Zechariah 2:1-13 Up! Up!
God is calling to all those who remained in Babylon. “Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north”, not because trouble is coming but because He is back in Jerusalem!
Who doesn’t want to be where the Lord is? Those who don’t know Him. But to those who do know Him, there is NO better place to be than where He is! God is calling His people back to Himself. To the place where they knew Him best. The place where His presence dwelt with them daily.
This call was literal in the days of Zechariah. God was inviting, warning, pleading with those who remained in Babylon to come home. Trouble WAS coming but He wanted His people to come home to His presence more than anything else.
There were three separate groups of Jews that returned from Babylon. There was 94 years between the first group of returnees until the third. There was 108 years before Nehemiah’s final return. He saw the state of the people and finished setting everything right in Jerusalem for God. Return from Babylon Timeline
God not only was calling people to return from Babylon but to return to HIM in the land of Judah. It didn’t matter where the people were if their hearts weren’t with Him. They could continue on their sinful ways, away from Him, or they could resolve to follow His commandments and dwell with Him in HIS holy place.
God is calling us today to spiritually return to Him. He has set standards for us as surely as He set standards and laws for the children of Israel. Ours are not as ritualistic as theirs were. Ours are rooted in the heart. Not that the Old Covenant wasn’t from the heart! To follow the statutes laid out in the old covenant, it required a heart searching for God. A desire to please Him, no matter the personal cost.
Our covenant with God is founded FIRST and FOREMOST on faith in Christ Jesus. It begins with accepting the facts of His birth, life, death, and resurrection. Imperative in that ‘list of facts’ is recognizing that He was both God and man. That He was, and still is, the ONLY one who could purchase salvation for us because HE ALONE was without sin.
Once faith in Jesus as God’s salvation to the world is firmly established in one’s heart comes following His commandments. Jesus gave us a “new commandment”; that we should love one another AS HE LOVES US. And in His love for us, He demonstrated a love ABOVE ALL ELSE to God. Loving God comes FIRST. From that love, love for others grows. So, He is calling US to return to Him with ALL OUR HEART and then to love others THROUGH the relationship He is growing in us each day.
We CANNOT follow Jesus’ “new commandment” on our own. We HAVE TO return to Him first. Not just in name but in heart AND hands. There is NO WAY to live the life He has called us to without HIM being first in our hearts. From that relationship, AMAZING changes happen in our lives. We ‘bear fruit’; begin to walk in the ways that please Him. We can speak honestly of the GREAT WONDERS He can do with a life surrendered to Him. We can share the stories of our walk with Him that will inspire others to turn to Him as well. “Up! Up! Flee from the land of sin! Run to Him and be saved from death.” He is the ONLY hope man has. And He is waiting with OPEN ARMS to receive ALL who would come to Him!
Father God, THANK YOU for calling to me! I don’t want to even imagine where I would be without You!!! I am very blessed to have had parents who pointed me in Your direction when I was young. But ‘age of understanding’ the truth means nothing to You. You can work as wonderfully through a child as You can a person in their last moments of life. There is more time for a ‘relationship walk’ when we come to You earlier in life. But there is an ETERNITY to get to know You better for ANY who turn to You in TRUTH. Not for ‘fire insurance’ but because of love and understanding of Who You are. I PRAISE YOU for welcoming EACH and EVERY person into Your family. But only those who ‘get up and get out’ will be standing with You in eternity.
