City of Truth
This is Zechariah on a good day, with a clear mind and words of inspiration and encouragement. Hope oozes in the pauses. Things are going to get better. Read quickly through these verses and get an overall picture of the new Jerusalem as Zechariah sees it. Don’t stop to ask whether it ever turned out like that and don’t spoil it by suggesting that perhaps he was being over optimistic. Notice rather what he sees and highlights as the marks of a godly community and consider whether you and he are looking in the same direction when you look out on the world today.
After portraying the world of his dreams (vv 4-8, 12) and comparing it with how things used to be (vv 10-11) vv 16-17 sum it up. A godly community is marked by respect for truth, justice and peace, and genuine respect for one another.
Now re-read the passage more slowly and consider how much your dream of the future chimes in with his, and what would be needed to achieve his ideal in your situation. For Zechariah the basic essentials are three.
First, truth. A city where people are open and honest with one another, of course, but try to work out what more is needed for a city to be called a ‘city of truth’. Is it something to do with structures as well as people and attitudes? If it is, what does it say about structures. If not, what is it?
Second, a city where there is room for all: old people and children, plants and animals (vv 5-6, 12), and where other people want to come and live and work (vv 7-8). Third, no shortage of jobs and adequate rewards (v 10).
Now stop your dream, wake up and plan action. One act might be to give thanks for those places where you can find some or all those features in your immediate community. Another might be to identify those places where they are absent, or present but defective, so think what you can do about that. A third, if you wish to go deeper, might be to give some thought to how local structures might need to change before your city could ever be described as ‘a city of truth’ and where you would need to begin.