Zechariah 2

Zechariah 2:1-12

THE YOUNG AND THE SUCCESS OF ZION Zechariah 2:1-12. THIS second chapter of the Book of Zechariah contains Zechariah’s third vision. As we have seen from the reading, it is a vision of a young man going forth to survey the walls of old Jerusalem, the thought of rebuilding being evidently the occasion of the measurement. Whether one believes that Zechariah was asleep and dreamed this, or whether he hold that it was a vision given to him in his wide-awake moments, it matters little; the result is the same. Being a Jew, and possessed of the genuine spirit of that people, his thought would be upon Jerusalem—now in partial ruin; her people conquered, and many of them carried into Babylonish captivity, and the very capital city bearing the marks of overthrow in its broken walls and alien population. Whether asleep or awake, the vision of that city was ever before Zechariah, and her desolation produced in his heart a constant pain, for had not Jerusalem long been the Jews’ loftiest pride? Had not the Psalmist sung, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised m the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. “God is known in her palaces for a refuge. * * “Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof. “Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider Her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following” (Psalms 48:1-3; Psalms 48:12. The Jews had long chanted these expressions and rejoiced in this sentiment; but now sorrow had taken hold of the Jerusalem remnant. And it was most natural that their Prophet should dream of the city of his fathers, or behold visions involving its fallen condition and its coming glory.One must be familiar with the Old and New Testaments to appreciate the true patriotism of the Jew. No people ever loved their country more, or mourned so deeply the reduction of their city to the semblance of a quarry-rubble. And this vision was given the Prophet to teach him the Divine purpose concerning the future success of Zion.In attempting to properly interpret it, let us suggest these thoughts as points of departure in our study:—Limiting the City; Leaving Evil Associates; and Living with Jehovah. THE CITY “I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. “Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof”. He seemed to the Prophet to be setting down stakes to show the utmost limits to which Jerusalem could ever come, howsoever prospered. This is the peculiar temptation of some men. They are given to forecasting the future of the Church, and prophesying just how far she will ever extend her borders, and just how many she may ever hope to inclose in her membership.On this point permit three remarks.First,—The extent of God’s city is God’s secret.One may speculate as long as he pleases about “the day and the hour wherein the son of Man cometh,” but the Scriptures will forever oppose his speculation by saying, “No man knoweth.” And one may speculate as much as he pleases about how many are the saved, but it remains a fact that, on this subject, he has no knowledge; God only is informed. It is in vain that the Romanist learns as part of his Catholicism,—“With a sincere heart, therefore, and with unfeigned faith I detest * * every sect opposed to the said Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church,” since God has not said that only members of the aforesaid church are saved. And it is equally in vain, for the Protestant to set up his own personal experience in coming to Christ as a standard by which all others must be measured, and affirm that “except they come as he came, they cannot be received into the fellowship of those destined to dwell forever in the city of our God.”There was a time when Elijah excommunicated every other believer, and affirmed of himself, “I only, am left” of all that love God. But God speedily corrected his conceit, and said to him that He had seven thousand who had never bowed the knee to Baal.No man knows just who are the children of the King, nor yet how many of them there are! “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children” (Deuteronomy 29:29).In this same connection there is another fact to be remembered, namely—The measurement of today will not suffice for tomorrow.

The young man with his measuring line could only tell how far the limits of Jerusalem reached in his time, and must therefore be reminded by God, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein”.That prophecy is destined to see a literal fulfillment even as it has already witnessed a literal illustration in the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ. There was a time in the history of the early Christian Church when it could be said, “Three thousand were added together.” That made up the whole body of believers who were brave enough to be baptized in the Name of the Lord.

But that measurement of the Church did not suffice next day. And in an incredibly short season we read from the same Book of Acts, “Howbeit many of them which heard the Word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand” (Acts 4:4).From that time on this volume reveals a story of marvelous growth, so that the measurement of the Church was changing daily.F. W. Farrar, in his volume entitled, “The Messages of the Books” pens this classic concerning the stupendous growth of the early Church:—“In the Agamemnon of Ӕ ?chylus there is a magnificent description of the fire-signals by which the Greek hero made known to his queen at Argos the capture of Troy. The poet tells us how the courier flame flashed from mountain to mountain, leaping over the plains and seas from Ida to the scaur of Hermes in Lemnos, thence to Mount Athos, then to Makistus, Messapium, Cithaeron, and so at last to the roof of the Atridae. Even so does St.

Luke, a poet, and more than a poet, tell us how the bea con-lights of Christianity flashed from Jerusalem to Antioch,—from Antioch to Ephesus, and to Troas, and to Philippi, from Philippi to Athens and Corinth, until at last it was kindled in the very palace and Praetorian camp of the Caesars at Imperial Rome. The Light of the World dawned in the little Judean village, and brightened in the Galilean hills, and then it seemed to set upon Golgotha amid disastrous eclipse.

The Book of “Acts” shows us how, rekindled from its apparent embers, in the brief space of thirty years, it had gleamed over the Ӕ ?gean and over Hadria, and had filled Asia and Greece and Italy with such light as had never shone before on land or sea.”Who then can measure Zion?Her circumference and safety are co-extensive with the grace of God.“For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her”. The only wall you can build about the cause of God is that of His presence! And who can measure its extent, or imagine the safety secured thereby? The Lord means to say “There is no danger to you in that your walls are pushed out, and removed away by a multitude which no man can number, out of every nation and tribe, and people and tongue, since I will dwell in the midst of you, and at the same time be a wall unto you.” Ezekiel describes the enemy of Jerusalem as saying, “I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey” (Ezekiel 38:11).But this text shows us that there is no danger from such sources, since the Lord answers their boast, “I * * will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her”.The traveler who lies down in forests at night builds about himself a camp fire, sweeping in the circle clear about him. So long as those flames are blazing up he may sleep securely, for they not only scare away the surrounding beasts but render it impossible for him to become their prey. And so it is, beloved, for the people encircled by the Divine Presence; they need no other walls. They may live outside the pale of a church which has walled itself in and said, “The kingdom of truth is only coextensive with our institution,” and yet they are safe.That marvelous man, and Baptist missionary, Joseph Clark of Africa, told in my presence, how, in that land of heathen night, he dwelt in a little village exposed absolutely to the arrows of any enemies who might decide to creep upon him.

And one time a masterly tribe set out from the lower end of the great lake to come up and attack him and his little company of converts. When the native Christians saw this long line of canoes, carrying their warriors, they were filled with terror and, flying into the presence of Clark said, “Oh, teacher, they are coming to take you and to take us.

They are ferocious in spirit, inhuman in their treatment of an enemy, and it is awful, since we will perish at their hands! Shall we not fly at once?” Clark replied, “No; let us pray.” And he testified, “When we went into my little home to pray there was not a cloud in the sky, nor a ripple on the waters. After twenty minutes of beseeching God we came out to face the foe, wondering what God would do. And lo, the heavens were dark, the storm in all its fury had burst upon the lake! The lightning’s flash was simply terrible, and a wind sprang up which caught those vessels in its grip of power and hurled them back to the beach whence they came, driving them with such fury that some of them went to pieces. The enemy was not only defeated but filled with awe and confessed, ‘This white man is God’s man, and the Great Spirit fights against us!’ ”That, truly, is the lesson in this vision, “I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her”.Even as old Jerusalem is destined to be rebuilt and inhabited by such multitudes as will push her beyond the utmost limits of any possible dream of her coming glory, and the people who dwell there shall be kept safely by the presence and power of God, so are they kept who now put their trust in Him.

The language of Isaiah is the consolation of every true Israelite, be he Jew or regenerated Gentile,—“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn”. The modern believer has a right to the language of David, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about”, “Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head”.But to our second lesson:LEAVING EVIL Here is the call of God,“Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. “Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon,* * “For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants”. This separation was necessitated by Babylon’s sin. God, who studies nations, and passes sentence according to their conduct, in the Revelation has described this Babylon under the figure of a woman seated “upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy. * * And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations * *. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE EARTH”.That is the people with whom captive Israel is now living, and when the Lord says, “Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north”, He is appealing to His people to part company forever from these wicked ones.But such a necessity was not laid upon Israel only; it is laid upon the faithful in this generation. It is in vain that men say, “You are not well acquainted with our companions. While they have bad customs and habits, they still have their beautiful features. And if only you understood how big their hearts are, how sympathetic and how affectionate, you would not feel as strongly that we must forsake them because they are indeed sinful in some respects.”Such an argument proves conclusively that one has no clear conviction of “the sinfulness of sin;” and that he has not seen the utter destruction of consciously remaining in sinful companionship, or retaining one small thing which is known to militate against the Lord.Years ago a large number of men were engaged in building a water tank at Cleveland, O.

The incandescent electric light went out and would not burn. A boy was sent to put on a new lamp, and in attempting to do it a small grain of sand became attached to the lamp and caused a spark, which ignited the gas accumulated in the tunnel.

Instantly there was a terrific explosion—seven men were dead, and many others injured. Only a little grain of sand and yet what awful consequences! Let us never underestimate the destroying power of sin; when God calls us to quit evil associates who are constantly tempting us to this and to that transgression of law, we should understand the necessity of prompt obedience to His blessed voice.Again, The Divine sentence necessitated this separation. Already God had passed judgment upon Babylon. Go back to the fifty-first of Jeremiah and you will read“Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against Me, a destroying wind; “And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. “Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. “Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets” (Jeremiah 2:1-4). It is no wonder that the Prophet Jeremiah appeals to the people of Israel“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He will render unto her a recompence” (Zechariah 2:6). This call to Zechariah is only a repetition of what he puts into Jeremiah’s mouth.“Come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. “Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. “For thus saith the Lord of Hosts; After the glory hath He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye”. God is not unrighteous to destroy His people with the wicked if it be possible to persuade them to part from such companionship. He withheld the fire from Sodom until Lot, by the violence of love, had been led beyond its gates. And seeing that the doom of Babylon is about to break, He speaks, not by an angel, but lifts up His own voice and cries, “Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord * * Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. * * For, behold, I will shake Mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants”. And shake His hand upon Babylon He did!I listened to Mr. Moody in a sermon in which he truly remarked regarding the cities of the past, “There is Babylon that is said to have been founded by the queen named Semiramis, who had two million of men at work for years building it. It is nothing but dust now!

Nearly a thousand years ago a historian wrote that the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace were still standing, but men were afraid to go near them because they were full of scorpions.”That is the sort of ruin that always comes to greatness! Yes, that is the sort of ruin that always comes to them who fight against God; and to fellowship such, when God has called one to quit their associations, is to partake of their character and come under judgment with them.You remember the old myth concerning Circe who was said to dwell in a palace embowered in the Ӕ ?gean Isle.

There were flowers, music and many attractions. Whoever came to her she feasted at first with delicacies, and gave them delicate wines to drink. And when, by and by, they were under her magic influence, she lifted her wand and moving it over them transformed them into lions, tigers, wolves, swine, or other wild beasts that stalked her flowery Isle.Such, beloved, is the common result of association with the sinful. The lower nature is fostered, it becomes more and more the master, until, by and by, Dr. Jekyl becomes Mr. Hyde, the descendant of Abraham lives like the Babylonian, and when judgment comes perishes there, as Lot’s children died in Sodom’s awful day. That is why God is forever calling to His own“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? “And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the Living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them: and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, “And will be a rather unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). But God’s appeals that we part company with evil associates are always associated with pledges of better companionship, and so here:LIVING WITH JEHOVAH The call is to companionship with Himself.“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. “And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent Me unto thee. “And the Lord shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. “Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for He is raised up out of His holy habitation” (Zechariah 2:10-13). Here is the occasion of song and joy.“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee”. The man who knows the indwelling presence of God is the happy man. The church which has God as an abiding Guest, is the church where singing is soulful and joy is contagious. In Philippi they put Paul and Silas into prison, manacled their hands, made their feet fast in the stocks, and possibly lowered them into some hole “as vile as that into which Jeremiah of old mired.” “But at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God”. His conscious presence was the occasion of their praise, the secret of their strange joy!“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee”. It is the pledge of holy companionship.“And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent Me unto thee”.This was not only a call to quit Babylon,—the unregenerate, set for destruction,—it was also an invitation to join the Church of God, or the regenerate,—Gentiles whom God has saved and will present in that day in mighty numbers, and say of them, “My people”.If you want to visit with a man’s people you go to that man’s house. You then find not only his companionship, but that of his wife and children. And who can tell the influence of good companionship? I do not wonder those men fall who are constantly mingling with the foul. It is practically as impossible for the patron of the blind pig, the gambling house, the brothel, to be holy, or even decent, as it is for devils to take pleasure in the fellowship of the saints: as impossible for the devotee of the dance hall, and the degrading low theater, to think and act right, as it is for the lost of the pit to do the same. Oh, to quit such associates and come into fellowship of the Heavenly Father, and the friendship of men and women who have fought down their worst passions, and builded up their spiritual natures, until they are claimed as children of the King, being animated in spirit by the indwelling Christ!

Who can tell what such associations mean in strengthening the good in men, and adding to the pure joys of people? There is an Eastern proverb to this effect,—“I am not a rose,” said a plant, “but I have been with a rose, and therefore I am sweet.” If a holy fragrance ever flows from our lives it must result from our association with the Rose of Sharon and fellowship with the saints.Here also is an invitation to residence in Zion City. Do not misunderstand me; I do not speak of the late Dr. Dowie’s institution, although from what I can learn it is wholesome as compared with our rum-soaked towns.Do not misunderstand me,—I do not mean that you should join the great Jewish movement of Zionists to purchase property in Old Jerusalem that you may make that your eventual abode.When it is said, “The Lord shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again”, it means what it says. God is going to do it. I believe in the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the back-gathering of Judah to His holy land and home city; but I also know that this Jerusalem is the shadow and type of that other Jerusalem in which you and I may have our residence if we will,—The Jerusalem of which John speaks, saying,—“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. “And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:2-4). Oh, to be fitted for that habitation! Oh, to be invited to share in that city! The strangest thing under the sun is that men so little appreciate it; and so many of them refuse the invitation! I never read the marvelous description of that final residence of God’s saints as it is written into the twenty-first of Revelation, but I thank God for such an eternal Home! The beauty of it who can tell? Oh, the joy of it, since there—all tears are to be wiped away from our eyes; there—no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor any pain!

And “there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life”.What a city! Magnificent in extent; glorious in appointments; beautiful in holiness; sin-free and sorrow-free! the building of God! What must it be to be there? “They tell of a city far up in the sky, I want to go there, I do; ’Tis built in the land of ‘the sweet by and by’ I want to go there, don’t you? There Jesus has gone to prepare us a Home, I want to go there, I do; Where sickness nor sorrow nor death ever come, I want to go there, don’t you?

“Its gates are all pearl, its streets are all gold, I want to go there, I do; The Lamb is the Light of that city we’re told, I want to go there, don’t you? Death robs us all here, there none ever die, I want to go there, I do; Where loved ones will never again say good-by, I want to go there, don’t you?

“When Jesus is crowned the King of all kings I want to be there, I do; With shouting and clapping till all Heaven rings, I want to be there, don’t you? Hallelujah! we’ll shout again and again, I want to be there, I do; And close with the chorus, Amen, and Amen, I want to be there, don’t you? “I want to be there, I want to be there, I expect to be there, I do, I expect to be there, don’t you?”