A Message from Zecharyah - Zechariah Chapter 1: 2-6
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Shemot - Exodus 3:15.
Zecharyah - Zechariah
Please Note: I will be using the “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS version of the Torah/Tanakh) with some minor updates.
For who may not use a Hebrew/English Torah/Tanakh and have a Bible the verse may occasionally differ by one up or down
With
In the beginning of chapter 1, we see Zecharyah - Zechariah
delivering a short message. Then after he had spoken the Word Elohim had given him, the people knew without doubt that he
was indeed a messenger sent by the Elohim of Avraham - Abraham, Yitzchak - Isaac and Ya’akov - Jacob! He might have been a young man at
that time, but they knew that Elohim, blessed be He, had been speaking through
him. As we look at the message, we will realise how special that
message really was.
unto Zecharyah - Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the
prophet, saying: ‘
hath been sore displeased with your (fore) fathers. Therefore say thou unto
them; Thus saith
of hosts: Return unto Me, saith
of hosts, and I
will return unto you, saith
of Hosts -
of hosts: Return ye now from your evil ways,
and from your evil doings; but they did not hear, nor attend unto Me, saith
. Your fathers, where are they? and the
prophets, do they live for ever? But My words and My
statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake
your fathers? so that they turned and said: Like as
of hosts purposed to do unto us, according to
our ways, and according to our doings, so hath He dealt with us’”
Zecharyah - Zechariah 1:2-6 (JPS version of the Tanakh with corrections and
explanations).
Zecharyah’s subject was Y-H-V-H, blessed be His Sanctified Name, and he lovingly uses the most precious Name as follows some forty
times in his book, “
of
Hosts.” For He is the great I Am, Master of the universe, legions,
armies, battalions, and all forces.
of Hosts” meant so much to
But we need to remember that Zecharyah
also stated, “ of Hosts says, when are you going to RETURN to Me.” Now this seemed to be a strange thing to say, considering
And sadly the truth is that the message could also well be; you can be a Shul goer and pray every single word of the service as outlined in the siddur. But that means absolutely nothing, for, sadly, many tend to go to the Synagogue in a ritualistic manner, be it each and every week, or whenever they are able to go, or just on the Yom Tovim (feasts). But even then when many are there, the siddur has a service that tends to race like a formula one driver, and many just cannot keep up, even if their Ivrit is good to try to comprehend or understand, whilst many sadly may not be as good at it, thus they try to follow it as best as they can, or they don’t bother, and have a chat with a fellow member’s instead, which is so common. And to be honest rabbis over the centuries have kept on adding to the length of the Shabbat services, etc, and it is no wonder that so many leave our more frum Shul’s and head off to the more conservative / liberal Synagogues. Although personally I have been and always will be Orthodox. But it is sad the rabbinate has made Shul services a farce, as the truth is, we cannot in truth mean all those beautiful words with all our heart, when there are said at a speed so fast, meaning there cannot be heart in it. We have lost the love of worship, and I mean real worship in holiness!, not what man has turned it into, for what it has become a race of words, no matter how nice the words technically are, if they are said at the speed of light (so to say) it becomes without heart.
Is it vital that we praise and thank Elohim,
blessed be His Sanctified Name, with all our hearts and soul for what He has
done for us, for if you really start thinking about your life, I am sure that
you will realise that even though there will have been rough patches, but somehow, we
will have always gotten through them, and we will be fully assured that He has
always been right there with you, and that means everything.
Thus when you head off to Shul next time think
about this; “Are you going to the
House of Elohim, and can you only
worship Him there or can you worship Him anywhere?” It is good to go to Shul, but prayer can be said at home or just about
anywhere, a building is certainly not needed, for as yet we do not have a in Yerushalayim!
Of course the ideal would be to see rabbis to change services, and edit the
services to the point where it become a service where it becomes genuinely
worshipful, with heart, as well as the blessed reading of the Parashat and Haftarah’s etc which is all part of the blessings, for without our readings we
have no service.
You see what Zecharyah
was saying to
The truth is mankind’s pride sadly does not change, and that includes leadership in so many cases. It is so sad that these days we do not have prophets like great men of faith such as Zecharyah, just far too many rabbis who do not always teach 100% Torah, but are filled with their man made laws and other man-made ideology, etc, including praying to the dead, which is Sinful and is opposite what His Torah! Teaches!
Check the Word of Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, He never
changes! His Word stands forever and no man can or
should change it in any shape or form – but they did!
your Elohim which
I command you” Devarim - Deuteronomy 4:2 (JPS).
“Ye shall observe to do therefore as your Elohim hath
commanded you; ye shall not turn aside to the right
hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all
the way which
your Elohim hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you,” Devarim
- Deuteronomy 5:28-29 (JPS) - verses 32-33 in other Bibles.
Now we begin to understand why Zecharyah had to be a prophet for the people of (Me) and He (I) will come back to you.” The real root behind the problem of all nations and in the
lives of individuals is; they have departed from the ways of Elohim, be it in part or all together. Many have decided
not to keep the ways of Elohim, using many excuses
why they should not. That is why Zecharyah started
his message in this powerful way. Let us all learn from it, but more so
beloved, let us heed to it!
Thus what Zecharyah
said and how it was understood by the people was this;
was angry with your forefathers for they
did not listen, nor did they heed to
.” 1:2.
As we have been lumbered with the same problems
with the teachings of our forefathers, I pray that we will heed and
listen! Sadly we are suffering from having been born into a ready made
world, everything has been pre-designed and theologies, etc, are much laid out
and we sort of check it out and just accept much of it, or parts of it, but we
should really question these man made additions to our laws!
But
Elohim, blessed be
His Sanctified Name, will overtake you. What Elohim
said He would do, He does. Then, it will be too late to change your mind! Turn
away from Elohim and you will have to suffer the
consequences, the consequences, which
Tragically, many have to go through much pain
before they will cry out unto Elohim. Many learn the
hard way and ask Elohim’s help when caught up
in a disaster. It is during those moments they will seek Elohim
and often repent during times of pain. However, one should believe and repent
without a disaster in their lives. That was precisely what Zecharyah was
saying to the people.
Elohim ... Do it NOW, while things are good
... Get back with
Elohim before you lose your life ...
Don’t be like your fathers!” Paraphrased.
This is a true
story that occurred many years ago in
This wonderful Rebbe who so dearly loved the Elohim of his fathers on this one Shabbas after the reading of the Torah and the Prophets he was about to deliver his Sabbath study, but as he stood close to the Aron Kodesh (the Ark of the Covenant) he seemed to be pondering on the message that he was about to give. Somehow the congregation noticed that he seemed to be perplexed and he remained quiet for what seemed such a considerable time, although it was only several minutes.
After what seemed to be a lengthy silence and with such sadness in his eyes, he commenced to speak, and then with a tear in his eyes he said. And I will just write it in simple English, rather than in Yiddish, which he spoke of course.
“Family and friends, today I will be giving you my shortest,
but the most important message I have ever given. ‘And it is this, but I
ask you that you listen very carefully and take heed, (and then he spoke more
loudly) Repent one day before you die!’”
Throughout the entire Synagogue there seemed to be a deadly silence and it seemed just to go on and on forever and some even began to look at one another wondering what to do?
But then after a spell, suddenly somewhere from out of the silence, one of the young students stood up and he spoke and asked;
“But Rabbi, how will we know when we are going to die?”
“Therefore my son repent NOW, repent this very moment, for
no-one knows when they are going to die. It could be today, it could be
tomorrow. Be ready for HaShem ( (Y-H-V-H) therefore my son and
all at this congregation, Repent Now!”
Elohim, blessed be His
Sanctified Name, and sharing that LOVE with your loved ones, neighbours,
friends strangers and workmates!
When we are obedient unto Him, you will have the
assurance, that through His grace and love our spiritual lives will be in
order! And Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, will speak
to your heart, and I pray that as
you have been reading this study, you may take an opportunity to set some
things right with individuals and especially with Elohim, blessed be He! Do it now!
For those who have a yearning to learn more about the Torah and grow in being a good and faithful Jew, there are many valuable studies on Hebraic Studies enter the index below. If you have any questions you are welcome to email me.
Elohim, blessed be His
Sanctified Name, is the one who gave us our Life!”
Rabbi
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