At the time of the writing of this book, Jerusalem was still in ruins. Ezra was assigned by God to lead in the rebuilding of the temple. The people were slow in completing that work. Haggai was also enlisted by God to challenge the people to get at the work of rebuilding the temple. It is always important for God’s people to have a place to meet with God.
In the Old Testament, God gave Moses the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle, while they were wandering in the wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan. After Israel was settled into the promised land, king David wanted to build a more permanent structure, a Temple. God told him he could not do that, but his son would be able to do so. King Solomon did build the temple and it was for the glory of God. That temple stood until the Babylonians were sent in by God to punish Judah for their rebellion against Him. During the years that temple stood, it had quite a sordid history. Kings would command the gold to be stripped from parts of that temple and given to enemies of God to keep them away. Other kings would repair the temple and replace the gold. Then other kings would strip the gold off again to pay tribute to pagan kings. It was a mess. The Babylonians were sent by God to destroy that temple and they took the gold and the dedicated vessels of that temple to Babylon. Seventy years later, king Cyrus, king of Persia gave the Jews permission to go back to their homeland. He was a pagan king but he was directed by God to release the Jewish captives. He even funded their return. As mentioned, it took some time after that before the temple was finally rebuilt. God was not pleased with the slow progress of the Jews in this necessary work.
It was necessary for God’s people to have the temple as a place of worship and the place to offer sacrifices. The temple was a picture of the work and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, Jesus declared that He would build His church. The temple would be destroyed and we now know it would not be rebuilt for at least 2,000 years. In the meantime, local churches would be God’s design as the place where people were to gather to worship God and to learn of Him. The true local church is very important to the Lord, and it should be important to His children. God desires unity among His people. It is impossible to have His unity if we do not follow His way.
The antichrist will build a temple when he takes control, but that temple will not be blessed by God. It will stand for about 7 years and then be destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ. He will build a proper temple in the Millennium. It will be there for the people to come and worship the Lord.
In our text, Zechariah is given the fourth vision. In this vision he saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. He did not know what this was about, and so he asked.
The answer he was given is that this man was going to measure Jerusalem, to see what size it was. This is a picture again of God’s authority. He measures things to see its size and its spiritual condition. He will measure Jerusalem in the Millennium and make it what it is supposed to be. Keep in mind this vision was during the time when Jerusalem was still in ruins. The description given in this passage points to a time beyond the time of Zechariah and also beyond the time of the Lord Jesus Christ’s first coming.
Jerusalem had a second temple, but it was not what the first temple had been. King Herod spent 46 years rebuilding that second temple with tax-payer money, but it was not what that first temple had been. It was not what God intended the temple to be. Jesus warned that temple would be destroyed. It was destroyed in 70 A.D. There has not been a temple in Jerusalem since that time.
Our text tells us that Jerusalem would be rebuilt at some point and it would be inhabited without walls and many people and cattle would come there. The Bible tells us that this time is the time of the Millennium. Jerusalem certainly does not have the luxury of being without walls right now. We know that Hamas/Iran tried once again to destroy the Jewish people just over a week ago. They gained much greater access than they had before, but God stopped them. Israel does need to wake up and turn back to God, but God is not going to let them be destroyed. They will suffer much more yet, but they will not be destroyed. Israel will one day acknowledge the true Jesus as their Messiah. He will bless them with a peace they never had before. It will be better than what king David gave them under God’s direction.
Israel would love to have a city without walls now, but due to their rebellion, they cannot have that. You cannot know God’s peace without knowing the God of peace. Our country is trying to find peace through compromise and tolerance of everything except the truth.
I received a request recently asking me to sign a petition to demand that our P.M. acknowledge the rights of “Christians” in Canada. That is a worthless petition to sign. Our P.M. has no idea what a true Christian is and neither does the organization that is trying to get signatures on this petition. When we look at religion in Canada today, the ecumenical movement wants an imaginary god who caters to anything and everything. It wants a god who loves sodomites and condones the murder of unborn children and demands that we stop using fossil fuels and many other foolish and hideous things. That god does not exist. Our country thinks it does, but they cannot find it.
The true God offers peace on His terms. Peace can only be known on His terms. Peace is only found in repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. True peace begins with God in the heart of the repentant sinner. It grows in the life of the saved person as that person learns how to walk faithfully with the Lord.
The nation of Israel has been around for several thousand years now. God has shown the world that when Israel knew God as in the days of king David, they had relative peace. By the time David died, Israel had no enemies on the outside. King Solomon took over the kingdom in a time of great peace. He did not need to go and fight to defend the borders of the land. He could build the temple and his own palace. He could amass large amounts of wealth. It was not until near the end of his life that he faced enemies. The reason for that was due to his rebellion against God. He chose 700 wives and 300 concubines. These were strange women who turned his heart away from the LORD. Solomon allowed that to happen. The entire nation of Israel suffered due to the sin of this one man. The nation never again enjoyed the peace they had in the time of king David.
When Jesus Christ comes back and sets up His millennial kingdom, Israel will know a peace that will be better than that of King David’s time. They will not need walls around Jerusalem. We are told that the LORD will be her wall. He will be the glory in the midst of Jerusalem. The nations will be drawn to Jerusalem to learn of the LORD. There will be no rebellion allowed for 1,000 years. There will be people who will not like what Jesus will demand, but they will not be able to join forces and rebel and set up an alternative system.
Zechariah was given this vision to remind him of what would come when the LORD would rule. Zechariah would not see this in his day. He would be told of it and he believed that it would come. He was told what the conditions for true peace are and He was also told that this peace would come through God’s chosen vessel, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not know His name, but he knew that God would send His chosen servant to set things in order.
Israel needed to be reminded of how they could know God’s peace. During much of her history, Israel has not been willing to humbly accept God’s rule. They have wanted peace, but on their own terms. God has continuously shown them and us that this cannot work. Peace and blessings are only available when a person turns to God in humility and trusts in Him.
Those who turn to God in humility can know His peace in their hearts. They also have the promise of a home in heaven where they will live in absolute peace. That is what every true child of God is looking forward to. He is in need of learning to walk in the light of God’s peace while on this earth, but he also needs to know that true saints are not expecting heaven on earth. True saints desire to know the true God better, but they need to be reminded that the final destiny is heaven. This earth is corrupt and getting worse. It will be destroyed by the Lord one day. God will create new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. That is the hope of every true child of God.
Pastor Bartel