God rescues his people

Read Zechariah 9:11-17

Chapter 9 has been interesting because it seems to jump from theme to theme. With the brief oasis in our last reading that spoke about the king riding on a donkey, we now seem to be back to the promise of the coming kingdom and how God will make things right for his people.

While there are a lot of rich images in this reading, verse 16a was the verse that spoke to me the most today. It reads, “On that day the Lord their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep.” Of course, I couldn’t help but see Jesus as that shepherd and remember the story he told about the lost sheep.

Read Joel 2:18-27

What divine intervention! If Joel’s earlier words led his audience to believe they would be the laughingstock for belonging to the one true God, this passage lessens the distress. Can we assume that the people did repent and pray and this is God’s response?

Have you ever feared or experienced mockery for your faith? How did that make you feel? Did you realize God was there all the time?