Sunday Scripture

 

Again this Sunday, I'm sharing from the Made for Community reading plan from Love God Greatly that I worked on back in 2015.  With this study, as I have often done, I used the SOAP method of Bible study.  Just a quick reminder that the S is for Scripture, O is for Observation, A is for Application and P is for Prayer.  The sixth section is Living in Community in Our Spheres of Influence.  So here we go with the Scripture for the third day of that section.

S= "Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion, every man to his brother.  And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart."  (Zechariah 7:9-10)

O=  Here in these verses God is instructing Zechariah how to answer some who were questioning why their prayers had gone unanswered for 70 years.  They had been fasting on the anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem for over seventy years and were questioning if they should continue to do so.

 God explains why His judgment had come upon the nation.  He had spoken to them the instruction detailed in these verses.  And verse 11 tells how they responded:

"But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear."  What a graphic description of not listening!

The remaining verses in the chapter (verses 12-14) show the results of their disobedience: a great wrath from the LORD of hosts; unheard prayers (God actually told them "I will not hear");  scattering of the people among all the nations; desolation of the once-pleasant land.

So the event they were inquiring about was a direct result of their own sinfulness and disobedience.

It would seem that verses 9-10 are still God's Word to us today in our relationships.  There are things we are to do, and things we are not to do.  As we compare Scripture with Scripture, we see that this is so.

WE ARE:
* to execute true judgment:
* to show mercy;
* to show compassion.

WE ARE NOT:
* to oppress widows, the fatherless, sojourners, or the poor;
* to imagine evil against others in our hearts.

But most importantly of all, we are to pay attention to God's Word with a heart to obey it.  

A=  So in my relationships with others, I'm to be showing mercy and compassion and judging righteously.  It sounds so simple, but showing mercy and compassion do not come naturally to anyone.  In fact, I have identified one of my own ongoing sin issues as being a lack of compassion.  As I read these verses,  I couldn't quite see at first how the part about not oppressing widows, etc. applied to me.  Then I thought of James 1:27 and how we are instructed to "visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" and how Isaiah 1:17 says we are to "relieve the oppressed".

So certainly we are to reach out and help widows, fatherless, sojourners, and the poor, whether with hands-on support, financial or material help, or by prayers.  All of this would be the opposite of oppression and would contribute to the relief of the oppressed.

 Imagining evil against others in our hearts, it seems to me, equates to suspecting others unjustly, or jumping to conclusions (and reaching a wrong conclusion) concerning their words, actions and motives.

But if we expect God to hear and answer our prayers, we need to be obeying His Word.  "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear me."  (Psalm 66:18)

P= "Lord, I thank You once again for Your Word.  Even here, in this prophetic book of Zechariah, you have instruction for our lives today.  I pray that You will help me to judge situations carefully and rightly -- for You do call us to 'judge righteous judgment' (John 7:24).  Help me in my relationships to show mercy, to show compassion, to do all that I can to help meet the needs of the oppressed.  Help me with what may be the most difficult instruction here -- not to imagine evil against others in my heart.  Help me to remember that if I harbor iniquity in my heart, You will not hear me.  Help me to please You in my relationships.  I pray in Jesus' name, Amen."

And there is our simple study for this week!