Zechariah 8:13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, 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.
14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
God directed Zechariah to give encouraging words to the children of Israel. God alone can change the heart of man. When man allows God to change his heart, amazing things happen. Israel and Judah were a curse even among the heathen prior to this. Rather than being a light to the heathen, they were a curse to them.
If they would turn to the Lord as He was telling them to, that would all be changed. They would be a blessing. That is what the heathen needed to see. They needed to know that the God of Israel was the true God. God had shown them that even though the children of Israel were not honouring Him. Daniel and his three friends had chosen to honour God in pagan Babylon. God used them mightily to show the king and the people that their gods were nothing. Belshazzar learned the hard way that his god was nothing. He died at the hands of the Medes and the Persians as they invaded and conquered the Babylonians. Daniel and his three friends continued on. God protected them and continued to engage them in demonstrating the blessing that can only be known in walking in the fear of the true God.
Again we are reminded of the importance of strong hands. We can only have strong hands when we walk in the fear of the LORD. It is the LORD that strengthens the hands of the weak.
In verses 14-15 we are again reminded that this is the LORD of hosts speaking. The same God that needed to punish the children of Israel due to their continuous rebellion against Him would now do well to them. God did not change His mind. He is holy. He cannot allow evil to continue among those who are supposed to be His people. All wickedness will be judged by God. However, God expects those who are supposed to be His children to follow Him and be a light to the lost.
God would never accept the reality that Israel could remain in rebellion and not be punished for it. He allowed them to choose Him or not. However, they needed to understand that choosing to reject Him had dire consequences. They were consequences that the children of Israel would not appreciate.
God sent them prophets like Zechariah to remind them of why they had to suffer at the hands of the heathen. God was very merciful. He was ready to forgive. However, their fathers had not sought God’s forgiveness. They wanted His endorsement of their paganism. God would not do that. It was a blessing to the world that He would not repent.
God wanted the current generation of Jews to be willing to turn the page. He wanted them to bow before Him. They had nothing to fear in turning to Him. He was not a mean God. He was not like the foreign kings they had been living under. The only reason they had ended up in exile was because they rejected the true God. They needed to be reminded that He was merciful and ready to forgive and bless them.
The same is true today for both Jew and Gentile. When we choose to humble ourselves and know the Lord and follow Him, He will be gracious and merciful and He will pardon. He wants to bless man. Due to His holiness, He must withhold blessings from those who do not want to know Him. He is particularly concerned about those who are His children but who are choosing to walk in a compromised manner. He cannot allow that to stand because they are such a stumblingblock to the many lost who need to know the true God. No true Christian should assume that he can walk carelessly and not be chastened. When a true Christian repents and gets right with God, He is ready to bless them. The world needs to see true light. Born again Christians are to be the light of the world. We are called upon to reflect the True Light — The Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bartel