DOES GOD WHISTLE WHILE HE WORKS?:
(Zeck 10:6-12)
(Zeck 10:6-12)
Dr. Paul Manuel—2015
When you are engaged in a particularly tedious or repetitious activity, how do you pass the time?
There is a song various characters sing in the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, entitled, “Whistle While You Work.” The point of this little ditty is that whistling is a light-hearted, entertaining activity often used to distract one from an otherwise labor-intensive or dreary activity. The Bible refers to God’s working, especially at creation,1 but without any mention of His whistling in the process. Nevertheless, there are three passages that do refer to God’s whistling. Isaiah mentions it twice, both times during His judgment of Israel, not a lighthearted activity:
Some of what God does is labor-intensive, not for Him of course, but it would be for us (if it were even possible for us). Still, why might He whistle? He does not need to entertain Himself during or distract Himself from any activity we might think is tedious. So, is the Disney song in any sense true of Him: Does God Whistle While He Works?2
Zechariah addresses the post-exilic community during the reign of Darius. The prophet is especially concerned for Jews who returned to the land and wondered if their struggling experience in rebuilding the Jewish community there was all God intended. The resettlement and temple reconstruction projects have both made progress, and peoples’ attention is turning to the future: What more does God have in store for them?3 In chapter ten the prophet describes some of what lies ahead, not in the near term but in the distant future, when God will whistle again, not in retribution but in redemption.
As Zechariah is prophesying, the Persian Empire is dominant, after which will come the Greek Empire, then the Roman Empire. While the last of these political entities will witness the messiah’s first advent, none of them will see the messiah’s second advent and the restoration Zechariah predicts. Even reestablishing the State of Israel in 1948 did not fulfill it. This event awaits the Messianic Age when Jesus
will “restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6).7
In these six verses, Zechariah lists several statements about …
Most of the things Zechariah lists God did for His people at some point in the past, but He will do them all together as part of their restoration in the future.9 It is “a multiplicity of divine activities…to show how richly God can bless His own, and how divine grace can erase the effects of man’s stubborn persistence to sin” (Leupold 1971:196).10 …The Lord says here…
In the last days, it is what God will accomplish, and it will again entail great power, which He will impart to His messiah:12
In the last days, it is what God will do again, when the messiah comes to deliver His people from their enemies:13 “Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.” (Jer 33:16a) …Moreover, the Lord says here…
In the last days, it is what the prophet Micah says God will do after the messiah establishes the kingdom: “…the mountain of the LORD’S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it…. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore…. In that day…I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief…. As for you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.” (Mic 4:1, 3b, 6, 8)15 …Moreover, the Lord says here…
In the last days, it is what God will do through an angel in advance of the messiah’s advent: “He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matt 24:31)21 …Moreover, the Lord says here…
Nevertheless, it is what Nehemiah says God will do when He restores His people to the land: “Even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.” (Neh 1:9) (See also “summon” above.) …Moreover, the Lord says here…
It is what Isaiah envisions for God’s people in the Messianic Age:25 “They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD.” (62:12a) (See “summon” above.) …Moreover, the Lord says here…
Despite the fact that God subsequently scattered them (v. 9),26 it is what He will do again in the future, in the final restoration: “I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.” (Ezek 34:13a)27 (See also “gather” above.)
Each of these events in the past demonstrated God’s ability to do great things for His people. This passage in Zechariah says that in the future God will do all these things for them at one time, during the Messianic Age when Jesus will reign.28
These prophecies indicate that God is not finished with His people Israel but has more, much more in store for them. He also has more in store for us. Saving us is not all He will do. We will also participate with Israel during the Messianic Age. We will…reign with [Jesus]” (2 Tim 2:12a) “on the earth” (Rev 5:10b), probably in Jerusalem.29
Are you ready? …Jesus puts great stock in his followers’ maintaining their allegiance to him and their perseverance for him. He said:
Although many years have passed since Zechariah ministered, God’s intentions for Israel have not changed. The Lord will yet bring these things to pass. So, Does God Whistle While He Works? …He will. “May that glad day be hastened for distressed Israel, distressed of men but beloved of God” (Feinberg 1965:153).
Fred, a trucker, was often caught in commuter rush-hour traffic. One morning when everything came to a standstill, he sat high up in his 18-wheeler singing and whistling. The driver of a nearby car, frustrated by the delay, yelled up at him, “What are you so happy about?” Cheerfully, Fred replied… “I’m already at work!”Do you ever whistle while you work?
There is a song various characters sing in the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, entitled, “Whistle While You Work.” The point of this little ditty is that whistling is a light-hearted, entertaining activity often used to distract one from an otherwise labor-intensive or dreary activity. The Bible refers to God’s working, especially at creation,1 but without any mention of His whistling in the process. Nevertheless, there are three passages that do refer to God’s whistling. Isaiah mentions it twice, both times during His judgment of Israel, not a lighthearted activity:
Isa 5:25a …the LORD’S anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down…. 26a He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Isa 7:17 The LORD will bring on you…the king of Assyria. 18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.Zechariah mentions God’s whistling once yet in a very different situation, which we will consider today, not during retribution but during redemption, the redemption of Israel.
Some of what God does is labor-intensive, not for Him of course, but it would be for us (if it were even possible for us). Still, why might He whistle? He does not need to entertain Himself during or distract Himself from any activity we might think is tedious. So, is the Disney song in any sense true of Him: Does God Whistle While He Works?2
Zechariah addresses the post-exilic community during the reign of Darius. The prophet is especially concerned for Jews who returned to the land and wondered if their struggling experience in rebuilding the Jewish community there was all God intended. The resettlement and temple reconstruction projects have both made progress, and peoples’ attention is turning to the future: What more does God have in store for them?3 In chapter ten the prophet describes some of what lies ahead, not in the near term but in the distant future, when God will whistle again, not in retribution but in redemption.
Zech 10:6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them. 7 The Ephraimites will become like mighty men, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD. 8 I will [whistle] for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before. 9 Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return. 10 I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria.4 I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them. 11 They will pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued and all the depths of the Nile will dry up. Assyria’s pride will be brought down and Egypt’s scepter will pass away. 12 I will strengthen them in the LORD5 and in his name they will walk,” declares the LORD.In this passage, whistling is a signal for Jews to return home.6 When will this particular summons take place?
As Zechariah is prophesying, the Persian Empire is dominant, after which will come the Greek Empire, then the Roman Empire. While the last of these political entities will witness the messiah’s first advent, none of them will see the messiah’s second advent and the restoration Zechariah predicts. Even reestablishing the State of Israel in 1948 did not fulfill it. This event awaits the Messianic Age when Jesus
will “restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6).7
In these six verses, Zechariah lists several statements about …
- What God says He will do for His people…
Most of the things Zechariah lists God did for His people at some point in the past, but He will do them all together as part of their restoration in the future.9 It is “a multiplicity of divine activities…to show how richly God can bless His own, and how divine grace can erase the effects of man’s stubborn persistence to sin” (Leupold 1971:196).10 …The Lord says here…
A. I will strengthen them (inclusio vv. 6, 12).11This is what Hannah declared in the Magnificat, her prayer before Samuel’s birth: “The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (1 Sam 2:10d)
In the last days, it is what God will accomplish, and it will again entail great power, which He will impart to His messiah:12
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. (Matt 24:30)Only a remnant returned from exile in Babylon, but Zechariah says that in the end the “entire people of God shall share in the strength God will impart” (Leupold 1971:196), both “the house of Judah [the southern kingdom] and…the house of Joseph [the northern kingdom].” …Moreover, the Lord says here…
B. I will save them (v. 6).It is what God did when He brought His people safely through the Red Sea: “That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.” (Exod 14:30)
In the last days, it is what God will do again, when the messiah comes to deliver His people from their enemies:13 “Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.” (Jer 33:16a) …Moreover, the Lord says here…
C. I will restore them (v. 6).14It is what God did when leprous Naaman followed the prophet’s instruction: “He went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored….” (2 Kgs 5:14)
In the last days, it is what the prophet Micah says God will do after the messiah establishes the kingdom: “…the mountain of the LORD’S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it…. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore…. In that day…I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief…. As for you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.” (Mic 4:1, 3b, 6, 8)15 …Moreover, the Lord says here…
D. I will answer them (v. 6).16It is what Jeremiah and Isaiah confirm is God’s (immediate) response to prayer: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jer 33:3) In fact, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (Isa 65:24)17 God’s attentiveness to the pleas of His people will not diminish with time. In fact, the assertion here is not limited to any period, past or future. God has always and will always answer the pleas of His people.18 …Moreover, the Lord says here…
E. I will summon [whistle for] them (v. 8).19It is what God did when He called the exiles back to the land: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name.” (Isa 43:1)20
In the last days, it is what God will do through an angel in advance of the messiah’s advent: “He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matt 24:31)21 …Moreover, the Lord says here…
F. I will gather them (vv. 8, 10).22It is what God told Moses to do for Aaron’s commissioning: “…gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” (Lev 8:3) Such national rallies were easier before the dispersion, after which they ceased altogether.
Nevertheless, it is what Nehemiah says God will do when He restores His people to the land: “Even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.” (Neh 1:9) (See also “summon” above.) …Moreover, the Lord says here…
G. I will redeem them (v. 8).23It is what God said He would do for the Israelites enslaved by the Egyptians: “I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.” (Exod 6:6b)24 It is what God did by bringing His people back from exile in Babylon: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (Isa 43:1b)
It is what Isaiah envisions for God’s people in the Messianic Age:25 “They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD.” (62:12a) (See “summon” above.) …Moreover, the Lord says here…
H. I will bring them (v. 10).It is what God told Moses He would do by leading His people from Egypt to the Promised Land: “I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt…. I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham….” (Exod 3:10b; 6:8a) It is also what God told Jeremiah He would do for the exiles: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.” (Jer 29:10)
Despite the fact that God subsequently scattered them (v. 9),26 it is what He will do again in the future, in the final restoration: “I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.” (Ezek 34:13a)27 (See also “gather” above.)
Each of these events in the past demonstrated God’s ability to do great things for His people. This passage in Zechariah says that in the future God will do all these things for them at one time, during the Messianic Age when Jesus will reign.28
These prophecies indicate that God is not finished with His people Israel but has more, much more in store for them. He also has more in store for us. Saving us is not all He will do. We will also participate with Israel during the Messianic Age. We will…reign with [Jesus]” (2 Tim 2:12a) “on the earth” (Rev 5:10b), probably in Jerusalem.29
Are you ready? …Jesus puts great stock in his followers’ maintaining their allegiance to him and their perseverance for him. He said:
Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (Matt 10:32-33)…and…
He who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matt 10:22b; 24:13)So, are you keeping up with your spiritual commitment, or are you giving up on it? Is your devotion to God characterized by dedication or by vacillation (by tenacity or by temerity)?
Although many years have passed since Zechariah ministered, God’s intentions for Israel have not changed. The Lord will yet bring these things to pass. So, Does God Whistle While He Works? …He will. “May that glad day be hastened for distressed Israel, distressed of men but beloved of God” (Feinberg 1965:153).
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs