OUR FATHER WHOSE WORD WAS REJECTED BY THOSE TO WHOM HE WAS SENT

Zachariah chapter 7 verses 8 - 14 says this;

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Execute true justice,

Show mercy and compassion

Everyone to his brother.

10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor.

Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’

11 “But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. 14 “But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

This passage, continuing on from the previous text describing the Branch who would be sent from heaven,  gives a command from the Lord that required mercy and compassion as the true justice. Widows and orphans were not to be oppressed and evil schemes should not plotted in the hearts of men.

The Lord Jesus, who was telling the pharisees to show mercy rather than slavishly execute legal injunctions, was met by stopped ears and He was not heeded.

After Israel rejected the Branch, they were scattered by the whirlwind into many nations they did not know and the once pleasant  land was left desolate.

Have mercy O Lord.

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