Studies in the Eighth Chapter of Zechariah

Richard W. Daniels

! Text

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: tI have returned to Zion and uwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: yIf it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, zshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: behold, aI will save my people bfrom the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. cAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: e “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of fthe prophets who were present on gthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days hthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 iFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, jand the heavens shall give their dew. kAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as lyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, mso will I save you, and nyou shall be a blessing. oFear not, but elet your hands be strong.”

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ofear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: qSpeak the truth to one another; rrender in your gates judgments sthat are true and make for peace; 17 tdo not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ulove no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the vfourth month and the fast of the wfifth and the fast of the xseventh and the fast of the ytenth shall be to the house of Judah zseasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love atruth and peace.

20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, b ‘Let us go at once cto entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men efrom the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for fwe have heard that God is with you.’ ”[1]

! Introduction

Context: At the beginning of 7 they ask whether the fast that commemorated the destruction of the temple should continue, since the temple was being rebuilt. As you learned in your study of Chapter 7, God answers by rebuking them concerning their manner of keeping the fast. In this chapter God continues his answer with several expressions of encouragement and with several directives for their response. Let us look at them.

I. First: God encourages them with the declaration that He will yet prosper his church (v. 1-8).

A. What Is The Attitude Of The Lord Towards His People?

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts.” “The Lord of Hosts” -- . Except for Jeremiah, Zechariah uses this expression more than any other prophet -- 53 times by Zechariah.[2] Point: They are surrounded not only by the nations and armies around them, but by the hosts of heaven. Not only is God the Lord of hosts, but He is “jealous” for them.

“Jealous” – from a root that means to make red in the face, probably better understood by us as zeal or ardor.

It may prove helpful to think of “zeal” as the original sense from which derived the notions “zeal for another’s property” =“envy” and “zeal for one’s own property” = “jealousy.”[3]

In another context it may be descriptive of God’s reaction to His people’s adultery, leading to their chastisement, the captivity. But, here it describes his earnestness in accomplishing their good, and salvation.

Laird Harris is correct when he writes:

… the divine action accomplished with “jealousy” may result in good and salvation. Thus this arduous love effected the return (Isa 42:13). The restoration of Israel does not, however, exhaust God’s gracious activities in behalf of his people. He will effect their salvation (the restitution of a perfect relationship between himself and his creatures), which they lost in father Adam, by a second Adam—Immanuel (Isa 9:7 [H 6]). Furthermore, the return from the exile foreshadowed an even greater event—God’s creating and choosing a perfect bride through his Servant (Isa 42:13). God’s jealousy when offended issued in just retribution, but when stirred by his grace it resulted in eternal love. Hence, the church is called the bride of Christ. It is now being perfectly prepared and preserved for the wedding.[4]

B. What will the Lord do in His Ardor?

First: God is everywhere. Heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, yet he is not far from anyone of us. In Him we live and move and have our being. Nevertheless, sometimes God uses the language of departing and returning, and visiting and dwelling to refer to the way He deals with us. Here he announces, “I have returned” and promises, “I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.” I.e., He has returned in order to dwell. Here is the principal promise of God, “I will dwell.” This is the principal blessing of the covenant of Grace. The principal blessing enjoyed by the Old Testament people: “God is in the midst of her.” “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. This is the principal blessing of the present age. “For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”[5] This is the glory of the church, this spiritual temple for the Lord. This is the principal blessing of the believer: “

21 Then I saw ya new heaven and a new earth, for zthe first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out of heaven from God, dprepared eas a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, fthe dwelling place3 of God is with man. He will gdwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.5 4 hHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ideath shall be no more, jneither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”[6]

C. The result of His dwelling:

Faithfulness, Holiness, & Peace. Peace is expressed in the absence of danger, fear, & threat, and the enjoyment of liberty, leisure, security by the weak by children and the aged. Not just a few survivors crawling out of their bomb & bullet-ridden hovels to grab a few moments of life, but a state of peace--1950’s Norman Rockwell 4th of July.

II. Objection: Can this be imagined?

If you were to promise this to an Israelite today, he would look at you as if to say, “What planet did you just fall in from?” But it would have seemed as incredible back then. Look at all the trouble that they had just passed through, & things were not soon going to get better. Yes, there would be a brief period of autonomy after the revolt of Judas Maccabaeus, but that would not last long, and then would come the subjugation by the Romans. But God will not allow us to indulge ourselves in pessimism. You are thinking like mere men. Those who think like mere men might engage in pessimism, but God says, “Should I?” “I cannot, for nothing is too difficult for me.” God will finish the restoration of his people, from the east and from the west.

How can I believe this? “I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.” Another significant phrase. Faithful and just, etc. God will be true to His promises, He will be true to Himself. He will act according to his righteousness. He will be faithful to His word. This is the point of the statement in vs. 14&15 – You have seen how I have been faithful to the threatenings which I declared against the breaking of the covenant, now understand that I will be faithful to the promises which I make.

III. Consequently: The response of His people to His promise

e “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of fthe prophets who were present on gthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days hthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 iFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, jand the heavens shall give their dew. kAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as lyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, mso will I save you, and nyou shall be a blessing. oFear not, but elet your hands be strong.”[7]

A. God requires present active obedience.

Let your hands be strong, etc. An exhortation. A call to action. The scriptures are full of these exhortations to take charge of ourselves. They were not to go with the flow, not to indulge in weakness, give in to the love of ease or the fear of difficulty, or the weariness that comes from prolonged opposition. What is it that makes your hands hang down, or, in other words, what makes you serve the Lord with reserve, with half-measures. Away with that!

B. Remember what you have heard from the Lord.

Here and earlier in this book and in the book of Haggai, God not only rebukes the people for not building, but promises that the latter glory will far surpass anything they had seen before.

Promises of future advance should spur us on to present obedience. This is the future, therefore let your hands be strong. We are meant to take encouragement from the promises of future blessing. Our cause will fill the earth.

C. Do not be discouraged by past difficulties.

Before these days there was no hire, etc. In those days many were so impoverished, neither was there any peace. Already things had changed, but they will change more.

Just as they had been an example of a house under God’s curse, they would be an example of a people under blessing. God’s threatenings and promises are equally sure, therefore, they could be assured of his blessing to come.

We must not allow our thinking to be determined by present “dark providences.” Dark providences, hard circumstances are still under the hand of the Lord. Is this not the point of Hebrews 12. Through off every hindrance, run with patience, look to Christ and, like Him, to the goal, and remember that the hardness of the hard times is the loving chastisement of a wise and purposeful Father.

D. In particular: God requires the weightier matters of the law. Vs. 16.

He had spoken of these breaches of the commandments and sham religion. The promises would not be fulfilled apart from this.

E. God answers the question, re. the fasting. The fasts become feasts.

So great was the promised blessing that these fasts will become feasts. I will bless, all will be feasts of rejoicing. Therefore love truth and peace because God does not love in wickedness.

F. God will bless exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

20-23 rep the reviving of the church to such an extent that the nations are blessed along with the Jews. Cf Romans 11. The natural Jews broken off and the Gentiles grafted in. The natural are to be grafted in and the gentiles be blessed. “life from the dead.” Greater than present experience. The riches of the world—How much more?! Joined to the people of God in the worship of Jesus. The Gentiles will flock to Christ as the Jews are grafted in.

IV. Lessons: impossible with men, possible with God.

We should not assume that the Lord cannot cause his word to run speedily. Our views of the future of the cause of Christ should not be diminished by what we have yet seen. “It doesn’t look like it is happening.” Let not your view of prophecy be colored by pessimism.

We are given the privilege of being co-workers with God. We should pray for the advance of the gospel. (E.g., Edwards).

Let us be assured that God will do all that he has said.

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t ch. 1:16

u See ch. 2:10

y [Ps. 118:23]

z See Gen. 18:14

a ch. 10:6

b Ps. 107:3; Isai. 43:5; [Isai. 49:12; Ezek. 37:21]

c ch. 13:9; See Jer. 31:33

e 2 Sam. 16:21; [Hag. 2:4]

f ch. 7:3; Ezra 5:1, 2

g Hag. 2:18

h [Hag. 1:6]

i Hos. 2:21, 22; Hag. 2:19

j [Hag. 1:10]

k See Jer. 3:18

l [Isai. 43:28; 65:15]

m ch. 10:6

n See Gen. 12:2, 3

o Hag. 2:5

e [See ver. 9 above]

o [See ver. 13 above]

q Cited Eph. 4:25; See Ps. 15:2

r See ch. 7:9

s ver. 19

t ch. 7:10

u See ch. 5:4

v [Jer. 39:2]

w ch. 7:3

x ch. 7:5

y 2 Kin. 25:1

z Isai. 35:10

a ver. 16

b [ch. 2:11; 14:16; Isai. 2:3]

c See ch. 7:2f

e [Isai. 66:18; Rev. 5:9]

f [1 Cor. 14:25]

[1]The Holy Bible : English standard vesion. 2001 (Zec 8-23). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[2] 15 times in this chapter, 242 times in OT, 50 times by Isaiah, 71 times by Jeremiah, 36 times by Haggai & Malachi.

[3]Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (Page 802). Chicago: Moody Press.

[4]Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (Page 802). Chicago: Moody Press.

[5]The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., 2 Co 6:16. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001.

y Isai. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13

z ch. 20:11

a ch. 11:2; 22:19; Isai. 52:1

b See ch. 3:12

c [Heb. 11:10]

d ch. 19:7; [John 14:3]

e Isai. 61:10

f See Lev. 26:11, 12

3 Or tabernacle

g [ch. 7:15]

5 Some manuscripts omit as their God

h See ch. 7:17

i [ch. 20:14; 1 Cor. 15:26]

j Isai. 35:10; 51:11; 65:19

[6]The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., Re 21-4. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001.