Zechariah chapter 6

I read these and my first thought was "wow!" Not because of the judgment on the first part of the chapter, or even because of the foretelling of Jesus, the branch, who will be both priest and king, wit perfect harmony between the two roles. But verse 15 really spoke to me:

Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.

There are plans to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem now, they have been drawn up and the clothes for the priests are under design even now. All this before anything has been agreed (or even seems likely to be agreed) about exactly where on the Temple Mount and how, it will be built. Jerusalem and the prospects of a new, third, Temple is such a political minefield in the Middle East, particularly as some nations believe Israel should be wiped from the face of the earth.

The chapters of Zechariah are full of the coming judgment of God, which applies to each and every one of us, not just the Jews. Yet there is also such promise, such hope. Those from far away will come to rebuild the temple of the Lord….isn't that amazing?

Interestingly, this promise from God is not a blank cheque book, it is not a case of God telling the Israelites that the Temple will be rebuilt no matter what they do. The catch is that they have to "diligently obey the Lord your God." They cannot slide further and further into wickedness and depravity as the Babylonians did (and suffered accordingly for). Instead, they have to obey God, to follow his laws and trust in Him, and then everything will flow from there. It is a conditional promise, and they have to fulfil their side of the bargain. This is just as God promised to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

And I know this verse has been coming to mind a lot over these past few weeks. God's judgment is coming, it cannot be long now, Yet will we turn and follow Him, humble ourselves, pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways? Because if we will, then He promises to hear from heaven, to forgive our sins and to heal our land.