Return of Jesus Christ, redeemed bodies, the New Jerusalem, global turbulence, Salvation through Jesus Christ.

Zechariah 8

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

But let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, that those who love Your name may exalt in You

Romans 2:28-29 and also Psalms 5:11

• God is jealous for His Holy place and is coming back.
• The resurrection with redeemed and eternal bodies.
• The faithful few who hold to Christ are saved.
• People from both hemispheres of the world will be saved and be His people.
• Encouragement to be strong in Jesus Christ.
• Before the return of Jesus Christ there is no currency and no peace.
• The faithful few possess the New Jerusalem of the new heaven and new earth.
• We were under the curse of sin but now saved through Jesus Christ.
• God requires us to love Him and to love each other.
• Fasting from sin and feasting on joy through Jesus Christ.
• Many people have sought God through Jesus Christ.

God is jealous for His Holy place and is coming back.  
“Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying^, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; With great fervor I am zealous for her’. Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.’’” Zechariah 8:1-3

Exactly what is Zion since the coming of the Christ, Jesus? This verse says plainly, “…you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24 Jerusalem refers to the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth.

Our Lord Jesus ascended into Heaven after His death and resurrection, He returned to Zion, that HeavenlyCity.

When God says He is zealous for Mt. Zion, it means He is filled with zeal to have a Heavenly place set aside for Believers. The only Holy place on this earth is where the Most Holy Place is, the Holy of Holies which is our soul as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We have come to Mount Zion
The city of the Living God
The Heavenly Jerusalem
By His blood we have come
Thousands of angels dance around His throne
And thousands more sing out new songs!
Worthy is the One, the Lamb who has overcome
Resurrection Love has raised us up again
Worthy is the One, the Lamb who has overcome
He has conquered death, and I will follow Him!
(Church Song)

The resurrection with redeemed and eternal bodies.
 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.’” Zachariah 8:5

For the old men and women to sit in the streets of Jerusalem again, with great age, refers to eternal life and being redeemed with the new eternal body in the New Jerusalem. The boys and girls playing in the streets represents the eternal youth and rejuvenation for everyone living in the New Jerusalem of the new heaven and new earth. As quoted below,

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by one man came death, by one Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive…the body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 42-44

Click here for a post on the new eternal body.
Click here for a post on the resurrection of dry bones.

The faithful few who hold to Christ are saved.  
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, will it also be marvelous in My eyes?’ Says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 8:6

A remnant is a small amount of something that remains. When considering the entire population from the beginning of time, only a few have come to live for God. All Believers are the remnant that belongs to God, while the massive amount of the others deny God their Creator. Believers are the remnant because we choose the narrow path leading to life, not the broad road leading to destruction. We are the few walking on a narrow road. That is the road of life, eternal life, and is marvelous in our eyes and is marvelous in the eyes of the Christ, Jesus. There will also be a remnant of the faithful few Christians during the time around the Battle of Armageddon. Also, the remnant of the Jewish people is mentioned in Ezekiel 39 in the post on the Day After the Battle of Armageddon. In that day, the surviving remnant acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ.

People from both hemispheres of the world will be saved and be His people.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness.’” Zechariah 8:7-8

When our Lord Jesus returns, He will gather all Believers from the east and from the west, and we will live in the eternal New Jerusalem. He gladly calls us His people as we gladly acknowledge Him as our Lord and Savior. “As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.” Romans 9:25

While everyone who lives for God through Jesus Christ are gathered into the eternal New Jerusalem, the “sons of the kingdom” [the Jewish people], will be cast out, as quoted, “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:11-12

“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29

Encouragement to be strong in Jesus Christ.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who spoke in the day the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord of hosts, That the temple might be built.” Zechariah 8:9

In these days we are presently living in, we need to be strong. These are the days that the prophets have foretold about, specifically about the beast mentioned in the post on Revelations 13. That is the beast that has power over physiology to give people what to speak, do, think, and feel. That beast gives breath/life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through people everywhere. By what they are given to say and do, the yare groomed to the mark, name, and number of the beast. The way of Christ is marked for extinction, which includes the Gospel of Christ and all Believers.

We are living in the days of the United Nations, which was established in 1945, immediately after WW2 [World War 2]. The United Nations has brought the government of the beast with it, as described in Daniel 8:1-14. The majority of countries of the United Nations are atheists, as China and Russia are two of the three most powerful countries in the world. When the United Nations becomes the undisputed one world government, atheism will be the l aw of the land. Their enemies are we who know God is our Creator, Jesus is the Christ, and the Holy Spirit needs to be part who who we are.

The reason for the word of God is to build His temple. The temple being built is our body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…” 1 Corinthians 6:19 Today, the beast wants to make the temple of the Lord [our body], his temple by giving people what to speak, do, think, and feel. That beast is the one “…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Click here for a post on that.

We are to be strong in the Lord during these times of global hostility to belief in God, faith in Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The masses in every city around the world detest the Gospel of Jesus Christ and do not want to hear about our born-again experience.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12

Before the return of Jesus Christ there is no currency and no peace.
“For before these days there were no wages for man nor any hire for beast; There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in; For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.” Zechariah 8:10

“For before these days” refers to the days before the coming of Jesus Christ and before we are resurrected to be with Him eternally. It is referring to a time of enormous global turbulence. The verse is referring to the latter days, which we have unquestionably entered into today.

1. There were no wages. We can think of this as relating to no one receiving a paycheck to put in their personal pockets because people are paid through digital currency. That is the nature of the cashless society, no one receives money. Credits are placed in a person’s “account” through digital currency, nothing that can be drawn out and converted to cash. Click here for a post on the “GENIUS ACT”, which is a law signed to set the framework for making the United States the “crypto-capital of the world”.
2. There was no hire for beasts. Beasts were used by people to generate personal income, to plow the farmland, haul goods, etc. Beasts were the economic engine of those days. That is like entrepreneurship today. Having no hire for beasts relates to no one allowed to generate their own income to earn a little extra money. All businesses will be established/licensed by the global government of the beast. Those businesses are operated by those who welcome the beast that gives them what to do, think, say, and feel.
3. There was no peace. The followers of Jesus Christ and every aspect of Christianity is put through hardships, turmoil, suffering, and persecution. At the same time, everyone is suffering conflict with one another. There is conflict between those who are the enemy of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It is is global tribulation. The Lord sets all men, everyone, against his neighbor.

• Today, digital currency is everywhere! And it goes by many names in cities all around the world. It won’t be long before it replaces the standard paycheck and cash is obsolete. The digital dollar will not allow access to cash.
• Today, business managers and owners are those who follow the beast which directs what they think, do, say and feel within business practices. They are allowing the image of the beast to live and speak through them. “Free-enterprise”, becoming independently wealthy, and being “somebody” above today’s culture is a thing of the past.
• Already in today’s time, there is constant conflict between people. Much of it comes from the process of aggressing on the human spirit to harden it and to build a wall to the Spirit of Christ. With the human spirit hardened and the Spirit of Christ removed, it makes a person more receptive to the beast which forms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It leads to increased lawlessness.

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:13-17

The faithful few possess the New Jerusalem of the new heaven and new earth.
“But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘For the seed will be prosperous, the vine will give its fruit, The ground will give her increase, and the heavens will give their dew— I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these.” Zechariah 8:11-12

The former days of the remnant came under the first covenant that came through Moses, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second…in that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete...and for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant… that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Hebrews 8:7, 13, 9:15

The “Seed” refers to the Christ, Jesus, and His prosperity is the wealth of born-again Believers, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ…and if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:16, 29

The “Vine” is our Lord Jesus, and we are the fruit of the sacrifice He made on the Cross to atone for sin, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

The ground is our heart, mind, and soul as the dew from Heaven is the Holy Spirit, which produces the increase of the fruit of the Spirit blossoming in our spirit, such as love, kindness, goodwill, faith, joy, goodness, peace, meekness, gentleness, patience, self-control, perseverance.

Jesus gives us Himself as the Seed, makes us fruitful as the branch blooming from His Vine, and gives us the fruit of the Spirit. Our Lord Jesus gives the remnant of His children, all Believers, an eternal inheritance. For a description of the prosperity reserved for us in heaven, read Revelation 21 and also Revelation 22.

We were under the curse of sin but now saved through Jesus Christ.
“And it will come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong.’ “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Just as I determined to punish you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘And I would not relent,” Zechariah 8:13-14

The Christ came to the Israelites 2000 years ago, to bring Salvation to them and to remove the curse of sin and bondage to the laws of Judaism. In that Salvation, they would go from being a curse to the nations around them to being a blessing. As we see today, Israel is anything but a blessing to the nations around them, that’s because, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” John 1:11 Even then, “…as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13

Salvation comes to whoever believes in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 We rightfully deserve punishment, but instead we are given life by faith in Jesus, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we will be saved from wrath through Him.” Romans 5:8-9

 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:13-14

In the same way that God is unrelenting in His judgment, He is just as determined to make every one of us a blessing to Him who receives His Son Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit encourages Christians to not fear but to be strong, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Ephesians 6:10

God requires us to love Him and to love each other.
“So again in these days I am determined to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear. These are the things you will do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace; Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor; And do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate,’ says the Lord.” Zechariah 8:15-17

The Lord is, and has always been, determined to do good for the Israelites, all the Jewish people, and the Israelites. They need to speak truth to their neighbors, and the Christ, Jesus, is the Truth, the Way, and the Life. The need to give judgment in the Truth of Christ, justice through the Spirit of Christ, and to share the peace of Christ. They are not to think about doing harm to those around them, and not to love false promises that amount to nothing more than flatteries and smooth talk.

All of what was just written applies to each and every person in this world, applies to every born-again Believer. As our Lord Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

Fasting from sin and feasting on joy through Jesus Christ.
“Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, will be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.’” Zechariah 8:18-19

“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” John 16:20 Therefore love truth and peace.

On this earth, fasting was a practice used as an expression of dedication to God and an act of wanting to draw closer to Him. Since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, fasting relates more to the cleansing of the soul and living to give up sin. There is joy when we lay off the junk of sin and that occurs as we live for Jesus. In the verse above, it says that fasting becomes joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. That is how fasting is for those who are adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ. As we starve the sin of the spirit, we feast on the joy, gladness, and cheerfulness which arises through the Holy Spirit in our walk of Holiness. Fasting has to do with whittling away lies and conflict against God and living in the truth and peace of Jesus Christ.

Many people have sought God through Jesus Christ.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Peoples will yet come, inhabitants of many cities; The inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, “Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord, and seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will go also.” Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In those days ten men from every language of the nations will grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” Zechariah 8:20-23

People from every city all over the world have come to God through Jesus Christ. From city to city the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been shared and people have been praying and seeking the Lord together. Many people have sought God and many strong nations embraced Him through Jesus Christ, living in the hope of the New Jerusalem. AMerica was one such nation.

Today, Christians are the new “Jewish man” as quoted, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; ” Romans 2:28. Also, our Lord Jesus is that “Jewish Man”, being from the Tribe of Judah. The Gospel of Christ was spreading rapidly as people from every language was grabbing to Jesus Christ to become part of the family of God.

Jesus Christ laid the foundation for the Kingdom of God and the rapid growth of the testimony of Jesus began with the Apostles, then spread all through Europe, crossed the ocean to the Americas, and has reached every nation around the world. The growth of the Gospel of Christ continued until the United Nations was established immediately after WW2, which ushered in the global government of the beast. That is explained in Daniel 8. Since then, there has been a global falling away from Jesus Christ and people in every city around the world serve the beast which forms what they think, feel, do, and say, Click here fora a post on the “man of sin”. The beast enables the image of the beast to speak and live through people as they are groomed to the mark, name, number of the beast by what they are given to say and do.

Today, the churches have fallen away from sharing the Gospel of Christ. Government lawmakers have fallen away from basing their policies on the values of the Bible. The educational system has fallen away from teaching the foundations of the Bible. Every sector of society has fallen away from their welcome of Christianity.

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1