ZECHARIAH 1:2
“‘The LORD was very angry with your fathers.’”
Let me tell you – I knew when my dad was angry. There was no doubt about it. I did not want to make him angry. I would do just about anything to not do that. Did I ever do that? I have to admit that I did. I won’t go into what I did. Just suffice it say it went against his expectations of my behavior.
Zechariah begins his book with this short but pointed sentence. Jehovah God said He was very angry with their fathers. What an opening salvo. Pull the pin and toss the grenade. Boom! What do you think they expected after that statement? Well, we will see in the next verse what happened. These Israelites knew the sins of their fathers. They had been judged by God and taken into exile because of them. So, this opening by the Lord was a known fact.
APPLICATION
The Hebrew word for “angry” means to crack off, burst out in rage, be displeased, be provoked to wrath. When we are outside of Christ, we face that anger of God. God’s wrath had to be appeased, which it was in His Son, Jesus. Because we have accepted His Son as our Savior, and only because of that, we no longer face that wrath.
John 3:36 tells us, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” One of the most well-known verses is Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? So, how do you share this to others before it is too late?
Sharing your faith is not hard. You just have to ask the Lord to give you the opportunity and then be watchful for that. When the opening comes, step out and do it. Just share what the Lord has done for you. He has taken away His wrath from you. Everyone wants that. Help someone today to experience it. You won’t regret it.
I am so thankful for the blood of Jesus which satisfied Your wrath, O God.