27/05/2020 - GOOD DAYS WILL RETURN

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Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit In the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand Because of great age.    Zechariah 8:4

God promises to bring back the good times, warning that in Jerusalem — a type of the Lord’s Church — they would dwell in the old. He is not speaking of the New Jerusalem, dressed as Bride for Her Husband, Jesus. We may believe that this refers to our day, for in heaven no one will grow old or die, nor use a cane. We must believe!

We know that the sin of Judah led Israel to Babylon, but then, being merciful, God brought the children of Israel back from captivity. This return happened with events timed by the Most High, because since the rise of Cyrus the situation has begun to change for the elected people. Everything that occurs to us has the permission, or total operation, of our kind and faithful Lord.

If God’s children learned to walk according to biblical precepts, they would not be threatened or dominated by evil. In the days of King Hezekiah, the Assyrian emperor rebelled against Judah, for his predecessor had destroyed the northern kingdom. He appeared all prose, asking and stating who could rid such a population. But he did not know that it would not be any god who would defeat him, but the true God.

The same thing happened several times with the holy people. The nations that rose up against the Lord’s elect, upon finding in Judah a king fearing Him, were terribly ashamed. This is an example for us: From time to time, evil comes upon us, and instead of being afraid, we must face it in the Name of Jesus.

This was the case with the union of the nations formed among the Ammonites, Moabites, those of Seir Mountain, and some others. They attacked Judah in the days of King Jehoshaphat. As he had called his people to pray that God would escape them, unimaginable deliverance came. Jehoshaphat was told not to let anyone of his fight. Instead, they should praise the Most High, and in doing so, victory was granted to them!

The promise made through Zechariah said that the streets of the city of the great King would be filled with boys and girls who would play in them. In this we see the Lord’s care, His pleasure to see the little ones with sanctified hearts, playing innocently. It would be nice if this were true in our cities. Perhaps this will happen if we fulfill Jesus’ command to evangelize the lost by bringing them out of crime and into loving the Creator.

The Gospel is the power of the High in action. We were not accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven to tell and hear the story of what was done, but to learn from those who fulfilled God’s will in their day. Now they have given us the testimony of what the Father will do for the one who believes today. So get to work!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares