Zechariah 8:19 “ 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.“
But what does this mean to me in the year 2023?
God guarantees that you recover your loss. Your destiny is not devastation; it is divine compensation. Compensation happens after injury i.e. getting hurt on the job, getting compensated for it.
The Almighty has given promises to the city of Jerusalem: in ancient Israel, when the Babylonians invaded and destroyed it leaving nothing but rubble. Jerusalem and the state of Israel lost sovereignty. Meaning rulership over the land of Israel was not of the sovereignty from God, but foreign kings ruling at the destruction of the temple. When the Babylonian rule ended, the people returned, rebuilding the temple. But, they never redeemed their sovereignty until 1948.
What does that mean in relation to the scripture? All four of those fasts are mandated. They go on for many weeks. The fasting for the loss! Particularly, the fast of when the temple was destroyed as if the presence of God left the land.
God 150 years prior to this, made promises to Jerusalem through the prophet Isaiah. The promises are not just for ancient Jerusalem. They are for spiritual Jerusalem. The church is spiritual Jerusalem.
Revelations 21:2 “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.“ Galatians 4:26 “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
We are recipients of the promises God gave to ancient Jerusalem because we are the new Jerusalem! Say, “I’m claiming my redemption rights! I can not be passive about what God has promised me. I am going to go into the enemy’s territory and get back what the devil stole from me!” We are the inhabitants, our citizenship is in the New Jerusalem.
We are incorporated through Christ to the multiple promises to the city. Of all the promises beginning in Isaiah 40 to verse 66; 3 quarters of those promises are dedicated for consolation promises to the city of Jerusalem before the enemy caught it on fire and struck. Before it became rubble, God already provided the remedy before the ruin!
We also see multiple promises in the book of Ezekiel that are consolation promises to the city concerning the rebuilding of the ruins. Ezekiel 36:11 “And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.“
It’s a promise for not only ancient Jerusalem but it’s a promise for YOU. He is going to do better to you than in your beginning!
A time of restoration, and a time of divine compensation. The Lord said you should have double for your shame. God is going to heal your shame and restore your name. On the 17th of Tamuz, there is going to be an anointing of breaking out! Something is going to break in your life.
Micah 2:13 “The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them.“ The Lord is ahead of them. Say “the breaker has come up!” Isaiah prophesied comfort to Jerusalem, just how God is prophesying comfort to YOUR ruins, your desolation. God is saying you are going to take back the territory. You are going to be rebuilt again!
Hallelujah.
