Zechariah 8:21, commentary and pictures

The verse pictures the inhabitants of one city going to another with an urgent mutual invitation to go together to Jerusalem to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts, with each one who invites also declaring personal willingness to go. The invitation expresses shared eagerness to worship, moved by the joy and blessing resting on Jerusalem, and it encourages God's people to remain faithful. The eager worship it describes is exemplified by Simeon and Anna serving God in the temple.

The verses that follow it describe many peoples and strong nations coming to Jerusalem, with people of many languages asking to go with the Jews because they have heard that God is with them. It shows the influence Israel would have exerted through Christ if the people had been faithful, and God's purpose is still fulfilled through the remnant and those gathered to Him, who are Jews inwardly and through Christ the true children of Abraham.

It belongs to the part of Zechariah concerning the reformation among God's people, which was a type of future reformations. The closing part of Zechariah to which it belongs looks forward to the final restoration and gives hope to God's people when they truly seek Him and lay hold of the promises of the Spirit. Its language applies to sending an invitation to pray together to distant nations, with eager shared worship reaching across cities. It applies to visiting from place to place to explain the Third Angel's Message, which brings light and encouragement to those who already feel a spiritual burden and helps awaken interest in the truth.