Israel's prospective role was to be God's priestly nation, serving as the channel that would draw the Gentile nations to seek and worship the LORD in Jerusalem.
Zechariah 8:20-23 pictures a future day when people from many cities and strong nations would come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord, and ten men from every language of the nations would take hold of a Jew's skirt, saying, 'We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.' Les Feldick teaches that this was Israel's prospect from the beginning — a nation of priests bringing the Gentile world to a knowledge of their God — but Israel rejected Christ and never fulfilled it.
Zechariah 8:20-23 — The central passage directly answering the question: it pictures many people and strong nations coming to Jerusalem to seek the LORD, and ten men taking hold of a Jew's skirt because God is with Israel.
Exodus 19:6 — Records God's promise at Sinai that Israel would be 'a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation' — the role for which the nation was being prepared.
Isaiah 42:1, 6 — Shows the Old Testament prospect that God's servant would bring judgment and light to the Gentiles — the role Les says Israel was intended to fulfill.
Zechariah 8:20-23 records what the LORD of hosts promised through the prophet: 'Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.' The passage describes a future day when Gentile nations, not Israel alone, would make their way to Jerusalem to seek the LORD. People from one city would urge those of another to join them, and strong nations would come to pray before the LORD. In that setting, men from every language of the nations would take hold of a Jewish man and ask to go with him because they had heard that God is with Israel.
Les Feldick teaches that Israel's prospective role, according to Zechariah, was to be God's priestly nation — the channel through which the Gentile world would come to the knowledge of Israel's God. He stresses Zechariah 8:20 — 'It shall yet come to pass' — was still future in Zechariah's day (about 450 B.C.) and, as Les puts it, 'it never did happen up till now.' God's purpose in separating Israel and preparing them at Mount Sinai was 'to prepare them for the day when they could be all that God wanted them to be' with regard to the Gentiles.
Les Feldick teaches that the prophetic timetable could have moved straight from the cross: 'Hypothetically, the tribulation could have come right on in, and Christ could have returned, set up His kingdom, and then Israel... could have gone and evangelized the Gentiles' [Clip 0]. Instead, Israel rejected the King — He came riding on a donkey — and 'continued to reject him until, of course, God raised up the apostle Paul' [Clip 3]. God's idea from the beginning was to go to the Gentile world through this covenant people, but when Israel was 'constantly rejecting it,' God had to send the nation out into a dispersion [Clip 4].
Zechariah 8:20-23 states, 'Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities.' In Zechariah's day — about 450 B.C. — Les notes it 'hasn't yet' happened and is 'still future' [Clip 1]. The passage describes strong Gentile nations coming to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, ending with ten men from all languages of the nations taking hold of a Jew's skirt, saying, 'We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.' Les calls this 'as clearly put as any portion in the Old Testament' of what Israel was to have done for the Gentiles [Clip 6], and 'the role God is preparing the nation for' [Clip 5].
Les traces God's preparation to the Exodus: Israel became a nation in Egypt, God brought them out, and 'they're around Mount Sinai, ready to be given the very system that's going to prepare them for this role' — God promising 'that they can be priests of God' [Clip 2]. Les stresses that God never forgot the Gentiles; rather, God would reach the Gentiles 'after He has prepared this covenant people' [Clip 7]. The Old Testament format, Les explains, is that God would reach the Gentiles through Israel — 'that's the role God is preparing the nation for' in Zechariah 8 [Clip 5].
Hypothetical Tribulation-Kingdom Sequence
Les says that hypothetically the tribulation could have come immediately after Christ's ascension, followed by the kingdom, and then Israel would have evangelized the Gentiles — showing the role Israel would have played.
The Go-Between Nation
Les teaches that Israel was separated to be the go-between to the Gentiles, and that Zechariah 8:20's promise had not yet come to pass in Zechariah's day.
Preparation at Sinai
Les explains that God prepared Israel at Sinai to be priests of God — the system that was to equip them for their role with the Gentile nations.
Prospect of a Nation of Priests
Les ties Israel's prospective role to Isaiah 42: Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles and a nation of priests bringing salvation and knowledge of God to the Gentile world.
God's Idea — Gentiles Through Covenant Israel
Les says God's plan was to go to the Gentile world through covenant Israel, but Israel rejected it and was dispersed.
The Skirt of the Jew
Les reads Zechariah 8:23 plainly: Gentiles take hold of a Jew and say 'We will go with you, for God is with you' — the role God was preparing Israel to fulfill.
Clearest Old Testament Statement
Les calls Zechariah 8:20-23 the clearest Old Testament picture of Israel's intended relationship to the Gentiles, and notes it was still future when written.
Gentiles Reached Through Covenant Israel
Les shows from Isaiah 42 that God's future plan was to bring judgment and rule to the Gentiles after preparing covenant Israel — the role Zechariah 8 describes.
Zechariah 8:20: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
The verse Les repeatedly quotes as the still-future promise of nations coming to Jerusalem.
Zechariah 8:21: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.
Shows the nations urging one another to seek the Lord.
Zechariah 8:22: Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
Reveals strong Gentile nations — not Israel alone — coming to seek the Lord in Jerusalem.
Zechariah 8:23: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
The passage Les cites as the clearest picture of Israel's role — Gentiles identifying with Jews because God is with them.
Exodus 19:6: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
God's Sinai promise that prepared Israel for their priestly role.
Isaiah 42:1: Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Les cites Isaiah 42 to show God's purpose to reach the Gentiles — in future tense — through His servant and His covenant people.
Isaiah 42:6: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
The 'light to the Gentiles' language Les uses for Israel's prospective role.
Because it states plainly what Israel was to have done for the Gentiles: people and inhabitants of many cities would come, strong nations would seek the LORD in Jerusalem, and ten men from every language of the nations would take hold of a Jew's skirt saying, 'We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.' It defines Israel's role as the channel between God and the Gentile world.
Les teaches that Israel's rejection changed the outworking of God's program. Hypothetically the tribulation and kingdom could have followed the cross, with Israel then evangelizing the Gentiles. Instead, God raised up the apostle Paul, and when Israel kept rejecting, God sent the nation into dispersion.
In Zechariah 8:23, people from every language of the nations would identify with a Jew and say, 'We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.' Les teaches that this means every Jew was to have been a priest of God, bringing Gentiles to a knowledge of the true God.
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