Building God's House #7: Being God's People, Zechariah 2:1-13

Kid’s Corner: Have you ever been on a team? What kind of teams have you played on? It’s fun to be on a team, isn’t it?

I played on a baseball team, a soccer team, & a football team. I think the most fun I had on a team was coaching my son’s teams, e.g., tee-ball or basketball (here’s a picture of our basketball team). Teams are great!

Did you know that God has a team? And it’s not the Chiefs, Cowboys, or Red Raiders. It’s His Church. It’s His missionaries- the ones that He sends to people who are lost so they will be saved.

Today is our Global Missions Day. All month long, our Sunday night kids have been learning about one of our team members, a missionary named Rose. What have you learned about Rose?

Every month we’re going to learn about a new team member, one of our missionaries. At every kid’s corner, you will get a chance to give a special missions offering to those missionaries. Here’s the bucket…

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Intro: When you visit my office, you will see this Bible verse prominently displayed behind my desk. One year for pastor appreciation at my former church, the deacons (i.e., their wives) asked our pastors what our favorite Bible verse was & made these presentations for us. I love it! My favorite verse is Ezekiel 37:27, My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

I discovered this verse in seminary when studying biblical theology. Biblical theology is the study of the Bible’s teachings and themes as they are progressively revealed through the Scriptures. This is different from systematic theology which organizes the Bible’s teachings and themes into doctrines. One assignment was to discover a “center” from which to interpret the Bible as a whole, i.e., a lens through which to view the whole of Scripture. I selected Ezekiel 37:26-27, and called it RADICAL RELATIONSHIP. It is a radical concept that the God of the universe wants to have a relationship with us. Besides Ezekiel 37, similar language is used throughout the Bible, even in our text for today (vs. 11, they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst).

Zechariah 2, Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, 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 what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. 5 For I,’ says the LORD, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”

6 “Up, up! Flee from the land of the north,” says the LORD; “for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says the LORD. 7 “Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.” 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me.

10 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” says the LORD. 11 “Many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!” We want to focus on this idea of becoming God’s people. What does it mean for us to be God’s people?

1. God is in our MIDST, 1-5.

Zechariah sees a man with a measuring line in his hand. This man is going to measure the width & length of Jerusalem to build a wall around it. It seems he is planning to measure the former size of Jerusalem when the Babylonians destroyed the city & the Temple & carried the people off into exile. Zechariah’s angel guide came out of the city, and another angel met him & told him to run after the measuring man & tell him to wait because (vs. 4) Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. Basically, the population will be so great that it cannot be contained by a wall.

A city without walls means 2 things- (1) it’s defenseless, and (2) it’s openness. No walls mean it’s open to all who would come to it. The image is pointing forward to a time when all the nations will be gathered under God’s rule in His city. When that day comes, God will dwell in the midst of the city and be a wall of fire around it (He is the defense).

I told you that the Bible uses similar language in other parts of Scripture, specifically in the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:33, But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Jesus instituted the New Covenant at the Lord’s Supper (this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you, Luke 22:20), the bread & cup of the Lord’s Supper are symbols of His sacrificial death.

After His crucifixion & resurrection, the Lord sent His Spirit to dwell in His people. The Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of the New Covenant promise that God would put His law in our minds and write it on our hearts. The Holy Spirit within each believer is the sign that God is in our midst as the church. 1 Peter 2:5, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. When God’s Spirit is in us and we gather as the church, then God is in our midst.

Paul wrote (1 Cor 14:25) that when God is truly present in a church, even an unbeliever will fall down on his face, worship God & report that God is truly among you. O how I want us to be a church where God is in our midst! For that to be true, not only must we have the Spirit of God within, but His Spirit sends us out on mission with God.

2. We are SENT on Mission, 6-9.

When I think about that measuring man in vs. 2, it occurs to me that we are often like this young man. He was going out to build a wall that God didn’t want built, at least not yet. We build walls when God wants to extend our borders. Of course, I’m talking about the Church.

We hole ourselves up inside the church when God wants us to attack the gates of hell and go get His people. That’s the next thing we see. Zechariah was sent. We are sent.

This message calls for Jewish exiles that were still living among the nations to return to Zion before the Lord judged those nations. Because of their disobedience, God had spread Israel among the nations. But now He says for them to flee, to escape from Babylon and to come home. The messenger He sent was Zechariah.

Zechariah was sent “after glory,” lit. after glory He sent me. JFB sees this sending as occurring after the Lord’s glory returned to Jerusalem (vs. 5). Zechariah is a Messianic figure. Messiah is sent both to glorify His people and punish His enemies- the ones who touched God’s people touched the apple of His eye.

Apple of My Eye- refers to someone who holds a special place in their heart. Originally, the phrase was an idiom referring to the pupil of the eye. The pupil is the tenderest part of the eye. My wife is forever getting on to me because of how I rub my eyes. We guard our eyes from hurt because they are so sensitive. Here Zechariah is expressing that harming Israel is equal to harming the tenderest part of God’s Eye (cf Deuteronomy 32:10, … He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.)

God will deal with the ones who touched His people- He will shake His hand against them, and they will become spoil (noun of plunder, vs. 8). Play on words- The ones who plundered His people will become the plunder, THEN you will know that the Lord has sent me.

As God’s people we are to be separate from the world, but we are also sent into the world. 2 Corinthians 6:16, And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

John 17:14-15, I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

If we are going to be God’s people, we will be separate from the world, but we will live as sent into the world. The very nations that punished God’s people are the ones who will praise the Messiah.

3. We Celebrate the MESSIAH with the Nations, 10-13.

In this last section, we see God’s intention to return to Jerusalem and gather Israel and the nations to worship together. The verses end by affirming that God has already set His plan in motion to fulfill these promises of salvation & restoration. He started with the world, then chose Israel, who brought about the Messiah, who is the Savior of the world. The Church is the messenger of the Messiah.

I can’t help but apply the Big Three of our church’s purpose to this text. Our purpose is to Worship God, Make Disciples, and Live on Mission. Joseph Parker- It is impossible that the Church should keep a silent tongue amid the shower of blessings poured out from heaven upon the inheritance of the Lord.

What we see in this text is the product of the Church living out her purpose. I love how John Piper describes it in Let the Nations Be Glad- Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.

After the Church has done her work of making disciples of all the nations (Matt 28:19-20), the nations will worship Jesus. Revelation 5:9-10, And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

In the end, after every enemy is destroyed, and the earth is refurbished by fire, there will be a new heaven & a new earth, there will be no more sea, no more sorrow, and the New Jerusalem will descend out of heaven like a bride dressed for her husband.

John described it like this- Revelation 21:3, And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

God has a people. He always has and He always will. The proof of His people is that He is in our midst. The proof of His people is that we are sent on mission. The proof is in our celebration of Messiah.