"Return to me," declares the LORD Almighty, "and I will return to you." (1:3)I found myself thinking about that last phrase a little bit. I wonder if it implies that, in some way, God turns from us when we turn from Him. There are many places in scripture that teach us that even though we may be unfaithful God remains faithful. If we turn away from God and live a life solely for ourselves does it make God unfaithful if He responds by turning His back on us? Is it possible that His faithfulness is demonstrated in the fact that He promises to turn back to us if we turn back to Him?
I've heard it said (and I believe) that the message of the Bible could be summed up in three sentences: 1) Jesus is coming. 2) Jesus came. 3) Jesus is coming again. With that in mind it makes sense that the end of the book of Zechariah seems to be talking about the coming of the Messiah. He says:
I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (12:10)And:
On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. (13:1)But then he seems to skip even farther into the future with what seems to me to be references to the third part, Jesus is coming again:
Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. (14:5)And:
On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the LORD—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light. (14:6-7)And finally:
The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name. (14:9)The whole Bible is really about God's love of us sinful humans and how that love reaches its pinnacle in Jesus.
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