This morning, we return once again to our study of Zechariah, and in a few minutes, I'm going to take you to Zechariah eight, under the heading "Israel's Restoration to Joy, Blessing and Honor." But before we go there, I thought I would address something that came up in the last several days from an individual, a friend, not someone here, but it's one that may be a question that came up that maybe you've been wondering yourself. And the question was this, "Pastor, why is it that you think all of these prophecies in the Old Testament apply to Israel and not the church. I've been told that the church has permanently replaced Israel, but you are teaching that God still has a plan and a purpose for Israel. You know? Why is that?" Well, it's true. There are differing views on this, depending upon your hermeneutic. And the reason why I believe that what God says about Israel is for Israel is because he said that's what it's for, and because I interpret the Scripture with what's called a literal principle; I believe that the Bible should be understood in its literal, natural, normal sense. There are real people, there are real history. Soyou look at the words that are there with the normal understanding and the normal meaning of language. There are no allegories in the Bible. There are no hidden meanings that we need to look for; and it's very dangerous, I believe, to spiritualize Bible passages to make them say something different than what they appear to be saying. And while the Bible does contain figures of speech, it contains many symbols, they are always intended to convey literal truth.

And so when we look at the scriptures, we look at the historical context. We look at the authorial intent. What was the author saying to those people in that day? We look at the grammatical structure, each sentence in the original languages. That's what I do during the week before I get up here to tell you what I believe God is saying in his Word. We look for what is called a synthetic principle, one that basically understands that scripture will interpret itself, it will never contradict itself. And we look for clarity because God intended for us to understand Scripture. It has to do with what's sometimes called the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture. It's not some strange, ethereal, mystical book, and when we come to a passage of scripture that's not very clear, we go to other passages that are very clear to help interpret that passage that's not as clear. Is that clear? And when we apply these principles of hermeneutics - hermeneutics being the science and the art of biblical interpretation - when we apply this to Scripture, especially, I should say, including the prophetic Scriptures, we come up with what is called premillennial dispensationalism.

Sometimes you've heard that dispensationalists are heretics. I've heard that quite a bit. So I would be a heretic, in the eyes of some. But to be a premillennialist simply means that Christ is going to come before the millennial kingdom and establish it. And dispensationalism is simply a theological system that sees God interacting with humanity in different ways over the course of history. And certainly there are differing groups in the dispensational camp. There's the classical dispensationalist, the traditional dispensationalists, the modified, the revised, the progressive dispensationalist; and as a system, which, by the way, varies a lot among its adherents. The various dispensations that are typically asserted by different theologians cannot be derived through a literal, grammatical, historical hermeneutic. Instead, these things are implied, therefore you can't be absolutely dogmatic about the various divisions, and I might say that the same applies to the theological covenants of Covenant Theology. For example, the covenant of grace is nowhere to be found in Scripture. It's just implied. But now among dispensationalists, there are certain core beliefs that we have in common, especially the salvation and the restoration of ethnic national Israel.

Dispensationalism, I believe, helps us grasp the big narrative of Scripture, and as a result, we see that the kingdom of God, not the redemption of man, but the kingdom of God, is the primary theme of the Bible. The redemption of man is what God uses to make us fit to enter into the Kingdom. In fact, a kingdom reign over creation by God's image bearers is actually mandated in Genesis, chapter one. Moreover, a kingdom reign over creation by saved and restored image bearers is found in Revelation chapter 20 through 22. Think about this for a moment, in Genesis one, verse 26 and verse 28 man is called to quote, "rule" and quote, "subdue the earth and all that is in it." Likewise in the final verse describing the eternal kingdom, the saints of God, quote, "will reign forever and ever" over a new earth, Revelation 22 and verse five. So what we see through the eyes of a dispensational system is that God is pursuing a multi-ethnic, a multi-national, earthly kingdom characterized by righteousness and justice. So indeed, Genesis 1:26, and 28 is foundational to dispensational theology.

To put it a little bit differently, you will recall that Adam was to be the representative of mankind. He was to fill and rule and subdue the earth as God's mediator. It's what we would call a kingdom mandate, and Adam failed in that kingdom task. But we know that Jesus, the last Adam, will succeed over reign. He will succeed from what Adam did, and ultimately reign over the earth in a way that Adam failed. And this will happen, of course, when he returns and he rules the earth and the nations from Jerusalem, as we see, for example, in Zechariah, 14, nine and Revelation, 20 and verse four. And the key to understanding the storyline of the Bible, from my perspective as a dispensationalist, is to understand and affirm the six explicitly mentioned covenants in the Bible: the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Priestly Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenants. We must begin there, and we must end there. And these provide the framework for the biblical storyline; the theological skeleton, if you will, upon which the biblical narrative must be attached.

Now on a separate but overlapping note, by way of the question from my friend, some believe that Old Testament prophecy is not future, but there is a deeper meaning that we need to discover. And many assert that Old Testament prophecy symbolizes something that has happened historically, or something that is happening now, spiritually, in the church; that progressive revelation from the New Testament nullifies or reinterprets or transfers Old Testament passages in ways that cancels out the original authorial intent of the Old Testament writers. I do not agree with that hermeneutic; but many believe, therefore, that national Israel is a type that is superseded by a greater antitype, namely the church, and that the church has permanently replaced Israel; that the new, which is the new and the true Israel; and therefore ethnic, national territorial Israel is all observed in the universal Christian church and has no national identity. So therefore, many would believe that we're living in a kingdom now. Spiritually, there's not going to be a literal earthly kingdom, and all the blessings promised to Israel are really going to go to the church. But a literal, grammatical, historical hermeneutic would argue against such a position, as you have seen in our study of Zechariah, as well as every other time I preach to you from the prophetic literature.

Thus we come to the topic today, and that is Israel's restoration to joy, blessing and honor. Now, having bored some of you completely out of your mind with all of that theology, I must add that our study in Old Testament, prophetic books, including the one that we have before us, is extremely important and also very practical. You must remember, as Paul told Timothy in Second Timothy three and verse 16, that, "all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." And even in our text today, I want you to realize some very practical things that we're going to see that can penetrate into the life of each one of us. Here we are going to be warned about the offensive practice of religious externalism, of empty ritualism. We will see, once again, the horrific consequences of sin, what happens to people and to nations when they disregard the word and the will of God. We are going to see God exposing specific sins that we all have in common, but ones that we tend to ignore, or ones that we tend to justify, we will see how an understanding and an appreciation of the promises that God has given us, promises of blessing, are currently being realized in part, right now, at some level, but will one day be realized in full; and finally, we will see that God is faithful to his covenants, and therefore he is not finished with his beloved enemy, Israel. May I remind you that Zechariah's very name means "Yahweh remembers," and this is the dominating theme in the book of Zechariah - Yahweh remembers and keeps his covenants.

And this text will also help us understand, and this is very important -  very timely for our day - t will help us understand the perennial hatred of Jewish people worldwide. Don't we all notice the rise in the pro Hamas sympathizers in our country, and just this week, two Israeli embassy aides were fatally shot outside a Jewish Museum in Washington, DC by a leftist lunatic shouting, quote, "Free, free, Palestine," as he was being taken away into custody; and hundreds of 1000s of equally depraved and deceived and demented leftists protest on our college campuses and in cities around the world, and some of them are even in the halls of Congress. Unimaginable.

And remember, God predicted this kind of intransigent anti semitism that has dominated history. When he cursed Satan in the garden after Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin, remember, in Genesis 315, we read this, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel." Dear friends, you cannot understand the problem of anti semitism unless you understand this passage. Moreover, you will not understand the anti-Christian sentiment that has always existed since the days of Christ. To be sure, Satan hates the Jewish people because they are God's chosen people, and God has ordained to allow Satan and his minions, both human and demonic, to persecute them as part of his judgment against them for their apostasy. And God made it abundantly clear, for example, in Deuteronomy 28 that he would bless them for their obedience to the Law and curse them for their disobedience in Deuteronomy 29. And then in Deuteronomy 30 he also promised to save and to restore Israel. And there are numerous other prophecies that speak the same. But this will happen when the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes to judge the nations and establish His kingdom.

But again, I would humbly, but firmly, say that God has not permanently disenfranchised his covenant people Israel. Remember what Paul said in Romans nine, beginning in verse three, he spoke of, quote,

"...my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites,

"to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,  

"whose are the fathers and from whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is overall, God blessed forever. Amen."

Romans 11, verse two,

"God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew." And in verse eight, "'GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.'

- referring to God's judgment upon them. And in verse 25 and following, we read,

"For I do not want you, brethren," referring to Gentile believers, "to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved..." all Israel, not the church, which would make no sense.

"Just as it is written,

"'THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION. HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.'

"From the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, Gentiles, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;

"for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."

Again, beloved, this is why Satan hates Israel, because they remain at the very heart of God's kingdom promises, and the world hates them because they are blinded by Satan. They don't understand the truths of Scripture. They serve their father, the devil, as Jesus says. And what we are seeing in Israel today is the result of a battle between two opposing kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan; combined with God's judgment upon his chosen people for their disobedience.

But in our text this morning, God reminds the post-exilic remnant of his promise to restore ethnic, national Israel to joy, blessing and honor. And with that, let me read the text to you, beginning in verse 18 of Zechariah, eight,

"Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

"'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months shall become joy, gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace,"

"'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.

"'"The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, 'Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.'

"'"So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD."

"'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "In those days, 10 men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"'"

I have divided this portion of Scripture into three sections that I trust will be helpful to you. We are going to see a promise of millennial joy, a promise of global worship, and finally, a promise of Israeli honor. Now notice more closely the text, verse 18, "The word of the LORD of hosts came to me saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts,'"  And then he mentions the "'fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the seventh, the 10th months will become joy, gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love, truth and peace.'" Now, we must remember here, in order to understand this passage, the initial inquiry that was brought forth by the delegation that was sent from Bethel. You will recall in chapter seven, two years had elapsed from the apocalyptic night visions that were given to Zechariah; and much of the wall of Jerusalem was still rubble, along with many sections of the city;  but private homes were beginning to spring up, and the temple was about half built, they could begin to see the edifice take shape, and given the emerging signs of prosperity, the people began to ask if this season of mourning that we have arranged, if, maybe that is now over, maybe we don't need to keep doing this. So you will recall the people in Bethel sent a delegation to inquire of the priests and the prophets of Jerusalem for an answer, Zechariah seven, and verse three, it says, "Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?" And he also mentions a fast in the seventh month in verse five. And you will recall that at that point, God confronts them over their external, superficial fasts of mourning that they thought was going to impress him.

Now, when we come to our context here in chapter eight, verse 18 and following, the Lord is returning to that original inquiry once again, and he's going to list a few more fasts that they had conjured up. And again, he knows in his mind, in his omniscience, that they were merely seeking his blessing; they were not seeking him. They were not seeking him in humble worship, adoration, love, longing for fellowship. And so he mentions these, actually fourdifferent months of fasting. Let me tell you what they stood for. The fourth month mourned the opening of the city of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar. The famine was so great, it was killing the inhabitants, so they let, let the Babylonians in. The fifth month commemorated the fall of Jerusalem; in Second Corinthians...I mean Second Kings, chapter 25. The seventh fast that they commemorated, mourned the assassination of Gedaliah by Ishmael, kind of a obscure story. He wanted to be king; Second Kings 25 speaks of this. Gedaliah was appointed governor two years after the fall of Jerusalem, and he promised the people safety if they remained loyal to Babylon to the Babylonians. And he was murdered. So they're mourning him on the seventh fast; and the 10th fast marked the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Nebuchadnezzar's ninth year again, Second Kings, 25. So all of these fasts commemorated horrific, terrifying events that produced unimaginable suffering and death and destruction and mourning. But again, God knew their hearts, and he could see that they were observing these fasts out of kind of a self-centered sorrow, hoping that God would somehow see them and be impressed with their, frankly, manipulative efforts; notwithstanding their impure motives and their superficiality, God promised them a future day when their fasts of mourning would become feasts of merriment.

And this brings us to our first point of what God has said here through the prophet, a promise of millennial joy. Verse 19, "'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, the fast of the 10th months will become joy, gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah."'" This, of course, as we read all of the prophecies together, we see this is pointing to the day of his millennial reign. In fact, God repeats this promise through his servant Isaiah in chapter 61 beginning in verse two, he's speaking about how the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. This is the Lord speaking,

"'To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD that He may be glorified.'"

Isaiah 65:19

"'I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying.'"

So indeed the great promise given through Zechariah of "joy, gladness and cheerful feasts in the house of Judah" is going to be realized in its fullness in the future kingdom of Messiah, as I say, when fasts of mourning become feasts of merriment. That's why he says in verse 19 "...so love, truth and peace." Love, truth and peace. In the Hebrew, it says, "but truth and peace, love," but truth and peace, love,"...there's no comma in the Hebrew, but that's how we would interpret it in English. The Hebrew word order emphasizes the word "truth" because it is therefore the object of love, because it's placed first in the sentence. And indeed, peace, and you stop and think about it, peace cannot exist apart from a love for the truth, right?

You will recall earlier in chapter eight that people were confronted because of their falsehood, because of their hypocrisy in their heart. In verse 16, it says, "'"These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate," declares the LORD.'" So here in verse 19, he returns to this subject. And again, the context here is, is people, I'm tired of your superficial legalism, no more external religiosity, no more phony, self -entered fasting to entice my favor. Hate falsehood in your heart as I do; I hate those things and celebrate my goodness and grace on your behalf with obedience from the heart; respond to my promises of ultimate future blessing with a sincere, heartfelt sense of worship and praise, trust in my goodness and grace to bring you blessing, not in your manipulative fasts and rituals.

So he says, "love truth." Let me pause here for a moment. This is so important for us to to look at in terms of our own lives. I must ask you, do you love truth? Can you honestly say that is that one of your most cherished virtues that you love the truth? Said differently, do you seek and obey the truth of God as he has revealed it in his word? Do you love to proclaim it? Do you hate duplicity and hypocrisy in your heart more than you hate it in others? Do you love truth? Beloved, be brutally honest here. Do you love honesty and integrity in your heart? Do you love the transforming, saving truths of the Bible? Do you love the incarnation of truth and the person in the work of Christ, is he your greatest joy, your greatest delight? In John 1:14 we read that "The Word," referring to Christ "...became flesh and dwelt among us." And we saw his glory, "glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace, and," what? "...truth." Do you love him? John 14, verse six, "'I am the Way,"...Jesus said, "...the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, but through Me.'"

Dear friends, those of you who profess Christ, and I hope your profession is real, I want to say this to you in all love and sincerity, because I care for your well-being - if you have no appetite for the word of God, if it's kind of a duty for you to open up the word and read it, study it and meditate upon it; if you have no real desire to hear from God or even to obey him, to worship him - in reality, you have no real love for Christ, no matter what you say or what you do externally, your religion is all sizzle and no steak. Your religion is superficial, a mere cloak of hypocrisy, frankly, no different than the ancient Jews that were trying to impress God with their fastings and their rituals. And without a love for the truth, dear friend, you will have no real, lasting, unassailable peace, tranquility in your life, in your heart; serenity. And your indifference and lack of love for the truth is why you've got so much conflict in your heart right now.

If you have turmoil and unrest and just lots of noise and irritation and bitterness, there's something wrong with your love for the truth, because only a love for the truth will produce genuine peace. I counsel people all the time whose lives are a disaster, and after I hear the presenting problem and listen to the travelog of horrors. It's like soap operas on steroids. A lot of times I'll say something like this, "Let's set all this aside a little bit, let's talk for a moment about your relationship with Christ. What is that like? Can you let me into your heart a little bit? What is the passion of your heart when it comes to who the Lord Jesus is? Do you love the truth of his word? If so, how does that manifest itself?" And you know where I'm going with this, typically, where this will end up is kind of a blank stare. No wonder they have no peace in their life. They're being ruled by the flesh, not by the Spirit. You see, the truth will give you peace. And it's interesting that in Scripture, truth is also... and peace is also associated with freedom. For example, in the first century, many of the Jews, most all of the Jews, rejected Christ, and then some of them later realized the truth of who he was. They realized they had believed a lie, and by God's grace, they repented, and they believed in Christ, especially after his death and ascension. And so in John 8:31, Jesus says this to them, "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth,'"  referring to Jesus, "'and the truth will make you free.'" You see, truth sets people free from the bondage of satanic falsehood. It sets people free from the penalty of sin. It sets people from the power of life-dominating, life-destroying sin that most of the time we rationalize and justify. In fact, Paul said in Romans six, verse 18, "...having been freed from sin, you become slaves of righteousness." Isn't that a glorious truth? You see when we are morally and spiritually committed to the truth and therefore genuinely united to Christ in saving faith, we are united to the one who is "full of grace and truth," John 1:14. And we enjoy true freedom, and all of the blessings associated with our liberty in Christ.

By the way, if I've described you and you feel conviction, know this, oh, there is forgiveness, right? There is grace. Won't you repent? Won't you get serious about your relationship with Christ - your hope in Christ - and look at all of the things that he promises the redeemed. And that's what he's doing here with these people. And remember this that these days of frustration, these days of sorrow, that we all experience, sometimes these days of mourning will become joy, gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love, truth and peace. Those things are going to happen in the millennial kingdom, and if we're part of the redeemed, if we've been united to saving...or to Christ through saving faith, then we will be there in that kingdom day. And this kind of hope will produce, within you, peace in your heart. This kind of hope will produce unity amongst people. It will produce peace and harmony in your marriage and in your family. So love truth and peace, amen?

Secondly, we see a promise of global worship, not only a promise of millennial joy, but a promise of global worship. Verse 20, "'Thus says the LORD of hosts.'" Now I've got to pause here for a moment. This is referring to Yahweh of the armies of heaven. That's what this is. And 12 times in this chapter, we see that the source and the power of all that is promised - and therefore all that will be fulfilled - is none other than the pre-existent, self-existent, uncreated, creator of the universe. This is the Lord of hosts. He is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Redeemer, the consummator of all that exists. He is the unassailable sovereign who rules the angelic hosts of heaven. He is the one who, in his providence, intervenes in the affairs of men and demons, ensuring victory for all of those who trust in him; that's who's speaking here. Don't miss that. Dear friends, there is no greater source, there is no greater power, there is no greater guarantee. There is no greater hope than what is found in the LORD of hosts. And he says in verse 20, "'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "It will yet be that peoples..."'"  - "ʿam" in Hebrew, referring to non-Jewish nations which, by the way, are described further in Zechariah 11 and Zechariah 12 and Zechariah 14 - "'"...It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one will go to another saying, 'Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.'"'" This phrase portrays just the internal zeal to worship the Lord that will be the driving force of worship among the nations of the world. My what a day that will be.

Verse 22, "'"So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD."'" Now, folks, this is absolutely astounding, not only with respect to what was going on in that context, which would have been in 518 BC, but also given the perennial hatred of Jewish people and of Christian people that has existed down through human history. And o, the glory of the Davidic kingdom, when Israel will finally be what they were intended to be; the mediators of divine blessing to all the people of the world. You know, this was promised through Moses when God spoke to him in Exodus 19, verse five, we read,

"'"Now, then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

"'and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel."'"

And folks that will finally become a reality in the kingdom age. And that's why I call this a promise of global worship. And what's interesting is Jerusalem will, at that point, be the center of the world. Notice verse 22, "'"So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD."'" It's interesting that as we study the Scriptures, we see that God designated Jerusalem to be the place from which he would rule and reign on earth and where he would build his millennial temple. There's so many passages, let me give you but a few. Isaiah, chapter two, beginning in verse two.

"Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.

"And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.'

"For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

"And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war."

My what a day that will be. Isaiah, chapter 56, verse seven, "'Even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.'"

As a footnote, the sacrifice mentioned here and detailed in Ezekiel 40 will be memorial sacrifices that looks back to Calvary and will in no way diminish Christ's once for all sacrifice on the cross. It's interesting when you think about it, so many of the Jews missed the memorial of the Lord's supper for so many years, but during the millennial reign, they will be able to make up for lost time. You might say we could go to Isaiah, the first 14...Isaiah 60, the first 14 verses, which elaborates on the future glory of Jerusalem. Let me give you but one more, for the sake of time, in Micah four, beginning in verse one, we read,

"And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.

"Many nations will come and say, 'Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem,

"and He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war."

I must confess that this week, as I was meditating on these passages, there was a part of me that just kind of got choked up as I think about global worship of Christ and how far we are from that today. I mean, you can't even put that chasm into words. It begs language. Moreover, I'm reminded of how many people around the world today are craving for the glory and the greatness of God.

I think of Chinese people. Have you seen some of the little films of them receiving a crate of Bibles and how they're doing everything they can to get a copy of the Word of God? There's a great revival going on in China right now, and the more they are persecuted, the more the church will grow. I think of the stories of North Koreans worshiping in small little groups, typically up in attics or hidden someplace where no one can find them, even hidden from their family members and friends that might betray them; singing hymns in whispers so they cannot be heard.

I think of Muslims and Orthodox Jews that I know of that are worshiping Christ in secret, many of them studying in secret; online through Bible schools and seminaries that I'm aware of. I think of a story that I heard just this week, pastors in the Republic of Georgia. I had to look it up. I've forgotten really where it was. Maybe some of you know, but it's a country in Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region. It's bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the southeast. And I was reading that it covers just an area of 69,700 square kilometers, or 26,900 miles; it’s not very big; has a population of just under 4 million. And I learned from a friend that just got back from there that the people in Georgia absolutely hate the Russians. So they refuse to speak their language. They have their own language, and yet Russia is pressuring them to become part of them. And one of the things they're using to pressure the people is they're mocking them, for in any way aligning with the United States. And in essence, what they are saying is, how, since so many of you claim to be Christians, how can you possibly align yourself with a nation that supports the reprehensible and insane morality of the LGBTQ community, people who will do everything they possibly can to have the right to kill unborn babies. How can you possibly align yourself with them? But the pastors and the people there in Georgia, I'm told, would give anything to have just a slight piece of the Christian resources available to them that we have available to us, written in their own language. And I'm so burdened over that that I intend to do everything I can to somehow contribute to that cause. And I'm in contact with people right now to find out how I can help others translate godly materials for these dear people.

Here's where I'm going with this. The saints of the Republic of Georgia and so many other nations - people around the world - are longing to worship the Lord, and the good news is that day will come. Thus says the Lord of hosts.

Well, in closing, we've seen a promise of millennial joy and of global worship, finally, a promise of Israeli honor. Verse 23, "'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "In those days,"'" referring to the future millennial reign of Christ, "'"ten men from all the nations will grasp"'“... in Hebrew, it's interesting. It is "take hold, they will take hold." They will take hold. They will take hold, "'"of the garment of a Jew" - "yᵊhûḏî" literally, a man, a Jew. They will take hold of a man, a Jew. And here's what they will say, "'"'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"'" Interesting phrase, "10 men from all the nations will grasp the garment of the Jew." The number 10 is representative of all. It is a symbol of the whole. It conveys completeness and fullness, as we see in other passages of Scripture. And it's amazing, when you think about it, that Gentiles will seek after the Lord Jesus Christ, that we worship and praise here on a regular basis, and they will do that through the redeemed and restored people of ethnic, national Israel. You say, how do you know that? Because that's what God says. And I believe what he says. Yeah, but that can't be what he means, well, but that's what he said. And so I believe what he said. Israel is going to be a reborn nation, and Gentiles will see how God has blessed them, and they will be drawn to them. They will want to be part of them. And notice the excitement of their zeal and their earnest entreaty. It says, "'"Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'"

Now, contrast that with the days of their exile, the days of the diaspora, the days of their persecution, their mockery and their murder; they will enjoy, eventually, a special measure of divine and undeserved blessing that will be obvious to everyone. They will be esteemed, they will be respected, they will be honored, debtors to God's grace. It says, for we have heard that God is with you. I mean, contrast that to the unimaginable horrors of the previous short-livedreign of the antichrist that will have just been completed when Christ returns.

And it's intriguing to me, and perhaps you have noticed this, even the most worldly people in our country today are beginning to wake up -  not to the satanic woke cult with all of its sexual perversions and insanity, and murder of the unborn and all of its lies and so forth - but many people are waking up to Christianity, and I'm hoping it's genuine Christianity. Sometimes it's hard to tell, but we see this on college campuses, and there's even a rise in church attendance, even happening in Europe. And I rejoice in our new defense secretary's monthly Pentagon prayer and worship services. Have you seen that he's praying to quote "King Jesus."  hope to meet him soon. What a contrast to the dark, demonic, deceptive days of the Biden administration, with all of its immorality and frankly, buffoonery. But think how much more glorious it will be when Christ reigns upon the earth in all of his glory, all of his majesty. And the people, individually, as well as nations, will literally clamor after him in genuine worship. I mean, only God can make that happen, right? Isaiah 46:13, God says, "I will grant salvation in Zion and My glory for Israel." And this will be according to what Paul said in Romans 11:17, when we as Gentiles, quote, "...being a wild olive, grafted in among them and made partakers with them, of the rich root of the olive tree." It will be at that time we will also reign with them and with him. Second Corinthians, or Second Timothy three verse 12, it says, "We will also reign with Him." And folks, this is the hope that God wanted to instill in the hearts of these ancient, beleaguered people; people that were often hypocritical. This is the hope that he wants to instill in all of us. So I leave you with the reality of what the Lord of hosts has said. He has promised millennial joy, global worship and Israeli honor, all to the praise of his glory.

And as I came to the conclusion of my studies of this passage, my mind, as it often does, goes to a hymn. It's amazing how hymns constantly do that to us, right? Just one verse. Isaac Watts' great lyrics,

"Come we that love the Lord and let our joys be known; join in a song with sweet accord and thus surround the throne." And someday that's going to be a reality, amen. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for revealing these great truths to us. It certainly ignites our hope. It motivates us to live for your glory, for your honor, and I pray that you will indeed empower each of us to not only understand these great texts, but to apply them to our lives, and to do so in such a way as to animate our hope for the glory and the greatness of God that will be revealed when Christ returns. And for those that do not know you, O Lord, how I pray that you will overwhelm them with such conviction that they will have no rest upon their pillow until they bow themselves before the risen Savior and cry out for the mercy that can be theirs, so rich, so free. So we commit it all to you for the glory of Christ, and it's in his name that I pray. Amen.