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Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 19

Zechariah 8:10, 11 says,

¹⁰ “For before those days [before they decided to resume building the temple], there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another. ¹¹ But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,” declares the Lord of hosts.

For years the people stopped working to build the temple, because of the opposition. During that time, it appears that there was a monetary shortage. There was “no wage for man” and no one would hire a man’s ox or donkey to do work. Haggai 1:6 confirms this, saying, “he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” Furthermore, Haggai 1:9-11 says,

⁹ “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little, when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.” ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on me, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”

Even though the exile had ended formally, there was an economic depression among the remnant that had returned. The seventy-year divine judgment had not yet fully ended. In fact, the 70 years had more than one starting point and therefore also had more than one endpoint. Babylon captured Jerusalem in 604 B.C., which began the captivity, and seventy years later, the Edict of Cyrus was issued in 534 B.C.

The temple was destroyed in August of 586 B.C., and 70½ years later, a new temple was completed in March of 515 B.C. Hence, the captivity of Judah ended before its economic effects ended. It was only when the people overcame the spiritual problem by obeying the word of the Lord that the blessings of the Kingdom could flow without restrictions. Haggai 1:11 equates those blessings to the dew and rain which were necessary to make the land fruitful.

The “drought” was attributed to the fact that God’s house remained “desolate,” as a result of their disobedience. God Himself took credit for this, saying, “I called for a drought on the land.” So Haggai was then raised up by God to rally the people to finish the building project. The people responded positively, and for this reason, both security and economic conditions improved and the land bore fruit.

The Fruitful Kingdom

Zechariah 8:12, 13 says,

¹² “For there will be peace [shalom] for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew, and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. ¹³ It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong.”

One of the most important themes in Scripture is Fruitfulness. On a physical level, this has to do with grain and fruit that the land produces when there is sufficient rain. But when the people themselves fail to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, God often calls for a drought so that the physical condition matches the spiritual. One can even say that the spiritual condition is the root cause of the physical.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist was called as a fruit inspector (Matthew 3:5), and after King Herod executed him, Jesus took over that calling (Luke 13:6-9). Toward the end of His three-year ministry, Jesus knew that Judah had failed to bring forth fruit and that the nation would reject Him. This was revealed through a fruitless fig tree, which He then cursed, saying, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you” (Matthew 21:19). Just as the tree itself withered up and died, so also would the nation be destroyed in 70 A.D.

Judah was to remain under the curse, a spiritual drought, which would prevent the nation (as a whole) from bringing forth the fruits of repentance and the fruit of the Spirit. Even in the last days, when that “fig tree” nation would come back to life (Matthew 24:32), it could do no more than bring forth leaves. Fig leaves cannot be eaten. In fact, fig leaves have been a problem since Adam (Genesis 3:7). Fig leaves represent self-justification for sin, instead of true repentance.

Nonetheless, God reserved a remnant out of Judah and combined them with believers from other nations, making them into “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15). These are characterized by their fruit (Matthew 12:33).

In the days of Haggai and Zechariah, the drought did not end until the temple was built. In other words, the nation remained unfruitful, both physically and spiritually, until the people repented and obeyed the word of the Lord. This is a lesson for all of us today, for we too are now coming out of the long captivity to the beast nations of Mystery Babylon. The end of the long captivity is, perhaps, of less importance than the repentance and fruitfulness of the people.

Ultimately, the fruitfulness of the people depends upon the end of the spiritual drought of hearing the word of the Lord (Amos 8:11). Those who hear and obey His word are those who help build the true spiritual temple that is being built (Ephesians 2:20-22). True fruitfulness will not happen by building a physical temple in Jerusalem, where men resume animal sacrifices and attempt to re-establish the Old Covenant righteousness that is based on the will of man.

The Calling of Abraham

Those who are of the household of New Covenant faith are those who have come out of the drought of the spiritual rain, having received the Holy Spirit promised long ago. This is what removes from us the curse that is laid upon the earthly Jerusalem, which prevents it from bringing forth fruit.

Those who claim the earthly Jerusalem as their spiritual mother will find it impossible to fulfill the New Covenant calling of Abraham, who sought for “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16) as well as a greater “city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:9).

Those who thus follow their father Abraham are the children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7), and these are the ones who are able to bless all the families of the earth.