Passage of the Day - March 15, 2011

Zechariah 8:1-15

¹Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying,

 ²"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.'

 ³"Thus says the LORD, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.'

 ⁴"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age.

 ⁵'And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.'

 ⁶"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?' declares the LORD of hosts.

 ⁷"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west;

 ⁸and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'

 ⁹"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built.

 ¹⁰'For before those days 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.

 ¹²'For there will be peace 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.'

 ¹⁴"For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and I have not relented,

 ¹⁵so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah Do not fear!

I'm going out on a limb and going to say that the Church created by Christ and his Jewish apostles and followers are the remnant spoken about in this passage and all us Christians are the fruit.  We have much to improve, and I think our influence is waining in these last days, but I believe we have been viewed as an overall blessing of God as opposed to a curse of God in the span of the last 2000 years.  When Christ returns, He will draw us back to Jerusalem to be where we truly belong.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)