Well, we want to say shalom and welcome to everyone to the Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures and Israel, and we are very thankful that we are able to study together the Word of God. We are studying together in these sessions the prophecy of Zechariah, which was written somewhere around 520 BC, where Zechariah prophesied to the Jewish people, to the people of Israel who returned from, from Babylon, the captivities that was taken to Babylon, they returned back to the land, and they needed encouragement. And so here, in this wonderful prophecy of Zechariah, We are studying together the ministry of Zechariah to his Jewish brethren who already returned to the land and needed encouragement. Hopefully, you have a Bible with you, and if you have your Bible, please open to Zechariah chapter 2 today. But before we will read this second chapter, let us ask the Lord to bless the meeting today.

Our God and our Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the prophecy of Zechariah. Help us. Our God and our Father, as we study together the word of God, we pray in the name of Yeshua, Jesus, our Lord and our Messiah. Amen. Amen. So please turn with me to the prophet Zechariah chapter 2 today. And I would like to read the whole second, chapter, Zechariah chapter 2, verses 1 to 13, and I'm reading.

Zechariah says, I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited, as towns without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein. For I, says the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. Ho, ho, come forth and flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of heaven, says the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwelleth with the daughter of Babylon. For thus says the Lord of hosts, After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you, for he that touches you touches the apple of his eye.

For behold, I will make mine hand, I will shake mine hand upon them. And they shall be a spoil to their servants, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord, and many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people.

And I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for he is raised up out of his holy habitation. And I am stopping here.

At the end of chapter two is this thirteenth verse. Well again, beloved brothers and sisters, the study of the book of Zechariah is fascinating. Why it is so fascinating? Because first of all, this is the word of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. These are the promises of God to his people of Israel long before the Messiah came, long before the Messiah Jesus, Yeshua came at his first coming and died for the sins of this world. And as the scripture were predicting that when the Messiah will come at his first coming, he will die, first of all, he will be rejected.

His earthly people, Israel, will not accept him at his first coming, as Isaiah already predicted this in the 53rd chapter. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all. Israel will confess in the future day that the Lord, the Messiah, who came at his first coming, he was as a lamb that was led to the slaughter.

He came to die, to pay for the sin of the nation of Israel, to pay for the sin of the world, to pay for your sins and mine. And once he died and he was buried and he rose again, he is now seated, he was taken up to glory, he is seated at God's right hand, he is waiting the day when he will come, first of all, of course, at the rapture, to take the heavenly company, to be with him in heaven, and secondly, at the end of the tribulation, to be, to come to this earth and to accept a restored nation of Israel, whom he will deliver ultimately and receive unto himself. So Zechariah is looking over the ages.

In fact, through the whole prophecy of Zechariah, he is really looking beyond the church age in which you and I live in today, all the way to the future there, beyond the tribulation period, all the way to the messianic kingdom, where the Messiah will come and his second coming. And will be a king of kings and lord of lords. The king of the Jews will be accepted by the Jews. And the city of Jerusalem will be the central city of the whole world in the future day. Wonderful prospect is yet awaiting for those of us who believe in the word of God. And if you remember, we're living in the dispensation of the grace of God. The word dispensation come from the Greek word oikonomia, economy. We live in the present day age of the church age. The dispensation of grace, which will come really to an end when the church will be taken out of here at the rapture, and then God will unleash the tribulation period, and he will still extend grace.

To his people, his earthly people, Israel, and also to those from among the nations who will come to trust in, in God during the tribulation, and then the Messianic kingdom will take place for the reign of a thousand years of the Messiah Jesus over the Davidic throne. And then, beloved brothers and sisters, after that we will have the eternal order. But we are not even there yet, because we are speaking now in Zechariah chapter two, we have now the third vision to remind you that in the whole prophecy of Zechariah, in chapter one verse seven to chapter six and verse fifteen, we have eight visions that Zechariah is receiving from God.

And in these eight visions, beloved brothers and sisters, that Zechariah received from God, we learn of the wonderful promises that God is showing Zechariah, and he's showing it to the Jewish people who returned from Babel, and all these visions of Israel's restoration. Then later on in chapter 7 and chapter 8, we have the four questions to Israel about fasting, that he will speak to the Jewish people during those days, what kind of fasting God desire from his own people. And finally, in chapter 9, verse 1, all the way to the end of chapter 14, God gives Israel the promise of the coming of the millennial age. The millennium is mentioned thousand years in the book of Revelation, but in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Tanach, in the, in the Hebrew Scriptures, it's mentioned the kingdom, the promised kingdom, where the Messiah will reign and rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, we have already covered, beloved brothers and sisters, the first, two, visions that Zechariah received.

Chapter 1, if you remember, verses 7 to 17, we have the vision of the horsemen among the myrtle trees. We have covered that the horsemen representing the Messiah, the, the, the angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate Messiah, and he's among the metal trees representing here the, the, the world to see what's going on here in this world. There are four horsemen that coming and they are representing, of course, the armies of God, and ultimately we can see it speaks of the merciful way in which the Lord will deal with the people of Jerusalem and will restore them.

The second dream, if you remember, the second vision was in chapter one of Zechariah, verses 18 to 21, and that was the vision of the four horns and the four carpenters. The four horns representing the four, kingdom, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the, the, the Grecian Empire, and the Roman Empire. These are the four horns, and they have treated evil the people of Israel, and that's why there will be the four carpenters that will rise, and that's representing the, the, the judgment of every nations, the every empire that rose, that were allowed to, by God to be risen, to be empowered, but ultimately another one will come to destroy them and to remove them from their power. The Medo-Persian came to remove the Babylonian from their power.

The Grecian, Alexander the Great, came rose to remove the Medo-Persian from their power. The Romans rose to remove the, the, the Medo-Persian from their power. From their power, and the Messiah himself at the second coming, he will rise according to chapter two and chapter seven, he is the one, the stone that will fall upon the feet of the ten toes of this great image that's representing the times of the Gentiles, and he will ultimately destroy the whole kingdom, and he will establish his own kingdom, which we know to be as the Messianic kingdom, the millennial age, where the Messiah Jesus will reign and rule over Israel and all the nations of the world. Now, beloved brothers and sisters, in chapter two, we have arrived to the third vision.

That third vision, according to chapter 2, verses 1 to 13, this is the whole second chapter, it is really the vision of the man with a measuring line. The vision of the man with a measuring line in verses 1 to 5, the vision itself, and verses 6 to 13 is the interpretation or the meaning of the vision of the man with the measuring line. Again, notice this again, according to verse 1 of chapter 2, we read, and listen to this, I lifted up mine eyes again, and I looked. Notice that? Zechariah, once again, is not closing his eyes, he's not having a dream, in Hebrew, chalom, but he's having a vision. A vision is opening his eyes, and the Lord, show him a sight to see. Notice that when he's lifting up his eyes, he sees.

You receive a vision that come from, the Lord. And that vision is now, is the vision of the man with the measuring line. Notice that it says in verse one, and I'm reading, I lifted up mine eyes again, and I looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. That word measuring line come from the Hebrew word hevel, mida. Hevel is like a rope or a string. Hevel, mida, measuring line. You know, any builders, anyone who is building any house or anything, is building, he will have a measuring line, a long line to make sure that there is a straight line from point A to point B. A measuring line, he is measuring, just like a measuring tape, that he is measuring the length and the breadth of a certain area because he is intending to build something there.

So, we find out that Zechariah is lifting up his eyes, verse 1, and then he sees, notice, he looked, he saw, behold, a man. That man of Zechariah chapter 2 and verse 1 is the very same man The very same angel, the very same angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Messiah, that is already mentioned in chapter one. Notice in chapter one and verse eight, we did read, And I saw by night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse. Who is that man? That man of chapter one and verse eight is none else but the pre-incarnate Mashiach, Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah. In fact, as you read a little bit later on in the first chapter, he sees in verse ten, notice that, I'm reading, we read verse eight, he's called a man.

Then notice in verse nine, and he said, and then said I, O my Lord, what are these and the angels that talk with me? That man is presented as an angel as well, Malach. But then in verse, in verse, eleven, he's seen much more than just a man, much more than just an angel, but he's called the angel of the Lord.

In, in, in that verse eleven, notice that I'm reading Zechariah chapter one in verse eleven, where we read in verse eleven concerning the, the angel of the Lord. Listen to verse, I'm sorry, I'll read verse eleven here. And they answered the angel of the Lord, Malach Yehovah. The angel of the Lord here is the same man, is the same angel, he's called the angel of the Lord, everybody answered to him, he's the prime current Messiah, and he's the one that, speaking once again in the second chapter to Zechariah. And so the man that, and I looked and behold a man with a measuring line, a line in his hand. And so here we see the pre-incarnate Christ, Mashiach, Messiah, with a measuring line, he's preparing to measure.

And that expression, by the way, measuring line is mentioned elsewhere in the word of God. For example, if you just for a moment go to the prophet Jeremiah, just go back a little bit, and you will notice that Jeremiah is speaking about that measuring as well, notice Jeremiah chapter A thirty one, we read in verse thirty eight, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that the city, shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananiel unto the gate of the corner, and, listen to that, and the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill of Garev, and shall compass about to Gohath. In other words, measuring line representing, measuring in view of building, in view of restoration, in view of, res- restoration, and specifically in the context here is the city of Yerushalayim. This is so, interesting, beloved, brothers and sisters, this measuring, line.

And so, when we read about that, we, we under- Saying that God is intending to restore the nation of Israel and to measure in view of Israel's restoration. There is another verse that we should read in the prophet of Yechezkel, Ezekiel, in chapter 40, and notice what we read in Ezekiel chapter 40 and verse 3 and verse 5. It says, And he brought me hither, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was likened to the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed. And he stood in the gate. This had to do with the building of the temple, the messianic temple in a future day. Verse five says, And behold, a wall on the outside of the house, round about, and in a man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long, and so on, and so on. Measuring line representing the fact that this man, this angel, this pre-incarnate Messiah, the angel of the Lord, is going now to measure.

Now we find out, notice back to our prophecy in Zechariah chapter two, the prophecy of the man with the measuring line. In verse two, Zechariah is asking, notice it says in verse two, when, then said I, whither you go, where are you going to? And he said unto me, to measure Jerusalem, to measure Jerusalem. To see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof. Again, Zechariah is up, he's awakened. And he sees that vision of a man with a measuring line, which we know is the pre-incarnate Messiah, the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And so he's asking him, Zechariah is speaking with him, and he, that's why it is a vision. It's, it's like a machaze, it's like something unique that he sees. And he's speaking to him, and he's saying to him, where are you going to? He's speaking to that man, and the man responding to him, he said, I go to measure, to measure the city of Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

And, to see, I want to see what is the width, and what is the length, the breadth and the length. Now again, beloved brothers and sisters, because it is a vision, because it is given in order to help To help Zechariah, to help the Jewish remnant that were now back in the city of Yerushalayim, discouraged. They didn't continue to build the temple because there was so much opposition from the Shomronim, the Samaritans, and the enemies from without, and the friction from within. And the house of God was not yet built or finished.

And discouragement, the walls of Jerusalem, of course, were not yet built. Nehemiah is supposed to come to rebuild the wall. Zubbabel came. Ezra is supposed to come to beautify the temple in Jerusalem, the small temple that he's intending now to be rebuilt. But here we see the pre-incarnate Messiah is telling to Zechariah, Zechariah, I'm going to measure the city of Yerushalayim. I'm going to see what is the width and what is the length of the city of Jerusalem. I'm taking a measuring line with me, and that measuring line is called here in the Hebrew hevel, the rope or the string, hamida, to measure, the string that measures, hevel hamida. So now that Zechariah have heard, and again, I would like to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, you can, you will notice that in this second chapter, there is always an interchanging of the words Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, and Zion, Zion.

And if you remember, you will notice, for example, in verse two, Jerusalem. In verse four, Jerusalem. In verse seven, Zion. A little bit further down, in verse ten, Zion. In verse twelve, Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim, Zion, Zion, Yerushalayim. And we did say that the land of Israel is called Zion, as the whole land of Canaan, according to Isaiah 51 and verse 3. The city of Yerushalayim itself is called Zion, Zion, and Jerusalem, the same word, Psalm 48 verses 1 and 2, Psalm 87 verses 1 to 3, 1st Kings chapter 8 and verse 1, the city of Jerusalem is Zion. And the Jewish people are called, according to Isaiah 51 and verse 16, Zion.

According to Isaiah chapter 62, both. Jerusalem and Zion are one and the same. I just read to you that verse in Isaiah chapter 62, whenever you read the word Jerusalem, whenever you read the word Zion, it is always has a reference to the very same, people and nation and country. Isaiah 62 verse 1, For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and from Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that is burning.

That is the desire of those that have the mind of the Lord. We have to have the mind of the Lord with respect to the church, to the assembly, when the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the assembly of the living God, of the heavenly company, but we also have the mind of the Lord concerning the earthly nation of Israel, that God have set his affection and his election upon both the nation of Israel and the assembly of the living God. And so we read, now that the man told, the angel that talked with him, told in verse 2 that he's going to measure Yerushalayim, he's going to measure Zion, and sword, so he will know what is the breadth and what is the length thereof. Then in verses three, four, and five, we have the message of the word of God is shared with Zechariah concerning Jerusalem, concerning Zion, concerning the people of Israel.

So he's saying in verse three, the angel of the Lord is now met by another angel. Behold, the angel that talked with me, this is the pre-encountered Messiah, he went forth. And as he's going forth, that is what Zechariah sees in his vision, he saw, as he went forth, another angel went out to meet him. Again, to remind you that according to the scripture, the angels are called ministering spirits, and they were called by the Lord to minister to the saints of God.

The scripture teaches us, are not they a ministering spirits? Send forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation, Hebrews chapter one and verse fourteen, the angels are servants. This is the good angels, of course. The demons, the fallen angels, became enemies of God, enemies of God's people, enemies of the, of the things of the Lord. They became followers of the, of Satan, Hasatan, and they oppose God, oppose God's people. But here we have the angels that are serving God and serving God's people. So when this, man who is an angel, who is the angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Messiah, was going towards the city of Jerusalem to measure the city in the vision, Then we find out that another angel came with him, according to verse 3, came to meet him.

And now notice what we read here in verses 4 and 5, the message to Zechariah about Jerusalem's future. This is so beautiful. In verses 4 and, and verses 5, there are three things that we learn here in verses 4 and 5. This is in the vision itself. First of all, verse 4, Jerusalem shall be inhabited with multitude of people in the future day.

See, notice that we read in verse 4, And he said unto him, in other words, the angel of the Lord, the Messiah, the Prince Kal Messiah, saying to that angel that came to meet him, he says, You go, he's saying to him, You go, run and speak unto this young man, that young man, verse 4, is Zechariah himself. It's called here young man. In Hebrew it says na'ar. Ruth, daber el ha'na'ar, run and speak to this young man, to Zechariah.

And notice what he's saying to him. Say to him, verse 4b, Jerusalem shall be inhabited, a town without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein. Jerusalem shall be inhabited. Now you can just imagine, dear brothers and sisters, as we study the prophecy of Zechariah, and the prophecy of Zechariah is connected with speaking to the people of Judah who return from Babel. After seventy years of being in captivity in Babylon, when Cyrus, of course, the Medo-Persian king, was raised by God to, after the seventy years of the, of the time, the galut, galut Bavel, the time when the Jewish people were in Babylon, after seventy years, God fulfilled his promise. And he restored the Jewish people, so Cyrus says, who is from among your people, the people of the Lord, the people of Israel that wish to go back to rebuild the house of the Lord in the city of Jerusalem. But sadly, not too many people have gone back.

The scripture shows us that there were about fifty thousand Jewish people. We read both in Ezra chapter one and two came with Zerubbabel, later on with Ezra another six or seven thousand, and then later on some came with Nehemiah. But there were the minority of the Jewish people, the vast majority were still in the diaspora, in the dispersion. In fact, as we study together the book of Esther, the Jewish community was still scattered among the 127 provinces of the kingdom or the empire of the Medo-Persian. And Haman wanted to kill all the Jews that were still not only in the land of Israel, but all in the whole 127 provinces that existing during the days of King Ahasuerus. And so now that there were so few, And these few had opposition from everywhere against them not to build the house of the Lord, and friction from within them, you know how it is with the people of God, often time God's people fighting from within, self-destruction.

And so the angel of the Lord is sending that other angel to tell Zechariah in verse four, Zechariah, listen, Jerusalem, notice again, Jerusalem, this is the city of Jerusalem, the earthly Jerusalem here upon the face of this earth, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls. Now why he's mentioning as towns without walls? Because the walls will be built.

But what happen when you don't have a wall and why do you need a wall? A wall does two things. Number one, a wall protects from enemies from without. And number two, a wall keeps people inside from within, so they will be together, protected, and safe. So protection from without, and you might say being kept and preserved within. That's why the walls, but when we say, when we learn from here, in this verse that Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, it speaks of the fact that Jerusalem will be protected.

And Jerusalem, beloved brothers and sisters, will be protected because there will be the multitude of men and cattle therein. And to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that Jerusalem and the Jewish people are often time represented and seen in the word of God as the wife of Jehovah. The church is represented to us in the word of God in the new covenant as the bride of Christ, but Jerusalem, the Jewish people are in scripture are being presented to us as the wife of Jehovah. In fact, it was Jeremiah in chapter 31 who speak, who the Lord spoke to Israel and he said to them, to Israel, remember in Jeremiah chapter 31, behold the days cometh, says the Lord in verse 31, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. Listen to that, which covenant they break, although I was a husband. Although I was a husband unto them, says the Lord, Yehovah is the husband of the people of Israel, the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

But Israel is a wife of Yehovah, failed the Lord, disobeyed him, and that's why he had to judge his people. So now he's promising that he will restore Jerusalem, and it remind us, beloved brothers and sisters, what the Lord Jesus the Messiah said when he himself was planning to, desire to restore the, the city of Jerusalem, and he did say himself in Luke 13, verses 34 and 35, where he said to Jerusalem, he said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you remember that, beloved brothers and sisters, verse 34, which killeth the prophet and stoneth them that sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thee, as children gather her hen, as a, as a, as a, as a hen gather her brood, but ye would not, how long would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate, for verily I say unto you, I will, you shall not see me until you will say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Baruch haba b'shem Adonai.

And so he's taking Zechariah, and he's looking all the way over the ages, all the way to the future messianic kingdom, and the kingdom of the Messiah, when the Messiah that was once rejected will come and rule and reign, and he says, listen, the, the Jerusalem shall be inhabited. Jerusalem will be like a town without the need of walls that would be protected by me, God is saying.

It is not the walls that will protect you, it will be, Jerusalem will be like a city that doesn't need any walls because there will be no fear from enemies from without. And no fear from friction from within, because the Messiah himself will rule and reign over a restored nation. So he's saying this in verse four, wonderful promise to Zechariah, but now he's saying another two things in verse five. In verse five a, the angel saying to the young men, Zechariah, in verse five a, that Jehovah will be the wall of fire among the people of Israel.

In verse five a, notice, for I say as the Lord, now notice this, brothers and sisters, the Lord himself, who is that Jehovah, the angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Messiah, who is called an angel, who is called a man, Who is called the angel of the Lord. He is also called here the Lord, I. This is the one that has sent the other angel to speak to the young man Zechariah, and he's saying to him, Thus says Yehovah, I will be known as, he says in verse five, Yehovah the Lord, he will be unto her, Jerusalem, a wall of fire round about. Now notice that he used the word her. Whenever you read in the word of God, in the relationship that Israel had with God, Israel is always presented in a feminine way, and Yehovah is mentioned in a masculine way.

God made, even in creation, male and female created he them. It is the same thing in relationship to the assembly, to the church. The church is always looked upon as the bride of Christ, and Christ, the Messiah, is looked as the head of the assembly. Husband, love your wives as Christ, the Messiah, loved the assembly and gave himself for her.

You see, in relationship to Israel, it is her. Jehovah, the husband, Israel, the wife. In relationship to the assembly, to the church, Christ, the Messiah, is the head, is the, is the bridegroom, and the church is seen as the bride of Christ. Beautiful to see the special relationship between a husband and a wife, and a bridegroom and the bride. And that's why whenever you're reading the word of God, Jerusalem is always looked at, presented as in a feminine way. Why? Because she, Yerushalayim, the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, are the wife of Yehovah. And it says here in verse 5a, Thus says the Lord, it says, For I, says the Lord, will be unto her, the wife of Yehovah, Jerusalem, a wall of fire round about.

I will protect you. It's not the walls that will protect you. I will be as a wall of fire. Now, of course, you can, volume you can think about the, the fact that the Lord was as a, will be as a wall of fire. Doesn't it remind us, beloved brothers and sisters, when Israel came out of the land of Egypt, that God led our forefathers, the Jewish people, the Hebrews, In the, through the wilderness, in the pillar of fire by night, and pillar of cloud by day. And when Israel is rested, you can read it in Exodus chapter 13 and chapter 14, how the Lord was always behind them, protecting them from their enemies. And he is the one that is presented there in the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. According to Exodus, chapter 14 and verse 19 and verse 20, we do read, And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed, and he went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.

And it came, notice that, it's so beautiful to see, verse 20, And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these, so that the one came not near the other all the night. Beautiful sight to see, beloved brothers and sisters. In chapter 13 of Exodus, verse 21, we read, And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and he led them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire. To give them light, to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of the fire by night from before the people. God watched his people, over his people Israel, during the wilderness journey in days of old.

And God will watch over his people Israel throughout the whole times of the Gentiles, he taught Hagoyim, and he will bring them and carry them through and preserve them through the tribulation period and will establish Jerusalem, the people of Israel, as a nation for the Messianic kingdom, will protect them. He will be, according to verse 5, as a wall of fire. Round about. But notice he continue in verse 5b, he's also gonna be Jehovah will, Jehovah's glory will be in the midst of Yerushalayim. It says in verse 5b, he said, and will be the glory in the midst of her. God's glory, the word glory come from the Hebrew word kavod. Kavod, God's manifestation, the shekina, the shekina glory, in the Greek it's called skene, in Hebrew it's called shekina, and shekina means the present, the manifestation of the presence of God in the midst of his people.

So he will be the protector of Jerusalem, and he will be in the midst, notice this verse 5, and I will be, I will be the glory in the midst of her. Imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, this speak of the second coming of the Messiah, who will be the pre-incarnate God, the Son, who will be, who came to this world, became a man, Jehovah the Savior, and he's the one as man who died for the sin of the nation of Israel, the sins of the world. He was buried and he rose again for those that believe on him, for their justification. He's seated at God's right hand and he's waiting the day whereby he will come again at his second coming and will protect his people, protect Jerusalem, and will be the center in the midst of the city of Yerushalayim. He will be the glory of the city and the glory of his people.

That's the vision in verses one. To find. We can close the book and we can say, what a wonderful promise we have here in the second vision. But notice how wonderful, because now that Zechariah, the young man, saw that vision, Chazon, and he want to know a little bit explanation to help us. You see, you and I need the Lord's help to understand the word of the Lord. So now notice in verses six onward, in verses six to thirteen, we have the meaning of the vision explained. So notice that. We can just go through that with the help of the Lord so we can conclude this third chapter. First, verses six and seven, Zion is called to flee from the north, from Babylon.

Again, to remind you that Babylon became known in scripture. Since Babylon was the first, according to the word of God, the first place which the Lord deported the Jewish people, the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, which represent the whole nation, the Babylonian captivity was the beginning where the kingdom was handed to the Gentile empires. So Babylon became known in scripture as the representation of the Gentile world, the unregenerated world, which is seen even today, looked upon as Babylon. From Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel, up till Revelation 17 and 18, the word Babylon is mentioned throughout the word of God. And it is always a representation of confusion.

The word Babel or Babylon comes from the Hebrew word Lebelbel, to confound, to confuse, to have a confusion, to confound things and not to be, not to be clear. And the denial of God, denial of the things of God, denial of the word of God, denial of the Messiah of God, denial of the people of God. And Babylon became a picture of the world and its system. And so now in verses six and seven, notice what we read. Chapter two, verse six and seven. Ho, ho, come forth, flee from the land of the north. The land of the north, of course, is Babylon.

Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, for I have spread you abroad as, as the four winds of the heaven, says the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, verse seven, that dwelleth with the daughter of Babylon. Notice the word land of the north is Babylon. Again, from Genesis eleven, when Nimrod built the, the, the tower called the Tower of Babel, same word, Babel, lebalbel, to confound, confusion, representing the world and its system. They deny God, deny God's son, deny God's word, deny God's people. Babylon.

And here the Lord is calling, notice the context is Zion. The context is the Jewish people. The context is Jerusalem. Deliver yourself, O Zion, that dwelleth with the daughter of Babylon. And then he said in verse seven, For thyself the Lord of hosts, after, verse seven, deliver thyself, I am out of Zion. He says that he's the one in verse six that spread the Jewish people abroad.

He's the one that, brought the Babylonian, according to Daniel one and second Kings, that he brought Nebuchadnezzar to take the Jewish people away to Babel. So he says in verse six, Ho, ho, alas, alas, come forth, flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, for I have spread you abroad. I was the one that scattered you.

As the four winds of heaven, says the Lord, but I will be the one that will deliver you and bring you back to the land. So he's saying in verse 7, deliver thyself, of course it will be with the help of the Lord, O Zion, notice that, O Zion that dwelleth with the daughters of Babylon. Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, just like today, the vast majority of the Jewish people are scattered all over the nations of the world. During the time of Esther, the Jewish people were scattered over the 127 provinces which were under the king Ahasuerus.

Today, still, although we have quite a few Jewish people back in the land, seven, eight million Jewish people, but still, at about 15, 16 million Jews that exist in the world today, the vast, most of them are still outside the land. And we live during the church age, where Jewish believers become part of the assembly, but those Jewish people who are not yet part, did not accept the Messiah, who will remain here to go through the tribulation period, they will be part of those that will go through the tribulation, and out of them, God will bring about a restored nation.

And so remember, we don't see here the church whatsoever, because the church was not even born. Zechariah has nothing to know about the church, because he is speaking to the Jewish people, the remnant who came back from Babylon, and they are in the land of Jerusalem. He doesn't know church age whatsoever. Even the early Jewish believers of the church age had very little understanding about the church age in which you and I live in. They themselves said to the Lord, when will thou, are you going to restore the people of Israel to yourself now after the resurrection of the Messiah? They were hoping that he will restore Israel according to Acts chapter one.

And it is only as the Apostle Paul received this unique revelation from the glorified Christ, glorified Messiah, that Paul and the early disciples received this revelation that you and I know today of the mystery of the church age, which was hid in God, which was not revealed to the children of men. Until the time that the church was born and this revelation was received by the early apostles, the Lord gave some information about it, but they didn't quite understand it.

So the Charia, with the help of the Spirit of God, through this angel of the Lord, takes us all the way to the future day of the restoration of Israel. And we can say here that he's taking us all the way to the tribulation period, because now that the church will be taken out of here, during the tribulation period, God will gather his earthly people back to himself and other nations as well, believers from other nations that will come to him. And notice now, so he's calling them to come out of the world and its system.

Come out of the world and its system. Notice it mentioned in Revelation chapter 18. If you just go to Revelation chapter 18, and in Revelation chapter 18, and it's mentioned there specifically. Remember, Revelation chapter 18 is the tribulation period. The church is not here. The church was taken out of here before the tribulation began already in between chapter, at the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4. The church is seen as already in the 24 elders in heaven, around the throne, Revelation 4 and 5.

And in Revelation chapter 18, we see scenes on earth during the tribulation. We read in verse 4, And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues. He's speaking about Babylon. Listen to verse one and two of Revelation chapter eighteen. And after these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of demons.

And a hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are wax rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Then he says in verse four, And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people.

And he says to her, he says, Come out that ye be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not her place. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, the church is already in heaven, around the throne, represented by the twenty four elders, but here on earth. The world and its system continue on. Babylon, the worldly, the world represented by Babylon all the way to the day of God destruction of this world, and Babylon will be destroyed. This world system will come to an end. My people, come out. And the context of Zechariah chapter 2 and Revelation chapter 18 is not the church, but Israel, and those from among the nations that will come to know the Lord during the tribulation period. And so we read now in verse 8, he continued and he said in verse 8, it said, Yehovah, God will send the Messiah to deal with Israel, with Israel's enemies. It says in verse, in verse 8, he said, for thus says the Lord of hosts, Zechariah 2 and verse 8, after the glory have he sent me.

And to the nations which spoil you, the nation that spoiled the Jewish people, the people of Israel during the times of the Gentiles. Listen to what he says in verse eight. For he that touches you touches the apple of his eye. Kol haNoge'a bachem, nogea bebevat ayino. In other words, all those who persecuted the people of Israel during the times of the Gentiles, he that touches you touches the apple of my eye, or the apple of the Lord's eye. Let's remind us of the Abrahamic covenant that was already mentioned in Genesis chapter 12, where the Lord said to Abraham, the Lord said unto Avraham, Genesis 12 verse 1, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation.

And I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. Israel is called to be a blessing to the nations of the world. But Israel in disobedience need to be disciplined by God. Judgment must be done at the house of God. And so it's verse 3, it said, I will bless them that bless thee.

Genesis 12 verse 3, but I will curse him that curses thee. And in thee and in all, all, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. He that touches thee touches the apple of his eye. The apple of his eye is that pupil that we have in our eyes. And you know very well, if someone touches our eyes, how quickly we will take his hand, or we quickly move, because it's very painful, it's very unwanted to touch the apple, this pupil there that sees, that look out. In other words, if anyone, you see, this is amazing. I do not say it, this is the word of the Lord.

It's the same thing, and I always make a parallel, it's the same thing with the assembly of the living God, those that persecuted God's heavenly people, the Ecclesia. Will not prevail because the Lord will ultimately judge those that turn against God's people in every dispensation, in every age, because God watches over his own. And that's why it says here in Zechariah chapter two and verse eight, Thus says the Lord of hosts, After the glory hath he sent me, that is the Messiah speaking, he sent me unto the nations. In other words, when the Messiah gonna come at his second coming, he's going to turn to come against the nations who oppose and touch the apple of God's eye.

He said at the end of verse eight, I'm going to go, I've been sent to the nation which spoiled you. Beloved brothers and sisters, year after year, generation after generation, the nations of the world that oppose God and God's people spoiled the chosen people of God, the people of Israel. The persecution of the Jews, just look at history, just read history.

How much suffering the nation of Israel have experienced over the generation. Of course, much of the suffering is only the fault, it's also the fault of the nation. But much of the suffering was inflicted by the nations that touched the apple, the pupil of God's eye. Now notice this very interesting expression, he that touches you touches the apple of his eye.

It's such an interesting expression that we have here in verse 8. If you go back now to Deuteronomy chapter 32, in Deuteronomy chapter 32 verses 8, 9, and 10, we read, it says in verse 8, When the Most High divided the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. In verse 9, He said, For the Lord's portion is His people. Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. Jacob is the inheritance of the Lord.

Not because Jacob even wanted it, it's because the Lord wanted it in His sovereign grace and in His providence. And then it says, very interesting, in verse 10, He found him in the desert, in a desert land, and in the waste, howling wilderness, He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him, listen to this, as the apple of His eye.

God have kept His people, the people of Israel, whom He delivered out of bondage from the land of Egypt, He kept Israel as He kept the apple, the pupil of His eye. He that touches thee, touches the apple of His eye. Kol ha-noge'a bachem, in Hebrew, noge'a be-bevat ayino, in the, in the pupil of God's eye. And so, As we are drawing on to this next verses, beloved brothers and sisters, verse nine and ten and eleven and twelve and thirteen. In verse nine, the Lord will judge his people's enemy.

It says in verse nine, he said, for behold, I will shake my hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servant. Ye shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Here's the Messiah speaking. And you notice that he's on the one hand, he's calling himself the Lord of hosts, and another hand, he's saying that the Lord of hosts will send him. He's calling himself the angel of the Lord, and the Lord of hosts will send him. He is Jehovah, and yet Jehovah of hosts will send Jehovah. Jehovah the Father sending Jehovah the Son. Here we learn about, again, the, the, the, the plurality within the Godhead.

We know according to the word of God that we have the Father, the Abba, the Son, the Ben, the Spirit, the Ruach, three persons, one God, not three gods. Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, Echad, a compound unity. Not three gods, but only one God of Israel. And so the Lord of hosts have sent the angel of the Lord, Jehovah the Father, have sent Jehovah the Son, the Messiah. We're looking for the, in this context, to the future day. In verse 10, Israel is to sing and rejoice. Listen to verse 10. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for lo, I come and I will dwell in the midst of thee, says the Lord. Sing and rejoice, sing and rejoice.

The Lord is coming back. The Messiah is returning. The pre-incarnate Messiah is speaking because he will come again. He came once to die, but he's coming again to reign and to rule. And just quickly, so we will have the conclusion of Zechariah chapter two, this third vision, the vision of the, of the, of the man with a measuring line in verses, it's eleven and twelve and thirteen. Notice all the nations, many nations will join Israel.

After the tribulation and during the tribulation, many people from among the nations that will be here on earth, the church is in heaven. Nations will still be upon the face of this earth, unregenerated nation that will live here, go through the tribulation, and through the tribulation, many will come to know the Messiah during the tribulation. The hundred and forty four thousand Hebrews will preach the gospel of the kingdom during the tribulation period, and many from among the Gentile world will come to faith in the God of Israel, in the Mashiach Yeshua. And so we read in this verse, notice verse eleven, Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in their day. Again, the many nations here, it doesn't have to do with the church whatsoever.

The church is people who came out of the nations, out of Israel, and out of the nation of the world to make this body of Christ, the Messiah. Many nations will join unto the Lord in their day and shall be my people. And I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you, unto thee. The Messiah, the pre-incarnate Messiah is speaking here, but it will be the Messiah after his death and resurrection at his second coming. And in conclusion, listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 12 and 13, the Lord shall inherit Judah. He will choose Jerusalem again. And notice that, listen to what we read, and the Lord shall inherit Judah. You see, Judah is the Lord's inheritance.

Not because Judah deserve it, it's because the Lord will it. He wants it. Verse 12, his portion in the, in the Holy Land, by the way, this is, in, in, in fact, if I'm correct, this is the holy, the only time that the word Holy Land is mentioned. Holy Land, Admat HaKodesh. Holy Land. You know, many times we say, I'm traveling to the Holy Land. Well, the Holy Land is mentioned the first time, and I believe it is the only time here in Zechariah chapter 2 and verse 12. The Lord shall inherit Judah, his portion in the Holy Land. The word Holy means set apart, a land that God had set apart for himself and for his people, and he will choose Jerusalem again.

He will restore Jerusalem. How wonderful to know that. Brothers and sisters, listen, if the Lord will not restore Jerusalem and Israel and the Jewish people back to himself, how do you know that the Lord will take the church to be with him? Is the Lord true to his earthly people? Is he true to his heavenly people? Well, he is true to his people, and all the promises of God are yea and amen in him, in the Messiah, in Christ. And so in conclusion, in verse thirteen, Be silent, all, all flesh before the Lord, for He is raised up out of His holy habitation. Here we see that the future day, in the time when the Lord will be the one, He will rise up from His holy habitation, the city of Jerusalem, He will be the one who will be the center and the object. And all nation will come unto Him, and they will come to worship the Lord in the city of Jerusalem in the future day, beloved brothers and sisters, as we read, and it is in closing.

We read in Isaiah chapter two, the word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. Come, we read, many people shall go and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.

And he will teach us of his ways, and we shall walk in his path. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah chapter 2 and verses 1, 2, and 3. What a day that will be. What a day that will be when the Lord Jesus the Messiah will come again. And so the vision of the man with a measuring line is the third vision that Zechariah Sees as he's looking up, and the Lord revealed to him that he's measuring, he's intending to restore Jerusalem, and that he's intending to bless Israel, the Jewish people, and through them, blessing will flow to all the nations of the world in the coming days. May the Lord hasten this day. May the Lord come and accomplish what he promised, to his people.

So our God and our Father, thank you for your word. Bless your word to us all. Help us to learn from your word. Thank you for the future that is awaiting for Jerusalem, for the people of Israel, but all the nations of the world. What a day that will be when Yeshua will come to take his rightful place here upon the face of this earth. Bless us, encourage us, we pray in Jesus' name, in Yeshua's name. Amen and amen. God bless you, my dear friend. Until the next time, we say shalom, shalom. Bye-bye.