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Awake, O Sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is
close to Me! declares the
LORD Almighty. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be
scattered, and I will turn My hand against
the little ones. In the whole land, declares the LORD, two
thirds will be struck down and perish; yet
one third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the
fire; I will refine them like silver and test them
like gold. They will call on My Name and I will answer them;
Iwill say, They are My people and they
will say, The LORD is our God.
Zechariah 13:7-9
It never ceases to amaze me whenever I explore the depth of the
message of the prophetic
Scriptures that they bring out in great detail the missionary
purposes of the LORD God Almighty. Mark J.
Boda, in his commentary on Haggai and Zechariah, writes in
reference to Zechariah 14 words which
provide direction to our reflections on the end of the
thirteenth chapter as well.
Zechariah 14 speaks to the Church today, first as a revelation
of Gods work inaugurated in
and through Christ. In that way it has enduring relevance to us
today as we celebrate this work, but
also as we take to heart the way this passage shaped this
communitys vision of Gods design for them
in this world (a holy community for the nations) and the way it
ministered to the community of God in
its time (offering hope as well as warning). (Boda, Mark J. The
NIV Application Commentary, Haggai
and Zechariah, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2004, p.
533)
Boda goes on to explore two key related concepts which come out
of this prophesy. These are
holiness and mission. To be redeemed in Christ is to be set on a
pathway to sanctification. Such a life of
increasing Christ likeness cannot be lived apart from a vision
for mission in this sin ruined world.
Holiness and mission are so closely linked that we cannot really
have the one without the other. This
reality is one which every Christian tradition affirms. The
abiding fruit of our salvation seems to be an
increasing burden for, and involvement in mission. One example
of this is C. H. Spurgeons MetropolitanTabernacle with its Sunday
Schools, Orphanages, and numerous other organizations for the
proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.
We will explore this more fully in coming weeks as we study the
fourteenth chapter of
Zechariah. Today we need to reflect a little more carefully on
the message of 13:7-9. We have looked at
this passage once already reflecting upon the command of God to
strike down His Shepherd. We noted
that this even which will be of redemptive importance is not an
accident or a tragedy it is in fact the
decree of God meaning that it is Gods method of bringing his
grace to a lost world. Salvation is in fact
Gods doing. It enters into this world in personal terms, through
Gods only begotten Son. It brings
about a confrontation in which our sin is exposed and judged in
the Cross. It takes the cross to bringabout the purpose of God for
us.
Zechariah also tells us here that Gods missionary purpose
advances through to crisis created by
the cross. John Miller writes,
Through the years I have learned to dislike Church conflicts and
personality clashes with
intensity, but I have slowly learned that the Kingdom of Christ
can only grow through
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conflicts.(Miller, C. John, outgrowing the Ingrown Church,
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1999,
p. 114)
Earlier in his book Miller paraphrased Johannes Blauw in a
moving passage dealing with the impact of
this Gospel in our experience.
Blauw notes that the purpose of this revelation of the divine
glory is to confront the worlds
darkness with the gospel. I would add that this is a head-on
confrontation between the world and the
deeds (the praises) of God. They are produced by the Holy
Spirits application of the gospel to the
lives of sinners. The divine glory is the difference between the
former deeds of these who were once
deeply stainedsinners living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness,
orgies, carousing, and detestable
idolatry and their deeds now thatthey have become the holy
people of God. This glory shines into
the worlds darkness as a confronting power, and more of the
worlds unwashed are saved as their
consciences are stirred by seeing the renewed lives of Gods
people. (Miller, p. 46)
Zechariah tells us that the cross will lead either to judgement
on those who refuse to repent or a
crisis leading to faith in Gods Redeemer causing Gods people to
repent and to renew the covenant
relationship with God that they have been called to. This is the
wonderful news that the gospel
proclaims to us today. How have you responded to it?
