Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 2

Verses 1-13

1. THY KINGDOM COME! (Ch.2)
   1. VISION #3 THE MEASURING LINE! (1-5)
      1. (1,2) The act of measuring indicated ownership & planning.
         1. Imagine a neighbor down the street walking in your house & just starts measuring for curtains, carpet, etc.?
         2. So here is General Contractor God going over His plans to ensure his people of His future glory, future honor, & future city!
      2. (3-5) You don’t need walls when God is your fire-wall of protection around you!
   2. MY APPLE! (6-13)
      1. (6,7) Many Jews remained in Babylon.
         1. Since they were destined to fall, he warns them to flee!
         2. Why stay in a condemned city? (although 56 m. north of Babylon today many stay in a condemned city…Baghdad) [bomb on news that doesn’t destroy anything structure-wise, but flies overhead & puts out every aspect of electricity & communication]
         3. Yet, some believers still choose to stay in a condemned world!
            1. Rev.18:4,5 “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. "For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
      2. (10-12) Singing Jews! (& vs.13 Silent Gentiles!)
      3. (8) He sent Me(Jesus) to bring Him glory - “Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Jn.12:28
      4. (8b) Apple = pupil. (also found in Deut.32:10; Ps.17:8)
         1. Pupil – comes from the Latin word pupilla, “a tiny doll,” referring to the small reflection you see of yourself when you look into another’s eyes.
            1. The Hebrew word for “apple” [ð"#Ý ] in Deut.32:10 is literally “little man”. (ibid; pg.183.)
            2. The pupil is the tiny opening in the iris that lets in the light, & this is a very delicate & important area of that vital organ.
         2. Here is His promise to care for His people!
         3. Q: How tender is the eye to touch?…I know! (Lasik surgery{cornea cut}; & last night poked in the eye)
         4. Q: If we are the apple of Gods eye...what should be the apple of ours?
            1. Prov.7:2 “Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye.”
      5. (12) The Holy Land – Only place in Scripture the land is called this.
         1. Truly won’t become the “Holy” Land until then.
         2. From The New Yorker – The feeling of being beset by blind forces is especially strong in the mixed city of Jerusalem. ... Hardly a day passes in the "holy city" without a riot or a stoning, without cars being torched or firebombs thrown, without attempted lynchings or the stabbing of an Israeli by a Palestinian (or vice versa). After each incident, municipal cleaning machines, marked "CITY OF PEACE" in three languages, appear on the scene to wash the blood from the streets in time for the next group of pious pilgrims to pass by, fingering their rosaries and muttering solemn prayers. (Amos Elon in The New Yorker (Dec. 24, 1990). Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 3.)
      6. (13) Silent Gentiles!
         1. God called the Jews to sing, but he told the nations to be silent.
         2. Why? Because he was about to pour out his wrath upon them, in the time period known as “Jacob’s troubles”, “the day of the Lord”, “the great tribulation”.
         3. Lookout when the Lord gets up!
            1. I remember when my dad was aroused out of his holy habitation (his black leather recliner!)
            2. Once dad was up…business was going to take place…no negotiations once you heard his black throne “squeak!”
   3. Review: 3 Night Visions!
      1. [1] God watches the nations & knows what they are doing! (the horsemen)
      2. [2] He judges the nations for their sins, especially for their treatment of Israel.
      3. [3] There is a glorious future planned for Jerusalem & the Jewish nation, when Messiah will return to cleanse them & restore the glory of God in their midst!
      4. And so we are told to pray…“Thy kingdom come!”