THE MESSAGE OF ZECHARIAH
Number 29
THE REALITY OF GOD'S JUDGEMENT
Zechariah 11:1-3
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WE come now to a very terrible and searching chapter. This chapter is all about the final end of the Jewish nation as the people of God and protected by God. After so many times of calling them to repentance, and frequent pouring out of grace upon the nation, God's judgement finally falls in a most terrible way. God gives them one more chance to heed his call and warnings in the coming of their Messiah, but when they finally reject him there is no other end but terrible judgement. This chapter is echoed in the parable of the tenants in Matthew 21:33-40 which ends with the record that the Pharisees knew that Jesus was speaking of them, but instead of taking the message to heart, they sought ways that they might kill him. God's judgement came upon them with terrible effect by the Roman invasion and occupation of Palestine. Even then God preserved their peculiar status and protected them from being broken up until he had sent his Son, when they rejected his Son, the final judgement came, and in AD 70 Jerusalem was destroyed and the nation scattered, never again to enjoy the status of a nation chosen by God. This did not mean that God had rejected the Jews as Paul argues in Romans 11, but now they were on the same level as the rest of the world. Salvation was offered on the same terms of whosoever believes on Jesus will be saved.

This terrible judgement came at the end of the first dispensation and marked an end of an era. It is then a picture and warning of the final judgement at the end of the world, where all who reject the Saviour of the world, our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be lost and destroyed. It is for this reason the study and the positive listening to this prophecy is so relevant and important for us and the church today.

These first thee verses are an introduction to the prophecy, where God reveals the inevitable and inescapable fact of judgement on all who despise his saving grace. It is important to notice and realise that this prophecy was uttered over 400 years before it was finally executed. None can say that God is a hard God, and delighting in judgement. God gives us plenty of time and opportunity to heed his call and warning. This world has no one to blame but itself if judgement and destruction finally fall.

The picture explained.

If you are like me, the first reading of such a picture leaves us baffled and puzzled. The words seem to have no meaning. I have to read Scripture over and over again before the meaning in some measure dawns on my darkened mind.

The picture is of a fire sweeping with irresistible force over the land. This picture is couched in terms of forests. The fire sweeps down from the north of Palestine. The forests of Lebanon with their tall cedars could not withstand this ferocity of the flames. These great trees are consumed and the forest laid bare. If these great cedars have no defence against the fury of the flames, then the lesser trees, the pine and the oak need to lament, because they have no hope at all. All the trees and vegetation are consumed and the land his laid bare and destroyed. There is nothing strong enough to withstand the devastation of the flames.

Because of this devastation and the destruction of the rich pastures, and even the lush vegetation on the banks of the Jordan, all life is brought to despair and death. The shepherds have no pasture for their flocks, so the sheep die. Because the sheep die there is no food for the shepherds and the population, so they starve and die. The great beasts of the field like the lions who shelter in the thickets by the river roar in pain and suffering, because their place of rest is taken away, and there is no food for them to eat.

The picture is of total destruction, the end of everything. This is what happened to the Jewish nation at last, when they turned in hate from their Messiah and showed their rejection of him by crucifying him. As a result their peculiar relationship with God was taken away. They ceased to be the chosen people, and the protection of God which they had enjoy for so long down the centuries was removed. Their land was devastated. Jerusalem was destroyed. The people were killed in their thousands, and those that survived where scatter over the face of the earth. The Jews have been wanderers ever since, and even though there is a nation of Israel now in Palestine, they have not ceased to suffer, and conflict pursues them, and will do because they still as a nation reject their Messiah.

This terrible judgement is frequently linked, if not always, with the final judgement, when Christ will come at the end of the world. Jesus does this in Matthew 24,25. This judgement therefore is a powerful warning to the world, and the church in particular. The parables which open Matthew 25 press this warning upon us all. The warning is to be ready for that fateful day.

The Lessons to be learnt.

1. The first lesson that we learn from this is the reality of God's judgement.

The truth of the Bible teaching concerning eternal judgement and hell is real. The last verse of Matthew 25 "Then the unrighteous will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" is so telling. The word for eternal in the Greek is the same with reference to the wicked and the righteous. If eternal life means life for ever, then eternal punishment means punishment for ever.

The Jewish nation did not heed the prophecy of Zechariah here, and all the other warnings they were given. They held on to the vain belief that because they were the chosen people of God, they were never going to be judged. They never learnt from the judgments of the past. Such was their complacency, and hardening in unbelief that even when Jesus came, they turned in hate away from him, but still felt secure in their beliefs. This did not prevent them from suffering the final destruction that came.

Our world is in the same position. Even in the church today there is much rejection of any idea that a God of love could possibly condemn a soul to hell. The teaching of the Bible concerning sin, and how it is viewed in the sight of God, is nullified, and denied. The revelation of Christ as our sin bearer who gave his life to death and hell to save us from this terrible end, is often rejected, and Christ becomes simply an example of love, which we are called to follow. We are all rushing headlong to the end, and there are so few who call us to look and listen and heed the reality of judgement, and call people to the one and only salvation from it through faith in Jesus Christ. The church in its desperate concern to be politically correct has ceased to preach that Christ is the only Saviour, and that other religions however good and held with sincerity can not save a soul from the coming wrath of God on a sinful world.

2. God offers free salvation, but will not stand aside if it is despised.

Those who cry against the reality of God's judgement do so by saying it denies that God is a God of love. What is forgotten is the fact that God offers free salvation to all who cry to him for his mercy. God's mercy and love is seen in giving his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to take our nature and become human, and then to give his life as a ransom for our sin. God in love gave his Son to suffer his just and real judgement in the place of sinners. This is the grace and mercy of God. There could not be any greater demonstration of his mercy.

This act shows how much God wants to deliver us from the just deserving of our sins. He was ready to suffer his justice upon evil upon himself in the person of Jesus, so that he could be just when he forgives and saves sinners, and so release them from the judgement they deserve. We forget that God can not overlook any falling short of his holiness. He can't forgive at the cost of his holiness and justice, for if he did he would cease to be God. What does he do? He satisfies his justice by meeting his law's just demands upon his Son, in order that he might justly save us who do the wrong. How does Paul express this amazing wisdom and love? He expresses it at the end of Romans chapter 11:33-end "Oh. the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been his counsellor?" Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen."

God has given himself to suffer the pain we deserve to save us from eternal damnation. How can we say he is not infinitely loving when he has to judge and punish sin in us when we don't avail ourselves of the salvation he freely supplies, which cost him so much. God must justly condemn and cast into hell all those who refuse his love in Christ. He can do no other.

3. No power in heaven or on earth can withstand God' wrath.

Many suppose that it is a little thing to despise God, for in the end they will be able to escape his judgement. There is no solution in placing ones head in the sand by saying that there is no God. It is the vain belief of all those who live their life for evil that they are masters of their destiny. The fact is that all will be compelled to stand before the judgement seat of Christ when he sits on the throne to judge the world. None will be able to plead they have any excuse if they are condemned. None will be able to avoid the sentence when it falls. The end of Matthew 25 makes this so plain. How we need to heed the message of his love now that on that fateful day we may hear his gracious words, "Come, children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world." 

4. We learn the terrible nature of the Judgement.

The picture in the three verses before us is of fire that nothing can stop, and no one can quench. It is a picture of a fire that renders total destruction, and leaves total desolation.

If any believe that hell will not be so bad as the Bible makes out are doomed to sad disillusionment.  The truth is that it will be far worse than anything we can imagine now. The story of the rich man in hell who sees the beggar, Lazarus, in heaven, is all we need to heed. The rich man, who had so much in this life, says he is tormented. The story tells us that his suffering can not be relieved. How people need to heed this and feel it, so that the offer of Christ as Saviour may be seen as their all consuming need now. It may be true that no one is brought to repentance and to fear God by being told the pains of hell, but this did not stop Jesus giving the warning in the Gospels. Even if people laugh at us, we should still warn them, and at the same time speaking much of the love of God in Christ.

5. God's love is seen that judgement is not without warning.

This prophecy of Zechariah came almost 500 years before its final execution. Such is the love of God that he not only warns of the consequences of sin and rebellion against him, but he gives ample time for people to heed the warning and close with his offer of eternal salvation. If judgement falls on any one they can have no possible excuse. God in mercy has warned. God in mercy has given time for people to hear and act on the warning..

CONCLUSION.

When we hear the awfulness of God's judgement, what should we who believe do, and how should we react? Firstly, we need to be sure that our whole trust is in Christ alone, and that we have truly ceased to rely on any goodness we imagine that we possess. Then secondly, we need to urgently witness to our wayward world, and with all our hearts call people to heed the message, and plead with them that they might believe on the Saviour and be saved.