The Restoration of God's People Is At Hand (Zechariah 8:9-17).
God describes what the land had been like as a result of His forsaking it, but He wants them to know that He is now giving them another chance. The foundations of His house have been laid, and the Temple will now be rebuilt.
‘Thus says YHWH of Hosts, “Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days from the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day when the foundation of the house of YHWH of Hosts was laid, even the Temple that it might be built. 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 adversary, for I set all men every one against his neighbour, but now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days, says YHWH of Hosts.” '
God encourages those who have listened to the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, who lived around this time of the commencement of the building of the Temple. Things might be tough, but let their hand be strong for God will now act with them.
There was a time when He would not allow anything to go forward. There was no work on offer for men then, there was nothing for the beast of burden to do. Jerusalem was a dead place. Those who lived there knew no peace or security. As they went in and out they moved in fear of their lives, for there was constant enmity and hatred. Such was the situation of the few who lived among the ruins of the desolated city, and such was the case with the first returning exiles as they struggled to survive against want and hostility (Ezra 4:1; Ezra 4:5). They were dedicated people but probably not entrepreneurs. Now, however, God Himself will resolve these problems on behalf of ‘the remnant' who have returned. Work will be available, security will be established. For this will be the result of their hearing the word of YHWH and responding to it.
“For there will be the seed of peace, the vine will give her fruit, and the ground will give her increase, and the heavens will give their dew, and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. And it will be that, as you were a curse among the nations, Oh house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you and you will be a blessing.”
‘The seed of peace.' There is to be a seed of peace, the beginnings of peace and prosperity. The future is full of hope. Once peace is planted and established and life is organised by obedience to God's instruction given in ‘the Law', and by response to the words of the prophets, then that will produce its fruit, and the land will begin to prosper as the vines flourish and the fields produce their harvest, and the dew from heaven fails not. The whole land will once again become prosperous and people will dwell in safety and security. And all this would come about in the future commencing with that small band of exiles in that day of small things.
That this happened is undoubted. The Jews did establish a prosperous land, and Palestine did again flourish. And even more they would become a blessing. For from their number would come the first preaching of the Gospel and through them the nations of the world would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). But the fulfilment of this awaited the coming of the Branch, the coming king.
‘There will be the seed of peace.' This may have in mind that, as they find peace with God and with each other, their seed will be productive and produce good harvest, or it may mean the beginnings of peace are present which will grow and flourish as the people prosper.
‘And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.' The idea of the remnant appears continually in the Old Testament. Ideally it is all those who remain alive of Israel and Judah. But practically and in fulfilment it is that part of those people who will respond to God's call. There is a remnant within those who are left. It is they who will inherit the promises. Not all Israel are Israel (Romans 9:6).
‘So I will save you and you will be a blessing.' In the future things will be turned round. At present Israel and Judah are looked on by the nations as cursed. Outwardly it appears that their God has failed to help them and their future is bleak. The nations could never understand that this was because of the failure of the people to be obedient to Him. They did not see God in that way. To them gods could be manipulated and bribed.
But the day would come when God's people would be delivered and then they would become a blessing. This was a taking up of the promise to Abraham, ‘by you shall all the families of the earth be blessed' (Genesis 12:3). And become a blessing they did. Firstly through their propagation of the moral law among the peoples through their synagogues, and secondly through the coming of Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ by the Apostles (all Jews). But in the end the final and greatest blessing will be in the everlasting Kingdom when the Branch of David will be with His people in the eternal Jerusalem above (Revelation 21-22).
The language of blessing and cursing links up closely with the giving of the Law in Deuteronomy (see Deuteronomy 27:15-26; Deuteronomy 28:2-10; Deuteronomy 28:15 ff).
“Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong. For thus says YHWH of Hosts, “As I thought to do evil to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath,” says YHWH of Hosts, “and I did not change my mind, so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Do not be afraid.” '
God confirms that He has now purposed to do good to the people of Judah. They need not be afraid. They can go forward confidently. He was truly angry at the sins of their fathers, and that is why judgment had come on them. Their sins had been such that they had gone beyond the point of repentance and so God had had to be firm in His acts of judgment. But now a new generation has arisen and God's purpose towards them is good. But this as ever is dependent on their response.
“These are the things that you shall do. Let every man speak truth with his neighbour. Judge truth and the judgment of peace in your gates. And let none of you think evil in your hearts against his neighbour. And love no false oath. For all these things I hate, says YHWH.”
For God is ready to act, but only if His people are responsive, and He outlines His requirements. And the first is that men will be open and honest with each other. This is a distinctively Jewish/Christian virtue. Elsewhere dishonesty is honed to a fine art but in Jewish/Christian teaching honesty is a prime demand.
The second requirement is the exercise of true justice. ‘Judge truth.' That is, ensure that your judgments arrive at the truth. So-called justice has always been perverted and twisted by the influence of powerful men, by group pressure, by prejudice. But it is not to be so among the people of God. They are to be concerned with the genuine truth.
‘And the judgment of peace.' The aim of justice should always be to aim for peace and reconciliation, but it must be a peace that is consonant with truth. Blessed indeed are the peacemakers, but not peace at any price. Truth and reconciliation must both be kept in mind.
‘In your gates.' The gate of the city was where justice was carried out, bringing out that official justice is in mind here.
The third requirement is not to think evil in one's heart against one's neighbour. If we have cause to feel our neighbour is at fault we should go and seek to deal with the matter in truth and peace, giving full consideration to all the facts, and not allow evil thoughts and ideas to take hold of our minds and fester in them. Continued evil thoughts reveal an evil heart.
‘And love no false oath.' The fourth requirement is that men will be honest when giving testimony, and when making promises. Psalms 15:4 especially commends the man who ‘swears to his own hurt and does not change'.
‘For all these things I hate.' God hates deceit in any form, for He knows its consequences as resulting in a perverted society. God's hatred and God's wrath are both anthropomorphisms. He does not feel hatred in His heart, nor does He become uncontrollably angry. It is rather that He has an antipathy to sin. So in Him both are a measured response to a situation. He hates what is bad precisely because it is bad, and badness spoils the world. He is against it because of its consequences. And this causes within Him an attitude that must act against sin and evil to remove it and remedy it, and that is His wrath.