Run With It: Back to The Cross

Zechariah 2:1-5 ESV

And I lifted 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 is its width and what is its length.” And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

In our present day and time, Jerusalem, on a spiritual level, is not the physical city of Jerusalem, but it is the Jerusalem that is above. It is all those who are true followers of Jesus Christ. And, that is why it is without walls, because it isn’t a physical city, but a spiritual one, and it stretches far and wide all throughout the earth.

We are now the Holy City. We are now the people of God. We who believe in Jesus Christ are the heirs of the promise God made with Abraham, and no one else (Rom. 9:6b-8; Gal. 3:10, 16, 26-29; Gal. 4:22-31; 1 Jn. 2:22).

So, if God was to “measure” “Jerusalem” today, what would that look like? Well, it wouldn’t be with a physical yardstick, because it isn’t a physical space. So, what is the measuring stick God would use? It is God, and the Word of God. And, what is he measuring? He is assessing our walks of faith with him. He is evaluating our commitments to him, and our obedience.

“Are his ‘holy people’ today walking in holiness? Or are they living in spiritual adultery?”

For, we were not called into fellowship with God for our own glory, but for the glory of God. Our own selfish desires are not to be what is central in our lives, but the Lord should be the glory in our midst. Our strength and our protection should also not be our buildings, our human institutions, our governments, our financial systems, or our military forces. Our strength and our protection should be God, and God alone, now and always.

Zechariah 2:6-9 ESV

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

So, when the Lord “measures” his people against himself and against the Word of God, he finds cause to call us out of Babylon (see also Rev. 18:1-5; 2 Co. 6:14-18; Jas. 4:1-10; Jn. 15:18-19; 1 Jn. 2:15-17).

“Babylon” is representative both of the world’s system and the worldly church (harlot) who has adopted the ways of the world, and who has turned away from purity of devotion to the Lord. The Lord Jesus does not want us to be unequally yoked together with the ungodly, and he doesn’t want us to be like the world. But, we are to be unlike the world because we are being made into the image of Christ, which is what it means to be holy.

So, he is literally calling his people who have become entrenched in the ways of the world to flee (escape, run away from) worldliness, godlessness, and the world system, attitudes, values, philosophies and behaviors.

This reminds me of a writing the Lord gave me a month ago on March 4, 2020, a day after those tornadoes hit Nashville, TN (USA). It is called “Hope Well.” In it, I shared a video of a church building that had been destroyed by the tornadoes. The video depicted the steeple/tower with a cross on top. It had fallen to the ground, and the cross appeared to be pointing to a handicap parking space.

I immediately sensed God was giving a message here, so I looked at the video again, and I saw how the camera had panned down the steeple, away from the building, to the cross. And, I realized the message right away that the Lord was giving. He wanted us, his people, to move away from these church buildings and these human-based structures and institutions of men, and he wanted his people, instead, to come to the cross.

Interestingly enough, it wasn’t but maybe a week later that we, in America, began to experience the effects of what is being called a “pandemic,” and it wasn’t long until the doors to these buildings called “church” were closed. And, I believe God closed those doors to those man-made structures, because he is leading his people away from “Babylon,” and back to the cross of Christ, just like what was depicted in that video.

For, God is certainly judging our nation, and he is judging “Babylon,” which includes these man-made businesses falsely called “church,” which his people have largely been looking to for their strength and support instead of looking to God as their sole source of strength and guidance and wisdom.

Zechariah 2:10-12 ESV

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

This is speaking of the last days, I believe, which began with Jesus’ birth, I also believe. For, God is in our midst, because he is living within those of us who have died with him to sin, and who are walking in his light. He is among us, walking with us through the storms of life, which we are in now, for sure.

And, this is speaking about the salvation of non-Jews, as well, who were once called Gentiles (or the Nations). Now the division is not Jew and non-Jew, though, for through Jesus’ death on the cross the Lord destroyed the barrier that stood between Jew and Gentile and he made us one in Christ, for those who believe in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:14-18). And, now the Jews who don’t believe in Jesus are the same as non-believing Arabs (Gal. 4:22-31).

And, the “holy land” is no longer physical Israel or physical Jerusalem, for we who are in Christ, by faith in him, are the Israel of God, and sole heirs of the promise God made with Abraham and his descendants (Gal. 4:22-31).

So, this is speaking to true followers of Jesus Christ, who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin who are, by the Spirit, continuing to put the deeds of the flesh to death, and who are walking according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24).

In Today’s World

Yet, I also see this more specifically in relation to the days in which we live now, when the world is undergoing a serious trial, but not from the virus.

I believe what we are seeing in the news is way over exaggerated, and I believe that the tests for the virus are being proven to not be accurate, and that deaths are being reported erroneously without sufficient clinical evidence of the cause of death, and thus the numbers are greatly being skewed. And, I believe this is purposeful, and that this is all a global plot that is being played out, and its goal is world domination (1-3).

Yet, I believe this is a judgment of God, and that he intends it for our good, and that is to move us away from Babylon and back to the cross of Christ.

Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer

Lyrics by Margaret Becker

Music by Keith Getty

“Jesus draw me ever nearer

As I labour through the storm.

You have called me to this passage,

and I’ll follow, though I’m worn.

May this journey bring a blessing,

May I rise on wings of faith;

And at the end of my heart’s testing,

With Your likeness let me wake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amqP9rvikvg