Zechariah 1, Hebrews 8

(Zechariah 1)

If we were honest with ourselves, most of us don’t exactly live a life that would be considered honorable when compared to what would be a truly holy life. I know I fall short. Thus comes the necessity of the cross. Literally, thank you God. As we survey the landscape of Grace that God has laid out for us, I would imagine that our frequent response of willful disobedience to His gift of perfection could at times, invoke feelings of a righteous indignation, even in the loving heart of our God. In lay terms, I can understand how God might get angry with us.

What a gift God gives us through the words of Zechariah, (2) “The Lord was very angry with your forefathers. (3) Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says:”

Get ready for it. Here it comes. It’s very complicated: “Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you’ says the Lord Almighty.

Okay, I was kidding. It’s simple. Oh, so very simple. Our Holy God says although I am angry for the unrighteousness in your life, I love you so much, that if you’ll just return to me, I will return to you. Christian, remember this gift. Skeptic, know that this is our God.

I thought it interesting that not only does Zechariah tell them to return, but reminds them to return to the “Lord Almighty”. The original words are more directly translated “Lord of Hosts”. I think the reason it’s written in many English translations as “Almighty” is because it captures more the passion of this term in our language. It’s critically important that we understand how he’s describing God, think about it, he said it TWICE. Seems redundant, but is intentional. The Hebrew word to describe the word “Hosts” is Tsaba’. Tsaba’ is a masculine military term meaning “a mass of persons organized for war”. So when the Lord Almighty says return to Him, picture this: Here you are running through the desert, you’re out of ammo, and the enemy is on your tail. You’re on foot, they have jeeps… and ammo. Sand is flying up around you as bullets fly closer and closer each second. You round the corner and there, in position, is a military front that is greater than any army ever amassed. There are tanks as far as the eye can see, fully armored Hummers, apache helicopters hovering overhead, fighter jets and bombers circling the sky, destroyers and aircraft carriers in the background settled just offshore, with highly trained special forces units in full gear, in ready position, waiting for the signal. Then God, our general is standing out front, as you make eye contact with him he says, “come on, we’ve been waiting for you, we’re here to rescue you.”

Father, teach us what it means to return to you. Help us to see that even in your strength as the Almighty God, we can still return to you like a child who fell down and scraped his knee. Like a child who is running to his dad for him to pick him up, hug him, pat his back, run his fingers through his hair, and hear him say over and over, “it’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be alright. Because Daddy’s here. Thank you, Lord.

(Hebrews 8)

I am reminded through chapter 8 of one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 2:5) The word “mediator” comes from the Greek word that means “reconciler”. How amazing is it that we are reconciled forever through the sacrifice of our High Priest. Thank you Jesus!