Observation: The prophet Zechariah promises a divine warrior figure will one day establish peace by conquering the invading Greek armies. The image of "waging war for the sake of peace" is all too familiar from human history, and even though this warrior comes from God, it's hard to accept a violent message as entirely good news.
Then, beginning a new section, the prophet urges listeners to ask The Lord, rather than any household gods, for rain.
Application: Whew. I'm always tempted to skip over violent texts like this, but I think it's important to stick here a minute and remind myself: Not every Bible text, on any given day of the week, will inspire and motivate you, just because it's the Bible. It's okay to be confused, or even disgusted, by some passages that really don't match up with our ethics and values today. It doesn't make you a ''bad Christian" to read a Bible text and say, "Boy, that really doesn't sound like something Jesus would say/do." Actually (and forgive me for stating the obvious) lifting up the life of Jesus as your standard is actually what makes you a Christian.
Which is to say, I didn't get much from today's text. I know the Holy Spirit inspired it for some reason, and it may have produced faith, hope and love in other believers at other times. That's good for them. I appreciate the part about relying on God for rain, because we've had the first bit of summer rain over the last three days or so in quite some time, and the earth is grateful. That's what I've got today. And Jesus is still Lord.
Prayer: God, thanks for the gift of scripture to inspire faith in your son Jesus. Help us to believe in and follow him above all else.
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