Return to Me

A Call to Return Zech 1:2-4

God calls us to return because of his

Righteous Wrath 1:2 “The LORD was very angry with your ancestors.

We all wander in our faith, but the problem emerges when we wander because of persistent sin without repentance. This is the attitude we have when we are contently complacent. When we become settled in our sin. When we justify our rebellion as not that bad and we can’t imagine how God could punish us for such an insignificant sin. It is like we are “walking at a guilty distance”. But this did not nor does not deter God’s wrath for those who are unwilling to repent and return to the Lord. God does judge any and all sin big or small. All sin is rebellion to him and incurs his divine wrath. The thought of God’s wrath should lead those in sin to plead for his mercy and grace which he freely bestows to all who sincerely repent and return to the Lord. The people of Zechariah’s time should have understood this, they had received God’s wrath, repented of sin and returned to Him. They were God’s chosen people, they had experienced God’s love and kindness, yet they went their own way, arguing that no judgement could come on them since they were God’s people and dwelled in God’s city. Indeed, for all those years it seemed as though these self-righteous and presumptuous people might be right. God did seem reluctant to destroy their city, yet destruction came. Jerusalem was overrun, its walls and temple were destroyed, and the people led into captivity. This was inescapable evidence fresh on their minds. The walls were still down. The temple unbuilt. The city was in ruins. The land once flowing with milk and honey was now a barren wilderness. So no one could miss the point of Zechariah’s message. Sin brings judgement, but obedience brings blessing. (Boice). Here the prophet sets up the reality of the need for repentance by discussing the wrath of God. The literal translation is, “Angry was Jehovah at your fathers with great anger”. He was angry, very angry. The word means vehement displeasure. Almost to the extent of abhorrence or hatred or despising. That's how angry God was. Zechariah didn't need to give them a lot of illustrations. All they had to do was look around them and there were plenty of them. The rubble that once was their country was illustration enough of how angry God was. God was so angry with their fathers that He took them right out of the land. That thousands of them were slaughtered. They were dragged into captivity. Their land was just desolated. And when Zechariah says the Lord was really mad with your fathers, yeah, we can see that. Confirmation was all over the place. (Mac Arthur). The person who believes that sin goes unpunished is a fool. Every act of sin demands a holy reaction and God was very angry and God reacted in anger to that, but it was righteous anger. His holiness had been affronted. So, you see Zechariah introduces the fact that even though this is “God remembers” (Zechariah’s name) and God blesses (His father’s name) and God comforts, there's always a circle in which that happens outside of this which is wrath. (Mc Arthur) Some have difficulty reconciling God’s wrath with God’s love. But both are necessary for the expression of his perfect love and justice. (1 John 4:16, Heb 12:29). God is a God of love and wrath. Some also question his anger, especially in

the old Testament, but he affirms over and over again that He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who by no means clear the guilty . . “ (Ex 34:6-7, Num 14:8, Ps 86:15, 103:8, 145:8, Joel 2:13). Our attitudes and actions can evoke God’s anger. This places someone in God’s “anger zone”. When we deliberately take a path of sin and rebellion, when we determine to distance ourselves from Him, we experience his wrath. All because of where we have chosen to place ourselves spiritually. But even in his anger he is ready to forgive when we return. Sinful choices on our part put us in God’s anger zone, but repenting and returning to him restores us. (Fries) God is generous and gracious- more so then we could ever grasp – but he is also sovereign and just, and entirely consistent in treating us as accountable for how we respond op him. He is a God of judgment as well as a grace. The fullest revelation of the wrath of God is in the death of Jesus, where he suffered the full extent of that wrath for us. There was no other way we could be saved from it, for God could not, and would not compromise his own holiness. The cross was the greatest expression of God’s love and wrath together. (Motyer) The searcher of hearts (Jer 17:9) saw the beginnings of the rebellious spirit of the fathers in the refusal of the present generations to rebuild the temple and give it their wholehearted support. This in his eyes is walking in evil ways, not hearing and harkening to the Lord. He is God almighty ruler of the world and able to keep his threats, by taking them out of their land and his promises by bringing them back to their homeland. (Deut 30:1-5) (Laetsch). Here he is graciously pleading and calling them to repent and return to his plan and purpose and thus avert the wrath that their fathers experienced.

Reassuring Words 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty. Afrer discussing the problem of wrath, Zechariah hastens to the presentation of grace. God had already begun to turn to them. After all He'd raised up Cyrus and He called Cyrus "my servant," even though he was a pagan king and Cyrus sent the people back. And He raised up Haggai to start the revival. And He raised up Zechariah to preach and God's heart had already turned back to His people. The 70 years was over. They were back in their land. His discipline was over and He was saying, I've turned to you, will you turn to me? (Mc Arthur) Notice that the recipients of the message are the people of God. He is here not calling the lost to come to salvation, but the saved to return to their Savior. This message is for those who have drifted away, who have become busy with other interests and pursuits. They sought to glory in themselves rather than to bring glory to God. (Haggai 2:7-9) Return to me and I'll return to you. Israel was back. Positionally back in the land, but they needed a deeper commitment, a personal return to God and His person and His character. And you may be positionally all right, I mean, you're in the land, you're saved and all of that, but we drift don't we? God's wrath is always averted by repentance and confession and coming back to Him. That's repentance. That's confession. You see the problem of wrath is solved by the presentation of grace. Here God is a God of judgment and a God of wrath against sin, but He stands with love and He says return to me and I'm waiting for you. He says when we drift, return to me. (Mc Arthur) Zechariah calls the people to return to the Lord. Like Jesus, He was calling for repentance (Matt 4:17). He pleaded with the people to turn from sin and return to Lord. There are four aspects of this turning or repentance that we should consider: 1) The Need for Repentance- The Israelites doubted God’s judgement and denied the need for repentance. Since they were God’s people they thought that God would never punish them. 2) The definition of repentance -it is both turning from sin and turning to God. It is turning both from the way of sin and the works of sin. It is both our action and our attitude. (v 4) It is not just controlling our behavior but changing our heart and desires. 3) God graciously receives all who turn to him “I will return to you” (Jer 3:12-13) This is the great incentive of repentance, that however great our sin and backsliding, God is ready to receive those who come to him in repentance and faith. 4) It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that God forgives those who repent. The temple was to be rebuilt to provide for the blood sacrifices, Jesus is the lamb of God that once and for all will eternally and completely take away sin. (Phillip) Between the sinners and the thunderclouds of divine wrath stands the cross of the Lord Jesus. If we are Christ’s though faith, then we are justified through his cross and the wrath will never touch us, neither here nor hereafter, Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come. (Packer), When we repent therefore, we must come through faith in Jesus Christ and his blood which turns God’s righteous anger into joyful acceptance. (Phillips) If God seems far away, it is because we are removed from him by our sin. It is not God’s fault. If we return to him, he will return to us and bring blessing. (Boice) Repentance then, is a change of understanding, creating a change of mind, leading to a change of heart, and culminating in a change of direction. (Fries). So, It’s not enough for us to call ourselves Christians and to go to the places where the Lord is worshiped and served. We must actually worship and serve him from the heart. (Phillips) And if we don’t we must hear the plea of Zechariah and heed it by seeking to repent and return to the Lord and the “Heart of worship”. A returning to God is a returning to walking in obedience to his plans and purposes.

Remembered Wanderers 1:4-6a 4 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. (Ezra 9:7) He wants us to remember the ways our forefathers acted. They received the word, rejected the word and finally repented and returned.- the Hebrew shabuain. means turn but carries the idea of repent. Turn around. Turn from your evil ways. We are to notice the pattern of history. First of all is the problem of sin, (v 4). a second issue, rejection leads to the issue of death that lead to a fourth issue, opportunity (v 6), and finally the issue of inevitability. (Mc Arthur) Their fathers heard the words and the statues that God commanded through the prophets but did not heed God’s voice. The earlier destructions were not merely items of historical interest. They were examples intended to bring about wholehearted repentance and subsequent obedience. These stories of God’s past judgments are still relevant today. Even though we may have turned form sin to Christ at our conversion. We can be Christ’s and still live for a time as the disobedient Israelites. Thus we must listen to and learn from their example. (Boice) (Jer 3:12-13, Ezek 18-30-31, Joel 2:12-14).

Resolute Ways

5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors? Did that happen what I said would happen? Did it happen? Oh it did happen. The exile was proof positive that it happened. "The death of the nation stands as evidence that it happened and even your fathers returned and said as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us according to our ways and according to doings so that He dealt with us." It's obvious to anybody who was left alive that God did exactly what He said He was going to do. God will do what He says He will do. If He says in grace, I will bless. In wrath, I will condemn, He will do it. Now listen to this. He doesn't say turn to my law. It's a good law. That isn't what He says. He doesn't say return to my way of life. Return to my principles. Return to my religious system. He says return to what? To me, don't you like that? Turn to me. (Mc Arthur) Our words are here today and gone tomorrow, but the word of God is certain it will come to pass. Where are the now? What did all their efforts lead to. (Iain Murray) “As we all are creatures of a day, and our whole life is point between two eternities, then the most important need of the present is to make preparation for that future, that great eternity. (George Whitefield). No one escapes God’s word. God’s word is eternal. It is longer lasting even than the prophets who spoke it, they passed away, yet the word spoken through them lived on and was fulfilled in the people’s experience (Matt 5:18).

The Heb nasag means to overtake or literally to catch up. (Deut 28:2, 15) Even though Israel ignored the pleadings of the prophets his judgement “caught up” with them. It is dangerous for us to ignore God’s warnings in his word, and from his people that he brings to speak into our lives. God’s message to us is one of a loving Creator who wants us to be aware of the impending danger of disobedience, so he brings people in our lives to plead with us to return to Him. But one day, these “grace filled messengers” will be gone and their warnings will stop, then God will carry out the promises of his word. People who sound the warnings in our lives may seem to be a thorn in our side and their message may seem negative or tiresome as they keep telling lost people to turn to Christ for salvation and urging wayward saints to return to Christ. Know that they are sent from a loving God who cares so deeply for you that he continually warns you to return before it’s too late. (Fries) Here are two very positive affirmations of the character and nature of God. God is faithful, he doesn’t stray from the fulfillment of his word and God is loving and gracious, he offers grace to those who return to him. Sin brings judgment, but repentance always brings blessing, (Anders)