You can turn in your Bibles to the book of Zechariah chapter 7. We’re following Jesus together. We’ve sung His praise and prayed in His name. Let’s listen to His Word together. We’re going to look at Zechariah chapters 7 and 8. Normally, we would stand out of respect for God’s Word, but we’re going to read two chapters, so we’re just going to let the Word of God wash over us here. So listen intently as we hear from the prophet.

1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD, 3 saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me. 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

8 And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the Law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. 13 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts, 14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

Chapter 8

1 And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts? 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

9 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundations of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. 12 For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”

14 For thus says the LORD of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.”

18 And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.

20 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: People shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD. 23 Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

There she is on the diving board again. Others are waiting for their turn behind her. Somehow, no matter how many times my daughter enjoys swimming and jumping into pools, each time she ascends that new diving board, it resurfaces in the same old hesitation. Others are waiting in line. We’ve talked about it before. It’s a form of commitment once you go and everybody is waiting. When you get up there, it’s time to jump. If you’re going to jump, you need to do it. You need to do it now. Eventually, it just becomes time to obey.

Standing on the diving board is when it starts, the well-disguised stalling that takes the form of carefully crafted clarifying questions. “How deep is it? Is the board supposed to bounce like this? Do I need to jump high? How far? Are you sure you’ll catch me? Exactly how deep is the water, again?” It’s not hard to make things more complicated than they need to be. We can ask clarifying questions over and over and not truly make progress because sometimes our issue isn’t about lack of clarity. It’s about lack of trust.

It’s not uncommon to purposefully misrepresent what’s going on to cover for the fact that we’re just having a hard time trusting what we’re being asked to do in taking a practical step. We put up this façade that we’re fine. We’re absolutely excited! We’re going to trust. We’re ready to go. We’re going to take the step. We can’t wait to jump. The only thing is just a minor little need for a little bit of clarification, that’s all. But eventually, the lack of action betrays the real problem. We don’t trust enough to actually obey. When that reality becomes clear, it’s just a matter of time before someone just shouts out in exasperation, “Just jump already!” Just jump!

It’s been almost two years since that bizarre night when the young prophet Zechariah had eight visions in a row. Much like The Christmas Story, it was vivid pictures of horseback angels and a flying scroll, a woman in a basket, and all this hope of God. He’s about to come. He brings a word of encouragement. It’s all surrounding these two key leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, the priest, and how things are going to move forward. They’re under the rule of Darius. These few ragtag Israelites had returned from exile to do the impossible. They’re trying to rebuild the temple. They’re about half way through, at the midpoint, and they’re struggling. It’s grueling. The process is not easy and they’re eager to be done with it all, to put the exile behind them. After that vision of hope, it’s been about two years. They’re kind of wondering, isn’t it time to start moving forward? Can we be done looking backward?

Zechariah’s message at the very beginning was to return, but to repent. It’s to repent and return to God. Yet, it’s been two years since that sermon series. Aren’t we ready for a new sermon series? Aren’t we done with all that talk about repentance? Let’s go forward. What does God want us to do? What do we need to do to end the exile and to get going? How do we get the building project done? Aren’t we ready for a new event calendar? At this point, they have a few things to ask God, believing they have an issue with clarity. His response is unlike anything they would have expected. He challenges their approach at the most foundation level. He says, “We don’t have a clarity issue, here.” It’s never been a clarity issue. God has been exceedingly clear time and time again. This isn’t a clarity issue. This is an issue about trust. “Do you want to move on? It’s actually not that complicated. Do you remember what I said? Do it! It’s pretty simple. Do you remember my word, my call to repent? Actually do it. Take a step.”

We like to imagine we’re above God’s commands. We imagine that we’re past the need to repent or to obey. We think we’re sort of above these words, analyzing them from scholarly towers, deciding how feasible they are, to what extent we’re going to integrate them into our lives and traditions. This was the stance that the religious leaders had a few hundred years later in Jesus’ day. People just wanted to move on. We have all this stuff going on. They peppered Jesus with all these clarifying questions about traditions. It serves as a cover up for the real problem; an unwillingness to trust God’s Word and obey, and an unwillingness to repent. For all our fancy questions, our doctrinal debates, our technical discussions, our biggest issues don’t come down to a lack of clarity. God is very clear. They come down to a lack of trust. It’s a lack of actually receiving His Word in faith and responding.

How so? Is it really about trust? God seems to think so. So much so that in these two chapters, He gives us some points of clarity specifically designed to expose and address our trust issues. There are three areas that we’ll try to touch on that prove our trouble with life and the grueling moments, we want to move forward in the struggle and we have these challenges, and the problems are not God’s. It’s not that He hasn’t been clear. The problem is much closer to home. Here are three points to prove it. First, look at

What God Clearly Sees (7:1-7)

We’ll call it the clarity of His perception. It’s what He sees, what He is aware of. He sees very clearly. His perception, we could say, is piercing. He is able to see and sense what is going on. His perception is piercing. It’s like an x-ray or a scan that exposes what’s going on, on the inside. He sees right through the outside and into the inner workings. God sees far more clearly than we give Him credit for. Here are a few realities we can see in this section in verses 1-7 that shows what He sees. God very clearly sees the pain we face in this world of sin and suffering. It’s very present in mind in verses 1 and 2. After all the hope of that vision, the angel of Yahweh says, “We’re going to come. We’re going to conquer. It’s going to be great!” Yet, look who is still in charge. It’s been two years, but

1 In the fourth year of King Darius,

We’re still subject to foreign rule. We still have people in exile.

the word of the LORD came to Zechariah

Notice the name of the month.

on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.

That’s the Babylonian name. It’s an obvious reminder that these promises are still yet to be fulfilled. We’re in pain and suffering because of sin, yes, but this is tough. It’s an obvious reminder that we’re still waiting. It’s emphasized even further if you look at verse 2.

2 Now the people of Bethel

This is the city of God. That’s what “Bethel” means.
had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD,

They sent these delegates and these names have a Babylonian ring. They’re sort of official titles about a prince. Regemmelech, melech is king. So this is sort of a title of someone who is an official representative of a king. But it’s definitely not the king of Israel. There is no king here reigning. The throne of David is empty. We’re sort of sitting there like, what kind of hope do we have anyway? Here we just see the pain that they’re experiencing. Darius remains on the throne. The promise is unfulfilled.

Just like when you travel internationally and you go and you see all the other languages or brand names and you can’t find whatever American food you like. “I just want to have a hamburger,” and you can’t find a hamburger. They have other currencies or metric systems or whatever it is. You know, “I’m not home yet.” Here is just a reminder that they are not home. This is the present pain they face and it’s not unnoticed by God. He sees it very clearly. He appreciates their pain. That’s why He sees and welcomes the aim that they have.

You see the reasonable aim that they have. Despite all this unfulfilled promise, they’re coming to entreat the favor of Yahweh. They want to come and ask for some help. They’re halfway through the building process. They want to do what God wants. They want to seek His favor and he takes this aim at face value, yet He also sees what is going on underneath. What they present to Him in verse 3 are the steps that they’ve taken. God sees and understands the steps we’ve taken. He sees the steps we take to follow Him, the gestures of worship that we seek to live out. Here they come. They have some questions about what they’ve done and what they should do next.

There are some specific times in the year that they have chosen, it’s not a command of God, but they’ve chosen to set aside for some seasons of fasting, of mourning, of commemorating the fall of Jerusalem. It’s of looking back and going “The walls back in the fifth month, the city was taken, the walls were destroyed, the temple was burned. So let’s gather on the fifth month and take a time where we would remember this together.” So they do that on the fifth month. They do it at other months, but the fifth is sort of the most extreme. So, it’s sort of a test case. They come and they ask this question to the priests and the prophets, probably like Zechariah and Haggai.

3 saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month,

That word “abstain” is from the Hebrew word nazer, from what we get Nazarite. A Nazarite is one who is devoted or set apart, abstaining from something like wine or from cutting your hair. “I’m giving to God.” So they say, “Should we continue to abstain or be given over to God, devote ourselves to God on the fifth month? Should we do that?” The question has a little bit of a bite at the end.

as I have done for so many years?”

It’s just that little bit of a sense that they’ve been doing it long enough. “We’ve been doing it a long time. It’s been so many years. It feels like it’s time to move on. The temple is half way. We’re over the tipping point. Let’s go ahead.” These are the steps they’ve taken. God sees. He understands. That’s why, in great compassion, He answers by revealing the flaw that they missed. Here’s the flaw that we miss. It’s the devastating flaw of our sin. They actually have a lack of self-awareness of what’s going on. God is very loving, but He’s firm.

4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me. 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests,

Apparently, the priests need some clarification as well. Here is God’s response in the form of three questions. These are piercing questions.

‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?

He mentions these seasons. He even includes the clarification of the seventh. I know you’re doing that and even more than that. He changes the word, though. He doesn’t use the word “abstain.” He says “fasted.” It’s sort of a formal ceremonial abstaining from food or drink. It’s not quite the same as being devoted to God. He’s like, “When you were doing that stuff, I know what you’re talking about, and the seventh. I get it. And it was not just for a long time. It was for seventy years, the time that I had said specifically.” All that is clarified. Then God says, “Was it for me?” In Hebrew, He actually says it twice. It’s one of the strongest ways to say, “Did you really do it for me?”

He challenges and then exposes the shallowness of this whole charade. All the sorrow, the mourning, the fasting, all the religious ritual is not true piety. It’s just mere ceremony. This isn’t God-centered sorrow. It’s man-centered self-pity. It’s not true heart expressions. It’s just this raw externalism. It’s like you sin against God egregiously, and you say, “Okay, I’m going to say I’m sorry,” but all the while you’re asking, “How long do I have to keep checking all these boxes? Do you want me to keep saying I’m sorry? Do I have to keep going through all these motions? Are we ready to move on, now?” God says, “Are you doing all this for me?” It’s not that the fast is out of place. It’s that their hearts are out of place. They’re not truly abstaining to devote themselves to God. They are jumping through the hoops. In the end, He says, “You’ve made this all about you.”

6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

You have times of ritual fasting. You have times of ritual feasting. They’re like, “Should we be done with the fasting?” He’s like, “There is no difference between the two because they’re both about you.” Ouch! You’re asking whether or not you should continue to fast, feigning like you care about what God wants when you care about what you want. The third question comes and He says

7 Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets,

Isn’t this exactly what we were talking about back in the day? And that was back in the day when everything was good.

when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

There were all these people here and you could look and see it’s good, but I’m warning you. Now, when you’re looking around and you’re seeing the devastation of disobeying and you haven’t got the point. The point is that I’m not interested in all of the external religious rituals. I care about the same thing as I did then. I care about your heart. I want your heart not to be about you, but to be about me. I want you to trust me and follow my Word. Here you are, after the punishment I promised would come for all the fakery and you’re asking how much more fakery I want because it’s wearing you out.” They’re contrasting sad fasting with joyful feasting and He is contrasting dead ritual, which is both of them, for true devotion. Sorrow is not necessarily godly in and of itself. It’s sorrow, but it’s not sorrow geared toward the things of the world, geared toward self. It’s sorrow geared toward the things of God. Why are you hurt? Why are you sad? Is it because you were caught or are you sad that you hurt God and hurt others in your sin?

The message remains the same because the problem is the same. It’s time to repent! This is the fatal flaw that we miss. It’s the big problem. God perceives in perfect clarity. It’s not outside, it’s within. It’s the problem of our sin. God appreciates the pain that we face in suffering in a sinful world with consequences. He welcomes the aim we have of entreating His favor. He understands the steps we’ve taken to follow Him. But He also exposes the flaw that we miss. It’s that our worship is so often just a shallow self-centered externalism. Here’s the point. God sees straight through us!

He sees straight through our facades. He sees straight through our religious charade. He sees straight through the shallowness of our worship. He sees how we treat Him. We treat Him lightly. This isn’t a relationship of loving trust and true obedience. We treat Him lightly in dead ritual. Just like a child putting on a charade and pretending to be one thing, feigning obedience, the parent sees right through it. God is not against sorrow. He’s not against mourning. He just wants it to be real and He wants it to be about Him. It’s not about ritual. It’s about relationship. This is the difference between worldly grief and external religion and true grief, true religion that is godly grief. It’s not actually a bad thing. Godly grief is blessed. God’s call to repentance is actually a blessing. It’s actually an invitation for love and grace in relationship.

Think about when Jesus came. As the nation still is suffering all the consequences from failing to obey and to follow God’s Word, to love Him and love their neighbor, they’re still living under the rule of another nation. Here comes this teacher who comes up on the mountain much like Moses, and starts to unpack the Law. How does He open this sermon? He sits down and there they are on the mountain. He says

Matthew 5:3-9 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

He’s offering this blessing, but it’s from a humble position. Then think about how He closed this message.

Matthew 7:15-16 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.

Their fruits are how they live, what they do. In fact, He says

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’

We did all this religious stuff!

Matthew 7:23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Like any sermon, He closes with a concluding story.

Matthew 7:24-27 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Both of them are here. Both of them are very religious. The issue is not clarity. The issue was a response of faith. I’m going to step forward in faith. For all their religious activity, there was not real relationship and they did not know Him. He did not know them. Israel was jumping right past the lesson that suffering was designed to teach. They had mourned and grieved and they wanted to move past it, but it hadn’t completed its work. They hadn’t taken the suffering and allowed it to turn them back to God. They failed to recognize the actual problem was in trusting God’s Word and responding for real, so their worship was shallow and man-centered. They were still treating God lightly.

It was an issue that was a problem in Jesus’ day, at times, even with His own disciples. It was an issue that He confronted with the woman at the well in John 4. He talks to her about this issue of adultery. He goes right to the heart and then she asks about where are we supposed to worship? She asked about the ritual and a clarifying question. Jesus said

John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

It was a shocking message to her. It was shocking even to His own disciples. The Pharisees hated Jesus’ message and how He came and upset the tradition and all their rituals. They kept asking questions and they were frustrated with what He was doing. They were angry because the disciples didn’t join in the fast, the fast about God departing. Here is Jesus come, God in the flesh returned, and they want to keep fasting. They don’t care that He’s there. It shows the fast was never really about Him. Deadly pharisaical hypocrisy is pervasive throughout the land. It’s using religion as a way to make us feel good about ourselves and often by putting others down like the Pharisee who said, “Thank you God that I’m not like so-and-so. I fast twice a week. Thank you that I come to church and do such-and-such. Thank you that I’m not like so-and-so, who struggles with such-and-such.”

The same warning that Jesus issues then circles back around in Revelation. We think we’ve moved on and He speaks to the churches, and what is the call? Repent! The only church that isn’t getting some of this call is the one in such suffering that they’re really embracing the lesson, it seems. The call for us is to drop the charade and repent. It’s to turn from the sin. It’s not to stop worship because it’s fake. The call is to worship from the heart. That starts with taking God seriously. When we take God seriously, we don’t treat sin lightly. When we think that we’re already in heaven, that things are great and we’re comfortable in our sin, we start to treat God lightly. Then when things go wrong, we get sad. We get more religious, but not because we’re uncomfortable with our sin. It’s because we’re focused on ourselves and our suffering. God would have us to embrace what’s coming and then turn to Him and focus not on our kingdom, but on His and to take Him seriously. Drop the charade because He sees straight through the shallowness of our worship and how we treat Him lightly.

This really matters to God. Okay. What does it look like? What are we supposed to be doing, then? Well, again, the issue is not clarity. Look what God says. He is very clear about His expectations.

What God Clearly Says (7:8-14)

God’s perception is clear and so are His expectations. He is serious about obedience. Look at what He says in verses 8-14, the rest of chapter 7. He hasn’t been unclear. These are the standards that He holds us to. These are the standards for obedience that He has spoken by the Spirit through the prophets over and over and over and over. This is a summary of the same thing that He has given. In fact, the first time when we are given the Scriptures, the Word of God, is written there on the Ten Commandments, those tablets, when He is telling the people of Israel, here’s what my expectations are. Here’s what true love looks like. Here’s how you’re supposed to live. It’s been reiterated over and over. Here again, it’s summarized.

8 And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,

He starts to unpack, here’s what I’m asking of you. First, He calls them to justice.

9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments,

True judgments. Make sure that what’s right is what happens. If there is somebody that is doing wrong, then don’t be partial and let it have a pass. You need to take care of it. If somebody is in trouble and is in need and is being wronged, you need to take care of it. You need to defend and protect. You need to address it. Do what’s right. Don’t tilt the scales in your favor. He calls them to compassion, saying

show kindness and mercy to one another,

You almost hear like a father in a family. When you see the kids, what do you want? It’s not like I’m trying to list a hundred rules. I want you to be kind. I want you to love each other. These words are the words that God has for His people. Kindness there is that lovingkindness, the steadfast, loyal, covenant love. This is God’s kindness to His people. Mercy, that idea of compassion, is from the same Hebrew root for the word “womb.” It’s a picture of the tender, gentle, like have a heart for each other. “Show compassion with a tenderness that goes above and beyond. Love the way that I love. That’s what you should do.” Then He is clear on what we should not do. He says don’t oppress the vulnerable.

10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor,

No matter where you live, there are always going to be people who will require some special care. They’re particularly vulnerable to being abused or oppressed or cheated or forgotten. God is clear. Don’t do that! He has a special heart for the care and protection of these groups. He says don’t use people to your own advantage. Use what God has given to you to love others. This is not just on the outside. He goes in the center point.

and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

Don’t even work out evil schemes and ways to take advantage in your heart. Have a heart that is pure, that is undefiled in its love, that’s not double-minded. Have a heart that is committed to love others as you love yourself. God made this clear with Isaiah in Isaiah 58. They were doing all kinds of religious things. God says to the people, “You’re seeking me. Then you’re asking me ‘Why have we fasted? Aren’t you seeing that we’re fasting? We’re humbling ourselves. You don’t take any knowledge of it. What’s going on, God? We’re trying to do all this stuff. What is it going to take to make you happy?’” He says, “Is this the fast that I want? Where you’re oppressing all the people? This is not the fasting that I want. Let me tell you the fasting I want.

Isaiah 58:6-7 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you
see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

I want you to have an open heart towards one another. I want you to love. That’s what I’m after.” He was clear. This is just what it looks like to be righteous. This is true love. This is what God commands. The same Law given on the mountain, words explained through the Law, words reiterated and unpacked in Deuteronomy and repeated all throughout the prophets. “This is what I’m asking. I want you to be loving. I take it seriously!” Why is He so serious? Well, look at the problem we have with obedience. This is why the exile had to happen. Look at our problem.

11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the Law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets.

They turned a stubborn shoulder. There are three pictures. The stubborn shoulder is sort of like an ox that you would try to put a yoke on and it would shrug it off. “I don’t want that.” You experience that when you’re talking to a child and they don’t want to hear, so they turn the shoulder. “I’m cutting off communication. I’m cutting off relationship. I don’t want to hear from you.” But not only a stubborn shoulder, you plug your ears. You put your fingers in your ears and say, “I don’t want to hear it.” He says not only that, you made your hearts diamond- hard. You don’t want to listen. God is serious about obedience. You see the standard He holds and the problems that we have in our response, and so there is the discipline that we need. They tested Him, so in verse 12

Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts.

He said that if they refused to listen, there would be consequences, and it’s firm.

13 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts,

I was on the radio as they were on their boat and they kept going towards the waterfall. I kept crying out, “Turn around! Turn around! Turn around! Repent! Turn around!” They decided, “I’m turning this radio off.” I tried to run along the side and shout out and they closed the windows and the doors. “I don’t want to hear it.” So now at the end, when God says if you keep going, you will go over the cliff, here they are, going over the cliff. They open it up and if they want to cry out, God says “At this point, my radio is turned off.” There is nothing more scary than that! In Judges, He says

Judges 10:13-14 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”
These are sobering words! Jeremiah repeats this and then we see it in Romans chapter 1. We see that we’re without excuse as we refuse to listen to God. The ultimate judgment is that He gives us over to what we want and He says, “Go ahead.” This is how seriously God takes obedience. His warning and the discipline is designed as a grace to draw us back. Even His judgment

14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

Their whole country is upended. This is God keeping His promise, sending a tornado to scatter them and make it a wasteland. It’s clear standards, clear rejection, clear discipline. He is serious about obedience. His expectations are not unclear. Yet, it’s because He is a God of love. He is a God of righteous, holy love. That’s why He speaks so clearly to us about the callousness of how we treat one another. He sees straight through the shallowness of how we treat Him in worship and He’s serious about the callousness, the way we treat one another in relationship. We treat God lightly, and so we treat one another wrongly. He is serious about that. He is so serious!

This is a problem with our hearts. But Jeremiah said, “Do you know what God is going to do? He cares about this enough, He cares about this so much that He’s going to do what you clearly cannot. He’s going to take that heart of stone that you have and He’s going to give you a new heart. He’s going to circumcise that heart and cut off the flesh. He’s going to give you a heart of true flesh, a new heart. It will be a heart that would cause you to actually love the way that God calls you to. He’s going to empower you by His Spirit to live in a way that does please Him. He’s going to change you.” How does He do this? We see the lawlessness here. We see the lawlessness all around us.

There is one who came who was righteous. Oh, how beautiful was His life! He fulfilled the Law perfectly and the world hated Him for it. Yet, He was perfectly obedient to God. Then He came and they crucified Him and He offered Himself in our place. God takes obedience seriously and He takes disobedience seriously. The judgment and wrath was coming. Jesus stepped and on the cross, He took God’s wrath for our sin in our place and then offered His obedience to those who would receive the hope by faith. That would actually change us from the inside out, to give us a new heart and a Spirit that would call us into this love. We would actually love one another like a brother because now we’re in the family of God eternally.

That’s why His earthly brother who would have seen him growing up, having Jesus for a brother, you know? He was always doing what’s right. His brother saw what perfect brotherhood looked like, and now he gets transformed. James is now a follower of Jesus. He has a new heart. In James chapter 1, he understands this. He says

James 1:21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Let it draw you to respond, to turn, to walk with God. In that sense, he says

James 1:22-27 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets
what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

It’s almost as if James was reading Zechariah. The same God is speaking and He wants us to love others, especially in the context of worship. James gets very practical in chapter 2,

James 2:1–9 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

God is serious about the callousness of how we treat one another.

1 John 3:10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who
does not love his brother.

1 John 3:16–18 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
The idea is that the ceremony of being religious, of belonging to God, or even the dress code, the rituals, they are not a necklace we wear or a t-shirt with a cross on it, or even attendance at a certain service or Sunday School or a ritual that we follow. It’s actually the dress code of Colossians 3, where he says to put on love, forgiveness, longsuffering, mercy, compassion, grace. This is what He calls us into. This is what His family looks like. He takes that kind of obedience seriously and He calls us not to treat Him lightly nor others wrongly.

That kind of callousness in relationship is all around us. We can see it in the community. You can look at the news and you can look in the world and you can see the depravity of mankind and how it grieves God’s heart. You can look at our own community. You can open up the news and you can see there is a callousness in relationship. But first and foremost, the call is for us to look within in our own community and in ourselves, and to see the sin and recognize there is a callousness. It’s not that we lack a clarity. God is clear about the sin and there is so much, if we had time to start to touch on specific sins, the weight would be heavy. If we’re an illegitimate follower and we harden our hearts and we refuse to listen, God will give us over and judgment will come. Do not be mistaken. But if we’re a true follower, God loves us so much that He will not give us over to what we desire and He will discipline us until we learn to take that lesson of obedience seriously.

In our own church family, there are ways that we need to grow with how we are interacting, whether it’s a family, whether it’s spouses, siblings, whether it comes to issues of forgiveness, how we’re using time, money, the way that we even approach things that would be religious. There are calls for us to repent. But I’ll also say this. There are beautiful expressions of repentance, forgiveness, of love being lived out in our church family that are so precious to God. There are ways that I believe if our church was removed from the community, the community would go, “What happened? Who is going to take care of all of these kids? Who is going to take care of all these people? What happened to all the support that we were getting?” Praise God that we can be a part of His work of love for those in need. May God continue to encourage us and grow us and celebrate the ways He is working, but also recognize we need to take obedience seriously. He is not unclear about it.

Well, we could end with chapter 7 and we could get an early lunch, but we would end without some hope. I think we need that hope. Let me just give you a little bit of hope in chapter 8. Look at

What God Clearly Plans (8:1-23)

Here we move from the clarity of His perception and expectations to His intention. We’ve heard a heavy word, but it’s not the last. He gives a whole chapter of hope. Here’s the intention that God has. He has an intention to save. He has a promise to save. It’s in His name, and God always makes good on His promises. Look at the promise unfold here. You see Him reiterate

1 And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.

This isn’t human jealousy. We talked about this. This is His divine zeal that if His people are in sin, it’s going to manifest as discipline. But when they are in trouble, it’s going to manifest as swift rescue. No one is going to get in the way. Look at Isaiah 42:13 and you’re going to see a picture of God coming. In Revelation, you see His zeal. He comes to rescue and the vision He casts is beautiful. You see the restoration of His presence.

3 Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,

I’m not gone anymore. I’m back. Then the reputation is restored.

and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain.

Then there is the arrival of ultimate peace.

4 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

Think about the exile. Only the strong could have made it back. This is rough land and hard living. There wouldn’t have been a lot of ability for those who are older and those who are younger to make it. Then you’re looking at all the devastated land almost like a place where a nuclear plant goes off or something and there are playgrounds that are just barren and wasted and the streets are empty. He is giving a vision that you’re going to hear the laughter of kids. You’re going to see the aged who are going to be enjoying the time. The people who are most vulnerable are going to walk around careless and free. This is ultimate peace and this is actually possible.

6 Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts?

Do you think I should be amazed by this? Do you think it’s amazing? Do you think I think it’s amazing? Is anything too hard for me? I’m God.” You remember back with Abraham and Sarah when He said, “You’re going to have a child.” She laughs and thought that was crazy. He said, “Why did you laugh? Is anything too hard for God?” It’s the same thing that Jeremiah says. Is anything too hard for God? In fact, later on there would be another Zachariah who was promised there was going to be a child in his old age. He said, “I don’t know about this.” An angel is sent and speaks to a young woman named Mary. “You’re going to get a child.” What are we told? Is anything too hard for God? He says nothing is impossible with God. God is able to bring about this vision, the beautiful vision. How is it going to happen?

7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

This is the way that it is supposed to be. What’s the call, then? If this is true and this is the promise, the call is one to strength.

“You were here when I said these things. I know it’s been a couple years. I know you’re wrestling and people are opposing you.” He says, “Buckle up. Get strong. Fear not. Let your hands be strong.” He is motivating them. “Trust me. I know the problem you faced.”

10 For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor.

“I know there was economic hardship. I know there was prominent hostility. I know it was unsafe. I know that there was hostility that was a consequence of what’s going on. But it’s going to reverse.”

11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts.

“Agriculture is going to be reversed. The thing that you depend on in your farms, you’re going to sow in peace.”

12 For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”

They would say your name as sort of under their breath, like “that is the example of ultimate, the worst of God’s cursing,” to that extreme extent, you are going to actually be a blessing the way that people say of you now and use you as an example, even as they do today. “Jerusalem? That’s a great place. That’s the center of everywhere that is bad.” It’s going to be that, but opposite. It’s going to be, “This is amazing! This is beautiful.” That’s what I’m going to do. It’s going to be true peace and righteousness.

That purpose, that determination, that word is used over and over again about His judgment. Here’s the one place, if I’m not mistaken, that it’s used to emphasize, I’m determined, but for good. That’s why when Jeremiah says, “I know the plans that I have for you, my intention, my promise, I’m going to make good on it. It’s going to be good. So don’t be afraid. Take the steps. Keep going in obedience. Embrace what I’m calling you into.” He reiterates what He has said.

16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.”

Live this righteous love out. I’m clear on it. It all builds here to verses 18 and 19.

This whole thing about the fasts, all that stuff

shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts.

I feel like I’ve heard a song about that somewhere. The fasts are transformed into feasts because that’s how good it is.

Therefore love truth and peace. 20 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: People shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.

They’re going to see that this the real deal. They’re going to come and beg and be a part and rally others to come be a part.

23 Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

This is the with us God; Emmanuel. How might this come to pass? Can God really keep all of these promises in a way that they would never expect? He has His intentions and He always makes good on His promises. Despite the shallowness of how we treat Him in worship, despite the callousness with which we treat one another in relationship, this is the graciousness with which He treats His people because of His guardianship and His promise to love them. Though we treat God lightly and we treat each other wrongly, God treats us graciously.

If you’ve ever been to Jerusalem, you’ve likely seen The Wailing Wall. It’s a big wall and there are all the papers in there. There is a lot of weeping, crying, praying. It’s a symbol of desperate waiting. It’s unforgettable, the sadness. As clear and stark as that picture is, is as clear and stark the goodness that God will bring to His people again. You can count on it. Psalm 126 captures this changing fortune to the nation when God brings back the captives. At the end he says

Psalm 126:6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow,

You’ve sown and you just have a little bit of seed, a little bit of crop. You’ve taken the last seed and instead of eating it, you’re planting it and you’re watering it with your own tears. You’re saying, “I hope that this will come through.”

Psalm 126:6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

You’re going to trust God and bank on trusting His Word and respond. In the end, it will always be worth it. Sometimes God says, “No more questions. I’ve made it clear. It’s time to leap.” The question for us is what is God asking us to do? May we strengthen our hands and take that step. He’s worth it.