Zechariah 8
OGCZechariah 8:1-8
THE THIRD ANSWERING STATEMENT. Zechariah 8:1-8 -
RV. And the word of Jehovah of hosts came to me, saying, Thus-’ saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts. The holy mountain. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for every age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days; should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts. Thus saith Jehovah 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.
LXX. And the word of the Lord Almighty came, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty; I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Sion with great jealousy, and I have been jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the Lord; I will return to Sion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a true city, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty a holy mountain. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; There shall yet dwell old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem, every one holding his staff in his hand for age. And the broad places of the city shall be filled with boys and girls -playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; If it shall be impossible in the sight of the remnant of this people; in those days, shall it also be impossible in my sight? saith the Lord Almighty. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and the west country; and I will bring them in, and cause them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness.
COMMENTS
The third statement made by God through Zechariah to the questioners from Beth-el is a statement of His love for His people and a desire that they be happy in the knowledge that He is with them in the land. Such a joyous relationship has no room for fasts, especially not for fasts of human origin.
(Zechariah 8:1-2) This is not the only passage of Scripture in which God is said to be jealous. (cp. Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 6:15, Joshua 24:19, Nahum 1:2) In every one of these passages, God’s jealousy is set against the background either of the covenant or the violation of the covenant in the worship of false gods.
Zechariah’s statement of Jehovah’s jealousy is likewise in the context of the covenant. It is Zion over which He is jealous. It is the (restored remnant who marvel at the joys of His return to Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:6). It is Jehovah of hosts who speaks (Zechariah 8:4). The mountain (Zion) of Jehovah is the holy mountain. These are covenant terms.
God’s jealousy is the jealousy of a righteous husband for His bride. In more than one passage in the pre-exilic prophets, Israel is presented as Jehovah’s bride. (e.g. Isaiah 49:18; Isaiah 61:10; Isaiah 62:5, Jeremiah 2:32; Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9; Jeremiah 25:10; Jeremiah 33:11, Joe 2:16).
Nor is the idea strange to the New Testament. (e.g. John 3:29, Revelation 18:23; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:9; Revelation 22:17) Israel, as presented in the New Testament, is the covenant people consisting of all who by obedient faith are God’s people.
In both the Old and New Testaments, idolatry in particular and false worship in general are called harlotry or spiritual adulrry. In turning from God to the worship of false gods, Israel played the role of the unfaithful wife. This, as we have previously seen, was the ultimate cause of the evil in the pre-exilic kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and so the ultimate reason for the destruction of Israel and the captivity of Judah.
(Zechariah 8:3-5) Now the punishment of the faithless bride by her jealous husband is over. He has returned her to the homeland. In building the temple she has at last returned in her heart to Him. He will therefore return to live in the house Israel has built for Him. The twin hills, Zion and Moriah upon which Jerusalem and the temple sit are to be known as the holy mountain.
Bear in mind, that which is holy is that which is set apart to the accomplishment of God’s purpose. The ultimate fulfillment of God’s covenant promise would come when, on this very mountain, God’s message of repentance and remission of sins began its call to all the nations of the earth. (cp. Luke 24:44 -ff, Acts, chapter 2)
The happiness of the restored people in their land with their God is pictured by the prophet in figures of happy home life. Old men and old women sit in the streets. Those who, because of age must lean upon a staff, go about the city. The streets are full of children at play. It is a picture of happy contented safety on the part of those who trust and obey the Lord and who thereby are aware of His presence in their midst. Long life and many children was, among the Jews, the epitome of the good life.
(Zechariah 8:6) The remnant, having returned to a desolate forsaken land with its buildings all in ruins, would look with amazement upon the restoration.
Should it also be, Jehovah asks rhetorically, marvellous in mine eyes? Those who had failed to heed his warnings before the captivity, had also failed to hear His promises of deliverance. Therefore they were astounded that it should come so completely to pass. But to Jehovah, Who from the beginning had planned it so, it was no cause for marvel at all.
(Zechariah 8:7-8) The joy of the returnees, and their amazement at what God has wrought through them blends quite normally into a glimpse of the final fulfillment in Messianic Israel. In that day, Jehovah will save His people, not only from Babylon and from among the Jews. His people will come from the east and the west. The presence of God among them will not be symbolic, as in the temple, but in truth and righteousness. Jesus saw this in His own coming. At the Samaritan well He said that the hour was now that true worship would be in spirit and truth rather than in the temple made with hands. (cf. John 4:23-24)
Chapter XXXVIQuestions
Teaching About Worship
Outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an ____________________ to ______________________.
God’s promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in ____________________.
On December 4, ______________ B.C. those who lived in Beth-el sent messengers to Jehovah with a question.
What was that question?
Where is Beth-el?
Show that those who lived in Beth-el were not Samaritans but Jews.
The fast on the seventh day of the fifth month marked the ________________ anniversary of ________________.
The fast of the seventh Month remembered ___________________.
Zechariah’s answer to the question from Beth-el was in ________________ statements.
Give the references for each of these statements.
What was the first answer?
Who were the former prophets?
What was the second answer?
The questioners are further reminded that God, through the former prophets, had commanded their fathers to __________________________.
The happiness of the restored people is presented in figures of happy __________________.
The joy and amazement of the returnees blends quite normally into a glimpse of ________________.
What is Zechariah’s fourth answering statement?
Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into ____________________ prediction.
At the beginning of their restored national life is the same ________________ terminology which had marked the beginning of _________________.
The returned remnant is once more to be a nation of _________________.
How had the Jews become a curse upon the nations rather than a blessing?
Discuss the idea that God has more at stake in this work than do they.
What was the fifth statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el?
How does it relate to the first statement?
So; long as the people are _________________ and ______________ they have no reason to fear God’s wrath.
What was the sixth statement?
This statement is also an entreaty to God’s people to
It begins with a promise of _______________ instead of _______________ and closes with a ____________ promise.
Modem Jews observe the fast of the fourth month in connection with _____________, _______________, _________________, and _________________.
The fast of the fifth month is held in connection with ______________, and _______________, It also remembers _________________ and ________________.
34,
The fast of the seventh month is now observed in remembrance of __________________________________.
The tenth month fast recalls ________________________________________.
What do you conclude from the fact that these fasts are still observed by the Jews?
Zechariah 8:20-23 are a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the ________________, beginning at
____________________ has brought the world the _________________________.once known only to the Jews.
Zechariah 8:9-13
THE FOURTH STATEMENT. Zechariah 8:9-13
RV. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets that were in the day that the foundation of the house of Jehovah of hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built. For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in, because of the adversary: for I set all men every one against his neighbor. But now I will riot be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith Jehovah of hosts. For there shall be the seed of peace; the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.
LXX. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and from the time that the temple was built. For before those days the wages of men could not be profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the affliction to him that went out or to him that came in: for I would have let loose all men, every one against his neighbour. But now I will not do to the remnant of this people according to the former days, saith the Lord Almighty. But I will shew peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of my people. And it shall come to pass, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Juda, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: be of good courage, and strengthen your hands.
COMMENTS
(Zechariah 8:9-10) Before the blessed state described in the third statement can become reality the people must get to work with their hands and build the temple. There will be little prosperity in the land until this is accomplished. Their labour will be all in vain and they will be constantly at odds with one another until they have finished the task the Lord, through His prophets, has set before them. (cp. Haggai 1:6-11)
(Zechariah 8:11-12) Once the temple has been rebuilt the promised blessed conditions will be forthcoming. God’s relationship to the restored remnant will then be different than it is now in their hesitancy to rebuild, different than it has been during the centuries of their rebellion and punishment. Rather than chastisement, He will heap upon them the blessings of the land.
(Zechariah 8:13) Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into a Messianic prediction. Israel, who have been a curse among the nations shall be saved and become a blessing.
Here, in capsule form, is a statement of God’s covenant purpose in the Jewish people. The term house of Judah is that from which we derive the term Jew. The term Israel is the term which stresses the covenant relationship of the Jews to Jehovah. The remnant of the Jewish race has returned to the land promised by God in the establishment of the covenant. As the remainder of the race they have been saved (or will be upon completion of the temple). The remnant was also the remainder of the covenant people. As such they would be saved in a much greater way with the coming of the Messiah. At that point they would be a blessing.
Here, at the beginning of their restored national life, is the same covenant terminology which has marked every other beginning in the history of this people. In the call of Abraham, when the covenant was voiced for the first time, God had made the promise to him in words identical to these (Genesis 12:2). In the same statement, God had made it clear to Abraham that the blessing was intended for the whole human race. (Genesis 12:3)
In the soliloquy recorded in Genesis 18:17 -ff, God reaffirms this covenant purpose in very similar language. (Zechariah 8:18)
To Isaac God spoke similarly, as the covenant passed from the first to the second generation. (Genesis 26:4)
When the covenant was reaffirmed to Jacob, the language was the same. (Genesis 28:14)
It was this promise that God remembered when He was about to lead Jacob’s progeny out of Egypt. (Exodus 2:24) The progeny accepted this covenant as the condition upon which they would become a peculiar treasure to Jehovah, and a nation of priests. (Exodus 19:5-6)
Now the remnant, upon taking up residence in the land once more, once more becoming a nation of priests in the restored temple, are reminded very pointedly that the reason for their existence has to do with their relationship to God’s purpose in all the nations of the earth. They had, in time past, become a curse rather than a blessing upon the nations. They had assumed they were special before God merely for their own sakes, and so believed the rest of the world inferior. They had proved unfaithful to God themselves and so thwarted the fulfillment of His purpose to bless all nations through them. Consequently, ten of the twelve tribes had been wiped out and the remaining people led captive. Now, returned from exile and re-established with the symbolic presence of Jehovah in their midst they are not to forget why He has spent all these patient centuries with them. The purpose for which they had been called into being in the beginning is exactly the purpose of their present restoration. Therefore, because God has more at stake in their work than do they, they are once more called upon to fear not, but let your hands be strong. To understand God’s purpose in building is to fearlessly build in the strength of the Lord.
Chapter XXXVIQuestions
Teaching About Worship
Outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an ____________________ to ______________________.
God’s promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in ____________________.
On December 4, ______________ B.C. those who lived in Beth-el sent messengers to Jehovah with a question.
What was that question?
Where is Beth-el?
Show that those who lived in Beth-el were not Samaritans but Jews.
The fast on the seventh day of the fifth month marked the ________________ anniversary of ________________.
The fast of the seventh Month remembered ___________________.
Zechariah’s answer to the question from Beth-el was in ________________ statements.
Give the references for each of these statements.
What was the first answer?
Who were the former prophets?
What was the second answer?
The questioners are further reminded that God, through the former prophets, had commanded their fathers to __________________________.
The happiness of the restored people is presented in figures of happy __________________.
The joy and amazement of the returnees blends quite normally into a glimpse of ________________.
What is Zechariah’s fourth answering statement?
Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into ____________________ prediction.
At the beginning of their restored national life is the same ________________ terminology which had marked the beginning of _________________.
The returned remnant is once more to be a nation of _________________.
How had the Jews become a curse upon the nations rather than a blessing?
Discuss the idea that God has more at stake in this work than do they.
What was the fifth statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el?
How does it relate to the first statement?
So; long as the people are _________________ and ______________ they have no reason to fear God’s wrath.
What was the sixth statement?
This statement is also an entreaty to God’s people to
It begins with a promise of _______________ instead of _______________ and closes with a ____________ promise.
Modem Jews observe the fast of the fourth month in connection with _____________, _______________, _________________, and _________________.
The fast of the fifth month is held in connection with ______________, and _______________, It also remembers _________________ and ________________.
34,
The fast of the seventh month is now observed in remembrance of __________________________________.
The tenth month fast recalls ________________________________________.
What do you conclude from the fact that these fasts are still observed by the Jews?
Zechariah 8:20-23 are a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the ________________, beginning at
____________________ has brought the world the _________________________.once known only to the Jews.
Zechariah 8:14-17
THE FIFTH STATEMENT. Zechariah 8:14-17
RV. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: As I thought to do evil unto you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I repented not; so again have I thought in these days to do good unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the judgement of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah.
LXX. For thus saith the Lord Almighty; As I took counsel to afflict you when your fathers provoked me, saith the Lord Almighty, and I repented not: so have I prepared and taken counsel in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Juda: be ye of good courage. These are the things which ye shall do; speak truth every one with his neighbour; judge truth and peaceable judgement in your gates: and let none of you devise evil in his heart against his neighbour; and love not a false oath: for all these things I hate, saith the Lord Almighty.
COMMENTS
(Zechariah 8:14-15) The fifth statement is, in effect, a brief reaffirmation of the first. The fathers,* i.e.* those who lived on the other side of the exile, had provoked Jehovah’s wrath. He had determined to punish them and would not be dissuaded.
Now He is equally determined to start all over again with the remnant, Just as originally He had intended a blessed and peaceful relationship with Israel in the land of promise while leading them toward the fulfillment of His purpose, so now in the restoration it is His desire to bless the remnant toward the same end.
(Zechariah 8:15(c) - Zechariah 8:17) For this reason they are not to live in fear. God’s wrath is neither petulant nor arbitrary. So long as they are faithful and live as He desires they have no reason to fear it.
There can be no doubt as to what will please Him. They must, as the former prophets had entreated their fathers, be honest with each other. They must be just in their judicial proceedings. They must not scheme to take advantage of the weak and poor. They must not go to court with false oaths to accomplish selfish purposes. The reason is plain. He hates all these things. A righteous God could scarcely do otherwise.
Chapter XXXVIQuestions
Teaching About Worship
Outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an ____________________ to ______________________.
God’s promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in ____________________.
On December 4, ______________ B.C. those who lived in Beth-el sent messengers to Jehovah with a question.
What was that question?
Where is Beth-el?
Show that those who lived in Beth-el were not Samaritans but Jews.
The fast on the seventh day of the fifth month marked the ________________ anniversary of ________________.
The fast of the seventh Month remembered ___________________.
Zechariah’s answer to the question from Beth-el was in ________________ statements.
Give the references for each of these statements.
What was the first answer?
Who were the former prophets?
What was the second answer?
The questioners are further reminded that God, through the former prophets, had commanded their fathers to __________________________.
The happiness of the restored people is presented in figures of happy __________________.
The joy and amazement of the returnees blends quite normally into a glimpse of ________________.
What is Zechariah’s fourth answering statement?
Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into ____________________ prediction.
At the beginning of their restored national life is the same ________________ terminology which had marked the beginning of _________________.
The returned remnant is once more to be a nation of _________________.
How had the Jews become a curse upon the nations rather than a blessing?
Discuss the idea that God has more at stake in this work than do they.
What was the fifth statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el?
How does it relate to the first statement?
So; long as the people are _________________ and ______________ they have no reason to fear God’s wrath.
What was the sixth statement?
This statement is also an entreaty to God’s people to
It begins with a promise of _______________ instead of _______________ and closes with a ____________ promise.
Modem Jews observe the fast of the fourth month in connection with _____________, _______________, _________________, and _________________.
The fast of the fifth month is held in connection with ______________, and _______________, It also remembers _________________ and ________________.
34,
The fast of the seventh month is now observed in remembrance of __________________________________.
The tenth month fast recalls ________________________________________.
What do you conclude from the fact that these fasts are still observed by the Jews?
Zechariah 8:20-23 are a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the ________________, beginning at
____________________ has brought the world the _________________________.once known only to the Jews.
Zechariah 8:18-23
THE SIXTH STATEMENT. Zechariah 8:18-23
RV. And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; there love truth and peace. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and go to seek Jehovah of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.
LXX. And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast, shall be to the house of Juda for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and ye shall rejoice; and love ye the truth and peace. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Yet shall many peoples come, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of five cities shall come together to one city, saying, Let us go to make supplication to the Lord, and to seek the face of the Lord Almighty; I will go also. And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to obtain favour of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord Almighty; In those days my word shall be fulfilled if ten men of all the languages of the nations should take holdeven take hold of the hem of a Jew, saying, We will go with thee; for we have heard that God is with you.
COMMENTS
The final statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el is also the final entreaty of God to the people to build the temple. It begins with a promise of joy in the stead of fasting and closes with a Messianic promise that through His people all the people of earth will come to share His blessings.
(Zechariah 8:18-19) The fasts occasioned, albeit without divine sanction, by the punishment of Judah through Babylon will give way to joy and gladness. The fast days themselves will become feast days.
Jewish history provides an ironic footnote concerning these fasts which God promised would become feasts. The fast of the fourth month observed on the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, is now observed in connection with four incidents: (1) the building of the golden calf. (2) Moses-’ breaking of the tablets of the law. (3) the cessation of daily sacrifices prior to the actual Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and (4) the actual occupation of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
The fast of the fifth month, is held on the 9th day of Abh by modern Jewry, in connection with the destruction of Solomon’s temple by Nebuchadnezzar and of the second temple on the same day of the year by Titus in 70 A.D. Connected with the modern observance of this fast also is the memory of the day God turned the Israelites back from entering the promised land a year and a half after they left Egypt, and the capture of the city of Bether by Hadrian c. 135 A.D.
The fast of the seventh month, now observed on the third day of Tishri remembers the murder of Gedaliah at Mizpah, just as during the captivity.
The tenth month fast remembers, on the tenth day of Tibheth, as it did in Babylon, the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
From this it would seem that the Jews have missed the joy of their deliverance from captivity, just as in rejecting Jesus they have missed the joy of their deliverance from sin. On is constrained to believe that Zechariah’s picture of joy in this passage, as others, is symbolic of the joy of salvation in Christ rather than of any joy on the part of those who seem forever blind to the blessings of Jehovah.
(Zechariah 8:20-22) The Messianic age will come. People of many nations will join the faithful of Israel in the enjoyment of God’s blessings. The passage is a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the church, beginning in Jerusalem, has brought to the world the Jehovah once known only to the Jews.
These verses are very reminiscent of Isaiah 2:4, and of Joe 2:28 -ff. If by them we are to understand material promises, then history fails to record their fulfillment. If, on the other hand, these verses, and other such prophetic passages are symbolic of the real blessings of Jehovah for His people in the Messianic age, we have but to count our blessings as Christians to know the real meaning of these verses. Personally, I believe the latter to be the intent of the passage.
What God began in the Spirit will not be perfected in the flesh (cp. Galatians 3:3). God’s purpose has always been to bless the peoples of the whole earth. When the temple is completed and the symbolic priesthood and sacrifices restored, the final barrier to Messiah’s coming will have been removed. When He comes, men from every nation under heaven will seek the God of Israel. The faithful remnant would become the nucleus of the Messiah’s true Israel, and as they went everywhere from Jerusalem preaching the Gospel, men of every nation would turn to them for knowledge of the one true God.
Chapter XXXVIQuestions
Teaching About Worship
Outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an ____________________ to ______________________.
God’s promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in ____________________.
On December 4, ______________ B.C. those who lived in Beth-el sent messengers to Jehovah with a question.
What was that question?
Where is Beth-el?
Show that those who lived in Beth-el were not Samaritans but Jews.
The fast on the seventh day of the fifth month marked the ________________ anniversary of ________________.
The fast of the seventh Month remembered ___________________.
Zechariah’s answer to the question from Beth-el was in ________________ statements.
Give the references for each of these statements.
What was the first answer?
Who were the former prophets?
What was the second answer?
The questioners are further reminded that God, through the former prophets, had commanded their fathers to __________________________.
The happiness of the restored people is presented in figures of happy __________________.
The joy and amazement of the returnees blends quite normally into a glimpse of ________________.
What is Zechariah’s fourth answering statement?
Again the ecstasy of blessing blends forward into ____________________ prediction.
At the beginning of their restored national life is the same ________________ terminology which had marked the beginning of _________________.
The returned remnant is once more to be a nation of _________________.
How had the Jews become a curse upon the nations rather than a blessing?
Discuss the idea that God has more at stake in this work than do they.
What was the fifth statement in answer to the questioners from Beth-el?
How does it relate to the first statement?
So; long as the people are _________________ and ______________ they have no reason to fear God’s wrath.
What was the sixth statement?
This statement is also an entreaty to God’s people to
It begins with a promise of _______________ instead of _______________ and closes with a ____________ promise.
Modem Jews observe the fast of the fourth month in connection with _____________, _______________, _________________, and _________________.
The fast of the fifth month is held in connection with ______________, and _______________, It also remembers _________________ and ________________.
34,
The fast of the seventh month is now observed in remembrance of __________________________________.
The tenth month fast recalls ________________________________________.
What do you conclude from the fact that these fasts are still observed by the Jews?
Zechariah 8:20-23 are a perfect picture of what is happening as the influence of the ________________, beginning at
____________________ has brought the world the _________________________.once known only to the Jews.