Confused Along with the Prophets

  • May 22, 2024
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: Zechariah 4.5
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.

Reflection: Confused Along with the Prophets
By Erin Newton

Zechariah is one of the more difficult texts of the Old Testament. Like the prophet, I read these passages and think, “I have no idea what he’s talking about.” Thankfully, Zechariah was equally confused.

The setting for Zechariah is after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Solomon’s Temple was a pile of rubble (perhaps even the mountain mentioned in verse 7). Zechariah’s visions were of hope and restoration in the midst of suffering and doubt.

The imagery is somewhat mysterious—golden lampstands with branches and channels. The lampstand is representative of God, whose eyes are on the work of the people.

A message was also given to Zerubbabel. These additional statements interrupt Zechariah’s vision and the conversation he was having with the angel. Despite the erratic conversation bouncing from one topic to the next, the interruptions add to the overall message. There are answers within the chaos. Zerubbabel will finish the temple. The work of restoration that seems insurmountable will indeed find completion.

I tried to look through various commentaries, hoping to find scholars far more skilled and familiar with Zechariah to help explain exactly what these images mean. You know what? Everyone is a little bit perplexed. Part of me gets frustrated when I read passages that make me scratch my head. Looking for clarity here, I find whole crowds of biblically trained headscratchers.

Nevertheless, this head-scratching scene is one of hope—and the hope part of the vision is clear. The temple will be completed. God is present. God is watching over them. The presence of God with his people in this restored temple is prophesied as a certain future.  

Isn’t this the beauty of Scripture sometimes? The vision that is vague in some places and clear in others coincides with the complexity and confusion of our lives.

Zechariah looks out on the piles of stones that once formed the magnificent temple. Zerubbabel was stirred by the Holy Spirit to work on rebuilding the temple (Haggai 1.14), but the work is fraught with difficulties. Zechariah declares, however, it is by God’s power that the work gets done.

In a strange way, I am thankful for these complicated and confusing passages. The vision of our future is always filled with questions. What we see as a mess, God sees as a future of hope. What we fear is up to us, God knows he can empower.


Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. Amen. 

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Zechariah 4 (Listen 1:53)
Luke 13 (Listen 5:02)

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We Need a Little Christmas :: Joy of Advent

  • December 17, 2018
  • /
  • John Tillman

John 7.37-38
Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Reflection: We Need a Little Christmas :: Joy of Advent
By John Tillman

The musical, Mame, is a classic of American theater and film. The show’s most enduring mark on our culture is probably the song “We Need a Little Christmas.”

In the show, Mame has the notion to put up the Christmas decorations early in order to lift everyone’s mood. In the original broadway cast recording her nephew can be heard objecting, “But Auntie Mame, it’s one week past Thanksgiving Day now!”

That’s right. Putting up the Christmas decorations one week past Thanksgiving was once something only an exaggerated, eccentric, bon-vivant, party girl, like crazy Auntie Mame would think of. How times have changed.

In 2018, the media has been incessantly telling us that “scientists” say putting up decorations early makes us happier and more content. All this journalistic (and consumeristic) gold has been spun out of one study that found that people were seen as more sociable if they decorated for Christmas early, and one psychologist’s statement that early decorating brought feelings of “happiness.”

As we begin this week of Advent that focuses on joy, it is helpful to distinguish joy from the happiness, whether scientifically verified or not, that is derived from putting up decor.

There’s nothing wrong with a temporary mood-booster, as long as you tell the truth about what it is—temporary and emotional. Go ahead. Decorate in October if you just can’t stand not to. Mame would be proud.

But the joy of Christ is no mood-booster—it is a life changer. And it is always accessible to us no matter what season of life we are in or what decorations are hanging on our walls.

We do need a little Christmas joy.
Joy is not dependant on a season of peace and goodwill.
Joy thrives under persecution and suffering.

Joy does not rely on tinsel, lights, and delightful surroundings.
Joy shines brightest when surrounded by hopelessness and fear.

Joy does not require us to dress the part, or deck the halls, or trim the tree.
Joy comes to criminals naked on a cross, hung like gruesome decorations on a tree of suffering.

Jesus brought joy to us not by avoiding suffering, but by seeing past it and willingly walking through it for us. We will find joy when we follow him.

What are we waiting for?
When we walk with Christ, there is joy before suffering, joy in the midst of it, and joy on the other side of it.

Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
On this day the Lord has acted, we will rejoice and be glad in it  — Psalm 118:24

– Prayer from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Prayers from The Divine Hours available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Zechariah 4 (Listen – 1:53)
John 7 (Listen – 5:53)

Additional Reading
Read More about Finding Joy :: Readers’ Choice
If you get hung up on pleasure you’re doomed. If you pursue joy, you’ll find everlasting happiness. — George Lucas.

Read More about Love in His Name :: Love of Advent
In that Name there is hope and joy and rest
In his Name we are blest.

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