Studies in Zechariah 02 Zechariah 2: — John W. Bramhall

One of the nicest places to go and be with the Lord at the rapture would be to go right from here, wouldn't it? Did anyone say, Amen? Well, thank God for that blessed hope. Shall we turn in our prophecy of Zechariah to chapter two, please?

Reading Zechariah’s Vision of Jerusalem

The second chapter of this great prophecy, in which we are, and by the will and the grace and the help of the Lord, we trust to go through the prophecy during our stay this week through next Lord's Day.

Reading in chapter two, shall we read it through? Zechariah, writing by the Spirit and saying, 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, or how great is the breadth thereof, and how great is the length thereof. 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 towns without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein.

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. 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 heavens, 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 fed me unto the nations which spoiled you. For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

For behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants. And ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath fed me. 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 fed 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. May God the Spirit bless the reading of his word, and give the help in the ministry of this wonderful book. The prophecy of Zechariah, as we stated in the preceding message, is divided into four distinct sections.

The Four Sections of Zechariah’s Prophecy

Chapters one, verses one through six, we learned in our mess this morning that there was a call to national repentance, and then, beginning in chapter one and verse seven, and going down to the end of chapter six, we have eight separate visions that were given to the prophet Zechariah in one night.

Those visions speaking not only in the present tense of the days in which Zechariah lived, but more particularly of the future purposes and the determined purposes of Jehovah in relation to Jerusalem, in relation to Judah, and in relation to the nation and land of Israel.

The third section is in chapters seven and eight, where we have a question brought to the prophet by a deputation from Babel, inquiring in regard to a self-imposed or other beside but one other imposed task when they were in Babylonian captivity.

To the answer of those tasks and its questions, the prophet is told by the Lord that there will come a day when the fasting will give place to continual feasting at the coming of the Messiah. The last section of the prophecy is in chapters nine to the end of the book, which is covered by two great burdens.

The first great burden in chapters nine through eleven, and the second in chapters twelve through fourteen. They again touch, as even the whole prophecy does, not only upon the people of Israel, not only upon Judah and Jerusalem, not only in relation to the nations of the earth, but they bring before us the purposes of God as they are centered in and around the blessed Messiah of Israel, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Measuring Man and the Angel of Jehovah

We saw two of the visions in the second chapter in our preceding message. We come in chapter three, or chapter two rather, we come to the third vision that the prophet is given in this one night, and in that third vision we have the prophet certainly seeing what we have read before us.

We certainly see him looking upon a man with a measuring line. May I read verse one, please? I lifted up mine eyes again and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line. Who is this man with a measuring line?

Would you go with me to chapter one? May I read verse sixteen and seventeen? For in verses sixteen and seventeen of chapter one, we saw that the angel of Jehovah, that blessed person who is very divine, the one who is the second person of the triune Godhead, whose title is given in the Old Testament again and again as the angel of the covenant, the angel of his faith, the angel of Jehovah, none but the Lord Jesus in the blessed manifestation of his glory and deity.

And in these verses we read that he speaks in chapter one, saying, Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with my sins. My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. My beloved, the very center of this prophecy is the one whose glory is seen in the book, and who reveals himself as the angel of Jehovah.

And it is he who declares, as we have read in verse sixteen, I am returned to Jerusalem with my sins. And when you and I contemplate the purposes of God in relation to Jerusalem, we must confess that only he, who is the angel of Jehovah, will yet come again and return to Jerusalem with mercy.

Now connect it with the verse that we have read in chapter two, and recognize with me that the man with the measuring line is the same angel of Jehovah as the prophet sees him. A man with a measuring line in his hand.

Reverse two. Then said I with a goestal, he said unto me, to measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth, or literally in the Hebrew rendering, to see how great is the breadth thereof, and how great is the length thereof.

For the measuring line is in due to the expansion, and the glorious expansion, and the indefinite expansion of Jerusalem. For what the prophet is told is that the city of Jerusalem will be expanded in a great way.

Read with me if you please as we go to verse three, and read through verse five. Behold the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, run, be in haste, speak to this young man who was undoubtedly the prophet, speak to this young man saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein.

For I said Jehovah will be unto her, a wall of fire about, round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. The man with the measuring line sends an angel with a message to the prophet. The message concerns Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s Expansion and Future Prosperity

We have mentioned in our preceding message the repetition of Jerusalem in this prophecy is marvelous. For the many times that it is repeated, and it is a literal Jerusalem, please don't spiritualize it, as many have attempted to do.

I spiritualized the prophecy in relation to the heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual Jerusalem, the holy Jerusalem which is from above. For it is a concern in the heart of the prophet, and it was a concern in all of the prophets, that which was God's purpose regarding the literal city of Jerusalem, the chosen site of high in the city of God.

Read the great prophecy of the book of Daniel, and when you read the searching of Daniel's heart in the presence of God, and the pouring out of his desire, his desired concern, Jerusalem and the people of God, what would be the purpose of God following the Babylonian captivity?

And we have a similar prophecy closing the Babylonian captivity as God deals with the prophet Zechariah, and the city, the literal city of Jerusalem on the earth. It befalls the purposes of God in the message that is given by the angel who is commanded to run, take the message with hate.

It's a message of good news concerning my purpose regarding Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be expanded. Note particularly, it shall be inhabited as towns or villages without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein.

Oh, this is the message of the angel. Unrestored and an enlarged Jerusalem. And the city will overflow her boundaries in that coming day. Would you note one expression that is very important? For the message declares in the fourth verse, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns or villages without walls.

I believe I'm correct when I speak that the city of Jerusalem has never been a city without walls with the exception of when it was destroyed. But those walls have been rebuilt again. You can go into the environment of that city as I was recently and you can find the walls of that city have been rebuilt and are standing as such.

And you would count perhaps as it has been estimated that the population of that holy city, the old city, is a population of 50 ,000 Arabs living within it. But the promise of Jehovah is that it will be a city without walls and it will be expanded and it will be in an indefinite expansion reaching out across the plains that shall be existent in that day.

Oh, may I give you the precious thought as you have it in the last chapter that when our Lord Jesus comes back and if He touched the Mount of Olives, in that day the Mount of Olives shall cleave from the east to the west and there will be a very great mountain in that day upon which Jerusalem, the city, shall stand and the great valley will be before it.

And if you were to read, as I commend the reading of this chapter in the book of Psalms, chapter 48, when in that day of the city's glory and the palace of the great king will be in that city, the inhabitants of Jerusalem will invite the nations of the earth to come and behold the glory of the city of the great king and the palace of the great king.

For without question of doubt, the metropolis of the world will be the glorious city, the restored and the enlarged city of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem, which at the present time may have an altitude of 2 ,500 feet above sea level, may even be higher as it stands now, shining in its glory in that coming day as the city of the great king.

Beloved, this is a prophecy of its prosperity. This is a prophecy that its prosperity will be great and there will be unwalled villages at the present time and through the ages of time. The city, and many cities of old, have been protected by their walls and fortified by their fortresses in order to protect them from their enemies.

But in that coming day there shall be no need of the wall for, verse 5, I set the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her. Oh, may I point out two precious facts.

God’s Protective Presence in Jerusalem and the Believer

In that glorious day Jehovah will be the protector of the city and God will protect her without and also Jehovah will be her glory within. He will be the protector without and He will be the glory within the city.

The protection and the presence of God is assured in that coming day. A wall of fire round about and the glory in the midst. May I transfer the application and the precious truth of it to the believer of today?

Oh, the joy of knowing the believer has the Lord itself as the wall of fire to protect and in dwelling the illuminating presence of the Holy Spirit in dwelling the believer within. You know, I'm glad I'm saying a protector without and an illuminator within the presence of the glory of God that I have found shining in the face of Jesus Christ.

Oh, what a protection and oh, what a presence and the glory of His presence will be within. Go with me to Isaiah chapter 60 please. May I read in chapter 60 of the book of Isaiah a word or two in relation to that glory that will be the presence of Jehovah within the city in that coming day.

Isaiah’s Vision of Salvation and Glory

Chapter 60 in the book of Isaiah, reading if I may the 19th verse. Oh, may I read verse 18 together with the 19th verse a contemporary scripture regarding the glory of that city. And will you notice something in the 19th verse that declares the character of the walls?

Verse 19 says violence shall no more be heard in my land wasting nor destruction within my borders but thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise. Oh beloved, you know one of the most fascinating things about the city now is indeed the historic reference that one can recognize from the scriptures.

The walls of the city the gates of the city they excavated recently right near the temple area to the very base of the foundation of its walls and proved that was the foundation of the city walls. I don't know there's no truth to this, I do not believe, but it was told to me that there was a rumor given that when the archaeologists excavated that particular place of the city outside the wall they found a stone upon which was inscribed these words the generation that finds this stone will see the coming of the Messiah.

Well I don't put much credence in it but I do believe he's coming and that very soon for every indication of his return certainly is given to us in all that takes place today according to the word of God.

But in that coming day one of the fascinating things today is to see those walls behold those gates on each side of the city as long ago described in the scriptures. But when Isaiah the prophet describes them in the millennial day in the day of the kingdom thy walls shall be salvation and thy gates shall be praise.

Hallelujah! I'm glad I'm saved. My walls are salvation and my gates are praise. You know you're never safer, you're never more secure than when you say the walls of salvation are yours and when you can lift your heart in praise and worship to the one who saved you.

Salvation! Praise! And then read on in verse 20. Thy sun or verse 19 rather thy sun shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory.

O beloved one, a day that will be for Israel when the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory. O all that lie around about to protect and the glory of that everlasting light and the God of glory and stout with it.

You know that's just exactly that is the portion of the believer today. I wonder if you believe it and enjoy it that you and I we have to protect her who round about us is as a wall of fire in hand and within us is the everlasting God who is thy light and who is thy glory.

But there's one thing about us as children of God we do not manifest as we should that glory and that light and enjoy it. And may I say to you that may not be saved you can have this salvation. This same salvation that is coming for Israel will come through the same blessed person who can save you tonight and who desires to be your savior tonight.

That your salvation may be found in him and that your soul may have the joy of praising him as the poet says praise the savior ye who know him who can tell how much we owe him and beloved salvation praise and the everlasting God thy light and thy glory within.

What a day that will be in that city of glory which is to come. Go back to our chapter in Zechariah please and let's continue on as thus we recognize in verse 4 the prosperity of the city is promised.

Jerusalem’s Present and Future Prosperity

Would you note something precious in that verse? I value it. When you read in verse 4 Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without war for the multitude of men and the multitude of cattle therein.

Oh beloved may I say it's a wonderful thing to see the prosperity even now in that land when one looks behind the centuries that have passed. It's remarkable. The productivity of the land is remarkable today.

But beloved may I say without question of doubt all that the Jew is laboring for will someday come under the judgment of God when the nations around them will afflict them. But when the Messiah comes when as we said in verse 16 of chapter 1 I am returned to Jerusalem with mercy may I emphasize with not only a temporal visitation of mercy in the day of Zechariah, in the days of Haggai, in the day of Ezra and Nehemiah when they rebuilt the house and rebuilt the wall and the city and the gates but the Lord is looking down to that time when he will return in his power and in his glory at his second advent to God bring prosperity to Jerusalem and the inhabitants will stretch out and for multitude to thanksgive it.

The old city of Jerusalem you cannot accommodate more than 50 ,000 people within it approximately and it is expanding out even now in its modern expansion but it will stretch out and I think the Hebrews suggest it will be stretched out not just as villages but as plains for distance, for distance for distance to the south, to the north, to the east and to the west in its blessing in that coming day of the Messiah and he will protect and he will dwell with his people as the glory in the midst.

The Call to Flee Babylon

Now when you come to the sixth verse of our chapter to the end of the chapter you have a more detailed explanation of it. First of all in the sixth verse and the seventh there is a call that God gives to the captives in Babylon to flee from Babylon.

Ho! Ho! Come forth and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord for I spread you abroad as the four winds of heaven saith the Lord deliver thyself, O Zion that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

May I point out to you as customary with much that is prophetic the teaching of prophecy may often have and usually does have a double application and there is a primary application in the days of Zechariah but in the days of Zechariah Haggai, Ezra, Nehemiah approximately 50 ,000 Jews returned from Babylon after the 70 years of captivity according to Josephus approximately 1 million Jews were taken into captivity and when the edict of King Cyrus came to return and build the city to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem there was only a fraction of those people who came back 50 ,000 approximately in number the remainder of them had settled down in Babylon.

They had their businesses in Babylon they had accumulated wealth they had built houses and homes and they desired not to return to the desolate land of Judea and beloved, God gives a call to come out of Babylon to return back to the land.

Now God had two reasons one reason was this that they should escape out of Babylon before God's judgment came upon Babylon do you remember back in chapter 1 the rider upon the red horse, the angel of Jehovah did you ever stop to think of the meaning of that red horse upon which he sat for it is indicative of the fact that blessed one is coming to deal in judgment and in judgment to deal with the nations who had oppressed these people Israel.

For if you recall the words that we read may I go back to verse 12 and 13 or 14 rather and 15. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease, for I was but a little displeased and they felt forward the affliction and may I say my beloved God has never failed to recognize and to take worthy note of what the nations have done to his earthly people.

Never and there will be a day of remembrance. The great prophecy of Joel tells us in the first chapter that in that day of Armageddon multitudes, multitudes will be in the valley of decision and in that day God says I will have a controversy with the nations and belovedly I state the primary reason for that call out of Babylon in the days of Zechariah was that God knew I'm going to visit Babylon with judgment and with ultimate destruction.

The Gospel Invitation and Imminent Judgment

But you know it's a sad fact too many people will fail to give heed to the message of God as he gives the message of judgment. May I pause for a moment may I interject the truth of the gospel you that may not be saved.

May I say there's a far worse day of judgment coming to this world than came upon Babylon long ago. And that day of judgment if it finds you unheeding his invitation to flee from the rastakhan that day of judgment will bring you everlasting destruction.

But then on the other hand God had a second purpose and that was to bring his people to the land where he wished to bless them. You know it's amazing today I cannot grasp it but there is a manifestation amongst the Israelites of today to go back to their land.

Some of them have been driven we know, driven by hatred, driven by persecution. But there's an element, a younger element within the land they have been drawn, they have been attracted, and they have been brought back because they are curiously interested and vitally concerned to have a part in what's taking place behind it all is the call of Jehovah for through it he's going to bring the remnant ultimately into that blessing that he has promised even within this chapter deliver thyself he says in verse 7 O Zion that dwelleth with the daughter of Babylon.

And may I again revert to the application of the gospel my beloved if you are not saved you're nearer hell than you've ever been in your life because the day of judgment is very close and the coming of the Lord is on the threshold.

And if our Lord were to come tonight and you had heard and you had had an opportunity to be saved and received it you would never deliver yourself. Take home the words deliver thyself. You say how we find the wonderful words at the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away it was there by faith I received my sight.

Now I'm happy all the day my beloved the invitation of the gospel is still going on. I can't save you. You know I read a story one time of a man that was saved and he was a prize fighter by occupation and the night that he was saved his evangelistic friends told him now you try to win others bring others to Christ.

And the next night after the evangelistic service had finished some of the brethren heard a commotion on the outside of the building, they went out and as they went out to see what was taking place, here was this man that had been saved the night before and he was sitting on the chest of another man and he was beating him and he was saying, will you believe will you believe, will you believe.

Well they pulled him up and said you can't do that, well he says I only know how to use my fists for your own justice, look there is no question of doubt that if it were possible physically for some of us to save you we'd be glad to do it.

We cannot deliver thyself, my beloved sinner friend within the power of your own choice lies your salvation if you'll only come to Christ tonight and say just as I am without one plea for that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bid me come to thee O Lamb of God, I come now go on to verse 8 of our chapter for oh here we have the greater explanation continuing as we find the Messiah's character as well as his mission described for thus saith Jehovah of hosts and please let me re-emphasize I cannot help but magnify this is the person of the Son of God, the angel of Jehovah, the angel of the covenant, the angel of his faith, the very second person of the divine trinity the eternal Son of God.

The Messiah’s Person and Mission

O beloved, as you recognize who the person is what joy and what character it gives here is Jehovah as it were sending another person of the trinity. Read chapter 61 of Isaiah couple it together with Luke chapter 4 where the Lord speaks in the synagogue at Nazareth his first message, the first sermony of a priest from Isaiah 61 when he says Jehovah hath sent me, my beloved may I solemnly say it is the person of Jehovah sending another person whose name is Jehovah hallelujah equal with the Father the Lord hath sent me and after the glory hath he sent me and though it is the Jehovah Lord of hosts who is the person and his mission, what is it?

After the glory hath he sent me now what Jehovah has sent Christ for and what he will yet send him for in the day of his second coming for that's what is indicated here is to vindicate as well as to display the glory of God.

Oh may I go back you know it's a joy to realize as a believer in Christ the true advents of the Savior. Oh when we think of our beloved rabbinical leaders of long ago some of the ancient rabbis they stumbled over the scriptures they so stumbled over the scriptures that told of a suffering Messiah and then told of a glorious Messiah that some of them believed that there were two Messiahs to come one who would be called Messiah Ben Joseph who would have a ministry of suffering only and later a Messiah whom they called Messiah Ben David who would come to conquer and reign in glory beloved there's not two Messiahs there's only one and that blessed one has come.

And when you think of the presentation of his glory in the gospel of John John writes in that 14th verse the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glorious of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth my beloved may I say that blessed one has been on the earth and he has displayed he has manifested the glory of God.

And it shines in the face of Jesus Christ for all to look upon if they will. And that glory has been revealed in all of its perfection. No man cometh unto the Father said he but by me and went till it said Lord.

Show us the Father he said till it have I been so long time with you. Yet sayest thou to me show us the Father. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Hallelujah. What a revelation of the manifestation of God displayed in all the great love of his Father heart to the world and to his own.

And when you and I look at the display of that infinite love upon Calvary's tree you have the complete display of the affection of the Father's heart. Oh my beloved you. And I can never fathom how much he loves you.

And I can never fathom the greatness of that infinite heart of love. He loves me and he loves you. And the display of that love and grace was manifested by the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. But our verse refers to the coming second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ’s Second Advent and the Judgment of Nations

For go on to read after the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you. Why may I say this. The Lord Jesus at his second advent is going to justify and display and vindicate the glory of God.

He's going to vindicate it and display it in two ways. He will vindicate the glory of God in visiting the nations and the ungodly with judgment. Judgment is the strange word of God. But may I say contrary to many that blaspheme the precious name of our beloved Savior contrary to the fact that the word of God is denied and not only denied it is defied.

The judgment of God will yet fall upon this ungodly earth. Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all the ungodly and beloved. The Lord Jesus is coming to execute judgment upon the nations judgment upon even the ungodly of Israel.

But then he's going to not only vindicate the glory of God by the way of judgment he's going to display the grace and the glory of God by delivering his earthly people. And what a day of deliverance that will be nobody.

Then after the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which find you. For he that touches you touches the apple of sin beloved. These are the most solemn words and precious words in relation to Israel.

Israel as the Apple of God’s Eye

Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 10 the mosaic prophecy declared how God brought down Jacob in a wilderness brought him out of that howling wilderness. And he says I preserve thee as the apple of mine eye.

What's the meaning of this wonderful expression. The apple of mine eye. The apple of God's eye meaning the pupil of God's eye in the Hebrew original word. And always you and I think of that. Well you should think of it the word pupil and the eye.

The pupil or the apple of the eye is the proverb the figure for that which is most precious most easily injured the hardest to repair. And also demanding protection and care. All the light that comes into your body physically comes through your eye.

The pupil of the eye God sent my people Israel. They're the apple of the pupil of my eye. And may I tell you all the light of salvation you and I owe to the Jews. The light of salvation came through God's earth to people to you and me.

The woman at the well Jesus said ye worship that ye know not what we Jews know. What we worship for salvation is of the Jews. My beloved from the light of that pupil of the eye God's eye Israel has come the light of salvation to you and me.

Hallelujah. And then when you think of that pupil of the eye the divine provision even to protect the pupil of the eye physically God has given strong frontal bones to protect it from serious blows. God has put upon it the eyebrow and the eyelashes to keep the dust out of that tender pupil.

God has given a lid to that eye to keep the painful glare of the sun from penetrating. And then God has given tear glands to cleanse it and thus to continuously to cleanse it. And the expression the apple of the eye sometimes is translated the little man of the eye.

Well that's the word pupil comes from a pupil means a boy. And the pupil of the eye is sometimes translated the little man of the eye. And when you're looking God's eye in the Old Testament you see Israel reflected Israel the apple of his eye.

Oh but this signifies the tender affection of God for his people Israel. But I don't want to leave it just for that. Oh thank God I can say with the psalmist myself the words of the psalmist I think in Psalm 17 and verse 8.

Keep me as the apple of thine eye. Hide me under the shadow of thine wing my beloved. I want to ask you a question. Are you in the apple of God's eye. Are you under the shadow of his almighty wings. For thank God that every soul who trusts Christ is brought into the same tender affection and place of consideration and safety and security when thus they can say indeed keep me as the apple of thine eye and hide me under the shadow of thine wing.

I want to tell you Christians something you don't know. And neither do I know how much and how dear we are to God. You don't. You might think he's neglecting you. You might think that he's forgetting you.

So did Israel. No said Jehovah. I've engraven thee upon the palms of my hand. And I'll keep thee as the apple of mine eye. Hallelujah. I'm glad I'm that precious to God. You know if I wasn't saved tonight I'd get saved to be so considered by Jehovah God by the Savior who loved me and gave himself for me.

And say John you're the apple of mine eye. You're under the shadow of my wing. Hallelujah. That's where every believer is. I'm glad I don't have to be an Israelite. The joy of knowing when I trust the Savior.