Sermon on Zechariah 8:1-23
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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 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).
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