Zechariah 1: God Returns (#2)

Zechariah 1: God Returns (#2)

12. Then the angel of the Lord said, "Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?"

◇ After seventy years of exile, the people have returned to their homeland of Judah and to Jerusalem. Following God's command, they labored to rebuild the walls and reconstruct the temple.

But the work did not go smoothly. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah reveal how maliciously the adversaries obstructed the reconstruction. They had expected that returning home would soon restore the glory of David's kingdom, but it was not to be. Greater hardships, difficulties, and obstacles awaited them.

Zechariah saw the struggles of the returnees in a vision. The angels who had surveyed the world report to the angel of the Lord: "We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace." The world is at peace. Yet the Jewish people who have returned home are still in the midst of suffering.

So the angel of the Lord prays to God, expressing anguish over why the Jewish people are still suffering after seventy years have passed.

In response, God declares that He has compassion on them and that He has returned. He promises that the temple will soon be built. He comforts and assures them that the cities will once again overflow with prosperity.

God knows our circumstances well—better than we know them ourselves. Above all, God loves us. He loves us so much that He gave His Son. He knows and grieves over all the suffering, difficulties, and pain we endure as we obediently seek to know and fulfill His will. Therefore, God does not turn away from us.

Let us be patient and wait just a little longer. Let us not give up, but live good and righteous lives according to God's will until the very end.

♧ Good and righteous God, help me today to courageously face and overcome the suffering and difficulties I encounter as I obediently strive to fulfill Your will. Holy Spirit, make me strong and bold. Amen.