Zechariah 8:18-23

THE SIXTH STATEMENT. Zechariah 8:18-23

RV. And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah 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; there love truth and peace. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and go to seek Jehovah of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they 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.

LXX. And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast, shall be to the house of Juda for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and ye shall rejoice; and love ye the truth and peace. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Yet shall many peoples come, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of five cities shall come together to one city, saying, Let us go to make supplication to the Lord, and to seek the face of the Lord Almighty; I will go also. And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to obtain favour of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; In those days my word shall be fulfilled if ten men of all the languages of the nations should take holdeven take hold of the hem of a Jew, saying, We will go with thee; for we have heard that God is with you.

COMMENTS

The final statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el is also the final entreaty of God to the people to build the temple. It begins with a promise of joy in the stead of fasting and closes with a Messianic promise that through His people all the people of earth will come to share His blessings.

(Zechariah 8:18-19) The fasts occasioned, albeit without divine sanction, by the punishment of Judah through Babylon will give way to joy and gladness. The fast days themselves will become feast days.

Jewish history provides an ironic footnote concerning these fasts which God promised would become feasts. The fast of the fourth month observed on the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, is now observed in connection with four incidents: (1) the building of the golden calf. (2) Moses-' breaking of the tablets of the law. (3) the cessation of daily sacrifices prior to the actual Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and (4) the actual occupation of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

The fast of the fifth month, is held on the 9th day of Abh by modern Jewry, in connection with the destruction of Solomon's temple by Nebuchadnezzar and of the second temple on the same day of the year by Titus in 70 A.D. Connected with the modern observance of this fast also is the memory of the day God turned the Israelites back from entering the promised land a year and a half after they left Egypt, and the capture of the city of Bether by Hadrian c. 135 A.D.

The fast of the seventh month, now observed on the third day of Tishri remembers the murder of Gedaliah at Mizpah, just as during the captivity.

The tenth month fast remembers, on the tenth day of Tibheth, as it did in Babylon, the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

From this it would seem that the Jews have missed the joy of their deliverance from captivity, just as in rejecting Jesus they have missed the joy of their deliverance from sin.
On is constrained to believe that Zechariah's picture of joy in this passage, as others, is symbolic of the joy of salvation in Christ rather than of any joy on the part of those who seem forever blind to the blessings of Jehovah.

(Zechariah 8:20-22) The Messianic age will come. People of many nations will join the faithful of Israel in the enjoyment of God's blessings. The passage is a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the church, beginning in Jerusalem, has brought to the world the Jehovah once known only to the Jews.

These verses are very reminiscent of Isaiah 2:4, and of Joel 2:28 -ff. If by them we are to understand material promises, then history fails to record their fulfillment. If, on the other hand, these verses, and other such prophetic passages are symbolic of the real blessings of Jehovah for His people in the Messianic age, we have but to count our blessings as Christians to know the real meaning of these verses. Personally, I believe the latter to be the intent of the passage.

What God began in the Spirit will not be perfected in the flesh (cp. Galatians 3:3). God's purpose has always been to bless the peoples of the whole earth. When the temple is completed and the symbolic priesthood and sacrifices restored, the final barrier to Messiah's coming will have been removed. When He comes, men from every nation under heaven will seek the God of Israel. The faithful remnant would become the nucleus of the Messiah's true Israel, and as they went everywhere from Jerusalem preaching the Gospel, men of every nation would turn to them for knowledge of the one true God.

Chapter XXXVIQuestions

Teaching About Worship

1.

Outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an ____________________ to ______________________.

2.

God's promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in ____________________.

3.

On December 4, ______________ B.C. those who lived in Beth-el sent messengers to Jehovah with a question.

4.

What was that question?

5.

Where is Beth-el?

6.

Show that those who lived in Beth-el were not Samaritans but Jews.

7.

The fast on the seventh day of the fifth month marked the ________________ anniversary of ________________.

8.

The fast of the seventh Month remembered ___________________.

9.

Zechariah's answer to the question from Beth-el was in ________________ statements.

10.

Give the references for each of these statements.

11.

What was the first answer?

12.

Who were the former prophets?

13.

What was the second answer?

14.

The questioners are further reminded that God, through the former prophets, had commanded their fathers to __________________________.

18.

The happiness of the restored people is presented in figures of happy __________________.

19.

The joy and amazement of the returnees blends quite normally into a glimpse of ________________.

20.

What is Zechariah's fourth answering statement?

21.

Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into ____________________ prediction.

22.

At the beginning of their restored national life is the same ________________ terminology which had marked the beginning of _________________.

23.

The returned remnant is once more to be a nation of _________________.

24.

How had the Jews become a curse upon the nations rather than a blessing?

25.

Discuss the idea that God has more at stake in this work than do they.

26.

What was the fifth statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el?

27.

How does it relate to the first statement?

28.

So; long as the people are _________________ and ______________ they have no reason to fear God's wrath.

29.

What was the sixth statement?

30.

This statement is also an entreaty to God's people to

____________________

31.

It begins with a promise of _______________ instead of _______________ and closes with a ____________ promise.

32.

Modem Jews observe the fast of the fourth month in connection with _____________, _______________, _________________, and _________________.

33.

The fast of the fifth month is held in connection with ______________, and ________________,_ It also remembers _________________ and ________________.

34,

The fast of the seventh month is now observed in remembrance of __________________________________.

35.

The tenth month fast recalls ________________________________________.

36.

What do you conclude from the fact that these fasts are still observed by the Jews?

37.

Zechariah 8:20-23 are a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the ________________, beginning at

____________________ has brought the world the _________________________.once known only to the Jews.