Jehovah Returns to Zion

Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.—Zechariah 8:3

A verse by verse study in Zechariah 8

Zechariah, like the other prophets who wrote after the Babylonian captivity, stands in marked contrast to Jeremiah and those who wrote just before the captivity. Whereas the former prophets were viewed by their peers as doomsayers, the post-exilic prophets were decidedly upbeat in tone. And they had a right to be. Now the captivity was over. The land lay before them. The work of rebuilding was a big challenge and the prophets needed to be as goads to urge the people forward.

Uppermost in their minds was the rebuilding of the temple of God. The emphasis the prophets placed on this project showed the importance of arranging their priorities—placing God first in their lives, both individually and nationally.

Nowhere is the positiveness of the conviction that God is with them more evident than in the eighth chapter of Zechariah. Ten times in just twenty-three verses we find the forceful assertion, "Thus saith the LORD."

The Jealousy of God—Verses 1 to 5

"Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous [zealous] for Zion with great jealousy [zeal], and I was jealous [zealous] for her with great fury [passion]. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof."

The New King James version of the Bible correctly captures the thought of God’s jealousy by substituting the word "zealous." The Hebrew word properly describes zeal and should only be translated jealous when used in a negative sense. Similarly, the word translated "fury" would be better translated "passion." It is with great passion that Jehovah turns the fortunes of Jerusalem. Although the prophet is speaking of the immediate cause of rejoicing—the return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity—he is also prophetically looking down the stream of time to a far greater deliverance of God’s chosen people.

The immediate aim of Zechariah is to encourage the temple building. This was to be God’s house. Therefore, he says that God will soon be able again to "dwell in the midst of Jerusalem." From that temple would issue forth the decrees of God, and Jerusalem would be called "the city of truth." These expressions, however, have their deeper meaning in the long-term fulfillment of this prophecy.

Note the testimony of the Apostle John: "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Rev. 21:3).

Israel will be established "in the top of the mountains." It will be then that "out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isa. 2:2, 3). And it will be then that the streets of that city will bustle with life as old and young mingle together in the joys of life. "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed" (Isa. 65:20).

The Returning Remnant—Verses 6 to 8

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."

How marvelous that time was to the Israelites! After seventy years of captivity for the people of Judah and even longer for those of the kingdom of Israel, they were suddenly to return to their native land. How much more marvelous is the return of Israel from their Diaspora! After nearly two thousand years they have returned to the ancestral land of their forefathers. Not only have they come from the east and from the west, but from all the nations wherein they have been scattered.

Now, as in those favorable days of the past, if they will but put God first and make room in their hearts to prepare for a home for their God, then indeed he "will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."

Building the Temple—Verses 9 and 10

"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. 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 every one against his neighbor."

Here lies the kernel of the prophet’s message to Israel of that time. The foundation of the temple had been laid. Workers were needed to complete the job. But, as Nehemiah notes, now they were too busy building their individual fortunes, often at the cost of the less fortunate among them (Neh. 5:5). As the contemporary prophet, Haggai, phrased it succinctly, "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?" (Hag. 1:4).

A similar proposition faces the Israel of today. They have been permitted reentry into their land. They have built a prosperous economy. The challenge now is to lay the spiritual foundation for their God.

Zechariah calls to mind the former days, days of famine, want, and unemployment. Haggai does the same: "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD" (Hag. 1:6-8).

In remembering the hardships of their Diaspora, Israel should find the incentive to build in each of their hearts a temple for their God, their God who has delivered them from these conditions of bondage to the prosperity of the present. Not only were they beset by economic hardships, but they faced social inequities as well. With "every one against his neighbor" they knew not who to trust and were frequently betrayed by seemingly the best of their friends.

The Return of Favor—Verses 11 to 15

"But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts. 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. 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. 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: So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not."

The word here translated "remnant" could just as well be translated "survivors." Professor W. E. Vine, in his Expository Dictionary writes: "The ‘remnant’ concept is applied especially to the Israelites who survived such calamities as war, pestilence, and famine—people whom the Lord in his mercy spared to be his chosen people."

Here it describes not so much those who survived the Diaspora and the Holocaust experiences at its conclusion, but more particularly those who had the right heart condition to survive Israel’s final climactic battle with the forces of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38; 39).

To this remnant is promised prosperity. For them it will once again be true that they will be blessed (Deut. 28:5). But their prosperity will not be a selfish prosperity. They will share of their bounty with others. More importantly, they will share the secret of obtaining that bounty—the rules and regulations of a new law covenant. Thus, as they had been a byword and a curse in times past to other nations, now they shall be a blessing to them.

A specific example of this blessing is given in Isaiah 19:23, 24: "In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land." Here Israel is assigned an intermediary role, as it were, between the warring factions of Egypt and Assyria. This may well signify a peacemaking role in the emotional conflicts between the western and eastern worlds, represented by Egypt and Assyria respectively.

The Requirements—Verses 16 and 17

"These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD."

These blessings will not come to all who are of Jewish origin (Rom. 2:28). These favors are reserved for those with the right character requirements. These requirements serve a practical purpose in addition to the benefits to those possessing such characteristics. Since the previous verses describe the kingdom role as being an intermediary and a blessing to the nations around them, it is imperative that they learn from their past experiences how to put themselves in the favor of God.

Mankind in that age will progress to righteous living along what the prophet Isaiah calls "a highway of holiness" (Isa. 35:8-10). Israel will have a role in the construction of that highway. We read of their responsibilities in Isaiah 62:10, "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people."

These stumbling stones consist not only of barriers to the acceptance of Christ, but include all impediments to the attainment of righteousness. Resurrected Israel will have been well trained for this educational work of helping mankind in God’s kingdom.

Sorrow Turned to Joy—Verses 18 and 19

"And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace."

The four fasts which Israel was observing during the seventy years were to commemorate four different incidents in their captivity under Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The city was taken in the fourth month (Jer. 39:2). The temple was burned in the fifth month (Jer. 52:12, 13). Gedaliah, the appointed governor of Judea, was slain in the seventh month (Jer. 41:1-3). [It should be noted that some apply the fast of the seventh month to the annual fast on the Day of Atonement.] The siege of Jerusalem had been set in the tenth month of the preceding year (Jer. 52:4).

Now in a contrasting sequence of events, Israel’s fortunes were to be reversed. This was true in the typical situation between the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1, 2) until the final rebuilding of the walls under Nehemiah many years later. Likewise in the larger fulfillment of this prophecy in our own days we have seen a number of events since 1878 and onward showing a reversal of the misfortunes of Israel. Their fast days will become feast days.

The Gentile Effect—Verses 20 to 22

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD."

Once the new government becomes established in Israel with the ancient prophets at its head, there will come a movement among all the nations of the world to learn the secret of their success. The prophet says that all nations "shall flow unto it" (Isa. 2:2). Word of the remarkable victory which God accomplished will quickly reach the national capitals involved (Isa. 66:19). The prosperity of Israel will soon be reported world-wide (Zech. 14:14-19). It will not require a "hard sell" publicity campaign to convince the nations of the world that their prosperity, indeed their very life, will depend upon learning from the God of Israel.

A small picture of this is given in the book of Job. Israel, like Job, endured a vast number of hardships to show their fidelity to God. His comforters, like the nations of the world, had little to offer and were often his accusers—well did they deserve the title "miserable comforters" (Job. 16:2). When the story of Job comes to its climax two things happen before it can reach its happy ending. The comforters are told to bring a peace offering to Job (42:8) and Job, representing Israel, had to offer intercessory prayer for them before his own fortunes were restored (42:10).

The Skirt of a Jew—Verse 23

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you."

Though many students of the Bible have tried to enumerate the particular ten men involved in this text, it is probably no more than a general reference to a number to indicate the totality of the nations involved. It is in a similar vein that Jacob complains that his father-in-law had changed his wages "ten times" (Gen. 31:7), using a definite number to express an indefinite concept.

Others have noted that the pronoun "him" is singular, designating an individual man and not the total number of a group. Strong’s Concordance bears this out, saying it refers to "a man as an individual or a male person." Some draw the conclusion from this that "the man" referred to here is Jesus. We feel such a conclusion is unwarranted. The word is used broadly, both of individuals and of groups. An enlightening use of the word is in Exodus 34:24 where it is translated "any man." That appears to be the usage in our text. The man referred to can be any of the faithful remnant of Israel.

Worthy of note is that they do not grab onto this "man" but "take hold of the skirt of him." The word for "skirt" properly means, as the New International Version has it, "the hem of his robe."

In the New Testament we see an illustration of this. In Capernaum Jesus was on his way to raise the daughter of Jairus from the dead. A large crowd followed him and pressed against him. One in the crowd, a woman having an issue of blood, came close to him and "touched the border of his garment." Immediately Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" Peter, noting that the thronging crowd had undoubtedly touched him often along the way, was puzzled and asked Jesus for the meaning of his question. Jesus replied that one had specially touched him for he had felt virtue go out of him to heal her.

Here, too, "the border of his garment" was touched. The meaning becomes clear when we consider what was peculiar about the border of the Jewish garment. "Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garmentsthroughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring" (Num. 15:38-40).

This blue fringe was to indicate a commitment to the Jewish law. Jesus had been so faithful. In acknowledging obedience the sick woman demonstrated her faith. So will it be in the kingdom. As men recognize and acknowledge that the special blessings Israel is experiencing come from their adherence to God’s laws, they will be prompted to do likewise. And likewise, they will also receive blessings.

Thus it is that they will say, "we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." Thus, the faithful of the nation of Israel will yet realize their potential to be a blessing amongst all the nations of the world.