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LEGENDARY ADVANCEMENT - PART 6
MONDAY 20 JANUARY 2025

Reference: Zechariah 1:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
"Again proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; The LORD will again comfort Zion, And will again choose Jerusalem."'
Today's focus is on the second segment, namely:
"The LORD will again comfort Zion."
Comfort is defined as a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint, or the easing or alleviation of a person's feelings of grief or distress. The synonyms are consolation, reassurance, succour, relief, commiseration, fellow feeling, solace.
We often hear of people being offered "words of comfort and encouragement" in their times of distress, pain, struggles and sadness. So how did God comfort Zion? Did He come down from heaven to give them a word of encouragement, or a cheering plaudit of praise in their times of challenging hardship and distress?
Firstly, acknowledging the importance of comfort is the key factor that can grant us revelatory access to the heightened degree of righteous treatment God administered on behalf of Zion. God had the ability to provide quantifiable measures of comforting outcomes for Zion, meaning that issues surrounding Zion's comfort were addressed again, denoting a "variableness and adjustability" in the density and heaviness of His wrath. What do I mean by God considering a "variableness and adjustability"? He exhibited a remarkable tendency to adjust and change His furious attitude towards them. That's the exact meaning of "The LORD will again comfort Zion."
How did God confort them? There was an evidence of "intermediateness" instrumentality [In other words, God did not come down from heaven; Prophet Zechariah was instructed]. There was a call to return to the Lord through the Prophet. To instantiate this verity, the Bible says, "In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
"The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices" (Zechariah 1:2-4 NIV).
Secondly, God comforted them again, by providing them with sufficient energy to repent - where and when it was direly needed, and then He showed them His undeserved mercy. To that effect, Zechariah 1:12-17 revealed:
"Then the angel of the Lord said, "Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?" So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. Then the angel who was speaking to me said, "Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment." "Therefore this is what the Lord says: 'I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,' declares the Lord Almighty." "Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.'"
To thrive again in the physical world, Zion needed God's mercy and comfort, and when it happened for them again, it meant that there was no longer any limits across all the interconnected domains of their social lives, which in turn, yielded to an overflow of prosperity. Got it? Beloved, a comforting influence from God is a "highly valued" essential for navigating seasonal trials in life, for changing levels in life, and for living out one's faith effectively. Indeed, comfort from God to Zion was all-important to enabling, sustaining, or enhancing their societal living conditions, as well as maintaining their forward-moving relevancy and rewarding associations with immediate nations, surrounding their environments. For instance, a song of ascents in the book of Psalms reads:
When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, we thought we were dreaming. At that time we laughed loudly and shouted for joy. At that time the nations said, "The Lord has accomplished great things for these people" (Psalm 126:1-2 NET).
In the above versified passage, did you notice the reaction of their surrounding nations, when their restoration took place? They spread the testimony on Zion's behalf. Indeed, Zion demonstrated the ability to communicate their discomfort, with all elements in such outlandish or unfavourable experience, evoking God's mercy, comfort and compassion, meaning that God can display an emotion of sympathetic pity. Stay tuned for part 7. Shalom!
Scripture Reading - Psalm 119:50; Isaiah 49:13; Matthew 5:4; Matthew 11:28-30; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.
Guide Prayer:
Thank you Lord for your comforting impart, loving outreach and merciful influence in my life, in Jesus' Name, Amen!



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