Zechariah 8:1  Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3  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; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
4  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
5  And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
6  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
7  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
8  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.

We often read the phrase “the LORD of hosts” in this book. The Jews of Zechariah’s day needed to know the superiority of the true God. Every generation needs to be reminded of the omniscience and the omnipresence of the true God. In our text, the LORD is still addressing those who had come from Babylon questioning God’s response to their facade or religion.
In verse 2 the LORD reminded these people what Zion meant to Him. Zion was the city of God. The Jews needed to be reminded that when the LORD chooses a place for His glory, He expects that place to live for His glory. Zion had not done that and the LORD sent the Jews into exile and now they were coming back. The LORD was jealous for Zion because it was far from what it was supposed to be. He wants all people to know the truth about Him. He chose Zion as His capital city and He placed His temple in that place. It was to be a holy place. It was to be where people could come and learn of the true God and worship Him. The Jews had tried to distort Who the true God is. They had tried to mix Him with pagan deities. God could never accept this.
In verse 3 the LORD stated that He had returned to Zion. He brought the people back to Jerusalem. He brought them back to rebuild the temple. The temple was to be the house of God. Zion was to be known as the city of truth. God is truth and His Word is truth. The truth was to emanate from Jerusalem. It did not do that prior to the captivity and it did not do that in Zechariah’s day. It still is not doing that today. God is demonstrating His power and mercy in Jerusalem, but it is not a city that breathes and lives according to God’s truth. That was God’s intent, but the people chose to reject God’s way and the results were disastrous for them, not for God.
The ultimate fulfillment of these verses will be in the Millennium, when there will be a temple in Jerusalem that will be built for His glory. Jesus Christ will rule from that temple and it will truly be the House of God. In that day there will be old men and old women dwelling in Zion and they will not need to fear being attacked in their old age. They will live there in peace and even though they will be old and weak, they will not need to fear some evil people coming and attacking them. Jerusalem will be what it was always supposed to be.
Not only will there be peace for the elderly, but young children will be there and will be playing in the streets. They too will not need to fear being run over or being killed by terrorists. They will not need to fear the sound of sirens and then need to run for bomb shelters, etc. There will be a peace in Zion because the LORD of hosts will be there.
In verse 6 we see that the people will rejoice in this amazing change that will be experienced in Jerusalem. Those people will have come through the Tribulation and they will have witnessed the turmoil and the danger they faced every day. They could not walk the streets of Jerusalem in safety. Children could not play in the streets. However, this would change suddenly and drastically.
God stated that this change would not only be marvellous in the eyes of the people but it would also be marvellous in His eyes. This is what He intended all along for Zion and now finally it would be there. Finally those alive at that time would appreciate living under the wings of a loving and exalted Saviour.
In verses 7-8 the LORD of hosts stated that He will save His people from the east and from the west. The saved will come into the safety of Zion. The LORD of hosts will bring them there. The antichrist will be destroyed. The battle of Armageddon will be over and only saved individuals will enter the Millennium.
In verse 8 the LORD of hosts again reminded these men who had come from Babylon that He would bring their descendants to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is certainly not a peaceful place today. There is trouble all around there now. However, when the LORD of hosts is ruling, things will be different. Evil cannot rule where the LORD rules. As we have noted, there will be babies born during the Millennium. There will be those among the children born then who will not appreciate the truth. They will not be saved, but they will not be able to openly rebel. The Lord Jesus Christ will not allow for that in that time. At the end of the Millennium Satan will be loosed for a short season and he will amass all the rebels of that time and they will wage a war with Jesus Christ. It will not be much of a war because the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy them quickly. His house cleaning will be much more thorough and much swifter than what Israel is trying to accomplish now in Gaza.
Zechariah reminded these people that the day was coming when the people present in Jerusalem will be His people. They will acknowledge Him as their God.
This will obviously be at the beginning of the Millennium. We can see that because He declares that the people will be His people. They will all be saved people, whether Jew or Gentile, and they will appreciate the true God who will rule with truth and righteousness. The context of our passage describes a time when the people will know God and will appreciate being under His leadership and care. This will be the condition at the beginning of the Millennium.
This delegation from Babylon needed to understand why they had missed out on the blessings of the LORD. The problem was with their hearts. They had developed a false religion and had rejected the truth. They needed to turn back to the truth. The blessing of the LORD is for those who will humbly submit to Him. Protesting against the LORD is never a wise thing to do. His desire is to bless man. He will bless those who submit to Him.
Pastor Bartel