Zechariah 8:9 - Meaning and Application

God, speaking through the prophet, gives more promises of mercy for Judah and Jerusalem. This is comfort added line by line, just as there had been earlier rebukes line by line for their sin. These words were meant to strengthen them in the hard work they were facing.

These promises were for those who had obeyed God’s call through his prophets and had set themselves to rebuild the temple in earnest (Zechariah 8:9). God says, in effect, “Let your hands be strong,” meaning, keep working faithfully for him. Those who heard these words and did not rebel like their fathers had every reason to take heart.

The people were told these promises when the foundation of the Lord’s house was laid. They had already begun the work, and they were told to keep going until the temple was finished. Since they had labored for some time in obedience to God’s vision, they were the ones who needed these words of encouragement.

The same is true for us: those who are busy serving God may expect help from him. Those who put their hands to the duty God has given them will find their hands strengthened by his promises of mercy. And those who avoid their fathers’ sins not only escape the old curse, but may find that curse turned into a blessing.

The prophet then reminds them of the troubles they had carried for so long (Zechariah 8:10). These hardships are mentioned so that the new blessings would shine all the brighter, to God’s glory and their comfort. Their times had been very bad, and the troubles were many and heavy.

First, trade had collapsed. There was no work to be done and nothing to be earned. Before this season of reform, there was no wage for people or for animals. The land produced so little that farmers had little reason to hire workers or teams of animals, and the poor could barely support their families.

Second, travel was dangerous. Trade by land and sea had broken down, and people were afraid even to visit friends. There was no peace for anyone going out or coming in, because of the suffering around them. Their enemies, such as the Samaritans and Ammonites, made small raids on them, and thieves and housebreakers made both town and country unsafe.

Third, there was no true peace between neighbors. God says, “I set all people against their neighbor.” This came partly from sin, because such fighting grew out of human selfish desires, and God was not the author of that evil. Yet it was also misery sent as a just judgment for their disobedience. Since they had shown a stubborn spirit toward God, he gave them over to division among themselves. Those who give up loving God lose the comfort of loving one another.

Now God promises a change in his dealings with them (Zechariah 8:11). “I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days.” Our well-being depends on how God deals with us, because every creature is what he makes it to be. If we no longer act against him as before, he will no longer act against us as before. He opposes only the stubborn and rebellious.

They will also have great plenty and abundance of good things (Zechariah 8:12). The seed they sow will thrive and bring a rich harvest. The vine will yield its fruit to make the heart glad, and the ground will produce its crops to strengthen the heart. They will have enough for both need and delight. Even the dew from heaven will come down, showing God’s care for people on earth and their dependence on him.

A heavy rain can wash away food, as Proverbs 28:3 says, but here gentle dew waters the earth so it can feed both the sower and the eater. God will cause the remnant of his people to enjoy all these good things. They are only a remnant, a very small group, yet because they are working for him, he will see that they lack nothing that is right for them.

This agrees with what the prophet Haggai had said earlier, “From this day on I will bless you” (Haggai 2:16, Haggai 2:19). God’s faithful people have rich possessions in him. “All things are yours, for you belong to Christ.”

They will also recover their good name among the nations (Zechariah 8:13). They had been a curse among the heathen, meaning people spoke of them with contempt, blamed them, and wished evil on them because of their shameful condition. Some even used them as a curse word, as when a person meant to speak the harshest curse.

But God says, “I will save you, and you will be a blessing.” Their restoration will be just as widely noticed to their honor as their ruin and scattering had been to their shame. They will be praised and admired as much as they were once mocked and rejected. Most people either smile on their neighbors or turn away from them, depending on whether Providence seems to smile on them. But when God plainly blesses people as his own, shows them favor, and puts honor on them, we should also respect them and treat them kindly. The blessed of the Lord are a blessing to the land, and we should count them so.

This promise is given to both the house of Israel and the house of Judah, because many of the ten tribes returned from captivity with the two tribes and shared in the blessings. It is likely that, after the first group returned, many more joined them later when they saw how their situation was changing.

God himself decides to do them good, as in Zechariah 8:14-15. All their comfort begins with the thought of God’s love for them (Jeremiah 29:11). Compare these promises with the earlier warnings. When they stirred up his anger by their sins, he said he would punish them, and he did. That was his fixed purpose: to bring judgment on them, and since they did not turn from rebellion, he did not turn from the threat, but let the law’s sentence run its course.

God’s judgment on sinners is never a sudden or careless decision. It is always the result of wise counsel, and there is a purpose in that part of his will. If the sinner will not turn, God will not turn. But now they have pleased him with their service, so he says he will do them good. Will he not be as faithful to his promises as he was to his warnings? Certainly he will. He says, in effect, “I have now thought again to do good to Jerusalem in these days, when you begin to listen to the voice of God speaking through his prophets, and these thoughts will also be carried out.”

The practical use of these promises is clear. First, they are meant to comfort God’s people. “Do not fear” (Zechariah 8:15), and “let your hands be strong” (Zechariah 8:9), and both together, “Do not fear, but let your hands be strong” (Zechariah 8:13). The hard work before them must not drive them away from their duty or make them work with a heavy heart, because the outcome will be good and the reward great. This should stir them to keep going with strength and gladness. The dangers from their enemies should also not frighten them, because those who have God on their side, with his promise to do them good, do not need to fear what people can do against them.

Second, these promises call them to duty, as in Zechariah 8:16-17. The same duties that the earlier prophets pressed on their fathers when warning of coming wrath, this prophet now presses on them from the promise of mercy (Zechariah 7:9-10). In effect, he says, “Leave it to God to fulfill what he has promised, in his own way and at his own time, but only if you carefully do your part. These are the things you must do. This is your part of the covenant, the binding agreement between God and his people. These are the things you must keep, so that you do not block God’s favor from reaching you.”

They must never tell lies, but always speak honestly, both in business and in everyday conversation. “Speak the truth to one another” means that every person should say what is true to the best of his knowledge. They should fear every word that even looks like a lie. The apostle Paul quotes this command in (Ephesians 4:25), and supports it by saying that we are members of one another.

Those who handle public justice must make sure that no one is treated unfairly, and that those who have been wronged are set right. “Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates” means that the judges sitting at the city gates should carry out every case with truth and with peace in view. They must do justice, settle disputes where they can, and prevent needless lawsuits. Their judgment must be truthful in order to make peace, making friends where there has been conflict, but it must also be peaceable only as far as truth allows.

No one must keep hatred in his heart against his neighbor. This repeats what was said in Zechariah 7:10. We must not only keep our hands from doing evil, but also watch our hearts so they do not plan harm against our neighbor (Proverbs 3:29). Injury and evil should be crushed at the start, before they grow.

Great respect must be given to oaths, and people must be careful with them. They must never swear falsely, and they must not even love a false oath. That is, they should hate it, fear it, and stay far from it. They should not enjoy putting others under oath in a way that might lead them to swear falsely. They should not want anyone to swear falsely for their own benefit, or to break faith in order to do them a favor. A strong reason is given for all these commands: “These are things I hate.” Therefore, if they want God as their friend, they must hate these things too. These sins are among the seven things the Lord hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).

We should avoid sin not only because God is angry at it and it is dangerous for us, but also because he hates it. Because he hates it, it is shameful for us, and deeply ungrateful.