Zechariah Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – We cannot leave the picture so gloomy for Israel. Ch.9:12 still applies. READ this. “THE Hope”. This is still the Word of the Lord of Hosts to the enquirers from the town of Bethel, ch.7:2. Certainly they were to correct their behaviour of ch.7:10-11 by responding to the appeal of the Lord again in ch.8:14-17.

In ch.8:1-2 we see the Lord’s great love and private jealousy, guarding Jerusalem for Himself, (ch.1:14). Heb: ‘Hemah gedolah’ – ‘great heat of anger, stirred up to fury’, against the nations who helped forward God’s affliction of His people, as if to say ‘how dare you interfere with what I am doing and planning for my people’. God’s disciplinary affliction was intended to be corrective, not punitive as was the nations’ treatment of the Jewish people. The Lord is hot with fury towards those nations who took advantage of the situation and interfered with God’s dealings with His own people – ANTISEMITISM.

Note the number of times, (14 in all in ch.8), where we read “Thus says the Lord of Hosts – verses 1,2,3,4,6 (twice), 7,9,11,14,18,19,20,23.