Zechariah 8:11-17
“But 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; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; 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.” (Zechariah 8:11-15)
For seventy years, the temple had lain in ruins, and Judah was almost deserted. God had set out to punish their sin and had refused to stop until the punishment was complete. As a result the Jews had been a curse and a source of mockery to the surrounding nations.
Now God was offering them something better. He would bless them and cause their crops and orchards to be productive. The rains and dew would come when needed, and the people could again possess things like other people, if they would just make the commitment to trust God.
“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; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.” (Zechariah 8:16-17)
To receive this promise the Jews would have to follow God’s law again, sticking strictly to the truth in everything they did, keeping their judgment of disagreements strictly based on the truth and justice so there would be no grudges and enmity. They were not to assume or imagine their neighbors doing evil, nor were they to enjoy deceitful contracts and agreements because God hates such behavior.
“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.” (Zechariah 8:18-19)
The Jews had asked if they should continue the fasting of the fifth month praying for God to restore the land. God said they should keep it as well as feasts of the various other months as a celebration of what God had done for them instead of complaining about what they had lost. If they would focus on the truth and peace God provided, they’d have little to complain about.
“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.
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.” (Zechariah 8:20-23)
People are struggling everywhere, as Job 5:6-7 says, “Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Man’s problems don’t just happen or grow from the soil, but man causes problems. They will tend to congregate where people are not being overcome by the problems. When the Jews began to rejoice in what they had instead of complaining about what was missing, people would be attracted the Jerusalem, hearing that God was with them.
While there have been a few periods of history when people sought Jerusalem, especially in Jesus’ day and shortly thereafter, most of the time Jerusalem has been relatively unimportant. This prophecy is mostly about the end times, when the Jews will finally keep god’s law and experience his blessings to the fullest.
“The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD. And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.” (Zechariah 9:1-8)
When they finally turn to the. Lord, Syria will no longer pose a threat , and the entire world will look to him. The Phoenician Empire would no longer pose a threat, as it would no longer exist. The Philistine cities will no longer have their own kings and the leader would be an illegitimate son. The Palestinians of today claim the Philistines as their ancestors, but they are actually of mixed ancestry and not pure Philistine as a result of numerous relocation programs. In that final day, even they will turn to God.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9-10)
The Messiah, Jesus Christ would come riding on a donkey colt, as an ordinary man, yet bringing salvation to the world. When he takes his kingdom, it will not reach just from the Mediterranean to the Jordan river, but from sea to sea, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Jordan river to the ends of the earth. This is described in the very end of time in Revelation 20.
“As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.” (Zechariah 9:11-13)
Ultimately, God will bend Judah to his will, and draw back his people, raising them up against the descendants of the Greek empire, the Antichrist of Revelation, and giving them the victory like a mighty swordsman.
“And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.” (Zechariah 9:14-17)
Revelation 20:8-9 and Ezekiel 38-39 give more details about these events. Israel’s survival will be recognized finally to entirely God’s doing.
“But 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; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; 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.” (Zechariah 8:11-15)
For seventy years, the temple had lain in ruins, and Judah was almost deserted. God had set out to punish their sin and had refused to stop until the punishment was complete. As a result the Jews had been a curse and a source of mockery to the surrounding nations.
Now God was offering them something better. He would bless them and cause their crops and orchards to be productive. The rains and dew would come when needed, and the people could again possess things like other people, if they would just make the commitment to trust God.
“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; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.” (Zechariah 8:16-17)
To receive this promise the Jews would have to follow God’s law again, sticking strictly to the truth in everything they did, keeping their judgment of disagreements strictly based on the truth and justice so there would be no grudges and enmity. They were not to assume or imagine their neighbors doing evil, nor were they to enjoy deceitful contracts and agreements because God hates such behavior.
“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.” (Zechariah 8:18-19)
The Jews had asked if they should continue the fasting of the fifth month praying for God to restore the land. God said they should keep it as well as feasts of the various other months as a celebration of what God had done for them instead of complaining about what they had lost. If they would focus on the truth and peace God provided, they’d have little to complain about.
“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.
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.” (Zechariah 8:20-23)
People are struggling everywhere, as Job 5:6-7 says, “Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Man’s problems don’t just happen or grow from the soil, but man causes problems. They will tend to congregate where people are not being overcome by the problems. When the Jews began to rejoice in what they had instead of complaining about what was missing, people would be attracted the Jerusalem, hearing that God was with them.
While there have been a few periods of history when people sought Jerusalem, especially in Jesus’ day and shortly thereafter, most of the time Jerusalem has been relatively unimportant. This prophecy is mostly about the end times, when the Jews will finally keep god’s law and experience his blessings to the fullest.
“The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD. And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.” (Zechariah 9:1-8)
When they finally turn to the. Lord, Syria will no longer pose a threat , and the entire world will look to him. The Phoenician Empire would no longer pose a threat, as it would no longer exist. The Philistine cities will no longer have their own kings and the leader would be an illegitimate son. The Palestinians of today claim the Philistines as their ancestors, but they are actually of mixed ancestry and not pure Philistine as a result of numerous relocation programs. In that final day, even they will turn to God.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9-10)
The Messiah, Jesus Christ would come riding on a donkey colt, as an ordinary man, yet bringing salvation to the world. When he takes his kingdom, it will not reach just from the Mediterranean to the Jordan river, but from sea to sea, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Jordan river to the ends of the earth. This is described in the very end of time in Revelation 20.
“As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.” (Zechariah 9:11-13)
Ultimately, God will bend Judah to his will, and draw back his people, raising them up against the descendants of the Greek empire, the Antichrist of Revelation, and giving them the victory like a mighty swordsman.
“And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.” (Zechariah 9:14-17)
Revelation 20:8-9 and Ezekiel 38-39 give more details about these events. Israel’s survival will be recognized finally to entirely God’s doing.
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