Zechariah is the largest of the Minor Prophets. It contains 14 chapters with very significant prophecies. All these prophecies are given from the perspective of God’s love for His people. Chapter 1, verse 14, sets this tone, “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong.” Out of His deep love for His people (us, too), he calls for them (and us) to return to Him. Chapter 1, verse 3 says, “Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” This same exhortation is repeated in the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. Chapter 3, verses 6-7, says, For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.”
There’s an old Sunday school joke that you may have heard. They were talking about the Prodigal Son in the class when the teacher asked, “Was anyone sorry when the Prodigal Son returned?” After a bit of soul-searching, one little boy said, “The fatted calf.” One of my favorite stories is in Luke regarding the prodigal son. We have a copy of Rembrandt’s painting entitled “The Prodigal” hanging in our dining room. It’s just a 19-dollar reproduction in a poster format, but it’s like being reminded of my status before the Lord.
One of the most beautiful stories of the Scriptures is that of the prodigal son, the youth who left home, got into great difficulty, wasted his life in riotous living, and ended up in the pigpen. Dr. J. Vernon McGee once asked, “Do you know the difference between the son in that pigpen and the pig?” He goes on to explain that the difference is that no pig has ever said to himself, “I will arise and go to my father.” He is right; only sons and daughters can say that. That is why there will be no condemnation, no rejection by God of his children. All believers, even prodigal sons, are his children, not his enemies. God’s love for His children of Israel was passionate and strong. It’s the same with you and me. The father of the prodigal son explained in Luke 15:24 that there was every reason to be happy, “For this, my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate.”
Jesus proves Zechariah is right. God’s love is strong. Lettie Cowman, in her Streams for the Soul (1925), quoted the poem by Madame Guyon. One of the verses is important theologically. It says:
“Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God’s love is strong while night hours creep—
God’s love, not thine; be still and sleep”.[1]
[1] Cowman, Lettie B. 1925. Streams in the Desert. Los Angeles, CA: The Oriental Missionary Society.