Today’s Reading: Zechariah 9-14

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey…
As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. – Zechariah 9:9,11-12

THE LORD WILL APPEAR

The Lord is coming. He is coming on a donkey. The Lord will come and free the captives, giving us hope. He calls His people to RETURN to Him so that He can SAVE them. The Shepherd GATHERS His sheep and RESTORES their beauty.

Then the Lord will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
he will march in the storms of the south,
and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
they will be full like a bowl
used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
The Lord their God will save his people on that day
as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.
How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women. – Zechariah 9:14-17

THE LORD WILL CARE

He will care for His flock, strengthening them and restoring them because He has compassion on them. He will come to redeem them, because He loves them.

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. – Zechariah 11:7

But the sheep rejected the shepherd who had redeemed them. So the Lord took the staff called Favor and broke it. Then he took the staff called Union and broke it. The Lord had made a covenant with them but it was now broken and they had lost his favor. Judah & Israel had been family and now their union was no more.

“And 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.” – Zechariah 12:10

THE LORD WILL CLEANSE FROM SIN

This third I will put 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;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” – Zechariah 13:9

Father God, we thank you for the grace you extend to us when we seek forgiveness. We are blessed by the ways in which you shepherd us and we thank you for your protection. Lord, thank you this morning for this reminder that you are a shepherd who loves us and who redeems us — a shepherd who was willing to rescue the flock marked for slaughter. We pray that you restore our nation back to a place of union and cleanse us from our sins, so that we can receive your unmerited favor. Amen.