The Surveyor
In Zechariah 2, we meet a surveyor. We don’t really know from the text what the
purpose of this surveyor is. However,
from the context we can take a small guess.
Of course surveyors measure land boundaries. So it is likely that this surveyor has come
to measure the present existence of God’s people – or even specifically
Jerusalem itself. Of course this blends
in with the greater overarching message of this chapter. As the people return from exile, the city
will grow. Who better to measure that
growth than a surveyor!
God’s Promise
Then the Lord tells Zechariah through the messengers that
Jerusalem will grow so large and the Lord Himself will be their protector. They will be so large that instead of one big
city they will feel like a collection of many villages together. I can’t help but read this description and
think about many of our modern cities – especially those with western
influence. All cities have neighborhoods
and suburbs and districts. All of our
modern cities are essentially collections of villages without walls.
This got me thinking today.
How many modern cities have walls surrounding them for protection? I can’t think of any. We don’t build cities any more with the idea
of protecting the whole city. Our
society is simply too massive. Imagine
the construction effort needed to put a wall around something like Atlanta,
Washington DC, or even New York City! In
the ancient world, walls were an absolute necessity. In our modern world, we wouldn’t know what to
do with a city that had a wall around it.
Of course, much of this has to do with modern warfare. When you can drop bombs and soldiers from the
air, walls feel suddenly constraining rather than protective. But the reality is that we as a human society
have come to a place where walls are rather pointless with respect to
cities. I wonder. As we have progressed with respect to cities
so that we no live without the need of walls, can the same be said of our
relationship with God? Have we progressed
so far as a society that we no longer see a need for God to be our “wall of
protection” as He promises here in Zechariah 2?
Zechariah’s Vision of Nations
The rest of this chapter has a really neat conclusion to it. Zechariah is told that the nations will be
judged – of course. That picks up the
thread left off at the very end of chapter 1.
But as God’s people return to Him and as the nations are judged –
specifically Babylon – God’s people are told to rejoice. As God’s people rejoice over their own
salvation, we also hear that the nations will join God’s people.
As with the prophetic utterances of chapter 1, I believe that
these utterances of Zechariah here have three valid points of
interpretation. We do know that God’s
people did return to God when Babylon was destroyed. We also know that afterwards there was an
innate curiosity in Judaism, which is why in the New Testament we have the term
“God-fearer.” These are Gentiles who are
curious about Judaism and beginning to live according to God’s Law while not
yet becoming full Jews. This is the
first interpretation, one that Zechariah would have begun to see in his
lifetime.
However, then came Jesus.
Through the life and death of Jesus, the nations were truly joined up
with God’s people. Through Jesus,
salvation was brought to the Gentiles.
Many Gentiles have come to being a part of the designation “My people.” God has come and dwelled with His people in
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In
Christ, we see a second layer of understanding in Zechariah’s words. The nations can come and dwell with God and
not become Jewish first.
But I believe there is a third layer of interpretation here. When Christ returns, I believe we will see a
full understanding of these words. Then
we shall truly see what God means when He will be our wall of protection. Then we shall truly experience the concept of
dwelling with God as God intends it to be in the future. What a blessed day it will be!
Silence
As we close this chapter in Zechariah, I am struck by a simple
verse. Be silent before the Lord, for He
has roused Himself from His dwelling. I’m
struck by this because lately I’ve been doing much soul-searching regarding my
ability to listen to God and other people.
I’ve been doing much soul-searching regarding my ability to talk less
and only speak when my words are necessary.
I find it interesting to hear that this is actually what God
desires. When God is moving in our
midst, silence is needed so that we can actually hear what He is saying and doing
among us. Talking isn’t usually the
answer. Listening is.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment