The End For Which The World Was Created!

The Destiny of God's People: The New Heavens and the New Earth

If I have "rightly divided the Word" in Zechariah 14, it appears to me that the Lord is painting a wide mural with a broad brush.  The chapter not only re-gathers themes, but expands them further. And I would suggest that it covers a time frame the starts before Christ through to the eternal kingdom.  I explain that in the last two blogs (HERE and HERE) where we gain a portrait of God's purging of the nation of Israel, yet preserving a remnant as He appears as her Warrior-King. The Painter's stroke now allures us into a picture of the eternal state -- the New Heavens and New Earth in Zechariah 14:6–11 (NIV):

⁶ On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. ⁷ It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light. ⁸ On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter. ⁹ The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name. ¹⁰ The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place. ¹¹ It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure. 

Again I rest heavily on the work of Thomas McComiskey where he warns us: "To take them [the symbolism] as literal depictions of actual physical phenomena is to miss the nature of prophetic language in general and of apocalyptic symbolism in particular." [1]  Revelation 22:5 (NIV) is a clear summary of this description of the prophet Zechariah:  "⁵There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever."   

The prophet also paints a mural of living water flowing from Jerusalem.  Again this is confirmed clearly in The Apocalypse: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1–2, NIV)

 

This also interprets for us what the Jerusalem is, symbolically.  Indeed it is Heaven.  It is Christ's throne.  “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.” (Zechariah 14:8, NIV). It flows continually and it flows universally.  And we note again that the function of all this cryptic language is to help is visualize the point: We see the perfect and the final eschatalogical kingdom of God.  He reigns!  “It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.” (Zechariah 14:11, NIV).  The NASB translates this verse: “People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.”   

No more curse.  This is the ultimate eschaton. “The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” (Zechariah 14:9, NIV). "No longer shall there be many world religions or many names for God (cf. Deut. 6:4). The prayer of Matt. 6:9, 10 will finally be answered." [2]  

And we shall behold Him

We shall behold Him

Face to face

In all of His glory

We shall behold Him

We shall behold Him

Face to face

Our Savior and Lord [3]

Father, who can imagine that day -- that Day that You know of full well.  All nations; all kings; all political leaders; all peoples; all events; all circumstances; all micro-organisms to the billions upon billions of galaxies are cascading toward that Day when Christ shall reign over all the earth -- in power and glory.  Eye has not seen nor has ear heard of what You have in store for those who love You.  What glory to be revealed in that Day for those who are longing, looking and loving the appearing of our Lord and Savior.   There are no words to express the wonder of that Day.  As Luther said Father, there are but two days on the calendar: Today and That Day.  Grant the grace of the Holy Spirit to live today in light of that Day.  For Your pleasure and Your glory, Amen!

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1. Zechariah, Thomas Edward McComiskey, The Minor Prophets, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, Mich., USA, 1998, Page 1233
2. Believer’s Study Bible. 1991 (W. A. Criswell, P. Patterson, E. R. Clendenen, D. L. Akin, M. Chamberlin, D. K. Patterson & J. Pogue, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (Zec 14:9). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
3. Dottie Rambo, © 1980 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

Come Home! Come Out!

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line - Part 2

The passage we are examining is  Zechariah 2.  In the previous Blog, we learned that this vision of the "surveyor" points forward to the time when God will dwell with His people and the city of Jerusalem, will be filled with the God-worshiping nations of the earth.  Let's look at some of the details of the vision and try to determine who or what they are; and what they mean.

There is a:

1. Man with a measuring rod, a surveyor. 
2. There was an angel who talked with Zechariah
3. There was an another angel who came forward to meet this angel.
4. There's a young man.
5. Jerusalem with no walls
6. The recipients of the message who have been scattered by the Lord.

We are not sure who the surveyor is.  Some believe he is the Angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ, similar to Ezekiel 40:3.  The angel who talked to Zechariah was probably the interpreting angel and we are not sure who the second angel is other than a messenger from God.  "The 'young man' (v. 4) is Zechariah himself." [1]   The Jerusalem with no walls and multitudes of people is undoubtedly the eschatology Jerusalem. "This anticipates the Lord's personal presence through the Messiah in his kingdom on earth (cf. 2:11-12; 14:9; Isa 60:19; Ezek 43:1-5, 48:35)." [2]

The recipients of the message of this vision are those scattered by the Lord. "These verses are addressed to the exiles remaining behind in Babylon. They are urged to come forth, and flee from the land of the north (i.e., north with reference to Jerusalem viz., Babylon). The matter is urgent. The exiles have been spread … abroad by the LORD, though they are urged to take the initiative in returning." [3]

“Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 2:11–12, NIV). "The result will be Jews and Gentiles together in one nation, my people, with the Lord dwelling in their midst (cf. Ephesians 2:13–16)." [4]

The call to Israel is to "return". God is going to judge Babylon. They mustn't fail to listen to this message or they will be destroyed with the rest.  They must come out, in order to separate themselves and distinguish themselves from the pagan nations. Not unlike Lot, he must escape the city.  And to us today we hear the call of God, 

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”” (2 Corinthians 6:14–18, NIV)  

Separation from the influences, the coercement, the obligations of unbelievers is a necessary state of living for the Christian. Zechariah is clearly seeing a New Covenant relationship, the one Church.  The believer needs to stay in fellowship with Christ and His people and stay out-of-fellowship with the world.  

Father, the joys of this passage are mingled by the sorrow and the concern that we would not be counted as one with the world, but one with Christ and His people.  The call of the Gospel is that we are not our own, we are bought with a price.  There is no question as to our need to withdraw from the world and its entrapments and feast on the nourishment that You alone can provide. Anything that draws me away from my Savior is of the world.  Anything that captivates my love for You is wrong.  Anything that grasps my affection, apart from Jesus, must be discarded.  Indeed my heart is prone to wander.  Take it today, Lord Jesus.  Seal it.  Seal it for Thy courts above.  Amen. 



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1.  Believer’s Study Bible. 1991 (W. A. Criswell, P. Patterson, E. R. Clendenen, D. L. Akin, M. Chamberlin, D. K. Patterson & J. Pogue, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (Zec 2:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
2. Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Zechariah/Exposition of Zechariah/II. A Series of Eight Night Visions (1:7-6:8)/C. The Third Vision: The Surveyor (2:1-13), Book Version: 4.0.2
3. KJV Bible Commentary. 1994 (E. E. Hindson & W. M. Kroll, Ed.) (1802). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
4. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (1755). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 

God's Endgame: To Dwell With Man.

The third vision of Zechariah was:

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line - Part 1.

Remember these visions form more of a collage than separate prophetic looks.  In general God has been telling Zechariah that Christ will build His Church and it will stand for eternity.  He has been telling him that Christ's kingdom will come and reign forever.  This is the motivation for Israel to continue on the work God has called them to do.  It is intended to pry them from the lethargy.  Now we have a third aspect called The Man with a measuring line.  You can read it in Zechariah 2.

This vision involves such players as a surveyor ("a man with a measuring line in his hand"), an angel that provides the meaning and another angel.  The point of the surveyor is to show the immensity and the size of this future "city".  "The “man with a measuring line” (v. 1) is not identified, though it is conjectured that he is probably the Angel of the Lord, as in Ezek. 40:3." [1]  This is a vision that is pointing forward to the progressive fulfillment of the promises of God.  "Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it.” (Zechariah 2:4, NIV).

This vision points forward to the time when God will dwell with His people and the city of Jerusalem, will be filled with the God-worshiping nations of the earth. “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:2–3, NIV).

There is a constant allusion here to the eschatology reality of God dwelling with His people:

• Zechariah 2:4–5 (NIV), ⁴ and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. ⁵ And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’
• Zechariah 2:10 (NIV), ¹⁰ “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord.
• Zechariah 2:11–12 (NIV), ¹¹ “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. ¹² The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.

There is a warning to pagan nations in this vision also.  "In view of the return of the Lord’s glory to Jerusalem and his coming judgment on their former rulers (1:18–20), those still in exile in Babylon should escape from there and return to Zion, the home of the temple." [2]  And this is certain, for the vision ends with a similar call as Psalm 46:10: “Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”” (Zechariah 2:13, NIV).

The joy, the peace, the security, the glory of God are all contingent on His Presence.  His lack of presence leaves a people insecure and vulnerable.  We become very aware of the devastation when the glory of God's Presence departs. But even more so, when God's Presence is manifest in His fullness, what joy!  What peace!

Father, to see again that Your goal is to dwell with mankind in holy, radiant, glory is no surprise. We know that the consummate blessing is when You cause Your face to shine upon us; when instead of turning Your back on us, You turn toward us.  We know that the ultimate security is when You dwell in the center of the habitation.  Like Moses we pray today that Your Presence will go with us and before us.  I thank You this day for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I thank You that You have not left Your children orphans, but You have sent Your Spirit to be with us always.  Yet as unspeakably miraculous that is, it does not compare to what it will be like in the New Heavens and New Earth when You dwell with Your redeemed in unhindered glory.  My mind cannot conceive of such wonder.  I cry, "Be still world!  My God is in His holy Temple!  My God is coming to dwell forever with His people!"   Oh come Lord Jesus, come.   Grant the grace of diligent service and obedience as we await the day when our faith shall be sight.  Amen!

 

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1. Believer’s Study Bible. 1991 (W. A. Criswell, P. Patterson, E. R. Clendenen, D. L. Akin, M. Chamberlin, D. K. Patterson & J. Pogue, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (Zec 2:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 

2. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (1754–1755). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.