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Zechariah 8 is a continuation of the prophet’s response to the Bethel delegation’s question about fast days. Their inquiry had provoked a somewhat testy sermon from Zechariah, which danced around the question, rather than answering it directly. He warned the people about the consequences of straying from God, as their ancestors had done, and about the pitfalls of hypocrisy and empty religion.
Good news
After his warnings, the prophet changed his tone from rebuke to reassurance. He encouraged the people to obey and experience the fullness of their inheritance, but he reminded them that the blessings were contingent on their ability to “love truth and peace” (8:19).
The prophet Zechariah spent a good deal of his ministry trying to allay the insecurities of the returnees, calling them to look past the difficulties of their present and focus on the promise of their future. After decades in captivity, the community was anxious that Yahweh had transferred his favor to another nation, especially since the surrounding regions were experiencing a period of peace.
Zechariah 8 begins with the prophet reminding his audience that Yahweh was “zealous for Zion” (8:1). The Hebrew word qanah is translated as either jealous or zealous. In English, jealous has a negative connotation of uncontrolled anger, while zealous is positive. The NRSV prefers zealous while the NIV uses jealous. However, zealous is almost too positive, because in the next line, when Yahweh reiterates the extent of his passion, he declares: “I am zealous for her with great wrath” (8:2). God’s loyalty to Judah would be at the expense of her enemies. In the past, when his people had gone after other gods, Yahweh’s jealousy had provoked his discipline of the people. He did not desire to repeat the consequences of the previous generation. He was making a fresh start with the remnant by declaring his allegiance and defending his people.
Zechariah 8:2-8 can be read as one unit; the verses are joined in theme and literary style. The phrase “Thus, has said Yahweh of hosts” signals the beginning of five prophetic declarations, in succession. Each declaration is an idyllic description of either Yahweh’s return to Jerusalem, or of the remnant’s return. God promised, “I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain” (8:3).
So transformative would be the abiding presence of God that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount would receive alternative names. Jerusalem was the “faithful city.” Yahweh’s presence would radiate holiness throughout the city, giving the Temple Mount the epithet “holy mountain.”
Before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Judeans had assumed Yahweh would never leave his Holy Temple. The Judeans believed that their city would be protected if God’s presence remained in his temple. The prophet Jeremiah had told the people that they were deluding themselves (Jer. 7:4). He warned them over and over that God’s presence was contingent on their faithfulness. He informed them that unless they amended their ways and repented of their wickedness, Yahweh would abandon the temple. That is exactly what happened. In a vision before the Babylonian attack, Ezekiel had witnessed Yahweh’s glory depart from between the cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant and exit through Jerusalem’s city gate (Ezek. 10).
Zechariah’s contemporaries questioned the covenant’s significance in the absence of a temple, and they wondered whether God would manifest his presence in their ruined city. They questioned whether God had abandoned them, likening their exile to his judgment on the Kingdom of Israel. Yet, Zechariah’s divine oracle was good news. The crisis of Yahweh’s departure was soon to be resolved.
Zechariah prophesied that news of Yahweh’s return to the “holy mountain” would prompt the exiles to return, as well. Yahweh promised, “I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem” (8:7). Yahweh’s return only made sense if the people returned and restored the covenant relationship. The preexilic prophets had predicted that a portion of the exiles would return. Micah had predicted a day when Jacob and Israel would gather “like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture” (Micah 2:12). Even the psalmist expected the return of all the scattered peoples from every cardinal direction (Ps. 107:3).
Zechariah uttered, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets” (8:4). The blissful image of children playing and older adults sitting in peace conveys a society free from fear and suffering. Zechariah used the verb, sahaq, which appears at other points in the scripture to describe dancing, laughing, or playing (Jer. 31:4).
Children and the elderly represented the longevity of generations, something the restored community was lacking. Most likely, many returnees from Babylon were middle-aged. The long journey had been too difficult for those who were too old or too young.
According to the archaeological record, the population of Judah during Zechariah’s day was paltry, hovering around 20,000. The community was anxious about population growth, given that their number was only a third of Judah’s population before the exile. The returnees recognized the importance of having different generations in the population.
Zechariah’s idyllic images of Jerusalem seem detached from Judah’s dystopian reality. For this reason, a rhetorical question interrupts the oracle to emphasize the sovereignty of God: “Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me?” (8:6). Something supernatural was going to happen, initiated by the divine.
The second section begins with the repeated signal “thus says the Lord of hosts.” The exhortation “let your hands be strong” brackets the mini-sermon at the beginning and the end (8:9,13).
Looking back to the early waves of returnees, Zechariah acknowledged the period of lack that the people suffered before they had resumed the temple’s construction. In Haggai’s account of those days, a broken economic system had led to unchecked inflation (Hag. 1:6). Zechariah described a time when there were “no wages for people or for animals” (8:10). Most Bible commentaries assume the people suffered from unemployment, but the dysfunctional economy portrayed in Haggai could also mean the people were working without pay. No wages for the animals likely meant there was no money even to pay for the use of animals on the farms.
Throughout Zechariah’s account, he stresses Yahweh’s immanence—his presence among his people. Yahweh was behind all the challenges they encountered on their return, including the constant harassment of their neighbors (Ezra 4-6). The people were not able to move about the land safely (8:10), and limited resources aggravated the situation further, leaving them to turn on one another out of competition (8:10).
Yahweh promised a reversal of fortune. The hardships of the first years would fade. He was behind the obstacles the returnees faced, but he would also be responsible for their coming blessings. The tough times would give way to good times. Zechariah spoke in agricultural metaphors: “The vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give its produce, and the skies shall give their dew” (8:12).
Throughout the Hebrew scripture, vines and seeds were associated with peace and provision, newfound prosperity, and security. The land’s abundance was a direct reversal from Zechariah’s earlier description of the land’s desolation (7:14).
In the past, Yahweh had “purposed to bring disaster” on the earlier generation because they had provoked his wrath with their disobedience (8:14). For the current generation, God desired to bring them blessing. The text states that God had “purposed” to “do good to Jerusalem” (8:15). Each section of Zechariah’s sermons repeats the theme of God turning negatives into positives.
For the community to realize its potential, they had to recommit themselves to their covenantal responsibilities. Zechariah listed the contingencies: “Speak truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath” (8:16-17). Apparently, the same problems with injustice that had plagued the preexilic generation were continuing with the returnees. Idolatry was no longer a concern in the postexilic community, but they were still struggling with moral and ethical sins. The people had to stop lying and mistreating one another. They had to prioritize obedience and characterize their society with truth, justice, and compassion.
The former generation had failed, but the returnees had changed their trajectory. Three times in the chapter, Zechariah referred to his audience as the “remnant,” affirming that they were the remnant foretold by the earlier prophets that would survive exile and rebuild the nation (8:6,11,12).
Zechariah finally circled back to the original question about fasting (8:18). Apparently, the Bethel delegation was still present in Zechariah’s audience, waiting for an answer. In their question, they had inquired about two fasts in the fifth and seventh months (7:5). In his answer, Zechariah added two additional fast days in the fourth and tenth months.
No divine mandate existed for the fast days, except for the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29). The exiles in Babylon had established these four fasts to memorialize every dramatic moment from the first siege to the destruction of Jerusalem. Yahweh declared that in the restored community, he would transform the fast days to “seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah” (8:19). He was not explicitly canceling the fast days but changing their mood from lament to celebration. In a righteous society with a rebuilt temple, the past trauma would fade in the light of the renewed covenant. They would understand the experience of the exile as the trial that turned their hearts back to God.
Light to the world
Yahweh’s people knew their troubled history didn’t make them appear to be chosen, from the perspective of their neighbors. Losing their temple and going into exile caused them to seem cursed in the eyes of the nations, but they were soon to become a blessing (8:13).
Zechariah 8 ends with a universal message. While Haggai had focused on renewing the work on the temple, Zechariah was exhorting them to work on the moral and ethical fabric of their society. Their accomplishment of rebuilding the temple and elevating their covenant had global significance. When the people responded obediently to God’s call and walked in his ways, it would change the world. The goodness and justice of the community would radiate outward to the nations.
Zechariah echoed earlier prophets who had described the nations excitedly flocking to Jerusalem (Micah 4:1-4; Isa. 2:3, 45:14). Haggai envisioned the nations bringing offerings to the temple (Hag. 2:6-7). In Zechariah, a great multitude of foreigners from “strong nations” would encourage one another to join them in their pilgrimage and pay homage to the God of Judah (8:22). Zechariah foretold, “In those days ten men from nations of every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (8:23). Nations would recognize the oneness of God and journey to Jerusalem, the place of his revelation. They would recognize and uphold the people whom Yahweh had chosen. What a beautiful image, especially for a community who suffered from self-doubt.
In Zechariah’s universal recognition of Yahweh’s sovereignty, he was glimpsing the coming kingdom. Sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint the fulfillment of prophecies. However, as Christians, we can read ourselves into these broader worldwide visions, and I believe rightly so.
Sometimes it’s hard to uncover the full meanings of Zechariah’s visions because of the layers of historical cultural details. However, the implications of Zechariah’s vision of Gentiles passionately clinging to the hem of the robes of Jews extends out past Zechariah’s own time and place, and into ours.
Dual nature of the Bible
Earlier, I presented the importance of the minute details in the historical narrative: the timing of the prophecy, the historic enmity of Bethel and Jerusalem, and the continuation of Babylonian influence on the remnant. The passages about the Bethel delegation are classic examples of the importance of studying the historical and cultural background of the prophets. The same can be said of the entire Bible. Zechariah and other biblical writers were ministering to a specific group at a specific time and place. They packaged their message to suit the language, commands, and stories of that period, but the Bible has a dual nature: it points to both the immediate situation and an overarching set of principles that can be applied in our modern contexts.
Some Christian teachers caution against interpreting the Bible. Instead, they promote reading the Bible’s “plain meaning.” However, believers can become discouraged by this advice when the meaning is not at all plain to them. Those who cannot reconstruct the nuances of Zechariah’s visions or find any significant application in the text may feel boxed out of the more symbolic passages of the Bible. Sometimes it requires deep study to fully understand the cultural, geographical, literary, historical, and political nuances of the Bible.
The goal of Bible Fiber is for readers to become more adept at studying the Minor Prophets in their original context. The prophets were not trying to hide the bigger message but discerning that message may require extra reading. It may call for Hebrew word study or time combing through commentaries, but with a little background study, anyone can become a Biblical historian.