429. Lord will Render Double
Zechariah 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope; even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee.
The Lord promises to pay back double to those who turn to the strong hold. The people of God have received double for all their sins in the judgment on Jerusalem, the King, the Temple, and the Exile. Now we hear that the Lord will also render double the salvation from their sins in the return from exile.
We don’t know what “double” might mean, because we have no quantifiable way of counting either the burden of sin or the power of the salvation. And double what? We will receive twice as much, but twice as much as what? Most likely the weight of forgiveness and restoration is twice as much as the weight of sin and rebellion. No matter how one counts we can rest assured that the forgiveness is much more than the sin.
It is also possible that “double” means twice as much goodness and prosperity as there was in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden. If so, we can believe the promise that the coming age described in Revelation is double the Paradise of God’s original Creation. Revelation 21-22 seem to hint that life in the New Paradise will be much greater than life in the Old Paradise at the beginning.
So it is either that the pleasure is twice as great as the pain, or it is that the New and future creation is twice as great as the first creation. Either way, this is an awesome promise: 1) whatever affliction you are undergoing now you will receive double the weight in glory later, or 2) as awesome as the First Creation in the Garden of Eden was, the next Creation in Eternity will be twice as great. So either way, we have a lot to look forward to.
And even better news is this: we are living in the double pleasure of the new creation right now by faith in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We may not see it or feel it, but it is still true: we are a new creation. That creation is in our hearts, where God dwells. The Life we already have is twice as good as the best Life you can even imagine. Enjoy the Promise!