ZECHARIAH 8
O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.” 18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord 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 seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore, love truth and peace. – Zechariah 8:13-19
ZECHARIAH 8 LOVE TRUTH AND PEACE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When you love the Lord your God, you will do what he says
He wants us never to fear but always pursue peace instead
We are all commanded to speak truth to one another
This is a clear manifestation that we love each other
To speak lies only makes for confusion and chaos
It opens door for the devil to have access to tempt us
In truth, we expose and discern all the tactics of the enemy
Therefore, seek the truth in God’s word and you’ll have victory.
In this prophetic utterance of the prophet Zechariah, we hear the Lord urge all his people to love truth and pursue peace at all times. What does it do when we love the truth? It keeps us aware of the ways that the devil works. The purpose of God’s word is to expose all that is not of God’s kingdom. So, if a believer constantly seeks God’s truth, he will grow in discernment of the spiritual realm and all the works that are going on when spiritual warfare actually happens. It is sad to see so many Christians who would not even seek the word of God regularly. They think that they can navigate this world without God’s guidance. It is very arrogant to do that because they cannot discern spiritual things if they only rely on what is visible in the world. The book of Ephesians warns us that we are dealing with spiritual forces that we can’t see and yet can create havoc in our lives.
Zechariah voices out God’s instructions in verses 16-18 as follows:
· Speak the truth to one another
· Utter only truthful judgments and pursue peace
· Don’t plot evil schemes or false accusations or statements
The Lord wants to ensure that they follow these commands so they can continually receive God’s favor.
REFLECTION
· Why do you think many people today fail to seek the truth and pursue peace regularly?
