BLOG

Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 10

Zechariah 2:11-13 says,

¹¹ Many nations [goyim] will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. ¹² The Lord will possess Judah [the praisers, worshippers] as His portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. ¹³ Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation.

Since this is an end-time prophecy to be fulfilled under the New Covenant, we see the universal promise that the people from “many nations” who praise (“Judah”) Christ will be “My people.” The term does not refer to ethnic Jews or Israelites but to the nations (or “Gentiles”). The “holy land” of the New Covenant is the “better country” that Abraham sought (Hebrews 11:16). It is the land inheritance of the glorified body—glorified dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), which is granted to the overcomers through the feast of Tabernacles.

Likewise, “Jerusalem” here is the heavenly city that Abraham sought (Hebrews 11:10). Those who retain an Old Covenant mindset fail to seek the same country and city that Abraham sought. To such people, verse 13 reminds us: “Be silent, all flesh.” Let all fleshly interpretations shut up.

In that day Christ will be known by His other name, Immanuel, “God with us.” Matthew 1:18 says, “you shall call His name Jesus,” but Matthew 1:23 also quotes Isaiah, ‘they shall call His name Immanuel.” He was known to His family by the name Jesus (or Yeshua, “Salvation”), but “they,” that is, the nations, will call Him Immanuel. Why? Because God will be with them as well, and they will be “My people.”

This is fulfilled in Revelation 21:2, 3,

² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”

This promise remained largely unfulfilled in the earthly Jerusalem, because the fleshly city rejected Him. But in the second coming of Christ and beyond, Zechariah 2:11 will be fulfilled. Ultimately, every knee will bow to Him, so that all nations can become “My people.”

In this way, God promises not only to remember the ethnic Israelites and Judahites but also to remember all the nations of the world. This is the Gospel (“Good News”) of the Kingdom.