A City Without Walls: Zech 2
July 20, 2008
Intro:
Here is a simple little puzzle to get you thinking: can you draw a continuous line through each of these nine dots in only four strokes (straight lines only)? (solution is at the end)
O O O
O O O
O O O
This is the classic little puzzle designed to help people see the need to think “outside of the box”. Most can’t do it, because we see the outside dots as edges, limits, and so don’t extend the line past those limits. The puzzle was first published in 1914, and then resurrected in the 1960s and 70s by management consultants who wanted to help their clients get creative with the problems they faced, and find new ways to look at and thus solve those problems. (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/think-outside-the-box.html)
Zech 2: (NIV)
Our study in Zechariah brings us this week to chapter 2, and we are going to see a 5th Century BC example of the need to think “outside the box”; or perhaps “outside the walls…”. There are three parts to this chapter. First is Zechariah’s vision (vs. 1- 5). Then there are two prophecies – one in vs. 6-9, and one in vs. 10-13. We’ll read the whole chapter, but I’m going to focus on the vision in vs. 1-5.
Today I’m using the NIV text, not the same one as our pew Bibles so please follow along on the screen:
Zech 2 (NIV):
1 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 Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and 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 men and livestock 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, O Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon!" 8 For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honored me and 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. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.
10 "Shout and be glad, O Daughter of 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."
The Vision (vs. 1-5):
This is Zechariah’s third vision, and like the one’s previous there is a “rebuilding” theme to the vision. Remember the setting – the city of Jerusalem, including the incredible temple built be King Solomon 400 yrs earlier, had been destroyed and the Israelites carried away into slavery. But now they have come home, and begun the work of rebuilding their nation. Earlier in Chapter one we read, “16Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and measurements will be taken for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.”
And so the vision begins, and Zechariah sees a young man getting to work. He has a measuring line in his hand, and he is off to measure the city, presumably so that they can get started on the re-design and rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. And this makes perfect sense to us, and probably to Zechariah also. It is a good place to begin, seems like a very energetic and obedient young man who is just doing the first thing that needs to be done – measuring the city so that construction can begin. But he is interrupted… “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will be its glory within.’”
Now, to really understand the idea here we need to remember the times. A city without walls, especially one on a major trading route like Jerusalem, was just begging to be captured. There would be no security, no safety, no refuge, no way to repel invaders or thieves. Really, there would be no control for the people who lived there. The walls of the city were the safety net, the way to keep out people you didn’t want in, the way to maintain control over who could come and who could go.
But then the LORD speaks, and what comes from His mouth is a much different vision for the city. God no longer wants it to be a place confined by walls, limited by some physical barrier that keeps people out. As we read down a little further it is clear that there is more to this than just the physical city of Jerusalem – God is now talking about the very identity of His people as no longer being limited just to the Jews. God is looking forward to a time when the area of Jerusalem will be so full of people and animals that they won’t fit, and this people will include not only the Jews, but “many nations”: “11 "Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people.” And what is it that will draw people from “many nations” together? What might they have in common, and what could they have in common that would be strong enough to overcome all the normal barriers between people who are different? Quite simply, it is that which is at the centre – that which binds the people together – which God tells us is Himself. In the words of vs. 5, it is “the glory of God within”. This picture of God at the centre is powerful, and important.
A Ranching Illustration:
Here in Alberta, any good farmer knows that to keep your cattle or horses of llamas from wandering off you’ve got to build a fence. That’s how we do it here, we build fences. But that is not how they do it in Australia… “In our home of Australia, ranches (called stations) are so vast that fences are superfluous. Under these conditions a farmer has to sink a bore and create a well, a precious water supply in the Outback. It is assumed that livestock, though they will stray, will never roam too far from the well, lest they die… As long as there is a supply of clean water, the livestock will remain close by.” (Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch in "The Shaping of Things to Come").
Life at the Centre:
That is the picture that Zechariah sees as well – life, the “supply of clean water”, the God of the Universe at the centre. No need for cattle fences, or city walls, or edges of the box, because what matters is at the centre. This is where the life is, this is where the power is, this is where “the glory of God is”, so why stray? The presence of God makes it safe for the Israelites in Jerusalem – the promise that God will surround it like “a wall of fire” and protect them on the fringes, while drawing them all to the centre where His glory dwells.
If we stop and think about this idea of no walls around the city, it is kind of scary. I like walls. They are comfortable, they are definitive, they are often strong. Sure, maybe they are restrictive, but that is what makes them safe. That is what makes them familiar. There is no risk surrounded by walls. They are predictable. Walls let us be in control.
And maybe, just maybe, when it comes to knowing the “life to the full” that Jesus promises, the walls around us keep us from finding that “life to the full”, because it is on the other side. Maybe the walls that we thought protected us from the outside have, instead, imprisoned us on the inside. And maybe instead of fresh produce and free-range chicken, we are eating maggot infested grain from a harvest long ago that got stored underground out of fear that maybe there wouldn’t be any next year.
Is my analogy making sense? In Zechariah’s vision, God says “we ain’t gonna need no walls no more! ‘cause I am here…” It’s an invitation to trust, an invitation to tear down the walls that keep us stuck in dark and mucky places where there is no life just because we are used to them, an invitation instead to be free like the Australian cattle, to wander and explore and live, always knowing that at the centre there is life.
I think what Zechariah is seeing here is the life of faith. It’s a life Jesus’ echoed in the sermon on the mount, “26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matt 6).
So what is my point? Simply this: when God is at the centre of our lives, there is no need for fear, or worry, and there is no need for us to pretend to be in control. When any of those – fear or worry – come, we turn and look to the centre and find God, and then all those things we fear or worry about pale in importance, they diminish, we see them with a new perspective, and they lose their power over us.
Often our response to fear and worry is to attempt to control. To hold on tighter. To grasp at something – anything – and then try to hold on to that. And often, the way we pretend to be in control is to build walls around us, we try to keep out the things we are afraid of and stockpile what we need so we don’t have to worry. But when we build these walls, really all we do is imprison ourselves. It meets the immediate need, but too often we get stuck in those limits, behind those walls, and life is robbed of the things God has for us to experience and enjoy and engage.
Conclusion:
There is something far, far better than living life cowering behind some walls, hoping that they will keep out the bad stuff and keep in the stuff we think we couldn’t trust God to continually supply. And that “something” is this: God at the centre, His power and presence surrounding us like a “ring of fire”, and us letting Him be in control. Then there really is no need for fear, because when our eyes are fixed on the centre and we see the God of the Universe loving us (actually calling us “the apple of His eye” in vs. 8), there is nothing left of which to be afraid. There is no need to worry, because as Jesus said, “your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
And then, instead of hiding behind some walls, or sleepily meandering through life without much thought or intention, or living in fear and worry, instead of that we fix our eyes on the centre, the “glory of God”. We draw near, we touch, we live with the God of the Universe who promised “I am coming, and I will live among you” (vs 10). We are free to explore, to take risks, to act as an ambassador for our King, no longer concerned with the walls and the limits but rather concerned with how close we are to the centre, and knowing that God surrounds us like a “ring of fire” as we go. And as we live like that, we start to find the “life to the full” Jesus promised.
How about you? What is at the centre of your life? Are you stuck behind some walls? Or are you coming nearer to the centre? The powerful, forgiving, awesome love and glory of God awaits us there. Seek Him. Draw near to Him. Live free with Him.
And as we do, we live.
(solution to beginning puzzle:)
O O O
O O O
O O O
