Zechariah 1:1 says, In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, Zechariah begins by stating when the word of God came to him and who he was. We may think of the prophets as always being alone in prophesying for God, but as Matthew Henry points out, Zechariah and Haggai began prophesying at about the same time. We may sometimes feel that we are alone in witnessing for God, but we never are. Verse two declares, The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Zechariah told them that God had been sorely displeased with their fathers. I believe that the warning was that God would continue to be very displeased with them if they did not return to Him. What our parents did or did not do in their relationship with God can neither condemn nor save us. Verse three adds, Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Zechariah said God told Him to turn to Him and He would turn to them as well. This is the call and promise of God to us today. We come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, and He comes to us as our Savior and Lord. Verse four states, Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. Zechariah said that God called on them to not be like their fathers, who did not listen to the prophets when they called on them to turn from their evil ways. The fact that our fathers and mothers may not be followers of Christ does not mean that we cannot be. Verse five asks, Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? God asked the people where the former prophets and their fathers were, and if they lived forever. The answer was that they were either dead or would be, because like them, we cannot live forever in this world. Verse six continues, But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. God asked if His word and laws had died with those who had died, and the answer was no. God's word and law will live forever, but we will not in this world. Verse seven declares, Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, A few months after God first spoke to Zechariah giving him a message for the people, He spoke to him again. Verse eight states, I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. This time God spoke to Zechariah in a vision, which was of a man on a red horse in the myrtle trees, and there were red and white speckled horses behind him. Zechariah did not immediately understand what this meant, so he asked God for the meaning. If we do not understand what God is saying to us today, we need to simply go to Him and ask. Verse nine adds, Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. Zechariah said that he did ask God what this dream or vision meant, and that the angel who talked with him said that he would show him. We have One much greater than an angel to help us understand God's word, and that is the Holy Spirit. Verse ten says, And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. The Man in the myrtle trees told Zechariah that those that He saw represented those that God had sent to walk to and fro through the earth. Matthew Henry says the Man was Jesus Christ Himself, and that He provided the answer. We can be certain that if we have questions concerning God today that if we come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ that He will provide us with the answer. Verse eleven adds, And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. The angel said this represented those that God had sent to walk back and forth through the earth, and that the earth was at rest. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we can walk anywhere in the world and be at rest.
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