I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.
Zechariah's message belonged to the restoration, encouraging Zerubbabel and Ezra in building the temple and restoring Jerusalem, and that restoration reformation movement is a type of the last reformation. It looks beyond the restoration from Babylon to the final glorious restoration when Christ comes, belonging to the closing prophecies that offer hope to those who seek God and trust the promises of the Spirit. It falls within the section predicting Christ's kingdom, the great day of the Lord, and the punishment of the wicked.
The hissing is God's signal or call to gather His redeemed remnant from captivity in due time. That gathering was fulfilled when the remnant left the Roman Empire after the papal dominion ended in 1798, crossed the Atlantic with affliction, and reached America, described as Gilead and Lebanon, the wilderness of preparation. Even when the church appears weak and poor, many people touched by divine grace may remain hidden, and their numbers when gathered will surprise onlookers.
The verse promises God will gather and restore His redeemed remnant including their children, increasing their numbers and making them rejoice with their children as they turn from idols and trust in Him. Those led to believe through them become like their children living with them. The promised increase refers to spiritual children in this life, not to population growth in the new earth. God's people will increase as they increased before, and this belongs to true Christians in the final gospel work when, under the latter rain, God pours out the Holy Spirit on the remnant church and believers again grow rapidly, as when three thousand were added in one day.
Zechariah's message belonged to the restoration, encouraging Zerubbabel and Ezra in building the temple and restoring Jerusalem, and that restoration reformation movement is a type of the last reformation. It looks beyond the restoration from Babylon to the final glorious restoration when Christ comes, belonging to the closing prophecies that offer hope to those who seek God and trust the promises of the Spirit. It falls within the section predicting Christ's kingdom, the great day of the Lord, and the punishment of the wicked.
The hissing is God's signal or call to gather His redeemed remnant from captivity in due time. That gathering was fulfilled when the remnant left the Roman Empire after the papal dominion ended in 1798, crossed the Atlantic with affliction, and reached America, described as Gilead and Lebanon, the wilderness of preparation. Even when the church appears weak and poor, many people touched by divine grace may remain hidden, and their numbers when gathered will surprise onlookers.
The verse promises God will gather and restore His redeemed remnant including their children, increasing their numbers and making them rejoice with their children as they turn from idols and trust in Him. Those led to believe through them become like their children living with them. The promised increase refers to spiritual children in this life, not to population growth in the new earth. God's people will increase as they increased before, and this belongs to true Christians in the final gospel work when, under the latter rain, God pours out the Holy Spirit on the remnant church and believers again grow rapidly, as when three thousand were added in one day.