GOD’S WORD FOR YOU: The Gifts and Glory of Heaven
ZECHARIAH 12:7-9
7 “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.
If we continue fairly with the understanding that Zechariah is describing the kingdom of Christ, and that terms like Judah, house of David, and Jerusalem are all references to the people who make up the true Israel, the holy Christian Church (for the church is made up of people, not real estate), then this verse in not difficult to understand. Zechariah is speaking like Paul, who said: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is not Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one and the same in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28 EHV). In the former Israel, the glory of the house of David was known for its thrones (Psalm 122:5; 1 Kings 2:33), and Jerusalem was the home of the temple and the home of the king. But Zechariah wants us to know that the ordinary people are on the mind and in the heart of the Lord, and they are safe in his hands, too. So “the tents of Judah” are mentioned first.
This is not quite the same point as one Paul makes to the Thessalonians. They were worried that their dead would not make it to heaven, but only those people who are still alive when the Lord returns. (Remember, Paul had only been able to share the gospel and preach to them for a few weeks before he was driven off by a mob of unbelievers, Acts 17:1-5). To comfort them and explain the truth to them, he wrote explaining that the dead will be raised by Christ, and all believers, both the still-living and those raised from the dead, will be “caught up in the clouds together… to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Those who live until Christ comes do not have a greater glory than those who die in faith. And in the same way, the ordinary Christian does not have a lesser glory than a leader of the church. Peter’s children, Luther’s children, my children and your children have the same faith in Christ and the same eternal life in heaven. We have more to say about this, but let’s listen to verses 8-9 first:
8 On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that even a feeble man among them will be like David on that day, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them. 9 And on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
“Even a feeble man will be like David, and the house of David will be like God.” If these words were not firmly planted in the prophets of the Bible, someone might wonder if they were some kind of an exaggeration. Once again we must walk ourselves back, as it were, to square one, to remember that this is about the new Israel, the holy Christian Church. Since the prophet says the prophetic words “on that day” once and then twice, we also know that this is about the coming of Christ to earth. The prophets usually combine both arrivals of Christ with the same scenes, but both speak of the salvation of mankind. The first coming began in Bethlehem with the virgin birth; the second coming will happen when Jesus comes to raise the dead. But the glory of all will be the same: the feeble like the famous, the believer like the angel of the Lord. That is not to say that men will become gods, but that our glory will reflect God’s glory perfectly in the resurrection, and we will share in his holiness.
In heaven, all mankind will have the blessings of eternal life. The essential reward is eternal life and complete forgiveness in Christ. We will also have union with God in a manner we can only wonder about. We also desire to share our joy with our brother servants of God, the angels, but we do not know what manner of interaction we will have with them. Perhaps there will be as little difference between men and angels in heaven as there will be between one angel and another, or between my resurrected body in heaven and my mother’s. In heaven, we will share in many other blessings:
1, Enduring life forever, with no death and no end.
2, Our resurrected bodies will be free of defect, free of the ravages of age and disease, wounds, cancers, and so on. (Augustine: “Every deformity, every sluggishness, every weakness, every corruption will leave our body”).
3, Our bodies will be “firm, strong, incapable of suffering, agile, exquisite, which neither weight nor heaviness can thwart from being caught up in the air to meet the Lord” (Gerhard).
4, Eternal security and rest
5, Eternal sufficiency; God’s providence will continue always
6, Freedom from everything adverse or contrary to our joy and happiness
7, Flourishing love among all
8, Perpetual sharing of all things with everyone
9, Everlasting reunion with all mankind
10, The permanent setting aside of all worldly differences, including former hatred, mistrust, envy, grudges, bigotry, lusts, sinful desires or any other sinful feelings.
To this we must also add:
11, A perfect and eternal absence of envy, jealousy, etc.
This is important because there will be varying degrees of glory in heaven. We can’t bring all of these varying degrees into sharp focus here below, but we are made aware of their existence by the Scriptures:
• “Those who have insight will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who bring many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).
• “Jesus said to them, ‘Amen I tell you: In the renewal, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’” (Matthew 19:28).
• “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:21,23).
• “There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another in glory. This is the way the resurrection of the dead will be. What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:41-42).
So although we will all have the same rewards and blessings in heaven, some will differ somewhat from others in a degree of glory. But there will be no envy; no jealousy.
Is someone here below feeble? Are we more tent dwellers than “line of David” people? In heaven, these things will not matter. God will grant everlasting life to everyone who puts their trust in Jesus. It is Jesus who has the greatest glory and honor of all. We will fall down to worship him, and with a loud voice we will add our praise to the everlasting song: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12). Amen and amen. We will have an eternal life of rejoicing, joy, and gladness.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Zechariah 12:7-9 The gifts and glory of heaven