Zechariah 8:1-3

Summary: The longest and arguably the most difficult of the minor prophets, Zechariah has numerous themes and images making it hard to summarize. Perhaps the most recurring theme is that of the coming Messiah. Chapter 8 is just a sampling of the book that pictures future hope for a city, Jerusalem, that was far less prominent after the exile than before. Yet Zechariah promises that God will yet return to Jerusalem and the city will be greater than ever before…a place the nations will want to live because they see in the life of the city’s residents that God is among them. This is the kind of community Christ calls his church to be; one that lives in such beautiful obedience to him that the world sees the presence of God in their midst. God’s promises in this chapter find their initial fulfillment in Christ’s first coming, and their ultimate fulfillment when the new Jerusalem will descend out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:2).