God Will Answer When We Pray
After Zechariah’s discouraging implication that God is weary of his people and will no longer be their Shepherd, Zechariah has some good news.
He concludes his prophetic writings with an optimistic prophecy of a better tomorrow, a future hope.
This is a hope that the people of his day can anticipate. But it’s also a hope we can claim today.
What is this grand, future expectation?
For the people of Zechariah’s day, when they pray to God, he will again answer. They can count on him to be there for them. He will again call them his people, and they will again call him their Lord. They will turn to each other. Reunited.
This union with God reminds us of how Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with their Creator.
In the cool of the evening, they hung out and enjoyed one another’s company. They lived in community with God in his creation, spending time with one another.
We can also anticipate community with our Creator today. Though we don’t physically walk with him in a garden each evening, when we call out to him, he answers. He is our Lord, and we are his people.
Our Future Hope
But Zechariah has more. This message for the people’s future is for our future too (Zechariah 14:9). We await it in eager expectation . . . but for what?
Centuries after Zechariah, the disciple John has a compelling vision of the future, a look into our future.
In his forward-looking revelation, John writes of a time when all nations and all kings will come together in the holy temple of the Lord and the Lamb (Revelation 21:22–26).
What a day that will be, a day we hope for and long to see. We can look forward to this time with great anticipation, the day when God will reign as King over the whole earth.
He will become the Lord of everyone. His name will stand as the only name for people to call on for their rescue, for their salvation.
This will restore our community with God, just as he intended from the beginning.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Zechariah 12-14, and today’s post is on Zechariah 13:9.]
Learn more about all twelve of the Bible’s Minor Prophets in Peter’s book, Return to Me: 40 Prophetic Teachings about Unfaithfulness, Punishment, and Hope from the Minor Prophets
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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