There are times when I have to quit looking at the news and bury my head in the sand while watching sports or some other mindless entertainment. The world in 2024 is a scary place.
In Zechariah’s day, the world was a scary place too. Superpowers were described as horns. A horn was a sign of strength, and they were the mighty who oppressed the people of God.
God revealed to Zechariah another sign. This time, he saw blacksmiths who were coming to execute His judgment against the powerful, oppressive nations.
And I looked up and saw four horns. I asked the angel who spoke with me, “What are those?” And he answered me, “Those are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. And I asked, “What are they coming to do?”
He answered, “Those are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no head could be raised, but these have come to terrify them, to strike down the horns of the nations that lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people” (Zechariah 1.18-21).
Prophetic symbols may seem a bit strange to us, but the principles are crystal clear. First, God invites His prophet into the realm of the heavenly council to learn what He is doing.
We don’t know how to properly assess the situation until we know what God has said about it.
Second, though the nations are powerful, God is infinitely more powerful. Our role is to trust Him and follow His direction.
A City Without Walls
When God called Abraham, He gave him a promise. He said that through Abraham’s descendants, the entire world would be blessed. God declared, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12.3).
It appears that Zechariah was getting insight into this blessing with the next of the visions God gave him.
I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is.”
Then the angel who spoke with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like unwalled villages because of the multitude of people and animals in it.
“For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it” (Zechariah 2.1-5).
Zechariah learned that Jerusalem could not be a walled city because the number of people streaming to the nation would be so many that walls could not hold its inhabitants.
What would they do in place of a wall? God said His presence would be a wall of protection around the city.
My friend Rudy Ross frequently says that God gives two witnesses when He is about to do something. Isaiah also witnesses this phenomenon of people coming to Jerusalem to meet with God and to learn His ways.
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.” Isaiah 2.2-3
People come to be taught so that they can walk in God’s ways. They learn that the best way of life is to know God’s will and to put it into action through obedience.
How do people realize that they should seek the Lord to understand His teachings and follow His path? It is through us that God reaches out.
Jesus has entrusted us with His authority to guide others to become His disciples. Our mission is to teach them everything He has taught us. Then, we are to immerse them in the divine life of the Trinity.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
“And teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28.18-20).
Zechariah didn’t wake up one day and think, “Tonight when I go to sleep, I plan on having eight visions of God’s activity in the world.” However, Zechariah was willing to be used by God. He had those visions and was greatly used by the Lord.
We may not know what God’s plans are for us, but if we’re open to Him, He can do anything with us that He wants.
Ultimately, His desire is for people to know Him, to live with Him, and to walk in His ways. Let’s be a part of that.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross brings a wealth of knowledge from the Hebrew Scriptures and years of study to the prophet Zechariah. You can join us on YouTube today and listen to Rudy’s thoughts. Find it on the Bob Spradling channel.
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