God Motivates Us - Zechariah 1-7

Zechariah 1:17 (ESV Strong's)
Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’”

God is the Great Motivator

Zachariah was sent to the nation of Israel, like Haggai, to motivate the returning remnant to build the Temple.  Both prophets were motivational speakers.   God spoke through them to motive the remnant, because they were discouraged and had given up on the work.   God uses a series of motivational techniques to appeal to the nation.   He is, in essence, changing their mindset about how they think of Him, how they think of the work and how they think of themselves.  Motivation is inward. It is not outward.  Motivation is a state of mind.  Notice how God uses different beliefs to change the mindset of the remnant to get them to be motivated into action.

1.  He motivates them by a promise of prosperity:

Zechariah 1:17 (ESV Strong's)
Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’”

2.  He motivates them by a promise of death and judgment tot heir enemies:

Zechariah 1:21 (ESV Strong's)
And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

3. He motivates them by reminding them He is their father wand will care for them always:

Zechariah 2:8 (ESV Strong's)
For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye:

4.  He motivates them by reminding them they have access to Him:

Zechariah 3:7 (ESV Strong's)
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.

5. He motivates them by reminding them that they have the Power of God at their disposal:

Zechariah 4:6 (ESV Strong's)
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

6.  He motivates them by reminding them that He will ultimately judge the sin of this world:

Zechariah 5:3 (ESV Strong's)
Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side.

7. He motivates by a desire for personal holiness and a desire to destroy sin.  The “basket” in this verse contained the woman “Wicked.”   God will remove “wickedness” from us.

Zechariah 5:10-11 (ESV Strong's)
Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

8.  He motives them by telling them that He is going to patrol the earth and destroy all sin via His judgment:

Zechariah 6:6 (ESV Strong's)
The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.”

God uses many type of motivation.  Zachariah was sent to motivate the nation of Israel with these messages.   He is motivating us with the same motivations.