| I WILL AGAIN CHOOSE JERUSALEM |
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| The desolation of Jerusalem becomes a metaphor for the desolation of “New Jerusalem” by the four horns (Zech 1:18-19). These four horns (powers) are the four beasts from Daniel. This prophecy explains how the saints, the four living creatures, the four craftsmen (Zech 1:20), shall eventually rule over the nations, when New Jerusalem is restored. |
| 12 Then the angel of Yihvah replied, “O Yihvah of Hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?” |
| Zech 1:12 Oh Yihvah of hosts – this is an interesting verse. The Angel of Yihvah, who is the Yihvah of the Armies, and appeared to Joshua, as the “Captain of the Armies” calls the invisible God, the “Yihvah of the Armies” (of the Armies of Angels!) This tells us that the invisible God and His image always shared the same name. This began in Gen 4:1, where Eve called God “He WILL BE.” The invisible God who had no one older to name Him gave us His name when He said, I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE (Exod 3:14). God simply chooses to identify Himself by the name and reputation of His Image, who is Jesus Christ. these seventy years – this is the 70 years of desolation prophesied in Jer 25:11, 29:10; spoken of in Dan 9:2, and Dan 2:19. By the word “desolation” in Jer 25:11, and Dan 9:2, we understand that the seventy year period begins when Jerusalem is “desolated,” and that is when the temple was also desolated. The Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in the summer of 586 BC; and will be rebuilt, and dedicated in the spring of 516 BC, according to Ezra 6:15. In Ezra 5:1, we read that the temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt according to the prophesy of Haggai and Zechariah. This is found in Zech 4:9. The “desolation of Jerusalem” has the symbolic meaning of the desolation of the Holy City, God’s house. Zechariah’s prophecy of the restoration of God’s house becomes a prophecy of the restoration of the New Jerusalem. |
| 13 Yihvah answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says Yihvah of Hosts: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15 I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.” |
| Zech 1:13 And the LORD answered the Angel – of course, we cannot hear the LORD speak, nor can anyone (“You have neither heard His voice,” John 5:37). The Angel of Yihvah is the speaker for the invisible God. He is the Word. The Angel of Yihvah speaks the message that He heard from Yihvah. “No one knows the Father but the Son,” (Matt 11:27). |
| 16 Therefore thus says Yihvah: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yihvah of Hosts, “and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.”‘ 17“Proclaim further, saying, ‘Thus says Yihvah of Hosts: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yihvah will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”‘” |
| Zech 1:16 A surveyor’s line shall be stretched out – see Zech 2:1; this is the idea of the measurement of New Jerusalem, that is given in Rev 11:1, and Ezek 40:3, etc. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will be the measurement that allows the Sanctified Church to be restored. Zech 1:17 will again choose Jerusalem – the promise of restoration has meaning into the New Covenant; that the spirit of God will dwell in the future Sanctified Church. |
| 18 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, four horns. 19 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” |
| Zech 1:18 the four horns that scattered Judah – this describes the nations who lifted their horns against the saints. The four kingdoms of Daniel: Babylon, Persia, Greece and the extended Roman Empire with Ten horns. Zech 1:19 the angel who talked with me – who is the Angel of Yihvah, as mentioned in verse 9. |
| 20 Yihvah showed me four craftsmen. |
| Zech 1:20 four craftsmen – the ones coming to terrify the horns are the “four living creatures,” the saints who oppose the beast in every time period. The saints are the “craftsmen” who will rebuild the New Jerusalem. |
| 21 Then I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.” |
| Zech 1:21 that lifted up their horn…to scatter it – this word “scattered” in Hebrew is “Zarah,” the same word used for Jezreel, who was Hosea’s first son: “EL” “ZARAH” – God scatters. And the meaning is the same here, believers scattered by false teachings, created by the power of the beast. |
| Chapter 2 1 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is its length.” |
| Zech 2:1 with a measuring line in his hand – as we shall see, this is the Angel of Yihvah who holds the measuring rod, to measure the true temple of God in Ezek 40:3, and New Jerusalem in Rev 21:15. |
| 3 Behold, the angel who talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, |
| Zech 2:3 the Angel who talked with me was going out – As we mentioned under Zech 1:9, the Angel “who talked” (haddober) with me should always the Angel of Yihvah; just as He is also the one who always speaks to John in the Book of Revelation. This Angel was identified as Yihvah, Christ in Ezek 44:2,5 where He used the measuring rod, to measure the dimensions of the true Church, by His Gospel. another angel was coming out to meet him, and said to Him, “run, speak to that young man” – this “other” Angel is also the speaker for God as indicated by the phrase in verse 9 and 11: “then you will know that the YHVH of Hosts has sent Me.” This is confusing. All of the hints tell us that both of these Angels are the Spirit of Christ, but is this really possible, and why would God leave us with such a puzzle? The handing of the measuring rod to John, in Rev 11:1, may be a bit of a joke as to who was holding the measuring rod in Zechariah. Was Zechariah really identifying the Spirit of Christ as “the Angel who spoke with me?” Is this really the same Angel with the measuring line in Zechariah. Throughout the Book of Zechariah. God is explaining that Angels, or Messengers, are not real beings. Spirits have no real physical form, they are like “horses” who only appear to us as “Angels.” These Spirits can appear in any form, and they can even appear to us in more than one form at same time! In the Book of Revelation, the Spirit of Christ appears to John in the form of different angels, but is the same Spirit. The first example of this is in Rev 10:1, where John says: “then I saw another strong Angel.” But in fact, this is really the same Angel he met before, the Spirit of Christ. In all the examples below, the two “persons” who interact with each other, are both manifestations of the Spirit of Christ: ① the Son of Man coming to the Ancient of Days – in Rev 5:7, and Dan 7:13. ② the Word in heaven, and the Angel standing on the land and sea, who speak together in Rev 10:11. ③ the Son of Man standing on the clouds in Rev 14:14, watching the Rider on the White horse treading the winepress, in Rev 14:20. |
| 4 and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in it. |
| Zech 2:4 Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls – this is the New Jerusalem, as clearly explained in verse 10-11, “many nations will join themselves to the LORD…then I will dwell in your midst.” The Sanctified Church does not exist in a building. The Church is “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit,” (Eph 2:22). The true Church has “no walls.” It is not a building, but a body of believers who have been united by the Spirit of Christ. men and livestock – or more literally men and “beast,” referring to the Gentiles. For God will make a covenant with “the beasts” – the Gentiles, as we read in Hos 2:18. We can also find the description of “men and beasts” in Zech 8:9-10, “(before) the foundation of the House of the LORD was laid…there was no wage (reward) for man, and no wage (reward) for beast.” This prophecies the rewards of Christ that will be shared by Jews and Gentiles in the New Jerusalem, described in Rev 2:7, Rev 2:11,Rev 2:17,Rev 2:28; Rev 22:12, etc. Zech 8 is also a prophecy of New Jerusalem, “I will return to Zion and make my Shekinah (dwelling) dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth.” (Targum Jonathan, Zech 8:3). |
| 5 For I,’ says Yihvah, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the midst of her. |
| Zech 2:5 I will be a wall of fire around her…and the glory in her midst – the Targum defines the Spirit of Christ as the Spirit that defines the boundaries of the true Church. Here, the Targum says, “My Memra will be…a wall of fire round about…and I will make My Shekinah (dwelling) dwell in her midst.” The Spirit of Christ makes the house of God as described in John 14, and Eph 2:21-22. The “Shekinah” or dwelling, is the spirit of God that dwells in the temple. |
| 6 Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says Yihvah; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says Yihvah. |
| Zech 2:6 flee from the land of the North – from the Antichrist, who destroyed the Sanctified Church, see Zech 6:8. I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven – also translated as “I have scattered you abroad,” with the meaning of Zech 1:19, the scattering of the spiritual Judah. This is explained in Hos 2:22 by the name “Jezreel” (God scatters). This describes the scattering of the saints into many denominations, after they “flee from the land of the North,” from Babylon. |
| 7 ‘Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.’ |
| Zech 2:7 escape from the daughter of Babylon – the great harlot, see also Zech 5:11, the basket in Shinar (Babylon) |
| 8 For thus says Yihvah of hosts: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. 9 For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a spoil to those who served them; and you will know that Yihvah of Hosts has sent me. |
| Zech 2:8 he who touches you touches the apple of His eye…they shall become spoil for their servants – the nations are the “four horns that scatter Judah” in Zech 1:19. The saints shall now “rule the nations with a rod of iron,” (Rev 19:15). A similar prophecy is found in Isa 14:1-2, “…the house of Israel will possess them …as male and female servants.” The Gentiles will submit to the Gospel of salvation that was preached by the Jews; by Christ and His Apostles. Zech 2:9 I will shake My hand against them… these two verses are not describing the submission of the nations to the Jews in a political sense. No such political submission occurred from the time the Jews came out from Babylon. We know that Zechariah is not talking about the earthly Jerusalem. Christ is speaking about His role as “the Rider on the White Horse” who strikes down the Nations, as described in Rev 19:15, etc. then you will know that the Yihvah of Hosts (the Most High) has sent Me– in Zech 4:9, this expression is also used, and “the Word of Yihvah” is directly identified as the speaker. The expression “the Word” signifies Christ as in John 1:1. |
| 10 Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you,’ says Yihvah. 11 Many nations shall join themselves to Yihvah in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that Yihvah of Hosts has sent me to you. |
| Zech 2:10 I will dwell in your midst…and you will know the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you – the “I” in this verse refers to God, as we read in verse 5, and the “me” must either refer to the prophet Zechariah, or to Christ. Here, the Targum reads, “I will make my Shekinah (dwelling) dwell in your midst; and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to prophesy to you.” Zech 2:11 many nations shall join to the LORD in that day – to the LORD God, in the last days, as in Isa 2:2 etc. |
| 12 Yihvah will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before Yihvah; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!” |
| Zech 2:12 The Lord will…again choose Jerusalem – as first stated in Zech 1:17. This promise is given again in Zech 8:3, and Zech 14:8; in the last days, “living waters shall flow from Jerusalem.” |
