15 God Requires Righteousness

Once more the Word of God came directly to Zechariah bypassing his natural eyes and ears. God spoke directly to his soul imparting an important message for the nation Israel. We as the Church are beneficiaries as well (I Corinthians 10:11). Interestingly he takes himself out of the action and as an observer sees what is taking place. Instead of him saying I received the Word of God he says Zechariah received it! This technique has the extra emphasis to the hearers as including Zechariah in this prophecy as well as them. In other words he is identifying with them and not speaking down to them. This message is focused upon the conduct of the pre-exilic Israelites coupled with and admonition of “not to do the same things as them.” This section, which emphasizes the negative, will be followed by a positive upbeat message in the next chapter. God offers a complete prophecy, which is one, that ends with an optimistic conclusion. The prophetic cycle starts with God warning but always ending by expressing goodness and renewed life. Consider the book of Amos, which has mostly negative prophecies. It ends with a positive note for the nation Israel.