1 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.
4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
6 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.
7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; 8 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.
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear
in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in
the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid,
that the temple might be built. 10 For before these 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 affliction: for I set all men
every one against his neighbour.
11 But now I will not be unto the
residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and
the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their
dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these
things.
13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the
heathen, 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.
14 For
thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your
fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented
not: 15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem
and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth
to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his
neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate,
saith the Lord.
18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, 19 Thus saith
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 joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore
love the truth and peace.
20 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.
22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.
23 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even 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.
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Comments by Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
I have a great delight in seeing the restoration of the remnant to Jerusalem. I grieved with the prophets when I read the writings of the captivity. Now I rejoice in the restoration of the people to God after the captivity.
I certainly understood why God would pronounce the 70-year captivity because the people refused to hear HIM and obey HIM. Now it ends and I rejoice when I read these chapters.
Jesus Christ is then born and walked on the earth for a brief time. After that, Jesus was raised from the dead by God and given an heavenly kingdom and we get to participate in that kingdom by the Spirit of God.
Then will come the destruction of the present heavens and earth ... and the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven and there will be everlasting peace.
The New Jerusalem:
Revelation 21 ... 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write:for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:which is the second death.
9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God:and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth:and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper:and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl:and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple therein:for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it:and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day:for there shall be no night there.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie:but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
The present Jerusalem is not the New Jerusalem ... The present Jerusalem is a nation of men.
Yet there is a remnant of God over the whole world. These overcome where they are between the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the destruction of the present heaven & earth, and the coming of the New Jerusalem where all the people of God from all generations will live forever.