ZECHARIAH 8: 9-17
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE PRESENT
Although the previous prophecies in Zechariah 8:1-8 will only find their fulfillment in the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth the prophet does have an accompanying word of encouragement for the people of his generation. And from these prophecies a blessed elixir of consolation and encouragement can be drawn by his hard pressed county-men. Hopes for the future can distill inspiration for the present trials and tribulations which the struggling restored community must overcome.
These people were only a few years out of the dark despair that continual weighty failure brings but they were repentant and becoming obedient. So God gives them the divine assurance that He has responded to their repentance and obedience and has purposed a new time of blessing for them (CIT).
I. SURVEY THE PRESENT AND THE PAST, 9-10.
II. NEW DAYS OF FRUITFULNESS, 11-12.
III. NEW PURPOSE FOR HIS PEOPLE, 13-15
IV. IMPLEMENTING THE WORD, 16-17.
I. SURVEY THE PRESENT AND THE PAST, 9-10.
These words of encouragement in verse 9 are for those who have been listening to the preaching of the prophets over the long haul (for many years). "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, ‘Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, who (spoke) in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of Hosts was laid, to the end that the Temple might be built.’" (See personal commentary on Haggai 2:18.)
This strengthening message is to you who "in these days" have been hearing, who have been taking hold of the Word of God, "the words of the prophets." The participle denotes a continuous hearing. Those who have been continuously listening to God are the ones who can personally claim these promises though their effects will reach beyond them to the whole repentant remnant. They were the ones who heard and responded to God’s words. For they were not just any words but these were God’s words directed to "you who are listening." Those that would receive special blessings from God must give audience to God over the course of time.
These words were from the mouth of the prophets. [Mouth is singular indicating they spoke with one accord.] Whoever else may be included, Haggai and Zechariah were certainly intended (Ezra 5:1-2). Twenty years prior to this time the physical foundation of the Temple had been laid and the altar rebuilt but for the next seventeen years no more progress was made for the people gave in to hindrances and difficulties and turned to attempting to prosper themselves. But the prophets preached and the administrators and populous repented and returned to the LORD, and now the good effects of their obedience to the Word of God were to be seen in the present progress toward the completion of the Temple.
Thus those listening were instructed to let your hands be strong, or be strengthen and continue your work. Let your hands be strong is an idiom for the expression, be of good courage. Those who hear the Word of God and act on it should be strengthened and encouraged when they see its results. They were to survey what had been accomplished since they undertook to obey God’s voice. For there was a great contrast between the time before they took up the work of the Temple (Haggai Ch. 1) and the conditions of life since they hearkened to the voice of God through His prophets. [See Haggai and David Baron. The Visions & Prophecies of Zechariah. Kregel. 1918, p. 242 for historical background]. They were to continue in their obedience and bring this good work to conclusion.
These encouraging words are for us today also. For we too have had a foundation to the eternal Temple of God previously laid for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. We who heard, believed, and acted on God’s Word are also building a Temple of God, not of bricks and mortar but of the living stones, of God’s precious people. So let your hands be strong, O people of the Living God! "Do not grow weary in well doing for you shall reap if you do not faint" (Gal. 6:10). Continue in your obedience and bring this - the greatest of all labors - to conclusion also!
Verse10 recalls to memory the condition society was in before they returned to the work of the Lord. "For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another."
God would have them realize the contrast of the present where they are obeying the Word of God to the past when they did not. ‘Before those days’ refers to the time when decisive action was taken to restart the Temple building project. "For those day" in the past, were the days of selfishness and scarcity. Prior to 520BC they had selfishly neglected the Lord’s House for seventeen long years (Haggai 1:2-6) and those were days of severe economic and spiritual depression. They should be thankful they are behind them.
Three examples of contrast are chosen to illustrate the comparison. First, unfruitful labor affected both man and beast. So little was being produced that it did not pay the labor of man or beast.
Second, crime in the streets was rampant. It was unsafe to go about one’s business. Travel was dangerous because the adversary stole all peace, safety, tranquility and security from society [Ezra 4:1-5].
Third, not only oppression from the enemy outside in the country side but there was conflict within the community. Social relationships were strained. Civil and interpersonal relationships were strife and contention filled.
It was a time of anxiety and strain because things were going from bad to worse. Rather than being helpfulness towards one another and having a spirit of community that would develop out of restoring the Temple, there had developed infighting instead. This infighting was part of God’s chastisement of His people for getting their priorities wrong. It should have alerted them to the fact that there was something fundamentally faulty with the way they were living.
Those days must have been evil and discouraging. Why? Simply because God’s people did not put God and His work of Temple building as their first priority!
We too may be tempted to slow down our work for God. There are many reasons: people aren’t responding; we are emotionally or physically drained; the workers are unresponsive; the work is too difficult; or people don’t appreciate our efforts. Let God’s promises about the future encourage you. He knows what the results of our labors will be. See your labors from God’s perspective and continue faithfully working for Him. [Application Bible, p 1617].
II. NEW DAYS OF FRUITFULNESS, 11-12.
Verse 11 indicates that a new era is about to begin. "But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of Hosts."
God had terminated their harsh conditions and now informs them of His dramatic change of attitude toward them. He was now establishing a new agenda to bring about their prosperity because the reasons that caused His discouragement had passed. The group who will experience the Lord’s changed dealings was the repentant remnant. God’s promise is to end His disciplinary activity and reward His people (Hag. 2:19). This statement brings to the forefront the fact that the divine attitude toward His people is the primary cause that makes for their welfare or failure.
This promised change would be visible through their productivity. Verse 12, "The seed of peace even the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things."
What was previously lacking shall now be available. The Lord promises them the opportunity for prosperity. The drought, scarcity, and general economic depression will give way to increased fruitfulness and productivity of their aquarian economy. God now gives them peaceful planting, cultivating and harvests that are impossible to preform in times of adversity. [Literally the phrase is ‘the seed of peace/prosperity.’ It may mean the seed of Abraham, the Prince of Peace (Gen. 12:1ff), & the vine, of whom we are the branches, (Jn. 15) may also indicate it comes from abiding in Christ].
There will be natural fruitfulness of the crops themselves. In a dry land the daily dews are God sent blessings for they are the main source of moisture for the land of Palestine.
Notice it is God who is going to make it happen. The responsiveness of the people gives God’s covenant relationship the open door to pour out blessings.
The improved conditions the restored remnant had been experiencing since they sincerely set themselves to the task of building God’s Temple (Haggai 2:19) were only a pledge of the greater blessings that God is promising them. Since they had heeded the prophetic warnings, repented and taken up the work of rebuilding, God will bless them in all their ways.
Again, it is not human effort or even nature’s effort that makes for man’s prosperity. These fruits are the gracious gift of God to those who simply had listened to and obeyed God’s Word.
III. NEW PURPOSE FOR HIS PEOPLE, 13-15
The restoration of their covenant fortunes is then summed up in verse 13. "And it will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong!"
The Lord reverses their fortunes. They had been a curse among the nations for they broke the covenant and inherited the curse of Deut. 28, as is seen from Jer. 24:9, 42:18 ("curse" is gelalah - meaning contemptible).
Because the house or family of Judah and Israel is used it is obvious that Jews are intended here (Ezek. 37:15-23). [It also indicates that there were some from the ten tribes who had returned. They had been in exile for over a century and a quarter longer, and so the failure involved was more pronounced upon them.] But is the "I will save you" statement here just concerning Israel’s outward enemies of that time or is something more intended.
God He will act to restore them, but that is not an end in itself. He would saved them so that they "may become a blessing." The LORD’s people had a specific role to perform. They will be blessed by God so that they will be able to fulfil their proper function. This theme is expanded on in 8:20-23 in terms of their mission to the nations.
History proves from the Greek persecution to the Roman dispersion and numerous other Jewish persecutions down through the centuries that they have never been considered a blessing except for this short period when they were making sacrifices for the Persian King Darius and His sons (Ezra 6:10). The only fulfilling of this blessing that the remnant became was that out of this community came Jesus The Christ. He was the seed through whom all the nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:1ff). It is because of Him who came from the Jews that we count them as blessing us.
It is obvious that this promise was intended for Zechariah’s generation but is there a greater eschatological fulfillment included here implied by the statement, "It will come about?"
They do appear to be under a curse of God today (Rom. 11:1-10, Mt. 27:25), and there does appear to be a time of future blessing for them according to Rom. 11:11-32. It seem to indicate when they are saved through inner spiritual and moral regeneration by belief in Jesus Christ as Lord. For His salvation alone can convert them [or any one] from a curse into a blessing (Isa. 35:4, 49:25, Jer. 31:7, Heb. 1:2; Zeph. 3:17, Zech. 10:6, 12:7; Ezek. 34:25, Gen. 12:1-3, Isa. 19: 24, Zech. 12:10-14).
Again the admonition, "do not fear." The memory of these calamities they were cursed with must have stalked them like a persistent nightmare, hence the necessary words, do not fear. But the negative command prepares the way for the positive one, "let your hands be strong." When the heart is weak through fear, the hands cannot be strong.
The pathway to blessing and usefulness is by way of obedience to the task at hand. They are called on to be active in the duty presently assigned to them, and then in expectant faith look to see how God will use their obedience to further His purposes. The grand promise of blessing is not to dazzle and enthral us but to encourage our willingness to be immediately active.
So get a glimpse of God’s grace and the purpose He has for you. He wants to strengthen you in the inner and outer man. He plans to give you a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). So calm your soul and uplift you heart. Receive the intended empowering of God’s sure Words of promise!
Verses 14 & 15 gives us God’s redetermination to do Israel good. But first we have the review of the past in verse 14. "For thus says the LORD of Hosts, just as I purposed to do harm to you [plural-the nation] when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, says the Lord of Hosts, and I have not relented."
The "LORD of Hosts purposed wrath." This was the result of deliberate planning - not a rash striking out or a natural change of circumstances but a purposed act for the punishment of wayward Israel and Judah. What occurred to them was not mere accidental or unexplainable calamities.
His former purpose was to do harm - not moral or spiritual evil but merely temporal or physical disaster. The afflicting of disobedient sinful people by allowing calamities to overtake them according to His all wise purpose was to chasten them or punish them according to His just judgment for a time so that He might bring back a repentant remnant. God is faithful in carrying out His threatens as well as faithful in fulfilling His good promises.
I did not relent, means to be sorry or repent of His own doings (Ex. 13:17; Jer. 20:16; Joel 2:14; Jonah 3:9; Ezek. 24:14). The unchangeable God never violates the infinite holiness of His character because of His infinite love and mercy. That unrepentance for sin must be punished was a settled issue long before the creation of the world. For the Creator of this world system built into its normal operating system the natural punishment for sin (Gal. 6:7-8). Only God’s intervention on behalf of a repentant people keeps it from coming about.
As the contrast with Israel being made a "curse" and subsequently a "blessing" in verse 13 so the same comparison is equated by the conjunction just as (ka’ashur) is used in verse 14. God’s early purpose to punish them is past, His present intention is to do them good.
The certain fact of the past harm is now used to give assurance to the future good God has planned in verse 15. "So I have purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!"
"To do good" is the opposite of to do evil or harm. To do harm means to afflict or punish for the sins of disobedience. To do good signifies to bless for faith and obedience. The causative Hebrew ending means to cause or purpose good. The LORD has again come to a determined conclusion, but now it is a matter of doing good. As history proved when God purposed harm it came about like an avalanche and just as certain the purposed good for the future must irresistibly come about also. ‘As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them’ (Jer. 32:42; 31:28).
In verse 13, the recipient of the punishment and promised blessing are "the house of Judah" and "the house of Israel." Here they are designated to Jerusalem and the house of Judah.
Again the admonition, do not fear. God’s people must not be saddened or disheartened for God is now speaking comforting words. They are to walk forward in faith trusting in the LORD’s provision and promises (Zeph. 3:16-17; Lk. 12:32).
IV. IMPLEMENTING THE WORD OF BLESSING, 16-17.
In verse 16 they are called on to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Lk. 3:8). "These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another, judge with truth and judgment for peace in you gates."
Here we have the obedience which is illustrative of those whom will received the promised blessings of God. Promises of immediate blessing and future glory are to be responded to with faithful spirituality and its corresponding worthy moral conduct. Prophets seldom offer false comforts to men who are careless about doing the will of God. Moral injunctions have previously been set forth in 7:9-10 and this repetition is to again challenge his hearers, especially those who are exercising mere outward ritualism, to faith and obedience, especially now that they are aware of the good things which the Lord was bringing to pass because of His purpose to do good to these people.
"These are the things which you should do." They are to be "doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (Jas. 1:22). God’s purposed blessing should draw out their love for Him. Love is not a noun or just a feeling, but an obedient action (John 15:10).
These things they are to "do" are illustrated by four examples. They may either be proofs of the reality of their belief in the promises of God or the result of their receiving the blessing of God.
First, they are to deal strictly in truth. A blessed man deals truthfully with his neighbor. Truth (emeth) is to control not only their lips but also their hearts (Mt. 12:34).
Second, they are to render honest and peace producing decisions. These are (court or judicial) decisions that result in peace because of the honesty of their wisdom and understanding. The truth and discernment are rendered that resolves and silences the litigation. In the gates, describes the place inside the city walls where public court was frequently held.
The two positive injunctions of verse 16 are balanced by two negatives ones in verse 17. "Also let none of you devise evil in you heart against another, and do not love perjury, for all these are what I hate, declares the LORD."
Third, they are not to devise evil against one another. The prohibition is to keep evil from being conceived or hatched up from the heart so that it does not become cognate in the mind (Mt. 5:19). The necessity of not harboring thoughts contaminated by evil against a neighbor be it a nation or an individual is stressed.
Fourth, they are not to tolerate perjury. "Perjury" is an oath of falsehood, the giving of false information regarding another. An oath of falsehood is an abhorrent sin. It is characterized by deception, untruth, lying which deceives, betrays and falsifies.
The verse closes with a summery to bear in mind that God "detests" these evil sins of injustice and false oaths to man or society. Note it is not merely said, ‘That is wrong,’ but that God hates them (Prov. 6:16-19). What God hates, His people who expect to continue enjoying His blessings, are likewise to detest.
CONCLUSION
The enjoyment of God’s covenant blessings is never independent of faith and obedience on the part of the recipient. For God’s people there is a divinely decreed link between blessing with obedience, and failure with disobedience.
Jerusalem will indeed become the "city of Truth" (v. 3) when its inhabitants are truthful and when true judgment is rendered. But because the Jews have not rendered true judgment in regard to who the Messiah is they have been downtrodden among the nations down through the centuries.
Today we look at the Jews and sense they do seem to be "contemptible" among the nations. Last century when Stalin’s Communist took over Russia an estimated eight million Jews were murdered, and when Hitler’s Nazis took over Germany an estimated six million Jews were killed. In our own century even in their own country they are harassed and murdered and have no peace in the streets or in their hearts.
But one day the Lord will reverse their fortunes and transform them from a curse into a blessing. He will do this for the repentant remnant who come in obedience to His Word and enter to worship in the Temple that was torn down and raised up again in three days!
