HOCF SERMON 2023

Zechariah 7: The Consequences Of Injustice

Edit with the Docs app

Make tweaks, leave comments, and share with others to edit at the same time.

NO THANKSUSE THE APP

Zechariah 7:8-14 The Consequence of Injustice

Zechariah 7:8-14

8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.

13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. 14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

8 Nagsiling liwat ang Ginoo kay Zacarias, 9 “Amo ini ang akon ginsiling sa akon katawhan: ‘Maghukom kamo sing husto. Ipakita ninyo ang kaayo kag kaluoy sa isa kag isa. 10 Indi ninyo pagpigusa ang mga balo nga babayi, mga ilo, mga imol, kag ang mga indi Israelinhon nga nagaestar upod sa inyo. Indi kamo maghunahuna sing malain kontra sa isa kag isa.’

11 “Pero wala gid sila magsapak sa akon ginsiling. Ginsikway nila ini kag wala nila ginpamatian. 12 Ginpatig-a nila ang ila mga tagipusuon pareho sang bato, kag wala sila magpamati sa Kasuguan kag sa mga pulong nga ginpasugid sang akon Espiritu sa mga propeta sadto. Gani ako, ang Ginoo nga Makagagahom, akig gid katama. 13 Kag tungod nga wala sila magpamati sang akon ginsiling, indi man ako magpamati kon magpanawag sila sa akon. 14 Daw pareho ako sa buhawi nga nagpalapta sa ila sa iban nga mga lugar nga wala pa nila makadtui. Ginbayaan nila ang ila maayo nga duta nga indi na mapuslan kag indi na maestaran.”

SERMON:

Good evening Church!  Tonight we are on chapter 7 of the Book of the Prophet Zechariah.  The passage that has been given to us focuses or highlights on the administering true justice. Hustisya.

If we read the whole chapter, the Word tells about the time when the people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, to inquire of the Lord if they had to mourn and fast on the fifth month as this is their tradition.

However, God replied that through the prophet Zechariah that more than the tradition of holding a fast, or abstinence from food, God desires that the people would rather give mercy and show mercy and  administer justice.  More than the abstinence from food, God would rather have the people doing the right thing.

God is calling the people to show love and mercy towards each other, to show compassion, He is a merciful, loving and compassionate God.  and as His people we are also called to do the same.  

God says not to oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor nor plot evil against each other.’And the reason why is revealed further in the text that injustice arouses the anger of God.  Injustice makes God angry.  

God hates injustice. This is because the God that we serve is Just and Righteous God. God rules and reigns with justice. In fact  Psalm 89:14 says:

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

    love and faithfulness go before you.

Ang katarungan ug ang hustisya ang pundasyon sa trono sa Ginuo. In the Scriptures, there are specific texts that God especially hates people who gain by unjust means(Deuteronomy 25:13-16)., he also hates  perverted justice which makes innocent people guilty and acquits the guilty(Proverbs 17:15)., and the murder of the innocent(Proverbs 6:17).