Zechariah 2 says,...Bible reading week 30 and day 1

Today we are back in Zechariah with his third vision.  Zechariah chapter 2 says,...

v.1 - Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand.

Look at that.  God has his angels using a tape measure.  It wouldn't have been like our retractable tapes or even the old flip stick tapes but probably an actual measured line of string that would have been stretched and then stretched again from the new point.  

v.2 - So I said, "Where are you going?"  And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is."

I do believe if you times the length by the width you get the area.  It could also be doubled to get the dimensions of the boundaries if the corresponding sides were equal.  This is sounding too much like a math problem and I would probably be waking up from this vision with a headache.

v.3-5 - And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him, and said to him, "Run, speak to that young man, saying, 'Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it.  For I,' declares the LORD, 'will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'"

While this measuring is going on to determine how large the city of Jerusalem will be, a proclamation is made that even though the wall is not up yet that there will be many who will reside there.  The wall was to be protection from warring nations and also to be gate security like at the airport.  The Lord lets the angel's proclaim that their protection will come from Him.  God will be the fire that represents judgment and he will be the glory that is among them.  He will bring His wrath were needed but He will also bring His worship which is always warranted.  While we construct man made walls for protection that can help with preserving even non-physical things like morals, we worship the God who gives ultimate protection for eternity to those who worship Him.

v.6-9 - "Ho there!  Flee from the land of the north," declares the LORD, "for I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heavens," declares the LORD.  "Ho, Zion!  Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon."  For thus says the LORD of hosts, "After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.  For behold, I will wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves.  Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me."

The nation of Israel was scattered in all directions.  They sought refuge in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Egypt.  They were also taken in exile to the north by Assyria and to the east by the Babylonians.  The Lord says that they are coming back.  He will come with judgment against those who have been harmful to Israel.  He calls those He loves "the apple of His eye" so that were that common phrase comes from.  God's power will be seen as He will flip the whole social structure from owners over slaves to slaves owning what their owners used to have.  God will do as He did in Egypt when the Egyptians, the owners, were tossing all their valuable wares to their slave laborers, the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt under the direction of Moses and his God.  God will send His Son to create the church through salvation by the cross and the empty grave and then God will send His Son again in His glory to gather the church for the final judgment.  God's power will be known and every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

v.10-13 - "Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," declares the LORD.  "Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people.  Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.  The LORD will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.  Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation."

With the reference of many nations joining themselves to the Lord pushes us into the future and the time when the church will consist of those from every tongue and nation.  Israel seems to hold its identity with the Lord possessing Judah and also choosing Jerusalem as the city of importance to the nation.  There are a lot of theories about which time frame we are talking about here but the main point is that God is coming again.  He is coming from His holy habitation that is heaven.  He will deliver them now and He will deliver them again.  His salvation is for the Jew and the Gentile.  There will be some who will know of the wrath of God while others are spending their time in the worship of God.  

A great deliverance is coming no matter if you were before Christ or after Christ.  There was the promise of a coming Messiah calling out with an invitation to follow and there is the promise of a returning Messiah to reign forever with those who call Him Lord.  We are in the latter time and need to proclaim that coming risen Lord to those around us.  Will we look ahead to the future of what God says will happen and let it affect our words and actions today?  Let us pray.

"Lord, another vision that tells us for a coming Messiah who would hang on a cross and rise from the grave and that same Messiah coming again to gather His church, His bride, forever.  Lord, may I have a heart for others to know of You.  May I not loose sight of what is to come and be letting others know of One to worship rather than feel His wrath.  Amen."

Pastor Adam