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9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets said who were present when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty. 10 Before that time there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the Lord Almighty. 12 “The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. 13 Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.” 14 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord Almighty, 15 “so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. ~ Zechariah 8:9-15
We return to our study of Zechariah 8 where God reminded the children of Israel that if they walk in His culture, they will experience His great blessing. In our last blog and podcast, we highlighted the promise that God made to His people to restore them back to the promised land. And, as we have noted before, this regathering of the people into the land was a glimpse of the work that God will yet again do for Israel at the end of time.
Ezekiel 20:33–38 speaks of a regathering of the people to the land, which must take place before the Tribulation. Ezekiel 20:34 describes God bringing the remaining people of Israel back “from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out.”
The phrase “with wrath poured out” is a descriptive reference to the Tribulation. Thus, in order for this to occur in history, Israel must be back in the land before the Tribulation. This passage clearly says that it is the Lord who will bring them back. The current nation of Israel is in the process of fulfilling this passage. It is said that nearly half of the world's population of the Jews is currently in America. It is my guess that when the treaty is forged that will allow Israel to rebuilt its Temple in Jerusalem that God will use that to get the remaining Jews back into the promised land.
In v.9-11 of today's text we read, "9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets said who were present when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty. 10 Before that time there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the Lord Almighty."
These Jews who had returned to the promised land had no money to pay men or to provide for animals. And, there wasn’t any peace in the land. There was all kinds of conflict and strife among the people. In these verses, Zechariah described the hassles of the people trying to rebuild the city. The first group came back with Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest, and they immediately built the altar. As a result, they began to perform sacrifices once again. Then, they laid the foundation for the Temple, but then everything went bad. They had outside enemies, the Samaritans, who were hassling them. And, as I noted before, the work on the Temple halted for a short time.
Then, in the second year of Darius, a new commitment began in Israel and they began to work again and then Zechariah wrote his prophecy just as they began the new work. God used Zechariah to encourage and comfort the people as they tirelessly worked. And so, in v.11, God reminded them that hard times precede God's blessing, if we walk in God's culture.
In v.12-13 of today's text we read, "12 The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. 13 Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong."
In these verses God reminded Israel of the law of reaping and sowing. God, in His faithfulness, rescued Israel and brought them back into the land in which they were now living. And, He had a plan for them to return to living under His blessing, but, they had to have willing hearts. The people of Israel had to choose to be defined by God and His culture rather than their culture or the culture of this world. Choosing to be defined by God is choosing to obey His word.
One of the most popular means by which the enemy uses to get us to not be defined by God is materialism. We are told in this world that the accumulation of stuff makes us important. The world tells us if we acquire the best of things, we will be happy.
The Lord Jesus once asked, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" Then He continued, "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done." Clearly, the answer is to be defined by God. We do this by giving safe haven to His word in our lives and allowing it to define us.
In v.14-15 of today's text we read, "14 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord Almighty, 15 “so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid."
God's preference of us is influenced by the willingness of our hearts to invite Him to define us. And, just as He was faithful to punish disobedience, He promises to bless obedience. This isn't earning God's favor, this is accessing His favor. The sorrows of the past are meant to be God's pledges for the promise of a blessed future. And, God’s promise included His punishment of Israel's enemies.
Three hundred and sixty five times in the Bible God says what He said at the end of v.15. God wired our brains to experience fear. It is a primary emotion. There is a reason and many purposes for our fear as we respond to triggering stimuli. When God says, “Do not fear” he is not commanding us to shut off a part of our brain. His point is: Where do you go when you fear? God wants us to run to Him. Fear can paralyze us, yet when we fear in His presence, He uses that fear to produce in us our next step of faith, even in the midst of the fear!
Fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spirals, we grab for anything we can manage. The more insecure we feel, the more our flesh raises its ugly head. This is what was happening in Zechariah's day and God addressed it with His faithfulness.
The gospels lists 125 Christ-issued imperatives. Of these, twenty-one urge us "do not be afraid." We encounter fearful moments because through them, we learn of His faithfulness. When we give God the time, He will always add another sentence establishing His faithfulness. And, as we walk in His culture, daily, we will increasingly discover that He who has promised is faithful.
