And the word of Jehovah of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, The holy mountain. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, 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. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts. Thus saith Jehovah 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. (Zechariah 8:1-8)

CHAPTER 8, as was noted in the last study, is a continuation of the message of chapter 7. The last verse of chapter 8, as we have already seen, speaks of Israel's world-wide conversion. Although she has been in this dispersed condition for 1900 years during the times of the Gentiles when Jerusalem is trodden down (Luke 21:20-24) God is still jealous "for Zion with great jealousy," and "I [God] am jealous for her with great wrath." God is not through with the Jew; neither is He through with Jerusalem. This is asserted by Isaiah in chapter 62:1-5. Here we are told that the Almighty cannot hold His peace, neither can take any rest until Zion with her people are redeemed and become the joy of the whole earth.

In Zechariah 8:2, God says that He is jealous for Zion with a great jealousy and with great wrath. His feelings toward Jerusalem and the Jewish people are indeed intense. Let us not think that He is partial and that He is more interested in that particular race than He is in any other group of people, for such is not the case. All souls are precious in His sight. He wills the salvation of everyone. The reason for His particular interest in Israel is that she is the chosen people through whom He has elected to give His Word to the world. He declares that He is jealous for Israel with great wrath. By this statement He means to affirm that, in bringing Israel back to Himself in order that she might become the  "the city of truth," the channel of world-blessing, He will pour out His wrath upon those who in any wise stand in the way of His accomplishing His purposes through her. Woe be unto those nations and individuals who are anti-Semitic, and who are obstructing the way of the Lord's carrying out His fore announced purposes through Israel!

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" (Zech. 8:9,10).

The young prophet urged his hearers to be strong. Of course, men cannot be strong in themselves. One's spiritual power depends upon his relation to and dependence upon God, but one may take a firm and a definite stand for the right, asking God to give him the courage and the power to stand true. God can and will make His faithful servants stand.

This exhortation was addressed to those who were listening to the prophet in the fourth year of Darius. Zechariah wanted his auditors to give special consideration to the words which were spoken by the prophets when the foundation of the Temple was laid. The question arising at this point is, "When was this foundation laid?" From Ezra 3:8-13 we see the historical account of the attempt which was made in the second year of the return from the Babylonian captivity, which was the second year of Cyrus, King of Persia. From Ezra 4, we learn that no sooner had the work on the house been begun than opposition arose and stopped this work. No effort was made to resume the work until the second year of Darius fifteen years later. From Haggai 2:18 we learn that the foundation of Jehovah's house was laid on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of Darius. From this statement we see Zechariah was looking back two years to the time when the work was resumed on the Temple and the foundation was laid. At that time there evidently were prophets of God, Haggai and Zechariah, and possibly others whose names do not appear in the record who delivered messages from God. These messages were of vital import to the Jews of that day.

Before they laid the foundation there were difficult and hard times. There was a depression up until they did this work. The ranks of the unemployed were filled. Business was at a standstill. The times were turbulent, for there was no peace to him who came into the country or to the one who went out of it. Adversaries were on every hand. From Haggai, the contemporary of Zechariah, we see that there were crop failures and general distress throughout the country (see chapter 1). According to Haggai the crop failures were due to a special judgment of God resting upon them (Haggai 1:7-11). The unsettled and perilous conditions in the country and adjacent lands were due to the fact that God "set every man against his neighbor" (Zech. 8:8-10). This was a judgment from the Almighty.

God's message in the fourth year of Zechariah to the remnant which had been working on the house for the past two years was this: "But now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith Jehovah of hosts." The people had turned to God and were endeavoring to do His will respecting the Temple. Their change of attitude and conduct made possible a change of God's actions towards them.

There was, as we have already seen, only a remnant that returned from the Babylonian captivity. Thus the idea of a remnant loomed largely  before the vision of the returned community. Using this as a starting point, the prophet in verse 12 swept out into the future and spoke of the glorious kingdom days when the Messiah will reign. Hear him. "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" (verse 12). This prediction has never been fulfilled but will find its realization in the Millennial Age when the curse is lifted. At that time the people of Israel, who have been during this dispensation "a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them" (Deut. 28:37; Jer. 24:9; 42:18), will yield to God and He will save them and make them a blessing (Zech. 8:13). Israel must be saved first. Then she will become a blessing to the world. She can never be saved except by the preaching of the message of salvation to her.

When she is converted, she will carry the messages of the gospel to the four corners of the earth in such a way as to convince all nations of the truthfulness of the same. Truly in Abraham and in his seed shall all nations be blessed.

In verse 14 of this chapter, the prophet told his audience that, whereas God in former times had brought judgment upon their fathers, it was His purpose then to do good to the house of Israel. According to verses 16 and 17, Zechariah insisted upon the Jews' living strict, moral lives.

These are the things that ye shall do: speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah. (Zechariah 8:16-17)

In verses 18 and 19, those fast days which had been observed by them during the captivity would in the future be days of rejoicing and blessing. This prediction is followed by one which foresees Israel restored to her rightful position among the nations and proclaiming the truth of God to the world. This prophecy will be fulfilled by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who conduct the great revival in the first half of the Tribulation and by the converted remnant of Israel in the beginning of the Millennial Age. Great and wonderful days are ahead of us, for both Israel and the world.