This post is Day 22 in a series of studies about “Joy”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

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Joy – Day 22

Zechariah was a priest who had been born in Babylon during the exile of the Israelites. From his enthusiastic book we can imagine that his heart burned to see Jerusalem as the city had been in the past according to the stories he heard as a boy.

Zechariah 10:7

The people of the tribe of Ephraim will become like warriors, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

The Thought

Zechariah was a priest who had been born in Babylon during the exile of the Israelites. From his enthusiastic book we can imagine that his heart burned to see Jerusalem as the city had been in the past according to the stories he heard as a boy.

He was one of the first to return to Jerusalem at the end of the exile, which lasted about 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). For many of the Israelites, this would not be “a return”, because so many of them would have been too young to remember the city they left when the Babylonians ransacked their home land. Also, a whole younger generation would have been born in Babylon.

Zechariah’s words were to encourage the nation to not get too comfortable in the place of exile, but to be thirsty to see the land of their fathers. The land they knew God had given to them many generations before.

Earlier in his book we can read that Zechariah received a word from the Lord. “I, the Lord am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her – I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem, and it will be called the Faithful City” (Zechariah 8:3).

Further in that chapter we read a promise from God that times of fasting will become celebrations (Zechariah 8:19).

Action

Read some of Zechariah’s prophecies today and relate them to your own situation. Know in your heart that any separation you are feeling during this Christmas season can be put right by Almighty God.

Pray for peace for families experiencing separation from loved ones, whatever the reason.

Praise God that He sees and knows every individual on the earth, and wants to bless them in this Christmas season, and always.

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