ZECHARIAH 2 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

A Man With a Measuring Line

1 [a]Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand.

BARES, "A man with a measuring line in his hand - Probably the Angel of the Lord, of whom Ezekiel has a like vision. Jerome: He who before, when he lift up his eyes, had seen in the four horns things mournful, now again lifts up his eves to see a man, of whom it is written, Behold a man whose name is the Branch Zec_6:12; of whom we read above, Behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees, which were in the bottom Zec_1:8. Of whom too the Father saith; He builded My city, whose builder and maker is God Heb_11:10. He too is seen by Ezekiel in a description like this, a man whose appearance was like the appearance of brass Eze_40:3, that is, burnished and shining as fire, with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed Eze_1:7. The office also seems to be one of authority, not to measure the actual length and breadth of Jerusalem, but to lay down what it should be, (Cyril), to mark it out broad and very long.

CLARKE, "A man with a measuring-line in his hand - Probably a representation of Nehemiah, who got a commission from Artaxerxes Longimanus to build up the walls of Jerusalem; for hitherto it had remained without being enclosed.

GILL, "I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked,.... And saw a third vision; which, as Kimchi owns, refers to the times of the Messiah; though it might be of use to the Jews then present, to encourage them to expect the rebuilding of Jerusalem, in a literal sense:

and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand: by whom is meant, not Nehemiah, nor Zerubbabel; see Zec_4:10 who were concerned in the building of Jerusalem; nor any mere man, nor even a created angel; for, though he may be the same with the other angel, that did not talk with the prophet, Zec_2:3 as Kimchi observes; seeing he seems to be superior to him that did; yet not a ministering spirit, but the Messiah, who in this book is often spoken of as a man; See Gill on Zec_1:8 and by "the measuring line in his hand" may be meant eternal predestination, the Lamb's book of

life, which is in his keeping; and is the measure and rule by which he proceeds in the calling, justification, and glorification of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven; or the Scriptures of truth, the measure and rule of doctrine, discipline, worship, and conversation; and according to which Christ forms, constitutes, and regulates Gospel churches; see Eze_40:3.

HERY 1-5, "This prophet was ordered, in God's name, to assure the people (Zec_1:16) that a line should be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Now here we have that promise illustrated and confirmed, that the prophet might deliver that part of his message to the people with the more clearness and assurance.

I. He sees, in a vision, a man going to measure Jerusalem (Zec_2:1, Zec_2:2): He lifted up his eyes again, and looked. God had shown him that which was very encouraging to him, (Zec_1:20), and therefore now he lifted up his eyes again and looked. Note, The comfortable sights which by faith we have had of God's goodness made to pass before us should engage us to lift up our eyes again, and to search further into the discoveries made to us of the divine grace; for there is still more to be seen. In the close of the foregoing chapter he had seen Jerusalem's enemies baffled and broken, so that now he begins to hope she shall not be ruined. But that is not enough to make her happy, and therefore that is not all that is promised. Here is more carpenter's work to be done. When David had resolved to cut off the horns of the wicked he engaged likewise that the horns of the righteous should be exalted, Psa_75:10. And so does the Son of David here; for he is the man, even the man Christ Jesus, whom the prophet sees with a measuring line in his hand; for he is the master builder of his church (Heb_3:3), and he builds exactly by line and level. Zechariah took the boldness to ask him whither he was goingand what he designed to do with that measuring line. And he readily told him that he was going to measure Jerusalem, to take a particular account of the dimensions of it each way, that it might be computed what was necessary for the making of a wall about it, and that it might appear, by comparing its dimensions with the vast numbers that should inhabit it, what additions were necessary to be made for the receiving and containing of them; when multitudes flock to Jerusalem (Isa_60:4) it is time for her to enlarge the place of her tent, Isa_54:2. Note, God takes notice of the extent of his church, and will take care that, when ever so many guests are brought in to the wedding supper, still there shall be room, Luk_14:22. In the New Jerusalem, my Father's houseabove, there are many mansions.

II. He is informed that this vision means well to Jerusalem, that the measuring line he saw was not a line of confusion (as that Isa_34:11), not a line to mete out for destruction, as when God purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion he stretched out a line(Lam_2:8); but it is as when he divided the inheritance by line, Psa_78:55. The angel that talked with the prophet went forth, as he designed, to measure Jerusalem, but another angel went out to meet him, to desire that he would first explain this vision to the prophet, that it might not occasion him any uneasy speculations: Run, and speak to this young man (for, it seems, the prophet entered upon his prophecy when he was young, yet no man ought to despise his youth when God thus highly honoured it); he is a young man, not experienced, and may be ready to fear the worst; therefore bid him hope the best; tell him that Jerusalem shall be both safe and great, 1. As safe and great as numbers of men can make it (Zec_2:4): Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls; the inhabitants of it shall increase, and multiply, and replenish it to admiration, so that it shall extend itself far beyond the present dimensions which now there is an account taken of. The walls of a city, as they defend it, so they straiten and confine it, and keep its inhabitants from multiplying beyond such a pitch; but Jerusalem, even when it

is walled, to keep off the enemy, shall be inhabited as towns without walls. The city shall be in a manner lost in the suburbs, as London is, where the out-parishes are more populous than those within the walls. So shall it be with Jerusalem; it shall be extended as freely as if it had no walls at all, and yet shall be as safe as if it had the strongest walls, such a multitude of men (which are the best walls of a city) shall there be therein, and of cattle too, to be not only food, but wealth too, for those men. Note, The increase of the numbers of a people is a great blessing, is a fruit of God's blessing on them and an earnest of further blessings, Psa_107:38. They are multiplied, for he blesses them. 2. As safe and great as the presence of God can make it, Zec_2:5. (1.) It shall be safe, for God himself will be a wall of fire round about it. Jerusalem had no walls about it at this time, but lay naked and exposed; formerly, when it had walls, the enemies not only broke through them, but broke them down; but now God will be unto her a wall of fire. Some think it alludes to shepherds that made fires about their flocks, or travellers that made fires about their tents in desert places, to frighten wild beasts from them. God will not only make a hedge about them as he did about Job (Zec_1:10), not only make walls and bulwarks about them, Isa_26:1 (those may be battered down), not only be as the mountains round about them, Psa_125:2 (mountains may be got over), but he will be a wall of fire round them, which cannot be broken through, nor scaled, nor undermined, nor the foundations of it sapped, nor can it be attempted, or approached, without danger to the assailants. God will not only make a wall of fire about her, but he will himself be such a wall; for our God is a consuming fire to his and his church's enemies. He is a wall of fire, not on one side only, but round about on every side. (2.) It shall be great, for God himself will be the glory in the midst of it. His temple, his altar, shall be set up and attended there, and his institutions observed, and there then shall the tokens of his special presence and favour be, which will be the glory in the midst of them, will make them truly admirable in the eyes of all about them. God will have honour from them, and put honour upon them. Note, Those that have God for their God have him for their glory; those that have him in the midst of them have glory in the midst of them, and thence the church is said to be all glorious within. And those persons and places that have God to be the glory in the midst of them have him for a wall of fire round about them, for upon all that glory there is, and shall be, a defence, Isa_4:5. Now all this was fulfilled in part in Jerusalem, which in process of time became a very flourishing city, and made a very great figure in those parts of the world, much beyond what could have been expected, considering how low it was brought and how long it was ere it recovered itself; but it was to have its full accomplishment in the gospel-church, which is extended far, as towns without walls, by the admission of the Gentiles into it, and which has God, the Son of God, for its prince and protector.

JAMISO, "Zec_2:1-13. Third Vision. The man with the measuring-line.

The city shall be fully restored and enlarged (Zec_2:2-5). Recall of the exiles (Zec_2:6, Zec_2:7). Jehovah will protect His people and make their foes a spoil unto them (Zec_2:8, Zec_2:9). The nations shall be converted to Jehovah, as the result of His dwelling manifestly amidst His people (Zec_2:10-13).

man with a measuring-line the same image to represent the same future fact as in Eze_40:3; Eze_47:4. The man is Messiah (see on Zec_1:8), who, by measuring Jerusalem, is denoted as the Author of its coming restoration. Thus the Jews are encouraged in Zechariahs time to proceed with the building. Still more so shall they be hereby encouraged in the future restoration.

K&D 1-5, "Whilst the second vision sets forth the destruction of the powers that were hostile to Israel, the third (Zec_2:1-5) with the prophetic explanation (Zec_2:6-13) shows the development of the people and kingdom of God till the time of its final glory. The vision itself appears very simple, only a few of the principal features being indicated; but in this very brevity it presents many difficulties so far as the exposition is concerned. It is as follows: Zec_2:1. And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold a man, and in his hand a measuring line. Zec_2:2. Then I said, Whither goest thou? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see how great its breadth, and how great its length. Zec_2:3. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him. Zec_2:4. And he said to him, Run, speak to his young man thus: Jerusalem shall lie as an open land for the multitude of men and cattle in the midst of it. Zec_2:5. And I shall be to it, is the saying of Jehovah, a fiery wall round about; and I shall be for glory in the midst of it. The man with the measuring line in his hand is not the interpreting angel (C. B. Mich., Ros., Maurer, etc.); for it was not his duty to place the events upon the stage, but simply to explain to the prophet the things which he saw. Moreover, this angel is clearly distinguished from the man, inasmuch as he does not go out (Zec_2:3) till after the latter has gone to measure Jerusalem (Zec_2:2). At the same time, we cannot regard the measuring man as merely a figure in the vision, since all the persons occurring in these visions are significant; but we agree with those who conjecture that he is the angel of Jehovah, although this conjecture cannot be distinctly proved. The task which he is preparing to perform - namely, to measure Jerusalem -leads unquestionably to the conclusion that he is something more than a figure. The measuring of the breadth and length of Jerusalem presupposes that the city is already in existence; and this expression must not be identified with the phrase, to draw the measure over Jerusalem, in Zec_1:15. Drawing the measure over a place is done for the purpose of sketching a plan for its general arrangement or the rebuilding of it. But the length and breadth of a city can only be measured when it is already in existence; and the object of the measuring is not to see how long and how broad it is to be, but what the length and breadth actually are. It is true that it by no means follows from this that the city to be measured was the Jerusalem of that time; on the contrary, the vision shows the future Jerusalem, but it exhibits it as a city in actual existence, and visible to the spiritual eye. While the man goes away to measure the city, the interpreting angel goes out: not out of the myrtle thicket, for this only occurs in the first vision; but he goes away from the presence of the prophet, where we have to think of him as his interpreter, in the direction of the man with the measuring line, to find out what he is going to do, and bring back word to the prophet. At the very same time another angel comes out to meet him, viz., the angelus interpres, not the man with the measuring line. For one person can only come to meet another when the latter is going in the direction from which the former comes. Having come to meet him, he (the second angel) says to him (the angelus

interpres), Run, say to this young man, etc. The subject to can only be the second angel; for if, on grammatical grounds, the angelus interpres might be regarded as speaking to the young man, such an assumption is proved to be untenable, by the fact that it was no part of the office of the angelus interpres to give orders or commissions to another angel. On the other hand, there is nothing at all to preclude another angel from revealing a decree of God to the angelus interpres for him to communicate to the prophet; inasmuch as this does not bring the angelus interpres into action any further than his function requires, so that there is no ground for the objection that this is at variance with his standing elsewhere (Kliefoth). But the other angel could not give the instructions mentioned in Zec_1:4 to the angelus interpres, unless he were either

himself a superior angel, viz., the angel of Jehovah, or had been directed to do so by the man with the measuring line, in which case this man would be the angel of Jehovah. Of these two possibilities we prefer the latter on two grounds: (1) because it is impossible to

think of any reason why the other angel should not be simply called if he ,really were the angel of the Lord; and (2) because, according to the analogy of Eze_40:3, the man with the measuring line most probably was the angel of Jehovah, with whose dignity it would be quite in keeping that he should explain his purpose to the angelus interpres through the medium of another (inferior) angel. And if this be established, so far as the brevity of the account will allow, we cannot understand by the young man the man with the measuring line, as Hitzig, Maurer, and Kliefoth do. The only way in which such an assumption as this could be rendered tenable or in harmony with the rest, would be by supposing that the design of the message was to tell the man with the measuring line that he might desist from his useless enterprise (Hitzig), as Jerusalem could not be measured at all, on account of the number of its inhabitants and its vast size (Theod. Mops., Theodoret, Ewald, Umbreit, etc.); but Kliefoth has very justly replied to this, that if a city be ever so great, inasmuch as it is a city, it can always be measured, and also have walls.

If, then, the symbolical act of measuring, as Kliefoth also admits, expresses the question how large and how broad Jerusalem will eventually be, and if the words of Zec_2:4, Zec_2:5 contain the answer to this question, viz., Jerusalem will in the first place

(Zec_2:4) contain such a multitude of men and cattle that it will dwell like perzth; this answer, which gives the meaning of the measuring, must be addressed not to the measuring man, but simply to the prophet, that he may announce to the people the future magnitude and glory of the city. The measuring man was able to satisfy himself of this by the measuring itself. We must therefore follow the majority of both the earlier and later expositors, and take the young man as being the prophet himself, who is so designated on account of his youthful age, and without any allusion whatever to human inexperience and dim short-sightedness (Hengstenberg), since such an allusion would be very remote from the context, and even old men of experience could not possibly know anything concerning the future glory of Jerusalem without a revelation from

above. Hallz, as in Jdg_6:20 and 2Ki_4:25, is a contraction of hallzeh, and formed

from lzeh, there, thither, and the article hal, in the sense of the (young man) there, or that young man (cf. Ewald, 103, a, and 183, b; Ges. 34, Anm. 1). He is to make haste and bring this message, because it is good news, the realization of which will soon commence. The message contains a double and most joyful promise. (1) Jerusalem will

in future dwell, i.e., to be built, as perzth. This word means neither without walls, nor loca aperta, but strictly speaking the plains, and is only used in the plural to denote the

open, level ground, as contrasted with the fortified cities surrounded by walls: thus r

perzth, cities of the plain, in Est_9:19, as distinguished from the capital Susa; and 'erets

perzth in Eze_38:11, the land where men dwell without walls, bolts, and gates; hence

perz", inhabitant of the plain, in contrast with the inhabitants of fortified cities with high walls (Deu_3:5; 1Sa_6:18). The thought is therefore the following: Jerusalem is in future to resemble an open country covered with unwalled cities and villages; it will no longer be a city closely encircled with walls; hence it will be extraordinarily enlarged, on account of the multitude of men and cattle with which it will be blessed (cf. Isa_49:19-20; Eze_38:11). Moreover, (2) Jerusalem will then have no protecting wall surrounding

it, because it will enjoy a superior protection. Jehovah will be to it a wall of fire round about, that is to say, a defence of fire which will consume every one who ventures to attack it (cf. Isa_4:5; Deu_4:24). Jehovah will also be the glory in the midst of Jerusalem, that is to say, will fill the city with His glory (cf. Isa_60:19). This promise is explained in the following prophetic words which are uttered by the angel of Jehovah, as Zec_2:8, Zec_2:9, and Zec_2:11 clearly show. According to these verses, for example, the speaker is sent by Jehovah, and according to Zec_2:8 to the nations which have plundered Israel, after glory, i.e., to smite these nations and make them servants to the Israelites. From this shall Israel learn that Jehovah has sent him. The fact that, according to Zec_2:3, Zec_2:4, another angel speaks to the prophet, may be easily reconciled with this. For since this angel, as we have seen above, was sent by the angel of Jehovah, he speaks according to his instructions, and that in such a manner that his words pass imperceptibly into the words of the sender, just as we very frequently find the words of a prophet passing suddenly into the words of God, and carried on as such. For the purpose of escaping from this simple conclusion, Koehler has forcibly broken up this continuous address, and has separated the words of Zec_2:8, Zec_2:9, and Zec_2:11, in which the angel says that Jehovah has sent him, from the words of Jehovah proclaimed by the angel, as being interpolations, but without succeeding in explaining them either simply or naturally.

CALVI, "Added now is another vision for the same end; not that the former was difficult to be understood, but because there was need of confirmation in a state of things so disturbed; for though the return of the people was no common evidence of the goodness and favor of God yet as Jerusalem was not flourishing as formerly, as the temple was like a cottage as there was no form of a kingdom and no grandeur, it was difficult to believe what had been already exhibited. This is the reason why God confirms by many proofs the same thing; for we know how difficult the contest is, owing to the infirmity of the flesh, when grievous and sharp trials assail us.

Hence Zechariah says, that he saw in the hand of a man a measuring line. He calls him a man, who appeared in the form of man; and it is well known, and a common thing, that angels are called men. For though they put on a human form only for a time, yet as it was the Lords will that they should be seen in that form, they are called men, though with no propriety. If it be asked, whether angels did really put on human nature? the obvious answer is, that they never, strictly speaking, became really men. But we know that God treats us as children; and there is the same reason for the expression as for the thing itself. How was it that angels appeared in human form? even that their access to men might be easier. Hence God calls them men as in this place. Zechariah then says, that an angel appeared to him in the form of a man, having in his hand a measuring line.

COKE, "IntroductionCHAP. II.

God, in the care of Jerusalem, sendeth to measure it. The redemption of Zion. The promise of God's presence.

Before Christ 519.

THIS chapter contains the substance of a third vision. In conformity to what was said, chap. Zechariah 1:16 a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem; a man, or an angel, appears with a measuring line in his hand, going, as he says, to take the dimensions of Jerusalem, in order to its being rebuilt according to its former extent, which was afterwards done by ehemiah. This is accompanied with a message delivered to the prophet, shewing the great increase of her population and wealth; her perfect security under the divine protection; the recal of her exiles from the north country, and the punishment of those who had oppressed them; the return of God's presence to dwell in her; and the conversion of many heathen nations; and lastly, the reinstatement of Judah and Jerusalem in the full possession of all their ancient privileges.

COFFMA, "This chapter has the vision of a man with a measuring line, a vision which is number three in a series of eight. Evidently, the purpose of this vision was merely to suggest, rather than to demonstrate, the dimensions of the Jerusalem to be measured, as no measurements appear to have been either made or delivered to the prophet.

In this vision, the meaning of it was given by Zechariah in the last half of the chapter (Zechariah 2:6-13). The Jerusalem which is revealed is not the physical Jerusalem at all, but the unlimited and glorious Jerusalem which is "above, which is our mother" (Galatians 4:26). As in all the other visions, there are the most definite Messianic implications in it.

Zechariah 2:1

"And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand."

The purpose here, evidently, is to suggest the dimensions of Jerusalem, not to determine them. o measuring was done.

"A man with a measuring line ..." It is usually agreed among commentators that this person was actually an angel of God, some even declaring him to be the angel of the Covenant. This Biblical method of introducing an angel as a "man" is used rather extensively, as for example, when the angels who visited Lot prior to the destruction of Sodom were called "men" (Genesis 18:2). However, we must reject the identification which would make him the angel of the Covenant, a being who was always more specifically designated.

There are quite a number of these "measuring line" scenes in the Bible. See Ezekiel 40:3; Revelation 11:1; 21:15,16.

Dummelow and other scholars make the "man" here to be the same as "the young man" in Zechariah 2:4;[1] but there is no reason for this. See under Zechariah 2:4.

COSTABLE, "Verse 1-2In the next scene of his vision, Zechariah saw a man (i.e, an angel who looked like a man) with a measuring line in his hand (cf. Zechariah 1:11; Zechariah 6:12; Ezekiel 40:2-3). When the prophet asked him where he was going, he replied that he was going to measure the dimensions of Jerusalem. This surveying would have been preparation for restoring and rebuilding the city. The restoration of Jerusalem in progress in Zechariah"s day was only a foreview of a much grander future restoration to be described (cf. Jeremiah 32:15; Ezekiel 40:3; Ezekiel 40:5; Revelation 11:

BESO, "Verses 1-5Zechariah 2:1-5. I lifted up mine eyes, &c., and behold a man An angel in the form of a man, probably representing ehemiah, under whose direction the wall was rebuilt, according to the ancient line marked out by the ruins. See ehemiah 3., &c, &c. And the angel that talked with me went forth Went away from me, as if he had performed his commission in regard to me, and was to commune with me no longer. And another angel went out to meet him But, as he was going away, I saw another angel meet him. This appears to have been an angel sent with fresh commands, from the superior personage among the myrtle-trees, to the angel who communed with the prophet. And said, Run, speak to this young man Hasten with all diligence, and communicate to the young and inexperienced prophet what will check his fears, and encourage him to proceed in the execution of his prophetic office. Saying, Jerusalem Which hath so long lain in ruins, and seemed to be in a hopeless state, shall be inhabited as towns, &c. Shall overflow with inhabitants, who shall occupy spaces beyond the circuit of the walls: that is, its inhabitants will multiply so fast, that the houses within the walls will not be able to contain them, and they will be obliged to seek habitations in the neighbouring country in villages, which shall be of as great extent as towns, which, although without walls, shall be safe and secure against the attacks of enemies; their own multitude of men being a sufficient defence to them. And their cattle will increase in proportion. That this was a fact with regard to Jerusalem, see Josephus, De Bell. Jud., lib. 5. chap. 4, where we learn that the city, overflowing with its number of inhabitants, by degrees extended itself beyond its walls; and that Herod Agrippa fortified the new part called Bezetha. For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire Which cannot be scaled or undermined, as it would soon consume any that might attempt to do the one or the other. Thus, in regard to her inhabiting without walls, God engages to secure her as effectually as if she were surrounded with a wall of fire. The image is most sublime, and expresses very strongly the protection of God. It must have reminded the Jews of the pillar of fire by which God directed and defended their ancestors. ewcome. He says, Round about, to signify that no part should be left unguarded, or open to the enemy. And will be the glory in the midst of her My presence and favour shall render her glorious. He alludes to the symbol of the divine presence in the holy of holies. Observe, reader, those that have Jehovah for their God have him for their glory: and they that have him in the midst of them have glory in the midst of them. And all those persons and places that have God in the midst of them, have him for a wall of fire round about them; for upon all that glory,

there is, and shall be, a defence, Isaiah 4:5. This prophecy was fulfilled in part in that Jerusalem, which, in process of time, became a very flourishing city, and made a very great figure in those parts of the world, much beyond what could have been expected, considering how low it had been brought, and how long it was before it recovered itself. But it was to have its full accomplishment in the gospel church, which is extended far, like towns without walls, by the admission of the Gentiles into it; and which hath the Son of God, and God himself, for its prince and protector.

EXPOSITOR'S DICTIOARY, "The Man with the Measuring Line

Zechariah 2:1-2

The vision.This vision is really the protest of the Prophet against the attempt the Jews were making to narrow down the Divine purposes to the limit of their own paltry plans. In his vision the Prophet sees a young Prayer of Manasseh , who stands for the Jewish people, with a measuring line in his hand. The Prophet hails the young Prayer of Manasseh , and asks him whither he is going, and what is his errand. The young man answers, "I go to measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. The young man"s notion of Jerusalem was of a city strictly limited, compassable, and measurable, whose dimensions could be stated in so many yards and feet. But that was not God"s Jerusalem at all. God"s Jerusalem was vast, illimitable, boundless. That is the truth set forth in the angel"s reply. "Run and speak to this young Prayer of Manasseh ," says the one angel to the other"run and speak to this young man. Tell him he is attempting the impossible. Tell him he is trying to measure the immeasurable. Tell him he might as well try to count the stars in the midnight sky, or the grains of the sand on the seashore, or the drops of water in the vasty deep, as seek to measure the Holy City with his tape. Run and speak to this young mantell him Jerusalem cannot be measured; tell him it is to be no narrow, paltry, mountain fortress; tell him it is to be inhabited as villages, without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein; tell him it is to be a spacious, vast, illimitable city, so that no measuring line on earth is sufficient to compass it."

The amplitude, the vastness of God"s design, and the impossibility of compassing it by any human measurement, that is the superficial and obvious lesson of the text.

I. Let me illustrate the text with reference to the kingdom of God. There is need still to insist upon the wideness of the kingdom, for men are busy still trying to narrow its boundaries.

II. ext let me illustrate it with reference to the love of God. In all ages, men have been applying the measuring line to the love of God. Go back eighteen centuries, and you find the Pharisees and Scribes busy with the measuring line.

And yet, in spite of the life and witness of Jesus, men have not ceased to think God"s love can be measured. They have tried to limit it by theological theories. Men preached a hateful theory of election, asserting there were some whom God loved

and saved, and some on whom He visited His wrath and damned. They have preached a "limited atonement," as if Christ died only for a section of the race, and His blood availed to cleanse but a few. And I do not hesitate to say that that doctrine of election and that doctrine of a limited atonement are a slander and libel upon the love of God.

I know nothing of love for an "elect few". My gospel says, "God so loved the world". I know nothing of a limited atonement. My gospel says, "He is the Propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world". The love of God knows no limitit is vast, boundless, infinite. It embraces every manit endures to all eternity.

III. Let me illustrate it further with reference to man"s destiny. Man"s destiny is beyond the reach of any earthly measuring line. "Beloved, now are we children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be." It doth not yet appear what we shall be; the splendour of our destiny is beyond the utmost reach of our imagination and thought, for we know that when He shall appeal", we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

IV. We tax our imaginations to try and picture to ourselves the glory and bliss of heaven. But the measuring line of the human mind is not equal to the task. It exceeds our utmost stretch of thought John has given us a glowing picture in the Apocalypse. But heaven is better even than John"s sketch of it. Even his soaring imagination could not take in all its splendour and beauty. Heaven"s glory baffles description, defies every measuring line. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the mind of man the things which God hath prepared for those who love Him."

J. D. Jones, The Elims of Life,p202.

A Man with a Measuring Line

Zechariah 2:1-2

It was a difficult time in Jewish history. People were coming back from the captivity. They had to rebuild Jerusalem, to restore the Temple, to make a new nation, as it were, out of the old fragments that were left. o wonder that hearts failed on all sides. Zechariah rises to meet these evils, vision after vision passes before his eyes, and among these visions there is this man of the measuring line, the cautious Prayer of Manasseh , the prudent Prayer of Manasseh , the calculating man. "What is the good? You can do nothing. What can you poor people do to build a city like the old Jerusalemto guard it, to fence it round, to make its ramparts strong? You must be cautious and careful, you must take heed what you are about lest you fail." Very useful are such counsels in life, but they may be over-done. Prudent worldliness has not much room in the household of God. Small is the company of those who have begun and not been able to finish compared with those who have been scared back at the outset. As an old proverb says," The best is often

the enemy of the good". Because we cannot do at once in a moment all that we want to do, because we cannot always see our way to accomplish anything at all, or very little, because the task seems too much, and our abilities too small, those are the sort of feelings that unman us, that bar all progress.

I. What Faith has Done.Take the case of the Apostles, when Jesus said unto them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature"; or when He added, "beginning at Jerusalem ". I can fancy the man with the measuring line there saying, "What can you do here in Jerusalem among the learned Scribes and righteous Pharisees, you poor Galilean fishermen? What can you do? You had better hold your tongues. You will not succeed." Or afterwards, "What! Do you think you will capture Rome, the greatest power in the world, the capital of the greatest empire that was ever seen? Better try humbler things, my friends, than that." But the Twelve went on calmly, quietly, facing the odds, content to do little so long as they did it, satisfied if only they were walking in the Master"s steps, laying foundation-stones for others to build on after they were gone. On they went, because all the while they felt that God was with them, and that He would not fail. Just as Zechariah the Prophet was sustained by the recollection of what God had done for Israel, so the Apostles, with the whole history of the past before their eyes, recollecting what the history of Jerusalem had been, went on calmly, quietly, just doing the work that lay straight before them, attempting no great things, hoping no great things, but just trying to fulfil their Master"s command.

II. What Faith can Do.How many of us are disposed to say, "Well, what can we do?" We want, perhaps, to achieve a character, we would like to be good people. We want to be men of faith, like St. Paul; men of zeal, like St. Peter; men of love, like St. John , but we feel we never can attain to it. We are so ill-tempered, unbelieving, unconcerned and indifferent. What can we do? What is the use of our trying? We have not the power, the opportunities that others possess. It seems to us as if we never should win our way upwards. We want to begin at the top of the ladder and not at the bottom. We want to soar instantly to the heights without having to tramp the weary way, but God"s way is not our way, nor His thoughts our thoughts. The man with the measuring line, our own doubting hearts this time, our own prudence, perhaps, suggests how little we can do, how useless it all is. Why should we attempt more? evertheless it is good for us to remember that the history of the saints has been the history of small things, small efforts, small hopes, of small prayers. Every prayer tells, every hope is answered, every act of faith becomes a victory, if not for ourselves for those who come after. Go on struggling, and by and by when a great crisis comes, as such crises come in every human life, when you have to be tried for what you are, before God and Prayer of Manasseh , you will find that strength, and faith, and zeal are abundant, and love cannot fail. You have won without knowing it the topmost rung, you have built the tower stone by stone.

ISBET, "Verse 1-2A MA WITH A MEASURIG LIEI 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.Zechariah 2:1-2It was a difficult time in Jewish history. People were coming back from the Captivity. They had to rebuild Jerusalem, to restore the Temple, to make a new nation, as it were, out of the old fragments that were left. o wonder that hearts failed on all sides. Zechariah rises to meet these evils, vision after vision passes before his eyes, and among these visions there is this man of the measuring line, the cautious man, the prudent man, the calculating man. What is the good? You can do nothing. What can you poor people do to build a city like the old Jerusalemto guard it, to fence it round, to make its ramparts strong? You must be cautious and careful, you must take heed what you are about lest you fail. Very useful are such counsels in life, but they may be overdone. Prudent worldliness has not much room in the household of God.

I. Think of what faith has done.Take the case of the Apostles, when Jesus said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; or when He added, beginning at Jerusalem. I can fancy the man with the measuring line there saying, What can you do here in Jerusalem among the learned scribes and righteous Pharisees, you poor Galilan fishermen? What can you do? You had better hold your tongues. You will not succeed. Or afterwards, What! Do you think you will capture Rome, the greatest power in the world, the capital of the greatest empire that was ever seen? Better try humbler things, my friends, than that. But the Twelve went on calmly, quietly, facing the odds, content to do little so long as they did it, satisfied if only they were walking in the Masters steps, laying foundation stones for others to build on after they were gone. On they went, because all the while they felt that God was with them, and that He would not fail. Just as Zechariah the prophet was sustained by the recollection of what God had done for Israel, so the Apostles, with the whole history of the past before their eyes, recollecting what the history of Jerusalem had been, went on calmly, quietly, just doing the work that lay straight before them, attempting no great things, hoping no great things, but just trying to fulfil their Masters command.

II. Think of what faith can do.How many of us are disposed to say, Well, what can we do? We want, perhaps, to achieve a character, we would like to be good people. We want to be men of faith, like St. Paul; men of zeal, like St. Peter; men of love, like St. John: but we feel we never can attain to it. We are so ill-tempered, unbelieving, unconcerned, and indifferent. What can we do? What is the use of our trying? The man with the measuring line, our own doubting hearts this time, our own prudence, perhaps, suggests how little we can do, how useless it all is. Why should we attempt more? evertheless it is good for us to remember that the history of the saints has been the history of small things, small efforts, small hopes, of small prayers. Every prayer tells, every hope is answered, every act of faith becomes a victory, if not for ourselves for those who come after. Go on struggling, and by and by when a great crisis comes, as such crises come in every human life, when you have to be tried for what you are, before God and man, you will find that strength, and faith, and zeal are abundant, and love cannot fail. You have won without knowing it the topmost rung, you have built the tower stone by stone. Perhaps we

desire to do something while we are here to leave the world a little brighter than we found it. The man with the measuring line at our side is ready to say, You have no ability, your friends want your time, they do not want you to spend it in doing other work. You feel all incapable, you are not learned enough, you do not know enough, you have not the gifts. You have just the spirit of a person that the measuring line would keep back, but the spirit of Christ would push forward. Go forward, Christian brother, Christian sister, go forward in your work for God, whatever it be. Your conscience demands it of you. Do not let the measuring line of prudence and calculation and over-safety keep you back.

Rev. Prebendary Shelford.

PETT, "The Third Vision. The Man With The Measuring Line (Zechariah 2:1-13).

Having learned that nothing has been happening among the nations which will aid in the recovery of YHWHs people (Zechariah 1:7-11), and having received an oracle to the effect of Gods displeasure at the situation (Zechariah 1:12-17), and having learned that He has now begun to work to that end (Zechariah 1:18-21), Zechariah now sees evidence of Gods intentions. The fact that Jerusalem is to be established (in other words God's dwellingplace with His people) is indicated by it being measured up by a man with a measuring line.

Zechariah 2:1-2

And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what its breadth is and what its length is."The act of measuring Jerusalem is a sign that God has plans for its rebuilding and establishment. It may seem to have had poor beginnings but it will finally prosper under His hand. This is why He has pared back the nations. This will be partly fulfilled in the making of Jerusalem secure and prosperous prior to the first coming of Christ, but more completely fulfilled in the new Jerusalem which is above.

TRAPP, "Zechariah 2:1 I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.

Ver. 1. I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked] i.e. I looked wistfully, not sluggishly, as between sleeping and waking, as Zechariah 4:1. I saw further by the spirit than common sense could have carried me. I beheld Jerusalem in her future glory, I looked intently, I took aim, not by the things which are seen, but by the things which are not seen, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Hebrews 11:27, Galatians 4:26.

And behold a man] The man Christ Jesus, as his mother is called a virgin, Isaiah 7:14, the virgin, that famous virgin that conceived and bare a son, that got a man from the Lord, Genesis 4:1. This man (called before and after an angel, as appearing in human shape) is here seen and set forth as an architect or master

builder, going to take the plot of his Church, see Revelation 21:15; and observe, by the way, how in that book the Holy Ghost borrows the allegories and elegancies of the Old Testament to set out the story of the ew in succeeding ages.

PULPIT, "Zechariah 2:1

(Hebrews 2:5.) I lifted up mine eyes again (comp. Zechariah 5:1; Zechariah 6:1; Daniel 8:3). This third vision makes a further revelation of God's mercy to Israel. Consequent on the destruction of enemies shall be the growth and development of the chosen people till the time of their final glory (comp. Zechariah 1:16). There is some difficulty in arranging the details of this vision, depending in great measure on the decision we arrive at with regard to the identification of the "young man" of Zechariah 2:4. Those who, as Theodoret, Hitzig, Schegg, Trcehon, Wright, Perowne, etc; consider him to be the man with the measuring line of Zechariah 2:1, do not explain why the message should be given to him instead of to the prophet who had asked for information. or is it at all certain that the measurer is meant to be regarded as having made a mistake in attempting to define the limits of what was practically unlimitedviz. the restored Jerusalemand was stopped accordingly in his proceedings. It seems preferable, with Jerome, Cornelius a Lapide, Pusey, Keil, Knabenbauer, etc; to regard the "young man" as Zechariah himself. Then the vision is thus presented: The prophet sees a man with a measuring line; he asks whither he is going, and is answered that he was going forth to measure Jerusalem. Upon this the interpreting angel leaves the prophet's side to receive the explanation of the man's proceedings, and is met by a superior angel, who bids him hasten to tell the prophet the meaning of the vision. A man. Probably an angel in human form, as Zechariah 1:8. A measuring line. This is not the same word as that in Zechariah 1:16; but the idea there proposed is taken up here, and its fulfilment is set forth (comp. Ezekiel 11:3; Revelation 11:1; Revelation 21:15, Revelation 21:16).

BI 1-4, "A man with a measuring line in his hand

The man with a measure

The prophet asks where the man is going, and the answer given isto measure; and then he shows what would be the measure of Jerusalem, that it would hereafter extend beyond the walls, as that compass would not contain the vast number of the people.God will extend, he says, far and wide the holy city; it will no longer be confined as before to its own walls, but will be inhabited through all its villages. There is then no doubt but that God intended here to bear witness respecting the propagation of His Church, which was to follow a long time afterwards, even after the coming of Christ. For though Jerusalem became wealthy and also large in its compass, and, as it is well known, a triple city, and heathen writers say that it was among the first of the cities of the East when Babylon was still existing, yet this prophecy was not verified in the state of Jerusalem, for it was not inhabited without its walls, nor did it spread through the whole of Judaea. We hence conclude that the spiritual Jerusalem is here described which differs from all earthly cities. Here is described the heavenly Jerusalem, which is surrounded by no walls, but is open to the whole world, and which depends not on its own strength, but dwells safely though exposed on all sides to enemies; for the prophet says, not without reason, through the villages shall Jerusalem be inhabited; that is, it

shall everywhere be inhabited, so that it will have no need of defence to restrain or hinder enemies to come near; for a safe rest shall be given to it, when every one shall quietly occupy his own place. Though few returned from exile, God was yet able to increase the Church, and to make it a vast multitude, and this was certain and decreed, for it was shown by the vision that however unequal they were to their enemies, God was still sufficiently strong and powerful to defend them; and that however destitute they were of all blessings, God was still rich enough to enrich them, provided they relied on the blessing which He had promised. (John Calvin.)

The optimism of faith

Zechariah was the most uniformly hopeful of all the prophets. He was a young man. His little book is the work of a youthful imaginative mind, richly endowed with poetic gifts, as well as steeped in the diviner fount of inspiration. He saw all things bathed in the glory of the morning. The time in which he wrote was near the end of the Babylonian captivity. The prophet draws one picture after another of the glorious things which were nigh. Here the prophet sees a young man going with a measuring line in his hand, and asks Whither? To measure Jerusalem, is the answer, and straightway he marches on. Then the angels appear, and one says to the other, Go after that young man, and tell him that his measuring line is too short. Jerusalem will expand beyond all boundaries and all measurements, because of the number of people in it. Tell him that he is going to measure the immeasurable. This allegory contains these two Gospel truths.

1. Faith realises that which does not exist.

2. These Divine things which faith realises are so great that even faith cannot measure them.

I. Faith realises that which is to be. This young man was going to do an apparent absurdity. He was going to measure a city which had not yet been built. All the practical, materialistic, matter-of-fact people of the world would call that the very climax of folly. The Gospel of common sense says, Let us have no illusions. Give us facts, for anything which is not built upon facts is foolishness. Our religion indulges throughout in this foolishness, if foolishness it may be called. Faith realises the city that is not yet built., grasps coming events as though they were already present. All the best and greatest men and women that have ever been upon this earth have lived and moved and had their being in what was called a world of dreams, a world, that is, of fair, sweet hopes, of treasures and of glories that had not yet been created. Illustrated by Abraham, David, etc. It is the source and secret of all our strength and confidence, that where other eyes see only imperfections, we see a city of God which He will most assuredly build.

II. These Divine things which faith realises before they come into existence are so great that even faith cannot measure them. The angel speaks to the young man, to rebuke him for the presumption of thinking that he can measure the cityit is immeasurable. We cannot measure anything that God builds. You cannot gauge moral influences or tabulate spiritual forces. There is no plummet that can sound the depths of love Divine. You could have measured Giant Goliath, but you could not have measured the faith and the courage of the young man who came up to meet him in the name of the Lord. Illustrated from the company carried by the Mayflower; or by comparing the French Revolution with the beginning of missionary enterprise. You cannot measure the Church, the Church of Christ. It is infinitely broader, larger, stronger, than the most flattering statistics show. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)

The man with the measuring line

It was natural enough. We dream of what occupies our waking thoughts; and probably Jerusalem was full of surveyors, engaged in mapping out the new streets and walls.

1. The pessimist comes with his measuring line, and draws the plan of the city within the narrowest possible boundaries. He justifies his forecast by quoting such a text as Fear not, little flock; or Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Sometimes he fears that he will not enter, at other times he doubts all others but himself.

2. The bigot comes with his measuring line and insists that the city walls must coincide with his shibboleth, and follow the tracings of his creed.

3. The experimentalist is apt to refuse to consider as Christians those who have not experienced exactly the same doubts, fears, ecstasies, deliverances, and cleansings which he himself has felt.

4. The universalist goes to the other extreme, and practically builds his walls around the entire race of man, including within their circumference every member of the human family. It is not for us to fix the boundaries, or insist on our conceptions. These are secret things which belong to the Lord our God. So shall it be with the saved. We have no right to include in their ranks any who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, who have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. But apart from these, there will be a multitude which no man can number, out of every nation and of all tribes, and peoples, and tongues; as stars in the midnight sky, or the sand grains on the seashore. (P. B. Meyer, B. A.)

An interesting future of the world

I. The future increase of good men on the earth. Two remarks are suggested concerning the extent of genuine religion. It is

1. Measurable only by the Divine. Who had the measuring line? Not a mere man, not any created intelligence, but the God-man, the Messiah. Men cannot measure the growth of piety in the world. They attempt it, but make fearful mistakes. They deal in statistics, they count the number of churches in the world and the number of professed worshippers. But piety cannot be measured in this way. Have you scales by which to weigh genuine love? Any numbers by which to count holy thoughts, aspirations, and volitions? Any rules by which to gauge spiritual intelligence? Have you any plummet by which to fathom even the depths of a mothers affections? No one but God can weigh and measure the holy experiences of holy souls.

II. The future security of good men on the earth. Who shall penetrate a massive wall of fire? But that wall is God Himself, omnipotent in strength. Omnipotence is the Guardian of the good.

III. The future glory of the good men on the earth. Good men are the recipients and the reflectors of the Divine glory. They are the temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in, and they reveal more of Him than the whole material universe. Holiest souls are His highest manifestations. (Homilist.)

The true glory of the Church

1. Although Zion has not yet lengthened her cords and widened her stakes to her appointed limits, yet the measuring line has gone forth that gives her bounds to be the habitable earth. Hence, if this future extension was a motive to the Jew, in his work of rearing the temple of wood and stone, much more is it to us in our work of erecting the great spiritual temple on the foundation, Jesus Christ (Zec_2:1-4).

2. We learn here the true glory of the Church. It is not in any external pomp or power, of any kind; not in frowning battlements, either of temporal or spiritual pretensions; not in rites and ceremonies, however moss grown and venerable; not in splendid cathedrals and gorgeous vestments, and the swell of music, and the glitter of eloquence, but in the indwelling glory of the invisible God. Her outward rites and ceremonies, therefore, should only be like what the earths atmosphere is to the rays of the sun, a pure, transparent medium of transmission (Zec_2:5).

3. The punishment of the wicked as truly declares the glory of God as the salvation of the righteous (Zec_2:8).

4. The wicked shall ultimately be the slaves of their own lusts; those appetites and passions which were designed to be merely their obedient servants, shall become their tormenting and inexorable tyrants (Zec_2:9).

5. The incarnation of Christ and His indwelling in the Church are grounds of the highest joy (Zec_2:10).

6. Christ is a Divine Saviour. In Zec_2:10-11, we have one Jehovah sending another, and the Jehovah sent is identified with the angel of the covenant, who was to come and dwell in the Church, whom we know to be Christ. Hence, unless there are two distinct Jehovahs, one Divine and the other not, Christ, the Jehovah, angel of this passage, is Divine.

7. The Church of God shall cover the earth, and become in fact, what it is in right, the mightiest agency in human history. Though now feeble and despised, she shall one day include many nations, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Zec_2:11).

8. Delay of punishment is no proof of impunity. God often seems to be asleep, but He is only awaiting the appointed time; in the end, when all seems as it was from the foundation of the world, the herald cry shall go forth, Be silent, O earth, for Jehovah is aroused to His terrible work, and the day of His wrath is come. Let men kiss the Son whilst He is yet in the way, before His anger is kindled but a little, and they perish before Him like stubble before the whirlwind of flames. (T. V. Moore, D. D.)

The man with the measuring line

In this vision God presented to the prophet, and through him to the nation at large, the prospect and the assurance of the restoration of Jerusalem, and the reestablishment of the Jewish state as it had been before the captivity. The city should not only be rebuilt, but greatly extended: the temple should be restored, and the worship of Jehovah resumed; His presence should be with His people, and they should enjoy His protection; and whilst they were thus blessed, judgment should come upon those nations that had oppressed them, and they should have supremacy over those by whom they had been

enslaved. All this was literally fulfilled. But even in these promises there seems to be a reference to things of still higher import, and of spiritual significancy Who can such a speaker be but that Being who in the fulness of time appeared in our world, uniting in His one person the human and the Divine natures? May we not say, then, that there is here a promise of blessing to the Church through the advent of the Redeemer? Then certainly was glory brought to the temple of the Lord. The Church of God, under the latter dispensation, may take to herself as her own the comfort and encouragement which those promises, given to the Church in the old times, were intended to convey. Security, protection, glory, grace, blessing, extension, and final triumph are all assured to her by the promise of Him whose word cannot fail. (W. L. Alexander, D. D.)

2 I asked, Where are you going?

He answered me, To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.

GILL, "Then said I, Whither goest thou?.... As it showed great freedom and boldness in the prophet to put such a question to the man with the measuring reed, it was great condescension in him to return him an answer, as follows:

and he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem; not literally understood, which was not yet thoroughly built; but the Gospel church, often so called; see Heb_12:22 and this measuring of it denotes the conformity of it to the rule of God's word; a profession of the true doctrines of it, and an observance of the ordinances of it, as delivered in it; and an agreement of the walk, life, and conversation of its members with it:

to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof; the length of the New Jerusalem is as large as the breadth; its length, breadth, and height, are equal, Rev_21:16.

JAMISO, "To measure Jerusalem (Compare Rev_11:1; Rev_21:15, Rev_21:16).

to see what is the breadth ... what is the length rather, what is to be the duebreadth and length.

CALVI, "He then asks him where he was going; the answer given is, to measure Jerusalem, to see what was its breadth and its length. The design of the prophecy is then stated, Behold, inhabited shall be Jerusalem throughout all its villages, (29) as it could not contain within its walls so large a multitude of men. God then would so increase his people, that they could not be contained within its walls, but that the limits of the Church would be spacious. Inhabited then shall be Jerusalem throughout all its villages, that is, through the whole country around. This is the meaning.

We now see the design of the Holy Spirit. As a small portion only had returned from exile, the faithful might have become disheartened when they found that the restoration of the Church was very far from being so splendid as what had been so often predicted and promised. It was therefore necessary that they should be encouraged, in order that they might patiently wait while God was performing by degrees, and step by step, what he had testified. That they might not then confine Gods favor to a short period, or to a few days, the Prophet says here, that the measure of Jerusalem was different in the sight of God from what it was in the sight of men. With regard to the line, it was according to the ancient custom; for we know that they did not then use a ten foot pole or some such measure, but a line.

The Prophet, by saying that he raised up his eyes and saw this man, reminds us that Jerusalem was to be regarded prospectively: for they could hardly be induced then to build the city as a small and obscure town. We hence see that a difference is to be here noticed between the external aspect of Jerusalem, such as it was then, and its future condition, for which they were to look though not then visible. This then is the design of the prophecy, when it is said, that when Zechariah raised up his eyes, he saw a measure or a line in the hand of a man. He further reminds us that he was attentive to these visions, for by asking he proves that he was not asleep or indifferent, as many are who extinguish every light by their sloth; and I wish there was no such torpor prevailing among us in the present day! for we justly suffer punishment for our contempt, whenever we heedlessly and negligently attend to what God sets before us. Let us then learn greater attention and diligence from the Prophets example.

He asks where he was going, the answer given is, to measure: and then he shows what would be the measure of Jerusalem, that it would hereafter extend beyond the walls, as that compass would not contain the vast number of the people. God will extend, he says, far and wide the holy city; it will no longer be confined as before to its own walls, but will be inhabited through all its villages. There is then no doubt but that God intended here to bear witness respecting the propagation of his Church, which was to follow a long time afterwards, even after the coming of Christ. For though Jerusalem became wealthy and also large in its compass, and, as it is well known, a triple city, and heathen writers say that it was among the first of the cities of the East when Babylon was still existing, yet this prophecy was not verified in the state of Jerusalem, for it was not inhabited without its walls, nor did it spread through the whole of Judea. We hence conclude, that the spiritual

Jerusalem is here described, which differs from all earthly cities.

COFFMA, "Verse 2"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."

This emphasizes the purpose of the vision, the portrayal of the unlimited, glorious extent of God's city. This was not done by the announcement of any dimensions, but by a heavenly interruption that revealed the utter impossibility of measuring the city. o attempted "measuring" ever took place.

"To measure Jerusalem ..." That this is impossible of any application whatever to the physical Jerusalem is clear enough from the fact that the indicated greatness of it far surpasses anything that could have ever been true of the literal Jerusalem. This is also clear from the Messianic overtones that dominate the whole chapter.

TRAPP, "Verse 2Zechariah 2:2 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.

Ver. 2. Whither goest thou?] This was great boldness; but the prophet understood himself well enough; and Christ approves and assents to it in a gracious answer here, and especially Zechariah 2:4. Great is the confidence of a good conscience toward God, 1 Peter 3:21. See Isaiah 63:16-17, Habakkuk 1:12. We may come boldly to the throne of grace, Hebrews 4:16.

To measure Jerusalem] This had been promised before, Zechariah 1:16. But for their further confirmation, who saw a little likelihood of such a rebuilding and repeopling, it is repeated. Thus the Lord, tending our infirmity, seals to us again and again in the holy sacrament, what he had said and sworn to us in his word.

3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him

BARES, "The angel that talked with me went forth - Probably to receive the explanation which was given him for Zechariah; and another angel, a higher angel, since he gives him a commission, went forth to meet him, being (it seems probable) instructed by the Angel of the Lord, who laid down the future dimensions of the city. The indefiniteness of the description, another angel, implies that he was neither the Angel of the Lord, nor (were they different) Michael, or the man with the measuring line, but an angel of intermediate rank, instructed by one higher, instructing the lower, who immediately instructed Zechariah.

GILL, "And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth,.... See Zec_1:9and he "went forth" from the place where the prophet was, with whom he had been conversing:

and another angel went out to meet him: the same that was seen among the myrtle trees, Zec_1:8 and here, with a measuring line in his hand, Zec_2:1.

JAMISO, "angel that talked with me ... another angel The interpreting angel is met by another angel sent by the measuring Divine Angel to run to Zechariah (Zec_2:4). Those who perform Gods will must not merely creep, nor walk, but run with alacrity.

went forth namely, from me (Zechariah).

went out from the measuring angel.

CALVI, "It is said, that the angel went forth, and that another angel met him. It hence appears as from the whole of what the Prophet says, how carefully God provides for the safety of his Church; for he has ever angels as his emissaries, who hasten at his nod, and aid the Church in its necessities. Since then angels thus unite to secure the well-being of the Church, we hence perceive how dear to God are the faithful, in whose favor he thus employs all his angels; and we also see, that it was the Lords will that this prophecy should be clear and manifest to all the godly: go, and run to that young man, he says, and tell him. Zechariah had indeed asked for an explanation of the measure in the mans hand, but from the fact that another angel met him, it appears, as I have already said, that God does not neglect the request and prayers of his people, provided only that they are desirous of learning; he will then perform the part of a true and faithful teacher towards them. But the word run, ought especially to be noticed: go, he says, and even hasten, lest the youth should longer doubt, and explain the purpose of this prophecy. He calls the Prophet a youth, because he was then among angels. He would not call him a man of full age, because he had before called an angel man. What rank could the Prophet hold among angels except that of a youth? This circumstance ought therefore to be observed as the reason why Zechariah spoke disparagingly or humbly of himself.

ow as to the import of the prophecy, we have already said, that here is described the heavenly Jerusalem, which is surrounded by no walls, but is open to the whole world, and which depends not on its own strength, but dwells safely though exposed

on all sides to enemies; for the Prophet says not without reason, through the villages shall Jerusalem be inhabited; that is, it shall everywhere be inhabited, so that it will have no need of defense to restrain or hinder enemies to come near; for a safe rest shall be given to it, when every one shall quietly occupy his own place. It follows

COKE, "Zechariah 2:3. The angel that talked with me Many interpreters have thought, that the angel who talked with Zechariah, and interpreted to him, was no other than Jehovah himself, the second person in the blessed Trinity. In examining some passages which follow, I think it will appear to be without sufficient foundation. In the mean time, let me observe, that here he is not only called simply A AGEL, (that is, a ministering spirit, as the apostle to the Hebrews explains the term, expressly contrasting it with the Son; Hebrews 1:14.) but he is addressed by the other angel, not, I think, as a superior, but as a fellow servant, to whom he delivers orders, as from a common master. See the Reflections.

COFFMA, "Verse 3"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 villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein."

"Speak to this young man ..." It is perfectly clear that the person indicated by this is not an angel of God, a fact inherent in the indication of his age. "Young is inapplicable and unapplied to angels, who have not our human variations of age, but exist, as they were created."[2] Therefore, we understand this as a reference to Zechariah himself. After all, Zechariah is the only one who had requested information about any of these visions; and to suppose that the young man was an angel would do violence to that basic factor in all of these visions.

Seeing this young man as the prophet instead of making him into another angel also avoids another error, namely, that of supposing one of God's angels to have been ignorant of God's counsels[3] and thus desiring to measure Jerusalem but being stopped from doing so. There is no way that such an explanation is reasonable.

Failure to understand the "young man" as the prophet Zechariah leads to a multitude of unsupported "guesses," none of which has ever received universal support:

The foolish Mormon conceit which makes this young man to be Joseph Smith, the pseudo-prophet, and the angel to be Moroni, who reveals to him the golden plates of the book of Mormon.[4]The young man is typical of the rising generation, more eager for city walls than for the Temple.[5]

The young man in the vision represents those Jews who thought only of physical

Jerusalem.[6] The young man is the angel of Zechariah 2:1.[7]

"The young man" therefore represents the average opinion of that day.[8]SIZE>

Take your choice; but it seems impossible to this writer that the young man could possibly be anyone except Zechariah himself. As Unger expressed it, "If the allusion is not to Zechariah, it can be to no other; for angels are ageless, and it would be pointless to describe an angel as a youth."[9]

In addition to all of the above considerations, the basic purpose of these visions was to convey information to God's people through Zechariah; and, inasmuch as "the young man" was represented in this passage as receiving that information, it is safe to conclude that he indeed is that prophet. The vision definitely is not a means of God's correcting some erring angel!

"Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls ..." This never applied to the literal Jerusalem, except for part of a century before the people were able to rebuild the walls. The simple meaning is that God's eventual city, as realized in the Church of Jesus Christ, shall not be a fortified citadel, but a worldwide fellowship that no walls could limit or contain.

COSTABLE, "Verse 3-4Another angel, possibly the angel of the Lord ( Zechariah 1:11-12), came forward to meet Zechariah"s guiding angel as he was going out toward the "man" with the measuring line. He instructed him to tell "that young Prayer of Manasseh ," Zechariah , that Jerusalem would expand beyond its walls because so many people and cattle would live in it (cf. Ezekiel 38:11). Another interpretation is that the young man was the angel with the measuring line. [ote: E.g, Leupold, p55.] But it seems more probable that the other angel gave this revelation to Zechariah directly. During the restoration period, the Jews built walls around the city to make it secure, yet few people wanted to live in it (cf. ehemiah 11:1-2; ehemiah 7:4). This prophecy must have a future fulfillment, though it doubtless encouraged Zechariah"s contemporaries to rebuild the city in their day. [ote: See Merrill, pp116-18 , for defense of this "both in Zechariah"s day and in the future" interpretation.]

PETT, "Zechariah 2:3-4

And behold the angel who talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, 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 within it."The angel who has been speaking with him goes out to see what is happening, but he is immediately sent back by another angel who tells him to race back to the young prophet to tell him that Jerusalem will yet be so heavily populated and will have such abundance of cattle that it will be impossible to build a wall large enough to go

round it. or will they need a wall, for God will be their protection.

As we know as we look at the times of Jesus, Jerusalem did grow and extend, and reach out beyond its walls and become prosperous. But this glorious vision found an even deeper fulfilment when Jerusalem spread and spread to take in all the people of God around the world (compare Isaiah 2:3). And, of course, its final fulfilment is found in the ew Jerusalem in Heaven, Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22; compare Galatians 4:26), where God's people will dwell with Him in glory for ever (Revelation 21:1 to Revelation 22:5).

Six Oracles Concerning His People.

1) "For I," the word of YHWH, "will be to her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her" (Zechariah 2:5).2) "Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north," the word of YHWH (Zechariah 2:6).3) "For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven," the word of YHWH. "Ho, Zion, escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon." (Zechariah 2:7).4) For thus says YHWH of Hosts, "After glory has he sent me to the nations who spoiled you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye." (Zechariah 2:8).5) "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 YHWH of Hosts has sent me" (Zechariah 2:9).6) "Sing and rejoice, Oh daughter of Zion. For lo I come and I will dwell in the midst of you," the word of YHWH (Zechariah 2:10)

TRAPP, "Verse 3Zechariah 2:3 And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,

Ver. 3. And behold the angel] Zechariahs angel, as one calleth him.

Went forth] to take direction from Christ, and to give the prophet further information. {See Trapp on "Zechariah 1:9"}

And another angel went out to meet him] So ready is Christ to answer prayers and to satisfy his weak but willing people, that draw near unto him with a true heart, Hebrews 10:22. If any such ask and miss it is because they ask amiss, James 4:3.

4 and said to him: Run, tell that young man, Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it.

BARES, "And said unto him, Run, speak unto this young man - The prophet himself, who was to report to his people what he heard. Jeremiah says, I am a youth Jer_1:6; and, the young man, the young prophet, carried the prophetic message from Elisha to Jehu. Youth, common as our English term in regard to man, is inapplicable and unapplied to angels, who have not our human variations of age, but exist, as they were created.

Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls - Or as villages (see the notes at Hab_3:14), namely, an unconfined, uncramped population, spreading itself freely, without restraint of walls, and (it follows) without need of them. Clearly then it is no earthly city. To be inhabited as villages would be weakness, not strength; a peril, not a blessing. The earthly Jerusalem, so long as she remained unwalled, was in continual fear and weakness. God put it into the heart of His servant to desire to restore her; her wall was built, and then she prospered. He Himself had promised to Daniel, that Her street shall be rebuilt, and her wall, even in strait of times Dan_9:25. Nehemiah mourned 73 years after this, 443 b.c., when it was told him, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire Neh_1:3. He said to Artaxerxes, Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers sepulehres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Neh_2:3. When permitted by Artaxerxes to return, he addressed the rulers of the Jews, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire; come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach; and they said, let us rise and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work Neh_2:17-18. When the wall was finished and our enemies heard, and the pagan about us saw it, they were much cast down in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God Neh_6:15-16.

This prophecy then looks on directly to the time of Christ. Wonderfully does it picture the gradual expansion of the kingdom of Christ, without bound or limit, whose protection and glory God is, and the character of its defenses. It should dwell as villages, peacefully and gently expanding itself to the right and the left, through its own inherent power of multiplying itself, as a city, to which no bounds were assigned, but which was to fill the earth. Cyril: For us God has raised a church, that truly holy and far-famed city, which Christ fortifies, consuming opponents by invisible powers, and filling it with His own glory, and as it were, standing in the midst of those who dwell in it. For

He promised; Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world. This holy city Isaiah mentioned: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation; a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken Isa_33:20; and to her he saith, enlarge the place of thy, tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation; spare not; lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left Isa_54:2-3. For the church of Christ is widened and extended boundlessly, ever receiving countless souls who worship Him. Rup.: What king or emperor could make walls so ample as to include the whole world? Yet, without this, it could not encircle that Jerusalem, the church which is diffused through the whole world. This Jerusalem, the pilgrim part of the heavenly Jerusalem, is, in this present world, inhabited without walls, not being contained in vile place or one nation. But in that world, where it is daily being removed hence, much more can there not, nor ought to be, nor is, any wall around, save the Lord, who is also the glory in the midst of it.

CLARKE, "Run, speak to this young man - Nehemiah must have been a young

man when he was sakee, or cup-bearer, to Artaxerxes.

As towns without walls - It shall be so numerously inhabited as not to be contained within its ancient limits. Josephus, speaking of this time, says, Wars 5:4:2, The city, overflowing with inhabitants, by degrees extended itself beyond its walls.

GILL, "And said unto him,.... That is, the other angel said to the angel that had been talking with the prophet,

Run, speak to this young man: meaning Zechariah, who was either young in years, as Samuel and Jeremiah were when they prophesied; or he was a servant of a prophet older than he, and therefore so called, as Joshua, Moses's minister, was, Num_11:28 as Kimchi observes:

saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls; this shows that this is not to be understood of Jerusalem in a literal sense, for that was not inhabited as a town without a wall; its wall was built in Nehemiah's time, and remained until the city was destroyed by Vespasian; yea, it had a treble wall, as Josephus says (b); but of the church of Christ in Gospel times; and denotes both the safety and security of it; see Eze_38:11 and the populousness of it; and especially as it will be in the latter day, when both Jews and Gentiles are called, and brought into it; which sense is confirmed by what follows:

for the multitude of men and cattle therein; the Jews being meant by "men"; see Eze_34:31 and the Gentiles by "cattle", to which they used to be compared by the former: this will be fulfilled when the nation of the Jews will be born at once, and all Israel will be saved, and the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in; for the number of the spiritual Israel, the sons of the living God, both Jews and Gentiles, shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured, Hos_1:10 and when there will be such a large increase of converts; and such flockings to Zion, to the spiritual Jerusalem, the church of God, that the place will be too small for them, Isa_49:19 whereas, when Jerusalem in a literal sense was rebuilt, after the Babylonian captivity, there was a want of persons to inhabit it, and lots were cast for one out of ten to dwell in it; and they were

glad of others that offered themselves willingly to be inhabitants of it, Neh_11:1 for there was but a small number that returned from Babylon to repeople the city of Jerusalem, and the whole country of Judea; no more came from thence but forty two thousand, three hundred, and threescore, besides men and maid servants, which amounted to seven or eight thousand more, Ezr_2:64 Neh_7:66 which were but a few to fill such a country, and so many cities and towns that were in it, besides Jerusalem; and yet Josephus (c) affirms, that the number of those of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, that came up from thence, and were above twelve years of age, were four millions, six hundred, and twenty eight thousand; in which he is followed by Zonaras (d), and it is admitted and approved of by Sanctius on the place; which is not only contrary to the accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah, but is incredible; that such a number that went into captivity, which was not very large, should, under all the distresses and oppressions they laboured, in seventy years time so multiply, and that two tribes only, as to be almost eight times more than all the twelve tribes were at their coming out of Egypt; a number large enough to have overrun the Babylonian monarchy; and too many to be supported in so small a country as the land of Canaan: wherefore, upon the whole, it must be best to interpret this of spiritual and mystical Jerusalem, and of the populousness of the church of Christ in the latter day.

JAMISO, "this young man So Zechariah is called as being still a youth when prophetically inspired [Grotius]. Or, he is so called in respect to his ministry or service(compare Num_11:27; Jos_1:1) [Vatablus]. Naturally the angel that talked with Zechariah is desired to speak to him the further communications to be made from the Divine Being.

towns without walls for the multitude ... Cattle So many shall be its inhabitants that all could not be contained within the walls, but shall spread out in the open country around (Est_9:19); and so secure shall they be as not to need to shelter themselves and their cattle behind walls. So hereafter Judea is to be the land of unwalled villages (Eze_38:11). Spiritually, now the Church has extended herself beyond the walls (Eph_2:14, Eph_2:15) of Mosaic ordinances and has spread from cities to country villages, whose inhabitants gave their Latin name (pagani) to pagans, as being the last in parting with heathenism.

COKE, "Zechariah 2:4. Jerusalem shall be inhabited Houbigant renders this, Jerusalem, without a wall, shall be inhabited for the multitude, &c. And he supposes the prophesy to refer to the new Jerusalem spoken of Revelation 21:2 to which alone he thinks the following verse can be applied; rendering the latter part, And within her a pillar of light. Most of the commentators suppose this to refer to a future state of the church.

ELLICOTT AD GREAT TEXTS, "Verse 4(4) And said unto him.Some commentators suppose that it is the angel-interpreter who here speaks; but if this were the case, an other angel would be a superfluous figure in the vision, for the angel-interpreter might have addressed this young man directly. Accordingly, we agree with the Authorised Version in taking this other angel as the speaker.

This young man is by some supposed to be Zechariah: but it gives a much more definite turn to the meaning of the vision to understand the expression as referring to the man with the measuring line.

Towns without wallsi.e., unfortified towns. A similar expression in the Hebrew is contrasted with fortified cities in 1 Samuel 6:18. The other angel, for the instruction of Zechariah, directs the angel-interpreter to inform the man who was measuring that there could be no object in taking an exact measure of Jerusalem, since for the multitude of men and cattle it would soon exceed its original limits. It would be an unnecessary forcing of the words to suppose with some commentators that the measurer is called a young man on account of his simplicity and ignorance. That this prophecy was fulfilled in the grandeur and extent of Jerusalem may be seen by a reference to the descriptions of it, after its restoration, by Aristas (Ed. Schmidt), Hecatus, &c. Josephus (Bell, Jud i. 5. 4, 92) says that in the time of Herod Agrippa Jerusalem had, by reason of the multitude or its inhabitants, gradually extended beyond its original limits, so that another hill had to be taken in, which was fortified, and called Bezeth.

Verse 4-5The City Without WallsJerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein. For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.Zechariah 2:4-5.The prophet Zechariah lived in a time of discouragement and distress. It was that pathetic yet heroic crisis in the national history when a remnant of Israel had returned from the long captivity in Babylon. Few if any of them had ever seen Jerusalem. They had been born in exile; but their fathers had told them of the dear Homeland, and they had been dreaming of it and yearning for it all their days; and now at length in the providence of God they were brought back. They had travelled across the desert in high hope, eager to see the land of their dreams and the Holy City and the encircling mountains; but their arrival was a cruel disillusionment. They found Jerusalem a desolation and her Temple a ruin; and they had to face the task of reconstruction.

At the best it would have been a heavy task, but for that weak remnant it was overpowering. They had been bondsmen all their days, and the yoke had crushed them. Their spirit was broken, and their poor souls fainted in face of an ordeal which demanded not only a strong hand but, even more, a stout heart. It was a perilous crisis, and their supreme need, if ever they would be a nation again, was a brave leader who should rally them, inspire them with faith and hope, and nerve them to the work. And he appeared. In the providence of God the time always brings the man; and the man at that crisis was the prophet Zechariah.

His message was a call to faith in God and to courageous endeavour. Expect great things from God: attempt great things for God. And it did not fail. The peoples hearts leaped to the challenge, and they girded themselves to the work. Their purpose was to rebuild and restore Jerusalem; but the prophet had a larger ideal.

The work was begun. A surveyor had gone forth with his measuring line to map out the ancient sitethe circle of the walls, the lie of the streets, and the position of the housesthat the city might be rebuilt on the old scale and the old design. That was their ideal reconstruction; but it was not Zechariahs.

He saw the surveyor at work, and a message came to him from the Lord. By the prophets side there stood an angel-interpreter, just as Virgil or Beatrice stood beside Dante in his visions; and when another angel appeared upon the scene, the interpreter bade him run and stop the young man with the measuring line, and for this reason: the Jerusalem of the future was not to be rebuilt on the same lines as the Jerusalem of the past; no measurements would be needed; for the new city was to be built upon a larger scale, to make room for the large increase of its citizens; it was to lie open like an unwalled town, capable of indefinite expansion; and as for defences, s