We want to say shalom and welcome to everyone. God bless you. We want to welcome you to the Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures and Israel, where we study the Word of God together from a first century Hebrew Messianic perspective, and one book at a time, one chapter at a time, and one verse at a time. And with the Lord's help, we are seeking to learn together to, as we have read in the Word of God, that the apostle Shaul Paul said to Timothy, study to show yourself a proven to God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word. Of truth. Well, we will pray together. Hopefully, you have your Bible open. We are in the prophecy of Zechariah. If you turn with me to Zechariah chapter eight, but let's ask the Lord to bless the meeting at this time. Abba, our Father, we just pray that you will speak to our hearts, that you will help us as we study from your word to, to understand your word, that we will grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua HaMashiach, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

We pray in his precious name. Amen. Amen. Well, dear brothers and sisters and dear friends, we are in the prophecy of Zechariah. Please turn with me to the eighth chapter of the prophet Zechariah. And I would like to read, I will read as much as I can from this eight chapter. It's a long chapter, and that long chapter has twenty-three verses. I don't think we will finish all these, all the verses, but you know what? We will read the first eight verses of this, eight chapter for now. Let's read Zechariah, Zechariah chapter eight, verses one to verse eight. And so we do read, Again the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion.

And I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, and Yerushalayim shall be called a city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain, thus says the Lord of hosts, there shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus says the Lord of hosts, if it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of these people in these days. Should it also be marvelous in mine eyes, says the Lord of hosts?

Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God in truth and in righteousness. Now I will stop here, beloved brothers and sisters.

In the prophet Zechariah, in chapter 8, and I just read verses, 1 to 8, this, for this ministry meeting, and I would like to remind us, it's always good to be reminded, that when the prophet Zechariah was writing this, book of Zechariah, to remind you that he was writing, or he received a revelation from the, from the Lord, when the Jewish people returned from Babel. And when the Jewish people, the remnant of Israel, returned from the land of Babel after 70 years of captivity, about 50,000 Jews came back to the land, a small remnant. The vast majority of the Jewish community worldwide remain in Babylon, but a small Remnant came. The rest of them, we can read of them in the book of Esther.

And the vast majority were satisfied to still remain in the dispersion, in the diaspora, in the galut. But there was a remnant that came back to the land, some 50,000 Jewish people. Some of them were priests, some of them was Levites, some of them were musicians, and they returned to the land as God had promised through the prophet Jeremiah after 70 years of the Babylonian captivity. At that time, beloved brothers and sisters, when the prophet Zechariah was raised by the Lord to speak to the people of Israel, he was, Haggai was raised, and also Malachi was raised, and these were, these prophets were the post-captivity prophets. They spoke to the returned remnant of Israel when they were back in the land, and the time was at about 520 BC.

And so these Jewish remnant that came back to the land began to rebuild the temple in the city of Yerushalayim, but they had so much opposition from the Shomronim, from the neighboring nation, and nations around, the surrounding people that opposed them, that they stopped to build the temple. And that's why God raised both Haggai and Zechariah to present before them an encouraging word to continue to build the temple in Jerusalem. And later on, of course, Nehemiah came and rebuilt, of course, the wall of the city of Jerusalem. Imagine opposition, opposition, opposition, discouragement, and someone like Zechariah was raised by God to give a ministry to the heart of the nation, to appeal to them and to show them that God loved them and that God wants to restore them back to the promised land as he had promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the rest of the nation, Moshe and David and on and on, the prophets of Israel, that God had promised to restore the people of Israel back to himself.

And so we have already covered, if you remember that God gave the prophet Zechariah, if you remember, he gave them, as we have already studied, he gave them eight visions in the first six chapters. Vision after vision that Zechariah received in order to speak to the nation, to encourage them and to show them how God is intending to bless them and why God had disciplined them as a loving God for the nation of Israel. And you remember there were the various visions that we have already covered in chapter one all the way to the end of chapter six. And you remember the vision of the horsemen among the myrtle trees.

The vision of the four horns and four carpenters, the vision of the man with a measuring line, the vision of Joshua the high priest, closed and standing before the Lord, the vision of the seven lamps with the two olive trees, the vision of the flying scroll, the vision of the woman sitting in a basket, and the vision of the four chariots between the two brass mountains. Speaking all those, God promised prosperity for Israel, God judges the nations that attack Israel, God will rebuild Jerusalem, God will purify the high priest of the nation of Israel, God will rebuild the temple, God will remove sin and idolatry, God will remove the system of false religion, and God will bring shalom and rest for the nation of Israel. All these visions were given to Zechariah to speak to the people of Israel. In the land now to encourage them to see that God will fulfill his promises to his people and he will do them in his due time.

Then we have covered in chapter 7, we said that chapter 7 and chapter 8, God now gives, in chapter 7 and chapter 8, he providing the subject of the fasting and he's trying to explain to the nation of Israel what really fasting mean. And you remember in chapter seven, in our previous study together of chapter seven, there was a delegation that came from the city of Bet El in Samaria, in the area there in Bet El, and this delegation was sent by the people of Bet El to come down to the city of Yerushalayim, and this delegation came and they asked the priests in the temple in Yerushalayim, the temple was now being in building now, they really wanted to know whether they should continue to fast.

And they remember, they ask, we read here in, in verse three, two and three, when they had sent unto, from the house of God, they sent Rekem Melech and Sar Etzer and other people to ask the question. And they came and they spoke to the priests in Jerusalem, and they said to them, and the prophet, and they said, should I weep in the fifth month and separate myself as I have done for these so many years? In other words, they said, when we were in Babylon, we were fasting, we were weeping, we were mourning because of the condition that existed among our people. After all, we were in Babylon.

And we were fasting because of the ninth day of the month of Av. It's the time where the temple was destroyed in 586 BC, and that became a day of mourning for the Jewish people and fasting. That was over above the Day of Atonement, where God demanded from Israel to, to, to fast and to, search their souls. So they were fasting, beloved brothers and sisters, and mourning that the Jewish people developed for themselves over the generations. Although they were not commended by God, but the Jewish people had a period of time of fasting when they look back.

And they see the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, they were weeping and they were mourning. So the delegation came in verses 1 to 3 of chapter 7, and they asked the question, should we continue to do so? Specifically on the ninth day of the month of the Jewish month of Av. Well, the Lord answered to them in chapter 7, in verses 4 to 7, and he began to tell them that really they were fasting, but did they really fast for God? Did they really mourn for God? Were they really caring for God? And you know, sometimes, brothers and sisters, when believers today in the present day of the church age fast and mourn, and maybe having a special time of fasting, the question is, do we really do it for God, for the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, for Yeshua HaMashiach? Well, God challenged them. And if you remember, we have covered that, and I don't want to go over that, but he answered them, and in verses 8 to 14, at the end of chapter 7, the Lord explained to his people Israel what he's expecting from them.

And you remember what he said to them, and I just read these verses in chapter 7 and verse 8, we read, And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment. You want to fast and mourn for me? You want to do the thing that are pleasing to me? Don't only have this external fasting and not eating, and give an outward appearance, but the real meaning of the fasting, that it which should affect your life, execute true judgment, verse 9. Show mercy and compassion, verse 9b.

don't oppress the widows, verse ten. Let none of you imagine evil against his brother, verse ten b. You see? But he says, actually, in verse eleven, they refused to hearken, and they pulled away their shoulder, and they stopped their ears, that they should not hear. They made their hearts as an adamant stone. They, they stiffened their hearts.

In other words, they have gone through the motion of an external fasting, but there was not change in their behavior. This is a, a fundamental fact that we all need to learn. God wants our hearts, a change of our behavior. A desire to please Him here in this world. And often time, because of our sin nature and our pride and arrogance, we fail the Lord.

So now that chapter seven have ended, and in chapter seven the subject was what we are going to do about fasting. Now in chapter eight, beloved brothers and sisters, all this chapter, in Zechariah chapter eight, the Lord continued to speak to His people through the prophet Zechariah, and in this chapter eight, really, verses one to twenty-three, the Lord, what we learn here, that in chapter eight, the Lord finally give an answer to the question, But he does not give an answer to the question, should we continue to fast on these dates that we have established for ourselves? The Lord, before he's giving an answer to the people of Israel that now return from Babylon to the land of Israel, before he give them his own answer, he will do so at the end of chapter eight, but before he will do so, the Lord is pointing to the future that he has for the city of Yerushalayim and for the nation of Israel.

And in the first eight verses of Zechariah chapter eight, the, the Lord Present before Israel through the prophet Zechariah the promise that he is intending to do and to accomplish in the future day for his people Israel and for the city of Yerushalayim. And I would like to dwell on these verses in this next time, in these first eight verses. So he's going to speak and to give them an answer about the fasting, but he will do it later on at the end of this chapter eight. But before he's going to give them an answer, he telling them what he thinks of Jerusalem and what he is intending to accomplish on behalf of his own earthly people, the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, and the city of Yerushalayim, and the land of Israel. And you notice what he does. First of all, in verse one, the word of the Lord came again unto Zechariah.

We read in verse one of Zechariah chapter eight, and again the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, you remember, we read in chapter seven and verse one, and it came to pass in the fourth years of Darius, King Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, this is the month of Kislev.

Now again the Lord is giving a message to Zechariah for the nation of Israel. He is now not speaking in visions, he gave the eight visions in the first sixth chapter, but now he's speaking directly to Zechariah, and he's giving him the word from him, and he want him now to communicate this to the people of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem. Now I want you to know this, in these verses, in verses two, And three, he would speak about Zion and Yerushalayim. You know, this interchanging of the word Zion and Yerushalayim, Zion and Jerusalem. He says in verse two, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Zechariah, here is the word of the Lord. Notice the expression, the Lord of hosts, come from the Hebrew word Adonai Tsevaot. The Lord of hosts is an expression that is, that is, the Lord of armies. In other words, God is the Lord, or Jehovah is the God and the, and the Lord of the armies of Israel.

And you notice he used the word in verse two, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I was jealous for Zion with a great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with a great fury. Verse three, Thus says the Lord, I am returned unto Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem should be called the city of truth, and the mountains of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. Now notice the words Zion, Zion, and the word Jerusalem is interchanging here. Let me just remind you something we have already learned in the past, that whenever you read in the Bible, in the Word of God, the word Zion, it has a, it speaks to us of more than just a place.

The land of Israel, according to Isaiah 51 and verse 3, is called Zion. This is the land. The city of Jerusalem, according to 2 Samuel 5 verse 7, 1 King 8 verse 1, Psalm 48 as well, and other Psalms, are the city itself is called Zion. The city of Jerusalem is called Zion as well. Thirdly, according to Isaiah 51, again in verse 16, the Jewish people, the people themselves are called Zion.

And finally, according to Isaiah chapter 62, the city of Jerusalem and Zion are one and very much the same place. So, for example, if we will turn to Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 1, For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that is burneth. Whenever God is speaking about Zion or Jerusalem, He is speaking about the land, the city, and its people.

Whenever you say Zion, you speak about the land of Israel. Whenever you say Zion, you speak about the city of Yerushalayim. Whenever you say Zion, you speak about the people of Israel, the Jewish people. The same time, whenever you say Yerushalayim, it's speaking about the land, the city, and the people. And so notice what he's saying here. He's saying to Zechariah in our chapter, in Zechariah chapter 8, he says, notice, he's avoiding to answer the question about fasting, and he's first of all presenting his plan and purpose for the nation and for the city of Yerushalayim in the first eight verses. And he's saying in verse 2, Thus says the Lord.

And notice again, it is Yehovah of hosts, the Lord of hosts. Verse one, and again the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, Verse two, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the word, the Lord of hosts come from the Hebrew word Yehovah Tsevaot. For the word host mean the armies of God, the armies of the Lord. The Lord with his power and might and his armies representing the whole nation, he is the one who is Yehovah, who is the Lord of all the hosts of Israel. When Israel came out of the land of Egypt, he's called, the host came out of Egypt. And Yehovah, the Lord was leading the nation to the promised land in the wilderness for forty years. And so he's saying, look, he said, I was jealous for Zion with a great jealousy.

And I was jealous for her with great fury. You see, he used that word very interesting. He says, Kin'ah, or Kineti Lezion, Kin'ah G'dolah, he's saying here. I was jealous for Zion with a great jealousy. Now why? Was it because Zion or the people, the people of Israel were always obedient to him? Of course not. But God in his jealousy for his people, for his land, and for his city. He always in the purposes of God, in the sovereign will of God, he planned to have the land of Canaan and the city of Yerushalayim and the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom he had chosen to be there and to be a light to the nations of the world.

And because God is jealous over his people, he is intending to bring about what he's planning for them. If it mean to discipline them, he will discipline them. If it mean to chasten them, he will chasten them. If it mean to bring somebody like Nebuchadnezzar and to disperse them among the nation, he will do so. But he does so out of love. You know, it's the same thing with respect to the assembly, to the church. The Lord is jealous of his own people. The apostle Paul said to the Corinthian, I have espoused you unto one.

I will, I'm jealous over you, the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, because he espoused them into one, into Christ, into the Messiah. And he wanted the assembly to be for the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, for Yeshua HaMashiach. But were they? They were not the Corinthians. Just read the whole first Corinthians. And it's the same thing with Israel. God is jealous over his own people with a, with a, as it says here in verse two, with a great jealousy. In Hebrew it says, kinah gedolah, kinah gedolah.

You know, jealousy, kinah in Hebrew is different than being envious. In English you have kinah, you have jealous and envy. God does not envy anyone. He has everything, but he's in his holiness and his righteousness, he's, he's zealous for his people because he want a blessing for them. Only he's saying here, I was jealous for, for Zion with a great jealousy. And I was jealous for her with great fury. The word for fury come from the Hebrew word chemah. I was so hot for the nation. I had this righteous indignation when the sin, when the people sin, and I was so, had this righteous indignation because when they sin, I had to judge them. But I love them.

And I want to bless them. If you turn with me for a moment to chapter one and verse fourteen, we read in verse fourteen of chapter one of our pro of the prophet Zechariah, he says, And the angel of the that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy. You see, God loves his people, and because he loves his people, he chastens them when they are going astray and they disobey him. It's the same for you and I, beloved brothers and sisters, even today, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourges every son whom he receiveth. That's the kind of God we have.

Out of love for us, love For his people, he has this chemah g'dolah, kin'ah g'dolah, great jealousy and great fury. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, as he's speaking to Zechariah, he's setting aside the response concerning the fasting that they ask him, should we fast? You see, they introduced their own fasting dates, which were not commanded by the Lord, although we can understand it, because they were disciplined by God, the Jewish people that were taken to Babel, 586 BC, the temple was burned, the city of Yerushalayim is burned and the temple destroyed. And you remember what we read in the book of Psalms, in Psalm 137, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept as we remember Zion.

It says in verse, verse three, For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, and they said to us, Sing unto us one of Zion's songs. Or one of the songs of Zion, and you remember what they said, Beloved brothers and sisters, In shame, in shame, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? They were defeated because of their disobedience.

And then if you remember, They said, if I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning, they made a decision, and they changed their thought, and they began to have longing toward the city of Jerusalem. Im eshkachech Yerushalayim tishkach yemini. The Jewish people said in the land of Babylon, if I forget the O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy. And you remember, the Lord brought them back. And the remnant came back, some fifty thousand. By that time, they were more than that. And here we are, they're asking about fasting, and the Lord is responding to them. And before He gave them an answer about the fasting, what will happen to this fasting that they have instituted for themselves, and how things will turn about, He's telling them of His own plan for them.

And you know, I just want to make an application. When you feel discouraged in your life, as a believer in Jesus the Messiah, remember that God has a plan for you. His love for you never diminish for a moment. His love for me, His love for the assembly, for the ekklesia, never diminish for a moment. And the Lord Jesus said, Yeshua said, In my Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also. God has a plan for the ekklesia, for the assembly, to be in the Father's house.

But he has a plan for his earthly people, Israel, to bring them back to the land of Israel, to the city of Jerusalem. God, the Lord, is jealous, with a godly jealousy, but not only with a great jealousy, but also with a great fury. And he will judge the nations that oppose Israel and ultimately will bring his own people back to the promised land and establish the kingdom that he is intending to establish. So now notice it's so beautiful. These verses are really touching my heart when I read them because notice what God is saying. It's not Zechariah saying, it's not the Jewish people saying, it is Yehovah of hosts saying.

Let God be true and every man a liar. Paul said in Romans chapter three, and so in verse three, look at the promise of Yehovah of the Lord to return to Jerusalem. He says in verse three, thus says the Lord, I am, notice that I am returned unto Zion. In Zechariah chapter eight and verse three in the book of, in the Hebrew it said, Ko Amar Adonai, Shavti El Zion. v'shachanti b'toch Yerushalayim, shavti el Tziyon, meaning I return in past tense as if it is done deal.

He's saying in verse 3, Thus, Ezra, I return unto Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. As far as God is concerned, as far as Yehovah is concerned, as far as the Lord is concerned, it is a done deal because He is intending to return to Jerusalem, and He is intend to be, to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

Brothers and sisters, this passage, this prophecy of Zechariah was written at about 520, 518 BC, long before the church was born. And if God's promises to Israel will not be fulfilled, we can never be sure that God promises to the church will ever be fulfilled. And so look at the promise. He says, I am returned unto Zion, and I, notice that, I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, in Hebrew, Ir Emet, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.

It is fascinating. Do you know the word Jehovah of hosts is mentioned some fifty-three times in the prophecy of Zechariah. You know the word Yerushalayim is mentioned some forty-two times in the prophecy of Zechariah. And you know, the word Zion is mentioned again and again in the prophecy of Zechariah. And so he's saying in verse three, and I think it's very, very refreshing to our heart, that he, Yehovah, I am returned unto Zion, I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. Now we cannot say it today, although there's some seven and a half million Jewish people in the land of Israel and another million and a half from other nations, Christians, Muslims, and others in the land of Israel and in the city of Jerusalem, it's getting to become a large city, but you cannot say this of Jerusalem today, just the same that we cannot say it anywhere in the world today.

Nor were we can say that we live in that city called the city of truth, but in the future day. You see what he's doing here? He's taking Zechariah and the remnant of Israel that are now in the land at about 518 BC, and he's carrying them through and he's placing them in the Messianic kingdom. He's carrying them and he's speaking about a future day that will come to pass in the future day when God will establish the promises that he promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, David, and the rest of the nation of Israel.

I am going, he says in verse three, to return to Zion. I myself will dwell in the midst of the city of truth. It shall be called the city of truth. Now, How will God dwell in the midst of the city? Well, we know very well that it will be the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah, that God in the person of the Son, in the person of the Messiah Yeshua Jesus, He will dwell as King of kings and Lord of lords in the city of Yerushalayim. You remember what we read in Luke chapter 13 verse 34, O Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, which killest the prophet and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gathereth her brood under her wing, and ye would not.

Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate, and verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me until, notice that, you are not going to see me until, until when? Until the time will come when you shall say, Baruch haba b'shem Adonai, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Even the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, predicted that there is a coming day when Israel will recognize him and they will say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

So back to our chapter, in chapter 8 and verse 3, is the promise of Jehovah to return to Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. It is not today the city of truth, but it will be called in a future day the city of truth. There is a verse in Isaiah chapter 1, Isaiah chapter 1 in verse 26 that says, And I will restore thy judges. As at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning. Afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. Isaiah spoke about it about 750 BC, and now Zechariah is speaking about it at about 518 BC. And it will surely come to pass, beloved brothers and sisters, because God promised it, and it will surely come to pass. I will return unto Zion. I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

And Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. And it shall be called the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountains. What a day that is taking us to the wonderful day, the millennial age, the messianic kingdom, the promise of God to establish a kingdom in a world that have gone astray. In a world that is, say, we will not have this man to rule over us. In a world that say, the fool says in, says to God, God, I do not want you in my life. And yet God will fulfill the promises that he had promised. And here in the context before us is to the city of Yerushalayim, to the land of Israel in the future day. Now notice, beloved brothers and sisters, in the next verse, in verses four and five, Jerusalem will enjoy long days.

God is promising here in this, before he's dealing, before he's responding to the, to the delegation that came from the city of Bethel to the city of Yerushalayim, who ask about the fasting, God does not answer immediately, but he's living this, and he's responding now to his plan, to his purposes, to his agenda for Jerusalem, for the land of Israel, for the people of Israel, and for all the nations of the world. And in verses four and five, we learn of the, the fact that Jerusalem will enjoy long day and full experience of security. You cannot say it today. Almost every day there is terrorism in the city of Jerusalem. Almost every day there is rockets being shot.

By the nations around, whether it is from the Gaza Strip, or whether it is from Lebanon, or whether it is from elsewhere, there are never today, you cannot say that Jerusalem is enjoying security and safety. And so it says in verse four, Thus says the Lord of hosts, There shall yet, notice that, old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with a staff in his hand for very age, for a long time. In Hebrew it says, Merov Yamim. They will be older and older, in other words, they will be long, they will have a long life in the city of Yerushalayim and in the land of Israel during the Messianic kingdom. He said in verse five, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. In other words, there will be old men and old women, there will be boys and girls, then they will live a long life, and they will have a time when the children can play safety, safely in the city of Yerushalayim and in the land of Israel.

You know, you cannot say today, you know, when I was a little boy, born in Jerusalem, and my father, My grandparents came to Jerusalem many years ago. I still remember at my teenage when there was a lot of bombs placed in the city. They were placing, terrorists were placing all sort of bags with a bomb inside, even buttons with a bomb inside. And if you were a little boy, touch the button, touch, he found some kind of a, of a little button, like for a shirt or for pants, and it was exploded, and he lost his hand, and lost his legs, and terrible days. And still today, constantly, there is constantly friction and problems in the city of Yerushalayim and in the land of Israel. People die premature, sicknesses and diseases and all the things that are happening today, and we live in not only in Jerusalem, in the whole world, beloved brothers and sisters.

Diseases and sicknesses and problems and wars and conflict that is going on and going on and going on today, but here is the Lord promising us. Of course, in the context, he promised the Jewish people, but he promised to the world, to the whole world. There's a day coming when, verse, notice again, when in verse four, there shall be an old man and an old woman dwell in the streets of Yerushalayim there. And every man with his staff in his hand for very age, you know, the Hebrew word here at the end of verse four, merov yamim, people will live long life. Now, let me tell you something. Turn with me first of all to Revelation chapter 20.

While the Old Testament prophets, or we would call the Hebrew prophets, never gave us in the Hebrew Scriptures the length of the time that the Messianic Kingdom will be, the Lord Jesus the Messiah gave it to the Apostle Yohanan John when he was on the island of Patmos in the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation we learn that the length of the Messianic Kingdom will be a thousand years long. Let me read this to you. Revelation 20 verse 4, The angel came down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and he bound him for a thousand years. Satan will be bound for a thousand years. Verse three, and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and he shut him up, and he set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled.

Look at this, and I'm reading in verse, a little bit further down, in verse five, but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Verse six at the end, and we shall be priests unto God and unto Christ, and shall reign with him for a thousand years. Verse seven, and when the thousand years were expired, then Satan shall be loosed. The length of the Messianic kingdom will be one thousand years long. In other words, the population that will live on earth during the Messianic kingdom, where the Lord will come back and he will restore Jerusalem and he will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and in this world, in this restored and we might call it renovated world, the length of the population will be thousand years long. Now remember this man called Methuselah, Methuselah, he lived nine hundred and sixty nine years, he was the oldest man that ever lived upon the face of this earth.

Amazing. Now turn with me to Isaiah sixty five now. In Isaiah chapter sixty five, there we have We see what the Lord has to say about the future messianic kingdom concerning the length of time that people will live here upon the face of this earth. That's why in Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 4 it says that there shall be old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem and it says in for a long age. Notice it Isaiah chapter 65 verse 17. For behold I will create a new heaven and a new earth. This is the new heaven and a new earth of the messianic kingdom not the eternal order. Information about the eternal order was only given at the end of the book of Revelation. The Old Testament Hebrew prophets received revelation concerning the kingdom age and not beyond.

And so this new heaven and new earth is the new heaven and new earth of the millennial or the messianic kingdom. Because even during the messianic kingdom, people will still die if they will not accept the Lord by the year 100. It says here, and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind, and notice that, and be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold, I create Jerusalem, and rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, verse 19 of Isaiah 65. And joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. And now notice what it says in verse 20. There shall be no more hands than infant of days, nor an old man that has not fulfilled or filled his days. For a child, listen to that, a child shall die at a hundred years old.

And a sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. In other words, everyone that will be born into this Messianic kingdom in their days, in the future day, he must accept the Messiah by the year 100. And if he has not accepted God, accepted Christ, the Messiah, during that first hundred years, he will die. He's called accursed. And the very fact that there will be death there, he will die, it shows us that in a Messianic kingdom, although there will be a new heaven, a new earth, a renovation of this world, it will still not going to be the eternal order, where sin will be no more. That is in Revelation 21 and 22, at the end of the thousand years reign of the Messiah. So imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, just an example, if a person will be fifty years old, a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, at the end of the tribulation, he or she will enter into the Messianic kingdom at the year fifty, and because they are believers, they will not die, and they will live up to a thousand years and fifty.

That's why he says here in Isaiah chapter, in Zechariah chapter eight and verse four, an old man and an old woman will dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age, merov hayamim, for long days, and the streets of the city shall be Full of boys and girls, children will be born, but they will have to accept God and accept the Mashiach by the year 100, otherwise they will not live beyond the year 100. Amazing, the lesson. In other words, what we really learn here, that the Lord is taking Zechariah and his people to whom Zechariah conveyed at about 518 BC, he conveyed to them these truths, he's teaching them to see this is what the plan of God is for Jerusalem and for Zion, for Zion and for the people of Israel and ultimately for all the nations of the world.

Peace on earth, blessing on earth, although it's not the eternal order because although Satan will be bound for a thousand years, After the end of the thousand years, Satan will be lost, and he will deceive the nations again until the Lord will completely destroy him and cast him to the lake of fire, and then there is the new heaven and new earth of the eternal order.

And so now quickly go to our chapter, in chapter eight of the prophecy of Zechariah, now that in verses four and five, Jerusalem will enjoy long days, they will experience security, the messianic age will be this long period of time, as we know it from Revelation, twenty four thousand years long, even beyond Metushelech, the oldest man that ever lived, nine hundred and sixty nine years old. And then in verse six, Jehovah points to the marvel of this promise. He says in verse six, Thus says the Lord. If it be marvelous, or the word for marvelous is the word pele, yipale, is the word wonderful that is mentioned about the Lord Jesus the Messiah, you shall because wonderful, counselor. It is pele, it is a miracle.

It is beyond comprehension. We cannot comprehend it. If it be, verse six, he says here, if it be amazing, wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of these people in these days, and who is these remnant? These are the Jewish people that were there in Jerusalem. We're building this very small temple again, the second temple that they are now rebuilding with all the opposition and all the animosity from those that are without who didn't want them to rebuild the temple. He said, if it will be marvelous to this remnant, to these a few that are there, fifty thousand plus, in these days, the days of Zechariah, the days of these people, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes, said the Lord of all? Do you think it will be marvelous in eyes? I'm planning it. I'm not surprised because I know what I have a purpose in my mind for the land, for the city, for the people.

It's marvelous for you, but I know my plan. I know my program. How wonderful it is, beloved brothers. And sisters, nothing it is impossible for God. Nothing it is impossible, for God. Just to read a verse here that I have for myself in the Gospel of Matthew, and there we read, beloved brothers and sisters, in, I'll just, see if I can find it, in chapter 19, Matthew 19, and verse, let me just find it, in verse, 26. But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Praise God for this assurance. With men, well, It is impossible. But with God, who is sovereign, who is the creator, all things are possible.

Now go back and quickly, let's just read the last final verses seven and eight of the portion for this ministry today. In verses seven and eight, the promise of Yehovah to fully restore Israel, the physical and spiritual restoration and regeneration of the people of Israel is promised here in verses seven and eight. In verse seven we do read, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country.

I am promising that. I am going to restore my people, I will bring them from the east. And I will bring them from the west, and I will save them. I will deliver them, he is promising here in this wonderful verse. The word in Hebrew, the word save is the Hebrew word moshia. hineni moshia et ami me'eretz mizrach u'me'eretz m'vo hashamesh. From the east and from the coming of the sun.

And going down of the sun. I am going to restore my people. And when you think about it, in verse 7 we have the physical restoration of the nation of Israel, of the Jewish people, back to the promised land. But then in verse 8 he says, I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God in truth. And in righteousness.

I'm going to do so. I'm not going only to have the physical restoration to the land of the Jewish people, of the peo- of my people, but I will give them a regenerated nation. Israel will be a regenerated nation. They shall be my people, and I will be their God. I'm reading here in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse, 30, Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse, 33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. What an amazing future is awaiting the nation of Israel in the coming day. Not only to return to the land like it is today, over seven and a half, half of the population out of the fifteen million approximately Jewish people that they're living around the world, half of them are now in the land of Israel.

But still, sadly, in a state of unbelief. Do you think God is satisfied just to have the nation back in the land without to be a regenerated nation with a relationship with God, living for God, serving God, being a light to the nations of the world? Is that what God planning only just to bring the Jewish people back from all the, from the east and west and north and south and put them in the, in Jerusalem and, and the land of Israel in Canaan and just give them the land without to have a, a relationship with them? Spiritual relationship?

No. God will have his people as he promised here to Israel through the prophet Zechariah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God. He noticed that in truth and also in righteousness.

In truth. And also, beloved brothers and sisters in righteousness. This is exactly what Isaiah said in chapter 11 and verse 11 and 12, and other prophets have said it in other passages. I'll just read this, beloved brothers and sisters, Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 11 and 12, and there we read, listen to this, in verse 11 and 12, we read, And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Syria, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathos, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the land, the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign, a nest.

An amazing, amazing miracle for the nation that shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. God is intending, beloved brothers and sisters, on the basis of the finished work of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, on the basis of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, to restore the nation of Israel. And Israel ultimately will come to recognize that Yeshua is indeed the promised Messiah and a nation shall be born. In a day. Just to conclude with this verse from Romans chapter eleven and verse twenty six where the Apostle Paul said to the Roman believers at Rome, he says in verse twenty five of, of Romans chapter eleven, I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in, and so all Israel shall be saved.

As it is written, there shall come out of the, of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, where I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, their enemies, for your sakes, Paul is saying to the believers at Rome, but as touching election, they are beloved for the Father's sake, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. God is intending to restore his earthly people Israel, and Zechariah received that revelation by the word of the Lord in Zechariah chapter 8, verses 1 to 8, and so the Lord postponing the response that he's intending to give concerning the fast, the question about fasting, and he's passing over the generation, he's in a sense lifting the nation there and placing the Israel in the kingdom age, in a messianic age, and saying, I will be the one.

Because of my jealousy for Zion and for Jerusalem, I will return to Zion. I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. What a wonderful promises we have in the word of God concerning Israel, the earthly people of God, but also for our own sake today, those of us who are part of the ekklesia, the assembly.

The church has the promises that God has for the assembly, for the believers of this present day, Jews and Gentiles who are united together in the body of Messiah, the promises, the heavenly promises that the church, the assembly has, that will be fulfilled totally as the Lord Jesus the Messiah promised in his written word. Well, my dear friend, we are going to end with these eight verses for this meeting today. It was a long chapter, and I just didn't want, didn't want to conclude the whole chapter. In our next meeting together, we will continue with Zechariah chapter eight and verse nine, and we will go all the way to the end of the chapter, to verse, in the will of the Lord, to verse twenty-three. Let's pray together, and we will say shalom to you, O God. Our Father, thank you for your word, thank you for the prophecy of Zechariah, thank you for your plans for Israel, the nation.

Thank you for the plan for the assembly, the ekklesia as well. We know that all the promises of God are yea and amen in the Mashiach Yeshua, in the Messiah Jesus. Bless us, bless your word to us all, we pray, for we ask it all in Yeshua and Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. God bless you, my dear friend, and till the next time, we say shalom, shalom, bye-bye.