Zechariah 8

CHAPTER 8THEME: God’s purpose concerning Jerusalem unchanged by any ritualChapter 8 is God’s third explanation to the people concerning their question: We have gone through the ritual and the liturgywhy hasn’t God blessed us? His first answer was that, when the heart is right, the ritual is all right. His second answer was that, when the heart is wrong, the ritual is wrong. In other words, the ritual doesn’t have anything to do with it; it is the heart that is important. Some expositors call chapter 8 the positive answer to this question, with chapter 7 being the negative aspect of the answer. I want to say to you, the answer in chapter 8 is positively positive: God’s purpose concerning Jerusalem is unchanged by any ritual.

Whether you go through a ritual or you don’t go through it, you are not going to change God’s plan and purpose. Thank God for that. Thank God that He will carry through His plan and His purpose. Five words occur in this chapter which are very important. In fact, you can hang the meaning of this chapter on these words.

1. First is the expression, “LORD of hosts.” Dr. Merrill Unger gives the interpretation of this expression as “LORD of armies,” and that probably is a more literal translation. “The LORD of hosts” or “the LORD of armies” occurs eighteen times in this chapter. Apparently, He is very important in this chapter"the LORD of hosts."
2. Jerusalem occurs six times, and Zion occurs twice. Jerusalem is a geographical city located in Israel, over in the Middle East today. It never has changed; it is still the same place. When God says Jerusalem, He means Jerusalem. He does not mean London or Washington, D.C., or Rome or Los Angeles or any other place. When He says Jerusalem, God means Jerusalem.
3. The word jealous occurs three times.
4. The word remnant occurs twice. Remember that it was only a remnant from all twelve tribes that returned to the landthey did not return from only the two southern tribes. There were very few, even from Judah, who came back. Approximately sixty thousand returned to that land.
5. The final expression, “Thus saith the LORD,” occurs ten times. When God keeps repeating that, do you know what it means? It means “thus saith the LORD"not Vernon McGee, not any man, but it is God who is saying this. I do not speak or write in order to be popular today. I would change my tactics quite a bit if I wanted to do that. I’m attempting to teach the Word of God, and if your toes get stepped on, God is the one who is stepping on them. I’m simply reading what the Word of God has to say. The reason that a book like Zechariah is not being taught today is that people do not like to have their toes stepped on. Yet I am thankful for and amazed at the number of people who are hearing the Word of God. It’s a glorious day in which to live, unlike the day in which I began my ministry. Some commentators feel that chapter 8 puts the Ten Commandments down on the people of Israel even more than chapter 7 did. I do not feel that that is accurate. My feeling is that the last part of chapter 7 put the Ten Commandments down on them, and they were weighed in the balances and were found wantingthey did not measure up to God’s standard at all. Then in chapter 8, especially in the first eight verses, we find that God’s ultimate purpose is not changed concerning His peoplethe nation Israel, the land, and Jerusalem. At the present moment, God is not fulfilling any prophecy concerning Israel. He is dealing today with the church; He is calling out a body of believers in the church.

And the church and Israel are entirely two separate entities. When God will get through calling out the church, I do not know. It’s not geared to any man’s calendar at all. It’s on God’s calendar, but He has never let any of us see it. God’s Word doesn’t tell us when He will take the church out of this earth, but when He does, He will turn to the people of Israel again. These prophecies here in chapter 8 are simply saying that their return to the land in Zechariah’s day was very small but that it is an adumbration, a little miniature picture, of a return to the land that is coming in the future.

Zechariah 8:1

When God says that He is jealous, it is not the same as man’s jealousy, but He does have the same thing in mind. I feel sorry for any woman who makes the statement, “My husband is not jealous of me.” If it is true, it means that her husband does not love her. I don’t know about you, but I’m jealous of my wife. I married her for myself because I love her. I don’t intend to share her with anybody else, and I will notthat’s for sure. I’m jealous of her.

God says that concerning Israel, and He says it to the church today. If you think that you can live for the world and the flesh and the Devil and then serve God on Sunday, you are wrong. You won’t make it, my friend. If you are His child and try to do that, He will judge you. If you do that and live in that, it means that you’re not God’s child because He is jealous of those who are His own. He has told us concerning sin in our lives, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1Co_11:31).

And we are also told, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn_1:9). Sin has to be confessed. You cannot have fellowship with Him and have sin in your life, Christian friend.

Zechariah 8:3

This prophecy was not fulfilled then, which was obvious to those people. Rather, this looks to the future. It has not been fulfilled since then, and it’s not being fulfilled today. God makes it clear that He will return to Zion, and He makes it clear that He is going to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. “And Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth.” Today it is a city where there are more religions than you can imagine! Every Christian organization has built something there, and there are all kinds of cults and “isms” there. It is not the city of truth today. “And the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.” I have never seen anything there that I thought you could call holy. It’s just not holy today, my friend. It will be holy when He gets back there, but He is not back there yet. This prophecy looks to the future. “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.” Earlier, Isaiah had made it very clear that Jerusalem is to become the capital of the earth. In the second chapter of his prophecy, we read, “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isa_2:1-2). Zechariah is here looking on toward the last days and is encouraging the people. They have returned to the land, and God has blessed them to a certain degree, but this is a miniature of what is going to come in the future. There is a glorious day in the future which does not depend upon a ritual or a liturgy or a ceremony or jumping through some little hoop and thinking that that will please God.

God says that it is the heart which will have to be changed, and He says that He is going to change these people’s hearts. The Word of God will go forth from Jerusalem, and it will be called a city of truth. Isaiah goes on to say in his prophecy, “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa_2:3-4). But we have not come to that day yetwe had better keep our atom bombs dry and ready for use. You never know in this mean, big, bad world when you will need things like that.

Yet there is coming a day when “Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain [or, kingdom] of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.” In other words, Zechariah is speaking of the establishment of the millennial Kingdom which is yet in the future.

Zechariah 8:4

Jerusalem will be a place where old people can live. People will not have to go to retirement centers or to senior citizens’ cities. I want to say something here that I know is not very popular today. These senior citizens’ places of retirement are painted to be very delightful places. I have been to several of them, and I may have to move to one before it is all over, but frankly, I do not think they are very healthful. My wife and I stop at a certain one every now and then to eat lunch because they have good food which is reasonably priced.

I tell my wifeand she agrees with methat it makes me feel very, very downcast to go there and see nothing but old gray heads around. It will be nice that in Jerusalem they will not have to have a retirement center. In the Millennium they are going to improve on the method which we have today. It will be a place for old people where they will be safe and welcome and where they will enjoy living.

Zechariah 8:5

This means they will not have automobiles, and we will get rid of the smog and the pollution. There are not going to be any cars, and the streets of Jerusalem will be playgrounds for the boys and girls. Jerusalem will be a place for old people and for young people, boys and girls. I think it’s nice for grandma and grandpa to see the little grandchildren every now and then. They don’t want them for too long, though. When the little ones get tired, they become ornery like their grandmother, and that makes it a little difficult for grandfather, and so he likes to send them home after awhile!

But it is wonderful when they can mingle. It’s good for the little folk to have a grandma and a grandpa to put their arms around them and tell them how much they are loved. Children need all the love they can get in this world. This is a beautiful picture herea picture of old age and childhood in the Millennium. At that future time, Jerusalem will be the capital of the earth, Jesus will be reigning there, and the church will be out yonder in space, dwelling in the New Jerusalem. Someone will say, “I thought that the church would be with Christ.” Yes, Scripture assures us that the church will be with Him; therefore, I think He is going to commute every day. In the Millennium, there will not be all the tie-up on the freeways that we have today. I do not think it will take Him more than a couple of secondsmaybe not even that longto commute between the New Jerusalem in space and the city of Jerusalem, the capital of the earth.

Zechariah 8:6

When the delegation came down to Jerusalem from Bethel, they were greatly impressed. The temple was being rebuilt, many of the people had built their homes, and there was an air of prosperity in Jerusalem. They said, “My, it does look like God is really moving here.” And God says, “You don’t see what I see in the future. You think that this is something wonderful, but this is nothing compared to what it is going to be like in the future.” Notice again how often the words, “the LORD of hosts” or “the LORD of armies,” occur

Zechariah 8:7

This is quite interesting. “The east country” is the place from which the remnant had returned. A great many come out of Yemen even in our day, and I am told that there are still great numbers of Jews in the Orient. God says, “I will bring My people from the east country and from the west country.” Where is “the west country”? My nation is part of it, I think. When I take a plane from Jerusalem, it flies out toward the west and just keeps going west until I finally get back to Los Angeles. The Jews will be leaving this country someday.

Just think what New York City will become. It will practically become a ghost town because there are more Jews there than there are in Israel today. God is going to bring His people back to the land of Israel. He is telling the people of Zechariah’s day, “If you of the remnant think that what you see is wonderful, think of what I see out yonder in the future.”

Zechariah 8:8

The Jews are not His people now. Somebody asks me, “Do you believe that the Jews are God’s chosen people?” I probably shock them a little when I say, “No, I don’t think so.” God’s chosen people today are the church. Peter writes, “…ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people …” (1Pe_2:9). What is Peter talking about? The churchthat is, he is talking about the body of believers in which both Jew and Gentile have been brought together and made one in Christ. The only real brotherhood that there can be in this world today is in the church of Jesus Christ. Someday the church will be removed from the earth, and then God will take His chosen people, the Jews, and return them to their land. We have already seen in Zechariah’s visions that God will cleanse these people. They need cleansing just as we in the church do. The church is a blood-bought, blood-washed people. Why? Because we are sinners. We are saved sinners right now, but we are still sinners.

One of these days, I am going to be a real saint. I am a saint now by name, but my life doesn’t always look saintly. But one of these days, I am going to be like Christ, and that will be a glorious day. The people of Israel are going to be transformed also. God says, “They shall be my people.” When? In that day when they go back to Jerusalem.

They are not in the city of Jerusalem today. I have been through the old city of Jerusalem, and it is filled with Arabs. The Arabs are the ones who are living there even at the present time. “And I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” They are not back there in truth today. They still deny the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah; they do not accept Him. I am amazed how little reference there is to God in that land today; in fact, there is practically nil. The leaders of Israel say less about God than anybody else. I heard an Arab leader say, “If Allah wills it.” He didn’t seem to be ashamed of his concept of God, but Israel doesn’t mention her God today. They are not boasting of Him at all. However, in the Kingdom Age God “will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” And “righteousness” means that things are going to be made right.

Zechariah 8:9

In verses Zec_8:9-19, we see that God expects the delegation newly come from Babylon to hear the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, in view of the perspective of the glorious future. Also, these people are to keep the commandments. Just because they didn’t come back with the remnant does not mean that they are excused from the commandments. They are to listen to Haggai and Zechariah. “The prophets” are Haggai and Zechariah. They are the ones encouraging the people to build the temple. They are encouraging these newcomers to help with the building of the temple, and they did help, by the way.

Zechariah 8:10

“For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast.” In other words, unemployment was a real factor in the economics of the country at that time. “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 neighbour.” In my nation today, we have practically forgotten God. There are very few in public life today who make any reference to Him except to ridicule Him. God is pretty well left out; yet we are wondering why we are having all this trouble with the different groups which we call “minority groups.” Not only are there the racial divisions, but also there are social divisions, economic divisions, and geographical divisions. There has never been a time when there has been so much talk like: “Let’s get together. Let’s stand together as a nation. Let’s do this as one people.” We get a great deal of that kind of talk from our leaders.

They encourage us to do this and to do that in order to accommodate this minority group and that minority group. And yet we get farther and farther apart. Do you know why? Because we have left God out. God told Israel, “You’re not having peace, and there are divisions among you.” Certainly there are all kinds of divisions among usit is almost warfare that is taking place. There is turmoil and violence on every hand.

Every politician who runs for office thinks that he’s got the solution to it. The problem is that he doesn’t have the solution. And I want to say to you, I don’t have the solution, but the Word of God says, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isa_57:21). The answer is that we need to get God back in the picture today. We need to turn to Him.

Zechariah 8:11

God says to them, “I don’t intend to bless you as you are now or as you were before I sent you into captivity, but I am going to bless you.”

Zechariah 8:12

God brought prosperity to that nation for a period of time. The great judgment came upon them, of course, when they rejected the MessiahTitus the Roman destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the people throughout the Roman Empire. They have never returned from that dispersion, according to the Word of God.

Zechariah 8:13

At the time that I am writing this, there are still fingers being pointed at Israel. Practically all of Europe has deserted them because of the oil situation, and they are finding out that they are not worth more than a gallon of gasoline. It is a tragic situation. They have become a curse among the nations. Anti-Semitism is growing again throughout the world. God says, “When I save them and bring them back to that land, they are going to be a blessing to the world.” I believe that the nation of Israel will be the priests for the gentile nations of the earth. They will stand between God and the gentile nations during the Millennium.

Zechariah 8:14

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts.” Notice how often this phrase occurs. “As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not.” In other words, God says, “I didn’t change my mind about that.” In this section we are looking forward to the time when God is going to make Jerusalem the capital of this earth. God says that nothing can detour or detract Him from His purpose. He intends to do this by His marvelous infinite grace. In writing to the Romans Paul says, “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom_9:15-16). Moses went to God and prayed about whether or not God would destroy the children of Israel.

God said in effect, “I’m going to hear you, Moses, but I’m not going to hear you because you are Moses. I will show mercy and grace to those whom I will show mercy and grace. Therefore, it is not him that runnethto him that trots through a ritual or goes to a lot of church servicesit is the Lord Jesus Christ who shows mercy.” My friend, we can say with the apostle Paul we are what we are by the grace of God.

Zechariah 8:15

God says to these people, “It is not because you have been through the ritual or because you have omitted the ritual. Whether you do or whether you don’t, I am showing mercy to you.” But this is not the end in itself, this time of blessing is a very small thing. God looks down through the centuries and says, “The day is coming when I intend to deal again with you, and in that day I will do a glorious thing upon the earth.” He is looking down to the time of the Millennium. Now since they are going to represent God in the end times, it does not mean that they can do as they please. The grace and mercy of God extended to us does not mean that we can live any kind of life, although some people think that. Listen to what God says now

Zechariah 8:16

“These are the things that ye shall do.” Have you trusted Christ as your Savior? Then you have been saved by grace and mercy. But wait a minute, He says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (Joh_14:15). If you love Him, you are going to keep His commandments. You do not keep His commandments in order to get saved because you have been saved by His grace and mercy. The obedience of your life will never add anything to your salvation. “Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour.” Ours is the day when lying is acceptable in every walk of life. Business cannot be depended upon today to tell the truth. Advertising is very inaccurate. The news media cannot be depended upon to tell the truth. The government cannot be depended upon to tell the truth, and it does not make any difference what party you are talking about. It would seem that you cannot trust men in any walk of lifenot the military nor educators nor scientists. In all of these areas today, we are finding that truth has suddenly gone out of style. It is about time that boys and girls were taught in school certain moral standards, and one of them is that if you don’t tell the truth, you’re a liarthere is no other way around that. “Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” “The gates” were where the courts of law convened in that day. Many today have confessed that they have lied even to a grand jury, that they have lied when they were under oath! “Execute the judgment of truth.” What He is talking about here is not the act of judging. You and I are going to judge. Whether we judge honestly or dishonestly, whether we judge truthfully or untruthfully, we are going to judge. What He has in mind here is the motive. The thing that should motivate judging is truth.

Zechariah 8:17

“And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour.” That means that you’re not to covet anything that is your neighbor’s. “And love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.” Actually, Zechariah is again referring to the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments show us some of the things which God hates. They are not given to save us but to show us the things in our lives that God hates. They are given to show us that we need to turn to Him. We have all these bumper stickers that say that God is love. That is greatGod is lovebut God also hates.

You cannot love something without hating something else. If you love the truth, you’re going to hate the lie. If you love your child, you’ll hate a mad dog that comes into the yard to bite the child. You would kill that mad dog if you love your child. God hates certain thingsI’d like to see that put up on billboards today. God hates lying.

God hates covetousness. He hates a whole lot of things that the world is doing today.

Zechariah 8:18

Zechariah says it againwhat repetition we have! God wants you to know that He said these things.

Zechariah 8:19

God says to them, “I never gave you any fast days. These days that you have set up to fast and to go through a nice little religious ritual, I’m going to turn into feast days, days of rejoicing, days of love and truth and peace.” These are the things that are absent in our contemporary culture and society. I wonder if it has ever occurred to anyone that if we would go back and teach the great biblical and moral values that are stated in the Word of God, it might have a tremendous effect upon our society today. Some of us believe that it would. In effect God is saying, “I don’t want you to come before Me with a long face and that pious look that you have. I want you to come before Me with joy.” My friend, a lot of us are not enjoying being Christians as we should. God wants us to have a whole lot of fun. I think that the big fun center for Christians ought to be the local church. Someone says, “Oh, do you mean we ought to have a volleyball court?” No, I mean to come together and study the Word of Godthat ought to be fun. And there’s something wrong with you, Christian, if studying the Word of God is not fun.

Zechariah 8:20

This looks to the fact that Jerusalem will become the capital of the earthnot only the political capital but also the religious capital. It looks forward to that time which we call the Millennium. “It shall yet come to pass"this is something that is for the future.

Zechariah 8:22

“Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem.” I take it that that does not mean Los Angelesit means Jerusalem. “And to pray before the LORD.” Very frankly, Jerusalem is not an ideal place to go to pray; it just isn’t geared for that today. Actually, you see more religion manifested there and less Christianity than any place that I know of. But it will become the center of God’s government during the Millennium. We referred earlier to the second chapter of Isaiah, and there are many other Scriptures along this line. This illustrates why it is so important to study the Book of Zechariah. A great many teachers in our day have zeroed in on the Book of Daniel. If you go to the average seminary library or to any good library, you will notice that there is volume after volume written on Daniel. Go down the shelves a little farther and see how many books you find that are written on Zechariahthere is a dearth of them. I have a friend who does not believe that there is going to be a Millennium on this earth.

He doesn’t believe that God will turn to Israel ever again or that He will ever turn again to Jerusalem. He believes that God is through with the people of Israel. He has written a book on Daniel, and he told me, “I have proved my point in Daniel.” I said to him, “Has it ever occurred to you that no prophecy is of any private interpretation? You do not study the Book of Daniel by itself. Why didn’t you bring in a little of Zechariah?” He looked at me rather funny and said, “I didn’t need to.” So I frankly said to him, “Well, if you hold the theory that God is through with Israel, you can’t handle the Book of Zechariah.” My friend, Zechariah makes it clear that God is not through with Jerusalem and He’s not through with the nation Israel.

Zechariah 8:23

“In those days"what days? This is that expression that we find again and again in Scripture. “In that day,” or “in those days"this is the Millennium that is coming. The Great Tribulation is actually the beginning of it, and it ushers in the coming of Christ and the thousand-year reign of Christ that is called the Millennium. The Millennium, in turn, ushers in Christ’s eternal Kingdom on this earth. “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.” Is God through with the Jew? In the Millennium, the church will have been removed from the earth. You see, the church could not be here in a period like this. I believe that the number ten here rather suggests a whole number, that it represents the fact that all the gentile nations in that day will find Jerusalem very attractive and they will go there. Why? Because the Lord Jesus will be there, the millennial temple will be there, and it will be the place to worship God.