Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Zechariah 8:1-13; Romans 4:13-22

A leading interpretive prindple of
prophecy is: All prophecy has an ethical
purpose. That is, God does not grant
!mowledge of the futureasasupernatural
version of "Trivial Pursuit." He grants
glimpses of the flow of future history so
that His people might be moved to serve
Him more diligently and faithfully.
In this chapter we come upon the
second portion of the prophetic answer to
the question of the Jews from Bethel,
which is recorded in Zechariah 7:3. Inour
last message we noted that the first pan of
the answer was in the form of rebuke for
their sinfulness inattempting to gain God's
favor through mechanical, ritualistic
worship. But in this section, he moves
beyond the rebuke, to offer a much more
cheering answer to the inquiry.
In this message we will seek to draw
forth imponant spiritual plinciples for
our own lives. Whereas in the next
message we will return to the sameverses
toconsidermoredirectlyhowthispassage
applied to the Jews and the outworking
of history under God's decree. I do this
because as I studied this passage I was
struck with how universal an ethical
message may be gained from this
prophetic revelation. I determined to
deal with that universal message in a
separate message, rather than shifting
back and forth between the historical
and the spiritual application, as I have
done in other places.
I do this because we liveina time that
has witnessed the rising tide of infidelity
in our once-Christian land. The retreat
of Christians from cultureisevidencedin
such phrases as: "The darker the night
gets the lighter my heart gets" (R A.
Torrey); "You don't polish brass on a
sinking ship' O. Vernon McGee); "We
are to be fishers of men, not to clean up
the fish bowl" (Hal Undsey).
Because of this retreat there are
precious few Christians in Amelica who
have any real hope for the futurein terms
of the advancement of Christ's cause in
contemporary history. (Though by the
grace of God, theirnumbers are just now
beginning to show some increase.) Even
more lamentable, there are many who
call themselves Christians, who really do
not even care about the decline of
Christian values and infiuence.
In both cases, these Christians have
solitdeBible-basedhopethattheirprayers
and\aborstoward the advance of Christ's
kingdom are either non-existent or are
altogether hindered by pessimism. The
spiritual plinciples involved in this
passage speak to just such a state of
affairs, and urge us to persistence in our
faith against all odds.
In the lord's Prayer each Sunday
many Christians petition the lord with
the prayer: 'Thy kingdom rome, thy will be
dOlle on earth as it is in heaven." But then
too many leave it at that: they utter the
prayer with their mouths as a litua!, but
care little about its implementation in
their lives as dULY. Are we numbered
among them? And what can be done to
correct this?
1. The Necessity of Hope
From the 1500s through most of the
1800shopewasaprevalentfeatureofthe
Christian faith and ministry. That time
peliod covered Western history from the
Protestant Reformation until the rise of
the modem prophecy movement, which
was dominated by an historically
pessimistic dispensationalistn. That era
ofQlUrchHistorywaswidelyin!luenced
byan optimisticpostmillennialism, which
taught with fervency that "the Gospel is the
power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1: 16)
that would conven the world to Christ.
Postmillennialists were persuaded that
Christ is now at the right hand of God
reigning until all of His enemies would
become a footstool for His feet (1 Cor.
15:20-25). It unflinchingly held thatthe
Kingdom of Christ would penetrate the
entire world like leaven, until the whole
was leavened (Matt. 13:33).
Thus, that was an era characterized
byagreathopewhichcausedgreatstrides
for Western culture. From the
Reformation, which antedated the
secular, atheistic Enlightenment, we see
the dramatic spread of Christianity
throughout much of the world. Thlswas
seeninthegreatforeignmissionsoutreach
from William Carey on down. In order
to enhance the spread of the Gospel and
the promotion of Scripture truth, the
Reformation prompted the furtherance
of mass education and the industrial
revolution, which joined to raise the
standard of living for the common man.
It generated the rise of a free and
prosperousAmetica, of which historian
Sidney Ahlstrom and others note that
October, 1992 l' TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f 21
75% of those claiming independence in
1776 were of rerormed persuasion (and
hence were largely postmillennial).
All of this hope-filled activity and
more, ultimately is traceable back to a
God-centered, Bible-based optimism. It
doesnotdrawfromsomeethereal, poetic
longing of fallen man or some mindless,
smiley-face optimism. But that
God-centered hope, though largely lost
today among evangelicals, was
charactedstic of the prophets and the
aposdes, thus of biblical
faith. And itis the evident
backdrop for ourpassage.
We must remember
that in the preceding
chapter, God rebuked
Judah rorhersinful, empty
formalism in worship.
There she was chastised
with words for her
ritualistic response to
God's freeing her from the
Babylonian Captivity. But
in this portion of God's
responseto Judah, wefind:
hope(Zech.8:4-5,12,l3).
And this hope is based on
nothing less than the presence of God
with His people.
Theheartthrobofthiswholecheertng
passage is contained in the few words of
Zechariah8:3. TheLordofhostsdec1ares:
''! am returned unto Zion." Despite Israel's
tribulation at thehandsofBabylon, when
she was forsaken of God, despite her
current frailty and poverty, these words
resound with hope: "I am returned unto
Zion."
The truth of the presence of Godis so
important thatitintroduces the cheerful
prospect in the following verses. like
Jolm's vision in Revelation, which opens
withChdstwalkingamongthechurches,
here Zechariah and the people learn that
the Lord is ''returned unto Zion."

The evidence of His return is so
necessary that over and over again we
have undergirding the reality of the
message of hope: "Thus saith the Lord."
This authoritative statement occurs ten
rimes, or in almost every other verse
(Zech. 8:2,3,4,7,9,14, 19,20,23).
Though the prophetic voice of God was
silent inJemsalem for the whole seventy
years of captivity, now it has returned in
force.
Does not God inform us who are His
people throughHisWordthatwe are the
temple of the Lord (2 Cor. 6: 16), because
we have the Spirit of Christ in us (Rom.
8:9)? Are we not encouraged by the
prospect ''La, I am with you until the endoJ
the age" (Matt. 28:20)? Do we not hear
the apostle inform us of "Christ in us, the
hopeojglory" (Col. 1:27). DidChdstnot
promise, "I will never leave nor Jorsake
you' (Beb. l3:5)? Can we not, then, cry
with Paul, "I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:l3)?
This is the heart of the biblical hope:
We have Godwithus. ThatiswhyJesus
iscalledin prophecy, "Immanuel,"wbich
means"Godwithus"(Isa.7:14;Matt.l:2l).
Themostimportant element for blessing
and prosperity is the presence of God.
Hence, the cheering prospect: I am
returned unto Zion.
Wecanworkoutourproblems. We
can have success in our lives. We can
have a confidencein the future prospects
22 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon October, 1992
of Christianity. Forwithin us dwells the
Holy One of God.
How can it be that the people of God
coUld have no hope? How could it be
that there would be any problem too big
for His Church to overcome? Earlier in
Zechariah 4:10 we heard the command
"do not despise the d!Y oj small things."
Herewe hearitscounterpart, given pardy
as a rebuke to Judah, but intended
ultimately as an encouragement: "If It be
marvellous in the eyes oj the remnant oj this
people in these d!Ys, should
italso be marvellous in mine
eyes?"
Notice that this
statement is introduced
and closed with "thus saith
the Lord." The word
"marvellous"heremightbe
translated today by
"incredible" or "too
difficUlt." Consider what
God is saying.
The small number of
Jewswhocame back from
the Babylonian Captivity
are buta "remnant.' What
is worse, they are a fearful
remnant, for they focus on their own
smallness rather than the largeness of
God. Just becauseitistoomarvellous for
them, why should that mean it is too
difficult forthe Lord of hosts? , the Lord
of thousands upon thousands of angelic
hosts?
WhydidJudahhaveno hope? Why
do modern Chdsrians have no hope?
Because they look at the largeness of the
opposition. They lookin thenewspapers
regarding current trends. But they
looking from their finite perspective, not
God's infinite perspective. They are
looking at what currendy is, not what
God has ordained shall ultimately be.
ThisisquitereminiscentofthetenJewish
spiesinNumbers l3:31-33, who shrank
from the God-given task.
Do you think God is troubled by
communism or Islam or secular
humanism? These are but dust to be
sweptawayinHis own good time,justas
God swept away the sons of Anak in the
Promised Land. These are giants
requiringbutonegoodstone.JesusChrist
(Dan. 2).
They are nothing before the grace of
God, which is the very power of God,
which as we noted earlier will make a
plain of all the mountainous opposition
(Zech.4:7). Why should Christians be
embarrassedattheprospectofpromoting
a Christian worldview, or of urging the
implementation of Christian prindples,
because of the flash and glitz of the
secularists? "With God all things are
possible" (Matt. 19:26).
Doesnot God promise of us: "theyshall
bemypeople, andlwillbe their God" (Zech.
8:8b)?
2. The Necessity of Truth
But it is incumbent upon us to know
that we cannot just formalistically claim
the name of God. We cannot merely
show up at church and expect all to fall
into place. That was Israel's problem; it
must not be ours.
We must build a Christian culture
basedon truth and righteousness. Having
a naked hope is not enough in itself. Let
us notice how truth and righteousness
are urged in the context of the hope of the
presence of God. Our hope is based on
truth; hope is confirmed by the
application of truth in righteous living.
Zechariah 8:3 speaks wondrously of
the prospects for Zion. But because of
the presence of God their dty must be
known as a dty of truth; their mountain
must be characterized by holiness. This
draws a fundamental distinction between
the reformed, postmillennial hope for
history and that secularistic optimism
promoted by liberal Social Gospel
advocates. The secularist view is based
on the myth of evolution. Our hope is
based on beliefinand life lived according
to the truth in God's Word, and nothing
less. Zechariah 8:8 harkens back to that
same concept.
The importance of truth for the hope
of the progress of the human race lies in
the nature of reality. This world is the
world that God created. Consequently,
it operates according to His divine plan
and functions in terms of His divine
principles. Adam was given thernandate
by God to develop the world's resources
(Gen. 1:26-28). As an unfallencreature
created in the image of God, He would
have done so according to divine
principles - not in opposition to them.
He would have done so according to the
truth.
It should not pass our notice that a
decline in faith in God and commitment
to His Law as our standard today has
givenrisetoanincreaseindrugaddiction.
God created man with an inner longing
for Him; we need to have a meaning
outside ourselves. It is no acddent that
sexual promiscuity generates all sorts of
dreaded diseases. Godintended faithful,
monogamous marriages. Itisnowonder
that atheistic communism is bankrupt.
God intended human freedom and the
right of private property and free
exchange. It should not surprise us that
Islam is noted for its terrorism. False
gods always generate evil actions.
God's truth, God's Law, God'sWord,
God'swisdomisnecessaryforthesmooth
functioning of society and the proper
development of human culture. Those
that hate the wisdom of God, love death
(Prov. 8:36). God created an orderly
universeoperatedbyorderly, predictable
law. This allows for scientific inquiry.
But modem sdentists believe in the
ultimate irrationality of the universe and
the randomness of reality -- despite the
necessity of order to explain such!
And God's truth is to sanctify us
Oohn 17: 17). Which leads us to note:
3. The Necessity of Labor
Because of the setting fotth of divine
hope, because of the call to establish
righteousness on the foundation of truth,
there is a consequent obligation to labor
toward these ends.
In the Jewish situation in Zechariah's
day, there was the matter of building the
dty of God, buildingtheirculture, around
the worship of God. This required the
temple, which had been so long delayed
in rebUilding. The remnant felt their
own weakness against the opposition.
But God's hope, God's truth, urges
otherwise, Zechariah 8:9, 13. Despite
the opposition before them, the Jews
were to "let their hands be strong." The
task of rebuilding the temple and the
godly culture that would flow from it was
to be undertaken in strength. They were
to love the Lord their God with all their
heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Faithis ofteneasieron the hypothetical
level. But on the practical level it becomes
a different thing: "I have hope in my
mind, but my life is another story." We
can offer words of comfort to others who
may be suffering around us. But
sometimes we do not so easily live by the
words of hope when we ourselves suffer.
Though we are the children -of
Abraham by faith, we too often do not
imitate his mith. According to Paul,
Abraham had a sure hope: "against hope
he hoped" (Rom 4: 18.) And because of
this Abraham was fully persuaded God
was able to perform (Rom 4:21). To 0
manyChristiansaredoubtingThomases.
We do not bother laboring for the
promotion of Christianity, because the
opposition is so strong against us. But
hope, like faith, reqUires diligent labor.
The Lord commands us to pray in faith
and hope: "Giveus this day aurdaily bread"
But then rnaywe sit back and expect it to
come miraculously? Or do we not rather
hear: "He that does not work, neither shall
he eat" (2 Thess. 3: 1O)?
We must be diligently involved as
Christians. We must seek ways to letthe
voice of Christ speaking in the Word of
God be heard in our culture. We must,
as Christ said in another context, "endure
to the end" (Matt. 24: 13). God's Word
still speaks hope and truth today. It still
commands faithful obedience and labor.
October, 1992 THE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon 23
As in worship, ChIistianity is not a
"spectator sport" for "armchair
Chrtstians." Ourfaithca1Isus to stand up
. for Jesus. There is a false theology that
urges us to "let go and let God." Maywe
not fa]] for it. Rather, may we occupy
until He comes (Luke 19:13).0
Arise!
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2+ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon October, 1992