Zechariah 8
Promised Blessings for Israel
Zechariah goes on to outline the blessings that will come to Jerusalem when God dwells there. God’s love for Jerusalem was the reason why he punished it so severely. With corresponding zeal he will restore it to a favored place according to his covenant promises. - Don Fleming
In the preceding section [7], Israel was to repent and live righteously after the punishment of her captivity; here [8], she is to repent and live righteously because of the promise of her future restoration. - Barker
I Will Return to Zion
Vs. 3 - The Lord says this: “I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.”
The restoration from exile in Zechariah’s day was only a precursor of greater future blessing and prosperity. - Thomas Constable
The fulfillment of God’s promise to dwell with His people has looked different across time. From the garden to the tabernacle, from the temple to the Messiah and His promised Holy Spirit, God has always expressed desire to be close to His creation. And through His prophet, He reminded His people that this desire had been waned by time or diminished by disobedience.
Vs. 6 - The Lord of Armies says this: “Though it may seem impossible to the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible to me?”
Rebuilding the temple and the holy city must have seemed like an impossible task to the small, discouraged remnant.
The promise of a transformed, prosperous, safe Jerusalem seemed a little too fantastic to believe when the city was half-built, and the walls wouldn’t be completed for another 60 years. Just because it seemed too big in the eyes of man, it was not too marvelous for the LORD. - David Guzik
I Will Save My People
Vs. 7-8 - The Lord of Armies says this: “I will save my people from the land of the east and the land of the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”
These promises included a measure of security and longevity that many of these Jews had not previously known or thought possible.
Vs. 4 - Old men and women will again sit along the streets
Vs. 5 - The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls
Vs. 8 - I will bring them back
Vs. 12 - they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit
Vs. 13 - you will be a blessing
Through Zechariah, the Lord of Hosts gave His people hope that He still wanted to protect them, to preserve them, and to bless them with peace and prosperity.
These Are The Things You Must Do
Vs. 16 - Speak truth to one another
Vs. 16 - make true and sound decisions
Vs. 17 - Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor
Vs. 17 - do not love perjury
Again, what God had always asked of His people was that they respond to His great mercy by showing mercy to one another, that they would learn His character and seek to emulate it. Vertical relationship with God was meant to shape horizontal relationships with His people.
The Fasts Will Become Feasts
Vs. 19 - The Lord of Armies says this: “The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah.
Here, God finally answered the question posed at the beginning of chapter 7: “Should we continue to fast?” Because God had kept His promise to forgive and to deliver His people from exile, their fasts should turn to feasts, their weeping to worship, and their grief to gratitude for God’s faithfulness to rescue.
In view of all that God will do, the people should not waste time mourning over calamities of the past. Instead they should look confidently to the future and turn their fasts of mourning into feasts of joy. - Don Fleming
None of these things had been in the purpose of God for His people; they had resulted from their sins. The fasts therefore were the result of their sins. In jealousy and fury, the outcome of love, Jehovah would put away their sins, and so restore them to true prosperity. In that day, let them still remember and observe, only let the observance be a feast in celebration of God’s grace, instead of a fast in memory of their sin. - G. Campbell Morgan
Many Nations Will Come
Vs. 23 - The Lord of Armies says this: “In those days, ten men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
In “those days,” a coming time of blessing for Israel, God’s people will finally fulfill their priestly purpose as a “light” to the world, revealing God’s greatness to the nations.
Full Scope
These glorious eschatological promises illuminating the future of the Jews and setting before them their future national hope also came as an illustration to them of the blessing God had in store for them at that time. To describe this, the prophet uses the expression “in these days.” But the benefits that were immediate did not exhaust the full scope of these sweeping prophetic previews. - Unger
