After returning his people from 70 years of exile in Babylon, God addresses his people through the prophet Zechariah. Though they were back in the promised land, his message is a clear call to come back: ‘Return to me’, declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you’ (Zech 1:3). They were a people ‘physically present – but spiritually absent’.
Even today, the call to us is not merely to be content with the physical blessings God gives – but to wholeheartedly return to God. The seriousness of the demand is seen in how Judah’s forefathers were judged. The comfort of the call is in God’s promise to those far off: ‘I will return to you’.
