BLOG

Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 7

Zechariah 2:1-5 tells us,

¹ Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. ² So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.” ³ And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him, ⁴ and said to him, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, “Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle within it. ⁵ For I,” declares the Lord, “will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.

To measure something is to ascertain the limits of its boundaries, to comprehend it, to understand it. From a legal standpoint, measuring something is to apply the principle of equal justice, where the judgment is measured precisely to fit the crime. This is the meaning of Exodus 21:23-25,

²³ But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

A biblical judge essentially was called not only to determine guilt or innocence but also, if guilty, to measure the gravity of the crime and pass a proportionate sentence. In cases of theft, the penalty was either double, fourfold, or fivefold, depending on the circumstance (Exodus 22:1-4). Any deviation would deny the rights of either the criminal or the victim.

Hence also, the biblical judge was required to judge matters by the righteous standard of God’s law. This is the underlying meaning of the law of equal weights and measures (Leviticus 19:36). Furthermore, Jesus said in Matthew 7:2 that those who judge others will be judged according to the same standard of measure. In other words, if we judge others too harshly, God will judge us too harshly in equal fashion.

The City Boundaries

Zechariah’s revelation relates to divine judgment upon Jerusalem. In Zechariah 1:19 we read of the four horns “which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” So in Zechariah 2:2 the prophet saw an angel who was sent “to measure Jerusalem.” His purpose was to determine boundaries—“how wide it is and how long it is” (Zechariah 2:2). Though it is pictured in terms of width and length, it is actually a matter of biblical law. The angel was measuring the sin of the land in order to determine the length of its sentence.

In this case, the measuring angel was interrupted by another angel who essentially stopped him from determining the boundaries. Why? On what grounds? Zechariah 2:4 says, “Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it.” The city is more than a city. It represents Israel and Judah as a whole, which was destined to prosper with a “multitude of men and cattle.”

In this way, the prophetic revelation shifts from the earthly city to the heavenly city. The earthly city, along with Israel and Judah, was judged; but it is to be restored as a new creation through death and resurrection. The heavenly city, composed of true Jews by God’s definition (Romans 2:29) are those having circumcised hearts. The true Israelites are those who—like Jacob—have wrestled with the angel and have broken through the fleshly barrier to recognize that “God rules,” that God is sovereign. Israel means God rules. Those who carry this revelation are worthy (as overcomers) of carrying the testimony of the name Israel.

The Wall of Fire

Zechariah 2:5 then depicts the boundary of the New Jerusalem as a wall of fire,

⁵ “For I,” declares the Lord, “will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.”

The fire of God is the “fiery law” (Deuteronomy 33:2 KJV), which in turn depicts the nature of God. Recall that God appeared to the Israelites only as a fire (Deuteronomy 4:12). So the prophetic revelation suggests that the angel with the measuring line was sent at first to measure the earthly Jerusalem to determine its judgment for sin; but at some point a switch was made from the earthly to the heavenly city, which was not to be judged.

Just as the prophets often switch suddenly from the earthly Jerusalem to the heavenly, so also does God’s treatment change just as drastically without warning. This can make it difficult for the average reader to interpret, especially if they are unaware that Yerushalayim means “two Jerusalems,” one earthly and the other heavenly. A single name can apply to either city.

Revelation 21:12 depicts the wall of the New Jerusalem, not in terms of fire, but in the numbers. Its wall is 144 cubits high (Revelation 21:17 KJV). The number is twelve squared. Twelve is the biblical number of divine government. The wall is there, not to restrict the city’s inhabitants, but to channel all others through the twelve gates, overseen and guarded by twelve angels (Revelation 21:12) so that no unclean person may enter.

To enter the city, one must be justified by faith and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb of God. So we read in Revelation 21:27,

²⁷ and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The earthly Jerusalem was guarded in similar fashion, having stored the ashes of a red heifer just outside the gate part way up the Mount of Olives. Lepers were excluded unless God healed them. Those who were unclean by reason of touching a dead body also had to remain unclean for one week before being pronounced clean. However, it was impossible for the priests to know for certain who was clean and who was unclean.

Furthermore, just because a man was ritually cleansed by water did not necessarily mean that he was clean in the sight of God. Therefore, those inhabitants of Jerusalem who rejected His word remained unclean, regardless of their rituals. They were righteous in their own eyes, but not in the eyes of God.

As Christians, we are cleansed by the “water” of the word of Christ. Jesus said in John 15:3,

³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

Regarding the bride of Christ, Paul says in Ephesians 5:26,

²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.

Therefore, those inhabitants of Jerusalem who rejected His word remained unclean, regardless of their rituals.

Yet in the New Jerusalem, the angels guarding the gates will discern the clean from the unclean and will succeed where the priests of the earthly Jerusalem failed. Those who adjudicate their sin in the lawfully-prescribed manner, by claiming Christ’s sacrifice as payment for their sin, and by the testimony of their baptism to cleanse themselves from sin, are eligible to inhabit the heavenly city and to be surrounded by the glory of God—the wall of fire.