Zechariah 8:22-23

The call for God's covenant people, in Zechariah 9:12, ‘Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope’, is the key verse for this series. The hope that Zechariah proclaims is hope in God as King, hope that God has come to dwell with us, and hope that the covenant between God and God’s people will be restored. This is the sure hope that holds us captive.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37). Billions around the world have never heard God’s Good News. Yet from the beginning God promised to reach and bless all nations on earth. In the days to come you’ll follow Jesus’ lead and ask the Lord to send His workers—maybe even you—to people God loves all over the earth.

The Gospel of John shows us who Jesus is. In chapter 4, we read how Jesus reveals Himself in a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well. This story contains many lessons for us. John has written it down for us, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31)

Like Haggai, Zechariah prophesies during the post-exilic period as Israel began resettling in the Promised Land. Zechariah encourages Israel to remain faithful and prophesies of a coming righteous King who will bring salvation to His people (Zechariah 9:10). This book reminds us that we too must be to what God has called us to, always hopefully anticipating when God Himself “will be king over all the earth” (Zechariah 14:9).