even as believers, we sometimes have to convert. That does not mean a ‘daily conversion’, as if we should come to God every day as penitent sinners, as if we had never become children of God. But the New Testament does speak about conversion of believers. We see this in the messages of John to the seven churches in Asia Minor. In most of them the recipients are called to repent because there are sins present in those churches (Rev 2:5 ; 16 ; 22 ; Rev 3:3 ; 19). We also hear it when the Lord Jesus says to Peter, who is already converted: “When once you have turned again” (Lk 22:32).

It is clear that believers also must confess if something is not right. He must get down on his knees before God, and also before his neighbor, if he has sinned against that neighbor. There is always a way back, both for the individual believer and for a group of believers, a way that always goes via repentance and confession. That this way is there, is the result of the work of Christ.

The refusal to confess is the cause of the misery. Nobody can hide behind the misleading idea that he cannot repent. When God calls for repentance, it also means that He gives the strength to do so. He makes that power available in the call. It is up to man to make use of it.

The name “LORD of hosts” is characteristic of the last three prophets and is used more than eighty times by them together. In this verse alone this name is used three times.