Zechariah 8:9-13

THE FOURTH STATEMENT. Zechariah 8:9-13

RV. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets that were in the day that the foundation of the house of Jehovah of hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built. For before those 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 neighbor. But now I will riot be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith Jehovah of hosts. For there shall be the seed of peace; the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the nations, 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.

LXX. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and from the time that the temple was built. For before those days the wages of men could not be profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the affliction to him that went out or to him that came in: for I would have let loose all men, every one against his neighbour. But now I will not do to the remnant of this people according to the former days, saith the Lord Almighty. But I will shew peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of my people. And it shall come to pass, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Juda, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: be of good courage, and strengthen your hands.

COMMENTS

(Zechariah 8:9-10) Before the blessed state described in the third statement can become reality the people must get to work with their hands and build the temple. There will be little prosperity in the land until this is accomplished. Their labour will be all in vain and they will be constantly at odds with one another until they have finished the task the Lord, through His prophets, has set before them. (cp. Haggai 1:6-11)

(Zechariah 8:11-12) Once the temple has been rebuilt the promised blessed conditions will be forthcoming. God's relationship to the restored remnant will then be different than it is now in their hesitancy to rebuild, different than it has been during the centuries of their rebellion and punishment. Rather than chastisement, He will heap upon them the blessings of the land.

(Zechariah 8:13) Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into a Messianic prediction. Israel, who have been a curse among the nations shall be saved and become a blessing.

Here, in capsule form, is a statement of God's covenant purpose in the Jewish people. The term house of Judah is that from which we derive the term Jew. The term Israel is the term which stresses the covenant relationship of the Jews to Jehovah.
The remnant of the Jewish race has returned to the land promised by God in the establishment of the covenant. As the remainder of the race they have been saved (or will be upon completion of the temple).
The remnant was also the remainder of the covenant people. As such they would be saved in a much greater way with the coming of the Messiah. At that point they would be a blessing.

Here, at the beginning of their restored national life, is the same covenant terminology which has marked every other beginning in the history of this people. In the call of Abraham, when the covenant was voiced for the first time, God had made the promise to him in words identical to these (Genesis 12:2). In the same statement, God had made it clear to Abraham that the blessing was intended for the whole human race. (Genesis 12:3)

In the soliloquy recorded in Genesis 18:17 -ff, God reaffirms this covenant purpose in very similar language. (Zechariah 8:18)

To Isaac God spoke similarly, as the covenant passed from the first to the second generation. (Genesis 26:4)

When the covenant was reaffirmed to Jacob, the language was the same. (Genesis 28:14)

It was this promise that God remembered when He was about to lead Jacob's progeny out of Egypt. (Exodus 2:24) The progeny accepted this covenant as the condition upon which they would become a peculiar treasure to Jehovah, and a nation of priests. (Exodus 19:5-6)

Now the remnant, upon taking up residence in the land once more, once more becoming a nation of priests in the restored temple, are reminded very pointedly that the reason for their existence has to do with their relationship to God's purpose in all the nations of the earth.
They had, in time past, become a curse rather than a blessing upon the nations. They had assumed they were special before God merely for their own sakes, and so believed the rest of the world inferior. They had proved unfaithful to God themselves and so thwarted the fulfillment of His purpose to bless all nations through them.
Consequently, ten of the twelve tribes had been wiped out and the remaining people led captive.
Now, returned from exile and re-established with the symbolic presence of Jehovah in their midst they are not to forget why He has spent all these patient centuries with them. The purpose for which they had been called into being in the beginning is exactly the purpose of their present restoration.
Therefore, because God has more at stake in their work than do they, they are once more called upon to fear not, but let your hands be strong. To understand God's purpose in building is to fearlessly build in the strength of the Lord.

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.