March 5 Minute HOPE Share
We try to start every closet day with a 5 Minute HOPE Share!
As we try to find words for the serious threats of our day- the many neighbors who fear leaving their homes or who have lost loved ones and income and access to basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing- not withstanding the global threats of wars and catastrophes that are increasing, we at HOPE Closet want the share the news of ultimate peace and hope that can only be found in Jesus! The true stories of the Bible have much to say about the current struggles many of us are facing. We’d like to share some amazing truths and reasons for hope in one of the smallest Old Testament books written about 2,500 years ago- 500 years before Jesus was born! It is full of hopeful predictions that were not only fulfilled hundreds of years after they were written, but also ones that we still look forward to being fulfilled- and this is why we want to share this hope with you! The book of Zechariah shows us that God is trustworthy and compassionate and just, AND that He has already provided a way for us to be made right with Him when He returns one day to bring peace to His people on earth.
Zechariah tells the story of how God brought His people, the Israelites back from a 70 year exile (punishment) in Babylon to their own country again. However, the Israelites were not fairing well back in their homeland. Their crops were not growing and many disasters had overtaken them. So, they asked God if they kept fasting on certain months, if He would then hear their prayers and bless them. God answered them by cutting straight to their hearts,
“‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’”
Just in this answer, we see that God cares for His people and wants them to be trustworthy, compassionate, and just to EVERYONE. That’s God’s heart. Does that not sound relevant to our struggles today?
Zechariah went on to share several prophesies to encourage the people to return to the Lord because God promised that then He would return to them. “Return to the LORD and I will return to you” (Zech. 1:3). The first was a prophesy of protection for Isreal from a great dictator who, in 200 years, would ride on a white horse, act unjustly, be very lawless, and came to oppress many - Alexander the Great. The second, was a prediction of Jesus, God’s Son whom He sent from heaven’s throne to be a humble ruler, riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey and bringing salvation and victory to his people. One king would rule selfishly and without morals- only seeking his own power- while the other would rule as a servant king, coming to save His people by sacrificing his life for them.
Thankfully for all of us, there is one more amazing prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled. Since Zechariah’s time, many have ruled with an iron fist, like Alexander the Great (can you think of anyone like this today?). However, Zechariah foretells of a second coming of Jesus. This time, He will come in power to reign as king and bring peace to the whole earth. Zechariah 9:11-17 tells us that Christ’s return will bring salvation to his people and judgement to his enemies. All these prophecies beg the question, “What side are you on?” Are you on the side that upholds justice, is trustworthy, and compassionate or the one that will be judged for seeking its own way and relying on self? In truth, we are all born on the side that deserves judgement. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
We can’t muster up enough goodness in us to fix the sin and heart problem that separates us from God. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Romans 10:9 states, “If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” Amazing! Our hope is not based on our worthiness, but in the finished work of Jesus 2,000 years ago. He’s coming back. Those who’s trust is in this King will have this hope- “Whoever hears my [Jesus] word and believes him [God] who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
