Remember... #10

 Read  Zechariah 10

Background: God had been doing and saying everything He could through Zechariah to both comfort and challenge His people after they had returned from exile.  He wanted to encourage them to not give up on the rebuilding of the temple, wall, and city of Jerusalem, but He also wanted to warn them not to fall back into the same disposition their forefathers had which brought about the exile in the first place. They were not to worry about the surrounding nations that had and were harassing them; He would take care of them. In this chapter He promises that He will provide the rain they need, the leaders to shepherd them, and the assurance that they are indeed His people.

Key Verses:8

 “I will whistle for them and gather them in,
    for I have redeemed them,
    and they shall be as many as they were before.
9 Though I scattered them among the nations,
    yet in far countries they shall remember me,
    and with their children they shall live and return.
10 I will bring them home from the land of Egypt,
    and gather them from Assyria,
and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon,
    till there is no room for them."

Thoughts: Halfway through the chapter, Zechariah quotes God's words.  He would whistle for them as a shepherd would his sheep, saying it was time to go home.  Though they were scattered everywhere, He was going to bring them from far away.  Though at that time there were not many returnees, making it seem dead and impossible to rebuild, God was going to make Jerusalem a bustling city again. This was, of course what it would be by the time Jesus walked through the city, but even more so what it will be like when the New Jerusalem will be when He comes again. God would, did, and will restore all things, just as He promised.