God has just said that He will bring His people back to Jerusalem and will be their God, this after several other promises. Now comes a consequence of the people and an action for them. The promises of God are not for the passive, but they lead to action in our lives. Faith and belief are not passive but active. So the Lord instructs the people to be strong and build the temple. Verse 9 is a reference to the words of Haggai and Zechariah (see Ezra 5:1,2). The people had lived in fear and conflict, but a time of peace would now come.
We all go through times of discouragement, but they do not last forever. Times of famine would be replaced by times of fruitfulness. Israel and Judah had been a curse among the nations, now they would become a blessing. Our God is a transforming God.
The judgement that had come upon them was certain to have come and was utterly real. The people knew this. They had resisted God and had said that the words of His prophets, such as Jeremiah, would come to nothing. Events had proved them utterly wrong. The blessings would be just as sure to come as the curses had actually come.
Again in v17 we see that there are consequences for the people. They are to speak right and act right. The ways of God have not changed. Likewise, the coming of Jesus has not changed the Law at all. Justice and mercy are the hallmarks of godliness.
Verses 19 refers to the fasts held to commemorate the destruction of the temple, and so were sad times. These times of sadness would pass, there is healing for the past. We all go through stuff, some of it of our own making, and it causes us great pain. God can heal this trauma.
Judah and Israel had been held in disdain, but a time would come when they were held in honour and people wanted to go there to inquire of the Lord.
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