Day 907: Something to sing about - Zechariah 2 vs 6 - 13

6-7 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them.” Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.

10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11-12 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. Zechariah 2:6-13 English Standard Version

There's an old song about a mother comforting her child to not be afraid because 'the lion sleeps tonight'. The implication is that, should the lion stir itself, there's reason to tremble and to be as quiet as you can be. Zechariah gave a similar message to the nations of the world in vs 13 of today's reading. God was about to take His plans a big step forward. What did that involve for any Jews still living in the lands where they had been taken captive? (vs 6-7)

They were urged to return to the land from which they had been exiled. I wonder if some of them had become used to captivity and comfortable in the places they'd been settled in. Apart from the danger that by living in foreign places they would've been constantly tempted to follow the sinful lifestyles of those people, there was also the danger of being caught up in the judgments that were to come on those pagan nations – as expressed in vs 9.

That’s something which Christians can apply in the days we live in. The New Testament also speaks of the fall of Babylon. Not the nation of old, but as representing the ungodly world in general. In Revelation chapter 18 we have a graphic vision of the pleasure mad pursuits of the world, as well as their horror when God's judgment came upon the city. And in that vision the writer heard a voice from heaven saying: “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back as she herself has paid back others.”

We must never become so comfortably settled in this world, and so used to it's sinful ways, that we stop longing for the return of Christ. We are called to 'come out of Babylon' (i.e to forsake the sinful pursuits of this generation) and to settle our hearts in Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem which God has called us to. And what was the wonderful encouragement Zechariah set before them to urge them to return to Zion? (vs 10-12)

God promised that He would be in their midst and that 'many nations' would turn to the Lord and be part of His chosen people! They also would become 'the apple of God's eye' (as mentioned in vs 8) and would know God's special care and protection. And Jerusalem, which looked as if it had been been forsaken when they went into exile, would again be God's special possession. So what sort of response should such wonderful news lead to? (vs 10)

It was something to sing about! I suggest Zechariah had a glimpse of the gospel age when gentiles would come to Christ and be part of the one body that ultimately surrounds God's throne. It fits in with Revelation Chapter 15 where we read: “I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: 'Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.'” (Revelation 15:2-4) Yes, God's people really do have something to sing about.