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Royalty and Ruin
advancing in the name of God. It seemed as if the king was about to
withdraw permission to rebuild. The future appeared dark.
Zechariah heard the angel of the Lord inquiring, “‘O Lord of
hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the
cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?’
And the Lord answered the angel who talked with me,” Zechariah
declared, “with good and comforting words.
“So the angel who spoke with me said to me, ... ‘Thus says
the Lord of hosts: ... “I am exceedingly angry with the nations at
ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped—but with evil intent.”
Therefore thus says the Lord: “I am returning to Jerusalem with
mercy; My house shall be built in it.”’”
Zechariah 1:12-16
.
The prophet was now directed to predict, “The Lord will again
comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”
Verse 17
.
Zechariah then saw the powers that had “scattered Judah, Israel,
and Jerusalem,” symbolized by four horns. Immediately afterward
he saw four craftsmen—agencies used by the Lord in restoring His
people and the house of His worship. See
verses 18-21
. “‘Jerusalem
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shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude
of men and livestock in it. For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of
fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
Zechariah
2:4, 5
.
God had commanded that Jerusalem be rebuilt. The vision of-
fered assurance that He would give comfort and strength to His
afflicted ones and fulfill the promises of His everlasting covenant.
What He was accomplishing for His people was to be known in all
the earth. “Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the
Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Isaiah 12:6
.
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