Zechariah 8:16,17 - Speak the truth to one another

8:16

God bringing good to Jerusalem involved the people changing their lifestyle. The notion that the goodness of God can come without our lifestyles changing as a consequence is an idle notion. This verse is similar to 7:9. They are to speak truth to one another, render true judgements, and to seek peace. When a society turns away from God all three of these things go out the window, and we see that all to clearly today. Fake news is a big thing these days, and the Kavenaugh fiasco in Washington showed that truth and justice were of little concern, and certainly that few were seeking peace. Even where a just cause might be involved, peace is not one of the goals. The MeToo movement is a prime example of this. There is a just and right outrage at the exploitation of women by some men, but it so easily results on women against men.

8:17

Conversely to the positive attributes described in the previous verse, we find the “do nots”. We are not to plot evil against one another, just look at our political landscape to see how many people seem to do this. We must not delight in lies, even if the lies seem to serve our purpose! These are things the Lord hates. It is just a matter of them being wrong, there is a passionate hatred of sin on God’s part, because of the destructiveness of sin. And this is why the wrath of God is revealed against all sin.