“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.” — Zechariah 8:6

Amy Carmichael was born into a Christian family in Ireland in December of 1867, and at the age of fifteen, she gave her heart to God. In her late teens, she attended services at the Keswick Convention where the definite experiences of salvation and sanctification were emphasized, and there she learned of a deeper walk with the Lord. The words “Go ye” from Mark 16:15 were deeply impressed on her heart and on March 3, 1893, at the age of twenty-four, she became the first woman missionary sent out by the Keswick Convention.¹ After serving briefly in Japan and Ceylon, she went to India in 1895, where she spent the remainder of her life, never returning home for a furlough. 

During Amy’s travels around the villages of southern India, she learned the horrifying truth that parents were selling their little girls to the priests and priestesses of the Hindu temples throughout the area. This was the beginning of Amy’s lifelong mission to rescue young girls from that fate. By 1901, Amy’s home in Dohnavur, India, was housing fifty children rescued from temple prostitution. To those little ones, she was known simply as “Amma,” or “Mother.” 

Slowly, Amy became aware that young boys of southern India were also being sold and used in the same degraded manner. She explained the boys’ plight to her ministry contacts but was told it was impossible for anything to be done about the situation. Despite her pleas, they insisted that there simply were not resources to build a facility for boys, nor workers to staff it. 

However, Amy was a woman of prayer, and she began to pray fervently about the matter. One day as she walked near a waterfall and pondered its beauty, a Voice spoke a promise to her heart: “Can I who do this, not do that?” That settled the matter for Amy. She knew God would bring it about. 

In time, a baby boy was brought to her for care. Taking that as a sign, she had a field next to the girls’ compound surveyed and came up with the design for a boys’ orphanage there. She also asked God to send a specific confirmation that this was His will—a donation of one hundred British pounds—and told her staff that she had made that request of God. The very next day, a donation of one hundred pounds was received in the mail! Less than ten years later, nearly eighty boys were being cared for at Dohnavur. Today, the Dohnavur Fellowship is still a refuge for at risk boys and girls.² 

Those who insisted a home for the exploited boys of India was impossible remind me of the people of Judah who considered Zechariah’s prophecy of a transformed Jerusalem to be too fantastic to believe. The prophet had relayed God’s promises, but the Temple was only half-built at that time, and the walls encompassing their city were still broken down. It seems the people thought, How could that ever happen? 

God saw the doubt in their hearts. In today’s focus verse, He said, in essence, “What seems unbelievable to you is no great thing for Me!” Though the discouraged remnant in Jerusalem found it hard to imagine that their land would one day enjoy great peace and that God himself would reign from their city, we know that will happen. One day, Jerusalem will be a safe and holy place, honored throughout the world, and the governing center of the Messianic Kingdom of Jesus Christ. 

Like Amy Carmichael, let’s settle in our hearts that when God makes a promise, we can count on it being fulfilled, no matter how impossible the situation might seem. God is trustworthy, and He keeps His word!

^1. Elisabeth Elliot, “A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael,” (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Revell, 2005).

^2. Vance Christie, “Trusting God Who Is Able—Amy Carmichael,” vancechristie.com, June 27, 2014, https://www.vancechristie.com/2014/06/27/ trusting-god-able-amy-carmichael.

BACKGROUND

Two years after Zechariah’s night visions, the prophet received another message from the Lord. This one was in response to a question regarding ritual fasts on anniversaries pertaining to the Babylonian captivity. In these chapters, God gave Zechariah a two-part answer for the people. In chapter 7, God explained what He requires of His people and why He had decided to punish them with exile. Chapter 8 continues the response, offering a series of promises regarding the future restoration of Israel and encouragement for the people of Zechariah’s day. 

Chapter 7:1-2 relates that a two-man delegation came to the priests and prophets in Jerusalem, wanting to know if they needed to continue their fasts now that the Temple was being rebuilt. Although they inquired specifically about a fast that mourned the burning of the Temple, Zechariah responded with a broader review of all their fasts. While in exile, the Jews had added several new fasts to the God-ordained fast on the Day of Atonement. These additional fasts lamented tragic events in the defeat of their nation: the beginning of the siege; the destruction of the Temple; the assassination of Gedeliah; and the final capture of Jerusalem. 

God’s response, given in verses 4-7, was directed to “all the people of the land.” God rebuked the hypocritical and ritualistic nature of the fasts. Instead of adding additional fasts that He had not required, the people should have obeyed the instructions previously given them by the prophets. 

In verses 8-14, God rehearsed former teachings concerning justice, mercy, and compassion toward poor and helpless community members. Instead of obeying these, their forefathers had refused instruction and made their hearts as hard as “an adamant stone”—one that could not be marked upon. Therefore, God’s wrath had come upon them. They had brought upon themselves the calamity they bewailed in their fasts. 

Nevertheless, in chapter 8 God offered hope through promises of restoration. The repetition of the phrase “thus saith the Lord” throughout the chapter emphasizes the surety of these promises. A partial fulfillment of some of these promises has occurred, but many of the blessings described for Israel will come in the end times. The fact that Jerusalem will become a safe, thriving place under the Messiah’s rule is illustrated by the depiction of extreme old age together with youth (verses 4-5); in troubled times, the elderly and the young are the first to perish. 

In verse 6, the word “marvelous” denotes something difficult to believe. In essence, God asked the rhetorical question: If the promises of a safe, transformed, prosperous Jerusalem seem unbelievable, does that mean such promises are difficult for Me? He went on to promise deliverance for His people from the east and the west, denoting the whole earth. Jerusalem will be enlarged to hold them, and they will worship and serve God together in truth and righteousness. 

The next portion of text, verses 9-13, opens and closes with the words “let your hands be strong.” This was a message of encouragement for those rebuilding the Temple. Though they had faced a lack of resources and opposition, there were better days ahead. 

Verses 14-17 indicate that God’s promises were contingent upon the renewal of the covenant standards, exemplified by practicing truth, righteousness, and love towards each other. “In your gates” (verse 16) alludes to the justice system, as the gates were where legal determinations were made. 

The delegation’s question was answered in the concluding verses of chapter 8, with the revelation that in the future, fasts would be replaced with joyful feasts (verses 18-19). The multitudes from heathen nations who will worship with Israel and fully enjoy the salvation appointed to God’s people (verses 20-23) point to a fulfillment in the Millennial Reign when the nations of the earth will gather in Jerusalem, the government seat of the Messiah’s Kingdom, to honor Him.

AMPLIFIED OUTLINE

IV. The question of the fasts (7:1—8:23)
     A. The question (7:1-3)
     B. The reply (7:4-8:23)
          1. The rebuke of ritualism (7:4-7)
          2. The reminder of past disobedience (7:8-14)
               a. The command (7:8-10)
               b. The past disobedience (7:11-12)
               c. The past result (7:13-14)
          3. The restoration of Israel (8:1-17)
               a. The future restoration (8:1-8)
                   (1) The reason for restoration (8:1-2)
                   (2) The return of Messiah and the results of restoration (8:3-6)
                   (3) The promise of restoration (8:7-8)
               b. The present encouragement (8:9-17)
                   (1) The subjects of encouragement (8:9)
                   (2) The reason for discouragement (8:10)
                   (3) The details of encouragement (8:11-15)
                   (4) The commands to the encouraged (8:16-17)
          4. The restoration of millennial blessing (8:18-23)
               a. Fasts replaced by feast (8:18-19)
               b. Gentiles will seek God (8:20-22)
               c. Jews will enjoy special privilege (8:23)

A CLOSER LOOK

1. In Zechariah 7:9-10, what did God tell Zechariah He expected of His people?
2. Why do you think God said in Zechariah 8:3 that in the future, Jerusalem will be called “a city of truth”?
3. Through Zechariah, God told the people to “fear not, but let your hands be strong” (Zechariah 8:13). In what ways has He encouraged you to “be strong”?

CONCLUSION

Even when situations seem impossible, God is well able to fulfill His promises.