Zechariah 2:1-7

Zechariah 2:1

I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.

This verse begins the third vision of Zechariah.  Here we see a man who has the measuring line in his hand.  We read previously about the measuring line in Zechariah 1:16.  Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.  (Zechariah 1:16)  Some say this was Nehemiah but because of the context I would venture to say that it was Christ because Nehemiah would not have been able to do the planning of Jerusalem as the LORD could do from his vantage point.

Zechariah 2:2

Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.

Zechariah sees the measuring line in the hand and asks him where he is going?  Then the man answered him and told him that he was going to measure the breadth which was the distance from one side to the other and then he was going to measure the length of the city.  This will be a symbolic measurement just like Abraham who was told to walk around the perimeter of the land God was going to give him.  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.  (Genesis 13:17)  The temple which was measured in Revelation 11.  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.  (Revelation 11:1)  God’s promise to have Jerusalem rebuilt was now coming to fruition as measurements always precede the actual buildings.

Zechariah 2:3

And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,

Then the Lord Jesus Christ had spoken with Zechariah at length and now moves out of the myrtle trees when another angel, who was of the created order, had now come and offered his services to the LORD.

Zechariah 2:4

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:

Then the LORD tells the angel that he should run, literally hurry up and tell Zechariah the good news concerning Jerusalem that it will once again be built up and the inhabitants will be so many that it could not be contained within the walls.  The cattle will also be very plentiful which means times of prosperity are on the way.  Now spiritually speaking the New Jerusalem which will be the body of believers will not have any walls because it will be worldwide and the amount of people who became saved will be so numerous that they could not be contained in one single city.

Zechariah 2:5

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.

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.  (Psalm 125:2)  The LORD will be the protector of Jerusalem as it states in Psalm 125:2.  He will not only protect national Israel because the Messiah would be coming through it but he will also protect the Israel of God which is the body of believers for eternity.  If anyone attempts to attack Israel God would deal with them as a consuming fire.  For our God is a consuming fire.  (Hebrews 12:29)  The Lord Jesus would have to be born in Bethlehem as the prophecy of Micah 5:2 states.  The body of believers who will be the New Testament temple will have God as the glory of Israel in her midst and that would be the Israel of God.  I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.  (Isaiah 46:13)  As you read in Isaiah 46:13 salvation has been placed in Zion which means that the physical nation of Israel will bring forth the Messiah but the spiritual Israel of God will be the people who will bring salvation to the entire world and thereby bringing glory to God for his salvation to the Elect all over the world.

Zechariah 2:6

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 heaven, saith the LORD.

Now those who were taken to Babylon by means of the northern route were now getting ready to return to the land.  God tells them to flee from Babylon.  The word “flee” in the Hebrew carries with it the meaning of “immediacy or swiftness.”  They are to waste no time in returning to the land since they have now completed their punishment.  It would be like a prisoner who completes a five year sentence and then instead of leaving prison wants to stay for another five years.  The LORD then states that he had scattered them to the four winds which means he scattered them in all directions in those empires which God used to punish them.  Many were sent to the area of the Gozan River which was about 200 miles (322 km) west of Nineveh and some were placed in the cities of the Medes which was about 300 miles (483 km) east of Nineveh.  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.  (2 Kings 17:6)  When God had ordered them to flee, it meant that there was some type of judgment ready to fall upon Babylon and he did not want his people there when it happened.

Zechariah 2:7

Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

God wanted his people out of Babylon before the coming of judgment upon them.  It may also have been that many of the men had taken Babylonian wives and God speaks about deliverance from them because it was idolatry and false religions which drew them away from the LORD in the first place and started their religious descent into idolatry.  They should have learned the lesson from Solomon who had married women of false religions and they caused him to turn away from the LORD.