Zechariah 1:4 Commentary and Bible Study

It is spelled out to them, however offensive the message: ‘Your whole tradition, your fathers, everything has been offensive to me’, says God.Verse 5 is intriguing. ‘Your fathers, where are they?’ and the answer is they have died in Babylon, in the Babylonian Empire. They have died as slaves or as a subdued people; they have died in failure. They have died as expelled people from the land of promise and the city of God. The evidence of failure is written all over them. ‘And the prophets.’ Why are the prophets mentioned here? Very likely it is said in anticipation of the Jews answering back: ‘Yes, we know our fathers have died, but so have the prophets.’ ‘And the prophets: do they live for ever?’ Although they were mortal human beings, who have passed from the scene, the message that came through them was from God and has certainly come to pass, even though they were not there to witness it. Israel was judged, and the warnings given by the prophets did not fail. God’s words, his promises and threats, have survived.