Zechariah 1:2

"Jehovah was sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore, say thou unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Return unto me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts."

The appropriateness of this call to repentance was stressed by Matthew Henry thus:

"Before he published the promises of mercy, he published calls to repentance, for thus the way of the Lord must be prepared. Law must first be preached, then the gospel. He preached what was plain and practical, for it is best to begin with that."[4]

Robinson called these verses "the keynote of the entire book, and one of the strongest and most intensely spiritual calls to repentance to be found anywhere in the Old Testament."[5]

Some have professed surprise that Zechariah called for repentance from the same group of people that Haggai, only two months previously, had assured by the promise of the Lord that, "I am with you" (Haggai 1:13). But, as Leupold observed:

"Every repentance is imperfect at best. A godly life, in a sense, consists of perfecting repentance. Thus what Zechariah claimed was also true. Israel needed to return with more sincere devotion if God's promises for the future were to become a reality."[6]

Jehovah was sore displeased with your fathers ..." This is an instance of the American Standard Version being no improvement upon the old version (Douay Version) which has, "The Lord hath been exceeding angry with your fathers." Some theologians are very tender about ascribing anger to the God of heaven; but the scriptures of both testaments bluntly proclaim it. As Ellis pointed out, "The anger of the Almighty is not as inconsistent with the New Testament as some suppose."[7] See Romans 1:18-32; 2:4; and Ephesians 2:3. "The word employed here describes a consistent element in God's nature as contrasted with a momentary or temporary indignation."[8]

Saith Jehovah of hosts ..." The solemn, holy name of Almighty God is joined to this admonition in Zechariah 1:3, no less than three times, indicating the extremely sacred authority behind Zechariah's message.