Zechariah 2

John Waddey Commentary On Zechariah 2 CHAPTER II The Third Vision Fills the Entire Second Chapter:“ And I …saw, 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 hereof, and what is the length thereof’ (Zechariah 2:1-2). The prophet then saw yet another vision. In it he saw a man with a surveyor’ s line, laying out the perimeters of Jerusalem in view of rebuilding her walls. As he was watching he reports:

“ …the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein. For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her” (Zechariah 2:3­-5). As the man was proceeding to mark the lines for the walls of Jerusalem, the prophet saw the other angel go forth to meet him. One of the angels said to the other “ run,” i.e., hurry; tell the man that “ Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls.” This verse is applied by some to the literal city of Jerusalem, by others to spiritual Jerusalem, the church (Hebrews 12:22-23). If it refers to historic Jerusalem we must not press for a literal interpretation since Jerusalem’ s walls were built by Nehemiah with God’ s blessing. The emphasis is on the simile “ as villages without walls.” A city needed walls for protection in times of war.

In peaceful times, walls were unneeded (See Ezekiel 38:11). Thus he promises that the people will dwell in peace and safety. A second reason is given for Jerusalem needing no walls. Her population would soon be so great that no walls could contain them. Both of these concepts would have given great consolation to the little band of immigrants who were threatened on every side. Those who see this as Messianic stress the fact that Jerusalem did in fact have walls built and the Holy Spirit does indwell his church (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

The author prefers the literal view as it is in harmony with the general flow of this first section of the book.

Jehovah being a wall of fire about his people is reminiscent of Elisha’ s experience at Dothan when “ the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17). This angelic protection was invisible to all, until the Lord opened their eyes.

“ I will be the glory in the midst of her” might have a double meaning. The older members of the community remembered the former days of Jerusalem’ s grandeur and Solomon’ s glorious temple. They wept at the ruined state of their city and the inferior temple they were raising up. Perhaps God means my presence will provide more than adequate glory for their city and temple (Compare Isaiah 60:19). The other possibility is the special use of the word glory in connection with the temple to indicate God’s symbolic presence, the shekinahy which is styled “ the glory of the Lord” (Compare Ezekiel 43:1-7).

Zechariah 2:6-13, is a call to hesitant Hebrew exiles to return to Judah to help rebuild God’ s nation. “ Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, saith Jehovah; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, saith Jehovah. Ho Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon (2:6-7). “ Ho” is a call to attention. MThe land of the north” is identified in verse 7 as Babylon. By consulting a map of the Middle East one can see that Babylon lay south and east of Jerusalem. Yet it is frequently identified as “ the land of the north” since one had to travel north and then south down the Euphrates River Valley to get there. In those days, the vast Arabian Desert was uncrossable.

The Hebrews had been “ spread abroad as the four winds” in their various deportations and exile. Assyria and Babylon had scattered them, but now, under Darius’ benevolent reign, they could return home.

“ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: After glory hath he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall be a spoil to those that served them; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me” (Zechariah 2:8-9). It is the angel of Jehovah that speaks in verse 8. He is “ Jehovah of hosts” yet Jehovah the Father hath sent him on his earthly mission in behalf of Israel. The “ glory” for which he was sent seems to have been glory to the God of the Hebrews. It would come by his taking vengeance upon the heathen nations that had plundered the Hebrews in the days of their exile in Babylon. Not only did Babylon spoil them, but Edom and other of their neighbors had afflicted them at various times (Obadiah 1:10-14).

The Hebrews were “ the apple of his (God’ s) eye” (vs. 8). The Hebrew suggests “ the gate or opening of his eye” (F.C. Cook) which refers to the pupil. The eye, being the part of man’ s body which is most delicate and most susceptible to pain, is carefully guarded. So God will guard and protect this people. In other passages the expression “ apple of his eye” is from a different Hebrew term and means “ the little man of the pupil,” i.e., the reflection of a father seen in the bright eyes of the child held before his face (See Deuteronomy 32:10).

God will “ shake his hand over” Israel’ s enemies and they will be spoiled by Israel (2:9). This suggests two possible ideas: (1) God will shake or wave his hand in blows of punishment or (2) with ease, he will wave his enemies away into destruction (Compare Isaiah 19:16). This He did to the Chaldeans.

The enemy that had conquered, looted and enslaved the Hebrews would become “ a spoil to those that served them…” (Zechariah 2:9 b). This is not to be taken literally for Babylon never became subservient to Israel. Babylon was destroyed politically and culturally while Israel survived to go home and rebuild their nation. Cyrus, the Persian, restored to them the sacred items of the temple which the Babylonians had taken. He also helped to finance their restoration with the wealth he had taken from the defeated Babylonians (See Ezra 1:7-11).

When all of these things came to pass then the Hebrews would know assuredly that God had sent his angelic messenger to reveal these prophetic truths and Zechariah who recorded them for the people. Fulfillment of prophecy is the proof of its truthfulness (Compare Deuteronomy 18:20-22).

‘“ Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee,’ saith Jehovah” (Zechariah 2:10). “ Daughters of Zion” or Jerusalem is a favorite phrase of inspired writers. It is cited some thirty-six times in the concordance. In this place it refers to “ the true believers in Jehovah and his word. These who fled out of Babel, giving heed to Jehovah’ s call…” (H. Halley). God’ s promise to come and “ dwell in the midst of thee” is related to the rebuilding Jehovah’ s temple which yet lay in ruins at the time Zechariah spoke his message.

Jehovah was said to dwell in his temple because his “ glory” or shekinah was seen in the most holy place, above the mercy seat. In a vision, Ezekiel had seen the glory of Jehovah leave the temple before the Babylonians destroyed it (Ezekiel 10:18-19). In still another vision he foresaw the day when Jehovah would return to dwell in his restored home (Ezekiel 44:1­5).

“ And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that day and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee” (Zechariah 2:11). “ Nations” refers to Gentiles. This projects the prophecy into that distant day when Messiah would come to dwell among the Hebrews (John 1:14) and would invite all nations to become his disciples (Matthew 28:19). Gentiles would have access to the divine promise through the gospel (Ephesians 3:6). Thus when verses 10-11 are considered together we can see that we have a dual prophecy with an early fulfillment in the return of Jehovah to his restored temple and a distant fulfillment in the incarnation of Christ and the Christian age.

“ And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land…”(Zechariah 2:12). This was written to encourage the despondent Hebrews to get on with the rebuilding of God’ s temple. Keil renders this “ and Jehovah will take possession of Judah..When the proper preparations have been made, Jehovah, like a victorious king, will come and possess what is rightfully his. Palestine is here called “ the holy land” because it is where Jehovah will dwell. This is the only place in scripture where it is so designated. From this reference it has become the most common term for that portion of the earth.

“ Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah; for he is waked up out of his holy habitation” (Zechariah 2:13). This echoes Habakkuk 2:20 and is a call for reverence before the great God of Israel. God being pictured as awakening for sleep is an anthropomorphic figure, i.e., the author likens God to king who has been resting momentarily, but now he is awake and ready to act on behalf of his people. It is to be understood figuratively because God is omnipotent; hence he never needs to rest or slumber (Psalms 121:3-4). Zechariah Chapter Two Verse 1 This chapter has the vision of a man with a measuring line, a vision which is number three in a series of eight. Evidently, the purpose of this vision was merely to suggest, rather than to demonstrate, the dimensions of the Jerusalem to be measured, as no measurements appear to have been either made or delivered to the prophet. In this vision, the meaning of it was given by Zechariah in the last half of the chapter (Zechariah 2:6-13). The Jerusalem which is revealed is not the physical Jerusalem at all, but the unlimited and glorious Jerusalem which is “above, which is our mother” (Galatians 4:26). As in all the other visions, there are the most definite Messianic implications in it. Zechariah 2:1“And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.“The purpose here, evidently, is to suggest the dimensions of Jerusalem, not to determine them. No measuring was done. “A man with a measuring line …” It is usually agreed among commentators that this person was actually an angel of God, some even declaring him to be the angel of the Covenant. This Biblical method of introducing an angel as a “man” is used rather extensively, as for example, when the angels who visited Lot prior to the destruction of Sodom were called “men” (Genesis 18:2). However, we must reject the identification which would make him the angel of the Covenant, a being who was always more specifically designated. There are quite a number of these “measuring line” scenes in the Bible. SeeEzekiel 40:3; Revelation 11:1 Revelation 21:15-16. Dummelow and other scholars make the “man” here to be the same as “the young man” in Zechariah 2:4;[1] but there is no reason for this. See underZechariah 2:4. Verse 2 “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.“This emphasizes the purpose of the vision, the portrayal of the unlimited, glorious extent of God’s city. This was not done by the announcement of any dimensions, but by a heavenly interruption that revealed the utter impossibility of measuring the city. No attempted “measuring” ever took place. “To measure Jerusalem …” That this is impossible of any application whatever to the physical Jerusalem is clear enough from the fact that the indicated greatness of it far surpasses anything that could have ever been true of the literal Jerusalem. This is also clear from the Messianic overtones that dominate the whole chapter. Verse 3 “And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein.““Speak to this young man …” It is perfectly clear that the person indicated by this is not an angel of God, a fact inherent in the indication of his age. “Young is inapplicable and unapplied to angels, who have not our human variations of age, but exist, as they were created."[2] Therefore, we understand this as a reference to Zechariah himself. After all, Zechariah is the only one who had requested information about any of these visions; and to suppose that the young man was an angel would do violence to that basic factor in all of these visions. Seeing this young man as the prophet instead of making him into another angel also avoids another error, namely, that of supposing one of God’s angels to have been ignorant of God’s counsels[3] and thus desiring to measure Jerusalem but being stopped from doing so. There is no way that such an explanation is reasonable. Failure to understand the “young man” as the prophet Zechariah leads to a multitude of unsupported “guesses,” none of which has ever received universal support: The foolish Mormon conceit which makes this young man to be Joseph Smith, the pseudo-prophet, and the angel to be Moroni, who reveals to him the golden plates of the book of Mormon.[4]The young man is typical of the rising generation, more eager for city walls than for the Temple.[5]The young man in the vision represents those Jews who thought only of physical Jerusalem.[6]The young man is the angel of Zec 2:1.[7]“The young man” therefore represents the average opinion of that day.[8]Take your choice; but it seems impossible to this writer that the young man could possibly be anyone except Zechariah himself. As Unger expressed it, “If the allusion is not to Zechariah, it can be to no other; for angels are ageless, and it would be pointless to describe an angel as a youth."[9]In addition to all of the above considerations, the basic purpose of these visions was to convey information to God’s people through Zechariah; and, inasmuch as “the young man” was represented in this passage as receiving that information, it is safe to conclude that he indeed is that prophet. The vision definitely is not a means of God’s correcting some erring angel! “Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls …” This never applied to the literal Jerusalem, except for part of a century before the people were able to rebuild the walls. The simple meaning is that God’s eventual city, as realized in the Church of Jesus Christ, shall not be a fortified citadel, but a worldwide fellowship that no walls could limit or contain. Verse 5 “For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.“As Ellis stated it. “This is one of the greatest texts of the Old Testament."[10] It is the Old Testament equivalent of the blessed promise of Jesus, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:18-20). The blunt meaning of the vision is simply this: God’s real people do not need any walls, the holy presence of Almighty God is all that the true Israel needs, whether applied to the ancient Israel or the new Israel in Christ. As Leupold also understood it, “Zechariah is speaking of the ideal Jerusalem, the church, and of an ideal dwelling in her, membership in the church of God."[11]In Zechariah 2:6-13 in the remaining part of the chapter, the teaching is announced by Zechariah “in the name of Jehovah,” the intervening transfer of the teaching via the “angel that talked with me” being bypassed. In its totality, the message of Zechariah is to be understood as God’s Word first to Isarel of old, and in a larger frame of reference to the glorious church of the future, and to all mankind. In studying this passage, care should be exercised to avoid falling into the critical booby-trap that would make Zechariah the author of these admonitions instead of the Lord. It is not as Mitchell alleged that, “Zechariah puts into the mouth of Jehovah the promise, I will come and dwell with thee,'"[12] or that, "He makes Yahweh promise to be a splendour in the city’!"[13] We consider such “interpretations” to be little short of blasphemy. The opposite is the truth, that God puts the words of this prophecy into the mouth of Zechariah. Verse 6 “Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, saith Jehovah; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of heaven, saith Jehovah.““Saith Jehovah …” This expression, repeated twice, identifies the message as originating with God Himself, not with the prophet Zechariah. To reject this is to reduce Holy Scripture to the status of any other book. If such a thing is really true, why do the critical commentators bother with it? If Zechariah is only an ordinary book, it doesn’t make any difference what he said. “Flee from the land of the north …” This means “flee from Babylon”; and while Babylon did not actually lie in that direction, the traveler either to or from that city was compelled to use the road leading north, which made a great arc around the desert that lay between. This became therefore a traditional expression referring to Babylon as “the north.” It was by the northern route that Chaldaean invaders came to Jerusalem. The reason for this exhortation was: “A great number of the exiles had remained in Babylon, having established themselves there according to Jeremiah 29:5, and grown rich. They are now called upon to flee from their adopted country."[14]The reason for this plea was twofold: (1) They were in eminent danger of adopting the philosophy, life-style, and even the gods of Babylon. They were in a most dangerous and precarious situation. (2) Babylon itself was not destined to escape the punishment which God would send upon that wicked and dissolute city. It would be only a few years before powerful foes would utterly destroy the place. “I have spread you abroad …” The dispersion of the Jews at the time of events leading to the Babylonian captivity had been most extensive; and the simplest way to view this passage is as a reference to that fact. Some would make it refer to the prosperous expansion of Israel, but this appears to be incorrect. Verse 7 “Ho Zion, escape thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.““Escape thou …” This is a feeble substitution for the dramatic words of the KJV, “Deliver thyself, O Zion …”; and one may well question the reason for the change. “Delivering oneself” is a perpetual principle in God’s economy of salvation, and the grand imperative of all ages. It found utterance upon the first day of the gospel age when Peter admonished his Pentecostal audience, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation” (Acts 2:40). A way of escape had been provided for the captive people of God, and their homeland was available to them; but whether or not they ever reached it depended upon them. They would have to cut the ties that held them in Babylon and return to Jerusalem. Needless to say, there were many thousands of them that never got around to doing it. In exactly the same manner today, God’s grace has provided salvation for all men, but whether or not men receive it depends absolutely upon their response to the divinely imposed terms of the gospel. “Escape … from Babylon …” has a deep spiritual import also, despite the primary application to the Jewish captives in literal Babylon. Babylon stands in all ages for the wicked city of the world, for spiritual darkness and rebellion against God. The Lord’s people are perpetually warned to “Come out of her, my people,” that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4). The RSV changed the wording of this verse, based upon scholarly opinion that, “Zion is an accusative of direction, and not a vocative."[15] Nevertheless, it is still God’s true “Israel,” or Zion who was commanded to escape to Zion! The change is a doubtful improvement. Verse 8 “For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: After glory hath he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.“The fact of Jehovah’s reference to himself in this passage as the one sent is due to the speaker’s actually being the angel of the Covenant, called Jehovah here, as is appropriate; but the identity of the angel being actually different from that of Jehovah himself is apparent in the second clause where the third person appears in the reference to “his eye.” This is an amazing revelation regarding the covenant Angel, equal with God, but nevertheless subordinate in the matter of his being “sent” to the people who had plundered Israel, the Gentiles. “After glory hath he sent me …” The scholarly struggles with this clause are amusing. Thomas rendered it “whose glory has sent me”;[16] Mitchell thought there was a time-reference in it, “after the glory (vision), he sent me”;[17] Baldwin preferred: “with insistence he sent me”;[18] Ironside thought “after the glory” meant “after the apocalyptic appearing of Jesus Christ”;[19] and there are a number of other remarkable suppositions. Presumably, none of the learned men who adopted such bizarre meanings of a simple clause had ever experienced such a thing as being “sent to the well after a bucket of water !” We are thankful that a number of commentators had no trouble at all with the passage: “After” in this case means “in search of” the glory.[20]It means “sent to get glory over the heathen."[21]It means to “get glory from the heathen."[22]It means that “God will send the Messiah for the vindication of his glory."[23]It means, “to win glory, by bringing judgment upon Babylon."[24]Verse 9 “For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall be a spoil to those that served them; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me.“The action of God’s shaking his hand over a nation was a signal of their punishment and destruction (Job 31:21; Isaiah 11:15 Isaiah 19:16). “They shall be a spoil to those that served them …” This does not mean that the captive Jews would rule over Babylon; but that some power at the moment subjected to that power would rise and overthrow them. Thus Egypt was overthrown by Assyria; Assyria by Babylon; Babylon by Medo-Persia; Persia by Greece; Greece by Rome, etc., etc. Thus Adam Clarke explained the passage, “As the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians; and so of the rest in the subversion of empires."[25] Every great world power carries within itself the basis and the certainty of its own eventual destruction. Verse 10 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.“The glory of God’s people is ever that of his presence among them. Although typical in the experience of ancient Israel, in whom God’s presence was manifested, it was but a feeble and inadequate type of God’s holy Spirit indwelling the Lord’s Church. The many sins and rebellions of the people were continual impediments. The promise here overreaches the fate of earthly Jerusalem and applies gloriously to the Church of Jesus Christ. “This was fulfilled in the coming of the Holy Spirit to live in the Church."[26]It is a gross error to apply this passage as if it meant Jesus would appear physically and personally in Jerusalem and reign during a millennium on earth from that literal city. Nor can there be any accuracy in the notion that: “This prophecy was fulfilled when Zerubbabel completed and consecrated the Temple in 516 B.C."[27] There is no evidence whatever that God in any sense ever dwelt in the Second Temple; and even the first was contrary to the will of God in significant particulars. “Josephus regarded the building works of Herod Agrippa as its literal fulfillment”;[28] but we believe all such “fulfillments” were as nothing compared to the glorious realization of these wonderful promises in the worldwide glory and success of the church of Jesus Christ throughout this whole dispensation of the grace of God. It is tragic that many scholars never seem to catch on to the magnificent Messianic thrust of this marvelous chapter. Mitchell, for example, allowed only that Zechariah was “attempting” to predict the future, alleging that what he predicted never came to pass. “The prophecy does not harmonize with conditions either before or after the time of the prophet! The city did not prosper as he expected."[29] One may only pity the spiritual blindness that underlies so bold and inaccurate a declaration. The incredibly beautiful and impressive truth that salvation from sin and the gift of eternal life are now available to every one on earth who will receive and obey the gospel of Christ and the equally astounding truth that men all over the world, in every nation on earth, are taking God at his word and receiving life are but tokens of the colossal, earth-shaking fulfillment of this prophecy. Jerusalem (in the spiritual sense) is indeed greater than any wall seeking to contain her. Her prosperity exceeds anything else ever known on the planet earth. Verse 11 “And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto thee.“The Redeemer himself speaks here; and his words have come to pass on a scale so fantastic that, even if Zechariah had fully understood the implications of his prophecy, he could scarcely have believed it. “In that day …” is a phrase often associated in the prophecies with “the times of the Messiah.” Such an expression positively identifies the whole passage as Messianic. “Shall join themselves to Jehovah … shall be my people …” This mingling of third person and first person declarations is similar to that found in Zechariah 2:8-9, “His eye … I will shake.” In all such instances, God is the speaker and the person spoken of, that is, both the third person and the first person. This gives a very amazing effectiveness as used in connection with declarations of the covenant Angel. Verse 12 “And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.““This is the only time in Scripture where Palestine is called the holy land”;[30] however, not even this is to be taken literally. Palestine is the holy land in that it was the location on earth where the Son of God appeared in his first Advent, where he suffered, where he gave his life a ransom for all, where he was crucified, and where he commissioned the apostles to go forth into all the world with the life-giving message of salvation. It is the holy land in that sense that “The word of the Lord” did indeed go forth from Jerusalem as stated again and again by the holy prophets. It is the holy land because Jesus’ church began there, the first of the martyrs bled there, and because the earthly Jerusalem is typical of a heavenly reality, “the Jerusalem which is above, which is free, which is our mother” (Galatians 4:26). It is the holy land in the sense that Jesus rose from the dead in that city; there he appeared to his foreordained witnesses; there many of his most wonderful deeds were done; and there was fulfilled to the letter his sentence of death upon Jerusalem, including the ruin of the Temple, and the destruction of her people, “because they knew not the time of their visitation.” Aside from the considerations above, Palestine is not any more holy than any other place of real estate on the face of the earth. As a matter of fact the literal Palestine was utterly, completely, and finally rejected by Almighty God. “The mountain of Jehovah’s house” unto which the nations shall flow (Isaiah 2:2-4) is not a literal place at all. “We are come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem”: “Ye are come into Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:22-24).” Thus the truly “holy land” is wherever God may be found dwelling in the hearts of those who love him. Without that determinative factor, not even the hill of Calvary would be holy. “Shall yet choose Jerusalem …” “This points to Christ as King of the spiritual Zion."[31]Verse 13 “Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah; for he is waked up out of his holy habitation.“This is an idiomatic expression. We may not suppose that any prophet of God ever believed that God would go to sleep and neglect his people while taking a nap. “He slumbereth not, nor sleeps” was basic information about the Almighty God. The words here mean that a period of apparent indifference on the part of God would be followed by a period of mighty actions supporting and blessing his people. As Deane explained it: “He had seemed to be asleep when he let his people be trodden down by the heathen; but now, as it were, he waketh and cometh from heaven, his holy habitation, to inflict the threatened judgment upon the nations, and to succour his own people."[32]“Be silent, all flesh …” There are two tremendous suggestions here. One is, “Let all the earth worship Jehovah,” as in Habakkuk’s beloved call to worship (Habakkuk 2:20): “Let all the earth keep silence before him!” The other pertains to the ultimate fate of all flesh to rest eternally in the silent dust. We refer to the universal, deafening silence so dramatically prophesied in Revelation 18. (See the comment on this in my commentary on Revelation, pp. 432-435). In that passage from Revelation, the remarkable litany of silence is a constantly recurring note, “shall be heard no more at all in thee, shall be heard no more at all in thee, etc.” God is continually saying to all flesh, “BE SILENT.” Bible Study Questions Fom Zechariah Chapter Two

1. From Zechariah 2:1-13 what was the 3rd vision (Zechariah 2:1-2) and what did God promise (Zechariah 2:3-5 Zechariah 2:10-12)? What would He do to their enemies (Zechariah 2:8-9)? Why (Zechariah 2:8 Zechariah 2:13)? In the third vision Jerusalem is measured with a line, indicating that it would be rebuilt. An angel was commanded to run and speak to Zechariah that Jerusalem indeed would be inhabited again – but without walls because of the multitude that would be within it. The Lord Himself would be a wall of fire around her and His presence would be the glory in her midst. God also promised that in that future day that many nations would join themselves to the Lord and become His people (a prediction of the Gentiles turning to God). Judah would be the Lord’ s portion in the holy land and Jerusalem would be His chosen dwelling place. God also promised to wave His hand over the nations who had enslaved Israel, and they would become plunder for them instead.

The reason this would occur was that God was seeking His glory and the way He would accomplish this was by standing up for His people. To destructively touch the people of God is to touch the “ apple of His eye” (possibly His pupil) – they are the central focus of God, the gate through which He sees the nations. Since this had occurred God had been roused from His holy habitation (heaven), and thus all flesh should be in awe of what would happen next. More Questions From Zechariah Chapter Two1) What was the man with the measuring line going out to measure? (Zechariah 2:2) 2) What was the angel instructed to speak to the “ young man” ? (Zechariah 2:4) 3) What two things does the Lord declare He will be in relation to Jerusalem? What might be meant by these two metaphors? (Zechariah 2:5) 4) According to the text, who is the Lord telling to “ flee” and “ escape” ? Who might this be referring to? (Zechariah 2:6-7 NASB) 5) How does the Lord refer to His people here? (Zechariah 2:8) 6) What will happen to those who touch His people? (Zechariah 2:9) 7) Why were the people to “ sing for joy and be glad” ? (Zechariah 2:10 NASB) 8) According to the text, what will happen “ in that day” ? (Zechariah 2:11) 9) According to the text, who is the speaker of verse ten? Who “ sent” Him to the people? What do we make of this? (Zechariah 2:10-11) 10) What will the Lord possess in that day? What will He again choose? (Zechariah 2:12) 11) Why is “ all flesh” to be silent before the Lord? (Zechariah 2:13)

Zechariah 2:1

Zechariah 2:1. The direct meaning of this whole chapter is a prediction of the return from the captivity. In a figurative and spiritual sense it portrays many of the truths of the Gospel age, but that application should not be stressed too much.

Zechariah 2:2-3

Zechariah 2:2-3. Upon inquiry, the man with the measuring line told Zechariah he was going to measure Jerusalem. This is the same thing that is stated in Zechariah 1:16. It pertains to the reconstruction period when the building of Jerusalem and vicinity was to be restored after the return from exile.

Zechariah 2:4

Zechariah 2:4. This young man means Zechariah who was expected to put his information in a bonk for the bene¬fit of the people in future generations. Towns without walls might convey the idea of places unprotected and in danger from exposure to possible enemies. Part of the explanation is in the fact of the crowded condition of the city, and further information about it will be shown in the next verse.

Zechariah 2:5

Zechariah 2:5. No material wall is needed for a town that is protected by the presence of the Lord. This truth may be said also of the New Testament age under Christ.

Zechariah 2:6

Zechariah 2:6. Land of the north means Babylon in which the people of Judah were soon to be inclosed with the captivity. (See the note with comments on Isaiah 14:31 in volume 3 of this Commentary.) The verse is a prediction of the return from that land of the north, expressed in the words flee from.

Zechariah 2:7

Zechariah 2:7. Deliver itself means the same as the preceding verse.

Zechariah 2:8

Zechariah 2:8. The prophet was sent as a messenger to the people ot Judah to assure them ot their return trom the nations which spoiled them which means the Babylonians. Apple of his eye is a figure of speech that means tlie most cherished part of His being.

Zechariah 2:9

Zechariah 2:9. Shake mine hand was to be fulfilled when God sent another na¬tion (the Persians) against Babylon. Spoil to their servants was accom¬plished when the very people whom Babylon had held in servitude were able to obtain benefits trom them.

Zechariah 2:10

Zechariah 2:10. Sing and rejoice was ful¬filled in Nebemiah 8: 10-12.

Zechariah 2:11

Zechariah 2:11. Many nations shall be joined to the Lord was fulfilled first according to Esther 8:17. and fulfilled spiritually according to Acts 2:5.

Zechariah 2:12

Zechariah 2:12. Judah means the 2-tribe kingdom because It was the legal portion of the nation as to the original headquarters in Jerusalem. The prediction is that the capital was to be restored after the captivity.

Zechariah 2:13

Zechariah 2:13. Be silent is a call for all to hear the word of God.