Zechariah 8:9 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.
10 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 neighbour.
11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 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.
It is a blessing to be encouraged by the LORD of hosts. There is no greater encouragement than from Him. You notice here that we have a choice to make. The LORD is speaking to more than just Zechariah here. He is speaking to all those that hear the words by the mouth of the prophets.
The LORD was challenging the children of Israel to listen to the true prophets. We do not have any living prophets today. However, we have the Word of God. In the Old Testament, God chose many true prophets to write His Word. That Word is just as important for us today as it was then.
We can see again the evil of the perversions. When a person picks up a perversion and reads that, he is not hearing the Words of the prophets. He is hearing the words of men who want to change the Words of the prophets. He is allowing the devil to play with his mind and his heart when he picks up a perversion.
The LORD further identified the prophets here. He is speaking specifically to those who were there when the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. That would include Ezra. God gave His Word through God-fearing men. Those men were willing to sacrifice their own whims and desires and they chose to submit to the will of God. They understood the importance of getting the Temple up and functioning. The people needed some place to go to worship God and hear His Word taught. They needed a place to offer sacrifices.
The Temple was never meant to be an object of worship. The worship belongs to the LORD. In the Old Testament God established the Tabernacle in the wilderness. Then after the nation was settled in the land of Israel, God guided Solomon to build the Temple. The Temple was to be the symbol of something much greater. It was a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ.
During the seventy years of exile that Judah had just come through, they did not have a Temple to go to. Daniel and his three friends, chose to follow God even though there was no Temple. A true child of God will survive and even prosper even if deprived of a holy place to go to. The true child of God has the Word of God in his heart. He will succeed because he trusts in the true God.
We are coming to a time again where some true saints might end up in prison. We have already heard that during the Wuhan virus debacle, some preachers were imprisoned and some were not even allowed access to a Bible. The devil wants to deprive us of the truth. I do not know if any of those preachers were born again men of God, but the law saw them as a threat.
It could be that some Godly men may be arrested and imprisoned and deprived of even the Word of God. However, just as when Peter was in prison, God-fearing people can be praying for the imprisoned saints and that is a great help to them.
Back in our text we read that there was a time of great oppression during the seventy years of exile. We read that the LORD brought that about. He was punishing the hard-hearted Jews. He loved them too much to allow them to continue to spit in His face and go their own way. Not many people understand the love of God today.
We see that all around us. The U.S. government, which is not a God-fearing government, is trying to restore order in Minnesota but the corrupt governor and mayor are encouraging the citizens to rebel against law and order. In spite of the wickedness of the U.S. government, the law and order they are trying to restore is good. The amount of money that the Muslims have stolen in that one state alone is mind boggling. That money is not going to help anyone. It is going to purchase weapons that can be used against anyone who will not submit to Islam. We need to wake up.
In verse 11 God stated that He was done with the punishment aspect now and was going to give those coming out of the captivity further opportunity to get back to Him. Those who went into exile had hardened themselves against the Lord. Those coming out of the exile needed to turn back to God. They had witnessed the fact that no one wins in fighting against the LORD. Those who are supposed to know Him need to actually know Him.
In our text, the primary recipients were Jews. Israel was to be the people of God. They had no existence outside of knowing the true God. In New Testament times, Christians are supposed to be the people of God. Christians have no existence outside of knowing the true God. Just as God did not accept Israel’s supposed modifications to His law, so too, God does not accept “Christian” modifications to His law.
God was exposing the rot in Old Testament times, and He is still doing so today.
In verse 12 the LORD spoke of the restoration of Israel. Physically Israel has come through many attacks, but they keep rebounding. They are growing now as well. Spiritually they are still dead. You can read Ezekiel 37 and see how God describes the restoration of Israel. Some people have made songs about the dry bones, but they do not understand what God was declaring there and what He is doing right now.
Israel has been revived physically. They are a nation back in their homeland. However, spiritually they are still dead. They will be given breath at the end of the Tribulation. In the Millennium, they will prosper just as verse 12 tells us. They could prosper now, but they are still too stubborn.
Sadly, the Gentile world is not learning from what has happened with Israel. Most churches today are just like Israel was prior to the exile. They think they know God, but they don’t.
II Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Verse 5 tells us what we must do if we love the Lord. We do not entertain the corruption. We do not join hands with it either. We reject it and we follow righteousness. The world does not understand this but those who are saved must understand and obey this. We cannot help anyone when we take a compromised approach to truth.
Today is the Lord’s Day. Be sure you follow the Lord to a true local church. Don’t settle for a fraudulent meeting place. Be blessed by submitting to the truth. If you are in our area, we would welcome you to our services.
Pastor Bartel