What transforms outsiders into seekers of God? (Zech 8:18-23)

A friend with a troubled past walked into a church for the first time and was so overwhelmed by the love of God present in the congregation that she turned to Christ and was saved. I know from my personal experience of coming to the Lord that my desire for God was the cumulative effect of seeing the evidence of God’s presence and activity (answered prayers, guidance, etc.) in a Bible study group over the course of a year. While many of us were reared into a one-to-one evangelism and a very direct approach (often of confrontation), my sense is that my friend’s and my story of conversion are not unique. In churches, we often talk about the need for Christians to be a beacon of light, distinctive in their love and godly life, and this is important when the Church, in the view of outsiders, is tainted with immorality and abuses. What we tend to emphasise less, however, is the witness of God in the midst of our community, which is as crucial, if not more so, than being loving and compassionate ourselves. It is this element of God’s presence that our passage draws attention to.

When God’s people are an object of horror

In our last reading Israel is described as ‘a curse among the nations’ (Zech 8:13), which sounds confusing because in English usage it means having a negative influence or impact on others and this makes little sense here. The expression in Hebrew, on the other hand, means that someone is an example of being cursed, which serves as a deterrent and warning for others. Thus, the phrase elsewhere is synonymous with being an object of horror and an imprecation (e.g. Jer 29:18, 42:18), i.e. a curse formula (‘May you be like…’; Jer 29:22). Further, in one description, becoming a curse follows after being dead (Jer 44:12), so it cannot mean a negative influence on others in the English sense of the word. Israel’s fate then was so appalling (loss of their land, king, temple, the death of many and the captivity of others) that they became a byword among the nations for being cursed (by their God).

God’s presence recognised and desired

Conversely, then, when the Lord reverses the curse, then Israel will become a blessing (v.13), an example of what it looks like to be blessed. This is the background to our passage, where the fasting and mourning will turn into celebration and feasting (Zech 8:19).[1] It is as outsiders see the rejoicing and recognise God’s active and visible involvement through the spectacular process of restoration described in the first half of the chapter that their desire for the Lord will be awakened and they will long to be included (Zech 8:21-22). The proportions of ten to one (Zech 8:23) indicates the overwhelming number of Gentiles who will want to join God’s people (see a similar expression in Isa 4:1). They will seek God and want to participate in the same life because ‘we have heard that God is with you’ (Zech 8:23).

Outsiders turning into seekers

Our passage holds up a mirror and challenges us to ask to what extent God’s activity and presence can be felt in our midst, in our community of believers. This, of course, is connected to a faithful walk with the Lord in that we listen and act on what we hear from Him, individually and together. The more we do so, the more His presence will be evident among us, while not letting go of recognised sin will grieve God’s Spirit and create distance between Him and us. The corporate aspect of witness in our reading may also highlight that there is benefit in including non-Christians in our life as a Christian community. I do not necessarily mean inviting them to church, which can be a step too far for most, but in finding ways to involve them in social activities where Christians mix with non-Christians in a non-threatening, not overtly Christian context. May we discover ways to help outsiders become seekers because they recognise that God is with us.

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[1] The siege of Jerusalem started in the tenth month (2 Kings 25:1) and the walls were breached in the fourth month (2 Kings 25:3-4). It is likely that the fast days commemorated these events along with the fifth and seventh month already mentioned in my previous post, What to do when God probes our heart (Zechariah 7).

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