In the first and second years of King Darius (Zechariah 1:1), many of the people of Judah made their way home from the Exile in Babylon. Things were pretty rough. As we saw yesterday (Ezra 5:1-2), the prophets Haggai and Zechariah offered words of encouragement and prophecy to the people. Zechariah also issued a call in the name of the Lord to the children of Israel who had not yet returned from Babylon to Jerusalem – perhaps because they had gotten used to life in Babylon, or perhaps because they were afraid of the rigors of the long trip home: “I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord. Up, escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon” (Zechariah 2:6).

We might think of it as “The Great All-ye All-ye in Come Free” for those who had spent their lives in the Babylonian Captivity: after all the long years in exile, it’s time to get going, straight outta Babylon. Come on home! Surprisingly, the welcome includes more than just the people of Israel: it reaches out to the gentiles as well: “Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst” (2:11). This will be a time of great celebration: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst” (2:10).

Zechariah gives us a helpful description of two ways of knowing. There are some days when we have nothing to go on except for a promise stated long ago. We feel our doubts and anxieties, but at some level we know that God is the one who has called us, and so we know that somehow it will come to fulfillment.

Yet we feel that knowledge in a different way when we have waited long and finally see the fulfillment being established before us. Thus the day will come when “the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem” (2:12); and when that happens, “you shall know” (2:11) the truth of Zechariah’s message in a more experiential way. Similarly, when Zerubbabel completes the work on the temple, “then you will know” (4:9) by personal experience the truth that now you need to take on faith.

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We trust in you, O Lord: in the dark days, in the days when we feel like we are in Exile, far from home, we trust in you. Grant us the courage to step out, when you call us to march on our way back to Zion. May we have confidence that you will lead us home; we will give you great thanks when we get there.

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