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. 10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men everyone against his neighbour. 11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts, 12 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. 13 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. 14 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: 15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. 16 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: 17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour: and love no false oath: for all these are thing's that I hate, saith the Lord.
The Lord is going on through these verses, as in the former, in the same strain of grace and love, to encourage the people with his assurances of favour. I beg the Reader to attend to what is here said by a gracious Lord, with an eye to the grace of God in Christ Jesus, and sure I am he will find abundant blessedness in the view. The peace here promised, is, peace in the blood of the cross. Before the soul is brought savingly acquainted with this, there can be no real peace to him that goes out, or to him that cometh in. But, when the curse of the fall is taken away by the redemption in Christ Jesus, then is the believer blessed, both in basket and in store. Then, to use the figurative language of this scripture in a spiritual sense, the vine of ordinances, and the increase of bread, even the bread of life, and the dew of heaven, in all the covenant blessings of the promises, will be poured out. And then all the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in the life and conversation of the redeemed; and all the blessed effects here spoken of, speaking truth to his neighbour, and executing judgment, will follow. Oh! the glorious consequences of the coming of the Lord Jesus, in the hearts of those who live under his gracious influences!