Zechariah 2

Ayoung preacher in his first pastorate phoned me for encouragement “Most of the people in the church are older than I am,” he said. “I wonder if they pay any attention to me. I feel like I’m out of place preaching to them.”

Since I had faced the same situation in my first church, I was able to give him the same answer a vet-

chosen people as a husband is jealous over his wife and as parents over their children (Ex. 20:5; Deut. 4:24; 5:9; 6:15). This explains why the Lord accused the Jews of adultery and unfaithfulness whenever they were guilty of worshipping heathen gods (Jer. 2:1–3; 3:14; 31:32; Hos. 1). Worldliness on the part of Christians is also pictured as “spiritual adultery” (James 4:4–10).

The Lord was angry with the Gentile nations because they had been unnecessarily brutal toward the Jews. True, God had called Assyria to punish the northern kingdom of Israel, and Babylon to chasten Judah; but these nations went beyond what God called them to do and tried to destroy the Jews. Other nations, like Moab, had also joined in the assault (see Ps. 83; 137).

But the Lord’s most heartening words had to do with Judah’s future, not her enemies, for God promised to return to His people and prosper their nation. He would comfort Zion and prove to the enemy nations that Jerusalem was indeed His chosen city. This promise is repeated and expanded in the rest of Zechariah’s prophecy.

When our situation appears to be hopeless, we must remind ourselves that God identifies with our sufferings and is in charge of the future. Our responsibility is to repent, confess our sins, and believe His “comforting words.” His responsibility is to respond to our faith and work out His perfect will for us.

The remnant that had returned to Judah was concerned about rebuilding the temple and restoring the city and the nation, but their work was extremely difficult. In this vision, God assured His people that He planned future glory and honor for them and their city when He Himself would come to dwell with them.

Anticipation (vv. 1–3). If a total stranger came into my house and began to measure the windows for curtains and the floor for carpeting, I’d probably ask him to leave. After all, you measure property that belongs to you, over which you have authority. When the prophet saw a man measuring Jerusalem, it was evidence that Jerusalem was God’s city and that one day He would claim it and restore it in glory.

The man with the measuring line is evidently the Angel of the Lord, Israel’s Messiah. Leaders and diplomats may debate over who shall control Jerusalem, but the Lord Jesus Christ has the final word. By measuring the city, He declares that it is His and He will accomplish His divine purposes for the city no matter what leaders and international assemblies may decide.

But this symbolic act declares something else: Jerusalem will enjoy future expansion and glory such as the city has never experienced. The population will spill over the walls; in fact, there will be no need of walls because God will be a “wall of fire” around His people. (See Isa. 49:13–21; 54:1–3.) The small remnant of Jews in ruined Jerusalem were helping to keep alive a city that would one day be greatly honored and blessed by Almighty God!

Admonition (vv. 6–9). The Lord admonished the Jews yet in Babylon to leave the city and join the remnant in Jerusalem. Why remain in the comfort and security of a pagan society when they were desperately needed in their own land? The day would come when Babylon, now under Persian rule, would be judged for her sins, and those who served her would plunder her. Get out while there is still opportunity!

This admonition didn’t imply that every Jew who remained in Babylon was out of the will of God. Just as God sent Joseph to Egypt to prepare the way for his family, so He had people like Esther and Mordecai, Daniel and his friends, and Nehemiah in places of authority in pagan cities where they could do the work He planned for them to do. The Lord was summoning the Jews who were putting comfort, vocation, and security ahead of doing God’s work in their own sacred city. (See Isa. 48:20; 52:11; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 9, 45; 2 Cor. 6:14–18; Rev. 18:4.)

The Jews are very precious to God; He called them “the apple [pupil] of his eye” (Zech. 2:8; Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8). The pupil is the tiny opening in the iris that lets in the light, and this is a very delicate and important area of that vital organ. Hence, anything dear and precious is like the pupil of the eye.

Messiah is still speaking when He says, “He [God the Father] sent Me after glory” (Zech. 2: nkjv), that is, “to bring Him glory.” The whole purpose of Christ’s life on earth, His ministry, and His death and resurrection, was to bring glory to God (John 1:14; 12:23, 28; 17:4); and part of that glory will involve the future restoration of Israel in the kingdom when He reigns on earth (Isa. 61:3–11).

Acclamation (vv. 10–13). Promises like these ought to make God’s people “sing and rejoice” (“shout and be glad” niv). Their Messiah will come and dwell with them, just as the glory of God had dwelt in the tabernacle and the temple. Ezekiel describes the new city and temple in Ezekiel 40—48, and closes his book by naming the glorious new city “Jehovah Shammah,” which means “the Lord is there” (48:35). In that day, many Gentiles will trust in the Lord and be joined with Israel in the glorious kingdom over which Messiah will reign (Isa. 2:1–5; 19:23–25; 60:1–3; Zech. 8:20–23).

Zechariah 2: is the only place in Scripture where Palestine is called “the holy land.” That designation is often used today, but it really doesn’t apply. The land will not be holy until Messiah cleanses the people and the land when He returns to reign (3:9). A fountain will be opened to wash away sin and uncleanness (13:1), and then the Jews shall be called “the holy people” (Isa. 62:12). That’s something to shout about!

But it’s also something to make the nations of the world pause and consider in awesome silence (Zech. 2:13; Hab. 2:20; Zeph. 1:7). Why? Because before Messiah comes to reign, He will judge the nations of the earth during that period of time called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), “the day of the Lord” (Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Joel 1:15; 2:1ff.; Zech. 14:1), and “the great tribulation” (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 6—19). It will be a time of intense suffering when the nations will receive their just sentence for their inhumanity and ungodliness. When the Lord has “roused himself from his holy dwelling” (Zech. 2: niv), the nations of the world will experience divine wrath; and there will be no escape.

As you review these three night visions, you learn that God watches the nations and knows what they are doing; that He judges the nations for their sins, especially for their mistreatment of Israel; and that there is a glorious future planned for Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, when Messiah will return to cleanse them and restore the glory of God in their midst.

No wonder we’re taught to pray, “Thy kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10); for when we pray that prayer, we are praying for the peace of Jerusalem. And there can be no true peace in Jerusalem until the Prince of Peace reigns in glory.