God’s Return to Jerusalem

Transcript

GR 1004
02/20/1977
God’s Return to Jerusalem
Zechariah 2:1-13
Gil Rugh

Zechariah, and the second chapter, next to the last book in your Old Testament. Last week we looked at the closing verses of Zechariah 1, verses 18-21. That vision, which is the second vision that Zechariah sees, has two main features: four horns and four craftsmen. As we noted, the four horns represent four kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. These same empires were seen in the book of Daniel both in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2 and then the vision of the wild beast by Daniel in chapter 7. So Babylon is the head of gold in Daniel 2 and the lion in Daniel 7. Medo-Persia is the chest of silver and the bear; Greece is the belly of bronze and the leopard; Rome is the legs of iron and the dreadful beast. And then Daniel shows that the Roman Empire, the fourth empire will be revived as a ten nation federation or confederacy. And then we look in Revelation, chapter 17, written by John. And John sees this period of time, known as the "times of the Gentiles," from Babylon down through Rome, plus he goes before that, Egypt and Assyria, two empires that preceded the Babylonian empire. So I've noted on this brief overview, these were before the times of the Gentiles. So that Zechariah doesn't mention them and neither does Daniel. And then Rome, three facets of the Roman empire; the initial one as we know it in history, then the future ten nation confederacy, and then the final form of that ten nation confederacy will be when it is dominated by one single person called the Antichrist. And John sees that as even an eighth kingdom, the Antichrist. But all three, Rome, the ten nations, and the Antichrist can be lumped together and called Rome.

Then we had the four craftsmen and the four craftsmen are also empires. They're empires that God raises up to judge the horns for their treatment of His people Israel. So Persia was raised up and crushed Babylon; Greece was raised up and crushed Persia; Rome was raised up and crushed Greece. And finally the kingdom of Christ will be instituted and it will crush Rome and all earthly empires. So that's something of the scope of verses 18-21.


Now as we come into chapter 2, we have the third vision, this is the third vision. These are visions encompassing the "times of the Gentiles", which began with the destruction of Jerusalem in 605 by Nebuchadnezzar or the conquering of Jerusalem, will continue down until the establishing of the earthly kingdom by Jesus Christ. Now this third vision which encompasses all of chapter 2, “The Vision of the Man with the Measuring Line,” how we've entitled it. Ties very directly to the first vision as did the second vision also. Remember the first vision, the angel of Jehovah, in verse 12 of chapter 1, interceded with God on behalf of Jerusalem and Israel. How long will it be until you have compassion on your people? And the response was two-fold. First, God is jealous for His people and angry with the nations. God is jealous for His people and angry with the nations. And then, secondly that He would return to Jerusalem and His house would be built in Jerusalem and a measuring line would be stretched over it. So verse 16, "I will return to Jerusalem… My house will be built in it… and a measuring line will be stretched over it." These are the “gracious words, comforting words” that are mentioned in verse 13.

Now the second vision, the horns and the craftsmen, dealt with one aspect of those comforting, gracious words, God's anger with the nations. That was one aspect of that message of comfort that was the response to the prayer of the angel of Jehovah. God is angry with the nations. So in verses 18-21 of chapter 1, the second vision dealt with God's anger, how He would deal with those nations and judge them.

Now the third vision also deals with those comforting words, but elaborates the aspect of His return to Jerusalem, God's return to Jerusalem and then the blessings that will result with that return. So the second and third visions really elaborate and develop the ideas that come out of the first vision. We've had the judgment of the nations, and now in chapter 2 the focal point is on the return to Jerusalem of God in the person of the Messiah and the blessings that Israel will enjoy at that time.


All right, the chapter opens up. "Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand." New person brought into view here, as Zechariah lifts up his eyes and beholds in this vision, "a man with a measuring line in his hand". Now a couple of possibilities; one, that this is just an unidentified man who comes on the scene for this purpose. I think that is a possibility, but I think probably we have another appearance of that one who is the "angel of Jehovah." Remember in that first vision, the "angel of Jehovah" riding on the red horse among the myrtle trees? Seems that we may well have that same individual here identified now as "a man with a measuring line". And that's not strange to think that at one point he's called the "angel of Jehovah" and at another point he's called a man.

Look over in Zechariah, chapter 6, Zechariah 6:12, "Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord.” ’ " Very clear and direct reference to the Messiah. And one of the basic things that the Messiah will accomplish as He establishes His kingdom is the building of the house of God. The building of the temple and a glory far exceeding even the glory of Solomon's temple. But you'll note in verse 12, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch." And in chapter t2, we have the same kind of context where this man with a measuring line is going to speak of the blessings on the nation Jerusalem.

Over in Ezekiel 40, the great description of the millennial temple, the temple that will characterize the earthly kingdom of Christ is found in the closing chapters of the book of Ezekiel. And here as well we find a man who has that responsibility of measuring, so verse 2 of Ezekiel 40, "In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and on it to the south there was a structure like a city. So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway." So here you have this person, rather spectacular person, again seeming to point attention to this is the Messiah Himself with the responsibility that will be His for overseeing the construction of the house of God, the temple for the millennial kingdom.

So in Zechariah 2 we see this man with the measuring line, we probably have the pre-incarnate Christ. The measuring line as we've already seen it up in verse 16, same idea, different word for measuring line, but it was for measuring. It was to depict the blessings that God was going to bring upon the city and the nation. The presence of the measuring line here, stretched out, depicting something of the blessings that are going to be displayed and poured out.

"So I said, "Where are you going?," verse 2, "And he said to me, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.’ And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him, and said to him, "Run, speak to that young man." We have several other persons here. Zechariah speaks up and asks the man with the measuring line where he's going. He gets his response. The interpreting angel, the one who was speaking with Zechariah is in view, and another angel comes out. And the instruction is given to run and speak to that young man. That young man would be Zechariah; couldn't be an angel, because angels would not be designated with a term that carries the idea of age, no indication that angels have age. So here evidently Zechariah is the one in view, and there's a message that is conveyed to him. We've already made mention in our earlier studies that Zechariah was evidently a young man at the beginning of his ministry, young in years, and yet appointed by God for this very important responsibility.

Now from verse 4 down through the rest of the chapter we have the promises that God has for the nation Israel. The promises that He has for them in the fulfilling of the blessings that they will experience. Particularly now this focus is on the millennial kingdom. There are immediate blessings and an immediate comfort that come to the people of Zechariah's day. They're getting ready to build the temple. Zechariah's ministry is one of encouragement in the building of the temple. So this ministry and this message would encourage them, but the ultimate fulfillment of it is carried to the ultimate temple, the millennial temple.

Ok, in verse 4, "Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it.’ " First blessing or promise given to Israel here in verse f4 is that Jerusalem will enjoy peace and prosperity. Jerusalem will enjoy peace and prosperity. There is going to be a tremendous increase in population, a tremendous increase in prosperity for the nation Israel. The result being they'll overflow the city. They'll spread out in the regions surrounding the city. The city won't be able to contain the people and the prosperity that God is going to bring upon the nation Israel. Now that comes as an encouragement to these people as they undertake the construction of the temple in difficult times. That God promises that there's coming a time when Jerusalem is just going to be overflowing with people.

Now some of these promises, they just run as a thread through the prophecies of the Old Testament. Look back to the book of Isaiah. We're going to be jumping into some of the other prophets. Isaiah 49, where Isaiah sees the same thing, God promises the same thing. Just an overflowing of prosperity and population for Jerusalem, indicative of great blessing. So in Isaiah 49, verses 19-20, "For your waste and desolate places, and your destroyed land-- surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you will be far away. The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears, the place is too cramped for me; Make room for me that I may live here." Now you'll note this is indicative of God's blessings. The nations that had destroyed them, depopulated them, now they’re far away, they're gone. The children of which you had been bereaved, speaking of the children that had been destroyed and taken away captive and so on. Now they've been blessed with an abundance of children, so that the cry is, this is so cramped, can't we move out a little more. Just God's blessings overflowing. So that's the first promise of this vision to Zechariah, increased prosperity and population for the city of Jerusalem.

The second promise in verse 5, “For I,” declares the Lord, “will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.” Jerusalem will experience special divine protection and glory. Jerusalem will experience special divine protection and glory. Now to dwell in an un-walled city in these times was not a very healthy thing. You're protection depended upon the walls of the city. They were you defense, and yet verse 4 said that Jerusalem would be without walls, because the walls of the city were too confining, the population just was bursting out into the plains around. Now the reason that that could be is because verse 5, God says, "I… will be a wall of fire around her." The emphasis here is on the “I.” God takes it upon Himself to be personally responsible for the protection of Israel. They won't need walled cities. God says, I'll be her protection. Now some of you are familiar with the context of Ezekiel 38 and 39. Now Ezekiel 38, Israel will be dwelling in un-walled cities, but while they are dwelling in un-walled cities in Ezekiel 38, the armies of the north come in and destroy the nation, not annihilate the nation, but bring great destruction upon the nation. That's because we're not yet to the Millennium. That's the Tribulation. And it won't be until God is establishing His kingdom that Israel will be able to dwell in un-walled cities. They'll attempt to do that before the Millennium. The results will be disaster for them because they won't have the defenses they need. But in the Millennium, God says, I'll be her protection. And He calls Himself "a wall of fire around her." It may be a reference to Exodus 14, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, and we had the cloud and the pillar of fire, and it served to divide and protect Israel from her enemies, the Egyptians. That same idea here.

Not only is there going to be protection, but note the last part of verse 5, "I will be the glory in her midst". Now God takes it upon Himself full responsibility for her protection and full responsibility for her glory. "I will be the glory in her midst". Now this again comes as an encouragement. It won't ultimately be fulfilled in the temple that Zechariah is seeing constructed. It will be fulfilled in a future time. You know, as the "times of the Gentiles" approached the prophet Ezekiel saw the glory of God depart from the earthly temple. You have to turn back to the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 11. It's really one of the saddest chapters for the nation Israel in the Bible, because here we see the glory of God, the shekinah glory of God's presence moving out from the temple at Jerusalem, indicating the departure of God's presence. And thus the beginning of the "times of the Gentiles". Ezekiel 11:22, just pick up here an event that's already been in process, "Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city." And what you have here is the resident glory of God, the shekinah glory which was the manifestation of God's presence within the nation is now leaving. It's departing the temple, and Ezekiel is writing in the days leading up to the Babylonian captivity. Ezekiel himself will be one of the captives in the Babylonian captivity. So that as the glory of God leaves that prepares the way for the Babylonians to come in now and capture Jerusalem and the beginning of the "times of the Gentiles". And that glory, the shekinah glory of God, never returned to the temple. The temple was rebuilt. They experienced some blessings, but the shekinah glory of God never returned to the temple.

While you're in Ezekiel, we might as well look at the return of that glory. Look over in chapter 43. Remember that we mentioned that the closing chapters of Ezekiel are the chapters describing the Millennial temple and its glory. And Ezekiel 43, Ezekiel has the privilege of seeing in a vision the glory of God returning to the temple. Ezekiel 43:1, "Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east." This is why we have the song, “The Eastern Gate,” and the identification of the Eastern Gate, which is now walled up at Jerusalem so that Messiah can't come back through it. Amazing what men think they can do. You remember the shekinah glory in chapter 11 departed to the mountains to the east. When it returns, it will come the way that it left, and the bricks won't be much of an obstacle. “And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever.’ ” You note, here is a permanent return. We'll be talking about this in later chapters in the book of Zechariah, with the Messiah's return to earth and so on. But the return of the glory, never to depart again. So that glory left immediately preceding the "times of the Gentiles" and Ezekiel writes about its return which is what Zechariah is writing about as well.

Well, why don't we look in Isaiah as well. A number of passages that would relate to this. Look back in the book of Isaiah. That's just a little bit before the book of Ezekiel. Two passages in Isaiah, one because it's so familiar. Isaiah 40, a song that we're familiar with because of its being sung at Christmas time usually. Just one phrase, one statement, in Isaiah 40:5, "Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Talking about the same time when the glory of the Lord returns to the city of Jerusalem and will be displayed for all mankind to see. Back in Isaiah 4 and then we'll move on to the next blessing or promise. Isaiah 4. You see why the prophets we've mentioned, they have a hard message of judgment. Their message of judgment is always mellowed by the assurances of God that He will return, that He will bless His people forever. So in Isaiah, chapter 4, a little chapter of 6 verses, note verse 2, "In that day the Branch of the Lord." Remember we read that verse in Zechariah 6 about a man, the Branch. "… the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy." Just keep that in mind. We won't come back to this, but we're going to talk about the holy land later in Zechariah 2, and you'll note here, it's at this time, the Millennium, that those in Zion and Jerusalem are called holy. "… everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain." You'll note the end of verse 5, "for over all the glory will be a canopy," because it's in Jerusalem, in the temple, that God's glory will be fully displayed, and this great canopy which will cover that and give protection to it.

So back in Zechariah, Zechariah being one of the later prophets, in his visions picks up many of the themes that run through the earlier prophets. And one of those themes centers on Jerusalem's glorious future. The third promise related here in verses 6-7 is that Israel will be restored, be repatriated, we might say. Verse six, " ‘Ho there! Flee from the land of the north," declares the Lord, "for I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heavens,’ " declares the Lord. " ‘Ho, Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.’ " Now, here has to do with the restoration of the nation Israel. Israel being restored to the land and you note the call given, "Ho, there! Flee from the land of the north." Now Babylon is called the land of the north even though it really would be, direction-wise, southeast of Jerusalem. Because all the invading armies followed the fertile crescent around the top and down into the nation Israel. So that when Babylon came in conquering they would come up around and down from the north. You didn't bring your armies across the desert which were to the east and so they always called the enemy, to the north, the land of the north because that's the way in which they descend. Although that's not the direction which their actual location is.

Now these warnings have an immediate significance to Zechariah's day. A call to the Jews to leave Babylon because now they had opportunity. But some of the Jews had gotten rather satisfied with life in Babylon and chose not to leave. So Zechariah gives a call. You know, fifty thousand chose to come back. That's a pitifully small number. They got to like the world in which they were living. The application to that becomes obvious. So the command here is to leave, because within two years there's going to be a tremendous destruction brought upon the city of Babylon. Two years from this prophecy of Zechariah, the Babylonians rebelled against the Persians and for their rebellion, the Babylonians were severely punished. Over a thousand of the nobles in the city were crucified to remind them that this is not a good idea to rebel against the Persians.

A rather gruesome story, and I'll just relate to you a brief fact about it. But the Babylonians got ready for a long siege. And if you've read about the walls of Babylon and so, they could drive chariots around the top. They stored in all kinds of provisions and everything, closed up the gates, and they thought they'd just wait them out. And it was a friend of Darius who was the Persian emperor who was a general. He went through a rather gruesome task. He cut off his own ears and his own nose. Then he had himself gain entrance to the city so that he could say look what Darius has done to me. I want to be your friend. Now naturally when they saw that pathetic sight, they thought, well, if Darius did that, he'll hate Darius the rest of his life. That gave him occasion to deceive the Babylonians and let the Persian army into the city. We get some idea of the fanatical zeal of some of Persians of that day. But the Jews that were there would naturally suffer in that catastrophe because they were caught up in being part of the city of Babylon. So in the destruction that the Persians would pour out on the Babylonians, the Jews there, they are those Jews that did not heed the call of Zechariah and get out of Babylon like God told them.

Now the ultimate fulfillment of this goes beyond historical Babylon. The future Babylon, ecclesiastical Babylon of Revelation 17, political and commercial Babylon of Revelation 18 -- there the command will be for the Jews to not be part of that system because of the judgment that God is going to pour out upon it. Look over in Revelation 18 where that call goes out for the Jews to come out and be separate from the nations. And in Revelation 18, in Revelation 18, we are down to the time of the Tribulation, and well into the Tribulation. Revelation 17 deals with what is called Ecclesiastical Babylon, the religion of the world, the satanic religious system that will characterize the closing days before the second advent of Christ. Revelation 18 deals with the satanic system commercially and politically that will be in existence during those closing days before the second advent of Christ. And note the plea that John issues in Revelation 18:4 and he records the plea even though he's not the spokesman. "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.” ’ For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong."

So you note the similarity. We get into the seventieth week of Daniel, the seven-years Tribulation that will follow the Rapture of the church that we talked about this morning. The call goes out for the nation Israel to remove itself from the satanic system, characterized as Babylon again. So the message of Zechariah goes far beyond just his day. The real emphasis of it is yet to be proclaimed. We wonder why did God give so much of the Old Testament -- you know, we're interested from Matthew to Revelation -- but there is real significance there and the message that is proclaimed there will have real significance even to a greater degree in a coming day to the Jewish people. Back to the Old Testament and Zechariah 2. And you can jot down a verse, we won't turn there because time's moving along, but Isaiah 11:10-16. If you want to see an encouraging note that even though the initial call in Zechariah's day was responded to very sparsely, there's coming a time in the future when that call of God to the nation Israel will get a great response. And Isaiah 11:10-16 talks about that where Israel streams back from the nations in response to the call of God.

All right, but following through in Zechariah 2, the promises that are given to the nation to comfort and encourage. Verses 8 and 9 pick up a theme that he developed with the horns and craftsmen, that the nations who have brought destruction on Israel will themselves be judged and punished, that's verses 8 and 9. And verses 8 and 9, very interesting verses, "For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. For behold, I will wave My hand over them, so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me."
Verse 8, a key verse, a verse that you ought to have marked in your Bible. It tells you something of the preciousness of the nation Israel to God. And that's an encouraging note to a people have gone through all that Israel has as Zechariah speaks. Yet you note, the Lord of hosts is the speaker, and really it is the Messiah that is in view here, and ultimately He is the one who is the spokesman. So that as you read "after glory He has sent me," you're reading of the sending of the Messiah. “After glory He,” the Father, “has sent Me,” the Messiah, “against the nations which plunder you." So here you see, and this will be born out as we get to the later chapters of Zechariah, as Jesus Christ the Messiah Himself intervenes to protect and preserve the nation Israel by destroying the nations that have assembled against Israel in the last days.

"After glory He has sent me," “after glory” really describes the ministry of the Messiah. His whole ministry is to bring glory and honor to God. And in particular in the context here, this is here in the punishment of Israel's enemies, and of course, the subsequent deliverance of the nation Israel. So "after glory," what is the whole purpose of the Messiah's ministry? What was His purpose in His first coming? To glorify the Father. What will be His purpose in His second coming? To glorify the Father. "After glory He has sent me." Because the glory of God is inseparably linked and tied together with the destiny of His people. So it is a must, a necessity for God to preserve the nation Israel because His own glory is inseparably tied to their destiny. And in the destruction of the nations that oppose Israel and in the exaltation of Israel, God Himself will be glorified. That's true incidentally of you and I. That God will be glorified in accomplishing of His purposes in the church as we talked about the Rapture this morning. So God's glory is inseparably linked to my destiny, not because of me, but because of Him. Because of His choice and His election as we'll refer to if we have time as regards the nation Israel.

So the Messiah will come. And you'll note how Israel is identified here. The Messiah is sent “against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.” The apple of the eye, the pupil of the eye. That which is the most sensitive, the most important, that which must be closely guarded because it is irreparable. And you note the tender way that Israel is spoken of here, this just isn't another nation. This is the apple of the eye of God, the pupil of God's eye, that which is so tender, so important, and thus so deserving of His attention and love. Now they occupy that position because of His choice, not because they're worthy. But that is the position they occupy, so God is obligated to protect them and preserve them, just as you would a literal, physical eye.

We've got a lot of verses down here, and time's moving along. You can jot down
Isaiah 61:3, we won't turn there, but jot down Isaiah 61:3, and I'd encourage you to go back and read through these in connection with verse 8, and what the Messiah will accomplish. Incidentally in the margin of your Bible, if you’re using New American Standard, off of verse 8, under small b, Deuteronomy 32:10, and Psalm 17:8, are two other references of the apple of God's eye, the pupil of the eye.

Ok, look at verse 9, "For behold, I will wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me." The Messiah's ministry and you'll note His power, the awesomeness of it. He doesn't have to marshal a great army, He waves His hand. What happens when He waves His hand? They're done for. Now that's about as strong as you can get. I wave my hand and nothing happens. He waves His hand and all these nations with all their power, and we read about some of it, like in Revelation 18. You know Babylon says, I'm a queen, I'm exalted, no one can touch me, and the Messiah comes and waves His hand and pouf, they're gone. You know, all the peoples are as grass and the glory is the flower of the grass, nothing to it.

Ok, the last promise here, and we've developed it a little bit, in verses 10-13, so it's the longest in effect. The earth will be prepared for the full blessings of the Millennium. That's a promise and assurance to Israel that God will prepare the earth for the full realization of Millennial blessings, the kingdom blessings. We'll just go through these quickly because of time. “ ‘Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,’ declares the Lord.” "Daughter of Zion" is a reference to Jerusalem, pictured as an attractive, desirable woman. The "daughter of Zion" refers to the specific city, Jerusalem, the capital of the nation.

You note, first in the preparation, and got a series of about five, four things that will be involved in preparing the earth for the full reception of Millennial blessings. The first one here is mentioned verse 10, Messiah will be in the midst of Jerusalem. That'll be the first preparatory thing by the presence of Messiah in Jerusalem. “ ‘Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst,’ declares the Lord.” And in particular would be a reference to Messiah's coming as we'll see as we move through Zechariah. Called the Lord -- you'll note, there's no distinction drawn here as you see between God the Father, God the Son. And if the Lord speaks, He will dwell in their presence, the second advent of Christ when He comes to earth visibly to establish His kingdom -- personal, visible presence of Jesus Christ in the city of Jerusalem.

Second preparation, verse 11, "Many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you." There'll be the proclamation of salvation to the nations, not just to the nation, but to the nations. The proclamation of salvation to the nations and the resulting conversion. Israel is not the only nation that will be saved and converted. You note, "many nations will join themselves to the Lord." That joining denotes a spiritual conversion, an identification with the Messiah in a personal way. So in the Millennium many nations will be joined with the Messiah, and what we have here is a prediction of the conversion of Gentile nations, national-type conversion. Not that every person who is part of that group will be saved anymore that every person who is part of the nation Israel will be saved, but nations will be joined to the Messiah.

The third preparation and this one balances, verse 12 balances with verse 11, “The Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem." Preparation will involve the special promise to Palestine and Jerusalem, the special possession of Judah. So what it does is balance. Verse 11 talked about many nations will be joined to the Messiah, but that does not mean now that God has set aside the nation Israel, and just all the nations will be joined equally. "The Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem." Now it's not that He's rejected and He has to re-elect, but the real choosing and the fulfillment of His choice made all the way back with Abraham will be realized at this point. So many nations will be saved, many nations will be joined to Messiah, but Judah and Jerusalem, the nation Israel will be THE people and THE nation during the Millennial kingdom.

Maybe just thumb over to Romans 11. Again, we made reference to this verse in our study earlier in Zechariah. Romans 11, over in the New Testament. I want to mention this verse because it's crucial to Israel's future, Romans 11. Romans 9, 10, and 11 dealing with Israel's situation during the Church Age and the future of Israel. In particularly it's developed here in chapter 11, and the Gentiles have come into the place of blessing, verse 25. We talked about that expression at the end of verse 25, "the fullness of the Gentiles." And verse 25 says, “a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Until the "fullness of the Gentiles," this period of time when God is dealing with the Gentiles in particular. When that is accomplished then He will resume His program with Israel, picking up with the seven-years Tribulation.

Now note verse 28, no, let me read verse 26, another good one. “And thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’ From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake.” In other words, Israel is the enemies now, so that you and I as the Gentiles can have the gospel preached to us. "But from the standpoint of God's choice," election, the standpoint of election "they are beloved for the sake of the fathers," the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They're still loved, "for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable". And verse 29 is often quoted out of context. Verse 29 is in the immediate context of God's program and electing of the nation Israel, He cannot go back on that. He called the nation Israel, He choose them, that is an irrevocable call. So even though now He has set them aside and is dealing with Gentiles, that does not mean that He is done with them. His "calling is irrevocable". He is obligated Himself to fulfill His word. To say, well, now the church picks up those promises is to say that the promise to Abraham was revocable. That's the whole argument of chapter 11, it's irrevocable. God must fulfill the promises literally. That's why there's going to be an earthly Millennium with Jerusalem as the capital of the earth. That's what He promised in the Old Testament. Now Israel doesn't deserve it, but they didn't deserve the call in the first place, and their position never did depend upon deserving it, it depended upon the grace and mercy of God.

All right, back to Zechariah 2 just to pick the last aspect of preparing the earth for the full Millennial blessing is in verse 13. "Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He is aroused from His holy habitation." Now let me just mention verse 12, I mentioned the holy land -- before I comment on verse 13. Verse 12, that's the only place in the Bible that Palestine is called the holy land. And we refer to that quite commonly today. Let's take a trip to the holy land. But really that is a Millennium title. Palestine is not holy today, it's not a holy land at all. If you're not careful, you could get killed over there. In the Millennium it will be a holy land. So this is the only place that this expression is used, and it is used particularly to refer to that land in the Millennium, because then it will function as holy in a special way because it will be sanctified ground. It will be the very presence from which the Messiah will rule and reign.

Verse 13, this fourth preparation for the Millennium is relating to the personal, visible return of Messiah and the judgments that He brings upon the nation. It's a rather awesome verse, simple and concise, "Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord," and you get something of the picture of the awesomeness of it, "because He is aroused from His holy habitation." You know, what's wrong, why hasn't the Lord heard? Where is the Lord to preserve the nation Israel? Has He forgotten them? The picture here of a sleep. Although He hasn't been asleep in the true sense, because the psalmist tells us that "He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep," [Psalm 121:4]. But He is aroused from the standpoint now of taking action on behalf of Israel. So now for 2,000 years it seems like God's forgotten Israel. There's coming a time when now He is going to be aroused, He's going to take definite action. And really verse 13 is an awesome verse because it includes Revelation 5 through Revelation 19. Because when the Lord is aroused, to now take up on behalf of the nation Israel, that will be when the judgments of the Tribulation will begin to be poured out. The Church will have been removed and God now is resuming His program with Israel in refining them to prepare for the earthly kingdom and to pour out His wrath on the nations of the earth. And so verse 13, a simple concise verse, and yet an awesome verse. And the awesomeness of the way it is expressed is fitting because it encompasses the entire tribulation period. That now God is going to intervene. He is going to directly stand to bring His people to the point of being ready to believe in the Messiah and He is also going to pass judgment on the nations. So all nations, all flesh, be silent before Him. And with that event we are ready for the Millennium.

But chapter 3 will carry us into an important aspect, what about the nation Israel? As He is aroused now to pass judgment on the wicked, what about the nation Israel? Wickedness and sin must be dealt with. And so chapter 3 will focus attention upon dealing with the sin and wickedness of the nation Israel.

Chapter 2 of Zechariah, the third vision, the comforting, gracious words developed as God assures the nation Israel that there is a future for them. That Jerusalem will be the capital, that His temple will be rebuilt there, that He personally will inhabit that temple with the full display of all His glory, that all those who have opposed Israel and stood against His people will be brought into judgment, and many will be brought to salvation and joined to the Messiah, but Judah and Jerusalem will be the focal point of the world. The exciting about that for you and I is that you and I will be sharing in the glory of Messiah as He returns to establish His kingdom. We're going to be present for all of this. If He establishes this kingdom on earth, you and I who are believers in Him in this day, Revelation 20 tells us are going to be given the positions of rulership and authority in this earthly kingdom that we're reading about. It's important for me to understand about the Millennium. Why? I'm looking for heaven. Right, but since I'm going to be one of the rulers, it would be nice for me to know something about it. It's a good place for me to start. I study Zechariah because I want to know what's going to happen to the Jews. Yes, that's interesting, but I want to get ready. You know, if I'm going to be mayor of this southern half of Palestine, I have to get ready so it'll be good for me to know what the Millennium's going to be like, what we're going to be doing, and something of the glorious future for Israel, something for the glorious future for you and I as well.

Let's pray together. Father, indeed we do thank you for the glory that will be the nation Israel's because of your presence in their midst. Lord, we thank you that Your call, Your gifts are irrevocable. Lord, that You've not set aside the nation Israel because of their unfaithfulness, because You are ever faithful to Your word. Lord, we're thankful that You have committed Yourself to them. There's coming a day when they will be restored to their position. There's coming a day when You will be displayed in their midst in all Your glory. Lord, we're thankful that Your call to us today in the church age is also an irrevocable call. That we don't stand in the privileged position that we have because we deserve it, but we stand because of Your grace and mercy. Lord, we're thankful that too is an irrevocable call, that we belong to You now, and we'll belong to You for all eternity. We're thankful that even as we've considered some of the matters relating to the earthly kingdom for Israel, for Jerusalem, and Judah, that we'll be part of that great event. That when the Messiah Himself comes in all His glory to display His glory to the world and to the nations, that we too shall return sharing in that glory to be displayed to the world and the nations as the bride of Christ. Again, we'd ask that even this week we might live in light of this glorious destiny. That our lives might be arranged in conformity with the personal character of Jesus Christ, whom we love and serve. We pray in His name. Amen.