8:15 – God says to these people, “It is not because you have been through the ritual or because you have omitted the ritual. Whether you do or whether you don’t, I am showing mercy to you.” But this is not the end in itself, this time of blessing is a very small thing. God looks down through the centuries and says, “The day is coming when I intend to deal again with you, and in that day I will do a glorious thing upon the earth.” He is looking down to the time of the Millennium.
Now since they are going to represent God in the end times, it does not mean that they can do as they please. The grace and mercy of God extended to us does not mean that we can live any kind of life, although some people think that. Listen to what God says now—
8:16 – “Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” “The gates” were where the courts of law convened in that day. Many today have confessed that they have lied even to a grand jury, that they have lied when they were under oath!
“Execute the judgment of truth.” What He is talking about here is not the act of judging. You and I are going to judge. Whether we judge honestly or dishonestly, whether we judge truthfully or untruthfully, we are going to judge. What He has in mind here is the motive. The thing that should motivate judging is truth.
8:17 – That is great—God is love—but God also hates. You cannot love something without hating something else. If you love the truth, you’re going to hate the lie. If you love your child, you’ll hate a mad dog that comes into the yard to bite the child. You would kill that mad dog if you love your child. God hates certain things—I’d like to see that put up on billboards today. God hates lying. God hates covetousness. He hates a whole lot of things that the world is doing today.
8:18 – Zechariah says it again—what repetition we have! God wants you to know that He said these things.
8:19 – In effect God is saying, “I don’t want you to come before Me with a long face and that pious look that you have. I want you to come before Me with joy.” My brothers and sisters, a lot of us are not enjoying being Christians as we should. God wants us to have a whole lot of fun. I think that the big fun center for Christians ought to be the local church. Someone says, “Oh, do you mean we ought to have a volleyball court?” No, I mean to come together and study the Word of God—that ought to be fun. And there’s something wrong with you, Christian, if studying the Word of God is not fun.