Zechariah 8:3

"Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, The holy mountain."

The punishment of Israel, God's unfaithful wife (an analogy used throughout the Bible) being completed, God promised here to return to Zion and Jerusalem. Note that "Zion" was used a second time in order to emphasize what part of Israel is the subject here.

The ultimate fulfillment of this glorious promise occurred when the gospel was sent forth to all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47). Furthermore, there is absolutely no unlimited guarantee on God's part that he would never leave Jerusalem. Therefore, we must reject an opinion such as this:

"He begins by saying that he will now ... return to Zion... moreover, this is to be a final reunion between him and his people, for he is careful to say that he will abide, make his permanent home, in Jerusalem."[1]

Such a comment presses a word like "abide" down on its all-fours. Jesus used the same expression when he promised to "abide" in the home of Zaccheus, a visit that lasted one day! (Luke 19:5). It is not true that God's return to Jerusalem was an irrevocable, eternal commitment. As a matter of fact, God would again commit the city to total destruction in the generation following his "bride's" stubborn rejection of the gospel; nor is there any possible denial of that in this verse. It is mandatory to remember that all of God's promises are contingent, contingent upon the faith and fidelity of those whom he promises to bless.

God's return to Jerusalem would indeed be permanent enough to allow the bringing in of the Redeemer, and to allow the establishment of his Church in that City on the first Pentecost after the Resurrection of Christ; but any further dwelling of God in Jerusalem would depend, absolutely, upon whether or not that city would recognize the "time of her visitation" and lovingly receive the only One who could have saved her (Luke 19:42ff). Their failure to do so was the signal for the final rejection of the old Israel and God's marriage to a new bride, the Gentiles. This also carried with it the corollary of God's no longer "dwelling in" Jerusalem, except in the mystical sense of his abiding in his Church.

"City of truth... The Holy mountain .... etc." All such expressions refer to the church of Jesus Christ, exclusively, as "the pillar and the ground of the truth," and the custodian of the "word of the Lord" going forth from Mount Zion.

The entire prophecy of Zechariah is Messianic; and, although many of the prophecies of Messiah's times also had material fulfillment in some of the immediate blessings that fell on the literal city of Jerusalem, nevertheless, the burden of this chapter and of the whole book relates to the blessings in Christ. The New Testament use of Zechariah's prophecy makes this certain.

Another important feature of this chapter is that it forms an accurate, majestic prelude for the second great division of the prophecy, Zechariah 9-14. "The chapter looks beyond the immediate future to the glorious era of Messiah's reign and forms a glorying prelude to Zechariah 9-14."[2] Higginson also added that, "Some of the themes of those chapters begin to appear here (Zechariah 8)."[3]

The affirmation by Mitchell, quoted above, to the effect that God was very quickly about to take up his permanent dwelling place in literal Jerusalem appears to derive from mistaking the tense of the verbs. Watts has pointed out that, "The verbs are in the perfect tense, the `prophetic perfect.' They indicate a decision already reached by the Lord which, although its fulfillment is future, can be called a fact."[4] In this light, there is no statement that God will dwell in an earthly city, but rather a promise of his taking up residence in the spiritual body of Christ, "The heavenly Jerusalem, which is our mother" (Galatians 4:26).

Notice also should be given to the very strong affirmations of premillennial scholars with reference to this passage. Linger thought it refers to, "The Lord's personal return to Zion and permanent dwelling in Jerusalem ... The city will then become the religious capital of the millennial earth."[5] Although we disagree with such interpretations, we nevertheless praise God for the conviction of men who indeed believe these prophecies of God and that they are certain to be fulfilled. Our own studies have never enabled us to accept the view that there is any kind of a "reign of Christ" other than the one that is going on right now and has been with men since the beginning of the gospel age. See Matthew 28:18-20.

Nor can we for a moment accept the notion that the old harlot Israel of the Old Testament is ever scheduled to be God's wife again. Her status was forever changed in the events typified by Hosea's divorce of Gomer. Gomer was indeed purchased as a slave by her former husband; but she returned not as his wife, but as a slave. "Thou shalt not be wife to any man, and so will I be unto thee."

"For the Children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim" (Hosea 3:4). This is a prophecy of the long, bleak interval between the Old Testament and the New Testament, during which the Northern Israel never had a king, and during which time the southern kingdom too fell into vassalage to other nations, which status was theirs when Zechariah wrote, thus paying dearly for their loss of status as God's wife.

God indeed chose Israel again as his bride, but it was the new Israel "in Christ" not the discredited old harlot. The theory that Almighty God is still hankering to marry the old whore whom he divorced so long ago strikes us as a preposterous error. We especially apply this conviction to modern Israel. (For a comprehensive discussion of this whole question, see pp. 53-67 in my commentary on the Minor Prophets, Vol. 2.)

This verse (Zechariah 8:3) had an immediate application ... but there is also no doubt that it looked to a fuller and more glorious fulfillment in the present Messianic period.[6]

The thing that makes it certain that the old Jerusalem was not meant here primarily is the declaration of the prophet that it would be "a city without walls" (Zechariah 2:4,5). Such a city Jerusalem was not, except for a relatively short time prior to their rebuilding the walls.

"City of truth ..." There has never been a single moment throughout human history when such a prophecy as this ever applied to literal, secular Jerusalem; and certainly, it does not apply today. Such promises as these show unequivocally that "the heavenly Jerusalem" is the city in view.