THE EXODUS OF TODAY
THE EXODUS OF TODAY
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH, NOVEMBER 23, 1946
MT. CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO, TEXAS
This afternoon we shall study Zechariah 8. The first thing we need to know in the study of this
chapter is whether its promises are made to the people of Zechariah's time or to the people of our
time. To find this out, it is necessary for us to read a few scattered verses. We shall begin with
Zech. 8:7, 8 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save My people from the east country,
and from the west country; 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."
In these verses we see that God is promising to save His people not from the land of ancient
Babylon, where Zechariah then was, but from the east and from the west, and to bring them to
Jerusalem. They are to be His people, not by virtue of their ancestry, or by some other, but in
Truth and righteousness. Now, since the promise in these verses did not meet its fulfillment in
Zechariah's day, nor at any time thereafter, it stands to reason that it must meet its fulfillment
sometime in the future. Let us read--
Zech. 8:13 -- "And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of
Judah, and
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 22
house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be
strong."
Besides promising to save His people from the east and from the west, the Lord promises to
save also the house of Judah and the house of Israel, both of the scattered ancient kingdoms. You
are well acquainted with the fact that the ten-tribe kingdom constituted the house of Israel. And
since these two kingdoms have never yet been united and brought back to Jerusalem, there is but
one logical conclusion to be reached: The promises of this chapter are to be fulfilled in the time of
the "gathering of the people" from the four corners of the earth. In view of this great and grand
work the Lord expects our hands to be "strong." Next we shall read--
Zech. 8:20-22 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come
people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 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.
Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to
pray before the Lord."
Since we know that no nation aside from the Jewish nation in Zechariah's day went to seek the
Lord and to pray before Him in Jerusalem, there is no alternative but again to admit that the
promises of Zechariah 8 belong to the people in the time of the final harvests, in the gathering
time.
Having completed our analysis of the time this chapter meets its fulfillment, we can, I am sure,
now study the prophecy itself with much greater interest than we could have otherwise. Let us
begin with
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 23
Zech. 8:1-3 -- "Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. 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."
Yes, wonderful things are spoken of Zion and Jerusalem. At one time the Lord forsook the
city and scattered the people. But at the time these scriptures are being revealed, He is to return,
to gather His elect, and to bring them to Zion and Jerusalem. When this great work shall have
been accomplished Jerusalem will then be called "a city of Truth,...the holy mountain" -- a people
well versed in God's whole Truth and without a sinner in their midst. This great wonder evidently
takes place during the Judgment of the Living, the righteous are taken there while the wicked are
being bound in bundles as it were for to be destroyed. And while the Lord dwells in Zion, His
Truth shall then emanate from Zion and Jerusalem. Then it is that "many people and strong
nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord." Now is
our greatest chance to work and pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven."
Zech. 8:4, 5 -- "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. And the streets of the
city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof."
Jerusalem shall be a city of joy, too. There shall
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 24
be no fear or accident; even the children shall safely play in the streets. There shall be no "long
faces," and no worried looks. So shall it be for both young and old.
Zech. 8:6 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this
people in these days, should it also be marvelous in Mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts."
Just because the fulfillment of this prophecy might seem too marvelous and impossible, must it
necessarily seem impossible to the Lord, also? -- Indeed not.
Zech. 8:7, 8 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save My people from the east country,
and from the west country; 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."
Zechariah predicts the gathering of the saints out of all nations into God's purified and
Truth-filled church, the Kingdom, just as the parable of the harvest teaches, only the wheat is to
be put into the barn, church. There is to be no mixed company of saints and sinners in the "holy
mountain of the Lord."
Zech. 8:9 -- "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."
God here counsels us to let our hands be strong, and stable.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 25
We, too, should hear the words of the prophets and though we be not building the temple which
they were building, yet that is the only way that our work can prosper. We cannot afford to close
our ears to what the prophets say, or to sit down in an unconcerned attitude.
Zech. 8:10-12 -- "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. But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the
former days, saith the Lord of hosts. 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."
How thankful and glad we ought to be that the days of our affliction are almost at the end, that
now if we hear His prophets, and brace ourselves for the work, the Lord assures us of peace and
prosperity. This may soon be ours if we but steadfastly cling to the Truth, and thus to the Lord.
Zech. 8:13 -- "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."
Though we have been great sinners and a great curse among the heathen, yet even far greater
will our blessings be if we let Him give them to us. Our hands, should be strong to hasten that
glad day.
Zech. 8:14, 15 -- "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 26
thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I
repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of
Judah: fear ye not."
Again and again we are assured that as great as has been His people's punishment, just that
great shall be their joy and comfort now in the gathering time.
Zech. 8:16 -- "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."
Everyone one of us is admonished to teach the Truth to his neighbour, to do whatever he finds
close to his hand. We are to execute judgment of Truth rather than waste breath and time talking
about the sins of others lest we fail to see the knotty "beam" in our own eye. Let us, as this
scripture instructs, speak the Truth, execute judgment and peace in our homes and in our midst.
Never should we busy ourselves with other people's concerns. We should do well if we manage
our own.
Zech. 8:17 -- "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."
Of all the things Christians need to learn, this one thing is most urgent: That they be honest with
themselves and with others, that they always speak the truth, that they cease imagining evil
against one another. Remember, when you repeat hear-say you most likely are speaking
falsehood, either wholly or in part. This you cannot afford to do, for "there shall in no wise enter
[the city] anything that...maketh a lie" Rev. 21:27. Evil speaking and evil surmising
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 27
are things which the Lord hates.
Zech. 8:18, 19 -- "And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, 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."
These ancient and typical fasts shall turn to be antitypical feasts of joy and gladness.
Zech. 8:22 -- "Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord."
It is interesting to envisage the expansion of God's Truth as outlined in this chapter: First, one
individual speaks the Truth to another individual. Then one city communicates It to another city.
Finally, one strong nation invites another nation to join the Lord. Thus will the harvest continue
until the gospel work is finished, until God's faithful people stand on the Lord's right side (in the
Kingdom), and the hypocrites with the heathen stand on His left side (in the condemned Gentile
world that is ready to perish).
Zech. 8:23 -- "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."
It is logical to conclude that the ten men who take hold of all the languages of the nations in the
time of this great ingathering are figurative of a group of people (the church freed from tares in
the harvest
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 28
time), just as the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1) are figurative of the church while the tares are still
commingled with wheat. The ten servants (Luke 19:13), and the ten horns (Rev. 12:3; 17:3) are
numbers of universality. These ten men will speak all the languages as did the Apostles on the
Pentecost.
Obviously, the "Jew" whose skirt the people will take hold of must be the one through whom
the Lord is working to reveal Himself and His Truth to the people. Having discovered this fact,
naturally they will say, "We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." This
particular Jew, of course, is not of the present-day identified Jews, but most likely a descendant of
the Christian Jews, -- perhaps of those who in the apostolic age lost their identity by naming
themselves Christians (Acts 11:26). Again, he may be a descendant of any of the Jews who were
driven from their homeland, scattered throughout the nations, and assimilated by them, then
converted to Christianity.
"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to
it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and
from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for
the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.... And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people,
which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land
of Egypt." Isa. 11:10-12,
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 29
Thus shall the gathering of the people be in the final exodus of today.
This ends the eighth chapter of Zechariah, and now we shall in a brief summary consider some
of the things which we have learned in this study:
First and most important of all, we have learned that the promises contained in Zechariah's
prophecy are to be fulfilled in our day, and that very shortly wonderful things are to happen; that
at one time the Lord had to forsake Jerusalem and scatter His people throughout the world, but
now He is to return and gather His elect from the four corners of the earth; that Jerusalem is to be
called a city of Truth and of joy -- no fear, no accidents, no sorrow there; that God's people are to
enjoy peace and prosperity; that they are to speak well of everyone, no longer will they waste
their breath or time talking of the sins of others; that never will they busy themselves with other
people's concerns; that they are to manage their own, and execute judgment and peace in their
homes; that God's Truth is to expand rapidly: at first one individual speaking the Truth to another;
then one city communicating It to another city; finally one strong nation is to invite another nation
to join the Lord.
I agree with you that these promises do seem incredible and even fantastic. But the more they
so appear, the brighter the prospect, for God does not do what seems possible to man, but He
does the things that seem altogether impossible to them. Think of God's marvelous work in the
Exodus Movement: He led them out of Egypt, while they marched through the Red Sea, through
the desert, and through the Jordan. He brought down manna from heaven, and continued to do
so for forty long years. Visualize, if you can,
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 30
Pharaoh's brick slaves becoming prophets, priests, and kings! The three Hebrews comfortably
standing in the midst of the fiery furnace; and of Daniel in the lion's den; of Mordecai's victory
over Haman; of David's victory over the giant; of Joseph feeding the world; of Moses surviving
the Nile; of Samson pulling down the temple by bare hands. Countless are the wonders of God's
mighty power all through the ages. All these deliverances, and many others were absolutely
impossible with men, but very much possible with God. These mighty miracles bring us face to
face with the fact that God is in the business of making "possibles" out of discordant
"impossibles." Therefore, "let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words" of the
Lord.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 31
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH, NOVEMBER 23, 1946
MT. CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO, TEXAS
This afternoon we shall study Zechariah 8. The first thing we need to know in the study of this
chapter is whether its promises are made to the people of Zechariah's time or to the people of our
time. To find this out, it is necessary for us to read a few scattered verses. We shall begin with
Zech. 8:7, 8 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save My people from the east country,
and from the west country; 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."
In these verses we see that God is promising to save His people not from the land of ancient
Babylon, where Zechariah then was, but from the east and from the west, and to bring them to
Jerusalem. They are to be His people, not by virtue of their ancestry, or by some other, but in
Truth and righteousness. Now, since the promise in these verses did not meet its fulfillment in
Zechariah's day, nor at any time thereafter, it stands to reason that it must meet its fulfillment
sometime in the future. Let us read--
Zech. 8:13 -- "And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of
Judah, and
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 22
house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be
strong."
Besides promising to save His people from the east and from the west, the Lord promises to
save also the house of Judah and the house of Israel, both of the scattered ancient kingdoms. You
are well acquainted with the fact that the ten-tribe kingdom constituted the house of Israel. And
since these two kingdoms have never yet been united and brought back to Jerusalem, there is but
one logical conclusion to be reached: The promises of this chapter are to be fulfilled in the time of
the "gathering of the people" from the four corners of the earth. In view of this great and grand
work the Lord expects our hands to be "strong." Next we shall read--
Zech. 8:20-22 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come
people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 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.
Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to
pray before the Lord."
Since we know that no nation aside from the Jewish nation in Zechariah's day went to seek the
Lord and to pray before Him in Jerusalem, there is no alternative but again to admit that the
promises of Zechariah 8 belong to the people in the time of the final harvests, in the gathering
time.
Having completed our analysis of the time this chapter meets its fulfillment, we can, I am sure,
now study the prophecy itself with much greater interest than we could have otherwise. Let us
begin with
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 23
Zech. 8:1-3 -- "Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. 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."
Yes, wonderful things are spoken of Zion and Jerusalem. At one time the Lord forsook the
city and scattered the people. But at the time these scriptures are being revealed, He is to return,
to gather His elect, and to bring them to Zion and Jerusalem. When this great work shall have
been accomplished Jerusalem will then be called "a city of Truth,...the holy mountain" -- a people
well versed in God's whole Truth and without a sinner in their midst. This great wonder evidently
takes place during the Judgment of the Living, the righteous are taken there while the wicked are
being bound in bundles as it were for to be destroyed. And while the Lord dwells in Zion, His
Truth shall then emanate from Zion and Jerusalem. Then it is that "many people and strong
nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord." Now is
our greatest chance to work and pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven."
Zech. 8:4, 5 -- "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. And the streets of the
city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof."
Jerusalem shall be a city of joy, too. There shall
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 24
be no fear or accident; even the children shall safely play in the streets. There shall be no "long
faces," and no worried looks. So shall it be for both young and old.
Zech. 8:6 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this
people in these days, should it also be marvelous in Mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts."
Just because the fulfillment of this prophecy might seem too marvelous and impossible, must it
necessarily seem impossible to the Lord, also? -- Indeed not.
Zech. 8:7, 8 -- "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save My people from the east country,
and from the west country; 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."
Zechariah predicts the gathering of the saints out of all nations into God's purified and
Truth-filled church, the Kingdom, just as the parable of the harvest teaches, only the wheat is to
be put into the barn, church. There is to be no mixed company of saints and sinners in the "holy
mountain of the Lord."
Zech. 8:9 -- "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."
God here counsels us to let our hands be strong, and stable.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 25
We, too, should hear the words of the prophets and though we be not building the temple which
they were building, yet that is the only way that our work can prosper. We cannot afford to close
our ears to what the prophets say, or to sit down in an unconcerned attitude.
Zech. 8:10-12 -- "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. But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the
former days, saith the Lord of hosts. 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."
How thankful and glad we ought to be that the days of our affliction are almost at the end, that
now if we hear His prophets, and brace ourselves for the work, the Lord assures us of peace and
prosperity. This may soon be ours if we but steadfastly cling to the Truth, and thus to the Lord.
Zech. 8:13 -- "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."
Though we have been great sinners and a great curse among the heathen, yet even far greater
will our blessings be if we let Him give them to us. Our hands, should be strong to hasten that
glad day.
Zech. 8:14, 15 -- "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 26
thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I
repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of
Judah: fear ye not."
Again and again we are assured that as great as has been His people's punishment, just that
great shall be their joy and comfort now in the gathering time.
Zech. 8:16 -- "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."
Everyone one of us is admonished to teach the Truth to his neighbour, to do whatever he finds
close to his hand. We are to execute judgment of Truth rather than waste breath and time talking
about the sins of others lest we fail to see the knotty "beam" in our own eye. Let us, as this
scripture instructs, speak the Truth, execute judgment and peace in our homes and in our midst.
Never should we busy ourselves with other people's concerns. We should do well if we manage
our own.
Zech. 8:17 -- "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."
Of all the things Christians need to learn, this one thing is most urgent: That they be honest with
themselves and with others, that they always speak the truth, that they cease imagining evil
against one another. Remember, when you repeat hear-say you most likely are speaking
falsehood, either wholly or in part. This you cannot afford to do, for "there shall in no wise enter
[the city] anything that...maketh a lie" Rev. 21:27. Evil speaking and evil surmising
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 27
are things which the Lord hates.
Zech. 8:18, 19 -- "And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, 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."
These ancient and typical fasts shall turn to be antitypical feasts of joy and gladness.
Zech. 8:22 -- "Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord."
It is interesting to envisage the expansion of God's Truth as outlined in this chapter: First, one
individual speaks the Truth to another individual. Then one city communicates It to another city.
Finally, one strong nation invites another nation to join the Lord. Thus will the harvest continue
until the gospel work is finished, until God's faithful people stand on the Lord's right side (in the
Kingdom), and the hypocrites with the heathen stand on His left side (in the condemned Gentile
world that is ready to perish).
Zech. 8:23 -- "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."
It is logical to conclude that the ten men who take hold of all the languages of the nations in the
time of this great ingathering are figurative of a group of people (the church freed from tares in
the harvest
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 28
time), just as the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1) are figurative of the church while the tares are still
commingled with wheat. The ten servants (Luke 19:13), and the ten horns (Rev. 12:3; 17:3) are
numbers of universality. These ten men will speak all the languages as did the Apostles on the
Pentecost.
Obviously, the "Jew" whose skirt the people will take hold of must be the one through whom
the Lord is working to reveal Himself and His Truth to the people. Having discovered this fact,
naturally they will say, "We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." This
particular Jew, of course, is not of the present-day identified Jews, but most likely a descendant of
the Christian Jews, -- perhaps of those who in the apostolic age lost their identity by naming
themselves Christians (Acts 11:26). Again, he may be a descendant of any of the Jews who were
driven from their homeland, scattered throughout the nations, and assimilated by them, then
converted to Christianity.
"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to
it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and
from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for
the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.... And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people,
which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land
of Egypt." Isa. 11:10-12,
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 29
Thus shall the gathering of the people be in the final exodus of today.
This ends the eighth chapter of Zechariah, and now we shall in a brief summary consider some
of the things which we have learned in this study:
First and most important of all, we have learned that the promises contained in Zechariah's
prophecy are to be fulfilled in our day, and that very shortly wonderful things are to happen; that
at one time the Lord had to forsake Jerusalem and scatter His people throughout the world, but
now He is to return and gather His elect from the four corners of the earth; that Jerusalem is to be
called a city of Truth and of joy -- no fear, no accidents, no sorrow there; that God's people are to
enjoy peace and prosperity; that they are to speak well of everyone, no longer will they waste
their breath or time talking of the sins of others; that never will they busy themselves with other
people's concerns; that they are to manage their own, and execute judgment and peace in their
homes; that God's Truth is to expand rapidly: at first one individual speaking the Truth to another;
then one city communicating It to another city; finally one strong nation is to invite another nation
to join the Lord.
I agree with you that these promises do seem incredible and even fantastic. But the more they
so appear, the brighter the prospect, for God does not do what seems possible to man, but He
does the things that seem altogether impossible to them. Think of God's marvelous work in the
Exodus Movement: He led them out of Egypt, while they marched through the Red Sea, through
the desert, and through the Jordan. He brought down manna from heaven, and continued to do
so for forty long years. Visualize, if you can,
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 30
Pharaoh's brick slaves becoming prophets, priests, and kings! The three Hebrews comfortably
standing in the midst of the fiery furnace; and of Daniel in the lion's den; of Mordecai's victory
over Haman; of David's victory over the giant; of Joseph feeding the world; of Moses surviving
the Nile; of Samson pulling down the temple by bare hands. Countless are the wonders of God's
mighty power all through the ages. All these deliverances, and many others were absolutely
impossible with men, but very much possible with God. These mighty miracles bring us face to
face with the fact that God is in the business of making "possibles" out of discordant
"impossibles." Therefore, "let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words" of the
Lord.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 16 31
