Zechariah 1-2

Read: Zechariah 1 - 2

Passage chosen for meditation: Zechariah 2:1-9 ESV

And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” 6 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9 Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.

 

Reflect

 

Do you feel encouraged by the Word today? Is there something in your reading that encourages you?

 

Do you feel excited by the Word today? Is there something that gives you reason to be excited about?

 

Do you feel enlightened by the Word today? Is there something in the verses that endears you to it?

 

Relate

 

The book of Zechariah brims over with the hope that God would remember his promises to his people, especially after all the time they had spent in exile. The name Zechariah itself means in Hebrew 'God remembers'. The book is, therefore, an encouragement to the struggling Israelites who were trying to rebuild the temple, and most of all, their lives. It is a call for their return as well to the homeland since some had chosen to remain in Babylon.

 

The Word of God indeed gives encouragement to those who have encountered a spell of dry season characterised by disappointments and setbacks. 70 years of captivity is not a short time for anyone, least of all the Israelites. But even then, not everyone was looking forward to returning home. They had become accumstomed to life in Babylon. How do you speak encouragement then to someone who has been once bitten, or twice bitten, or even thrice bitten?

 

There is a need to build trust as well as inspire hope and reaffirm closeness of the relationship all over again. This is what Zechariah 1 and 2 is all about - God wooing his people back.

 

I can't say that many of us are excited about the future. We are more concerned than excited. If at all, we are cautious about our expectations.

 

But the Lord is telling his people to shout and be glad. We surely need to recover that excitement, which was lost along the way. We need to know too, if we've not already known, that when the Lord is in the picture and his presence is assured, we can be excited not only about the future, but almost anything, regardless of the circumstances or state that we are in.

 

Even more encouraging and perhaps exciting than anything else is the endearing manner in which he addresses his people. He called them the 'apple of his eye'.

 

To be the apple of someone's eye, the person whom that someone loves the most and is so proud of is no passing fancy. Believe it or not, this is who we really are to God - the apple of his eye. These are not some empty words since God treats his every word seriously. He even backs them up by making it known, in no uncertain terms, that he would raise his hand against anyone who mistreats the 'apple of his eye'. With all that undertaking by God, we can and we should take him at his word. For he is not one to make a grand gesture when he has no intention of fulfilling it.

 

When is the last time then that someone says to you that he or she loves you the most and is most proud of you? Today, you are hearing it from none other than God himself.

 

What do you say to it?

 

"Undeserving" is no doubt a very appropriate response. "Bowled over" is yet another. "Deeply touched and humbled" is perhaps the closest response that he's seeking from you and me today.

 

So, won't we give ourselves some more time to reflect over?

 

Rest

 

Lord, your Word fires both our imagination and emotion today. What a thought to know that you've planned everything and that your glory will be in our midst. What a feeling to know that we're special in your sight and that you're reaching out to us even now. It makes everything that we've been through pale in comparison. For nothing beats your calling us ‘the apple of your eye’. It just blows our mind and pumps our heart even more for you.

 

Naville Chia