Chapter Two begins with Zechariah’s vision of a man with a measuring line…
When I looked again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. “Where are you going,” I asked. He replied, “I am going to measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is.” Then the angel who was with me went to meet a second angel who was coming toward him. The other angel said, “Hurry, and say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem will someday be so full of people and livestock that there won’t be room enough for everyone! Many will live outside the city walls. Then I, Myself, will be a protective wall of fire around Jerusalem, says the Lord, and I will be the glory inside the city!’
The Lord says, “Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds. Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon!”
After a period of glory, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me against the nations who plundered you. For he said, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession. I will raise my fist to crush them, and their own slaves will plunder them.” Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me. Zechariah 2: 1-5, 6, 8-9
The man with the measuring line symbolizes hope… the hope of restoration! Everybody loves restoration. But many of the exiled Israelites chose not to return to Jerusalem because they grew accustomed to the security and wealth they had in Babylon. Zechariah instructed them to leave Babylon. It was an urgent request because soon Babylon would be destroyed. But there still were many who rejected these warnings, and remained in Babylon.
“…for He who touches you touches the apple of my eye.” I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love when God tells us how much He loves us. I love the fact that He is so protective over us! Believers are precious to God, just look at what these verses in the Psalms say…
“The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.” Psalm 116: 15
“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” Psalm 103: 13
Treating any believer unkindly is the same as treating God that way. As Jesus told His disciples, when we help others we are helping Him, when we neglect or abuse others, we are neglecting or abusing him (Matthew 25: 34-46). Wow, I have just been convicted by these words!!!!!!!!!!! I must go and make things right.
We have to be careful how we are treating fellow believers—that is the way we are treating God.
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