Yesterday we learned the time period in which the prophet Zechariah lived. We know little else about him, other than that he was the son of Berekiah and the grandson of Iddo. Berekiah and Iddo were common Old Testament names. A prophet named Iddo is found in the Chronicles, and although he lived too far back in time to be Zechariah's grandfather, he could have been an ancestor of Zechariah. In Ezra 5:1 we find Zechariah referred to as "a descendant of Iddo", so it's possible Iddo was a family name and that the spirit of prophecy ran deep in Zechariah's family line.
Zechariah begins his ministry the same way John the Baptist later will: with a call to repentance. "The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Returns to Me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 1:2) He reminds the people that the Lord was angry with the idolatry and hypocrisy of their ancestors. These things led to the fall of the nation of Israel to Assyria and the fall of the nation of Judah to Babylon. Now the Judean exiles are back in their homeland, presented with a fresh start. Zechariah warns, "Don't make the same mistakes your ancestors made! Keep in mind that it didn't work out so well for them. The captivity of sin should be completely foreign and alien to the children of God, but if you fall back into it, the Lord is able to send you into literal captivity to a foreign land, just as He did with your ancestors."
The people of Zechariah's day were not bowing down to false idols, but difficult circumstances had caused them to lose their sense of purpose in regard to the rebuilding of the temple. The intense opposition that came against them would have been enough to make anyone want to quit. Quitting would have been excusable except, as both Haggai and Zechariah point out, their purpose was a divine purpose. The rebuilding of the temple should have been the first priority, a goal that nothing should have been allowed to hinder. This is the current problem in their lives and this is why Zechariah begins with such a stern warning. The prophet Haggai, a contemporary of Zechariah, uses the whole first chapter of his book to admonish the people for their neglect of the temple. They have built houses for themselves and have planted crops and have been getting on with their own lives while the temple lies in ruins. They are in danger of putting themselves before God, which is a form of idolatry. They must attend to God's temple first so they will always remember to put God first. Then they will be able to courageously say, as David did, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." (Psalm 16:8) They need the visible landmark of the temple in their midst to remind them that God is in their midst and that He alone is their source of security.
Zechariah continues, "Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.' But they would not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the Lord. Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not My words and My decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?" (Zechariah 1:4-6a) He points out that their ancestors rejected the warnings of the prophets to their own peril. The things the prophets predicted came to pass when the people refused to repent. The Lord's word stood the test of time, though their ancestors and the prophets have passed on. God did what He said He would do if His people did not turn back to Him. He is still capable in Zechariah's day of bringing woe and captivity upon them if they don't give Him their whole hearts. He is still capable of this in our own day.
"Then they repented and said, 'The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as He determined to do.'" (Zechariah 1:6b) Many of the people repented at the words of Zechariah. They agreed with his assessment that their forefathers sinned and that they reaped the rewards of their sin. They agreed that they too had sinned in not getting on with what God commanded them to do.
In our own lives, just as in the lives of the people of Zechariah's time, our sins aren't just what we do, but what we don't do. As Jesus' brother James points out, "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." (James 4:17) Zechariah's people knew they were commanded to build the temple but they had not done it. What good things has the Lord commanded us to do that we have not done?
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