Day 1: The Lord Remembers – A Call to Return
Zechariah 1:1–6 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius (520 B.C.), the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. The remnant had returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest. The foundation of the second temple had been laid years earlier, yet the work had stalled. Discouragement, opposition, and spiritual lethargy had settled over the people. Into that silence the Lord spoke through His prophet. Zechariah’s opening message is not a soft word of encouragement. It is a summons: “The Lord has been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 1:2–3). The Hebrew word for “turn” is the classic call to repentance. God does not merely invite them to rebuild a building; He demands that they return to Him with their whole heart. The prophet then reminds them of the tragic his...