URBAN RENEWAL
Opening Prayer
You are my Hope, O God!
Read Zechariah 2:1–13
A Man With a Measuring Line
2 [a]Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”
3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’
6 “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the Lord.
7 “Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” 8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye— 9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them.[b] Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.
10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
Footnotes:
a Zechariah 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-13 is numbered 2:5-17.
b Zechariah 2:9 Or says after … eye: 9 “I … plunder them.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“Zion is as precious to the LORD as are his eyes” (Zechariah 2:8, CEV). As a citizen of Zion, how does that make you feel?There are cities and there are cities. Size and status vary enormously, from the 23 people in Hum, Croatia to the 20 million in mega cities. Two cities are contrasted in Scripture, Jerusalem and Babylon: the latter, once the largest city in the world, was the hub of a huge empire; Jerusalem then was small, lacking Babylon’s political and military power. God’s assessment is that one is a holy city, the other the epitome of rebellion against him (Revelation 18:1–3; 21:1, 2). Zechariah fires us with glimpses of God’s plan to establish Jerusalem.
Here’s a man with a measuring line (1, 2). But there’s no way his line can measure the size of Jerusalem. An angel informs him of his fruitless task (3). This city doesn’t need city walls because that restricts numbers. Additionally, why would you need protective walls if God is both in the city and surrounding it with his holy fire (5)? This is a place “not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Its “architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). The heavenly Jerusalem, overflowing with people from every nation (11), is where God’s presence radiates warmth and blessing. Some city! It’s the future vision which enlivens and enlightens our lives when present-day incarnations of “Babylon” feel so dominant.
Apply
Amidst church decline and growing secularism, what is your hope? How can you encourage a fellow believer this week to stay strong in the Lord?
Closing prayer
I praise You, my King, that You have given me a blessed hope – Your eternal kingdom – my forever home.
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