The Man with the Measuring Line (Zechariah 2)

The third vision that Zechariah was given was that of a man with a measuring line who was on his way to measure Jerusalem. Obviously, the next question would concern why he was going to that. As with the previous visions, Zechariah is accompanied by an angel who guides him through the vision’s details. 

The background to the vision is the unfinished state of the city of Jerusalem. Sixteen or so years before the vision was given, Cyrus had permitted the Jews to return to their country from exile and he allowed them to rebuild their city. Progress had stalled however for most of that period, although now through the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah work had resumed, with the people of Judah now showing enthusiasm for the project. We could say that a kind of spiritual revival had taken place. 

I suppose we could liken the man with the measuring line to a modern-day city planner who wants to know the facts about the city and what its future prospects are, so that he is able to hand in a report to his superiors. Of course, the difference between the planners of earth’s cities and the planner of the heavenly city is that the latter already knows what will happen to the city. 

It is also important for us to read the vision with New Testament eyes. If we wish to use the illustration, we can say that the New Testament is an enlarged version of the planner’s report. The shortened version of what will happen to the city of God is given here in Zechariah 2. As we read it, we might imagine that it only concerns a literal city in the Middle East, although even in this shortened version we are informed that it will absorb many nations. The longer report, detailed in the New Testament, describes an enlarged city that is in the process of being built. And there are hints and illustrations of the yet future glory of the city in the world to come after this period of the reign of Jesus comes to a conclusion. 

The amazing promise (2:4-5) 

Zechariah sees his guide receive a heavenly message about the future of the city. The message is short, nevertheless it is composed of great and comforting promises about the city. Three details in particular are mentioned. There will be growth (peoples and animals), there will be supernatural protection (the Lord will be a wall of fire), and the Lord will be the glory as he dwells in the city. 

When we apply those three promises to the literal city, we can see that they were fulfilled to a degree. It was the case that the city grew in population and prosperity, it was the case that the Lord protected her from the intrigues of her enemies, and it was the case that he dwelt in a special way in the temple where he was worshipped. Yet if we limit the promises to the literal city, we would have to conclude that the Lord did not keep his promises because we know that the city did not remain in possession of those three promised blessings. 

Since that is the case, we have to decide whether the project was a temporary one that disappeared when the people later proved unfaithful. Or should we not see that the initial events were the onset of a process that was going to expand in ways that the original recipients of the message probably did not realise. That is how the New Testament interprets the messages about the city of Jerusalem. It sees the city as being a heavenly one, populated in part by people who once lived on earth, and who enjoy the protection and the presence of God. 

We can think briefly about the growth of the city of God under the reign of Jesus. It started off with very small beginnings in the literal city of Jerusalem. Yet the Book of Acts tells us that numbers increased dramatically. Eventually the church spread elsewhere and growth continued until within a few decades there were congregations all over the ancient world. This growth has continued right to the present day, and there is still growth to come. 

Similarly we can think about the protection that God provides for the city. From one point of view, it seems helpless, like a collection of villages without walls. Its enemies, including its current ones, imagine that it will be easy to destroy it. Yet they cannot because the city has a permanent protector. Even if the enemies kill the citizens the city is not reduced in number. Their souls are safe in the keeping of the King as are their bodies until the resurrection. 

And most wonderfully the Lord is present with his people wherever they are. No doubt, the inhabitants of the literal Jerusalem were amazed that in a select spot in the city the Lord’s presence was known in a wonderful way in the temple. Yet we can say with reverence that it is far more wonderful that the Lord is with his people in the spiritual Jerusalem all over the world. He is with them simultaneously and he is with them fully. 

And if we want to think ahead until the coming of Jesus, we will see that the growth will have been so great that it will be impossible to number the citizens. Moreover we will recognise the perfection of their security when we see them all there, with not one of them missing. And we will then experience in a way we cannot now understand what it means to be in the presence of the Lord. 

The enlarged promise (2:6-12) 

The Lord gives more information about his plans for the city. First, he issues an invitation to those still living in exile to come into the city: ‘Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon’ (2:6-7). This invitation is given to those who were both far away and suffering the judgement of God for their sins. It is not too difficult for us to apply those two features to people today who are outside the current city of God.  

We can also see the sense of urgency that God’s exhortation contains in the words ‘flee’ and ‘escape’, as well as the repeated use ‘up’. Moreover, there is only one place to escape to, which is Zion. And we can see how there is a similar application to those today who are urged in the gospel to flee to Jesus who invites them from the heavenly Zion to come into his city and enjoy its benefits. 

Second, the Lord provides his people with evidence of his good plans for those who had been punished by him (2:8-10). The good plans included the total destruction of their enemies, Babylon, who would become so weak that they could not resist being plundered. Although they had seemed so strong, the Lord had made them weak and unable to do anything. Those returning to the earthly Zion had no reason to fear that Babylon would ever control them again. 

In a higher sense, those who return to the heavenly city are given the assurance that their enemies will not conquer them again. Those enemies include the devil and sin. They will be harassed by them, but they will never again be the slaves of their enemies because they have been set free permanently in order to enjoy the blessings found in the heavenly city. 

There is a wonderful detail here about the tenderness of the relationship between the Lord and his people. They are described as being like the apple of his eye. Everyone wants to protect their eyes and will do anything in order to secure that. It is also the case that one is sensitive to what happens to one’s eyeball – a piece of dust that would not be felt on the hand causes pain when it is in the eye. So God is sensitive to what their enemies do to his people. 

A question arises as to who is speaking in verses 8 and 9. He is a representative of the Lord who was sent to deal with Babylon and others who had plundered Israel. Moreover, he is the one whom the Lord wants his people to know about, and it is unlikely that the Lord would want his people to focus on a creature. So it looks as if the speaker is a divine person, probably the angel of the Lord who appeared in the previous chapter. If that is the case, then we are being reminded here that the second person of the Trinity was involved in governing and punishing the nations even in Old Testament times, and the New Testament tells us that he does so today as well. 

Third, the Lord reminds his people about two amazing features of the restored city. One is the fact of the divine presence and the other is the incredible growth of the city. The Lord calls on his people to rejoice in his return to the temple – it was his presence that would make in glorious. Along with this divine residence, there would be an increase of inhabitants, and what is surprising about them is that they would be Gentiles. Here we are reminded of the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham about the nations being blessed through his descendants. I don’t know if any nations joined the earthly city, but we do know that people from all nations have joined the heavenly one. The fact of the matter is this – it is impossible for the city of God to decrease in population. Peter says that the Old Testament prophets did not understand the messages that they delivered about the glory that would follow the suffering of the Messiah. The chief glory is that the Lord would be present with all his people, and he wanted them to sing about it with all their hearts. 

Fourth, in verses 11 and 12, the Speaker says that he will dwell with them and he also says that he is the Sent of the Lord. He promises to dwell with them forever and he will be with them because he has been sent from heaven to be there. Here we have a reminder of the greatness of Jesus. This promise, we can say, has three fulfilments concerning the city.  

First, it was the second person of the Trinity that was present in the restored temple (this should not be that surprising because Isaiah saw him present in the first temple) in the city of Jerusalem. In what way he was there, we cannot say. Yet we should note his promise to be there. Second, Jesus is present with his people in the heavenly Jerusalem and he is there as the one given that role by his Father. Third, he will be present with them in the eternal city. 

Moreover the prophet is told that the Lord’s inheritance will be his people. We can understand the wonder of the Lord being their inheritance, but what can we say about them being his inheritance? Surely we should be filled with wonder. I suppose we could define the idea of inheritance as describing what the future holds. Each of us knows that if a person owned a lot of land it would define the future of his heir. So we have no difficulty in grasping that our future is defined by the fact that the Lord will be our inheritance, and that we will receive from him great blessings. But what does it mean for him to have his future defined by having us as his inheritance?