Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 8:1

Again the word of the LORD of hosts came [to me], saying,

Chap. Zec 8:1-17. The Answer. Third Section

1. Again ] Rather, And. See Zec 7:8, note.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Dionysius: After the Lord had, in the preceding chapter, manifoldly rebuked the Jewish people, He now comforts it with renewed promises, as a good physician, who after a bitter draught employs sweet and soothing remedies; as that most loving Samaritan poured in wine and oil. The chapter falls into two portions, each marked by the words, The Word of the Lord of hosts came or came unto me, the first Zech. 8:1-17 declaring the reversal of the former judgments, and the complete, though conditional, restoration of Gods favor; the 2nd Zec 8:18-23 containing the answer to the original question as to those fasts, in the declaration of the joy and the spread of the Gospel. The first portion has, again, a sevenfold, the second, a threefold subordinate division; marked by the beginning, Thus saith the Lord of hosts.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Zec 8:1-6

I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem

The blessed community of men yet to appear on the earth

I.

Here is a community specially interesting to the great God. Again the Word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. The rendering of Dr. Henderson is worth citation: And the word of Jehovah was communicated to me, saying: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have been jealous for Zion with great zeal, yea, with great indignation have I been jealous for her. Jerusalem was a city on which God had chosen to put His name; there was His temple, the ark, the mercy seat, and the memorials of His power and goodness in the history of Israel. This city had been destroyed by the Babylonian invaders. Instead of losing interest in His persecuted people, His feelings were intense concerning them. The Eternal is interested in all the works of His hand, interested in men even in their state of infidelity and, rebellion; but specially interested in those whom He regards as His people. Unto that man will I look who is of a broken and contrite spirit, and who trembleth at My Word.

II. Here is a community in which the Almighty specially resides. Thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was in a very particular sense the dwelling place of God (Exo 29:45; Lev 22:12). There are two senses in which the Almighty dwells with good men.

1. By His sympathy. The loving mother dwells with her loved child; yes, though separated by continents and, seas. Jehovahs sympathies are with His children.

2. By His presence. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

III. Here is a community distinguished by reality and elevation.

1. Reality. And Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth. What is moral reality? A practical correspondence of the sympathies and life with eternal facts. All whose thoughts, affections, and conduct are not in accord with the immutable moral laws of God, live in fiction, walk in a vain show; and in this state, most if not all communities are found. Alas! The city of truth is not yet established, it is in a distant future. It is distinguished by–

2. Elevation. And the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Where are the communities of men now found in a moral sense? Down in the hazy, boggy, impure valleys of carnalities and falsehoods. But this community is up on the holy mountain, it is in a place of high moral exaltation.

IV. Here is a community in which the very aged and the young live in social enjoyment. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. Beautiful city this! The children not filthy, half-starved, diseased Arabs in crowded alleys, but bright creations gambolling in the sunny streets.

V. Here is a community whose establishment, though incredible to man, is certain to God. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of the people in these days, should it also be marvellous in Mine eyes? As if the Almighty had said, The creation of such a social state amongst you may appear an impossibility; but it is not so to Me. (Homilist.)

Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth–

The Church the city of truth

This declaration originally referred to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the reestablishment of true religion among the Jews after the Babylonish captivity. It had, however, a more particular and ultimate reference to the final conversion and restoration of Israel and Judah, when the glory of the latter days should arrive.

I. The characteristics by which the Church of Christ, or His genuine disciples, are distinguished, as here denominated, the city of truth.

1. It may be called this, because it is founded on Christ, who is Himself the truth (Eph 2:19-20).

2. Because in it, and by them, the truth is believed. Faith, in opposition to unbelief, is that which chiefly distinguishes the spiritual citizens of Zion, from the children of the world and sin. The children of Zion dwell in the city of truth. Truth is the object of their faith–the truth revealed by God for the salvation of sinners.

3. Because the truth is obeyed in it. Were true Christians distinguished from other men merely by their speculative opinions, it would be of little importance, comparatively, whether they believed the truth as it is in Jesus, or not. But Christians are characterised by the obedience of faith. Through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, their hearts and consciences are made to bend to the authority of the Divine law, which is holy and just and good. They are gradually purified more and more through obeying the truth.

II. The qualities of its worship, as entitling it to the appellation of the holy mountain, or the mountain of holiness. It was on Mount Moriah that the temple stood, so this mountain of the Lord may figuratively signify the worship of God as established there. With the most emphatic propriety, the worship of the Christian Church may be designated the mountain of the Lord of hosts, and the Holy Mountain, on account–

1. Of its exalted nature. In this respect it rises above every other kind of service, as the lofty mountain above the lowly plain. For, in worshipping God as the God of salvation, all the most elevated and noble faculties of the soul are brought into action, and made to bear on the sublimest and most perfect objects.

2. On account of its holy character. It is the service of God, and therefore must partake of qualities which correspond to His nature, which is the perfection of holiness. Likeness to Gods image, to a certain extent, is indeed essential to the enjoyment of fellowship with Him.

3. On account of its purifying influence. Assimilation of character is one of the commonest and most natural effects of friendship. What a purifying effect, therefore, should not the exercise of Christian worship have on the character of the citizens of Zion. Christian devotion is the pure bulwark of Christian virtue.

III. The characters of Christians as the city of truth, and of their worship as the holy mountain, must be ascribed to the effect of the Divine presence in the midst of them. While Israel was captive the city of Jerusalem was inhabited by the profane and idolatrous. The people returned with a better spirit, and the service of the temple was restored when its walls were rebuilt. The heart of man had become the seat of profaneness and sin. The spiritual descent of the God of grace and of mercy into the hearts of sinners has changed this scene, has emancipated the slaves of sin from their galling thraldom. The character of true Christians is the glorious work of Jehovah, the effect of His return to their hearts, Nor is it less true that the holiness of their worship is owing to His presence. It is the realised presence of His majesty that makes it solemn, and the actual manifestation and experience of His grace that renders it pure. (D. Dickson, D. D.)

A city of truth

No other city bears that name: the lie would be too great even for modern speculators. There must always surely be some lie that men cannot tell. By the City of Truth understand the home of truth, the address of truth; every citizen has an address, that is, a place where his friends may find him, where his letters may reach him. Jerusalem is to be called the City of Truth: every man is a truth speaker, because every man is a truth lover. A lie could not live in this Jerusalem which the prophet has painted; the lie would be no use. Put a very bad man into the company of very good men, and the man is unhappy; he does not understand the language, he feels that he is a long way from home; he would be glad if the door would open and he could find a way of escape; he says, This is not my native air; I do not understand these people; what are they talking about? I have no interest in their subjects; they do not speak my language; they do not discuss the topic I like best: I would God I were out of their society! It is just the same if we personify falsehood, and send the impudent audacious visitor into the city of truth. Every man would look on with amazement; sensitive spirits would shrink back in fear and horror and shame; no hospitality would be offered to the trespasser. The liar has only to look upon a flower, and the flower is blighted. A false hand has only to touch a little child, and the little child shrinks into old age by reason of inexpressible horror and fear. The liar, therefore, would not find a residence in Jerusalem. No owner of houses would have him. The time will come when the liar will be uneasy, simply because he is false; the stars will fight against him, the earth will try to vomit him into some lower realm of creation, and all pure things will not hate him in the sense of inflicting upon him all the penalties of animosity, but will turn away from him with unutterable disgust. There is no city of truth now. When we read the prophecies of the ancient bards and seers of Israel, we are to understand that they are looking on through centuries, and are gathering flowers from the gardens that are to be, and singing songs that will be sung in the far away but assured time. What city now could live if it were true? What society could exist three days if it were frank? Who would insure human friendship beyond a very limited number of months if man were to speak to man exactly what he thinks of him? An official robe may be a lie; a civic banquet may be an aggregation of falsehoods; what is called business may be a baptised way of swindling one another. Is there any likelihood of a city now becoming a city of truth? Not until it is burned down, and rebuilt, and built upon the foundation stone of righteousness; not until Jesus Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone; not until everything gives way before the presence and persuasiveness of the infinite Gospel of Christ. Herein every city must be its own judge. When we speak of the city, what do we mean? Some outline of stone and brick and thoroughfare? Not at all. The city is only bad because the citizens are not good. When the individual citizens are honest men the total city will be a city of truth. Imagine a beautiful picture; a pilgrim, with a staff in his hand, and with sandals on his feet, has set out upon what he is told will be a long journey, and after he has travelled many days he says to some fellow traveller or wayside friend, Where is the City of Truth? Perhaps the inquiry will awaken amusement in the man who hears it; perhaps it will awaken real pleasure, and the man will answer with a beaming face and an eloquent tongue, There is the home of reality, sincerity, uprightness, genuineness; see, over here, towering like a church, the whole outline beautiful with the sky that bends over it like a benediction. How is it that when men form themselves into cities they live upon compromises, concessions, mutual understanding, and elaborate legal documents which nobody can understand? If we could understand our legal documents we could not live together three months. Yet men speak of the difficulty of understanding the Bible! The lawyers must not speak of this, for they are the very creators of mystery: doctors must not speak of this, for they live in Latin, and without Latin nobody would believe them capable of treating the simplest disease; if they called water water some other doctor would be sent for; and even merchantmen must not be too severe against the mysteries of the Bible, for they have their terminology, their significant alphabetic signs, and their masonic tokens, which they can be exchanging with one another whilst the customer is looking at them, and the customer may be innocently commissioned–if there is such a word as that; if there is not, let us now make it; the customer becomes the subject of a remunerative commission, and yet knows nothing about it, because all the signs are prearranged, and the whole calculation proceeds without the clients consent. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

The holy mountain city

What is its characteristic?–it shall be called . . . the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Mountains make towns; mountains support hotels. Did not some simpleton say, What a curious thing it is that rivers always come near towns? Some men do speak upside down; they are not wholly to be blamed, every man has not every gift: but the fact is just the contrary, it is the town that goes near the river. The Thames never came near London, but London built itself on the banks of the Thames. And why did the Thames become so very important? Because it is so very clean? I will leave that to the popular judgment. But because the Thames is a fine high road to the sea, and the sea beats upon the farthest shores, offers a still broader highway for the transit of the commerce of the world. As with rivers, so with mountains. Men get as near some mountains as they can. They have not yet built upon the top of the Matterhorn, but they would if they could. I am not aware that there is a hostelry upon the summit of Mont Blanc, but I have no doubt there are men who would put a hostelry there tomorrow if they had the ability to do so. From some mountains you must build at a certain distance. They do not permit familiarities. Sometimes we have to calculate the quality and read the history of a mountain before we build near it. Vesuvius must be calculated with, must be consulted; because Vesuvius is a mountain of proverbially fitful temper, and when Vesuvius does speak we do not want to be present. But there are mountains in the Bible that men would live upon; they are green to the very top, their summits are paradises, if not in the poor, narrow, horticultural sense, yet in some ideal sense of uplifting, as if they would bring us nearer heaven than any other mountains ever brought us. What shall be said of Lebanon and Tabor and Hermon? What shall be said of hills shaggy, with forests, strong with rocks, rich with honey, garnished and carpeted with choicest flowers? When the pilgrim asks his way to the city of truth, the guide will point him to the mountain and say, The city nestles under yonder hill, and that hill is a benediction, a defence, and a stairway to loftier elevations still There are some men who do not see mountains, who do not care for mountains, who cannot interpret mountains, and who consequently prefer what they call tablelands; they like to see a great stretch of sky. Other men could not live without high hills, they say the air gets purified somehow by circulating round these great elevations; besides, they love to climb. Man is surely a climber by nature. What is that singular instinct in him which leads him to look up? When did the ox look up? When did the beasts of the field count the stars of twilight as they leaped within the vision of man? Surely it belongs to man, singularly, to look up, in the fullest sense of the term, significantly, devoutly, wonderingly, and hopefully. Sometimes it comes into us that we must have wings, faculties we have not yet discovered, and if we could but discover them we should flee to some prenatal clime, to some other birthplace, to some long ago and forsaken home. There are other men who cannot be satisfied until they have put down in memorandum books the names of the mountains they have seen. Who gave the mountains these names? The mountains do not know them; the mountains are not dogs to be called by names. Others want to see the mountains as they stood before man was made. Thus we have a variety of nature to deal within the prosaic, the poetical, the hermitage-loving spirit that yearns for solitude and boundlessness and the eloquence of silence; and the other nature that pines for the city, the gaslighted thoroughfare, the rattle and the tumult of public life. When the spirit of the living God comes into us we shall all love mountains, we shall say with the poet, God made the country, and man made the town, and in that time of spiritual uplifting, when all our faculties are aglow with Divine fire, mountains will be ways to heaven, and all things growing upon their verdurous sides shall be hints and tokens of the eternal paradise. Religion always works this mystery in a mans nature; it elevates his taste, it dignifies his imagination, it gives nerve and pith to every faculty he has. No man can be a Christian in reality and remain a little narrow-minded creature. No small mind, in the sense of a mind that loves smallness, can ever love Christ. Every Christian is a great man. We may of course have to redefine the term great, and have to make many who are first last, and many who are last first, but if elevation of thought, purity of desire, radiance of hope, dawning immortality, and all the moral inspiration belonging to it–if these enter into greatness, then no man ever called Jesus Lord without entering into the possession and the enjoyment of that blessed inheritance. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER VIII

In this chapter God promises the continuance of his favour to

those who are returned from the captivity; so that upon the

removal of his judgments, the fasts they had observed during

the captivity may now be converted to so many occasions of

rejoicing. He likewise promises in due time a general

restoration of his people, and the enlargement of the Church

by the accession of the Gentiles, 1-20.

The conclusion of the chapter intimates farther that the Jews,

after their restoration, will be instrumental in converting

many other nations, 21-23.

Compare Ro 11:15-16.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Again, or And, Heb.; as the word of reproof in the former chapter, so the word of consolation in this chapter, was from God.

The Lord of hosts: hereby God assureth the Jews that what he promiseth he can perform, and therefore in this chapter, where so many things, so great, are promised, this name is very many times repeated, viz. eighteen.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Again the word of the Lord of hosts came [to me] saying. The phrase, “to me”, is wanting in the Hebrew text; and is the only place it is wanting in, as the Masora observes; though undoubtedly it is to be understood; and therefore is rightly supplied, as it is by the Targum, “with me”. Mention being made in the latter part of the preceding chapter Zec 7:8 of the desolations of the earth, comfort is here administered, as Aben Ezra notes.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Restoration and completion of the covenant relation. – Zec 8:1. “And the word of Jehovah of hosts came, saying, Zec 8:2. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and with great fury I am jealous for her.” The promise commences with the declaration of the Lord, that He has resolved to give active expression once more to the warmth of His love to Zion. The perfects are used prophetically of that which God had resolved to do, and was now about to accomplish. For the fact itself, compare Zec 1:14-15. This warmth of the love of God towards Zion, and of His wrath towards the nations that were hostile to Zion, will manifest itself in the facts described in Zec 8:3: “ Thus saith Jehovah, I return to Zion, and shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be called city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts the holy mountain.” When Jerusalem was given up into the power of its foes, the Lord had forsaken His dwelling-place in the temple. Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord depart from the temple (Ezeliel Eze 9:3; Eze 10:4, Eze 10:18; Eze 11:22-23). Now He is about to resume His abode in Jerusalem once more. The difference between this promise and the similar promise in Zec 2:10-13, is not that in the latter passage Jehovah’s dwelling in the midst of His people is to be understood in an ideal and absolute sense, whereas here it simply denotes such a dwelling as had taken place before, as Koehler supposes. This is not implied in , nor is it in harmony with the statement that Jerusalem is to be called a city of truth, and the temple hill the holy mountain. Ir ’emeth does not mean “city of security,” but city of truth or fidelity, i.e., in which truth and fidelity towards the Lord have their home. The temple mountain will be called the holy mountain, i.e., will be so, and will be recognised and known as being so, from the fact that Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, will sanctify it by His dwelling there. Jerusalem did not acquire this character in the period after the captivity, in which, though not defiled by gross idolatry, as in the times before the captivity, it was polluted by other moral abominations no less than it had been before. Jerusalem becomes a faithful city for the first time through the Messiah, and it is through Him that the temple mountain first really becomes the holy mountain. The opinion, that there is nothing in the promises in Zec 8:3-13 that did not really happen to Israel in the period from Zerubbabel to Christ (Kliefoth, Koehler, etc.), is proved to be incorrect by the very words, both of this verse and also of Zec 8:6, Zec 8:7, Zec 8:8, which follow. How could the simple restoration of the previous covenant relation be described in Zec 8:6 as something that appeared miraculous and incredible to the nation? There is only so much correctness in the view in question, that the promise does not refer exclusively to the Messianic times, but that feeble commencements of its fulfilment accompanied the completion of the work of building the temple, and the restoration of Jerusalem by Nehemiah. But the saying which follows proves that these commencements do not exhaust the meaning of the words.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Encouraging Prospects.

B. C. 517.

      1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,   2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.   3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.   4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.   5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.   6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.   7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;   8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

      The prophet, in his foregoing discourses, had left his hearers under a high charge of guilt and a deep sense of wrath; he had left them in a melancholy view of the desolations of their pleasant land, which was the effect of their fathers’ disobedience; but because he designed to bring them to repentance, not to drive them to despair, he here sets before them the great things God had in store for them, encouraging them hereby to hope that their case of conscience would shortly determine itself and that God’s providence would as loudly call them to joy and gladness as ever it called them to fasting and mourning. It is here promised,

      I. That God will appear for Jerusalem, and will espouse and plead her cause. 1. He will be revenged on Zion’s enemies (v. 2): I was jealous for Zion, or of Zion; that is, “I have of late been heartily concerned for her honour and interests, with great jealousy. The great wrath that was against her (ch. vii. 12) now turns against her adversaries. I am now jealous for her with great fury, and can no more bear to have her abused in her afflictions than I could bear to be abused by her provocations.” This he had said before (Zec 1:14; Zec 1:15), that they might promise themselves as much from the power of his anger, when it was turned for them, as they had felt from it when it was against them. The sins of Zion were her worst enemies, and had done her the most mischief; and therefore God, in his jealousy for her honour and comfort, will take away her sins, and then, whatever other enemies injured her, it was at their peril. 2. He will be resident in Zion’s palaces (v. 3): “I have returned to Zion, after I had seemed so long to stand at a distance, and I will again dwell in the midst of Jerusalem as formerly.” This secures to them the tokens of his presence in his ordinances and the instances of his favour in his providences.

      II. That there shall be a wonderful reformation in Jerusalem, and religion, in the power of it, shall prevail and flourish there. “Jerusalem, that has dealt treacherously both with God and man, shall become so famous for fidelity and honesty that it shall be called and known by the name of a city of truth, and the inhabitants of it shall be called children that will not lie. The faithful city has become a harlot (Isa. i. 21), but shall now become a faithful city again, faithful to the God of Israel and to the worship of him only.” This was fulfilled; for the Jews after the captivity, though there was much amiss among them, were never guilty of idolatry. Jerusalem shall be called the mountain of the Lord of hosts, owning him and owned by him, and therefore the holy mountain, cleared from idols and consecrated to God, and not, as it had been, the mount of corruption, 2 Kings xxiii. 13. Note, The city of God ought to be a city of truth and the mountain of the Lord of hosts a holy mountain. Those that profess religion, and relation to God, must study to adorn their profession by all instances of godliness and honesty.

      III. That there shall be in Jerusalem a great increase of people, and all the marks and tokens of a profound tranquillity, When it has become a city of truth and a mountain of holiness, it is then peaceable and prosperous, and every thing in it looks bright and pleasant. 1. You may look with pleasure upon the generation that is going off the stage, and see them fairly quitting it in the ordinary course of nature, and not driven off from it by war, famine, or pestilence (v. 4): In the streets of Jerusalem, that had been filled with the bodies of the slain, or deserted and left desolate, shall now dwell old men and old women, who have not been cut off by untimely deaths (either through their own intemperance or God’s vengeance), but have the even thread of their days spun out to a full length; they shall feel no distemper but the decay of nature, and go to their grave in a full age, as a shock of corn in his season. They shall have every one his staff in his hand, for very age, to support him, as Jacob, who worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff, Heb. xi. 21. Old age needs a support, and should not be ashamed to use it, but should furnish itself with divine graces, which will be the strength of the heart and a better support than a staff in the hand. Note, The hoary head, as it is a crown of glory to those that wear it, so it is to the places where they live. It is a graceful thing to a city to see abundance of old people in it; it is a sign, not only of the healthfulness of the air, but of the prevalence of virtue and the suppression and banishment of those many vices which cut off the number of men’s months in the midst; it is a sign, not only that the climate is temperate, but that the people are so. 2. You may look with as much pleasure upon the generation that is rising up in their room (v. 5): The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets. This intimates, (1.) That they shall be blessed with a multitude of children; their families shall increase and multiply, and replenish the city, which was an early product of the divine blessing, Gen. i. 28. Happy the man, happy the nation, whose quiver is full of these arrows! They shall have of both sexes, boys and girls, in whom their families shall afterwards be joined, and another generation raised up. (2.) That their children shall be healthful, and strong, and active; their boys and girls shall not lie sick in bed, or sit pining in the corner, but (which is a pleasant sight to parents) shall be hearty and cheerful, and play in the streets. It is their pleasant playing age; let us not grudge it to them; much good may it do them and no harm. Evil days will come time enough, and years of which they will say that they have no pleasure in them, in consideration of which they are concerned not to spend all their time in play, but to remember their Creator. (3.) That they shall have great plenty, meat enough for all their mouths. In time of famine we find the children swooning as the wounded, in the streets of the city,Lam 2:11; Lam 2:12. If they are playing in the streets, it is a good sign that they want for nothing. (4.) That they shall not be terrified with the alarms of war, but enjoy a perfect security. There shall be no breaking in of invaders, no going out of deserters, no complaining in the streets (Ps. cxliv. 14); for, when there is playing in the streets, it is a sign that there is little care or fear there. Time was when the enemy hunted their steps so closely that they could not go in their streets (Lam. iv. 18), but now they shall play in the streets and fear no evil. (5.) That they shall have love and peace among themselves. The boys and girls shall not be fighting in the streets, as sometimes in cities that are divided into factions and parties the children soon imbibe and express the mutual resentments of the parents; but they shall be innocently and lovingly playing in the streets, not devouring, but diverting, one another. (6.) That the sports and diversions used shall be all harmless and inoffensive; the boys and girls shall have no other play than what they are willing that persons should see in the streets, no play that seeks corners, no playing the fool, or playing the wanton, for it is the mountain of the Lord, the holy mountain, but honest and modest recreations, which they have no reason to be ashamed of. (7.) That childish youthful sports shall be confined to the age of childhood and youth. It is pleasing to see the boys and girls playing in the streets, but it is ill-favoured to see men and women playing there, who should fill up their time with work and business. It is well enough for children to be sitting in the market-place, crossing questions (Mat 11:16; Mat 11:17), but it is no way fit that men, who are able to work in the vineyard, should stand all the day idle there, Matt. xx. 3.

      IV. That the scattered Israelites shall be brought together again from all parts whither they were dispersed (v. 7): “I will save my people from the east country, and from the west; I will save them from being lost, or losing themselves, in Babylon, or in Egypt, or in any other country whither they were driven.” They shall neither be detained by the nations among whom they sojourn nor shall they incorporate with them; but I will save them, will separate them, and will bring them to their own land again; by the prosperity of their land I will invite them back, and at the same time incline them to return; and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, shall choose to dwell there, because it is the holy city, though, upon many other accounts, it was more eligible to dwell in the country; and therefore we find (Neh. xi. 2) that the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.

      V. That God would renew his covenant with them, would be faithful to them and make them so to him: They shall be my people and I will be their God. That is the foundation and crown of all these promises, and is inclusive of all happiness. They shall obey God’s laws, and God will secure and advance all their interests. This contract shall be made, shall be new-made, in truth and in righteousness. Some think that the former denotes God’s part of the covenant (he will be their God in truth, he will make good all his promises of favour to them) and the latter man’s part of the covenant–they shall be his people in righteousness, they shall be a righteous people and shall abound in the fruits of righteousness, and shall not, as they have done, deal treacherously and unjustly with their God. See Hos 2:19; Hos 2:20. God will never leave nor forsake them in a way of mercy, as he has promised them; and they shall never leave nor forsake him in a way of duty, as they have promised him. These promises were fulfilled in the flourishing state of the Jewish church, for some ages, between the captivity and Christ’s time; they were to have a further and a fuller accomplishment in the gospel-church, that heavenly Jerusalem, which is from above, is free, and is the mother of us all; but the fullest accomplishment of all will be in the future state.

      All these precious promises are here ratified, and the doubts of God’s people silenced, with that question (v. 6): “If it be marvellous in the eyes of this people, should it be marvellous in my eyes? If it seem unlikely to you that ever Jerusalem should be thus repaired, should be thus replenished, is it therefore impossible with God?” The remnant of this people (and God’s people in this world are but a remnant), being few and feeble, thought all this was too good news to be true, especially in these days, these difficult days, these cloudy and dark days. Considering how bad the times are, it is highly improbable, it is morally impossible, they should ever come to be so good as the prophet speaks. How can these things be? How can dry bones live? But should it therefore appear so in the eyes of God? Note, We do both God and ourselves a deal of wrong if we think that, when we are nonplussed, he is so, and that he cannot get over the difficulties which to us seem insuperable. With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible; so far are God’s thoughts and ways above ours.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

ZECHARIAN – CHAPTER 8

JEHOVAH’S UNCHANGING COVENANT PURPOSE

Verses 1-8:

To Bless Israel In The New Kingdom Era

Verse 1 continues Zechariah’s apology or express reason for the continued message he is to speak and write. It is of and from the Lord of hosts, to which all who are not fools must give heed; As certified by our Lord Luk 24:25; Luk 24:27.

Verse 2 asserts that the Lord had been jealous for Zion, with a great jealousy of love that resulted in a fury against her oppressors: He had indignation against Israel’s enemies, Nah 1:2.

Verse 3 continues with “Thus saith the Lord,” a disclaimer that what Zechariah had to say was from him, but solely a message from God who comforted and assured the remnant, “I am returned unto Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.” This alluded to His sanction of the restored worship of Israel, and pointed to a day when He would dwell in person there, in the golden millennial era, Jerusalem is then called a “city of truth,” from which truth was to be centrally taught, Isa 1:21; Jer 17:17. And it shall also be called the mountain (or government) of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain or (holy government), Psa 48:1-2; Jer 31:23.

Verse 4 repeats “Thus saith the Lord,” that old men and women would yet live in and walk the streets or Jerusalem, the city of peace. No more would wars drive peace and tranquillity from the city, as her people obeyed their God and prospered again, as in days of old, Exo 20:12; Deu 4:40; Isa 65:20; Isa 65:22.

Verse 5 promises that the city of Jerusalem shall, in that future glory day, have her streets full of boys and girls, playing in the streets. It is a description of a time of peace, joy, and prosperity for Israel in her land and city. This described a people settled with security and numerous offspring, considered a blessing among the Jews, Psa 127:4-5. Contrast Jer 6:11; Jer 11:21-22.

Verse 6 calls the Lord as witness, that as it was then a day of marvel, among the remnant, to be back. from Babylon in Jerusalem; in their homeland, even more so would it be a day of marvel in the eyes of the Lord, when He would bring them again from among all nations, to dwell among them forever, in Jerusalem, v. 3; Gen 18:14; Nu 1123; Job 42:2; Jer 32:17-27; Luk 1:37; Rom 4:21. See also Zec 11:7; Isa 1:9; Rom 11:5.

Verse 7 is a pledge from the Lord that He will save or deliver His people from powers of the east and west countries, Psa 1:1. The “east” is literally “the rising of the sun,” while the “west” is literally the “going down of the sun,” Isa 1:1. Wherever His people had been scattered, Luk 21:24; Isa 11:11-12; Isa 43:5-6; Eze 37:21; Amo 9:14-15; Jer 30:22; Jer 31:1; Jer 31:33.

Verse 8 reaffirms the Lord’s pledge to “bring again” His people, Israel to dwell (permanently) in the midst of Jerusalem. Thereafter He assures that in keeping His covenant they will be His people and He will be (exist as) their God, in truth and “in righteousness,” Lev 25:12; Jer 4:2; Jer 30:22; Jer 31:1; Eze 11:20; 2Co 6:16; 2Co 6:18; Rev 21:3; Rev 21:7. See also Hos 2:21-22; Isa 48:1; 1Ki 3:6.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Some think that at the beginning of this chapter the people are reproved for their unfaithfulness, because they conducted themselves towards God in a way they ought not to have done, as they had violated that sacred marriage which God had been pleased to contract with them; for it is a common mode of speaking for God to compare himself to jealous husbands, when he sees his Church dealing with him unfaithfully. But this meaning is inadmissible: for the verb קנא, kona, connected as it is here, is to be taken in a good sense, as signifying concern or affection, inasmuch as ל, lamed, means, “on account of,” or “for;” and we have in the first chapter a similar sentence; Zec 1:1 and it is evident that in many other places the meaning is no other, but that God burned with wrath against all the enemies of his Church, as he regarded his Church with singular love. Emulation then here does not mean jealousy, but is to be taken in a different sense, as signifying that concern which God had for the protection of his Church. The whole then of this chapter proves that God would be the defender of his people, and that such was his care for the safety of all the godly, that he resolved to oppose the whole world, if necessary, for their protection. This is the sum of the whole.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

FASTING CAPTIVES TURNED INTO FEASTING CONQUERORS

Zec 7:1 to Zec 10:12.

IN the fourth year of king Darius * * in the fourth day of the ninth month * * Zechariah received another Word from the Lord. It was in consequence of a visit of representative men from the captivity. Sherezer, prefect of the treasury, and Regemmelech, the kings official, and associates, came to pray before the Lord, and to speak unto the priests which were in the House of the Lord of Hosts, and to the Prophets, saying, (for Israel) Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

You will remember that back in Deu 17:9 it is made the business of the priests and Levites to determine matters of law,the sentence being

And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall he in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:

And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee (Deu 17:9-10).

The letter of the Law was known to these men, and proceeding according to its suggestion they raised this question of the fasts.

The tenth day of the fifth month was kept a fast in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah says,

Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadneezar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,

And burned the House of the Lord, and the kings house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:

And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude (Jer 32:12-15).

But the Temple is now being restored. In view of this blessing from above, they wonder whether the fast which had commemorated the sad event should be continued. The greater portion of the seventh and eighth chapters of Zechariah are in answer to this question.

But let me speak a word before giving ourselves to further study. Be it understood that there are fasts and fasts: fasts that are meaningless; and fasts that are full of meaning: fasts that deny the body but infill the Spirit; and fasts that profit neither body nor spirit. If one is to take a large view of the subject of fasts, he must collate the Scriptures relating to it, and then he will find that there is a fast appointed of God, associated with prayer, and from which blessing always comes; from the experience of which men have always received power. Jesus fasted and prayed. Jesus declared with reference to the disposition of the boy at the foot of the mount of transfiguration, that His disciples had failed because they were not living in the atmosphere of fasting and prayer,the atmosphere of power. Days set apart by direction of a ruler for fasting and prayer, or days that came in commemoration of some sad event, are almost sure, in the process of time, to descend into a mere ceremony. But when the individual is led by the Spirit of God to do the same, or when the Church finds itself ready for ten days in the upper room; or a nation, realizing its doom, sits in sackcloth and ashes, as did Nineveh, then God will visit that man, the Holy Spirit will descend upon that church, and the Eternal One will repent the evil He thought to do that nation, and judgment will give place to mercy.

But the question of this committee involves

THE FORMAL FAST

Hear what God has to say concerning it. First of all He affirms:

It was selfishly rendered!

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto Me, even to Me?

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? (Zec 7:5-6).

One can hardly read these words of Zechariah without being reminded of the way Lenten season is kept by certain of our own country. Church members, who are also society leaders, are often heard to express their pleasure in its near approach. It will give them a chance to rest awhile from the dance, the theater, the card-table, and so far recuperate themselves, body and mind, that when the season is over they can enter upon it all again with increased zest; and yet they call their Lenten-behavior Christianity.

Dr. Herrick, in his volume Some Heretics of Yesterday speaks of Savonarolas time as a period in which Art achieved its more brilliant triumphs and religion fell into its dreariest formalisms. But as to the formalism, the fifteenth century-professors of religion find kith and kin in twentieth century ceremonialists.

This fast was also associated with commercial sins. Evidently from verses nine and ten they had come to regard fast-keeping as in lieu of true judgment, kindness, compassion. As far back as Isaiahs time God had found this to be true, and by the mouth of that Prophet He makes His apostate people to say,

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and Thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and Thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down His head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and cm acceptable day to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.

Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity:

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:

And the Lord shall guide thee continually (Isa 58:3-11).

Recently one of our religious newspapers reported an instance of a well-to-do deacon in Connecticut, whose pastor said, Poor widow Greens wood is out; can you take her a cord? Yes, answered the deacon, but who will pay me for it? I will pay you for it, said the pastor, on condition you will read the first three verses of the forty-first Psalm before you retire tonight.

The deacon consented, delivered the wood, and at night opened the Word of God and read,

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness? (Psa 41:1-3).

When, afterwards, the pastor asked him for his bill, the deacon replied, No bill for you. I cant afford to part with those promises. I didnt know they were there.

So it would seem the people of Zechariahs time had forgotten the promises God had associated with true judgment, kindness, compassion, and had also forgotten the curse against them that oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, the poor, or devise evil in the heart against ones brother.

Their fasts did not save them from unfaithfulness.

But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Yea, they made their Hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the Law, and the Words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in His Spirit by the former Prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of Hosts (Zec 7:11-12).

A dull ear, a shrinking shoulder, a heart of stone; what a picture of apostasy! You will remember that when Stephen had addressed the Jews concerning Jesus they were cut to the heart. They cried out, with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord. Their fathers before them had stopped their ears and, with one accord, rushed away from God. They had withdrawn their shoulders from His service as the untamed ox draws away from yoke and bow. They had made their hearts as hard as the stones with which their successors slew Stephen.

A dull ear, an unwilling shoulder, a hard heart; how often these go together! How surely up-to-date is this description! How shall we be saved from this awful estate? A dull ear, an unwilling shoulder, a hard heart; who of us has not found himself cursed with one, or all of these? How shall he correct it?

Mark Guy Pearse found a man who talked to him on the subject of holiness, saying, I do wish I could find it. Find it! Pearse replied. You mean find Him. When you have Jesus you will have holiness. Ah, yes, and when we find Him we find our hearing. When we find Him we find willing shoulders. When we find Him we find hearts of flesh! If we are to overcome we must open the heart and let the King come in, that He may convert the barren place into a paradise, beautiful and fruitful.

THE FINISHED TEMPLE

The Prophet passes from the subject of Fasts to the finishing of the Temple. God declares His jealousy for Zion; His purpose to return unto her and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

The Temple is Gods dwelling-place. In Solomons day the Lord said of the Temple built with hands, I have hallowed this House, which thou hast built, to put My Name there for ever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually (1Ki 9:3). And when Jesus came and preached the great truth that God was to be worshiped wherever man sought Him in spirit, He did not abolish temple-residence; for now believers are the temple of the Most High. When God came into that ancient Temple made with hands His presence was manifested, and it was a glorious day for Israel when the Shekinah glory was seen above the Ark of the Covenant. When that Presence was taken from them, Zion was desolate indeed. It is impossible for the Gentile convert to know what it means to hear the promise, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And yet, it meant much the same to Israel that the re-visitation of Gods Spirit is to a soul which has long been out of communion, or to a Church, long barren.

We have prayed the prayer of David,Restore unto [us] the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold [us] with Thy free spirit, and watched with eagerness for Gods answer, but not more eagerly than these ancient people watched for the re-appearance of the Shekinah glory. To get their House erected and have Jehovah come into it, that indeed was among their highest hopes. Should it not be so with us? Jesus went into one house where a sick woman lay and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and in health she entered upon service. Jesus went into another house where one was palsied, and lo, at His word, the powers came again. Jesus went into the house of Jairus, and a little daughter lay dead, but when Jesus came she revived, and bereavement took wings. Oh, beloved, our palaces, and our peasant cottages, alike, are finished temples when there the Divine Presence is revealed, and God,our Goddwells in the midst!

It is a pledge of a contented people also.

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof (Zec 8:4-5).

What a picture that! To the Jew, long captive and oppressed, it seemed impossible of realization. It sounded like idealization. The first commandment, with promise, was Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee (Exo 20:12).

How much they appreciated that promise is shown by their punctilious keeping of the command. No people ever regarded the multiplication of merry children as did this ancient folk. In the days of their captivity oppression had cut them short in the midst of their years, and so far discouraged marriage that children seemed few, and the very loneliness of their national life was strikingly presented in that fact. When their city had been over-run by the hordes from Babylon they had seen the sucklings slain in the streets and those of better growth go to untimely graves. And in the memory of it was both barrenness and anguish.

Pusey tells us,In the dreadful Irish famine of 1847, the absence of the children from the streets of Galway was one of its dreariest features. And yet the Irish never loved their children as deeply as did the Jew, nor lost them so completely. No wonder they thought it too marvelous to be true when Gods Prophet drew for them a picture of old men, in very multitudes, leaning upon their staffs, and little children in crowds making the streets to ring with merry laughter. And they could not understand it until God promised,I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

Truly, as George Adam Smith said, That oracle had its motive in Zechariahs day. But what an oracle for these times of ours! Whether in the large cities of the Old World where so few of the workers may hope for a quiet old age, sitting in the sun, and the childrens days of play are shortened by a premature toil and knowledge of evil; or in the newest fringes of the Western World where mens hardness and coarseness are, in the struggle for gold, unawed by reverence for age, and unsoftened by the fellowship of childhood,Zechariahs great promise is equally needed. Even there shall it be fulfilled if men will remember the conditions, that truth and whole-hearted justice abound in the gates, with love and loyalty in every heart towards every other.

Again, this finished Temple was

A promise of prosperity. According to Zechariah, when there was no Temple, There was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour (Zec 8:10).

That is what it is to be without a Temple. Show me a people who have no temple of worship, no altar at which the family bows, no house in which the church gathers, to worship Jehovah, and I will show you a people stricken with poverty, as in China; oppressed by the adversary, as in India; and set every one against his neighbor, as in Africa; but when the temple comes, how changed! For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew (Zec 8:12).

Christianity has accentuated commerce and increased riches as no other force ever could have accomplished these things. Wherever the Temple of God has gone there the vine has yielded its fruit and the ground its increase; Godliness is profitable * * [for] the life that now is.

Poor Silverberg, the accomplished Minneapolis crook, who has robbed, gambled and stolen fortune upon fortune, confesses now, as he lies on his hard couch in prison cell, had he behaved himself righteously and worked as hard to build up the business his father left him as he has in devising new methods of rascality he would be worth millions. No one doubts it! Put this over against his pitiful plea for the small amount of money that would release him from the cell and remember that he pleads for this small sum in vain, and learn that godliness is profitable in the individual life.

Yes, and the nation finds the same to be true. Why is it that America is so blessed? Fifty years ago we had but seven billion dollars in this country; today we are worth conservatively, a few hundred billion; then our per capita wealth was $307.00; in 1900 it was $1235.00;more than four times as much. Now, in spite of the depression, it is larger still. If you ask me What is the secret of this? I cannot agree with him who says, The stretch of our territory and the richness of our soil. The Temple of God answers this question. Take Christianity out of America and you will pauperize her. The continent does not exist that is wide enough, the soil has not yet been discovered upon which an apostate, and utterly wicked population, can prosper. Give your temples such prominence that the Blind Pig and its accursed associates in sin,the low theater, the brothel, the gambling den, the corporate devices for fortune-stealing and fortune-destruction are abolished, and you will bring in a period of such material prosperity as Isaiah describes in Isa 35:1The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

Ah, men; let us never begrudge what we give to the erection and maintenance of the temple of God; for, as we give to it there shall be given unto us, good measure shaken together, heaped up, running over.

THE FATHERS FEASTS

There remains, however, another portion of this Scripture which completes the subject suggested by this study, namely, The Captives Fast Changed to the Conquerors Feasts.

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the Seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the House of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace (Zec 8:19).

In other words, the anniversary of the taking of Jerusalem, the anniversary of the burning of the Temple, the anniversary of the murder of Gedeliah and his friends; all these dark hours of their past were to become, through the touch of God, shining stars by which to direct their feet.

He, by His own presence, would convert the fasts into feasts. Why did the siege against Jerusalem succeed? Why did the walls of Jerusalem fall? Why was the Temple in Jerusalem burned? Why were Gods people carried away captive? Because they had put God away from them; and when their day of battle came they were without Him who had always been their defense. They understood all of this. It was to symbolize it all that they kept their fasts; and now, if He is to return, of course those fasts must become feasts!

Do you not recall how, when Jesus was asked,

Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but Thine eat and drink?

He answered,

Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the Bridegroom is with them?

But the days will come, when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days (Luk 5:33-35).

The time for fasting is when Gods face is hid; but when it is seen, what a feast is on! Then one will appreciate that his joy is greater because of the sorrow which he has endured; his strength is more mighty because of the weakness with which he contrasts it; his sky is clearer because of the awful darkness of the night now passed.

F. B. Meyer, commenting on this promise of the coming feast, born out of the sad fast, says, Dare to anticipate the far-off interest of tears; dare to live in the day which is after tomorrow; as Dante said, In Gods will is our peace, He loves us infinitely. No good thing will He withhold; He must lay deep in tears the foundation that shall upbear our eternal weight of glory.

Thus hath He done, and shall we not adore Him?This shall He do, and can we still despair?Come, let us quickly fling ourselves before HimCast at His feet the burden of our care.

The favor of such a Father will be sought by nations from afar.

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:

And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts: I will go also.

Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord (Zec 8:20-22).

There is an earnest of the fulfillment of this prophecy in the New Testament Church. Gods people were never evangelists until Jesus ascended up on high, and the Holy Spirit descended upon His disciples; then, suddenly, within the short limits of a single century they swept the world in the Name of the Lord.

Within eighty years after Pentecost, Clement of Alexandria remarked concerning Christianity, The Word of our Teacher abode not in Judea alone, as philosophy in Greece, but was poured out throughout the whole world, persuading Greeks and Barbarians in their several nations and villages, and in every city whole houses, and each hearer individually; and having brought over to the truth no few, even of the very philosophers.

Tertullian, before the second century closes, writes, We are a people of yesterday, and yet we have filled every place belonging to you,cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your very camp, your tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum; we leave you your temples only. We can count your armies; our numbers in a single province will be greater.

And yet, beloved, this prophecy is only partially fulfilled. There is a day coming when nations that knew not God shall run unto Him because of the Holy One of Israel.

Then shall His favored people find popularity.

In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you (Zec 8:23).

The tenth chapter of this Book is a declaration of the same precious truth. Jehovah has promised rain for the latter times. When once His people have been won back from the teraphim, the false diviners and dreamers, and their evil shepherds have been punished, then we read in Zec 10:3-4:

For the Lord of Hosts hath visited His flock the House of Judah, and hath made them as His goodly horse in the battle.

Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.

That corner stone is Christ, to be born in Judahs line; He is also the nail in the sure place, Conqueror and Ruler. The people of whom He is born shall be as mighty men, treading down their enemies in the mire of the streets because Jehovah is with them. His promise is,

And I will strengthen the Home of Judah, and I will save the House of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.

And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their Heart shall rejoice in the Lord (Zec 10:6-7).

The world is full of Jew-baiting now; the world will be full of Jew-bidding then. God had a plan of the ages! He has not made the Jew a perpetual miracle without occasion. He has not preserved this nation intact for forty centuries for nothing. He has not scattered them among all people without a final purpose.

Some writer has said, Empires are cast away as a shadow, leaving behind them only their names. They have perished and their places know them no more. But the Jews are still there, standing apart from all other races, as in the days of Jesus Christ, one distinct and unique family, in the midst of the confusion of all others,rich, though a thousand times despoiled; increasing in numbers, and more united than ever, though scattered by a tempest of eighteen centuries.

The Jew is everywhere! He is all over China; he is all over India; he is in the heart of Africa; he is in the far south-land of Abyssinia; he treads the cold snows of Siberia; not a city without his colonies; and scarce a village but knows the individual. What does God mean? He tells us,

I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.

And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember Me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.

I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them (Zec 10:8-10).

Zechariah beholds the day when these people, who once rejected Jesus, shall learn their mistake and shall look on Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn because of Him. And Zechariah beholds the day when they, being saved by turning to their Messiah, shall flash forth as Evangelists of the Gospel of the Son of God. Then the world will receive ten thousand times ten thousand such men as were Peterthe Jew, Johnthe Jew, and Paul the Jew, as preachers of the Gospel of the Son of God. These Evangelists will, every man of them bring up his tens from the ends of the earth to the acknowledgment of Christ the King, for they will be strengthened in Jehovah and will walk up and down in His Name.

O then that I

Might live, and see the olive bear

Her proper branches, which now lie

Scattered each were,

And without root and sap decay,

Cast by the husbandman away,

And sure it is not far!

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL NOTES.] The fate of their fathers urged them to obedience, now the promise of future prosperity.

Zec. 8:2. Jealous] Implying warmth of love and zeal. Fury] Indignation to enemies.

Zec. 8:3.] Proofs of love. Returned] Jerusalem forsaken when given up to foes; now God resumes abode. Truth] or fidelity, i.e. in which truth and fidelity towards Jehovah have their abode (Isa. 1:21; Jer. 17:17), fully realized under the Messiah.

Zec. 8:4-5.] No sweeping disease among them; long life one of the greatest blessings of the theocracy; plenty of children playing securely in the streets (contrast Jer. 6:11; Jer. 9:21).

Zec. 8:6. Marvellous] These promised blessings seem incredible to the people; but nothing impossible to God.

Zec. 8:7. East] Lit. rising of the sun. West] Lit. the going down of the sun (cf. Isa. 50:1). They will be gathered from every region to which they were scattered.

Zec. 8:8.] The covenant renewed. In truth] On both sides the relation real and sincere (Hos. 2:21-22; Isa. 48:1; 1Ki. 3:6).

HOMILETICS

THE RESTORATION OF LOST PURITY.Zec. 8:1-3

The prophet had rebuked the people for their formalism and set forth the results of disobedience. Now he assures them of Gods love, and describes the consequences of obedience in restored privileges and restored purity. Their purity is restored

I. By the manifestation of God. This is the first requirement. Man has wandered from God, sinned so much that he has no disposition to return. The sun must first shine to draw the plant. Grace must first work to dispose the heart. Men can never convert themselves; they have fallen, but God alone can raise them again. Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned.

II. By reconciliation to God. God can never dwell with wickedness. When Jerusalem was in the hands of enemies God forsook the temple. Only when we forsake sin and return to Godwhen reconciled to himdo we secure the aid of his grace and Spirit to purify us. Conversion leads to renovation and holiness of character. Do thou give us the grace of conversion and amendment, says W. Lowth, and then thou wilt remove thy heavy judgments, and restore us to that happiness and prosperity which we formerly enjoyed.

III. By consecration to God. When God returned to Zion it became a city of truth. It became what it had been before, the city which God had chosen to put his name there. Hence

1. The city was holy. The holy mountain. Holy as the residence of Jehovah and the object of devout veneration. True worship and spiritual blessings were restored. The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.

2. The people were truthful. Their attachment to God sincere and not hypocritical; their love to man not in word, but in deed and of a truth. The proof of real conversion is not in partial, outward reform, but in devotion to God and growth in holiness founded upon truth. As God is righteous and holy, those who enjoy his favour must partake of these qualities. The new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

GODS LOVE AND ITS WONDERFUL DISPLAYS.Zec. 8:1-8

The Jews are encouraged in distrust by the affection of God for them. He was jealous as a husband or loving father; he loved most earnestly, most constantly, and out of free love bestowed upon them the blessings here mentioned.

I. It is revealed by the authority of his word. Again the word of the Lord of hosts came. In the former chapter we have reproof, in this encouragement, lest his people should despair. Times of adversity and reproof dishearten, hide the love of God, like clouds before the sun. But God repeats former messages, gives Scripture comforts, and reminds us of past deliverances. I was jealous for her with great fury.

II. It is displayed in the manifestation of his presence. I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Ezekiel saw the glory of God depart from the sanctuary, and pictured the consequences in the conquest, bondage, and exile of Israel. But return is the pledge of his love and the path to pre-eminence. Gods presence is heaven and its bliss; the river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. As a countenance is made beautiful by the souls shining through it, so the world is beautiful by the shining through it of God [Jacobi].

III. It is proved in abundant blessings. Manifold are the blessings here promised.

1. The Jews should be restored to their own city (Zec. 8:7). From east and west, from every nation, would they be redeemed. Their distance and weakness would be no barrier to Divine power.

2. Spiritual privileges would be regained. (a) The covenant would be renewed. God would be their God, and they would be his people. (b) Gods presence would be given. He would dwell in their midst, (c) Divine worship would be restored. Jerusalem would be holy, and idolatry and falsehood would eventually cease. The mount, the temple, the mercy-seat, and all the memorials of Gods mercy would enhance their joy and privilege.

3. Temporal prosperity would be given. When God in covenant grace takes away sin, he takes away sorrow. (a) Long life and freedom from disease. Men and women would live to an advanced age. (b) Outward peace and security. The streets would be full of children playing in fearlessness and joy. Age sat resting the weight of years on its supporting staff, yet looking fresh and happy. Youth enjoyed its cheerful sports without the stern reproof or the angry growl. The sports of childhood and the benefits of old age are contrasted with the days of sin (Jer. 9:21; Jer. 6:11) and the purpose of God. As the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

GODS WORKS GREATER THAN MANS CONCEPTION OF THEM.Zec. 8:6

The promises just made seemed improbable, morally impossible to the Jews in their present condition. But God encourages faith by reminding them that what seemed incredible to them was possible to him. Learn

I. Men stagger at the greatness of Gods promises. If it be marvellous to you, something distinct and prominent from common events. The doings of God, by reason of his infinite greatness and goodness, are beyond anticipation, past belief.

1. His people are few. A remnant of what was once a great nation. Will he interfere on their behalf?

2. The times seem unlikely. In these days of infidelity, oppression, and sorrow.

3. We doubt his word. These things are too good to be true. They can never be realized in our experience.

4. We measure God by ourselves. We cannot act, therefore God cannot perform his promises. They appear against the course of nature and the laws of worldly policy. Thus do we sin against God and wrong ourselves by measuring his power and purpose by human standards. Be fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able also to perform.

II. Gods promises are not too great for him to perform. Should it also be marvellous in mine eyes, saith the Lord of hosts?

1. His love indicates this. It is unchangeable and never offers what he will not give. He forgives, and forgives abundantly. In daily life and Christian experience he works far more exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.

2. His power proves it. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Many things with man are impossible, but with God all things are possible. Beware of profanity and unbelief (2Ki. 7:2). Look to God in all things to increase faith and secure comfort. I know that thou canst do everything (Job. 42:2).

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Zec. 8:1. The word came. The first (Zec. 8:1-17) declaring the reversal of the former judgments, and the complete though conditional restoration of Gods favour; the second (Zec. 8:18-23) containing the answer to the original question as to those facts in the declaration of the joy and the spread of the gospel. The first has, again, a sevenfold, the second a threefold, subordinate division, marked by the beginning, Thus saith the Lord of hosts [Pusey].

Zec. 8:2. Divine jealousy.

1. Its nature. Great jealousy to love men and hate their sins.
2. Its object. Jealous for Zion. Though he punishes yet he loves. The Lord will be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

Zec. 8:3. Returned. The departure of God a curse, and the return of God a blessing to a people. Gods presence in ordinances and Gods favour in providences.

Zec. 8:4-5. A delightful scene.

1. Boys and girls playing in the streets.
2. Aged men and women watching them. The sports of childhoodinnocent sports in their own nature, of courseare the very instincts of that period of life; and they have here the sanction of a benevolent God, being a part of his promised blessing to his favoured city. Who would like to be the man or the woman the sight of whom frightened such a group? [Wardlaw]. Great blessings.

1. Longevity.
2. Peace and security.
3. Real enjoyments. Thou shalt see thy childrens children, and peace upon Israel.

Zec. 8:6. Marvellous.

1. A great salvation.
2. Accomplished with (a) ease and (b) certainty, yet

3. Doubted by an incredulous people. Strange that, among a people who had amongst them the records of all the mighty deeds done for them by the finger of Jehovah in the days of their fathers, there should have existed the slightest surmise of impossibility, or even of difficulty, in regard to any assurance of good coming from him. On many occasions was the incredulity, both of individuals in what regarded themselves, and of the community in what regarded the public interests, met with a similar rebuke [Wardlaw].

Zec. 8:7-8. Israels restoration.

1. They shall be gathered together into the kingdom of God. Not to the earthly Jerusalem, that not large enough for Jews scattered throughout all the world, but to the open and enlarged Jerusalem in ch. Zec. 2:8, i.e. the Messianic kingdom of God [Keil].

2. They shall become Gods people, and God will again become their God.
3. This new relation shall not be as the past; a new feature is given by which the future will be distinguished in truth and righteousness. A father may chastise a son for disobedience, put him into temporary seclusion and disgrace, and then restore him. God will never disown his relation to Israel, but eventually bless them more than ever in Christ.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8

Zec. 8:1-2. Jealous. Love often re-illumines his extinguished flame at the torch of jealousy [Lady Blessington]. Jealousy is always born with love, but does not always die with it [Rochefoucauld].

Zec. 8:3. City of truth. Justice is the idea of God, the ideal of man, the rule of conduct writ in the nature of mankind [Theodore Parker]. Great is truth and mighty above all things (Esd. 4:51).

Zec. 8:4-5. Here is a fine picture. The scene is the streets of Jerusalem. For it is clear that in this connexion, the word rendered dwell is decidedly to be understood as meaning sit. Longevity, when in any country it is found on a more than ordinary average, is a proof of a healthful and prosperous condition of society; and although I am satisfied that some passages of Scripture which have been interpreted of personal longevity have reference rather to the long-continued national possession of the land of promise; yet that longevity is included amongst the promises of temporal blessing and well-being, there can be little doubt. Thou shalt see thy childrens children, and peace upon Israel, is one of not a few similar assurances. The state described is one of peace and tranquil security [Wardlaw].

Zec. 8:6. Marvellous. The man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder and worship, were he president of innumerable royal societies, is but a pair of spectacles behind which there is no eye [Carlyle].

Wonder is involuntary praise [Young].

Zec. 8:8. In truth. Gods relation sustained from the time of having chosen them had been always thus characterized. Not so theirs. They called God their God, and themselves his people; while too often it was neither in truth nor in righteousness; but when their hearts and lives gave the lie to their lips; when they flagrantly played the hypocrite, and defrauded him of his due, both in inward devotion and in outward service. Let us see that our professions are sincerethat our hearts are steadfast [Wardlaw].

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE THIRD ANSWERING STATEMENT . . . Zec. 8:1-8

RV . . . And the word of Jehovah of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts. The holy mountain. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for every age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days; should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

LXX . . . And the word of the Lord Almighty came, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty; I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Sion with great jealousy, and I have been jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the Lord; I will return to Sion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a true city, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty a holy mountain. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; There shall yet dwell old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem, every one holding his staff in his hand for age. And the broad places of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; If it shall be impossible in the sight of the remnant of this people; in those days, shall it also be impossible in my sight? saith the Lord Almighty. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and the west country; and I will bring them in, and cause them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness.

COMMENTS

The third statement made by God through Zechariah to the questioners from Beth-el is a statement of His love for His people and a desire that they be happy in the knowledge that He is with them in the land. Such a joyous relationship has no room for fasts, especially not for fasts of human origin.

(Zec. 8:1-2) This is not the only passage of Scripture in which God is said to be jealous. (cp. Exo. 20:5; Exo. 34:14, Deu. 4:24; Deu. 5:9; Deu. 6:15, Jos. 24:19, Nah. 1:2) In every one of these passages, Gods jealousy is set against the background either of the covenant or the violation of the covenant in the worship of false gods.

Zechariahs statement of Jehovahs jealousy is likewise in the context of the covenant. It is Zion over which He is jealous. It is the (restored remnant who marvel at the joys of His return to Jerusalem (Zec. 8:6). It is Jehovah of hosts who speaks (Zec. 8:4). The mountain (Zion) of Jehovah is the holy mountain. These are covenant terms.

Gods jealousy is the jealousy of a righteous husband for His bride. In more than one passage in the pre-exilic prophets, Israel is presented as Jehovahs bride. (e.g. Isa. 49:18; Isa. 61:10; Isa. 62:5, Jer. 2:32; Jer. 7:34; Jer. 16:9; Jer. 25:10; Jer. 33:11, Joe. 2:16).

Nor is the idea strange to the New Testament. (e.g. Joh. 3:29, Rev. 18:23; Rev. 21:2; Rev. 21:9; Rev. 22:17) Israel, as presented in the New Testament, is the covenant people consisting of all who by obedient faith are Gods people.

In both the Old and New Testaments, idolatry in particular and false worship in general are called harlotry or spiritual adulrry. In turning from God to the worship of false gods, Israel played the role of the unfaithful wife. This, as we have previously seen, was the ultimate cause of the evil in the pre-exilic kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and so the ultimate reason for the destruction of Israel and the captivity of Judah.

(Zec. 8:3-5) Now the punishment of the faithless bride by her jealous husband is over. He has returned her to the homeland. In building the temple she has at last returned in her heart to Him. He will therefore return to live in the house Israel has built for Him. The twin hills, Zion and Moriah upon which Jerusalem and the temple sit are to be known as the holy mountain.

Bear in mind, that which is holy is that which is set apart to the accomplishment of Gods purpose. The ultimate fulfillment of Gods covenant promise would come when, on this very mountain, Gods message of repentance and remission of sins began its call to all the nations of the earth. (cp. Luk. 24:44 -ff, Acts, chapter 2)

The happiness of the restored people in their land with their God is pictured by the prophet in figures of happy home life. Old men and old women sit in the streets. Those who, because of age must lean upon a staff, go about the city. The streets are full of children at play. It is a picture of happy contented safety on the part of those who trust and obey the Lord and who thereby are aware of His presence in their midst. Long life and many children was, among the Jews, the epitome of the good life.

(Zec. 8:6) The remnant, having returned to a desolate forsaken land with its buildings all in ruins, would look with amazement upon the restoration.

Should it also be, Jehovah asks rhetorically, marvellous in mine eyes? Those who had failed to heed his warnings before the captivity, had also failed to hear His promises of deliverance. Therefore they were astounded that it should come so completely to pass. But to Jehovah, Who from the beginning had planned it so, it was no cause for marvel at all.

(Zec. 8:7-8) The joy of the returnees, and their amazement at what God has wrought through them blends quite normally into a glimpse of the final fulfillment in Messianic Israel. In that day, Jehovah will save His people, not only from Babylon and from among the Jews. His people will come from the east and the west. The presence of God among them will not be symbolic, as in the temple, but in truth and righteousness. Jesus saw this in His own coming. At the Samaritan well He said that the hour was now that true worship would be in spirit and truth rather than in the temple made with hands. (cf. Joh. 4:23-24)

Chapter XXXVIQuestions

Teaching About Worship

1.

Outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an ____________________ to ______________________.

2.

Gods promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in ____________________.

3.

On December 4, ______________ B.C. those who lived in Beth-el sent messengers to Jehovah with a question.

4.

What was that question?

5.

Where is Beth-el?

6.

Show that those who lived in Beth-el were not Samaritans but Jews.

7.

The fast on the seventh day of the fifth month marked the ________________ anniversary of ________________.

8.

The fast of the seventh Month remembered ___________________.

9.

Zechariahs answer to the question from Beth-el was in ________________ statements.

10.

Give the references for each of these statements.

11.

What was the first answer?

12.

Who were the former prophets?

13.

What was the second answer?

14.

The questioners are further reminded that God, through the former prophets, had commanded their fathers to __________________________.

18.

The happiness of the restored people is presented in figures of happy __________________.

19.

The joy and amazement of the returnees blends quite normally into a glimpse of ________________.

20.

What is Zechariahs fourth answering statement?

21.

Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into ____________________ prediction.

22.

At the beginning of their restored national life is the same ________________ terminology which had marked the beginning of _________________.

23.

The returned remnant is once more to be a nation of _________________.

24.

How had the Jews become a curse upon the nations rather than a blessing?

25.

Discuss the idea that God has more at stake in this work than do they.

26.

What was the fifth statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el?

27.

How does it relate to the first statement?

28.

So; long as the people are _________________ and ______________ they have no reason to fear Gods wrath.

29.

What was the sixth statement?

30.

This statement is also an entreaty to Gods people to

____________________

31.

It begins with a promise of _______________ instead of _______________ and closes with a ____________ promise.

32.

Modem Jews observe the fast of the fourth month in connection with _____________, _______________, _________________, and _________________.

33.

The fast of the fifth month is held in connection with ______________, and ________________,_ It also remembers _________________ and ________________.

34,

The fast of the seventh month is now observed in remembrance of __________________________________.

35.

The tenth month fast recalls ________________________________________.

36.

What do you conclude from the fact that these fasts are still observed by the Jews?

37.

Zec. 8:20-23 are a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the ________________, beginning at

____________________ has brought the world the _________________________.once known only to the Jews.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

Imminence of the day of redemption, Zec 8:1-8.

The introductory formula of Zec 8:1, does not mark the beginning of a new discourse; it introduces only a new line of thought in the prophecy which begins in Zec 7:4. In Zec 7:6 ff., the prophet dwells upon the past; in Zec 8:1, he turns to the present and from the present outlook he draws a new argument, to show that the observance of the solemn fasts is not essential. In chapter vii he sets forth that in the past Jehovah demanded justice and mercy, not the observance of the external forms; judgment came upon the fathers, because they disregarded the ethical demands of Jehovah; all of which shows that even to-day fasting is of secondary importance. In chapter 8 he points out that the time of redemption is at hand, therefore fasting and mourning are no longer needed; they will be changed into seasons of rejoicing.

Zec 8:2 emphasizes the motive that prompts Jehovah to bestow the new blessings.

Thus saith Jehovah Repeated ten times in this chapter, always introducing assurances of divine interest (see on Zec 1:3).

I was jealous Better, R.V., “I am jealous” (compare Zec 1:14; see on Joe 2:18).

For Zion Here the entire postexilic community.

With great fury Against the enemies of Zion (see on Nah 1:2). 2b repeats the thought of 2a for the sake of emphasis.

Zec 8:3 introduces the promise of speedy redemption.

I am returned The tense may express the idea that Jehovah has already returned and is about to begin his activity on behalf of Zion, or it may be a prophetic perfect, which would place the action in the future but would express absolute confidence in the fulfillment of the promise (Zec 1:16; Zec 2:10 ff.). Since the temple, which was to be the dwelling place of Jehovah, was not yet completed, the latter interpretation is to be preferred. Ezekiel had seen the glory of Jehovah departing from Zion before the capture of the city (Eze 9:3; Eze 10:4; Eze 10:18), but on the completion of the temple Jehovah will return.

In the midst of Jerusalem See on Joe 2:27; Joe 3:17.

Shall be called Among the Hebrews the name serves frequently as a symbol of character; in such cases the calling of anyone by a certain name suggests that he possesses a certain character, hence to be called is practically equivalent to to be (Isa 1:26; Isa 4:3; Isa 9:6; Eze 48:35).

City of truth Equivalent to faithful city (Isa 1:21); a city known for its truthfulness and fidelity to Jehovah.

Holy mountain Holy because occupied once more by Jehovah (see on Zec 14:20; Joe 2:1).

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF MORAL AND CEREMONIAL REQUIREMENTS, Zec 7:1 to Zec 8:23.

After a silence of nearly two years the voice of Zechariah was heard again. In the fourth year of Darius a deputation came to the prophet inquiring whether the observance of the fasts instituted to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem was still obligatory (Zec 7:1-3). This question would suggest itself to many as the temple neared completion, and as the seventy years since the destruction of Jerusalem were drawing to a close. In reply the prophet points out that fasting is not an end in itself, that it is of value only as a means of increasing devotion and piety in the one who practices it (4-6). Then he turns the attention of the delegation to the ethical character of the divine demands, and points out that by disregarding these their fathers had brought upon themselves awful judgments (7-14). Reaffirming Jehovah’s jealousy for Zion, he pictures the glory and prosperity in store for Judah and Jerusalem (Zec 8:1-17). When these glories are realized the question of fasts will solve itself; they will be transformed into seasons of joy and rejoicing, to which multitudes will flock from all parts of the land; even the other nations will gladly join the Jews in their festivities (18-23).

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

God Declares His Purposes For His People With Promises of Great Blessing ( Zec 8:1-8 ).

God now makes a number of declarations through Zechariah in respect of His people.

Firstly, ‘I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy.’ In this the longing in His heart that His people should become what they should be is clearly expreseed. And so is His determination to save them.

Secondly, “I am returned to Zion and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall called ‘the city of truth’ and the mountain of YHWH of Hosts ‘the holy mountain’.” His jealousy over them (His determination not to let them go) has brought about His intervention, and so although He had previously abandoned them, now He has returned to them

Thirdly, “Old men and old women will yet dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.” The result will be an abundance of people living in total security.

Fourthly, “If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in my eyes.” Although it may seem impossible the fact is that there is no limit to what He can do.

The section then closes with the promise of hope for the future.

Zec 8:1-2

‘And the word of YHWH of Hosts came to me, saying, “Thus says YHWH of Hosts, I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great fury.” ’

God had not forgotten His people. His love and concern for them and His jealousy over the fact that they were His own people still causes Him to desire to act. He could not forget what He had promised them and that He had once made them His own. Note the strength of the feeling. ‘Jealous over you with a great jealousy’. He had a great concern for His people and wanted the best for them and from them. Compare the similar words in Zec 1:14.

‘With great fury.’ This fury was directed at the nations who had taken advantage of His wanting to chasten His people and had grievously afflicted them (Zec 1:15)

Zec 8:3

‘Thus says YHWH, “I am returned to Zion and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called ‘the city of truth’ and the mountain of YHWH of Hosts ‘the holy mountain’.” ’

The fact is that God is ready to act, as long as they are willing to respond and obey. Indeed He can say that He has now ‘returned to Zion’. ‘Zion’ refers to the people of God wherever they are (Zec 2:7). They are His people and He has come to them.

‘And I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.’ Ezekiel in vision had seen the departure of YHWH from Jerusalem to dwell with those in captivity (chapter 10-11 with chapter 1). Now He is ready to dwell again in Jerusalem. This is His purpose. He wants Zion to return to Jerusalem. And His further purpose behind this is that they might from there convey truth to the nations. He wants Jerusalem to so reveal the truth to the nations that it is called ‘the city of truth’ (compare Isa 2:3). And because of the reverence the nations will hold for it they will see the mountain on which it is built as a ‘holy’ mountain, a mountain especially set part for the manifestation of God.

For the giving of a new name to Jerusalem compare Isa 62:2-4. The idea is that it has become responsive to Him and will enjoy a renewed relationship with Him.

But in one sense God’s ‘purpose’ failed because the people were found wanting. Nevertheless it was from that city that God’s truth would finally be revealed to the nations, in Him Who was the Truth, and it would indeed be a holy mountain because on that mountain God’s own Son would crucified. (See on chapter 12). And because Zion had failed to return to Jerusalem in full and continual obedience He would use them in the places to which they had gone as the foundation of His future people (the synagogues were the first recipients and preaching opportunities of the Gospel).

Even today we can look at Jerusalem in its present spiritual darkness and declare, ‘that is the place from which truth came out’. For He Who was Himself the Truth (Joh 14:6) once walked there. But because it rejected its Messiah, it too was finally rejected to be replaced by ‘the Jerusalem which is above’ (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22).

Zec 8:4-5

‘Thus says YHWH of Hosts, “Old men and old women will yet dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.” ’

In the time of Zechariah it was mainly only the strong and hardy, who had been able to return, who lived there, although there would of course be some older people and some children. And as they looked round at the hardy conditions under which they had to live they must have wondered, ‘will it ever thrive again?’ But YHWH’s promise was that Jerusalem will soon return to being a normal city, so that large numbers of people grow to great old age there and children are born in profusion to play in the streets. This is both a promise of future prosperity and of peace.

Some of these promises were fulfilled literally in future days in the intertestamental period, others awaited the coming of the Branch of David and would be fulfilled in a way far beyond what was expected. But we must remember that to them that day did not seem so far away, (in the same way as to the early church the second coming of Christ did not seem that far away).

Zec 8:6

‘Thus says YHWH of Hosts, “If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in my eyes, says YHWH of Hosts?” ’

This could be saying that when all this is accomplished it will seem to the people as a marvel, as something that could not be expected. They will wonder at it in amazement. or it could mean that to Zechariah’s listeners it seemed too good to be true. But God assures His people now that it is no marvellous thing in His eyes. For He is fully competent to bring it about. To Him it is but as a commonplace.

Zec 8:7-8

‘Therefore thus says YHWH of Hosts, “I will save my people from the East country, and from the West country, and I will bring them and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they will be my people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’

The mention of East and West is an extension to previous promises where North (Babylon) and South (Egypt) were in mind. The promise is that He will gather His people from wherever they may be.

And as the centuries passed many of the people did gather in the land in preparation for the coming of Christ, but as always only the remnant, resulting in the early church, responded when God called. Today again we have seen the gathering in of the Jews from places worldwide, and it may be that we will yet see a work of God among them by His Spirit as a result of which many of them come to Him and recognise Him as their God in truth and righteousness before the final coming of Christ. Outside of Him the Jews have no future. But in the end such promises finally look beyond this to the new Heaven and the new Earth and to the new Jerusalem which will be composed of His people.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Further Prophecies of Zechariah ( Zec 7:1 to Zec 8:23 )

These prophecies occur approximately two years after the previous ones demonstrating that Zechariah’s ministry continued. It would appear that the Temple is at least partly built and functioning.

ANALYSIS OF THE SECOND SECTION.

This second section (Zec 7:1 to Zec 8:23) divides up as follows:

Introduction (Zec 7:1-3).

‘Then came the word of the LORD of Hosts to me saying —’ (Zec 7:4).

‘And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying —’ (Zec 7:8).

‘And the word of the LORD of Hosts came saying —’ (Zec 8:1).

‘And the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me saying –’ (Zec 8:18).

IN DEPTH ANALYSIS OF Zechariah 7-8.

a Introduction – the arrival of enquirers about the fasts which were in remembrance of the circumstances connected with the fall of Jerusalem (Zec 7:1-3).

a YHWH dismisses their fasts as hypocritical and calls on them to hear the words of the prophets (Zec 7:4-7).

b YHWH calls on them rather to live truly with a genuine concern for people’s needs, and not to overlook the fact that it was because their fathers failed to hear the prophets and do this that the land had become desolate (Zec 7:8-14).

b YHWH declares His deep concern for Jerusalem. He will return and live in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem will be called the city of truth and its mountain the Holy Mountain (compareIsa 2:1-4). It will be filled with people dwelling securely and He will bring back the exiles. And because His Temple has been rebuilt they will live in peace and prosper for He now purposes to do good for Jerusalem as long as they live truly with a genuine concern for people’s needs and are open and honest with each other (Zec 8:1-17).

a YHWH declares that the fasts of the past will become feasts of joy, and the nations will flock to Jerusalem to entreat God’s favour because they know that He is with His people (Zec 8:18-23).

Note how in ‘a’ questions are raised about the fasts and God condemns their keeping of them as hypocritical, and in the parallel the fasts will become feasts and will result in blessing for the nations. In ‘b’ the call is to live truly with a genuine concern for people’s need, reminding them that the failure to do this had brought desolation, and in the parallel the call is to live truly with a genuine concern for people’s needs, and then everything will be restored.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Restoration Described

v. 1. Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

v. 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I was jealous for Zion, rather, I am jealous, for His zeal is that of a husband for the wife of his youth, with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury, in a most vehement affection directed toward His congregation and a corresponding anger against her oppressors.

v. 3. Thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, once more occupying the dwelling-place of His honor in the midst of His people, which He had forsaken because of the wickedness of the idolatrous nation; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, where the Lord’s truth, the truth of His eternal Word, would once more be found; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, where His Temple arose, the holy mountain, because it was the center of the true worship on the earth.

v. 4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the name used throughout these prophecies to denote His majesty and power, There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, since they would not be torn away in the fullness of their strength by war and pestilence, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age, literally, “because of the multitude of his days. ”

v. 5. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof, without any fear of an enemy. It is a beautiful picture representing the extremes of life dwelling in all security and happiness in the midst of the Lord’s Holy City, the blessings of the Messianic period.

v. 6. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, in the opinion of those who had returned from the Babylonian captivity, should it also be marvelous in Mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. In spite of the miraculous character of the restoration, if looked at from the standpoint of men, it would yet certainly take place, for it was not too hard for Jehovah, His promise affecting both the greatness and the certainty of the coming salvation.

v. 7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will save My people from the East country, from the rising of the sun, and from the West country, from the setting of the sun, so that Jehovah would rescue His people from all lands, as far as the sun shines;

v. 8. and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, be members of the congregation of the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. This is truly the glory of the Christian era, when, as St. John writes, we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Cf Joh 1:14.

v. 9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Let your hands be strong, full of good courage for doing the work of the Lord, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, namely, Haggai and Zechanab, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the Temple might be built. These prophets had begun their activity at the time when the foundation of the second Temple had already been built, and the good effects of their preaching were now apparent in the nation.

v. 10. For before these days there was no hire for man nor any hire for beast, for the yield of the land at that time was so small as hardly to be called fair wages, up. Hag 1:6-11; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction, there was so much envy and hostility among the people themselves, and on account of jealousy stirred up by the Samaritans, that the ordinary occupations of life were continually being interfered with; for I set all men every one against his neighbor, as the account of Nehemiah shows.

v. 11. But now, since the old covenant relation was restored, I will not be unto the residue of this people, to the small congregation which had returned from Babylon, as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts, He was now ready once more to gladden them with the rich blessings of His goodness and mercy.

v. 12. For the seed shall be prosperous, or, “there shall be a seed of peace”; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, all crops showing great productiveness, and the heavens shall give their dew, affording the necessary moisture to secure growth; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things, these being evidences of His goodness.

v. 13. And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the heathen, 0 house of Judah and house of Israel, up. Jer 42:18, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing, an example of God’s blessings of mercy. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.

v. 14. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, As I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, Jer 31:28, and I repented not, He could not, in point of fact, without denying His own holiness, fail to execute His threat of punishment,

v. 15. so, again, have I thought in these days, now that the covenant relation was once more established, to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Fear ye not, this being the content of every true Gospel-message. Since God is gracious for the sake of the Messiah, therefore men have no reason to fear as long as they put their trust in Him alone.

v. 16. These are the things that ye shall do, as an evidence of the new relation which obtained between them and Jehovah, the God of the covenant, Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor, this being the basis of a proper brotherly relationship among men, execute the judgment of truth and peace In your gates, so that all their dealings, particularly those pertaining to their courts of law, would be in agreement with these principles,

v. 17. and let none of you imagine evil In your hearts against his neighbor, deliberately planning harm, and love no false oath, for perjury makes the administration of justice impossible; for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord. It is a most emphatic declaration, spoken with great solemnity, and it holds true for all time. God hates and despises wickedness in every form, and He wants those who are His children to wage continual warfare against every transgression of His holy Law.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Zec 8:1-8

4. The Lord promises to show his love for Zion, to dwell among his people, and to fill Jerusalem with a happy lace.

Zec 8:1

Again; rather, and. This chapter contains the second half of the Lord’s answer concerning fasting, merging into prophecy.

Zec 8:2

Thus saith the Lord of hosts. This formula occurs ten times in this chapter, thus enforcing the truth that all the promises made to Zion come from the Lord himself, and are therefore sure to be fulfilled. I was jealous;I am jealous, as Zec 1:14 (where see note). With great fury. Against her enemies (Zec 1:15). “Zelus” is defined by Albertus Magnus: “amor boni cum indignatione contrarii.” One side of God’s love for Zion is shown in the punishment of her enemies. Knabenbauer likens this zeal or jealousy of God to the pillar of fire at the Exoduslight and protection to the Israelites, darkness and destruction to the Egyptians (Exo 14:20).

Zec 8:3

I am returned (Zec 1:16); I return. When Jerusalem was taken and given over to the enemy, God seemed to have deserted her (Eze 10:18; Eze 11:23); but new the restoration of the exiles, the rebuilding of the temple, the voice of prophecy, showed that the Lord had returned, and that new he will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem (Zec 2:10). A city of truth; city of truth; no longer full of lies and treachery and infidelity. God dwelling therein, it shall be “the faithful city” (Isa 1:26), in which all that is true and real shall flourish (comp. Zec 8:16; Zep 3:13). The holy mountain. The hill whereon the temple is built shall be called the holy mountain, because the Lord dwelt in the sanctuary. The prophecy in this and the following verses received a partial fulfilment in the days between Zerubbabel and Christ; but there is a further accomplishment in store.

Zec 8:4

There shall yet old men dwell (sit), etc. A picture of happy security and plenty, in vivid contrast to the desolation deplored in Lam 2:1-22.; 5. In the days of the Maccabees it is noted, among other tokens of peace and prosperity, that “the ancient men sat all in the streets, communing together of good things” (1 Macc 14:9). For very age; Hebrew, for multitude of days. People shall reach the utmost limits of human life. According to the old Law, length of days was the reward of obedience (Gen 15:15; Exo 20:12; Deu 4:40), and an early death was inflicted as a punishment of sin (Deu 28:20; Psa 54:1-7 :23; Psa 78:33). Such promises are made also in Messianic times (Isa 65:20), though in a different sense.

Zec 8:5

Full of boys and girls. Jerusalem and the other cities had long been strangers to any such happy sight. Large increase of population is a blessing often promised in the latter days (Hos 1:10; Mic 2:12). Perowne remarks that our Lord alludes to the games of children the marketplaces as a familiar incident his days (Mat 11:16, Mat 11:17; comp. Jer 11:1-23).

Zec 8:6

In these days; rather, in those days. If what is promised in Zec 8:3-5 seems incredible to those who shall see the fulfilment. The remnant. The returned Jews and their posterity (Hag 1:12-14). Should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? Certainly not. Nothing is impossible with God.

Zec 8:7

God promises to bring his dispersed people home againa promise only yet partially fulfilled. My people. A title of honour (Hos 2:23). From the east country, and from the west country. Two regions are named, symbols of the whole world (comp. Psa 50:1; Mal 1:11). The return of the captives from Babylon was a prelude of the future restoration of the dispersed, when all Israel shall be saved (Rom 11:26). (See a similar promise, Isa 43:5, Isa 43:6; comp. Joh 11:52.)

Zec 8:8

In the midst of Jerusalem. As the centre of worship (see Zec 2:4, and note there). In truth and in righteousness. The words belong to both parts of the preceding clause: God will deal truly and righteously with them, but they must deal truly and righteously with him. If they are faithful to their obligations, God would be unto them all that he had promised to be.

Zec 8:9-17

5. The people are exhorted to be of good cheer, for god will henceforth give them his blessing, which, however, was conditional on their obedience.

Zec 8:9

Let your hands be strong (comp. Hag 2:15-19). Be of good courage for the work before you (Jdg 7:11; Isa 35:3; Eze 22:14). By (from) the mouth of the prophets, which were. Who came forward as prophets. These prophets, who prophesied after the foundations of the temple were laid, were Haggai and Zechariah; they are thus distinguished from the pre-exilian seers mentioned in Zec 7:7. The same prophets who encouraged you in your work at first are they who have spoken to you words of promise in those days. That the temple might be built; Revised Version, even the temple that it might be built. This could not be predicated of the first foundation, which was followed by a long period of inaction (Ezr 4:24), only terminated by the vigorous exhortations of the prophets, which led to a resumption of the work that might be called a second foundation of the temple.

Zec 8:10

The prophet reminds the people of the sad condition of affairs during the cessation of the good work, and how things began to improve directly they showed diligence and zeal. There was no hire for man, etc. Either the yield was so small that no labour of men or beasts was needed to gather it in, or the general poverty was so great that labourers could not get their wages nor the oxen their well earned share of provender (Hag 1:11; Hag 2:17, Hag 2:18). Neither was there any peace because of the affliction; rather, because of the adversary. They could not go about their usual occupations, or pass in safety from place to place, on account of the enemies that compassed them about (Ezr 4:4). The rendering of the Authorized Version is supported by the Septuagint and Vulgate, but the word (tsar) is often used for the concrete, “adversary.” So the Syriac here. I set all men every one against his neighbour. There were internal dissensions as well as outward opposition. God had allowed this for his own wise purposes.

Zec 8:11

But now I will not be. God’s attitude towards the people had already changed in consequence of their diligence in the work of restoration. Perowne renders, “Now I am not.” The residue; the remnant; the returned Jews (Zec 8:12; Hag 1:12). The former days. In the time of their inactivity, when a curse rested upon them and upon their land. The curse was now removed, and a marked amelioration had set in (Hag 2:15-19).

Zec 8:12

The seed shall be prosperous; literally, (there shall be) the seed of peace. The crops sown shall be crops of peace, safe and secure, in contradistinction to the threat in Le 26:16, that the seed should be sown in vain, for it should be devoured by an enemy (Knabenbauer). Or, more generally, all farming labours shall succeed and prosper. Jerome’s paraphrase is, “There shall be universal peace and joy;” Septuagint,” But I will show forth peace.” Another way of understanding the words which has found much favour with modern commentators is to take the clause in apposition with the words immediately following; thus: “The seed (i.e. growth) of peace, the vine, shall give its fruit.” But there is no especial reason why the vine should be called “the seed of peace.” It is not peculiar among fruit trees for requiring a time of peace for its cultivation. And the term “seed” is very inappropriate to the vine, which was not raised from seed, but from cuttings and layers. Perowne also points out that such a rendering destroys the balance of the three following clauses, which explain and expand the general statement that agriculture shall prosper. Dr. Alexander takes “the seed of peace” to be that from which peace springs; i.e. that peace should be radically established in the land, and from this fact the results following should ensue. This affords a very good sense; but it is probably a metaphor quite unintended by the prophet. The Syriac reads differently, “The seed shall be safe.” The remnant (see on Zec 8:11). To possess; to inherit; Septuagint, (Rev 21:7). This promise recalls the blessings in the old Law (Le 26:4, etc.; Deu 33:28; Psa 67:6).

Zec 8:13

As ye were a curse among the heathen. As your fate was used as a formula of imprecation among the heathen; e.g. “May your fate be that of the Jews” (see examples of this, 2Ki 22:19; Isa 65:15; Jer 24:9; Jer 29:22). The other way of taking the expression as meaning the object of curse (i.e. as the heathen once used to curse you), is not so suitable. Judah Israel. This expression includes the twelve tribes, of all of which some members had returned, and continued to return, from the Captivity. They were united now and formed one nation (see note on Zec 9:10). So will I save you. In as open and significant a manner will I show that I am delivering and favouring you. Ye shall be a blessing. This must be taken correspondingly to the former phrase, being a “curse;” ye shall be used as a formula for blessing; e.g. “God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh” (Gen 48:20; comp. Rth 4:11, Rth 4:12). Fear not (Zep 3:16). “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31; comp. Num 14:9). Let your hands be strong (see note on verse 9). The LXX. takes the paragraph differently and erroneously: “And it shall be that in like manner as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing,” i.e. a cause of blessing, .

Zec 8:14

The ground of the prom[so is the will of God, who cannot deceive. As I thought to punish you; as I purposed to do evil to you; i.e. to the nation whose continuity is thus intimated (comp. Hag 2:5; and for a similar contrast of punishment and blessing, see Jer 31:25). I repented not. God carried out the dread decree to the full (Zec 1:6; 2Ch 36:16). (For the phrase applied to God, comp. Num 23:19; Jer 4:28; Jon 3:10, where see note.) Vulgate, “I pitied not.”

Zec 8:15

So again have I thought, etc. The past chastisement, which happened as it was threatened, is a guarantee of the fulfilment of the promised blessing. But there is a condition to be observed, which is set forth in the two next verses. The LXX. has, “So have I ordered and purposed.” In these special blessings Judah and Jerusalem alone were to share at the first; Israel’s happy time (Zec 8:13) was to come later.

Zec 8:16

These are the things. To secure the fulfilment of the promise of good, they must do the will of God (Zec 7:9. etc.). Truth. This was to be observed in all conversation and transactions with their neighbours. St. Paul quotes this injunction (Eph 4:25). Execute the judgment of truth and peace; literally, judge ye truth and the judgment of peace. So the Septuagint and Vulgate. Practise perfect equity in judgments, and so decide, according to truth and justice, as to secure peace and concord between the parties concerned. In your gates. Where the judges sat, and justice was administered (Deu 16:18; Deu 21:19; see note on Amo 5:10).

Zec 8:17

Let none of you imagine (see note on Zec 7:10, where these words occur). Love no false oath. The prevalent sins at this time were not idolatry, but cheating and lying and injustice, vices learned in the land of exile, where they had turned their energies to traffic and commerce (see Zec 5:2-4, and note on Zec 5:3 there).

Zec 8:18-23

6. Here follows the direct answer to the question originally proposed. The fasts should be turned into joyful festivals, former calamities being forgotten. Then the change extending its influence, the heathen shall worship the God of Israel, and esteem it an honour to be received into fellowship with the Jewish nation.

Zec 8:19

The fast of the fourth month, etc. (For the occasions of these fasts, see note on Zec 7:3.) Jerome gives the later Jewish traditions concerning them. The fast of the seventh day of the fourth month commemorated the breaking of the two tables of the commandments by Moses, as well as the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem; that of the fifth month was observed in memory of the return of the spies sent to explore Canaan, and the consequent punishment of forty years’ wandering in the wilderness, as well as of the burning of the temple by the Chaldeans; that in the tenth month was appointed because it was then that Ezekiel and the captive Jews received intelligence of the complete destruction of the temple. Joy and gladness. The observance of these fasts seems, by the Lord’s answer, to have been neither enjoined nor forbidden; but as for their sins their festivals had been turned into mourning (Amo 8:10), so now their fasts should be turned into joyful feasts, and former miseries should be forgotten in the presence of the blessings now showered upon them. Therefore love the truth and peace. This is the condition of the fulfilment of the promise (verse 16; Zec 7:9), here again forcibly impressed.

Zec 8:20

It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people; peoples. The sight of the prosperity of the Jews shall induce surrounding nations to join in the worship of Jehovah. The same truth is expressed in Psa 126:1-3. Perowne thinks that verses 20, 21 refer to the tribes of Israel; but it seems unnatural to suppose the prophet asserting that it will yet happen that Israelites will seek the Lord, when there is no reason to think that they had not done so in some fashion, or that they would need the previous deliberation mentioned in the next verse. Many cities. So the LXX. and Vulgate. Others translate, “great, or, populous cities;” but this is less suitable.

Zec 8:21

The inhabitants of one city shall go to another. The LXX. has, “The inhabitants of five cities shall go unto one;” Vulgate, “The inhabitants go one to another.” Let us go speedily. The Hebrew is an imperfect followed by an infinitive absolutean idiom which implies combination, Let us go on and on, continually. So Pusey and Wright. To pray before the Lord; to entreat the favour of the Lord (see note on Zec 7:2). The Gentiles would be moved, not only to make pilgrimages to the great annual festivals, but to seek to know the Lord, and how to worship him acceptably. I will go also. The inhabitants answer willingly to those who exhort them. It is quite unnatural to take the clause to mean (as Drake does), “I, Zechariah, will go too, to see the alteration in the mode of observing these fast days.”

Zec 8:22

Many people (peoples) and strong nations. This explains Zec 8:20 more fully. The Jews were not actuated by the missionary spirit, yet even before Christ’s advent their religion had spread into all parts of the world, as we see from the catalogue of proselytes in Act 2:9-11. Intimations of the same fact are given in Ezr 6:21; Est 8:17. To seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem; i.e. to keep the solemn festivals observed there (comp. Isa 2:2; Isa 66:20-23 Mic 4:1, and note there). The literal fulfilment of this prophecy is not to be looked for. It declares the future conversion of the Gentiles, and their being made one with Israel in the Church of Christ, “one fold under one Shepherd” (Joh 10:16).

Zec 8:23

Ten men. The number ten is used for a large indefinite number (comp. Gen 31:7; Le Gen 26:26; 1Sa 1:8). Out of all languages (the languages) of the nations. The diversity of languages shall not hinder the unity in the faith (comp. Isa 66:18; Rev 5:9; Rev 7:9). Shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. Taking hold of the skirt implies a desire to share the privileges, and to be united in fellowship with (comp. Isa 4:1; Hag 2:12). St. Cyril considers the idea to be that the heathen shall cling to the Jews like children holding their fathers’ dress for support and guidance. In “the man that is a Jew” St. Jerome discerns the Messiah. We will go with you. The picture presented to the mind by this verse is of a Jew journeying to Jerusalem from some distant country to keep a solemn festival, and a number of Gentiles clinging round him, asking permission to accompany him on his journey, because they have learned how good the Lord has been to his countrymen. But the ideal intended is much more than this. Salvation, indeed, is of the Jews; it began to be announced at Jerusalem; it was preached by the Jewish apostles; its founder was of the seed of David. But the true Israelites are not merely those who are of the natural posterity of Abraham, but all true Christians united under Christ, the Head. To their number all who would be saved must be joined (comp. Rom 4:11; Gal 3:7, Gal 3:29; Gal 4:26, etc.).

HOMILETICS

Zec 8:1-8

Assurance of favour.

“Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me.” When warning is carried too far, it degenerates into threatening, and defeats its own end, producing despair instead of desire to escape. It is probably on this account that the solemn warning with which Zec 7:1-14. concludes gives place, in this chapter, to an animating series of encouragements and promises. (For somewhat similar transitions, see Heb 6:9; Isa 1:18, etc.) In the verses now immediately before us, we have the beginning of these encouragements in a gracious assurance of favour to the remnant addressed by the prophetan assurance conveyed to them in the way

(1) of emphatic repetition;

(2) of graphic detail; and

(3) of copious addition.

I. EMPHATIC REPETITION. We have such repetition:

1. Of the feelings of Jehovah towards the enemies of his Zion. He had described himself before (Zec 1:14) as looking with an eye of displeasure and jealousy on the comparative “ease” of those foes. We have the same idea here (in Zec 7:2) in a still more forcible shape. “I was jealous for Zion with great fury.” What can go beyond that?

2. Of the purposes of Jehovah towards Zion herself. On this point, also, God’s former declaration (as found in Zec 1:16; Zec 2:10) is repeated and enforced. Not only would God again dwell in her, as prophesied before; but he would do so in such a manner as to make her a city of truth and holiness (Zec 7:3; and comp. Jer 31:23). All this as though to impress on his people how deliberately he had spoken. “I know what I said, and I mean it; I meant even more than I said.” Such is the purport, such also the effect, of repetition like this. It is the natural language of steadfast purpose and conscious power to fulfil. Some persons think, accordingly, that the Epistle to the Ephesians is, virtually, such a repetition of that to the Colossians; and that the same holds good about the two Epistles to the Galatians and Romans.

II. GRAPHIC DETAIL. A previous prophecy (Zec 2:4) had declared that Jerusalem should be inhabited as “towns without walls.” Verses 4 and 5 of the present chapter amplify this description under three principal ideas of great beauty and force.

1. The idea of restoration and order. Instead of being a city of waste places, we see it a city of populous “streets.” This a wonderful touch. In a growing neighbourhood, where every new building is an event, we think most of the houses; in a completely built city, where there is no room for more buildings, we think most of the thoroughfares.

2. The idea of safety and peace. In times of warfare and tumult the first to succumb to violence and privation and terror are the aged. Streets, therefore, full of such (verse 4) tell a twofold tale. Had there not been long peace in the past, these aged ones would not have survived. Were there not assured peace in the present, they would be in flight or concealment, and not in the streets.

3. The idea of gladness and joy. What happier sight on this earth than that described in verse 5, in its comparative innocence, its abundant life, its musical utterances, its sweet faces and smiles, its graceful figures and movements, and the untold wealth of tender love and delighted looks, of which, in so many different homes, it gives proof! How all this detail would help men to realize what God’s promises meant!

III. COPIOUS ADDITION. Did these visions seem very marvellous in the eyes of those to whom they were shown? Almost too good, in fact, to be true. Let such persons remember:

1. That they were not too marvellous for God’s power. Often had God shown this kind of thing to be true (see Gen 18:14; Jer 32:6-17, where note connection with the subject of restoration after Captivity, as in this instance). Let such persons understand of these promises:

2. That they were far beneath God’s power, in real fact. Besides the remnant now brought back from the Captivity, he would bring others as well; not only those from the east, but those from the west (verse 7); not only also (verse 8) those who were his people already, but those who should become so in the fullest manner. Most probably much of the meaning of this would be concealed at that time from the prophet’s understanding, but even to see such distant peaks “afar off” (Heb 11:13), and above the clouds, as it were, would be a great help on the road.

Two important lessons derivable to conclude.

1. How to receive God’s Word, viz. as something not only perfectly sure, but also as something wonderfully significant and overflowingly full. It is with the secrets of grace as with those of nature; they can never be fully described, never altogether exhausted (see Ecc 3:11; Ecc 8:17; Rom 11:33; Psa 36:6; Psa 77:19; and especially what is said in Job 11:6, of the “secrets of wisdom,” that they “are double to that which is”).

2. How to set forth God’s truth, viz. as having both a sombre side and a bright one. Some are now preaching the gospel as though no such thing as repentance and judgment were mentioned in the Bible. Others confine themselves to repentance and judgment, as though there were no pardon or love. The right “proportion” (Rom 12:6) is shown us in our present passage combined with our last, and in such Scriptures as Psa 101:1; Rom 2:3-11, etc.

Zec 8:9-17

Evidence of favour.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong,” etc. In the beginning of these verses we have the opposite of that with which the previous verses concluded. There God confirmed his people in hoping for certain comparatively proximate blessings by assuring them of other and greater blessings which he designed afterwards to bestow. Here he confirms their hopes of what is more distant by pledging himself, as it were, to what is nearer. And this he does, we shall find, by drawing their attention

(1) to the mercies of the present; and

(2) to the judgments of the past.

I. THE MERICES OF THE PRESENT. (Zec 8:9-13.) Three things, especially, to be noted regarding these.

1. How marked their character! Great temporal mercies (Zec 8:12) are to be “now” (Zec 8:11)abundant produce both in the open “ground” and cultivated enclosure, abundant blessing both in the soil itself and in that which came on it. These also all the more notable for coming after a widely different state of things, when, besides utter want (Zec 8:10), even for those most desirous to work, there was the common concomitant of such evils, viz. home dissension and strife; and that, wherever men were and whatever they did (see also Hag 2:16, Hag 2:17, describing those same evil days). Who could avoid seeing and admiring so blessed a change?

2. How striking their connection! This happy change in their circumstances had taken place simultaneously with a corresponding change in their doings. From the very day when, as it were, for the second time they “laid the foundation” of God’s house (Zec 8:9; Ezr 4:24; Ezr 5:1, Ezr 5:2), God had begun to prosper thus the work of their hands. “Before” then (Zec 8:10) was trouble; but now (Zec 8:11) I am not (so some) as before. This, too, we find occurring (see Hag 1:9-11; Hag 2:15-19) in accordance with express promise to this effect.

3. How hopeful their bearing! What was all this but plain evidence of a corresponding change, as it were, up above? And what might not be expected in future, such being the case? Even all promised in Zec 8:13, viz. that God’s people should become as conspicuous new for their prosperity as formerly for their adversity (see also Jer 24:9; Jer 25:18; Jer 42:18, etc.). Much as when, from the very day on which a certain remedy is first employed, a sick man begins to improve. How easy then to believe the physician’s assurance that he shall ultimately become better than ever!

II. THE JUDGMENTS OF THE PAST. This conviction further confirmed by going till further back in their history. For doing so shows:

1. The steadfastness of God’s purposes. (Zec 8:14, Zec 8:15.) When the state of things is such as to call for judgment, ye have seen how the thought of such judgment is carried out by me. Learn from this, when things, as at present, are different, to rely on the stone steadfastness on my part.

2. So to describe it, the easiness of God’s terms. All that he asks on their part, in order to ensure on his part the full accomplishment of his purposes o! mercy, was that (as in the case of their fathers) which would he for their good. See previous remarks on Zec 7:9, Zec 7:10; and note that we have here, in verses 16, 17, the same thoughts and almost words as before, followed up, however, by two remarkable additions which seem specially meant for those timesthe mention of false swearing (comp. Zec 5:4); and the implied assurance that, if these evils were persisted in, they would stop the current of God’s love. “All these things, being hurtful to you, are hateful to me. Therefore, on every account, do them not.”

Do we not see here, in conclusion:

1. The unchangeableness of God’s nature? His dealings with men vary often and widely; his character, never. He is always true to his purpose; never, as men are, turned from it by caprice. The very variety of his dealings helps to demonstrate this. The very same sunshine which melts the ice hardens the clay. See this illustrated by the opposite effects of mercy and favour, hardening some (Isa 26:10; Ecc 8:11, etc.) and melting others (Psa 130:4; Psa 116:1, Psa 116:12); also of affliction or chastisement, humiliating some (Luk 15:17-19; 2Ch 33:12) and exasperating others (Gen 4:13; 2Ch 28:22; Rev 9:20, Rev 9:21).

2. The certainty of God’s promises? Established, as we see, by God’s very judgments, what wider base can they have (comp. Mal 3:6; also Psa 119:52, “I remembered thy judgments of old, and comforted myself”)? In this way, how many (apparently) unlikely things combine to preach Christ! Even the thunders of Sinai itself (see in one sense, Gal 3:24)! Other things, perhaps, more articulately as it were, but none with more power.

Zec 8:18-23

Pre-eminent favour.

“And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month,” etc. The close of this chapter gives an answer at length to the question asked in Zec 7:3. And this answer consistsunlike the intervening stream of mingled denunciation, warning, and encouragement of an almost unbroken outburst of promise and hope. The only apparent exception, in fact, is to be found in the six brief words of admonition at the close of verse 19. How far this abundance of promise was fulfilled in the experience of the literal Israel of the past, how far in that of the spiritual Israel of Christ’s Church, and how far it yet remains to be verified in the case of either or both,has been debated often and much. Taken simply as they stand (which is clearly the first thing to do with them), we may consider the words as setting before us

(1) the future happiness of Judah;

(2) the eminence of Jerusalem; and

(3) the future dignity of the Jew.

I. THE FUTURE HAPPINESS OF THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH. We shall appreciate this best by noting:

1. Their recollections at the time of this prophecy. For seventy years they had been accustomed, on four different annual occasions (see verse 19), to fast and weep in remembrance of four different and dreadful stages in their overthrow as a nation, viz. in the tenth month, in remembrance of the opening of the siege of Jerusalem (Jer 52:4); in the fourth month, in remembrance of its capture (Jer 52:6); in the fifth, in remembrance of the burning of the temple (Jer 52:12-16); and in the seventh, in remembrance of the flight of the last residue of the “seed royal,” and army, and prophets, and people from Palestine into Egypt (2Ki 25:25, 2Ki 25:26; Je 41:1-43:7). What a succession, what a continual aggravation, what a climax, of ill!

2. Their experience. They had now got so far (as we noted on Zec 7:3) that a remnant of the people had returned, and the temple had begun to rise again, and its full restoration seemed only a work of time. This being so, that fifth-month day of humiliation, which was connected with the destruction of the temple, appeared no longer in place. Why should they longer commemorate a loss which they had already begun to efface?

3. Their prospects. Why, indeed, seeing the time was coming (verse 19) when all the calamities commemorated by all the four Captivity fasts here referred to would be so completely outbalanced by corresponding blessings as to call for “cheerful feasts” rather than fasts? Only let them “love truth and peace,” and all their losses would be forgotten, as in the case mentioned in Gen 41:51.

II. THE FUTURE EMINENCE OF JERUSALEM This capital of Israel was to become “yet” (i.e; however apparently unlikely, however apparently delayed) the religious capital of the world. As foretelling this, we have portrayed to us here:

1. A great journey resolved on. We see

(1) many pilgrims assembling together, people who have “cities” and settled habitations (“inhabitants” bis) of their own, leaving those cities to visit this (comp. Heb 11:8-10, Heb 11:14-16; Heb 13:14). These pilgrims have

(2) a common purpose, the inhabitants of one city inviting those of others, and volunteering themselves, to go up (Psa 122:1). They have also

(3) a very earnest purpose: let us go “perseveringly” (Pusey), till we obtain what we seektill our feet actually “stand” (Psa 122:2) where we desire. And they have, finally,

(4) a most suitable and laudable purpose, even that of finding that presence of Jehovah which is to be found in that city alone; and are not seeking to reach it merely as a means of reaching something beyond.

2. A great journey accomplished. (Gen 41:22.) The pilgrims have arrived at last. How mighty in number! “Many people shall come;” and come to seek God. How mighty also in significance! “Strong nations,” who might have come as invaders, are here as suppliants before God (comp. Isa 60:3, Isa 60:11, etc.; Isa 2:2-4; and the almost identical passage in Mic 4:1-8, noting specially “the first dominion”).

III. THE FUTURE DIGNITY OF THE JEW; i.e. of every individual enjoying, in those days, the natural citizenship of this illustrious city. Even when far from its walls, every such citizen (something as with those referred to in Act 16:37, Act 16:38; Act 22:25-29, etc.) would be almost as much an object of homage as that city itself. Note what is here shown:

1. As to the depth of this homage, men being willing even to sink their own distinctive names in that of an Israelite, even as a woman does when she marries (comp. Rth 3:9; Isa 4:1; and contrast Pilate’s indignant question in Joh 18:35).

2. Its extent. How many would do thus! viz. as many as ten to each Jew. How manifold, also, they would be! viz. out of “all languages” upon earth. Wherever their dwelling, whatever their diversities of race, training, customs, or speech, they would break through all to do this.

3. Its foundation. On the one hand, negatively. The homage paid to this “citizen” is not due to anything else but his being “a Jew.” On the other hand, positively. This homage is paid to him because, as being such, he is believed to be peculiarly favoured of God (see end of Gen 41:23; and Num 10:29, Num 10:32; and contrast Joh 4:20; see also end of Joh 4:22).

Two brief lessons to conclude.

1. As to Israel now. Let us ever think of God’s ancient people with peculiar tenderness and respect. With tenderness, as is only proper, because of their having “seen better days.” With respect, as is only becoming, considering their “great expectations.” Whatever the exact application of the present prophecy, of this much we are sure (Rom 11:1-36; passim). Who, indeed, may not be proud of the name mentioned in Joh 1:47?

2. As to ourselves. When will the Jews be thus honoured? When they truly seek God. So, therefore, of us, in our turn. We must never forget what it took Peter so much trouble to learn (Act 10:34, Act 10:35).

HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH

Zec 8:1-23

The future glory of the Church.

God speaks. Formerly stern rebuke; here sweet encouragement. Glowing picture of the good time coming.

I. GOD‘S ABIDING LOVE TO HIS CHURCH. There are times when it would seem as if God had cast off his people. “Has God forgotten to be gracious?” Here is the answer. “I am jealous,” etc. There is real, intense, and abiding attachment. Words of good cheer verified by facts. “I am returned,” etc.

II. GOD‘S GRACIOUS PURPOSE TO RESTORE HIS CHURCH. God’s withdrawal was because of sin. But for a season. When we return to God, he will return to us. The very righteousness that obliges him to punish the impenitent, birds him to bless the penitent. The light will shine more and more. Times of revival are times of refreshment. The release of the captives pledges freedom to all. The return of the exiles prophesies of the final restoration.

III. GOD‘S DELIGHT IN THE PROSPERITY OF HIS CHURCH. (Zec 8:4-6.) Sweet and ravishing picture. So far fulfilled in the heroic times of the Maccabees (1 Macc. 14:8-12). Finds a grander fulfilment under the gospel, and will be perfectly fulfilled in the latter days.

IV. GOD‘S FAITHFULNESS IN FULFILLING HIS PROMISES TO HIS CHURCH. There am things which seem too great to be possibletoo good to be true. It may be so with man, but not with God. Eternal Wisdom cannot err. Absolute truth cannot alto. Omnipotent love cannot fail.F.

Zec 8:21

The soul’s response to the gospel call.

“I will go also.” This resolution is

I. PERSONAL. “I.” Religion is a thing between the soul and God. We are brought face to face with Christ in the gospel. Free and responsible. Must decide for ourselves.

II. RESULT OF CONVICTION. Many careless, some anxious, others almost persuaded. fie who says, “I will go,” has considered the question, and made up his mind on evidence which to him is satisfactory and convincing. “God is with you.”

III. PROMPTLY AND THOROUGHLY CARRIED OUT. Not a mere thought; or impulse, or sentiment. Not the result of transitory feelings in times of excitement. But the expression outwardly of the change wrought withinof the heart won to Christ (Psa 119:59, Psa 119:60).

IV. FORTIFIED BY THE SYMPATHY AND APPROVAL OF ALL THE GOOD. We crave sympathy. Alliance with others gives courage, especially at the outset. The fellowship of the saints intensifies our best emotions and increases our purest joys.

V. LEADING TO A TRUE AND NOBLE LIFE.F.

Zec 8:23

Right representation.

Much depends on whether religion is rightly represented. In order to be attractive, the representation should be

I. AGREEABLE TO REASON. An irrational religion cannot stand. Christ and his apostles constantly appeal to the moral judgment.

II. CONGRUOUS TO MAN‘S NECESSITIES. There is a certain condition of things. The feeling and the cry of sin. The craving for reconciliation with God. Aspirations after holiness. The longing for confirmed tranquillity. The gospel must be shown to meet these needs.

III. IN HARMONY WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. Christ’s the gospel. Those who witness for Christ must take heed that their witness is true. We behold in Christ utter truth, disinterested love, self-sacrificing earnestness, supreme sympathy with God.

IV. CONFIRMED BY THE CHARACTER AND LIFE OF ITS PROFESSORS. Conduct is the test of faith. The truth is identified with its advocates. To get others to believe, we must show that we believe ourselves. Life is better than doctrine. To do good, we must be good. Gehazi would never have won Naaman. Lot failed to move his sons-in-law. At home and abroad, Christianity is suffering from the faithlessness of Christians.

V. VERIFIED BY THE DIVINE EFFECTS WHICH IT PRODUCES. “God is with you” (cf. 1Co 14:25). The gospel is its own best witness.F.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Zec 8:1-6

The blessed community of men yet to appear on the earth.

“Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury,” etc. This chapter does not commence a new subject, but continues the subject of the preceding one. The awful consequences of disregarding the will of Heaven had often been set forth by the prophets; and here, in this chapter, we have the assurance of the renewal of Divine favour to those who had returned from the Captivity. Without concerning ourselves with “times and seasons,” it is clear that in this section of Scripture there is sketched a state of human society which has never yet existed on the earth, and which is not likely to appear for many centuries, if not milleniums hence. It is to this community, as herein pictured, that I desire to call the attention of my readers. The following facts are eminently noteworthy in relation to this blessed community.

I. HERE IS A COMMUNITY SPECIALLY INTERESTING TO THE GREAT GOD. “Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.” The rendering of Dr. Henderson is worth citation: “And the word of Jehovah was communicated to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have been jealous for Zion with great zeal, yea, with great indignation have I been jealous for her.” Jerusalem was a city in which God had chosen “to put his Name;” there was his temple, there were the ark, the mercy seat, and the memorials of his power and goodness in the history of Israel. This city had been destroyed by the Babylonian invaders, and during the whole period of its ruin Jehovah’s hand was on it and its scattered and exiled people. During all this time, he says, “I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy.” Instead of losing interest in his persecuted people, his feelings were intense concerning them. The Eternal is interested in all the works of his hand, interested in men even in their state of infidelity and rebellion; but specially interested in those whom he regards as his people. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word;” “As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him” (Isa 57:15; Psa 103:13).

II. HERE IS A COMMUNITY IN WHICH THE ALMIGHTY SPECIALLY RESIDES. “Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem was in a very particular sense the dwelling place of God (Exo 29:45; Le Exo 26:12). There shone the symbol of his presence for centuries; there he communed with his people from off the mercy seat; there lived and laboured the priests whom he had chosen to represent his will. But he dwells with his people in a more real and vital sense than this. Know ye not that “ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”? There are two senses in which the Almighty dwells with good men.

1. By his sympathy. The loving mother dwells with her loved child; yes, though separated by continents and seas. Jehovah’s sympathies are with his children.

2. By his presence. The loving parent cannot always be personally with the loved child. In person they may be as far asunder as the poles. But God’s presence is always with his people. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” What a blessed community that must be, where God not only by his sympathies but by his presence dwells!

III. HERE IS A COMMUNITY DISTINGUISHED BY REALITY AND ELEVATION.

1. Reality. “And Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth.” What is moral reality? A practical correspondence of the sympathies and life with eternal facts. All whose thoughts, affections, and conduct are not in accord with the immutable moral laws of God, live in fiction, “walk in a vain show;” and in this state most, if not all, communities are found. Alas! “THE CITY OF TRUTH” is not yet established, it is in a distant future.

2. Elevation. “And the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.” Where arc the communities of men now found in a moral sense? Down in the hazy, boggy, impure valleys of carnalities and falsehoods. But this community is up on the holy mountain; it is in a place of high moral exaltation.

IV. HERE IS A COMMUNITY IN WHICH THE VERY AGED AND THE YOUNG LIVE IN SOCIAL ENJOYMENT. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his stag in his hand for very age.” The promise of long life was esteemed one of the greatest blessings in the Jewish theocracy (Exo 20:12; Deu 4:40); and in Isa 65:20-22 this is promised as one of the signal blessings of Messianic times. Through bloody wars and general disregard of the laws of health, only an insignificant minority of the human race reach old age. Blessed is that community in which aged people abound, ripe in wisdom, goodness, and experience. But not only are the very aged in this community, but the young. “The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.” No sight is more refreshing, more morally inspiring to the true-hearted of all ages, even to the oldest, than a community of guileless, bright, and blithesome children. They are the latest emanations and revelations of Infinite Love to the world. They are to adults as flowers growing on the sides of the dry and dusty walks of life. Beautiful city this! The children not filthy, half-starved, diseased arabs in crowded alleys, but bright creatures gambolling in the sunny streets.

V. HERE IS A COMMUNITY WHOSE ESTABLISHMENT, THOUGH INCREDIBLE TO MAN, IS CERTAIN TO GOD. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes?” As if the Almighty had said, “The creation of such a social state amongst you may appear an impossibility; but it is not so to me.” Indeed, to create such a community as this on the earth, to make the whole globe a kind of Jerusalem, whose members shall be all holy and all happy, does appear so wonderful that even the most believing amongst us are often filled with doubt. How far off is such a state of things from the present! How imperceptibly slow does the Christly reformation proceed! How vast and mighty is the reign of error and wrong everywhere! and how difficult to believe that the time will come “when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ”! Still, God has promised it; and what he has promised he is able to accomplish. Let us live and labour in faith. “Let us be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know our labour is not in vain in the Lord.”D.T.

Zec 8:7, Zec 8:8

A twofold Divine restoration.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people [‘out of the land of the rising and the land of the setting’ (Keil)] from the cast country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” “The east and the west are here put as parts for the whole. The meaning is, ‘I will deliver my people from regions whither they have been scattered.’ Were there any reason to believe that the prophecy has respect to a restoration of the Jews yet future, there would be a singular propriety in the use of , ‘the setting of the sun,’ the Jews being now, for the most part, found in countries to the west of Jerusalem; but there is every reason to conclude that it has an exclusive reference to what was to take place soon after it was delivered. Vast numbers were carried away captive after the time of Alexander. Not fewer than a hundred thousand were carried by Ptolemy, and were settled in Alexandria and Cyrene” (Henderson). We shall use these words as suggesting a twofold Divine restorationtemporal and spiritual.

I. HERE IS A DIVINE TEMPORAL RESTORATION. “And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.” There is no sound reason for believing that the people here mentioned as those that were brought “from the east country and from the west” refer to the Jews in the far future, who, some suppose, will be restored to Jerusalem at last. I know of no authority lop supposing that such a restoration will ever be effected. Nor does the passage point, I think, to the universal conversion of the Jews to Christianity in the last times. The reference is manifestly to those Jews who had been scattered abroad over various countries through the Babylonian Captivity, and other disastrous causes. The point is that the restoration here promised is a temporal restoration to their own land and city. They had been exiled for many long years, and deeply did they deplore in a foreign land their expatriation. “By the rivers of Babylon we sat down,” etc. The Almighty by Cyrus restored them. And he is constantly restoring his people to those temporal blessings they have lost. He restores often

(1) to lost health;

(2) to lost property;

(3) to lost social status.

He is the temporal Restorer of his people. In all their distresses he bids them look to him. “Call upon me in the day of trouble,” etc.

II. HERE IS A DIVINE SPIRITUAL RESTORATION, “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” This may mean, “I will become their God in good faith, or in reality, both on their side and mine.” This is incomparably the most important restoration. In truth, all temporal restorations are of no permanent value without this. Observe:

1. Man may lose his God. He may be without “God in the world.” Indeed, the millions are in this state. “They feel after him, if haply they may find him.”

2. The loss of God is the greatest toss. A man separated from God is like a branch separated from the root, a river from the fountain, a planet from the sun.

3. Restoration to God is the transcendent good. He who can say, “The Lord is my Portion” possesseth all things. This restoration the Almighty is effecting now in the world. “He is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.”D.T.

Zec 8:9-15

A Divine call to a Divine work.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words,” etc, This paragraph is promising and cheerful; it is at once intended and suited to animate the builders of the temple and to stimulate them to resolute diligence in their work. It accords with that of Haggai (see Hag 1:2-6; Hag 2:15-19) respecting Heaven’s displeasure at their apathy in God’s work and their eagerness in their own. In the words we have a Divine call to a Divine work. This call is urged on two considerations.

I. THE WRETCHEDNESS CONSEQUENT ON THE NEGLECT OF DUTY. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.” The “prophets” here referred to were undoubtedly Haggai and Zechariah (see Ezr 5:1, Ezr 5:2). The words which they addressed to the people were words of stimulation and encouragement to arise and rebuild the temple. The prophet here reminds them, as an inducement to set in earnest to the work, of the wretched condition of the people before the work began. “For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace.” That is, “before the days” the building commenced: They were then destitute of three elements essential to the well being of any people.

1. Industry. “There was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast.” The people were purposeless, lazy, and in a state of general lethargy and collapse. No great project inspired their interest, engrossed their intention, enlisted and marshalled their powers. The lack of industry is a curse to any people; it is an injury to health, as well as an obstruction to material and social progress.

2. Peace. “Neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction.” The lack of earnest occupation naturally led to intestine broils and contentions. Nothing is more natural and more common than for people without employment to wrangle and dispute with one another. “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” Men who are full of business have no time to quarrel

3. Social unity. “For I set all men every one against his neighbour.” In biblical phraseology, the Almighty is frequently represented as doing that which he only permits. It would be unreasonable and even blasphemous to suppose that the God of love and peace exerts himself in any way to inspire his human creatures with hostility towards one another. But for reasons known to himself, and which we are bound to regard as wise and kind, he often allows these feelings to rise and express themselves in malignant recriminations and bloody wars. He originates good, and good only; and the evil which he permits, he overrules for good, and for good only. The general truth here taught is that, so long as duty is neglected by men, certain terrible evils must ensue. Hence the Divine call, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong.” Go with courage and energy into the work which is Divinely enjoined.

II. THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH ENSUES ON THE RESUMPTION OF DUTY. “Blot now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. For the seed shall be prosperous,” etc. This means, “But now, as you have resumed the work and rebuilt the temple, I will Bless you.” There are three blessings here promised.

1. Temporal prosperity. “For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew.” Material nature is in the hands of God, and he can at any moment make it a curse or a blessing to mare Here he promises to make it a blessing. “Godliness is profitable unto all things,” etc.

2. Social usefulness. “And it shall come to pass, that u ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel [comprehending the whole of the Jewish people]; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing.” The expression, “a curse among the heathen,” may mean either that they were “cursed” by the heathenobjects of their denunciationor that they were a curse to the heathen by the influence of their corrupt example. The latter seems to me the most likely idea. (See another explanation of the phrase in the Exposition.) The whole of the Jewish people, prior to the Captivitywith a few exceptionswere sunk into almost the lowest depths of moral corruption. But now it is promised that on the resumption of the great duty which Heaven had enjoined upon them, they should be a “blessing.” So it ever is; the disobedient are a curse to any community; the obedient are evermore a blessing. “No man liveth to himself.” We must either bless or curse our race.

3. Divine favour, “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not,” Where there was Divine displeasure there would be Divine favour.

CONCLUSION. On these two grounds men may always be urged to duty. Duty neglected brings misery on a people; duty resumed and faithfully prosecuted will utterly reverse the experience, turn the distressing into the joyous, the destitution into abundance, the discordant into the harmonious, the pernicious into the beneficent. Listen, then, to the voice of Heaven! “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong,” etc.D.T.

Zec 8:16-23

A universal revival of genuine religion.

“These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour,” etc. The whole of this paragraph may be taken as setting forth a universal revival of genuine religion; and, looking at it in this light, we have here two things: the essential prerequisites; and the signal manifestations of a universal revival of genuine religion.

I. THE ESSENTIAL PREREQUISITES. We discover in these verses four prerequisites or preparatories for a universal revival of genuine religion.

1. There must be truthfulness in speech. “These are the things which ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour.” Truthful speech is somewhat rare in all social circles, and in all departments of life. Fallacious statements abound in markets, senates, courts, and even families. Men are constantly deceiving one another by words. It is not so easy a matter to speak truthfully as one might think. To speak is easy enough; but to speak truthfully is often very difficult. Truthful speaking involves two things.

(1) Sincerity. To speak a true thing insincerely is not to speak truthfully. A man must conscientiously believe that what he speaks is true, before he can be credited with veracity. There is more truthful speaking in the man who is telling a falsehood sincerely than there is in the man who is telling the truth in insincerity.

(2) Accuracy. A man may speak with sincerity, and yet, from ignorance or mistake, may not speak according to fact; and unless he speaks according to fact, he can scarcely be said to speak truthfully. His speech unintentionally conveys falsehood. Hence, truthful speaking requires a strong sense of right,and an adequate acquaintance with the subjects of the speech. Considerable effort is herein demandedeffort to discipline the conscience and to enlighten the judgment. But difficult as truth speaking is, it is incumbent. “Every man should be swift to hear, but slow to speak.“

2. There must be rectitude in conduct. “Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” In the East the courts of justice were held at the gates of the city; and perhaps the primary reference here is to the pronouncing of judgment on cases that were righteous and tended to peace. But rectitude of life is even more important and urgent than rectitude in judgment. In fact, scarcely can a man be morally qualified to sit as a judge in a court of justice who is not righteous in all his life and conduct; and yet, alas! it is not uncommon, even here in England, to have men of the lowest morality enthroned on the bench of justice. The great law of social life is, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”

3. There must be benevolence in feeling. “Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour.” We must not only keep our hands from evil, but we must watch over our hearts that they imagine not any evil against our neighbour. Mischief must be crushed in the embryo. “Charity thinketh no evil,” and this charity must be cultivated.

4. There must be abhorrence of falsehood. “Love no false oath” If the oath is false, whether sworn by others or yourself, do not bind yourself to it, recoil from it with horror and abomination. Don’t espouse a falsehood because it is sworn to; nay, repudiate it the more resolutely and indignantly. A strong reason is here assigned for a practical respect to all these injunctions; it is thisGod abhors the opposites. “For all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord” (see Pro 6:19). Whatever God hates, we should hate.

II. THE SIGNAL MANIFESTATIONS. It is suggested that where these prerequisites are found, i.e. where a revival takes place, three things are manifest.

1. An increased pleasure in religious ordinances. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts.” “The fast of the fourth month was on account of the taking of Jerusalem (Jer 39:2; Jer 52:5-7); that of the tenth was in commemoration of the commencement of the siege (Jer 52:4). The Jews are distinctly informed that these fasts should be turned into festivals of joy” (Henderson). The idea is, perhaps, that these fast days are no longer seasons of mourning and penitential confession, but seasons of rejoicing. The first sign of a true revival of religion, in an individual or a community, is a new and happy interest in the ordinances of religion.

2. A deep practical concern for the spiritual interests of the race. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.” There will be a mutual excitation amongst the people to seek the one true and living God. Not only shall the inhabitants of one house go to another house, but the inhabitants of one city shall go to another city and say, “Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord.” “Speedily;” there is no time to be lost; religion is for all, and for all an urgent duty.

3. A universal desire to be identified with the people of God. “In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men [a definite number for an indefinite multitude, indicating many rather than a few] shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew.” The Jew (the representative of the people of God), to him men shall go, they shall lay hold of the “skirt” of his garmentan expression conveying the idea either of anxious entreaty or conscious inferiority. Dr. Henderson says, in relation to this, “The prophecy is generally regarded as having respect to something yet future, and is often interpreted of the instrumentality of the Jews when converted in effecting the conversion of the world. I can find no such reference in the passage. ‘Jerusalem ‘ cannot be understood otherwise than literally, just as the term ‘Jew’ is to be so understood; but according to our Lord’s doctrine respecting the new dispensation, that city is no longer the place where men are exclusively to worship the Father (Joh 4:21-23). Incense and a pure offering are now presented to his Name in every place where his people assemble in the name of Jesus and with a view to his glory (Mal 1:10, Mal 1:11). it was otherwise before the advent of Christ. Jerusalem was the place which Jehovah had chosen to put his Name there; and thither all his true worshippers were expected to come to the great festivals, in whatever country they might reside. Thus the treasurer of Candace went all the way from Abyssinia (Act 8:27), and thus numbers from all parts of the Roman empire assembled in that city at the first Pentecost after our Saviour’s resurrection. As the Hellenistic Jews and the Gentile proselytes travelled along in companies, they could not but excite the curiosity of the pagans through whose countries and cities they passed; and, celebrated as the metropolis of Judaea had become for the favours conferred upon it by some of the greatest monarchs of the times immediately gone by, and for the prosperity and warlike prowess of the Jewish people, it was impossible that it should not attract the attention of the surrounding nations to the character and claims of the God who was there adored, and who accorded such blessings to his worshippers. Men, for ages, had to go to the Jew for the true religion; the Gentiles in the apostolic times received it from the Jew; Christ and his apostles were Jews; but in these times the Jews have to come to the Gentiles for the true religion. Still, inasmuch as the Bible is a book of the Jews, Jewish histories, poetries, moralities, etc; and inasmuch as the grand Hero of the book was a Jew, it will, perhaps, ever be true that all nations shall take hold of the Jew in order to ‘seek the Lord’ with success.”

CONCLUSION. When will this universal revival of religion take place? The signs are scarcely visible anywhere. We can only hasten it by attending to the prerequisitestruthfulness in speech, rectitude in conduct, benevolence in feeling, and abhorrence of falsehood.D.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

2. THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE. THE QUESTION ANSWERED
A. General Promises and Precepts (Zec 8:1-17). B. Fasts shall become Festivals, and whole Nations be added to the Jews (Zec 8:18-23)

Zechariah 8

1 And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me,1 saying,

2 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

I am jealous2 for Zion with great jealousy,

And with great fury I am jealous for her.

3 Thus saith Jehovah, I am returned to Zion,

And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
And Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth,3

And the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts the holy mountain.

4 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

Yet shall there sit4 old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem,

Each having his staff in his hand for very age;5

5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls,

Playing in the streets.

6 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

Because it will be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this nation in those6 days,

Shall it be marvelous in my eyes also? saith Jehovah of Hosts.

7 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

Behold, I save my people from the land of the rising,
And from the land of the setting of the sun;

8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,

And they shall be my people and I will be their God,
In truth and in righteousness.

9 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts

Let your hands be strong,
Ye who hear in these days these words,
From the mouth of the prophets who spake7

On the day the house of Jehovah of Hosts, the temple,8

Was founded, that it might be built.

10 For before those days there was no wages for a man

And no wages for a beast,9

And no peace to him that went out or came in, because of the oppressor;
And I set10 all men, each against his neighbor.

11 But now not as in the former days am I

To the remnant of this people, saith Jehovah of Hosts.

12 For11 there shall be a seed of peace,

The vine shall yield its fruit,
And the earth shall yield its produce,
And the heavens shall give their dew,
And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these.

13 And it shall be, that as ye were a curse among the nations,

O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So will I save you and ye shall be a blessing;
Fear not, let your hands be strong.

14 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

As I thought to do evil12 to you when your fathers provoked me,

Saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I repented not;

15 So have I thought again13 in these days

To do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah,
Fear ye not.

16 These are the words which ye are to do;

Speak truth, each to his neighbor;
Truth and judgment of peace judge ye14 in your gates.

17 And let none of you devise the evil of his neighbor in your hearts,

And love not an oath of falsehood;
For all these15 are what I hate, saith Jehovah.

1819 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

The fast of the fourth (month), and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall become pleasure and joy to the house of Judah, and cheerful feasts; but love ye truth16 and peace.

20 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

It shall yet17 be that peoples18 will come,

And the inhabitants of many cities;

21 And the inhabitants of one (city) shall go to another, saying,

Let us go speedily to entreat Jehovah19

And to seek Jehovah of Hosts.
I will go also.

22 And many peoples and strong nations shall come

To seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem,
And to entreat Jehovah.

23 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

In those days it shall come to pass
That ten men of all languages of the nations shall take hold;
Even shall take hold of the skirt of a Jew,
Saying, we will go with you,
For we have heard that God is with you.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

In the preceding chapter the Prophet had rebuked the people for their formalism, and set forth the dreadful consequences of disobedience. Now he turns to the other side of the subject and paints an exquisite picture of the results of conformity to the Divine will. Zec 8:1-3. The restoration of purity.

Zec 8:4-6. Wonderful peace and prosperity.

Zec 8:7-8. Rescue of all captives from every quarter.

Zec 8:9-13. General fertility in place of the previous drought and want.

Zec 8:14-15. Future execution of promises as sure as past execution of threats.

Zec 8:16-17. Moral conditions of prosperity.

Zec 8:18-19. Fasts shall become festivals.

Zec 8:20-23. Lively statement of the extension of Gods kingdom.

The chapter is divided into two parts by the phrase, And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me (Zec 8:1 and Zec 8:18). Each of these parts is again divided into separate utterances by the recurring formula, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts. The first contains seven of these segments (Zec 8:2-4; Zec 8:6-7; Zec 8:9; Zec 8:14); the second has but three (Zec 8:19-20; Zec 8:23). Jerome justly explains these reiterated references to the Almighty as meaning, Do not consider these words to be my own, and therefore disbelieve them as coming from a man; they are the promises of God.

(a.) General Promises and Precepts, (Zec 8:1-17).

Zec 8:1. And the word of Jehovah, etc. See the same formula, ante i. 7, iv. 8.

Zec 8:2. I am jealous.. for her. For the usage and the sense, see on Zec 1:14. Both passages speak of wrath, but there the object of the wrath is stated (the nations), here, the cause (Zion). This vehement affection manifests itself in the ways described in the next verse.

Zec 8:3. I am returned to Zion. He had forsaken his dwelling-place when Jerusalem was given up to her foes, and Ezekiel had seen in vision the glory of Jehovah departing (Eze 11:23). Now he would return, and in consequence, the city would be called the city of truth, i. e., where truth is found, and Moriah the holy mountain; which does not mean that they would actually bear these names, but that they would deserve them as expressing their real character. The strict fulfillment of this promise must be referred to the Messianic period.

Zec 8:4-5. Yet shall there sit, etc. This beautiful picture represents the extremes of life as dwelling in all security and happiness in the midst of Jerusalem. Long life and a multitude of children were ordinary theocratic blessings (Exo 20:12; Deu 7:13-14; Psa 128:3-5), and this promise must in part at least relate to the period between Zerubbabel and Christ. There is a curious verbal coincidence in the words of the author of 1 Maccabees (Zec 14:9), describing the peaceful prosperity which prevailed in Juda under the rule of Simon: The ancient men sat all in the streets, communing together of good things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel. But the full realization has been seen only under a latter economy.

Zec 8:6. Because it will be marvelous, etc. The Lord confirms their faith in his words by reminding them that what seemed incredible to them was not therefore incredible to Jehovah. The common explanation of the second clause, supposes to stand for , as in 1Sa 22:8, and the question to imply a negative answer. This is simple and pertinent, especially if we, like the E. V., render these, instead of those, which is its customary sense as denoting the farther demonstrative. But even according to the rendering, in those days, i. e., when this shall come to pass, the sense is better than with Khler to make the second clause an affirmation, and explain the passage as saying that it would be right for the people to regard it as marvelous, for it would appear such even to Jehovah himself. Remnant of this nation. See Hag 1:12-14.

Zec 8:7-8. Behold I save my people. righteousness. Jehovah will rescue his people from all lands as far as the sun shines, install them again in Jerusalem and renew the old covenant relation,He their God and they his people (Zec 13:9); and this, in the exercise on both sides of, truth and righteousness (Hos 2:21-22). Henderson, Kohler, Pressel, et al., refer this to the restoration of the Jews still scattered abroad, but the words are too large to admit of so narrow a restriction, nor is there any historical evidence of any such general return of the diaspora to Palestine. Jerusalem must stand here as elsewhere for the Messianic kingdom. On the basis of these promises, Zechariah proceeds to encourage the people.

Zec 8:9. Let your hands, etc. To have the hands strong=to be of good courage (Jdg 7:11; 2Sa 16:21). A reason for this courage is shown in the description of those to whom it is addressed. They are those who hear what the later Prophets say, e. g., in Zec 8:2-8 of this chapter. These later Prophets (Haggai and Zechariah) had appeared at the time when the foundation of the temple was laid, and the good effects of their activity already to be seen were a pledge of what should follow. It is unnecessary with Hitzig to conceive as put for , but he is happy in the suggestion that the last words of the verse that it might be built, are intended to emphasize the thought that this second founding of the temple (Hag 2:15-18), unlike the first (Ezr 3:10), should issue in the completion of the building.

Zec 8:10-12 present the contrast between the present and the former times.

Zec 8:10. Before those days, namely, in which work on the temple was resumed. No wages. The labor of man and beast yielded so little result that it might be said to be none. There was also an entire absence of internal quiet to him that went out or came in, i. e., men engaged in their ordinary occupations. , rendered by the ancient versions as an abstract noun, is made concrete by nearly all the moderns. That this does not refer wholly to a heathen oppressor is made plain by the following clause.

Zec 8:11. But now makes vivid the contrast with the opening words of the preceding verse.

Zec 8:12. For there shall be. peace. This clause is variously construed. Some say, the seed shall be secure (Targum, Peshito), or prosperous (E. V., Henderson), which is ungrammatical. Others, the seed of peace, namely, the vine, shall, etc. (Keil, Khler), and they say that the vine is thus called because it can be produced only in peaceful times; but is not war just as destructive to any other fruit of the earth? I prefer the view of the Vulgate and Pressel given above, a general statement of productiveness of which the following clauses give the details. Future abundance will compensate for the drought and scarcity of the past (Jerome).

Zec 8:13 sums up all the blessings in a single utterance. As ye were a curse, etc. This does not mean that they would become a source of blessing to the nations (a view which Pressel urges with great zeal, but manifestly without ground), but an example, of blessedness, and therefore they would be employed in a formula of benediction, just as they had been used for an imprecatory formula (cf. Gen 48:20; Jer 29:22).Israel. See on p. 30 a the remark on a similar occurrence of this name in Zec 1:19. It is very significant. The idea that the ten tribes still exist somewhere in the world, and are still to be restored in their tribal state, has arisen from a misconstruction of those prophecies which refer to the return from Babylon (Henderson).

Zec 8:14-17. The two former of these verses confirm the foregoing promise, and the two latter indicate a condition of its performance.

Zec 8:14. And I repented not. Just as the threatening did not fail of its execution, so you may be sure the promise will not.

Zec 8:16-17. These are the words There is no need of giving to the doubtful meaning things (E. V., Henderson), since the ordinary sense words is entirely suitable. These words are, just as above in Zec 7:9-10, first positive (Zec 8:16), then negative (Zec 8:17). Judgment of peace is such judgment as promotes peace, but this is always founded upon truth. Your gates, as the places where justice was usually administered. The first clause of Zec 8:17 is curiously reversed in meaning by Henderson: think not in your hearts of the injury which one hath done to another,a sense which the Hebrew cannot have. The last clause is very emphatic in the original, lit., For as to all these things, they are what I hate.

b. Fasts shall become Festivals, and the Nations attracted (Zec 8:18-23).

Zec 8:18. Here begins the second word of Jehovah. See Zec 8:1.

Zec 8:19. The fast of the fourth month, etc. For the fasts of the fifth month and the seventh, see on Zec 7:3-5. The fast of the fourth month was on account of the taking of Jerusalem (Jer 39:2); that of the tenth was in commemoration of the commencement of the siege (Jer 52:4). All these fasts were to be turned into festivals of joy. Not, as Grotius says, that the observance should be retained only with a change of feeling and purpose; but that the general condition should be so happy and prosperous as to render fasting unsuitable. The last clause reminds them of the condition upon which these promises were suspended.

Zec 8:20. Yet shall it be that, etc. The position of yet renders it very emphatic, as if to say, Notwithstanding all past desolations, this shall surely come to pass. Peoples, that is to say, not individuals merely, but entire nations. The connection, apparently dropped at the end of this verse, to allow the mention of the reciprocal summons in the next verse, is resumed with the same () in Zec 8:22.

Zec 8:21. And the inhabitants of one city, etc. The mutual appeal stated here greatly enlivens the representation. The emphatic infinitive is very well expressed in the E. V. Let us go speedily, although Prof. Cowles prefers earnestly. The last clause, I will go also, is the prompt response of each of the parties addressed.

Zec 8:22. And many peoples, etc. This verse takes up and completes the statement begun in Zec 8:20, by reciting the object of the journey, namely, the worship of Jehovah.

Zec 8:23. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, etc. An important addition. Not only will the heathen go in streams to Jerusalem to worship Jehovah, but they will seek a close and intimate union with the Jews as a nation. , which Henderson says is redundant, is rather emphatic, and the clause is to be construed as the similar one at the commencement of Zec 8:20. Ten men, a definite number for an indefinite (Gen 31:7). Each of these ten representative men stands for a distinct nation, since they each speak a different language, as appears from the added clause, of all languages; of the nations, where the singularity of the expression seems designed to emphasize this diversity. is simply a resumption of the same verb in the former clause. We will go with you, not merely to the house of God (Hitzig), but in all other ways (Rth 1:16). On God is with you, cf. 2Ch 15:9. Henderson explains all this as fulfilled in the number of proselytes made to Judaism after the restoration. But surely neither many peoples nor strong nations ever in a body joined themselves to the covenant people. He says that Jerusalem cannot be understood otherwise than literally. But most persons will think it cannot be understood in that way at all, for how could such a city contain nations? That these are said to come to Jerusalem is due to the necessary modes of Jewish thought. That was the only way in which the Jews before Christ could conceive of real conversions,the only language descriptive of conversion which they could understand. They had not yet reached the idea that God can be worshipped acceptably and spiritually just as well anywhere else as at Jerusalem. Hence those glorious conversions of Gentile nations which are to take place far down in the ages of the Gospel dispensation, if foretold at all by Jewish prophets and for Jewish readers, must be presented in thoroughly Jewish language and in harmony with Jewish conceptions. So we ought to expect to find it throughout the Old Testament Prophets, and so we do find it (Cowles).

THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL

1. The beginning and the indispensable condition of all true prosperity is the presence of God. Hence the very first article in the prophets statement of the happy prospects of his countrymen is Jehovahs assurance, I am returned to Zion. His absence, strikingly depicted in the vision in which Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord depart from the threshold of the sanctuary, had caused all the woes of Israel,invasion, conquest, exile, bondage. His return was the only sure pledge of permanent restoration. This, according to the 46th Psalm, is the river the streams whereof make glad the city of God; God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. Gods presence in heaven makes all its bliss, and his presence on earth makes the nearest approach to that bliss. But as He is a God of truth and holiness, they who enjoy his presence must partake of both. Wickedness cannot dwell with Him. As Calvin says, He is never idle while He dwells in his people, for He cleanses away every kind of impurity that the place where He is may be holy. The proof of his presence, therefore, is not any partial, outward, or transient reform, but the growth and prevalence of holiness founded on truth, , Eph 4:24.

2. Longevity and a numerous offspring were specially promised under the old dispensation, but nowhere is that promise so beautifully set forth as in the scene which Zechariah calls up,the old man leaning upon his staff, and groups of happy children playing in the streets. No pestilence stalks over the land, no war decimates the population, no famine wastes flesh and strength. The extremes of human life are happy, each in its appropriate way, and all that lie between are in the same peaceful condition. The classes which are most exposed and most defenseless being in complete and conscious security, the others in the prime and vigor of their days must needs be exempt from fear and anxiety. All this was the more impressive to the prophets contemporaries because of its contrast with the days when death came up into the windows and cut off the children from the streets,when the husband was taken with the wife, the aged with him that was full of days (Jer 9:21; Jer 6:11). There is no need of spiritualizing the description. It serves well in its literal sense to express what is realized already under the beneficent reign of the Prince of Peace, and will become universal and abiding when his kingdom is established over the earth.

3. The chronic sin of human nature is unbelief. Men stagger at the greatness of the divine promises. This is shown not only by the worldly, of whom the standing pattern is that lord in the court of Jehoram, who, when Elisha predicted in the midst of famine a speedy abundance of supplies, exclaimed, If the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? (2Ki 7:2); but even by the godly, as illustrated in the case of Moses, who, when God engaged to sate Israel with flesh for a whole month in the wilderness, incredulously reminded Him that there were 600,000 footmen, plainly implying that the thing was impossible. And yet Moses had seen all the wonders wrought in Egypt. In like manner the restored exiles regarded the glowing statements of Zechariah. They refused to accept them, and so lost the comfort and stimulus they would otherwise have enjoyed. The prophet puts his finger upon the cause of this irrational unbelief, when he suggests that they judged God by themselves, that they measured his power by their own understanding. It is absolutely necessary to raise our thoughts above the world, to bid adieu to human standards of probability, and to keep in mind the infinite excellence of the Most High. There are very many things of which one can only repeat what the Master said to his disciples, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Mat 19:26). Faith in the divine omnipotence is easy so long as only hypothetical cases are concerned; but when a question of practical duty is involved, and our faith requires us to run counter to all the maxims of worldly wisdom, it is another matter. It is this feature which gave such a heroic aspect to the course of Abraham when against hope he believed in hope, and for scores of years persevered in the expectation of an event which was naturally quite impossible, just because he was fully persuaded that what God had promised He was also able to perform (Rom 4:21). It is needful always to remember that Gods thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his ways as our ways, but as high above them as the heavens are high above the earth. Faith, therefore, always has abundant warrant. The trouble is that so many, like Thomas, want to see first, and then believe. But the special, peculiar blessing is for those who, without seeing, believe what God says, just because He says it.

4. The argument a fortiori is proverbially strong, and as it is here presented by the prophet, offers great encouragement to weak faith. God reminds Israel that the wrath incurred by their fathers had been actually visited upon them, no repentance on Gods part interposing to avert the blow. Even so should it be with his purposes of mercy; and thus, the very sorrows of the past became pledges for the hopes of the future. The Most High does not willingly afflict, He has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth; yet when the limit of forbearance is reached, He executes the fierceness of his anger, and his threatenings are verified to the letter. Every Jew saw this in the deep furrows the Chaldan conquest had imprinted on his native land. But if Jehovah carried out his purposes so effectively in the strange work of judgment, how much more would He in the kind, congenial work of beneficence and blessing? If the word of justice had such a complete and ample verification, would not the word of mercy be still more signally illustrated and confirmed? In this view even the gloomy desolation of the Dead Sea and the ruins of Nineveh and Tyre confirm the faith and hope which expect the world-wide blessings of the latter day. The illustrations of Gods severity will be surpassed by those of his goodness.

5. The truest test of religious character is found in the degree of our sympathy with God. If we love what He loves and hate what He hates, then are we his children, and bear his image. Now what God hates particularly is not neglect of outward observances, but all departures from the law of love,evil acting, evil speaking, evil thinking toward our neighbor. And if we are right-minded we shall shun these things, not for policys sake, nor even from abstract considerations of propriety, but because they are so offensive to God. This was what underlay the continence of Joseph under a fierce temptation,How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And this is the only trustworthy support against the assaults of the adversary. We must have a resolute loyalty to the divine administration; and say with David, I know, O Lord, that all thy judgments are right, or with Paul, Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. We may, we must have sympathy With our fellows, but first and before all we are to cultivate the same moral affections as our Maker exercises. The farther this culture proceeds, the more acceptable we become to Him and the truer to the best interests of men. It is the more important to emphasize this truth because in our own day there is a persistent attempt in various quarters to introduce in a disguised form the dreadful error which Paul represents (Rom 1:25), as lying at the root of the gross idolatry and depravity of the heathen worldthe worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator. Men reverse the order laid down by our Saviour, and make regard for man the first and great commandment. The enthusiasm of humanity is substituted for obedience to God and love to the Lord Jesus, and the sanctions of religion, properly so called, are quietly ignored. Comtes proposed worship of Le grand Etre, collective humanity, only put in a concrete form the theoretical principles actuating many who ridiculed this new philosophical religion. He pushed things to their logical result. Yet every page of Scripture teaches that integrity and philanthropy are not piety, and every fresh leaf that is turned in human experience shows that the true love of man is rooted in the love of God, and that no sympathy can be permanently relied upon which is not fed from supernal sources.

6. The lively, dramatic form in which Zechariah predicts the conversion of the Gentiles, is note-worthy. A general movement among the nations; the inhabitants of one city running to another with the eager summons to seek Jehovah, let us go speedily, lest we be too late; the instant answer, I will go also; different nationalities crowding around one Jew and seizing even the hem of his garment; all coveting fellowship with the obscure child of Israel, simply because they had heard that God was with him. Nothing could have seemed more unlikely to the contemporaries of the prophet, yet how exactly it has been fulfilled! The whole Roman Empire with the vast multitude of peoples it contained, and very many more who never saw the imperial eagles, have submitted to the authority of a Saviour who was a Jew; all rested their hopes for eternity upon a Jew. Other nations have been centres and sources for philosophy, science, art, literature, law, and government; but in the matter of the knowledge of God, the writings of Jews are the only and universal standard. For centuries past the mightiest intellects and largest hearts of the race have breathed the spirit and studied the words of these living oracles. The Jewish outward polity has disappeared, the nation has been scattered as no nation ever was before or since, a bitter and irrational prejudice against them characterizes a large part of Christendom; and yet the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is recognized as the one supreme Creator and Lord of the universe, in the best thought of the civilized world. And at this day literally men of all nations and kindreds and tribes and tongues are, almost without a figure, laying hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. They cast in their lot with those whom God chose to be a people for Himself, and are resting their hopes upon that crucified Jew who is the Saviour of the world. All other gods are idols. All other faiths are decrepit. All other religions are forms. The hope of Israel alone has survived the vicissitudes of time and the revolutions of earth, and flourishes in immortal youth, making fresh conquests every day, constantly entering new fields, breaking up the apathy of ages, undermining superstitions hoar with the rime of a thousand years, and calling forth from the ends of the earth the old cry, Come, let us go speedily to seek Jehovah of Hosts.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Moore: Zec 8:2. Men judge God by themselves, in interpreting his promises, much oftener than in interpreting his threatenings

Zec 8:17. When God covenants with his people, He also covenants with their children.

Zec 8:20-23. All true piety is instinct with the missionary spirit,desire for the salvation of others.

Pressel: Zec 8:23. Shall we delay our missionary efforts until Heathens, Mohammedans, and Jews seize us by the skirt? No, for if that had been the rule, where would we ourselves have been? No, but on the contrary, let us like brothers seize them by the hand and lead them to the Lord.

Again: No one can be anothers leader to the Lord, unless it be perceived that God is with him; but wherever that is plainly seen, men gladly seek such guidance.

Jerome. Shall it be marvelous. Who would have supposed that the same imperial power which destroyed our churches and burnt our Bibles, should now rebuild the former at public expense, in splendor of gold and various marbles, and restore the latter in golden purple and jeweled bindings?

Footnotes:

[1]Zec 8:1.The word wanting in the Masoretic text, is found in numerous MSS. and several editions, and is supported by the Syriac and Targum.

[2]Zec 8:2.I am jealous, not as E. V. I was. The Hebrew tense here seems to be=the Greek perfect, in the sense I have been and still am.

[3]Zec 8:3.The city of truth, not a city as E. V., but one preminent in this respect.

[4]Zec 8:4.. The literal meaning sit is both more accurate and more expressive than the derived sense dwell, adopted in the E. V. from the Vulgate.

[5]Zec 8:4.Very age. This archaism is better than the literal abundance of days in margin of E. V.

[6]Zec 8:6., according to usage, must be rendered those. So Dr. Riggs (Suggested Emendations), who however is not happy in suggesting the marginal rendering of the E. V. as preferable to the textual, in the case of the verb in this clause. The literal sense of is to be singled out, distinguished, wonderful, and the word here expresses something not only difficult, but so difficult as to be marvelous or incredible.

[7]Zec 8:9. requires a verb to be supplied. Some suggest but seems better.

[8]Zec 8:9.The grammatical construction here is awkward, yet better than E. V., which seems to imply a difference between the house of Jehovah and the temple.

[9]Zec 8:10.The feminine suffix in refers to the nearer preceding noun.

[10]Zec 8:10.In the vav convers. takes Pattach in conformity to the compound Sheva which follows (Green H. G., 99 b).

[11]Ver 12.Keil renders but, but the usual signification for is as suitable and idiomatic.

[12]Zec 8:14. is in contrast with in Zec 8:15, and they should be so renderedto do evil and to do good; whereas E. V. gives the former as punish, and Henderson afflict.

[13]Zec 8:15.=again. See on Zec 5:1, Zec 6:1.

[14]Zec 8:16.. To render this Execute judgment (E. V., Henderson), is misleading, for the words express the pronouncing, not the executing of judgment. Noyes renders, Judge according to truth, and for peace, etc.

[15]Zec 8:17. is to be taken as an accus. absol.

[16]Zec 8:19.The E. V. renders the last clause, love the truth; and so the Genevan. But both omit the article before peace, although the Hebrew has it before each noun.

[17]Zec 8:20.After we must supply .

[18]Zec 8:20.=peoples. This plural, found twice in E. V. (Rev 10:11; Rev 17:15), should have been used here, and in Zec 10:9, Zec 12:2-4; Zec 12:6, Zec 14:12, and often elsewhere, to avoid ambiguity.

[19]Zec 8:21.. See on Zec 7:2.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The Prophet is here commissioned by the Lord to give many rich and precious promises concerning Jerusalem. The Lord will restore her waste places.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion. With great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. 3 Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called, a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The holy mountain. 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. 6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; 8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

In offering my Commentary on this Chapter, I am very ready to allow all that former commentators have advanced in their referring what is here said of the prosperous state of Jerusalem, to the old Jerusalem, in the literal sense, as being very different after the people returned from the Babylonish captivity to what it was before. But I still think that far other, and far greater blessings are intended to be set forth, by the different things mentioned in this string of rich promises, than a mere respect to temporal enjoyments can justify. I shall take the freedom therefore with the Reader, while I look up for grace from the Lord to keep me from error, to observe, with great humbleness of spirit, that this Chapter will be very sweet, and very precious, if we read it spiritually, and read it with an eye to the days of the gospel. In this view, I beg the Reader to remark with me, how blessedly it opens. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. I admire the frequency of this expression. Surely it conveys, in the most blessed manner, the graciousness of the Lord. And when the Lord adds, that he was jealous for Zion with great jealously; may we not, after considering for how long a period He, whose goings forth had been of old from everlasting, had been longing for the time of his manifesting himself to Israel; may we not, I say, without violence to the expression, figure to ourselves the Lord Jesus Christ looking now with holy earnestness to the time as approaching? The Prophet Joel expresseth somewhat of the same kind. Then will the Lord (saith he) be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Joe 2:18 . And observe what follows. Thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And how is the Lord returned, but by tabernacling in our flesh? Surely this is the only return that could now fully delight the heart of Jesus, or satisfy the wants of the Church? This would be indeed to make Jerusalem’s name the city of truth; when Jesus, the husband of his Church and people, gave his spouse his own name, who is himself the way, and the truth, and the life! Joh 14:1 . And this would be, under the presence of the Lord Jesus, to make the aged resting on their staffs from the blessed influence of grace, long known, and long enjoyed, from the Spirit of their Lord; and the young rejoicing in the streets of the Lord’s holy mountain, under the awakenings of his love, when betimes brought into a saving acquaintance with the Lord God of their salvation. But, if we read those scriptures without an eye to gospel days, and the presence of Jesus, I cannot conceive that no real joy could be proposed from beholding aged sinners dwelling in the streets of the old Jerusalem, unawakened, unregenerated, and hastening to their graves in the same state as when they were born; nor boys and girls playing in the mere pastimes of thoughtlessness and childhood, without God, and without Christ in the world! If the Reader will turn to Jer 31:11-17 he will find a parallel passage, and proved to refer to the days of Christ’s manifestation in the flesh, by a portion of it so explained. Mat 2:17-18 . I will not detain the Reader by enlarging on the many blessed things of a like nature contained in these verses, for the subject itself is endless. And indeed I hope, from the mere hints here given of explaining the subject spiritually, his own mind, under divine teaching, will be led to make many similar observations to those I have offered. Let me only add a thought on the graciousness of expression, in the Lord’s taking off the thoughts of the people from the marvellous nature of those mercies, to the consideration of the greatness of his power, by whom these events were to be accomplished. His ability, and his love, and his covenant promises, become the full security of his people. It is this which brings his redeemed both from East and West, not Babylon, for this lay north, and the greater part of the people were returned. And in the days of Zechariah the western world had none of the children of Israel in it; and as for the Gentile Church, it was as yet unknown. So that every part of this blessed scripture concurs to point to the gospel days of the Lord Jesus, as the time spoken, and the blessings in it spiritually. For then it was the promise was to be fulfilled, when from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the Lord said his name should be great among the Gentiles. Mal 1:11 ; Hos 2:23 ; Luk 13:29 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Work and Play

Zec 8:5

I shall set play in a threefold light: I. In the light of work. II. In the light of the Gospel. III. In the light of heaven.

I. Play in the Light of Work. What is the difference between work and play? It is not in the things we do so much that the real difference between work and play is found: it is in the spirit in which the thing is done. And can we distinguish that difference of spirit? I do not suppose that it was ever better done than by that great thinker and poet, Horace Bushnell. ‘Work,’ he said, ‘is activity for an end, and play is activity as an end;’ and if we think of that we shall find the depth of it. In other words, back of our work is duty, back of our work is hunger, back of it is constraint But back of play there is no force like that. It is labour, but in the labour there is liberty.

II. Play in the Light of the Gospel. I think we will all admit that we owe to Christ the dignity of labour. Did you ever think of this, that the Gospel of Jesus has dignified our play? Yet the one is just as true as the other. I mean that, in the Gospel view of man, there is such compass, there is such wisdom, there is such compassion, that the element of play comes to its own again. I have read of that great saint Borromeo, that while engaged with some friends in a game of chess, the question was started what they would do if they knew that they were to die within the hour. ‘I would go on with my game,’ replied Borromeo. And that is the true spirit of the Master. Even a game of chess can be illumined, brought into line with the great purpose of life, and made to echo with the praise of God.

Do you think it a mere figure of speech that we talk of the waters playing on the shore, or of the wind playing among the trees, or of the sunlight playing on the grass? These words are real, penetrative. For the creative work of the Infinite is play. It is. not task-work. It is the outcome of love, of liberty, of superabundant, everlasting life. And hence the irresistible conviction witnessed in human speech, of the play-element in the handiwork of God.

III. Play in the Light of Heaven. What is your first thought of heaven. The first thing that we think of heaven is rest. Do you really think it will be that? And do you really think that you will want that? Consider.

For us all there comes the Friday night Our week of school is done. God’s discipline is over. We lay aside our pencils and our books. And we are wearied with the stress of it, and we cry out, ‘O God, to be at rest!’ And so we fall asleep. Then dawns the Saturday, the everlasting Sabbath, and we awake, and Jesus Christ is there. And every faculty is full of being, and every part is wondrously expanded; and we are quivering, inspired with life, and we do not want to rest: we want to serve, and the service of eternity is play! For here we must be driven to service, but yonder to serve will be our very joy. G. H. Morrison, Flood-Tide, p. 115.

References. VIII. 5. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 29. VIII. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxix. No. 1747. VIII. 9, 13. T. Parr, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 74. VIII. 12 and 16. C. Silvester Home, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 382. VIII. 13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No. 543; vol. liii. No. 3045. VIII. 17. J. Parker, Studies in Texts, vol. i. p. 159. VIII. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxviii. No. 2248. ‘Plain Sermons’ by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. x. p. 239. J. H. Newman, Sermons Bearing on Subjects of the Day, p. 431. W. Percival Ward, Love the Truth and Peace. VIII. 21. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1107. IX. Ibid. vol. 1. No. 2883. IX. 9. Ibid. vol. xxxi. No. 1861. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 34. IX. 10. A. Rowland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 360. IX. 11. T. A. Gurney, The Living Lord and the Opened Grave, p. 1. IX. 11, 12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2839; vol. 1. No. 2883. IX. 12. T. A. Gurney, The Living Lord and the Opened Grave, p. 37. C. J. Vaughan, Last Words in the Parish Church of Doncaster, p. 54. IX. 17. F. E. Paget, Faculties and Difficulties for Belief and Unbelief, p. 86. W. H. Hutchings, Plain Instructive Sermons on Holy Communion, p. 65. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Blessed Sacrament, p. 35. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons, p. 119. X. 1. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. ii. p. 181. X. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliv. No. 2588.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Fasting and Feasting

Zec 7 , Zec 8

It is not enough to fast That may be a trick; there may be a way of doing it which robs it of all its virtue and of all its significance. God takes our ceremonies to pieces, and says aloud, What is the meaning of all this your church-going and hymn-singing, and apparently decent observance of religious ordinances? Is it in reality unto me, or is it unto yourselves? Fasting is not postponed feasting. Yet this is what it has been turned into many times. Fasting has become a process by which we have got ready for eating. We have kept, as it were, on one side all the things we have abstained from, and then, when the fasting day was over, we transferred the whole of them to the table, and gorged ourselves with the very things we had fasted from. That is not fasting. When you fast from your bread, you must give your bread away “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry?” Fasting is not to lock the cupboard where the bread is, and to say, We shall not want you to-day, but tomorrow about this time we shall be prepared for the feast. No, the loaf must be given away, and there must not be left one crust in the house. When we feast the poor, we truly fast ourselves. God will not have any other fasting. As for church-going, what is the meaning of it? Is it to relieve the tedium of a dull night? Is it to hear something that will titillate the senses or momentarily please the fancy? Is it to avoid something at home? Or does it express the spirit of adoration, the necessity of the soul’s immortality? Is it a coming to God because he is God? Is it worship, or a form of entertainment? The Lord thus searches into our ceremonies and says, What do they mean? So also with our feasting: the criticism of God is not partial: the judgment of heaven attends our banqueting, and asks questions whilst the foaming goblet is in our hands.

“And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?” ( Zec 7:6 ).

But, O thou loving God, thou art also our Creator, and are we not so made that we cannot get away from ourselves? The Lord answers, Yes, you are so made; but you forget there is a second creation, a miracle called incarnation, and following upon that a sacrament called Pentecost, the Whittide of the Spirit’s descent, so that a man shall be himself, yet no longer himself, yea, another self; God will give him another heart. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is not his old self one whit, but a new creature, with new aspirations, new necessities, new desires, with the restlessness which leads to contentment, with the ambition that despises the constellations because they are too small for its religious capacity. You are right when you say you cannot get away from yourselves; your prayers are selfish unless you take great heed to them; but if you be rooted in Christ, living branches in the living Vine, why then you shall perform this miracle of being yourself and yet not yourself; of the earth, yet of the heaven; standing upon the earth, yet having a celestial citizenship and franchise.

Is the Lord contented either with fasting or feasting? No. Fasting and feasting are parts of a process. They are nothing in themselves. Do not think you are going to heaven because you are total abstainers; do not imagine you are going to heaven because you are winebibbers and gluttons; do not suppose that any ordinance has in itself as such any virtue; it is but typical, symbolical, indicative, a finger pointing to the Lamb, the Life, the Divine. If you look at the index-finger, and do not follow the direction which it indicates, the looking at the finger will do nothing for you. What will God have? He never changes; his exactions or requirements are always the same, and are always moral. He does not want clever men, brilliant men, startling men; he wants something that every man, woman, and child can produce: he is the God of humanity, and not the God of human eccentricity. Hence we have universal terms, lines that touch the horizon; they are moral appeals and judgments. Thus:

“Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart” ( Zec 7:9-10 ).

That does not require any learned exposition. These are the claims that establish the inspiration of the Bible and the authority of Christ’s kingdom in the world. The Bible will have nobody oppressed. Wherever the Bible sees any one who is helpless, it sends the whole Church down to him; though the Church be engaged in ringing bells and observing sacraments, and doing all manner of official or mechanical work, the Bible voice says, Halt! There is a man outside who needs you: men first, and your ceremonies afterwards. Why do not men yield to the spirit of the Bible? When they discuss the Bible, why do they not attack its central citadel? Why do they go about striking little lights, and trying to set fire to its outposts? Here is a book that wants justice, mercy, honesty, purity, peace, brotherhood. That Bible you cannot overturn. Clever men can do wonderful things with the chronology of the Bible and the external relations of biblical history; but the worst man that ever lived, though he be clever with the cleverness of a thousand unbelievers, can say nothing against this, “What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” That is the Bible; that is the inspired Bible; that is eternal franchise of redeemed man. Oh, if the critics, the word-splitters, and the word-mongers would confine themselves to what the Bible wants really and vitally to be at, namely, the redemption, the regeneration, the sanctification and glorification of the image of God in man, infidelity would be suffocated; infidelity could not live in that air, it would die and be forgotten. Ministers and churches are not set up to find food for infidels; it is not their function to say, Now here is a difficulty, and there is an impossibility, and yonder is something we cannot explain. Let these things alone; you have a book that says, “Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother.” Will you tear that book to pieces, will you turn your back upon that document? Love it, repeat it, teach it to your children, bind it on your frontlets, write it on the doorposts of your house, and thus help the incoming of the reign of the Son of man.

The Bible establishes a great brotherhood. It does not found itself on municipal lines, which have such an amazing fascination for certain state mechanicians. Only get something founded upon municipal lines, and the world will enter upon halcyon days. Nothing of the kind. Get society established on household lines, on family lines, on home lines, and society will be secured in all that is of value, in permanence, dignity, and utility. God will have a house, it is called the Father’s house; he will have a family, it is called the whole family in heaven, and on earth. Where is the dividing line? ay, where? We may have made one, we are fond of delimitations of frontiers and the marking of boundaries, but see to it that we do not begin to delimit the frontier between time and eternity. What if time and eternity belong to one another, and swing together in heavenly music and harmony? God will have the house, the family, the home, the brotherhood; and he will have this because Jesus is the Son of man. O think of man with this outcome the Son of man! There is a creed that wants us to worship Humanity, with a capital H, but that humanity is too filmy, impalpable, vague; it is not the humanity that is present, but the humanity that is past, and the humanity that is to come, that is to be worshipped; but the humanity that is past is by so much dead, and the humanity that is to come is not born, so that when we want to concentrate our worship upon this humanity, with an infinite H, the heart says, Beyond is what we want! Name that anonymous figure flitting before the mind’s eye in outline what is that? And we say, That is the Son of man, concrete, personal, individual, Christly. The heart says, Let him enter; it is enough, he fills up the spaces of the soul, as the tide fills all the caves and inner places, and levels with liquid reconciliation all the ruggedness of the crag, and rock; let him come, we belong to him, and he belongs to us. When he comes, will he have any other law than this? None. Sometimes in mood of mind as if in intense and desperate haste he totalises the whole command of God, and says, It is but twofold: thou shalt love the Lord, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself the Old Testament rewritten, without supplement, with a new ink, red as the blood of the heart of the Son of God.

This law having been laid down, and insisted upon by moral appeal, what came of it?

“They refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear” ( Zec 7:11 ).

They acted like restive horses or restive oxen. “Pulled away the shoulder” because the yoke chafed it. Men do thus, and then blame Providence for the results. Men never say, We have disobeyed God, and therefore these things have come upon us. Man will have his own way, and would still enjoy the peace, favour, and blessing of God; and God in heaven will not have that arrangement. Man wants to be law-maker and law-breaker; man wants to do just what he pleases to do, and expects everything to be according to his mind and taste at last. The earth will not help him. He says, You must grow something yourself for me this year; I am not going to sow your furrows with seed. Come now, whilst I slumber you grow me some corn! And the earth says, No; obedience before harvest, toil before wealth; thou shalt work for thy bread, and work honestly, and then it shall be bread unleavened with a sense of indolence or injustice. Know then that you cannot be both God and man; understand that at the very start of life you must be under law. You can pull away the shoulder, you can put your fingers into your ears and not hear the law, but the law is still there. A man can close his eyes and say, Behold, at midday it is midnight. Who is to be believed, the fool who has shut his eyes or the sun that lights the firmament with the blessing of his glory? When men begin to say that they are guilty and that God is innocent, they have brought about this ruin, and God would have brought about peace and righteousness; when common sense rules our thinking we shall get into law and order, and afterwards into harmony and peace. We must be rigorous, we must be severe with ourselves; we must say whenever there is something wrong in the way of life, We did this: now when did we do it? how did we do it? Shall I blame somebody else, or shall I blame myself? Always be severe with your own soul. We have no title to be severe with other men until we have made our own standing sure before God.

It is interesting to observe how society was constituted before the building of the temple:

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour” ( Zec 8:9-10 ).

That was how society went before the temple was built. A neglected temple always means a ruined society. These words are not to be applied locally or parochially; they express an eternal and unchangeable principle. A neglected God is a frowning heaven; a frowning heaven is a desolated earth. We must more and more insist upon the importance of the religious spirit in its relation to policy and commerce and agriculture, and the whole mechanism and build and meaning of society. Unless we cultivate our own spirituality to a high degree we may soon be tempted to forego this argument, or allow ourselves to be victimised into the belief that it is not an argument, but a sentiment. The first thing which the Christian man has to do is to keep up his spirituality to the very highest point. By keeping up spirituality I mean the cultivation of that insight which sees more than surface, more than so-called phenomena; that penetrating insight that sees behind all these things a Spirit, a Providence, ruling, moulding, and directing all things. We walk by faith, not by sight: Lord, increase our faith! We see nothing as it really is; the reality is beyond the appearance. Why be satisfied with the door? Smite it that it may fly open, and let the opening door be an invitation to enter and partake of the hospitality of God.

Always in Biblical history when men turned away from God, God turned away from them: “Therefore it has come to pass: Therefore I scattered them with a whirlwind among all nations: he that honoureth me I will honour, he that despiseth me I will lightly esteem.” This is not arbitrary, this is not the changeable rule of a changeable court; this is simply the utterance of an eternal necessity. The sun says, He that will not have me shall have darkness and death. Is the sun cruel? Nay, the sun is clement and pitiful by announcing that fact; the sun offers its dower of light and warmth and comfort. So when we speak in Gospel words about the wicked being driven away in his wickedness, and about man neglecting to build the temple, and therefore having no harvest to reap, we are not delivering the arbitrary decrees of some fancy-created Jove; we are announcing the law of the universe, whoever made it.

What comes after the building of the temple? This:

“For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew” ( Zec 8:12 ).

Certainly; the heavens and the earth are one: if one member suffer all the members suffer with it. When the earth is wrong there is a thrill of pain all through the system to which it belongs. It is a little earth, but touch the body at any point, and instantly you communicate with the brain; and so when even this little earth sinned its first sin and damned itself in the sight of God, there went up through all the system to which it belongs a shock of agony; yea, it touched the Lord, it brought him to our aid. Let me tell business men that they cannot have any real success unless they are profoundly religious. Appearances are often to the contrary. Appearances amount to nothing. We cannot take in the case within the limits of three years or thirty years; we must look upon the whole field-space and upon the whole time-space, and this is written at the root of all things: A man cannot neglect God and be really rich. He may have heaps of money, but he has not wealth; he is not the owner of the wealth, the wealth is his owner; he is not proprietor, he is slave. He has locked himself up in his own gold-chest, and there he famishes as if he were a beggar. His soul is fat who makes the lives of others pleasant; he is strong who shares his strength with the weak.

These are solid doctrines to rest upon God calling for judgment; God approving the moral, the righteous, and the true; God connecting his heaven with his earth, and God’s heaven shrouding itself in frowns when God’s earth rushes into sin and selfishness. This is the economy in which we live. We can pull out the shoulder, chafe against the bars of the cage, but the cage is there, and we cannot escape. Much better surrender, obey; seek the appointed way to peace, which is the way of the Cross, the way of Calvary, the way of that wonder which is called by this name none nobler the Atonement. Do not define it, but receive it in its largeness of reconciliation and hospitality and love. Oh, fall down before it, and say, “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.”

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXVIII

THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH (CONTINUED) PART II

Zec 4:1-8:23

The fifth vision of Zechariah gave the people encouragement regarding their spiritual condition. The others gave them encouragement from the political and geographical standpoint, but this has reference to the inner, spiritual condition. This vision is for Zerubbabel, the messianic representative, the heir to the throne of David. The prophet says that he was wakened as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. This vision comes on the same night as the others, and apparently the prophet had fallen asleep between the former visions and this one. The same angel that had spoken to him before is still with him, and he says, “What seest thou? And I said, I have seen, and, behold, a candlestick all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top thereof.”

This is his description of the seven-branched candlestick. There was a bowl above the candlestick probably in the center holding a large amount of oil. The seven branches of the candlestick spread on either side, and he says, “There are seven pipes to each of the lamps.” Seven signifies perfection, and therefore the supply will be never-failing, and all-sufficient to keep those lights burning. Again, there are other means by which this bowl is itself to be supplied with oil. Two olive trees stand by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side. The olive trees furnished the oil which was used for their lamps. Now the prophet does not understand the vision and he asks the question, saying, “What are these, my Lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. Then he answered and spake unto me,” giving a fuller description of the vision that had been presented to him, and the latter part of Zec 4:10 is a continuation of the description of the vision.

I read from Zec 4:6 , first part, and Zec 4:10 , latter part: “Then he answered and spake unto me saying, . . . These are the eyes of Jehovah,” the perfection of knowledge and oversight of God, “which run to and fro through the whole earth.” Those seven lights thus represent the omnipresence and omniscient activity of God. Zec 4:11 continues the description: “Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?” He does not answer at once, but the prophet asks again the question, “and I answered the second time, and said unto him, What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts that empty the golden oil out of themselves?” The olive branches acted as spouts for the olive trees carrying the olive oil from the trees to the golden bowl at the top, then through the seven pipes to each one of the lamps on the candlestick. “And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these things are? I said, No, my Lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” This refers to the two representatives of Jehovah among the people of Israel, Joshua, the religious leader, and Zerubbabel, the civil leader, one representing the regal and the other the priestly function of the theocracy as found in the hierarchy. These are the two olive trees which furnish the oil to the burning lamps.

Now let us see the application as we find it in the latter part of Zec 4:6 , to the first part of Zec 4:10 , bearing in mind this picture before the prophet of the two olive trees. What does it mean? “This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel.” This was on behalf of the civil government, and it was through Zerubbabel that this message should be fulfilled among the people of Israel in the rebuilding of the Temple and the establishment of the nation. It was to be by the power of the Spirit of Jehovah, not by an army nor by fighting, not by mere strength nor power of any kind, “but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah.” That is a great text, which has had its application all through the ages. Not by an army is this work to be done, Zerubbabel, not by your strength and prowess, not by anything but the Spirit of God, and this represents that operation: the two olive trees supply the oil which runs to the lamps and which keeps them burning. The process is unseen but its effects can be seen. That is the message to Zerubbabel.

Now the encouragement is in these words (Zec 4:7 ). “Who art thou, O great mountain?” A great difficulty seemingly insurmountable was before Zerubbabel. “Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace, unto it.” The mountain shall disappear, the difficulty shall vanish, because the mighty power of the Spirit of God is going to be felt in the hearts and spirits of men, and they are to come to thy help. The Temple shall be completed and he shall bring forth the top stone “with shoutings of Grace, grace unto it.” That was wonderfully encouraging to Zerubbabel, who must have been discouraged. Now the promise comes with great force: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house” (which was done under the preaching of Haggai); “his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me (the prophet Zechariah) unto you.” But there were some that despised this small beginning, this almost contemptible start of the building: “Who hath despised the day of small things?” Many people have done it, but they are going to change their minds; they are going to rejoice and be glad when they shall see the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel; when the prince shall begin the work of erection of the Temple.

The sixth is the vision of the flying roll, or the curse re-moved (Zec 5:1-4 ). People, priests and leaders have been encouraged. Now there comes a message saying that a certain class of people who are a nuisance and a trouble shall be removed out of their midst and they shall get rid of them once for all. This refers to the cleaning out of certain types of criminals among them. The prophet see” a roll, or scroll, flying in the air, and the angel speaks to him, “What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits and the breadth thereof ten cubits.” That was a large roll, or sheet of paper, twenty cubits by ten cubits, or fifteen by thirty feet, to see flying. “Then he said unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole land.” What was the curse to do? Every one that stealeth shall be cut off and every one that sweareth shall be cut off. The roll represents the principle of law to be administered by Israel; the flying roll means the active principle of law; the written roll, a published principle of law; in heaven means that the law and its penalty were from God.

The vision teaches that as Judah and Jerusalem were troubled by these criminals, Jehovah would send a curse among them and consume their families, their homes, and their houses, extirpate them, and thus cleanse Jerusalem from such a troublesome element. This was to be a great blessing to the people, as it would be almost impossible for them to go forward with such criminals in their midst.

The seventh is a vision of the woman in the barrel, or wickedness removed from the land (Zec 5:5-11 ). It is a vision wherein God shows to Zechariah that the spirit and principle of sin which seems to be engraved in the people’s natures would be removed by the divine power from their midst. It is the picture of an ephah, a large measure about equal to our bushel measure, really a barrel with a round top and cover to it. In the barrel there is a woman sitting. This woman represents wickedness: the principle of sin that is so prominent among the people. The lid is upon it, and on the lid is a talent of lead, a great weight. The woman is forced down into the barrel, the lid is closed over it.

Two other women appear with wind in their wings, wings like those of a stork, and they lift up the ephah between earth and heaven. Then the prophet asks the question, “Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build her an house in the land of Shinar: and when it is prepared, she shall be set there in her own place.” Shinar, or the Plain of Babylon was the place where wickedness began, the plain where they attempted to build a tower into heaven and were scattered abroad; the plain which had been the means of Israel’s oppression. The idea is this: That sin must be removed, and it cannot be removed by a ritual or by a legal punishment. It must be removed by the action of the Almighty God himself. Human hands cannot carry away the sins of the people. That is a divine operation only and sin is represented here by a woman, not because a woman is more sinful or worse than a man, but because sin is so attractive. It must therefore be dealt with by God himself and banished from the land. According to this vision it is going to be done; evil is surely to be extirpated.

The eighth vision, or the chariots of the four winds, or spirits (Zec 6:1-8 ), is a vision of the universal providence of God; as the first vision was a vision of God’s providential scouts watching all that was upon the horizon of the world’s history, this is a vision of the universal providence of God visiting punishment upon the nations that have oppressed Israel. And in the first vision there were angels upon horses; here we have horses and chariots. He sees four chariots corresponding to the four points of the compass and representing the completeness of the operation of God’s providence. They came forth from between the mountains) and the mountains were mountains of brass. The mountains refer to Mount of Olives and Mount Moriah upon which Jerusalem was built. Brass represents the everlasting quality and strength of the mountains.

The first chariot had red horses attached to it, the second, black horses, the third, white horses, and the fourth grizzled or dappled horses. The brass mountains represent the invincible nature of the theocracy; the different kinds of horses correspond almost exactly to the four horses which John saw on Patmos as recorded in Rev 6 . The white horse there represents the gospel going forth in its conquests; the black horse represents the scarcity of the gospel when it was in the hands of certain ones who doled it out and starved the people; the red horse represents the conflict that arose wherever the gospel went; the grizzled or pale horse represents the persecutions that follow in the wake of the gospel.

These four chariots here represent the four winds, and the four winds represent the four great punishments or judgments of God that are to break forth upon all parts of the world, the analogue of what John sees in Rev 7 , where he represents the four angels as holding the four winds of the earth. Here are four chariots representing the four winds or universal providence of God upon the nations (see Revelation of “The Interpretation”) .

Now he sends them forth, the black horses and the white horses go forth to Babylonia and the natives adjoining to inflict the punishments of Jehovah upon those people. The grizzled horses go south to Egypt to inflict punishment upon her, because Israel had suffered at the hands of that nation also. The red horses want to know where they are to go, and they are told that they are to walk up and down, to and fro, through the earth, that is, they are to pass up and down through the land of Palestine and be the administrators of the divine providence in that region.

Then a question arises here concerning the mission of the chariots with the black horses and the white horses, which go toward the north. “Behold they that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.” What does that mean? It means that they have caused his anger and wrath to rest upon those nations in the north which have oppressed Israel; that they are to inflict God’s severe punishment upon those people in the north country, until they are exterminated, and God’s spirit will rest because those enemies are gone. In other words, it means that they have caused this providential visitation of God to come upon and abide upon that north country. History bears us out in this, and from this time on, Babylonia, Assyria, and Syria began to decay, and God’s providential judgments have ever since then been upon these peoples.

The result of the visions was the crowning of Joshua, the priest (Zec 6:9-15 ). Following these visions which have given encouragement to the people and the leaders, which have promised freedom from sin and iniquities, and which have given them a vision of God’s universal providence on their behalf, they are ready for the crowning of Joshua as joint-sovereign and ruler with Zerubbabel, the son of David.

This is not a vision by the prophet, but a symbolic action which the prophet himself performs. There appear before him in the daylight, men who have come recently from Babylon and the captivity, such as Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come into the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, who dwells in the city. They are to bring silver and gold, such as they brought from Babylonia, and he is to make a crown, or crowns. The crown was a wreath, or diadem, which would encircle the brow of the priest, and it may have been made of two or three small wreaths, or rings, and put together would form one crown. That is probably the explanation of the word “crowns” mentioned here because there is only one man crowned, Joshua, which would necessitate only one crown, made of several small wreaths. Zerubbabel is ex officio entitled to a crown, being the direct heir of the line of David. Now Joshua is crowned.

Then comes the word regarding Zerubbabel: “Thus spake the Lord of hosts, Behold, the man whose name is the Branch.” Zerubbabel is the man mentioned in the fourth vision: “He shall grow up out of his place”; he shall come out of his obscurity and assert his royal dignity and power. The vision predicts that he is going to rise up and build the Temple of Jehovah, and, as it says in Zec 6:13 , “He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” They now have two crowned rulers, prince and priest. Zerubbabel is going to assert his place of power. Now, with the religious leader crowned, and the civil leader roused, the Temple is going to be built. Then these crowns that are here made are going to be preserved in the Temple as a memorial of those men who brought the silver and gold from Babylon, “And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God.”

The larger fulfilment of this prophecy, the crowning of the prince and the crowning of the priest comes into vision as we look upon the one who represents both the priest and the prince. He represented in himself the priestly and the kingly authority, and he built the spiritual temple which shall abide to all eternity. Zechariah, however, is talking about building that Temple in Jerusalem, and his word has its application primarily to Joshua and Zerubbabel, but its larger application is to the priest-hood and kingship of Jesus Christ, the true Branch of the line of David. (For the typical significance of this crowning of Joshua see Rev 6:1 , of “The Interpretation.”)

Now we take up Zechariah 7-8, the theme of which is the true fasts, and we find that these are dated some two years later, in the fourth year of the reign of King Darius. There is an interval of almost two years between those two prophecies. The question arises, What was done in the meantime? Those two years were occupied with the work of rebuilding the Temple under the inspiration of the preaching of Haggai and those visions which Zechariah saw. Two years passed, probably of strenuous labor, and by that time the Temple was half erected, or more. Jt required about four years to complete it, and it was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, or 516 B.C., that it was dedicated.

With the erection of the Temple there arose in the minds of the people the question of the keeping of their ceremonial laws. That gave rise to certain questions in the minds of some people, and they came to Joshua and to the leaders in Jerusalem with the question as to whether they should observe certain facts that had been observed since the beginning of the exile, about seventy years previous. This question on the part of those inquirers, gave the prophet his opportunity, and he deals with their problems, and by means of that inculcates the performance of civic virtues and duties which they must soon resume.

We observe in the second verse that a delegation came from Bethel composed of Sharezer and Regemmelech and others, to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and to speak unto the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts and to the prophets, probably Zechariah, and Haggai, and possibly others of whom we know nothing, and they came with a question regarding certain facts which they had been observing. He does not say whether they should observe the fast or not, but he proceeds upon broader lines and principles. As much as to say, “God did not institute that fast which you have been observing these seventy years in the fifth month. It was not his requirement. You men of Israel instituted the fast yourselves. It was in commemoration of an event which Almighty God would have prevented if he could have done so righteously. It is in commemoration of an event which was because of your sins. He then throws back the question to them: “When ye fasted in the fifth and seventh month, did ye fast unto me?”

The fast in the seventh month was in commemoration of the murder of Gedaliah, the Jewish governor who had been appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, governor over the last, small, miserable semblance of national life, left after the fall of the city. “Even these seventy years, when fasting on the fifth and seventh month, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” Was that God’s requirement: The answer is evident. No, your fasting was not unto God. Ye did it not at his commandment. Therefore, ye need not raise the question whether you should continue it or not. But he goes on, “And when ye eat and when ye drink, do not you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?”

The point here is: Do you eat and drink to the glory of God? Then he makes an application of the historical episodes through which they had passed and which had burned themselves into the people’s memory. Rather than concern yourselves with this fasting in these months, or with eating and drinking, or not eating and drinking, he says in Zec 7:7 , “Should ye not hear the words which Jehovah hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, and the South and the low lands were inhabited?” In other words, God sent his prophets; ye did not hearken to them, and therefore ye lost all; now learn by your history and give heed to the word of the former prophets. Then he branches out to discuss and inculcate civic righteousness instead of mere ceremonial fasting: “The word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Speak, saying, Execute true judgment and show mercy and compassion to every man his brother.” Zechariah here says, “Take warning by the past, op-press not the widow nor the fatherless, the stranger nor the poor,” and penetrating right to the very heart of the people and to their very motives, he says, “Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in his heart.” In Zec 7:11 he again refers to their past history and to the stubbornness of their forefathers; how they refused to hear; how they made their hearts as hard as adamant lest they should hear the law and the words of the former prophets. Because of that, great wrath came from Jehovah of hosts, so great that when they cried, God did not hear. He scattered them as a whirlwind among all nations whom they had not known. Because of that even the land was desolate and the pleasant land was laid waste. Here Zechariah was in line with Moses. Isaiah. Jeremiah. Jesus Christ, and Paul.

The Seed of Peace, or the Future Prophecy of Jerusalem, is the theme of Zec 8 . Here in this chapter we have ten brief oracles, each one beginning with the same statement, “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,” and in these ten oracles he gives a picture of the future peace and prosperity of the Temple and the establishment of the nation upon its religious foundation again. He commends their heavy labor in this work, and on the supposition that they are going to heed his word, and take warning by their past history, he proceeds to give them this series of views of the glory that shall come to their city and nation, as follows:

Oracle 1. A renewed assertion of God’s jealousy for them (Zec 8:1-2 ). Like the true prophet, he begins with fundamentals. He brings before their minds again the thought of God’s eternal love and God’s eternal interest in those people. “I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy.”

Oracle 2. Jehovah’s dwelling in Jerusalem, the city of truth and righteousness (Zec 8:3 ). “I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.” It means his continued presence and therefore their assured blessing.

Oracle 3. There shall be the aged and the young in the city (Zec 8:4-5 ). We can understand something of the meaning of this prophecy) when we look at the character of the population of Jerusalem. Many of the people returned from the exile, but there were comparatively few aged men and women. They had not been settled long in the land and there were comparatively few children, and Jerusalem had comparatively few inhabitants anyway, and what is a city or community unless there be the aged with their wisdom, their mellow and ripened years, and what is a city or community without the playing, prattling children in the streets? A community of middle-aged men or women is not complete. All sides of human life are not there represented. Now he says the time is coming when there will be the aged, and there will be the boys and girls: there shall be old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing therein.

Oracle 4. The marvel of their prosperity will be no marvel to God (Zec 8:6 ). “If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of these people in those days, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.” There is nothing marvelous with God.

Oracle 5. Jehovah brings back his people (Zec 8:7-8 ). “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” This was partly fulfilled then, but finds its larger fulfilment in Christianity.

Oracle 6. An exhortation to strengthen their hands (Zec 8:9-13 ). Zec 8:9 is an admonition, “Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words,” etc., which came by the mouth of Haggai as well as Zechariah himself. The Temple, he says, will be built, for that was the purpose of these prophecies. Before these words of the prophets came there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast, neither was there any peace to any that went in or out, because of the adversary. In Zec 8:11 he gives the contrast: “Now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days . . . There shall be the seed of peace; the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. It shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the nations . . . so ye shall be a blessing.”

Oracle 7. Justice shall be their standard (Zec 8:14-17 ). He gives the reasons why he had planned evil before. He plans good now on this condition as given in verse 16: “Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate saith Jehovah.”

Oracle 8. Fasts turned into feasts (Zec 8:18-19 ). The fast of the fourth month was because Jerusalem was then taken by Nebuchadnezzar, of the fifth month because it was then burned; the fast of the seventh month was because Gedaliah was then slain, and the fast of the tenth month commemorated the blockade of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar a year and a half previous to its being taken. These four dire events in their history had been celebrated by fasts during the exile and up to this period of the return. “Now,” says the prophet, “this has been changed; these fasts shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts,” since the things that caused these fasts had passed away. “Therefore,” he says, “love truth and peace.”

Oracle 9. Peoples and nations shall come to Jehovah (Zec 8:20-22 ). “There shall come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of hosts.” This was partly fulfilled then, but the larger fulfilment is found in messianic times when all people shall come to the true Israel of God.

A tender and delicate touch is given here. They will say, “I will go also.” A very suggestive text. A mother and wife and the family prepare to go to church, the father stays at home and perhaps asks them to pray for him, but he doesn’t go. In a revival where many are coming to the Lord the application of this text can be made to the others. “I will go also.” That is what they are going to say, Zechariah says.

Oracle 10. Ten men shall follow one Jew (Zec 8:23 ). “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days, it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” It was fulfilled partially then; it was fulfilled more in the time when Christ was upon earth; it was fulfilled when Paul the great Jew brought the gospel to the heathen world, and if we substitute a Christian here for a Jew, for a Christian is the real descendant of the Jew, it is being fulfilled now. This figure signified dependence and love, as a child clings to the parent; so, it applies to the great fact that the religion of the world comes through the Jews. This will have its larger fulfilment in the millennium. QUESTIONS

1. What was Zechariah’s fifth vision, what was the meaning of the symbolism, what the message of this vision, and to whom?

2. What was the promise of this message, and what was the meaning and application of Zec 4:10 ?

3. Is there a type of Christ in this vision? If so, what?

4. What was Zechariah’s sixth vision, what was the interpretation of its symbolism, and what was the purpose of the vision?

5. What was the seventh vision of Zechariah, what was the interpretation of its symbolism, and what the encouragement here to God’s people?

6. What was Zechariah’s eighth vision, what was the meaning of its symbolism, and where do we find in the New Testament the vision of which this is an analogue?

7. What great symbolic act follows these visions and what is the interpretation of it?

8. What was the subject discussed in Zechariah 7-8, what was the date of this revelation, how long after the visions and what had occurred in the meantime?

9. How did this question arise, what was the meaning of the question, what was Jehovah’s reply, and what was the meaning of it?

10. What history does the prophet then recite to them and what was its lesson?

11. What was the special theme of Zec 8:12 and what ten oracles of this chapter introduced by “Thus saith Jehovah”?

12. What was the meaning and application of Jehovah’s jealousy of Zec 8:2 ?

13. What was the meaning and application of Jehovah’s dwelling in Jerusalem?

14. What was the meaning and application of the young and aged in the city of Jerusalem (Zec 8:4-5 )?

15. What is the meaning of Zec 8:6 ?

16. What is the meaning of Zec 8:7-8 ?

17. What was the prophet’s exhortation and encouragement in Zec 8:9-13 ?

18. What promise does he make to them and what requirements does he make of them in Zec 8:14-17 ?

19. Why were the fasts mentioned in Zec 8:18-19 kept by the Jews in the captivity and what was the announcement here concerning them and why?

20. What was the promise of Zec 8:20-22 and what the fulfilment of it?

21. What was the meaning and application of Zec 8:23 ?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Zec 8:1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came [to me], saying,

Ver. 1. Again the word of the Lord of hosts ] As for reprehension in the former chapter, so for consolation in this; that they might not be discouraged, or say, as once they did, There is no hope; but lifting up the hands which hung down, and the feeble knees, they might go on to lay the last stone with joy. To which end also no less then eighteen different times in this one chapter God is styled the Lord of hosts; that, resting upon God’s power and goodness (whereof they are assured by many precious promises), as upon the Jachin and Boaz, the two main pillars of a Christian’s faith, they might have strong consolation.

Came to me ] See Trapp on “ Zec 7:8 “

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Zec 8:1-8

1Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2Thus says the LORD of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ 3Thus says the LORD, I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ 4Thus says the LORD of hosts, Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. 5And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ 6Thus says the LORD of hosts, If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the LORD of hosts. 7Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’

Zec 8:1 This phrase introduces a new stage of the discussion beginning in Zec 7:1; Zec 7:8.

Zec 8:2 the LORD of hosts This was a common post-exilic title. See Special Topic: Lord of Hosts .

I am exceedingly jealous See full notes at Zec 1:14.

Zion This is one of the seven hills in Jerusalem, but it came to stand for the entire city, including Mount Moriah on which the temple stood. See note at Zec 1:14.

NASB, NRSVwith great wrath

NKJVwith great fervor

TEVmade me angry

NJBfurious jealousy

The Hebrew root (BDB 404) means to be hot. The implication here is YHWH’s passion (the Piel form means to conceive). This term is often used by the seventh century prophets (i.e., Jeremiah and Ezekiel, note specifically Eze 36:6-7). The interpretive question is how to understand wrath. (1) Is it meant to refer to God’s hot passion for His people or (2) His anger at those He chose to discipline her? I believe the Hebrew phrase, I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, with great wrath, I am jealous best fits option #2 (cf. NIV, REB). This is not the same Hebrew word as Zec 7:12 (BDB 893).

Zec 8:3 I will return to Zion YHWH had left the temple in Jerusalem (cf. Ezekiel 10) because of the Jews’ idolatry (cf. Ezekiel 8), before the city was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Ezekiel 9). YHWH went to be with the Jews in exile (cf. Ezekiel 1).

His return (BDB 996, Qal PERFECT) was the confirmation that He had forgiven His people and renewed His covenant with them.

will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem There is no greater blessing than the personal presence of God with His people (e.g., Exo 25:8; Lev 26:11-12; Num 5:3; Num 35:23; Deu 23:14). The sacrificial system and temple were the hope of sinful people who God would forgive (cf. Exo 29:45).

Notice these two phrases are parallel with (both Qal PERFECTS) each other, as are the next two phrases in Zec 8:3.

City of Truth This could also be translated city of faithfulness (BDB 893). The faithful God had returned to the faithless descendants of Abraham.

In Isa 1:21-23 Jerusalem is sarcastically called the faithful city, yet in Isa 1:24-26 YHWH the Faithful will change her and forgive her so that she would truly be the faithful city (cf. Zec 8:2 b) again.

the mountain of the LORD This refers to the temple area or Mt. Moriah (YHWH provides). This is the place where:

1. Melchizedek was anointed priest/king, Genesis 14

2. Abraham was to offer Isaac, Genesis 22

3. David offered a sacrifice to stop God’s judgment, 1Ch 21:9-30

4. Solomon built the temple, 2Ch 3:1

the Holy Mountain It is holy because YHWH’s presence is there. His presence must be reflected in His people (cf. Deu 28:9). They must be different; they must be like Him (e.g., Lev 19:2 [1Pe 1:16]; Mat 5:48). See Special Topic: Holy .

Zec 8:4 old men and old women Most of the elderly died because of the exile and those who grew old in Babylon could not easily return, therefore, elderly people in the land was a sign of lengthy prosperity (cf. Deu 28:3) or the new age (cf. Isa 65:20).

Zec 8:5 boys and girls playing This was a sign of God’s blessing (cf. Deu 28:4) and normal social life. This shows the reversal of YHWH’s curse (i.e., the fall of Jerusalem, cf. Deuteronomy 27-29) and His restored presence and blessing!

Zec 8:6 If it is too difficult The Jewish people had become accustomed to captivity and judgment so these promises overwhelmed them! The term difficult (BDB 810, Niphal IMPERFECT) also means wonderful. See note at Dan 8:24.

the remnant of this people The Hebrew term remnant (BDB 984) basically means the remainder, what is left, the residue. In the prophets it takes on a special meaning, the faithful remnant, which refers to the few descendants of Abraham who believed, trusted, and worshiped YHWH. It is these He would restore (cf. Isa 37:4; Isa 37:32; Isa 46:3; Jer 23:3; Jer 31:7; Micah 2:15; Mic 5:7-8; Mic 7:18; Zep 2:7; Zep 2:9; Ezr 9:14; Zec 8:6; Zec 8:11-12). The difficulty about this term is the time factor. Does it refer to (1) the post-exilic period or (2) the end-time (notice the phrase in Zec 8:6, in those days)? This may be an example of multiple fulfillment prophecy.

SEE SPECIAL TOPIC: REMNANT

will it also be too difficult in My sight There is a faith connection between God’s acts and the faith of His people. However, even if God’s people do not have faith, God still acts. God is committed to sinful humanity’s redemption (cf. Zec 8:7-8; Eze 36:22-38).

Zec 8:7 save The Hebrew VERB save (BDB 446, KB 448 Hiphil PARTICIPLE, see Special Topic: Salvation (OT Term) is used in several senses.

1. Hiphil = to deliver (cf. Zec 9:9; Jer 30:7-11; Jer 31:7-8) or to give victory (e.g., Isa 59:16; Isa 63:5)

2. Niphal = to be liberated, to be saved, or to be victorious

It is used of the activity of God on behalf of His people (cf. Zec 8:7; Zec 8:13; Zec 9:16; Zec 10:6; Zec 12:7). YHWH delivers those who trust Him (e.g., Zec 8:6; Psa 37:40; Psa 86:2).

Just a note to acknowledge that modern scholarship is still uncertain about the origin or root meaning of this term. It has been assumed that it is from an Arabic root meaning to be wide or spacious, but this is not a consensus.

In this context YHWH is promising to deliver His people from exile and restore them to the Promised Land. However, the apocalyptic nature of the book projects this promise into the future as well as the present. It surely refers to the return to Jerusalem in 538 B.C. (Cyrus’ decree), but since the nations (e.g., Zec 2:11; Zec 8:20-23) are included and the concept of Messiah is revealed and expanded in chapters 9-14, then this must also have an eschatological focus.

east. . .west These compass directions are used in the universal sense as in Psa 50:1; Psa 113:3; Isa 59:19; Mal 1:11.

Zec 8:8 My people and I will be their God This is covenant language (e.g., Lev 26:12; Deu 4:20; Deu 18:2; Deu 29:12-13; Jer 31:33; Jer 32:38; Hos 2:23) and clearly shows that the covenant is restored.

truth This Hebrew word (BDB 54) means firmness, faithfulness, or truth. See Special Topic: Believe, Trust, Faith, and Faithfulness in the OT . Originally it referred to a stable stance and then came to be used metaphorically for that which is trustworthy or faithful or reliable. This then becomes a description of YHWH (e.g., Psa 71:22; Psa 117:2; Psa 146:6; Isa 38:18-19; Neh 9:33). Faithless, fallen humanity’s only hope is in the unchanging, faithful mercy of God!

This term is used in Zechariah 8 several times (cf. Zec 8:3; Zec 8:8; Zec 8:16[twice],19) in the sense of truth. In Zec 7:9; Zec 8:16 it refers to a true or faithful testimony in court. Zechairah Zec 8:16; Zec 8:19 are parallel and speak of the truthful and trustworthy relationship between covenant partners in society. Truth has a corporate societal focus. Truth is relational as well as propositional!

For a good discussion of this Hebrew word in all its forms see New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, vol. 1, pp. 427-433.

righteousness See Special Topic: Righteousness .

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

the LORD of hosts. See note on Zec 1:3.

to me. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, and Syriac, read these words in the text.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 8

Now again the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called A city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, The holy mountain ( Zec 8:1-3 ).

So this is a promise of the future age when God will return, when Jesus comes and establishes His kingdom upon the earth, and will reign from Mount Zion over the earth.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet be old men and old women dwelling in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof ( Zec 8:4-5 ).

What a picturesque scene of the future kingdom, when boys and girls are playing together in the streets in complete safety. Very picturesque.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts ( Zec 8:6 );

Let me say that God sees the Kingdom Age in perfection, and the perfection is when boys and girls can play together safely in the streets. There are some people that are so spiritual that they think that children ought not to play together. The Kingdom Age, it shall be so. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts,”

If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of the people in these days, [“Hey you think this is great?”] should it also be marvelous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts. [It’s actually, “in My day.”] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; [They’ll come from the Orient, and from America.] And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. [That is not so yet, the day will come.] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built ( Zec 8:6-9 ).

So he’s referring to actually the prophesies of Haggai who was encouraging the people when they laid the foundation to go ahead and to build the temple and all.

For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to them that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor. But now I will be unto the residue of this people as a former days, saith the Lord of hosts. For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, the ground shall give her increase, the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these ( Zec 8:10-12 ).

Now you remember Haggai began his prophecy by saying, “Hey, you’re planting a lot of seed, and you’re taking in a little. Your money is being put into bags with holes. You don’t have enough to go around. Why has it happened? Now consider the problems that you’re facing. Is it not because you are dwelling in ceiled houses, and you’ve allowed the house of the Lord to go desolate?” Then you remember the people all decided to rebuild the temple. Haggai says, “Mark this day on your calendars, from now on it’s going to be different. Your barns are gonna be full. You’re gonna be blessed of the Lord, because you’ve now taken on again the task of building the house of the Lord.” So now they are completed the task, and Zechariah is pointing out, “Now you are being blessed once again. The seed is prospering, whereas before the seed was not prospering.” They were planting more than they were harvesting. “The heavens will give their dew.”

And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing ( Zec 8:13 ):

Now this is going into the future now, the future Kingdom Age when Jesus reigns. Israel will once again be the light, and the blessing to the world.

You remember Paul said in Romans, the eleventh chapter, as he was giving the allegory of the Gentiles being as a wild olive branch that were grafted into the tree, that they might receive of the fullness, the fatness from the tree? That we Gentiles, through Christ, have been made partakers of the promises that God gave to Israel. God cut off the natural branch, Israel. He grafted in this branch, contrary to nature, the Gentiles, that they might receive of the fullness and the fat of the roots of the promises, of the covenants. But he said, “Don’t boast yourself against the branch, for if God cut off the natural branch that you might be grafted in, God is also able to graft again back into the tree, the natural branch, and He will do it.” Then he points out, “If the cutting off of the branch brought this glorious salvation to all of the Gentiles, if the cutting off the branch brought such glory, what do you think will be when He grafts the natural branch in again, but just the glorious kingdom of God over the earth.” For all of Israel shall be saved, and of course, here is this promise in Zechariah that the Lord will be the Savior to them. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I will save My people, and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and in righteousness.” Then again, verse Zec 8:13 , “And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, I will save you, and ye shall be a blessing.” So the twice promised salvation.

fear not, let your hands be strong. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I did not change: So again I have thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. These are the things that ye shall do; Speak to every man the truth to his neighbor; execute judgment in truth ( Zec 8:13-16 )

I want fairness. I want honesty. Speak to every man the truth to his neighbor, execute the judgment of truth,

and peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all of these things [God said] I hate ( Zec 8:16-17 ).

We better take a careful study of that little list of things, because those are the things that God hates, has hated, continues to hate, and will always hate. I don’t want to be doing things that God hates. So study that list carefully, make sure that you are doing the things that God tells us to do. Our honesty, our truth, our peace, not imagining evil against our neighbors. God said, “I hate these things.”

Now the word of the LORD [he said] came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace ( Zec 8:18-19 ).

So if these days you’ve been fasting by that order, turn them around; make them days of feasting. Make them cheerful days. No longer affliction, but cheerful days.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yes, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD ( Zec 8:20-22 ).

Won’t that be exciting when Jesus is actually dwelling in Jerusalem, and we say, “Come on let’s go to Jerusalem and see the Lord!” Ooh wee that’s gonna be marvelous! That’s gonna be so glorious, when we’ll be able to go to Jerusalem, and just sit at the feet of Jesus, and just to learn from Him. The glorious Kingdom Age. “Many people, strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.”

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all of the languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, [Hey] we will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you ( Zec 8:23 ). “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Zec 8:1-2. Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

Because they worshipped idols instead of the living God, Jehovah of hosts, who is a jealous God, was very angry with his ancient people, and allowed them to be carried away into captivity; and it is well for us, in these days, to recollect that we serve a jealous God, and that, if our hearts are not true to him, he will soon send us sharp afflictions, and make us feel the weight of his rod. It was Pauls anxious desire that he might be able to present the church at Corinth as a chaste virgin to Christ; and, certainly, our Lord Jesus Christ will not accept the professing church of these days on any other terms. Let thy heart be loyal and true to him, or else thou wilt stir up the holy jealousy of thy God. Yet the same jealousy which makes God punish his people for their unfaithfulness, prompts him to return to them in love so soon as he sees that he can justly do so. When their enemies have sorely vexed and oppressed them, then is the Lord jealous, not against them, but against their enemies, and he swiftly returneth to his own people in love.

Zec 8:3. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

The first coming or the return of God to a church, or to an individual heart, always promotes holiness; so, unless thy piety is daily growing, do not imagine that God is in the midst of thee; for, wherever the Lord comes, he comes as a refiner and purifier. You will never find Jesus come except as John the Baptist pictured him to the Pharisees and Sadducees of his day: whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor. The coming of Christ into any soul, or into any church, is the death of sin and the birth of holiness.

Zec 8:4-5. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

It is an indication that there is peace in the city when the children can play in the streets without fear. We may apply these verses spiritually thus, when God greatly blesses a Christian church, there are sure to be many aged persons in it, those who, by their long experience and their matured wisdom, are able to teach others the lessons which they have themselves learned at the feet of Jesus. Happy is the church that hath in it many fathers and mothers in Israel. At the same time, a church that is largely blessed by God will also have in it many young converts, who will be as full of life and joy as children playing in the streets of a city in time of peace. There is a text which is true both in its literal and its spiritual sense: Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord . . . . Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. There is no glory so great to a Christian minister, and a Christian church, as that of having an abundance of spiritual children, and multitudes of converts brought to Christ. So shall it be with any church when God is in the midst of her.

Zec 8:6. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.

This is a very remarkable passage, warning us not to judge of God by ourselves. Though a thing may be difficult to us, there are no difficulties with God. Nay, even if we imagine anything to be impossible to man, the word impossibility has no relation to the Deity, for with God all things are possible. Are you in trouble today? Do you say that it is impossible for you to be delivered? It is an easy thing for God to deliver you, though the task seems so hard to you. Do you feel the weight of your sin, and do you imagine that it is impossible for your sin to be pardoned? Would you look upon it as a miracle; and because it seems so marvelous to you, do you think it is marvelous in Gods eyes? Remember what he said by the mouth of Isaiah, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Consider the infinite difference between God and man, and look no longer at God through the misleading glasses of your own feebleness.

Zec 8:7-8. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

Mark Gods emphatic language, how full it is of shalls and wills. I will, and they shall, saith he, again and again; and if God saith, I will, who shall dare to say that it shall not be? What God declareth shall certainly come to pass. Surely this is golden language of comfort to those who are bowed down; then, how great must be the sinfulness of that unbelief which dares to despair when God says shall and will! That one sentence in the eighth verse contains the whole gospel in two short sentences: They shall be my people, and I will be their God. This is the tenor of the covenant of grace. There is no if, nor but, nor peradventure in it, God does not say, I will be their God if they will be my people; nor, I will love them if they will keep my laws. That is the old covenant of works, which has been broken for ever; but the covenant of grace runs thus, They shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

Zec 8:9-11. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men everyone against his neighbour. But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.

The Jewish people had been brought into abject poverty; they were all so poor that there was not one who could hire his fellow-man or even pay for the hire of a beast of burden. This was before the foundation of Solomons temple was laid; but, as that wondrous structure grew, the State also grew; and, often, the prosperity of a church brings prosperity to the people around it, and to the residue of Gods people there comes a blessing, and not a curse.

Zec 8:12. For the seed shall be prosperous;

It is a happy omen for a church when the Word preached is with power.

Zec 8:12. The vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase,

Happy are the hearts that are like fruitful vines, and good and fertile ground yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold increase.

Zec 8:12. And the heavens shall give their dew;

We cannot bring forth fruit unto God without the bedewing influences of the Holy Spirit. This is that womb of the morning of which David speaks in Psa 110:3, and out of which the precious fruit of the Spirit must come.

Zec 8:12-15. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

Did you notice the repetition of the exhortation, Fear not, and then again, Fear ye not? The Lord knows how much mischief doubts and fears do to his people, and therefore many a time, in Scripture, he aims a blow at them. Fear nots abound in Scripture; it would be well if you made every one of them into a gallows-tree upon which to hang your unbelief until it died. What is your fear at this moment? What is the cause of your trembling? Fear ye not, saith God to you; will you dare to fear after this?

Zec 8:16-17. These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour;

Some have wickedly said that thought is free, and cant be condemned; but here we see that, if it goeth after evil, it is a wicked thing which God abhors.

Zec 8:17-19. And love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD. And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

God turns sad fasts to glad feasts when he visits his people in love. Is there one here who has been having a long fast? Has your soul been sorely afflicted? Have you been desponding and trembling, so that you have had no joy and gladness? Ah, when the Lord Jesus Christ reveals himself to you, he will soon change your sad state into something brighter and better. He will give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Look up, poor trembling soul, to yonder hill of Calvary where Jesus bled and died for you, and there let your joys begin, and never, never end.

Zec 8:20-21. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.

You see that, in the latter days, there is to be a great spirit of prayer and of seeking the Lord. This will include the hearing of the Word, and the love of the truth; and one good sign is that the people will say, Let us go speedily. They will not come in late, as so many do nowadays, just getting into their seats when the Scripture is being read, instead of being present at the opening prayer. I am sorry to say that some of you are getting later and later; and some morning, I shall most certainly carry out my threat, and preach the sermon first, unless you are more punctual. A little more thought, and a little sooner start, and you might all be at Gods house in time. David longed to be a doorkeeper in the Lords house, and you know that the doorkeeper is always the first in and the last out. May you all have more of Davids spirit, though you cannot all be doorkeepers! These people are to say, Let us go speedily (the marginal reading is continually) to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also. That is the best way of bringing others to Gods house, to say, I will go also. I have read that Julius Caesar never said to his soldiers, Go, but Let us go. So should we seek to get others to Gods house by saying to them, Let us go; . . . I will go also.

Zec 8:22-23. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

In the latter days, the Jews, who are still despised, and oppressed, and persecuted in many countries, shall be so highly honoured by God that men of other nationalities will want to be in their company. But, no doubt, there is here a special reference to Jesus, the Jew, the Son of God who became the Son of Mary too. Oh that, this very day, many Jews and Gentiles may take hold of his skirt by a living faith, and so may receive blessing from him, and be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation!

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Zec 8:1-8

THE THIRD ANSWERING STATEMENT . . . Zec 8:1-8

The third statement made by God through Zechariah to the questioners from Bethel is a statement of His love for His people and a desire that they be happy in the knowledge that He is with them in the land. Such a joyous relationship has no room for fasts, especially not for fasts of human origin.

(Zec 8:1-2) This is not the only passage of Scripture in which God is said to be jealous. (cp. Exo 20:5; Exo 34:14, Deu 4:24; Deu 5:9; Deu 6:15, Jos 24:19, Nah 1:2) In every one of these passages, Gods jealousy is set against the background either of the covenant or the violation of the covenant in the worship of false gods.

Zerr: Zec 8:1, Lord of hosts means he is Lord of armies or great numbers of people. Such a Being could properly demand attention to His word. Exo 20:5 tells us that the Lord Is jealous and gives the reason. He will not divide his love with false gods and when they receive or attempt, to obtain (through their worshipers) a part of that devotion it provokes the divine wrath (Zec 8:2). The people of Israel had gone off after these gods and then the jealousy of their true God was aroused. It is the logical thing for a jealous husband to chastise an unfaithful wife, hence God did so with his wife by sending her into captivity.

Zechariahs statement of Jehovahs jealousy is likewise in the context of the covenant. It is Zion over which He is jealous. It is the (restored remnant who marvel at the joys of His return to Jerusalem (Zec 8:6). It is Jehovah of hosts who speaks (Zec 8:4). The mountain (Zion) of Jehovah is the holy mountain. These are covenant terms.

Gods jealousy is the jealousy of a righteous husband for His bride. In more than one passage in the pre-exilic prophets, Israel is presented as Jehovahs bride. (e.g. Isa 49:18; Isa 61:10; Isa 62:5, Jer 2:32; Jer 7:34; Jer 16:9; Jer 25:10; Jer 33:11, Joe 2:16).

Nor is the idea strange to the New Testament. (e.g. Joh 3:29, Rev 18:23; Rev 21:2; Rev 21:9; Rev 22:17) Israel, as presented in the New Testament, is the covenant people consisting of all who by obedient faith are Gods people.

In both the Old and New Testaments, idolatry in particular and false worship in general are called harlotry or spiritual adulrry. In turning from God to the worship of false gods, Israel played the role of the unfaithful wife. This, as we have previously seen, was the ultimate cause of the evil in the pre-exilic kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and so the ultimate reason for the destruction of Israel and the captivity of Judah.

(Zec 8:3-5) Now the punishment of the faithless bride by her jealous husband is over. He has returned her to the homeland. In building the temple she has at last returned in her heart to Him. He will therefore return to live in the house Israel has built for Him. The twin hills, Zion and Moriah upon which Jerusalem and the temple sit are to be known as the holy mountain.

Zerr: Zec 8:3-5, But a husband does not thus punish his wife because he has ceased to love her, but rather because he still loves her in spite of her unfaithfulness. Hence this verse says that He will return unto Zion, which means that He will show his unbroken love for his wife by living with her again; will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. This prediction is literal and denotes the perfect safety that will he enjoyed in the city of Jerusalem. Even the man so old that he has to walk with a cane will be living on .the streets as a peaceful citizen which indicates not only the safety of the place, but that it has been that way for a long time. There are at least two points of significance in this verse. One is the assurance of a numerous young population, which was something much desired by the Jews. Another is that Jerusalem will be so secure after its recovery from the effects of the invasion that came before the captivity that, the children will be safe while playing in the streets and open places of the city.

Bear in mind, that which is holy is that which is set apart to the accomplishment of Gods purpose. The ultimate fulfillment of Gods covenant promise would come when, on this very mountain, Gods message of repentance and remission of sins began its call to all the nations of the earth. (cp. Luk 24:44 -ff, Acts, chapter 2)

The happiness of the restored people in their land with their God is pictured by the prophet in figures of happy home life. Old men and old women sit in the streets. Those who, because of age must lean upon a staff, go about the city. The streets are full of children at play. It is a picture of happy contented safety on the part of those who trust and obey the Lord and who thereby are aware of His presence in their midst. Long life and many children was, among the Jews, the epitome of the good life.

(Zec 8:6) The remnant, having returned to a desolate forsaken land with its buildings all in ruins, would look with amazement upon the restoration. Should it also be, Jehovah asks rhetorically, marvellous in mine eyes? Those who had failed to heed his warnings before the captivity, had also failed to hear His promises of deliverance. Therefore they were astounded that it should come so completely to pass. But to Jehovah, Who from the beginning had planned it so, it was no cause for marvel at all.

Zerr: If it be marvelous or difficult means that, although it seems “too good to be true” in the eyes of the people (Zec 8:6), it will not be so with the Lord who is powerful.

(Zec 8:7-8) The joy of the returnees, and their amazement at what God has wrought through them blends quite normally into a glimpse of the final fulfillment in Messianic Israel. In that day, Jehovah will save His people, not only from Babylon and from among the Jews. His people will come from the east and the west. The presence of God among them will not be symbolic, as in the temple, but in truth and righteousness. Jesus saw this in His own coming. At the Samaritan well He said that the hour was now that true worship would be in spirit and truth rather than in the temple made with hands. (cf. Joh 4:23-24)

Zerr: East country and west country (Zec 8:7) signifies that God will gather up his people from all places where they have been scattered. The bulk of the nation was in Babylon, but some were scattered in various other places. Be my people (Zec 8:8) does not mean they will have to become Jews, for they have always been that. It means they will be a part of a people as an organized nation with Jerusalem as its capital.

Questions

Teaching About Worship

1. Outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an ____________________ to ______________________.

2. Gods promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in ____________________.

3. On December 4, ______________ B.C. those who lived in Bethel sent messengers to Jehovah with a question.

4. What was that question?

5. Where is Bethel?

6. Show that those who lived in Beth-el were not Samaritans but Jews.

7. The fast on the seventh day of the fifth month marked the ________________ anniversary of ________________.

8. The fast of the seventh Month remembered ___________________.

9. Zechariahs answer to the question from Bethel was in ________________ statements.

10. Give the references for each of these statements.

11. What was the first answer?

12. Who were the former prophets?

13. What was the second answer?

14. The questioners are further reminded that God, through the former prophets, had commanded their fathers to __________________________.

18. The happiness of the restored people is presented in figures of happy __________________.

19. The joy and amazement of the returnees blends quite normally into a glimpse of ________________.

20. What is Zechariahs fourth answering statement?

21. Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into ____________________ prediction.

22. At the beginning of their restored national life is the same ________________ terminology which had marked the beginning of _________________.

23. The returned remnant is once more to be a nation of _________________.

24. How had the Jews become a curse upon the nations rather than a blessing?

25. Discuss the idea that God has more at stake in this work than do they.

26. What was the fifth statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el?

27. How does it relate to the first statement?

28. So; long as the people are _________________ and ______________ they have no reason to fear Gods wrath.

29. What was the sixth statement?

30. This statement is also an entreaty to Gods people to ____________________

31. It begins with a promise of _______________ instead of _______________ and closes with a ____________ promise.

32. Modem Jews observe the fast of the fourth month in connection with _____________, _______________, _________________, and _________________.

33. The fast of the fifth month is held in connection with ______________, and ________________,_ It also remembers _________________ and ________________.

34, The fast of the seventh month is now observed in remembrance of __________________________________.

35. The tenth month fast recalls ________________________________________.

36. What do you conclude from the fact that these fasts are still observed by the Jews?

37. Zec 8:20-23 are a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the ________________, beginning at ____________________ has brought the world the _________________________.once known only to the Jews.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The third answer was full of grace. It declared that God was jealous for Zion, that He had returned to it, and that therefore its prosperity was assured, notwithstanding that these people saw only the devastation which caused their lamentation. Because of the certainty of this restoration, the prophet appealed to the remnant to be strong and build, promising them in the name of Jehovah that instead of being a curse they would become a blessing. Reaffirming this divine intention to restore, the prophet called the people back to what the second answer had declared God sought, namely, the execution of justice and the manifestation of mercy.

The final answer to the questions suggested by the deputation consisted, first, of the declaration that Jehovah would turn all their self-appointed fasts into feasts. These fasts were named. Historically the institution of the fasts had commenced in the tenth month of a certain year, and ended in the seventh month of the next year. In this declaration the prophet deals with them as they occur in the months of one year, beginning with the fast of the fourth month, which celebrated the taking of the city; the fast of the fifth, which commemorated the burning of the city; the fast of the seventh, which had to do with the murder of Gedaliah; and, finally, the fast of the tenth, which commemorated the siege of the city, and historically was the first of the four. This arrangement opened the way for the prophet’s further declaration, that when God turned the fasts into feasts He would do it by becoming to the house of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful feasts, with the result that the city of Jerusalem would become the center to which many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities would go to seek Jehovah. It was a gracious and glorious setting forth of the realization of their true ideal by the people of God whereby men of other nations and other peoples would cast in their lot with them because of their consciousness that God was with them.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Truth and Love Must Prevail

Zec 8:1-17

In his third answer Zechariah dilates on the prosperity awaiting the chosen city. The Lord had returned, to dwell there, and the old men and women who were at the end of life should join with the happy boys and girls who were at the beginning in the enjoyment of the blessings of peace. Exiles also would return to people the former desolations. But with these delightful forecasts ensue reiterated appeals.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 8

The Light Of The Future Shining On The Present Path

The value of the study of future prophecy is strikingly displayed in this chapter, where we find God, through His servant, drawing back the veil that hides the coming glory, in order that His people may comprehend in some measure their hope, that their present path may be in accordance therewith.

It would perhaps have been better had there been no break between this portion and that which we have just had before us, as it all seems to be part of Jehovahs answer to the inquirers regarding the propriety of observing the fast-day of the fifth month.

Verses 1 to 8 form a lovely millennial picture, describing the conditions which will prevail when Jerusalem shall be called, A city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The holy mountain. Because of their idolatrous ways the Lord had been jealous for Zion with a great jealousy, and with great wrath had delivered Judah into the hands of their enemies, that they might learn in the strangers land the folly of trusting in graven images and sacrificing to the demons behind the symbols (ver. 2). Their sojourn in Babylon had cured them of this for the time, though our Lord Jesus showed that they were but as a house empty, swept and garnished, to which the unclean spirit who had gone out will yet return, bringing with him seven demons worse than himself. This will be fulfilled when idolatry of a worse kind than ever before is established among them-even the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.

But all this is passed over here, for it is Gods purpose that is before us, not the peoples failure. Nothing is plainer than that the latter half of verse 3 never could have been properly applied to Jerusalem and Mount Zion since the return from Babylon. Yet it is there intimately connected with the first part, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. All the succeeding failure, even to the rejection of Messiah Himself and their consequent dispersion, is passed over in silence, and the future glorious estate of Jerusalem is linked up with the remnant then in the land. Only when the Lord has been manifested in power will the words that follow be fulfilled. Then shall there be old men and aged women dwelling in the restored city, while the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof (vers. 4, 5). The street is now the place of danger. Then the children can play therein with perfect safety. It is a sweet and touching thing thus to see how the Eternal God concerns Himself even about the innocent pastimes of the little ones. It might be well if some parents who are prone to a more than Puritanic legality pondered this 5th verse; for I fear that the boys and girls are often made to feel that their simple pleasures are, if not displeasing to Him, at least unprofitable and vain.

The accomplishment of what has here been outlined must be marvelous indeed in the eyes of puny man; but it is but a small thing with Him who hurled worlds into space, and directs the movements of the minutest of His creatures. His omnipotent Hand shall surely perform what His mouth has spoken. But that a future return from among the nations was before His mind is evidenced by what follows: Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness (vers. 7, 8). This is the universal testimony of the prophets. The restoration from Babylon was but temporary, in order that what had been written concerning Messiah might be fulfilled. He having been cut off, they who refused Him were driven forth into all the ends of the earth. From thence, in Gods appointed time, they shall return again to that country, which is still to them the land of promise, where all that the prophets have spoken shall come to pass.

In verse 9 the practical application is pressed home. In view of the glory that is coming, the hands may well be strong. What need to be downcast and discouraged with such a portion assured us in Christ? So the people were urged to labor and hope, cheered by the promises of rich reward. God was caring for their interests. He would have them in earnest as to His. When Haggai was first raised up to speak to them, famine threatened, and disappointment clouded all their sky. But when they willingly and cheerfully gave themselves to the work of building His house, He had declared, From this day will I bless you (Hag 1:9-11; 2:18,19). He had been as good as His word, and would still watch over them for blessing, giving prosperity and increase while they put first things first, making His glory their object (vers. 10-12).

But in all these promises it is plain that God has something more before Him than the little company then returned. He was looking on to fulness of blessing in the Millennium. Hence He declares that Israel, once a curse among the nations, shall be saved and made a blessing, according to His oath to Abraham. This was not true in any large measure, nor for long, of the actual company, or their descendants, to whom Zechariah spoke; for in less than six hundred years later we hear the Holy Spirit declaring that through them the name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles (Rom 2:24). And so it has been ever since. But Gods Word abides nevertheless, and in a future remnant every promise shall be made good (ver. 13).

The Lord had no delight in afflicting His people; but their fathers had provoked Him to wrath. Let their children take heed to their ways therefore, and obey His voice, and all would be well. These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord (vers. 16, 17).

Practical righteousness and true morality are the same in all dispensations. Christians may well challenge their hearts as we read these verses and note what is abhorrent in Gods sight. Truth, and judgment according to truth: in these He delights. Evil surmisings (a most fruitful source of trouble in all ages) and false oaths: these He hates. May we have grace given to cleave to the former and refuse the latter!

The question as to the fasts (chap. 7:3) is again reverted to in verses 18, 19. Those of the fifth and seventh months we have already noticed. That of the fourth month commemorated the taking of Jerusalem, while that of the tenth called to mind the beginning of its siege. If the restored residue sought to walk with God, truly judging the past, these fasts would be transformed into cheerful feasts. Therefore love the truth and peace, they were told. Notice that truth comes first, then peace; as in 2Ti 2:22 believers are called upon in a day of confusion and distraction to follow righteousness first of all. Then faith, love and peace would rightly follow.

The chapter concludes by portraying the happy spiritual conditions which will prevail in the day that Messiahs kingdom is established. It shall be no matter of hardship or cold, formal obedience to come together in a solemn assembly before Jehovah when Israel shall be a regenerated and sanctified people. Each city shall then vie with the other in provoking unto love and to good works, saying one to another, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also (vers. 20, 21). His service will then be their joy and delight. The 122d Psalm will be fulfilled, and the voices of the restored remnant will sing with exultation, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. It is ever thus when Christ Himself is before the soul. The gatherings of the children of God become in very deed as foretastes of heaven when He is to His own the altogether lovely. There are no dry, listless meetings then; but every heart thrills with a joy not earthly as He fills the vision of the enraptured soul. If right with God, there would ever be this holy freshness and fervent longing for His presence. But when permitted sin has been allowed to do its deadly work unjudged, the Holy Spirit is grieved, Christ is hidden, and what would have been a delight becomes a weariness of the flesh. When the saints of God are enjoying Christ, others are attracted to Him and to them. So, when Israel shall be gathered round Himself, dwelling under His shadow, and happy in His love, there will be a great stirring of heart among the spared of the nations who will not have been destroyed when the stone falls from heaven- Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. The Jew, so long despised and hated, will be looked upon as the ambassador of the Lord, and ten men of all languages shall cleave to one who is of Judah, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you (vers. 22, 23). It is impossible, by any principle of honest interpretation, to make these words fit any revival of the past or present. They apply only to the day when Jerusalem shall be the spiritual metropolis of the whole earth, and when the name of Jew, so often used in contempt and derision, will proclaim one who is truly a son of praise,36 joyfully worshiping the Lord of hosts as he stands upon redemption ground. Then indeed shall all the nations know that salvation is of the Jews.

But that there is a spiritual application, I have already pointed out. When the people of God, in any age, are going on in happy fellowship with their Lord and Saviour, the unsaved will be attracted to Him, and will be found seeking out His disciples, saying, We would see Jesus.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Zec 8:5

I. Learn from the text that God thinks about boys and girls, and notices what they do.

II. Learn that God allows boys and girls to play. (1) Play suits the age of boys and girls. (2) Play helps children to grow strong and healthy. (3) Play teaches children to bear and forbear, and to put up with disappointments. (4) Play makes boys and girls learn better when it is over. (5) Play of any kind is better than idleness.

III. Remember these four bits of advice: (1) In all your play remember the eye and ear of God. (2) In all your play keep your temper. (3) Do not neglect work because of play. (4) Never forget that all true happiness comes from Christ.

Bishop Ryle, Boys and Girls Playing, p. 9.

References: Zec 8:5.-F. W. Farrar, In the Days of Thy Youth, p. 367; J. N. Norton, Every Sunday, p. 335.

Zec 8:6

Our age is wonderful, not merely in the number of strange and unprecedented things happening in it, and in the strange and unprecedented character that belongs to it as a whole, but also in the prominence of wonder as an element in the view which it takes of itself. It is wonderful because it is an age of wonder. The comfort of the text is comprehended under two words: the first “safety,” and the second “enlargement.” These describe the two needs of every man’s life, and these two needs both find a supply in the assurance that what are wonders and mysteries to us are perfectly clear to God, within whose life our lives are hid.

I. Remember where so much of the sense of danger and the sense of unsafety in life comes from. It is not from the things that we see and that we have known all along; it is from the half-seen forms that hover upon the borders of reality and unreality-from things which evidently are something, but of which we cannot perfectly make out just what they are. At sea it is not the ship whose shape you can perfectly discern, all whose movements you can follow; it is the ship that hovers like a dim ghost in the fog, moving by an unseen hand, evidently there, but all bathed in mystery-that is the ship you fear may strike you. It is not clear, sound, well-proved, certain truths that frighten men for the stability of their faith; it is the ghostly speculations, the vaguely-outlined, faint suggestions that hover in the misty light of dim hypotheses; it is the forms of truth that peer out of just opened but not explored chambers of new sciences-these are the things that make the dim, uneasy sense of danger that besets the minds of so many believers. If any so-called discovery which men are teaching me today is really true, God has known it all along. “Do not be frightened,” He says. “I cannot be taken by surprise.” “If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people, should it also be marvellous in Mine eyes?” He who believes truth only as the way to God-he who regards opinions as valueless, except as they agree with the infallible judgments of God-is the man for whom all life is safe, and whose faith faces the changing thoughts and destinies of the world, however astounding they may seem, without a thought of fear.

II. Such a man is also free. If He who sits at the centre of everything, and sees the visions of the universe with the perfect clearness of its Maker-if God can really speak so that we can hear Him, and say, “It is impossible to you, but it is not impossible to Me; it is marvellous in your eyes, but it is not in Mine”-if He can say that of any task which is overwhelming men with its immensity-that word of His must snap our fetters, that word of His must set free the little strength of all of us to strike our little blows, must enlarge our lives, and send them out to bolder ventures with earnestness and hope.

Phillips Brooks, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 361.

References: Zec 8:6.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxix., No. 1747; S. Macnaughten, Real Religion and Real Life, p. 147. Zec 8:13.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix., No. 543. Zec 8:16, Zec 8:17.-A. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 310.

Zec 8:19

When we reflect upon the present state of the Holy Church throughout the world, so different from that which was promised to her in prophecy, the doubt is apt to suggest itself to us, whether it is right to rejoice when there is so much to mourn over and to fear. When men discern duly the forlorn state in which the spouse of Christ at present lies, how can they have the heart to rejoice? The desponding soul falls back when it makes the effort; it is not equal to the ceremonial which comes natural to light hearts, and at best but coldly obeys what they anticipate without being bidden. “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” Yet since there is some danger of over-sensitiveness in this matter, it may be useful to make some remarks upon it.

I. This then must be ever kept in mind when such thoughts arise within us-that cheerfulness and lightness of heart are not only privileges but duties. Cheerfulness is a great Christian duty. That sorrow, that solicitude, that fear, that repentance, is not Christian which has not its portion of Christian joy. For “God is greater than our hearts,” and no evil, past or future, within or without, is equal to this saying-that Christ has died and reconciled the world unto Himself. We are ever in His presence, be we cast down or be we exalted, and “in His presence is the fulness of joy.”

II. Even the Jews attempted to rejoice in captivity, though it was prophesied against them, “I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation;” whereas the very reverse is graciously assured in the text to the Gospel Church, that her times of humiliation should be times of rejoicing. We have a still more remarkable and solemn instance of the duty of keeping festival and rejoicing, even in the darkest day, in our Lord’s own history. If there was a season in which gloom was allowable, it was on the days and hours before His Passion; but He who came to bring joy on earth and not sorrow, even in that awful time kept the feast-nay, anticipated it, as if though He Himself was to be the very Paschal Lamb, still He was not thereby excused from sharing in the typical rite. And a few days before it He took part in a public and, as it were, triumphant pageant, as though the bitterness of death had been already past.

J. H. Newman, Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p 381.

References: Zec 8:19.-A. Mursell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 93; Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. x., p. 239. Zec 8:21.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1107; A. F. Barfield, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 215. Zec 8:23.-W. Jay, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 37. Zech 8-W. Lindsay Alexander, Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii., p. 309. Zec 9:1-8.-Ibid., vol. viii., p. 42. Zec 9:9.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1861; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 3rd series, p. 78. Zec 9:9, Zec 9:10.-W. Lindsay Alexander, Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 109. Zec 9:11, Zec 9:12.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 371. Zec 9:11-17.-Ibid., p. 216.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 8

1. The restoration announced (Zec 8:1-3)

2. The peace of Jerusalem (Zec 8:4-5)

3. The return to the land (Zec 8:6-8)

4. The blessing of the land and the people (Zec 8:9-23)

Zec 8:1-3. The answer is now given to the question, and it is an answer which none of the petitioners expected. The answer is closely linked with the third night vision in chapter 2, for here is an enlarged prophecy concerning the restoration of Jerusalem. Jehovah was jealous for Jerusalem. The wrath fell upon the Gentiles and He poured out His fury upon them (which of course is future). When that has taken place He returns unto Zion and establishes His dwelling place in the midst of His people. Then Jerusalem is no longer trodden down by the Gentiles. Her name is a new name, the City of Truth. How different from the other names she bore in her humiliation! She was called an unclean woman Lam 1:8; Lam 1:17; a harlot and a murderer Isa 1:21; Sodom and Egypt Rev 11:1-19.

Zec 8:4-5. The misery of Jerusalem was great while under judgment. All will be changed in that day. The city will have peace and prosperity and be largely inhabited. Hence there will be no more need to weep over her past fate and desolation, for greater glory has come.

Zec 8:6-8. They all return to the land. In the second chapter the north country was mentioned (Russia); and their return announced. Here the east and the west are named, the far east, India, China, Japan; and the West, the European countries and America.

Zec 8:9-23. What a contrast with the former days of judgment and dispersion and misery! For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast…. Little fruit was had from the ground; there was nothing for man and beast…. Neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in on account of the affliction…. There was no rest, no peace, but uncertainty and affliction. Those that went out from the land had no peace, and they that came into the land found no peace. The curse said, No rest for the sole of their feet, and how literally it has been fulfilled. Again the people seek a resting place in the land without their God and their Saviour, all in the confidence of the flesh. They will succeed in their restoration plans only to find themselves at last in greater difficulties and facing worse afflictions than ever before. Then every one will be against his neighbor (Zec 8:10). Money spent by the millions in building channels for irrigation, planting of trees and vines, building railroads, etc. (just what modern Zionism proposes and has undertaken to do), may succeed in transforming the land in spots into a fruitful garden, but the time of Jacobs trouble will sweep that all away. The Lord will be gracious to the very land in the day of His manifestation. There will be a time of peace, the vine will give her fruit, the ground her increase, the heavens their dew.

The curse will then be changed into a blessing and the remnant will be a holy people. Fast days become feast days; national calamities of the past are forgotten, and in the place of weeping there is praise and worship. The songs of praise with which the book of Psalms closes will undoubtedly then be sung by the restored nation. This great restoration chapter closes with a vision of the conversion of the whole world (Zec 8:20-23). The nations are seeking the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem to pray before Him. Then the Jew will no longer be a dishonored person among the Gentiles, but they will be the messengers of the King among the nations; and they will gladly take hold of the skirt of the Jew to be taken by him to Jerusalem.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Reciprocal: Zec 6:9 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

HAVING EXPOSED the sinful state of the people, another word from the Lord came in which the purposes of His mercy were revealed. In this remarkable chapter there are things specially addressed to the remnant then back in the land – verses Zec 8:9-17, for instance – yet the main drift of it goes far beyond anything that was realized in their history, between the rebuilding as permitted by Cyrus. and the destruction under the Romans, so it looks on to the end of the age and the second coming of Christ.

In that age Jerusalem will indeed have Jehovah dwelling in her midst and be called ‘a city of truth’. Once indeed He who was the ‘truth’, as well as the ‘way’, and the ‘life’, was in her midst, only to be rejected and crucified, while Pilate, who sanctioned that act of rejection, asked satirically, ‘What is truth?’ No, Jerusalem has never yet been worthy of that designation; but she will be in a coming age. And then human life will be greatly prolonged, and young life be abundant and free. Our modern streets with fast-moving motor traffic are hardly a playground for children.

Verses Zec 8:6-8, also look on to the time of the end. What had come to pass in the return of the remnant was indeed wonderful in their eyes, but what is here predicted would be more wonderful still, when God would gather from the west as well as the east, to dwell as His people, so that He would be their God ‘in truth and in righteousness’. In Christ truth and righteousness have indeed been revealed and established, but never yet has God dwelt in Jerusalem on that basis. The day is coming when He will do so.

In verses Zec 8:9-16. there is a special appeal to the remnant of the people then in the land. They are reminded of the words spoken to them earlier, when the foundation of the temple was laid, and how the adversity that had marked their doings had been turned into a time of prosperity. God was now bestowing much favour and prosperity upon them, but they are reminded that He called for suitable behaviour on their part. Truth, honesty and righteous judgment was what was expected of them. Again the stress is on the moral qualities that are according to God, and not on ceremonial observances.

A further word from the Lord is now given and in verse Zec 8:19 four fasts are mentioned. Besides the two mentioned in the previous chapter we now have the one in the fourth month, for in that month famine prevailed and Jerusalem was broken up, according to Jer 52:6, and it was in the tenth month that the city was surrounded by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, as verse Zec 8:4 of that same chapter records. It is now revealed that the day would come when these four fasts would be turned into feasts of rejoicing. Therefore they were to love truth and peace. These predictions of future blessing were to have a present effect upon the people.

And all that we know of future blessing should have a present effect of good upon ourselves. It is worthy of note that truth precedes peace, as cause and effect. Error produces strife just as certainly as truth produces peace. In the remaining verses of our chapter we find predictions of the happy state of things that will prevail when truth at last prevails in Jerusalem, and peace fills the scene. In that coming day the house of the Lord will indeed be, ‘an house of prayer for all people’ (Isa 56:7). There will be many who desire to seek the Lord in prayer, and they will recognize where God is to be found in that day. All through the centuries the name, ‘Jew’, has had a measure of reproach attaching to it. It will not be so then, for they will recognize that at last God is with His ancient people. It is obvious that this prediction has never yet been fulfilled, and looks on to a future day.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Zec 8:1, Lord of hosts means he is Lord of armies or great numbers of people. Such a Being could properly demand attention to His word.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Zec 8:2. I was jealous for Zionwith great fury, to purge her sins, and with great compassion and special mercy to bring back her children and restore her temple. What other nation, overrun and destroyed by the Chaldeans, were made like her the equal heirs of grace?

Zec 8:3. Thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in Jerusalema city of truth, the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. To this day, Jerusalem is called the holy city in all the east.

Zec 8:4-5. There shall yet old men and women dwell in the streets of Jerusalemand boys and girls playing. A dense population is here promised, as in Isa 65:19. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.If we understand these promises temporally, as the jews mostly do, why did Antiochus cruelly slaughter them, and profane their temple for three years and six months. And why were the jews driven to pray for the iron yoke of the Romans, to deliver them from the galling yoke of the Syrian kings. Assuredly the blessings of the new Jerusalem are to be understood here; for though the clouds of Jehovahs mercy richly watered Jerusalem after the return from Babylon, they still reserve the plenitude of benediction for the hill of Zion in the latter day. With this agree the comments of Paul, in Galatians 4. Hebrews 12.

Zec 8:7. I will save my people from the east country. From the provinces of Babylon, from Tyre and Greece, from the isles, or Chetim, when they hear that Jerusalem flourishes under the government of Persian kings.

Zec 8:10. Before these days, when Baal and Moloch were the gods of Judah, there was no hire for man or beast. There was no trade, no money in circulation: meat only was the reward of labour. It was the same with the monks of Italy, England, and Spain, during their ascendency. They grew rich in gold, silver, and cattle, and made the people poor.

Zec 8:13. As ye were a curse among the heathenso will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing. The jews have hitherto been abhorred for their extortion and deceit; but as soon as they shall embrace the gospel and the Saviour, the nations will rejoice over them as brethren, and help them in the Lord.

Zec 8:20-22. There shall come people and inhabitants of many cities saying, let us go speedily to pray before the Lord. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem. Daniel describes the fourth empire as exceedingly strong, that is, the power of the Roman nations, who embraced the christian religion. Churches were planted at a very early period in all their principal cities, and from them the sound of the gospel went forth into all the earth.

Zec 8:23. Ten men shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a jew. So eager shall the nations be to embrace the true religion, that they shall rush into the kingdom of heaven, and take it as it were with violence.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Zec 8:4 f. A beautiful description of the result of the restoration of peace and safety. During the troublous past Jerusalem had been no place for feeble old age or for children. The sympathetic touch, playing in the streets thereof, is one of the very few indications in the OT of a love for children as such.

Zec 8:7. with its refer. ence to the east and west looks like a later prophecy of the return from the Dispersion,

Zec 8:10. is in agreement with Hag 1:6; Hag 2:16. It is noteworthy that the adversaries here referred to are Jews, not Samaritans.

Zec 8:12 is a reminiscence of Hos 2:23 ff. (cf. Hag 1:10).

Zec 8:13. The phrases to be a cuise and to be a blessing do not mean to be a source of blessing or cursing, but to be an illustration of such.

Zec 8:18 f. Zechariahs answer: the four fasts are henceforth to be kept as holidays.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

The Positive Answer

(vv. 1-17)

In this chapter the Lord gives a wonderfully positive answer to the question of Zec 7:2. The positive answer is found only in His own great and effective work to which the eyes of Israel are to be directed. Yet the answer looks forward, far beyond any small measure of revival in Israel, to the time when God restores the nation permanently in the age of millennial glory.

Another direct word from the Lord of hosts comes to Zechariah, not regarding Israel’s guilt, but to affirm His own great jealousy for Zion’s welfare. Zion (meaning sunny) is Jerusalem’s name given in view of Christ’s coming to her as “the Sun of Righteousness” (Mal 4:2) in a future day. The Lord adds, “I am zealous for Zion with great zeal” (v. 2). How rightly He hates the evil that has caused His people to fall and to be estranged from Him! When He judges His anger will burn and He will accomplish His ends.

His promise is irrevocable in spite of Israel’s failure. “I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem” (v. 3). The fulfillment of this has been delayed for many centuries, and Israel’s failure has been the cause of the delay. In fact, God did return in person when Christ came into the world, but Israel coldly rejected Him, causing further delay to His dwelling in their midst. Only when their attitude toward the Lord Jesus is sovereignly changed to one of faith and submission will they be blessed with the joy of His presence in their midst. Then “Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.” What a contrast indeed to what Rev 11:8 has to say of Jerusalem: “the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.” The change will be absolutely the Lord’s doing. He will change their corruption (their Sodom character) into truth, and their independence of God (their Egyptian character) into holiness. Wonderful work of divine grace and power!

The permanence of the blessing of the Millennium is seen in verse 4, which tells us, “Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age.” At the time of writing, only the young and virile had been able to survive the rigors of captivity and wars, and only the comparatively young had returned from the captivity. But during the Millennium many people will live through the entire thousand years, so their age will be great, yet they will not die.

The streets will be filled with children playing, not filled with civil rights marches and protests and crime. Today the streets are the most dangerous areas for children to play, but whatever modes of transportation will then be used, they will pose no threat even to children. The pleasant circumstances of prosperity and contentment will be such a contrast to the world’s present day confusion.

When the time comes for this to take place, it will seem too difficult in the eyes of the godly remnant of Israel (v. 6). Will it also be too difficult in God’s eyes? It will involve tremendous changes that even we today may find it hard to imagine. What will happen to the results of the industrial revolution? What of all the amazing inventions that have flooded the world’s markets? There is no question that all the world’s weapons of war will be done away, but what of its advanced methods of rapid transportation, cars, trucks, planes, space ships, etc.? Distribution of food will be necessary, and garbage disposal. Homes will be built, crops planted, clothing manufactured, and many other things will require the work of people’s hands. But where will the line be drawn? At least there will not be the complications of present day society. The simplicity of living is emphasized wherever the Millennium is spoken of in Scripture. Accidental death will apparently never take place, nor the death of an infant (Isa 65:18-25). Whatever changes God sees fit to introduce, He will accomplish His promise perfectly in spite of any objections unbelief may advance.

For the fourth time in this chapter the words are repeated, “Thus says the Lord of hosts” (v. 7). He is emphasizing the absolute truth of what He says. Though the returned remnant of Israel was very small, God was still “the Lord of hosts,” the Commander of multitudes. Though Israel was scattered far from their land, and are still scattered, He will save them just as simply as He saved the remnant from the captivity of the Medes and Persians. He will bring them back eventually to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, where He will own them as His own people (v. 8). In Hos 1:9 God speaks of disowning Israel, calling them “not My people” because of their rebellion against Him. But in the future, they will have pleasure in obeying Him.

Again, for the fifth time in this chapter (v. 9) Israel is told, “Thus says the Lord of hosts.” In this case He asks for a fitting response from the nation, though He later affirms again the certainty of His own work, interspersing this with appeals to them to act consistently in view of God’s faithfulness. “Let your hands be strong.” They were not to wait for the coming day of glory to act for God, but “You who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets” were called upon to be strong now. The prophets had prophesied when the foundation of the restored temple was laid. God had spoken by the prophets. The people were therefore responsible to listen and apply themselves to obey. This was more important than being occupied with questions as to whether or not they should fast at certain times. The temple signified God’s dwelling among them. This wonderful fact should have had deep effect on the heart of every Israelite.

“For before these days, while the land was lying desolate for seventy years, there were no wages for man nor hire for beast; there was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in; for I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor” (v. 10). This was the hand of God in discipline, not merely unfortunate circumstances. He had changed Israel’s circumstances before from favorable to miserable. His power is just as effective to change them back again. This power not only changed circumstances, but also influenced the attitude of people, setting them against one another. By the same power God could change people’s attitudes as well as their outward circumstances. In other words, they sorely need God!

“But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts” (v. 11). The little reviving God had given in restoring the small fraction of the people after the captivity partially fulfilled this promise, but the revival did not last. So it was only a small pledge of the later complete fulfillment, which will take place in the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus.

God will then make the seed they sow to prosper and cause their vines to produce fruit (v. 12). The ground will bring forth abundance. The heavens will give dew, not wild rainstorms, but gentle moisture necessary for growth, given at night with no inconvenience for mankind. God will cause the remnant of Israel to possess all these blessings in His own time.

As to the people themselves, whether Judah or Israel, they then will no longer be a curse among the Gentiles, as they have been for centuries (v. 13). Gentiles have generally despised the Jewish people, yet their identity as Jews has been maintained throughout the years in spite of their being scattered away from their land. In every country where they have been dispersed they have been considered a curse. But God will save them and they will become a blessing, recognized as such by the nations. This will be another miraculous result of God’s work of grace in their hearts. He tells them, “Do not fear, let your hands be strong.” Their situation at the time caused them to fear the opposition of the nations, but since God Himself will eventually change this opposition into approval, why not now be strong to do the will of God?

Again with the expression, “Thus says the Lord of hosts” (v. 14), the faithfulness of God in carrying out His Word is pressed on Israel. When His righteous punishment had been executed in the past because their fathers had provoked Him to anger, He had not repented of His expressed warnings, but carried out His Word. He meant what He said. Similarly, His thoughts of doing well to Israel have been expressed in this very chapter and in the great field of prophecy (v. 15). In this case His Word will not fail either. Will they not trust Him as fully for the second as for the first? Well might they be told then not to fear, but to let their hands be strong. They may depend utterly on the faithfulness of God to uphold them.

With the basis of God’s faithfulness, how becoming and right it is that He should expect a true response, as is seen in verses 16 and 17. Notice, however, that no selfish motive on God’s part is involved in what He requires. Rather, His concern is for the welfare of others. He insists that they speak the truth to neighbors: one should not deceive another. Also, those who held the office of judges in the gates are expected to execute the judgment of truth that has the element of peace instead of resentment, as was often the reaction to court judgments in those days, just as in our days. God is deeply concerned as to how we consider one another.

Verse 17 goes deeper than verse 16. Verse 16 refers to actions and verse 17 to thoughts. Imagining evil even in one’s heart toward one’s neighbor is forbidden, as is loving a false oath. God knows our motives, and we must judge them as in the sight of God, for He hates all evil, whether evil actions or evil thoughts.

THE FASTS TURNED INTO FEASTS

(vv. 18-23)

Verses 18 and 19 connect with the question of Zec 7:3 and with the negative answer in Zec 7:5-6. Here we have the positive answer in a way far higher than the questioners had ever imagined. For the seventh time in the chapter the message is prefaced with the words, “Thus says the Lord of hosts.” The men from Bethel had asked only about observing the fast of the fifth month. In the negative answer God had added the fast of the seventh month (Zec 7:5). Now two more fasts are added to these, those of the fourth and tenth months. The fast of the fourth month was in memory of Nebuchadnezzar’s taking the city Jerusalem (2Ki 25:3-4). That of the tenth month commemorated the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem in the ninth year of Zedekiah (1 Kings 25: 1).

Rather than telling the men of Bethel to no longer observe these fasts, the Lord tells them that all of these fasts will be turned into cheerful feasts of joy and gladness for the house of Judah. This refers to the future because Judah has not taken to heart the serious significance of the fasts in humbling themselves in self-judgment and faith in the Son of God. Yet God’s answer in grace far transcends all that anyone could imagine, and He will wonderfully carry out His Word. Because of the certainty of this, they are told to love truth and peace. God has spoken the truth; therefore love it. If one’s thoughts conflict with this, he does not really love peace: if he loves peace, he will not entertain thoughts of conflict with God.

In verse 9 for the eighth time we are told, “Thus says the Lord of hosts.” In this case the Lord promises that the blessing will not be confined to the house of Judah. The inhabitants of many cities will come to share in the joy that Judah is given. These are the cities of Israel. Their refreshing desire for fellowship then will lead those of one city to go to another, so that together they might go up to supplicate the Lord at Jerusalem. The unity of Israel will be far more than formal, but will issue from willing hearts.

In verse 22 the blessing is seen to be wider still. Many peoples and strong nations will also come to seek the Lord and present their supplication before Him at Jerusalem. Gentiles will recognize His glory as being identified with the people of Israel whom they had long despised. How marvelous this work of grace will be! What a change from present day intrigue, distrust, hatred and violence even within Israel and in all the nations toward her!

Again, for the ninth time in the chapter it is emphasized, “Thus says the Lord of hosts.” When those days arrive, as many as ten Gentiles will be attracted to one Jew, not to terrorize him, but to seek his favor, for, they will say, “we have heard that God is with you” (v. 23). In fact, the name of the city will be “The Lord is there” (Ezek 38: 35).

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

D. Israel’s restoration to God’s favor 8:1-17

Chapter 8 not only contains two major messages from the Lord (Zec 8:1-23) but 10 minor messages, "a decalogue of divine words," [Note: Leupold, p. 141.] that make up the two major ones. Another writer believed there were seven oracles in this section. [Note: Waltke, p. 846.] "Thus says the Lord" introduces each of these minor messages (Zec 8:2-23) each of which contains a promise of future blessing for Israel. These short sayings may have been the texts of different sermons that Zechariah had preached and later wove together because of their similar content. [Note: Baldwin, p. 148.]

"In the preceding section [ch. 7] Israel was to repent and live righteously after the punishment of her captivity; here [in ch. 8] she is to repent and live righteously because of the promise of her future restoration." [Note: Barker, pp. 649-50.]

The whole chapter presents Israel’s eventual restoration and participation in full millennial blessing. [Note: Unger, p. 132.] The restoration from exile in Zechariah’s day was only a precursor of greater future blessing and prosperity.

"Of a total of 36 occurrences of ’YHWH of hosts’ in Zechariah, 15 are in this one oracle [ch. 8], the highest concentration of the phrase in the OT with the possible exception of Malachi. Even more remarkable, it occurs six times in the present passage alone [Zec 8:1-8], a passage that focuses narrowly on eschatological restoration. So humanly impossible will that be, it can come to pass only by the resources of the Almighty One." [Note: Merrill, p. 220.]

I counted 16 occurrences of "the LORD of hosts" and four more of "the LORD" in this chapter.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The Lord’s word came to Zechariah.

"The introductory formula lacks the words to me in the original, a fact which suggests that Zechariah was repeating words he had often spoken rather than expressing a new revelation." [Note: Baldwin, p. 149.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

; Zec 8:1-23

“THE SEED OF PEACE”

Zec 7:1-14; Zec 8:1-23

THE Visions have revealed the removal of the guilt of the land, the restoration of Israel to their standing before God, the revival of the great national institutions, and Gods will to destroy the heathen forces of the world. With the Temple built, Israel should be again in the position which she enjoyed before the Exile. Zechariah, therefore, proceeds to exhort his people to put away the fasts which the Exile had made necessary, and address themselves, as of old, to the virtues and duties of the civic life. And he introduces his orations to this end by a natural appeal to the experience of the former days.

The occasion came to him when the Temple had been building for two years, and when some of its services were probably resumed. A deputation of Jews appeared in Jerusalem and raised the question of the continuance of the great Fasts of the Exile. Who the deputation were is not certain: probably we ought to delete “Bethel” from the second verse, and read either “El-sareser sent Regem-Melekh and his men to the house of Jehovah to propitiate Jehovah,” or else “the house of El-sareser sent Regem-Melekh and his men to propitiate Jehovah.” It has been thought that they came from the Jews in Babylon: this would agree with their arrival in the ninth month to inquire about a fast in the fifth month. But Zechariahs answer is addressed to Jews in Judea. The deputation limited their inquiry to the fast of the fifth month, which commemorated the burning of the Temple and the City, now practically restored. But with a breadth of view which reveals the prophet rather than the priest, Zechariah replies, in the following chapter, upon all the fasts by which Israel for seventy years had bewailed her ruin and exile. He instances two: that of the fifth month, and that of the seventh month, the date of the murder of Gedaliah, when the last poor remnant of a Jewish state was swept away. {Jer 41:2; 2Ki 25:25} With a boldness which recalls Amos to the very letter, Zechariah asks his people whether in those fasts they fasted at all to their God. Jehovah had not charged them, and in fasting they had fasted for themselves, just as in eating and drinking they had eaten and drunken to themselves. They should rather hearken to the words He really sent them. In a passage, the meaning of which has been perverted by the intrusion of the eighth verse, that therefore ought to be deleted, Zechariah recalls what those words of Jehovah had been in the former times when the land was inhabited and the national life in full course. They were not ceremonial; they were ethical: they commanded justice, kindness, and the care of the helpless and the poor. And it was in consequence of the peoples disobedience to those words that all the ruin came upon them for which they now annually mourned. The moral is obvious if unexpressed. Let them drop their fasts, and practice the virtues the neglect of which had made their fasts a necessity. It is a sane and practical word, and makes us feel how much Zechariah has inherited of the temper of Amos and Isaiah. He rests, as before, upon the letter of the ancient oracles, but only so as to bring out their spirit. With such an example of the use of ancient Scripture, it is deplorable that so many men, both among the Jews and the Christians, should have devoted themselves to the letter at the expense of the spirit.

“And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king, that the Word of Jehovah came to Zechariah on the fourth of the ninth month, Kislev. For these sent to the house of Jehovah, El-sareser and Regem-Melekh and his men, to propitiate Jehovah, to ask of the priests which were in the house of Jehovah of Hosts and of the prophets as follows: Shall I weep in the fifth month with fasting as I have now done so many years? And the Word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me: Speak now to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, and this for seventy years, did ye fast at all to Me? And when ye eat and when ye drink, are not ye the eaters and ye the drinkers? Are not these the words which Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and at peace, with her cities round about her, and the Negeb and the Shephela, were inhabited?”

“Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts: Judge true judgment, and practice towards each other kindness and mercy; oppress neither widow nor orphan, stranger nor poor, and think not evil in your hearts towards one another. But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and their ears they dulled from listening. And their heart they made adamant, so as not to hear the Torah and the words which Jehovah of Hosts sent through His Spirit by the hand of the former prophets; and there was great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. And it came to pass that, as He had called and they heard not, so they shall call and I will not hear, said Jehovah of Hosts, but I will whirl them away among nations whom they know not. And the land was laid waste behind them, without any to pass to and fro, and they made the pleasant land desolate.”

There follow upon this deliverance ten other short oracles: chapter 8. Whether all of this decalogue are to be dated from the same time as the answer to the deputation about the fasts is uncertain. Some of them appear rather to belong to an earlier date, for they reflect the situation, and even the words, of Haggais oracles, and represent the advent of Jehovah to Jerusalem as still future. But they return to the question of the fasts, treating it still more comprehensively than before, and they close with a promise, fitly spoken as the Temple grew to completion, of the coming of the heathen to worship at Jerusalem.

We have already noticed the tender charm and strong simplicity of these prophecies, and there is little now to add except the translation of them. As with the older prophets, and especially the great Evangelist of the Exile, they start from the glowing love of Jehovah for His people, to which nothing is impossible; they promise a complete return of the scattered Jews to their land, and are not content except with the assurance of a world converted to the faith of their God. With Haggai Zechariah promises the speedy end of the poverty of the little colony; and he adds his own characteristic notes of a reign of peace to be used for hearty labor, bringing forth a great prosperity. Only let men be true and just and kind, thinking no evil of each other, as in those hard days when hunger and the fierce rivalry for sustenance made every ones neighbor his enemy, and the petty life, devoid of large interests for the commonweal, filled their hearts with envy and malice. For ourselves the chief profit of these beautiful oracles is their lesson that the remedy for the sordid tempers and cruel hatreds, engendered by the fierce struggle for existence, is found in civic and religious hopes, in a noble ideal for the national life, and in the assurance that Gods Love is at the back of all, with nothing impossible to it. Amid these glories, however, the heart will probably thank Zechariah most for his immortal picture of the streets of the new Jerusalem: old men and women sitting in the sun, boys and girls playing in all the open places. The motive of it, as we have seen, was found in the circumstances of his own day. Like many another emigration for religions sake, from the heart of civilization to a barren coast, the poor colony of Jerusalem consisted chiefly of men, young and in middle life. The barren years gave no encouragement to marriage. The constant warfare with neighboring tribes allowed few to reach gray hairs. It was a rough and a hard society, unblessed by the two great benedictions of life, childhood and old age. But this should all be changed, and Jerusalem filled with placid old men and women, and with joyous boys and girls. The oracle, we say, had its motive in Zechariahs day. But what an oracle for these times of ours! Whether in the large cities of the old world, where so few of the workers may hope for a quiet old age sitting in the sun, and the childrens days of play are shortened by premature toil and knowledge of evil; or in the newest fringes of the new world, where mens hardness and, coarseness are, in the, struggle for gold, unawed by reverence for age and unsoftened by the fellowship of childhood, -Zechariahs great promise is equally needed. Even there shall it be fulfilled if men will remember his conditions-that the first regard of a community, however straitened in means, be the provision of religion, that truth and whole-hearted justice abound in the gates, with love and loyalty in every heart towards every other.

“And the Word of Jehovah of Hosts came, saying”:-

1. “Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy, and with great anger am I jealous for her.”

2. “Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned to Zion, and I dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the City of Troth, {Isa 1:26} and the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts the Holy Mountain.”

3. “Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: Old men and old women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand, for fullness of days; and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in her streets.”

4. “Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: Because it seems too wonderful to the remnant of this people in those days, shall it also seem too wonderful to Me?-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts.”

5. “Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: Lo! I am about to save My people out of the land of the rising and out of the land of the setting of the sun; and I will bring them home, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God, in troth and in righteousness.”

6. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: Strengthen your hands, O ye who have heard in such days such words from the mouth of the prophets, Not merely since the day when the House of Jehovah of Hosts was founded: the sanctuary was to be built! For before those days there was no gain for man, and none to be made by cattle and neither for him that went out nor for him that came in was there any peace from the adversary, and I set every mans hand against his neighbor. But not now as in the past days am I towards the remnant of this people-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts. For I am sowing the seed of peace. The vine shall yield her fruit, and the land yield her increase, and the heavens yield their dew, and I will give them all for a heritage to the remnant of this people. And it shall come to pass, that as ye have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you and ye shall be a blessing! Be not afraid, strengthen your hands!

7. “For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: As I have planned to do evil to you, for the provocation your fathers gave Me, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and did not relent, so have I turned and planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Be not afraid! These are the things which ye shall do: Speak truth to one another; truth and wholesome judgment decree ye in your gates; and plan no evil to each other in your hearts, nor take pleasure in false swearing: for it is all these that I hate-oracle of Jehovah.”

“And the Word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me, saying”:-

8. “Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall become to the house of Judah joy and gladness and happy feasts. But love ye truth and peace.”

9. “Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: There shall yet come peoples and citizens of great cities; and the citizens of one city will go to another city, saying: Let us go to propitiate Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of Hosts! I will go too! And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem and to propitiate Jehovah”;

10. “Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: In those days ten men, of all languages of the nations, shall take hold of the skirt of a Jew and say, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary