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 livestock in it.
Parallel Translations
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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 livestock in it.
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And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
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(2-8) and said unto him: 'Run, speak to this young man, saying: 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Zechariah 2:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Zechariah 1:17 “Proclaim further, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 33:22 As the army of the sky can’t be counted, and the sand of the sea can’t be measured; so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.’ ”
- Ezekiel 38:11 You will say, ‘I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
- Micah 7:11 A day to build your walls— In that day, he will extend your boundary.
- Isaiah 44:26 who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’ and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’
- Isaiah 49:20 The children of your bereavement will say in your ears, ‘This place is too small for me. Give me a place to live in.’
- Jeremiah 31:27 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of animal.
- Ezekiel 36:10-11 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built. I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
- Zechariah 8:4-5 Yahweh of Armies says: “Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age. The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.”
- Zechariah 12:6 In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 14:10-11 All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.
- Isaiah 33:20 Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
- Jeremiah 30:18-19 Yahweh says: “Behold, I will reverse the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city will be built on its own hill, and the palace will be inhabited in its own place. Thanksgiving will proceed out of them with the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small.
- Jeremiah 31:24 Judah and all its cities will dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.
- Jeremiah 31:38-40 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city will be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner. The measuring line will go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and will turn toward Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”
- Jeremiah 33:10-13 Yahweh says: “Yet again there will be heard in this place, about which you say, ‘It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,’ the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;’ who bring thanksgiving into Yahweh’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to be reversed as at the first,” says Yahweh. Yahweh of Armies says: “Yet again there will be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of him who counts them,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 1:6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
- Daniel 1:17 Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
- 1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Signifying the spiritual Jerusalem and Church under Christ, which…
Signifying the spiritual Jerusalem and Church under Christ, which should be extended by the Gospel through all the world, and should need no material walls, nor trust in any worldly strength, but should be safely preserved and dwell in peace among all their enemies.
Meaning, himself Zechariah.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 2:4 And said unto him, Run, speak to…
Zec 2:4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited [as] towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
Ver. 4. Run, speak to this young man] Not go, but run; yea, fly swiftly, with weariness of flight, as Dan 9:21. Christ thinks it long ere his praying people hear from him. Only he will be inquired of by them, Eze 36:37. Zechariah seems to have been a young prophet, and Christ remembered the kindness of his youth, and became a wonderful counsellor to him; he gave to this young man (or greenbeaded stripling) knowledge and discretion, Pro 1:4. Epiphanius saith he was an old man; and that he is called a young man because a client and disciple of the angel that communed with him. Where angels are called men it was no disparagement to Zechariah to call himself a lad, or servant, considering his distance. Thus Abraham’s servant, though old, is called his boy, Gen 24:52, by a catachresis. That is a good note that Mr Potable gives here, that the angel tells the prophet, but the prophet must tell the people; God using not the ministry of angels, but men earthen vessels, to bear his name to his people, Act 8:27; Act 9:6; Act 16:9.
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Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls] Or shall dwell in towns without walls viz. in the suburbs or villages, there being not room enough within the walls to receive them. This seemed an incredible thing to this poor remnant now returned from Babylon. But it is the property and duty of believers to trust God upon his bare word; and that against sense in things visible, and against reason in things improbable.
For the multitude of men and cattle therein] That is, saith Augustine, of spiritual and carnal persons in the Church Catholic.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain And said unto him; or,
And said unto him; or,
And he said; or, as the French, Lequel lui dit, Which said unto him: so it is plain that the Angel which now was going forth spake to that angel which came to meet him, or gave him orders what to do.
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Run; since you came so seasonably, hasten with all diligence, and from me tell that young man, Zechariah.
Jerusalem, which hath so long lain in rubbish, which I once delighted in, which now seems desolate and hopeless,
shall be inhabited, filled with inhabitants,
as towns without walls; the suburbs of it shall be as towns unwalled for greatness of extent, and for safety and freedom from enemies and danger: their own multitudes of men shall be some safeguard to them; and they shall have my presence, a better safeguard.
Cattle, brought thither for sacred uses, for sacrifices.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And said unto him,.... That is, the other angel…
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:
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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.
(b) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2. (c) Antiqu. l. 11. c. 3. sect. 10. (d) Apud Hudson in ib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And he said - Christ to that angel who…
And he said - Christ to that angel who came to meet him. Run - Hasten and tell Zechariah. As towns - The suburbs of it shall be as towns unwalled, for extent and for safety.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Run, speak to this young man] Nehemiah…
Verse 4. Run, speak to this young man] Nehemiah must have been a young man when he was [Persian] 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 v. iv. 2, "The city, overflowing with inhabitants, by degrees extended itself beyond its walls."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And said unto him, Run, speak unto this young…
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.
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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.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Walls. This must be understood of the spiritual Jerusalem,…
Walls. This must be understood of the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of Christ. (Challoner) --- According to St. Augustine (in Psalm lxxi.) when the literal sense cannot be verified, we must have recourse to the thing prefigured; and thus what is here written, must be explained of the Church rather than of Jerusalem. (Worthington) --- A little before the fall of the latter, it was become so populous that the houses which had been built without the walls were enclosed. (Josephus, Jewish Wars vi. 6.) --- this multitude was a sort of pledge or figure of the crowds which should embrace the gospel.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain this young man--So Zechariah is called as being still…
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 2:14-15) 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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4, 5. And said unto him — The interpreting…
4, 5. And said unto him — The interpreting angel is the speaker. The other angel becomes his servant, so that he himself may remain with the prophet, whose guide and interpreter he is to be throughout the entire series of visions.
Run, speak to this young man — Not to the prophet, but to the man with the measuring line, who meanwhile had gone to his task. The messenger is exhorted to run, so that the man may be stopped quickly, for his efforts are wasted.
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As towns without walls — The new Jerusalem will not be like the capital of the pre-exilic kingdom; it cannot be measured, nor confined within walls; it will resemble rather a wide-open country, covered with towns and villages. This extension becomes necessary as a result of the wonderful increase in the number of inhabitants and their possessions (Isa_49:19-20; Eze_38:11), all of which will be an evidence of the restored favor of Jehovah.
The absence of walls might be distressing to some, for it would seem to expose them to hostile attacks, but there need be no fear, for the protection granted to the new city will be superior to anything that could be offered even by the strongest wall; Jehovah himself will be round about her (compare Psa_125:1-2).
A wall of fire — A defense of fire that will consume everyone who dares to come near it (Isa_26:1; Isa_33:20).
The glory in the midst of her — Jehovah will manifest himself in all his glory, so that the whole city will be filled with it.
The vision is followed by an exhortation addressed to the Jews who are still in exile, to prepare for a return, for Jehovah is about to manifest himself in mercy and power. Some consider the verses a part of the account of the vision. The interpreting angel is thought to have uttered the words in the hearing of the prophet, so that the latter might pass them on. It seems more natural, however, to suppose that the vision closes with Zec_2:5, and that Zec_2:6-13 are an expansion of the vision by the prophet (compare Amo_8:4 ff; Amo_9:2 ff.). He has seen the glories of the future; now he thinks of the exiles still far from home, and to them he addresses this message of hope; they too will share, and that speedily, in the promised glory.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. and said unto him] Rather, and he said…
4. and said unto him] Rather, and he said unto him; i.e. the interpreting angel said to the second angel whom he met. That he might remain himself near the prophet, whose interpreter he was appointed to be throughout the whole series of visions, he sent his brother angel instead of going himself in pursuit of the man with the measuring line, who by this time had passed on his errand out of the field of view, giving him a message for him in the hearing of the prophet, and so discharging his interpreting function, so far as this vision is concerned.
this young man] Some commentators refer this to Zechariah himself, and understand it to be the second angel in Zec_2:3, who meeting the interpreting angel bids him run back to the prophet with the announcement that follows. It is difficult, however, to see why on this view the angel should be told to “run;” whereas on the view taken above the messenger is directed to hasten after one who has already started on his errand, and the scenic character of the vision is altogether better maintained.
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as towns without walls] as open, unwalled country villages. The word is rendered, “unwalled villages,” Eze_38:11, and is there explained to be places where men are “at rest and dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.” Comp. Deu_3:5; Est_9:19. The prophecy of this and the next verse, however it may include, yet far exceeds the rebuilding of the walls by Nehemiah, or any prosperity and extension into suburbs of Jerusalem, that has yet taken place.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) And said unto him.—Some commentators suppose that it…
(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.”
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Towns without walls—i.e., unfortified towns. A similar expression in the Hebrew is contrasted with “fortified cities” in 1Sa_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 Aristéas (Ed. Schmidt), Hecatæus, &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 “Bezethá.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And said unto him; i.e. the second angel said…
And said unto him; i.e. the second angel said to the interpreter. Run. He was to hasten and deliver the message, because it was a joyful one and calculated to allay the prophet"s solicitude. This young man. The Prophet Zechariah. The term applied to him is thought to show that he was still young when the vision appeared; but the word is used also for minister, or servant, or disciple, without necessarily defining the age. Others, not so suitably, consider that the measuring angel is meant, who is thus stopped in his intention of measuring Jerusalem, as being ignorant of God"s counsels. Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls. Jerusalem shall be as open villages in a plain country. The word perazoth is used in Eze_38:11, meaning "unwalled villages" where men dwelt "without walls, having neither bars nor gates." So Est_9:19, where it means, "country towns," in contrast to the metropolis, which was walled and fortified. The idea in the text is that Jerusalem in the future shall be so extended that walls shall no longer contain its inhabitants, but they shall spread themselves in the open country on every side. It is certain that the city did greatly increase in after time, if we may believe Aristeas"s account in his famous letter to his brother Philocrates; and the annunciation of this prosperity would be a comfort to the prophet (comp. Josephus, "Bell. Jud:," 5:4, 2). But no material increase of this nature satisfies the prophecy, which can only have its fulfilment in the spiritual Jerusalem, whose Builder is Christ, in whose light the nations of them that are saved shall walk. (Rev_21:24; see Isa_49:18, etc.; Isa_54:2, Isa_54:3) This open condition implies not only extent, but peace and safety also. The reason of this quiet security is given in the next verse. Septuagint, Katakarpwv katoikhyhsetai Ierousalhm , "Jerusalem shall be abundantly inhabited."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Run, speak to this young man
Zec_2:4
Run, speak to this young man
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Young men
The Lord said to me, Run, speak to this young man, and I asked--
I.
Lord, which one? First, this one. He is the son of godly parents, he was nursed in the lap of piety, and cradled in prayer. He is in the general acceptation of the word a good fellow. The home is all the brighter when he is in it. The parents all the happier for his presence. Is he, Lord, the only one? No, speak to this young man. Ah, I see him now. His experience has been a very different one from the last. No prayers ever arose on his behalf; no holy influences ever surrounded him; his earliest remembrances are oaths. Are there any more, Lord, I have to speak to? Yes, this one. He is a young man of considerable mental ability, who is fast making his way in the world. A bright future seems to be opening up before him. Sitting at his right hand I see another I have to address. He is of a very different stamp of character. I thought I heard him say just now, Well, thank goodness, Im no money grub. I dont care so much about getting on in life as seeing life. His motto is, begone dull care; aye, by any means so long as it goes.
II. Why should I speak to him? To this question three answers at once came.
1. Speak to him because danger awaits him. The very least we can do for a man in peril is to arouse him to a sense of danger if he be ignorant of it. Humanity itself will dictate this. Never mind frightening the crew, better do that than all be lost, through want of warning.
2. I am bound to speak to you, because one wrong step will lead to many.
3. Speak, for if you do not there are many that will. No one knows the temptations that surround young men, but a young man. If there are but few to lead him right, there are plenty to lead him astray. Godless companions will. Then, too, he has the attractive preacher called the world, who like some fair siren seated on a rock by the deadly pool, smiles but to deceive. Speak to him, still my Lord says, for if you do not Satan will.
III. Why should I run?
1. Be cause he is running. Sinners never creep to ruin. Slow as the tortoise are we on the road to heaven; swift as the bounding stag to hell. The road to perdition is downhill all the way. The natural heart which is so heavy a load heavenward, lends a tremendous impetus to our downward course.
2. Because time is running. Time is a ship that never casts anchor--an eagle that is ever on the wing--a shuttle that always flies--an ocean that never ebbs.
3. Run, because opportunities are running.
4. Run, because death is running. The grim despot is after every one of us, nothing can turn his course, he laughs all bribes to scorn, and every moment he gains upon us; his scythe swings with the speed of the lightning flash, and never grows blunt in its work.
5. Run, because hell is running. We read in the Book of Revelation that death rode forth on a white horse and hell followed after, to every impenitent sinner the two go together.
IV. And when I catch him up, Lord, what shall I say to him? Son of pious parents, with many a noble, amiable quality, let me say this word to you, Your morality will not save you. Unless you are born again, you will be as much lost as if you never possessed any. Young man, you who have had nought but evil example from infancy, to you let me speak. Do not think that frees you from responsibility. Your parents sins will not exonerate you from yours. If they led, you have willingly followed. Remember, too, you can no longer plead ignorance as to the way of salvation, for you have just heard it, if never before. Young man, so occupied in getting on in this world, I will just ask you one question, and leave you to give the answer. It is this, What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (A. G. Brown.)
What to say to a young man
1. Tell him he has a wicked heart.
2. He ought to become a Christian.
3. He should improve the season of youth.
4. He should beware of evil company.
5. He should attend to Bible reading and to prayer. (G. Brooks.)
The young mans mission
Zechariah is, of all the prophets, most remarkable for the simple, practical purpose with which he employs the grandest prophetic symbols. The text is the speech of one angel to another angel in regard of a young man who, in symbolic action significant of Israels redemption and enlargement, was going forth with a measuring line to take the length and breadth of Jerusalem. Using the text simply as an accommodation, it may have a twofold direction.
I. To myself, as preaching to young men. It is an earnest exhortation unto the Christian minister to labour especially with young men. The conversion of young men is so important--
1. Because, in most cases, if not converted while they are young, they will never be converted. Divine grace, in its very sovereignty, operates according to the laws of our moral and intellectual nature. Youth is the most favourable period for religious impressions.
2. Be cause of the peculiar power of young men to accomplish great things for God and their generation. Young men are hopeful; young men are brave; young men are fertile in invention: and thus young men are strong in all qualities that secure earthly success. The foundations of all true greatness must be laid in early life. The energy of youth is the worlds mightiest influence; and that influence is especially needful in the Church.
II. To you, as young men and Christians. The words set forth the means, objects, and manner of a great Christian duty.
1. The means. Speak. Use that grand power of articulate utterance; it is almost mans finest gift. Language is reason, walking forth with tremendous energy amid the vital interests of the race. Consider the wonderful title of the Divine Son--the Word.
2. The objects of your labour. Consider some distinct classes of young men with whom you are called earnestly to labour.
(1) Strangers who have just come into your sphere.
(2) The young man beginning to associate with evil companions. The pitiful idler. The fashionable young man. The spendthrift. The dishonest employer. The openly profane and impure man. Corruptors of youth, etc.
(3) The sceptical young man.
(4) The young men whose lives are already practically immoral. The profane man. The Sabbath breaker. The dishonest. The impure.
3. The manner of their labour. Run. The extent of your influence over others will depend not so much upon your talents as your discretion. Be earnest, thoroughly in earnest--
(1) Because these young men are in imminent and deadly peril.
(2) Because the work itself is all important. (C. Wadsworth.)
Sympathy with young men
At the annual meeting of the Central Y.M.C.A., at Exeter Hall, London, the recently consecrated Bishop of Sierra Leone said that he had been connected with the Y.M.C.A. for about twenty years, and gave the following reason for becoming a member and subsequently taking a great interest in young men: When I was quite a young man I had some papers put into my hand dealing with infidelity. They troubled me considerably, and I did not know whom to go to for advice and sympathy. At last I went to a minister of the Word, thinking that surely he would sympathise with me. But instead of doing that and praying with me, he took the papers and threw them into the fire and sent me away. This discouraged me so much that I dared not tell my trouble to any one else, but at length I took my difficulties to God, and He gave me an answer, as He has always done when I have gone to Him with my troubles. That day I asked God to give me a heart of love and sympathy for young men. The Y.M.C.A. extends a mutual sympathy to young men which is most helpful and much appreciated.
Speaking to young men
Mr. Birch, who did much work in the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, was on one occasion going from Cork to Dublin, and at a small wayside station near the Curragh Camp he saw a number of young officers en route for a ball in Dublin, who entered the carriage in which Mr. Birch was travelling. Soon the cigars were produced, and one of them, looking at Mr. Birch with a serio-comic face, said, I hope you do not object to smoking, and, without waiting for permission, they lighted up. Mr. Birch took out his Bible, and said to the young man who had addressed him, Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Shut up! exclaimed the officer. Because, continued Mr. Birch, if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be lost. Do you hear that old stupid? said another of the officers; what shall we do to him? Quickly the preacher of the Gospel turned to the second speaker, and said, Do you believe in the Lord Jesus? for, if you do not, you will be lost. Sit on him, suggested one. Shove him out of the window, proposed another. That would not alter the fact, said the intrepid servant of God. Just then the train began to slow down, and there was a general cry of Oh, let us get out! Let us change carriages! Your getting, out will not alter the fact, again said Mr. Birch. Well, good-bye, old fellow! shouted the officers, as they jumped from the carriage. Good-bye, was the response; but remember that does not alter the fact. If you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be lost. Four years had passed away, and the evangelist was travelling in England, when a tall, military-looking gentleman entered the carriage. As soon as he caught sight of Mr. Birch, he leaned forward, and said, Excuse me, but I think we have met before. Do you remember, some years ago, a party of young men entering the compartment of a train in which you were travelling to Dublin? I was the young fellow who sat next you. We went to our ball that evening; but, despite all our gaiety, I was conscious of that awful, sentence ringing in my ears, If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus, you will be lost. I drank heavily that night, but the champagne did not revive me; and at an early hour I left the ballroom, and went to my hotel, where, in the solitude of my own room, I knelt down and cried to God for mercy. Since that night I have been a Christian, and have striven to bring those under my command to know and to love the Saviour. (John Robertson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Zec 2:4 - Zec 2:5.
Zechariah
THE CITY WITHOUT WALLS
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Zec 2:4 - Zec 2:5.
Zechariah was the Prophet of the returning exiles, and his great work was to hearten them for their difficult task, with their small resources and their many foes, and to insist that the prime condition to success, on the part of that portion of the nation that had returned, was holiness. So his visions, of which there is a whole series, are very largely concerned with the building of the Temple and of the city. In this one, he sees a man with a measuring-rod in his hand coming forth to take the dimensions of the still un-existing city of God. The words that I have read are the centre portion of that vision. You notice that there are three clauses, and that the first in order is the consequence of the other two. ‘Jerusalem shall be builded as a city without walls . . . for I will be a wall of fire round about her, and the glory in the midst of her.’
And that exuberant promise was spoken about the Jerusalem over which Christ wept when he foresaw its inevitable destruction. When the Romans had cast a torch into the Temple, and the streets of the city were running with blood, what had become of Zechariah’s dream of a wall of fire round about her? Then can the divine fire be quenched? Yes. And who quenched it? Not the Romans, but the people that lived within that flaming rampart. The apparent failure of the promise carries the lesson for churches and individuals to-day, that in spite of such glowing predictions, there may again sound the voice that the legend says was heard within the Temple, on the night before Jerusalem fell. ‘Let us depart,’ and there was a rustling of unseen wings, and on the morrow the legionaries were in the shrine. ‘If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.’
Now let us look, in the simplest possible way, at these three clauses, and the promises that are in them; keeping in mind that, like all the divine promises, they are conditional.
The first is this:-
I. ‘I will be a wall of fire round about her.’
I need not dwell on the vividness and beauty of that metaphor. These encircling flames will consume all antagonism, and defy all approach. But let me remind you that the conditional promise was intended for Judæa and Jerusalem, and was fulfilled in literal fact. So long as the city obeyed and trusted God it was impregnable, though all the nations stood round about it, like dogs round a sheep. The fulfilment of the promise has passed over, with all the rest that characterised Israel’s position, to the Christian Church, and to-day, in the midst of all the agitations of opinion, and all the vauntings of men about an effete Christianity, and dead churches, it is as true as ever it was that the living Church of God is eternal. If it had not been that there was a God as a wall of fire round about the Church, it would have been wiped off the face of the earth long ago. If nothing else had killed it the faults of its members would have done so. The continuance of the Church is a perpetual miracle, when you take into account the weakness, and the errors, and the follies, and the stupidities, and the narrownesses, and the sins, of the people who in any given day represent it. That it should stand at all, and that it should conquer, seems to me to be as plain a demonstration of the present working of God, as is the existence still, as a separate individuality amongst the peoples of the earth, of His ancient people, the Jews. Who was it who said, when somebody asked him for the best proof of the truth of Christianity, ‘The Jews’? and so we may say, if you want a demonstration that God is working in the world, ‘Look at the continuance of the Christian Church.’
In spite of all the vauntings of people that have already discounted its fall, and are talking as if it needed no more to be reckoned with, that calm confidence is the spirit in which we are to look around and forward. It does not become any Christian ever to have the smallest scintillation of a fear that the ship that bears Jesus Christ can fail to come to land, or can sink in the midst of the waters. There was once a timid would-be helper who put out his hand to hold up the Ark of God. He need not have been afraid. The oxen might stumble, and the cart roll about, but the Ark was safe and stable. A great deal may go, but the wall of fire will be around the Church. In regard to its existence, as in regard to the immortal being of each of its members, the great word remains for ever true: ‘Because I live ye shall live also.’
But do not let us forget that this great promise does not belong only to the Church as a whole, but that we have each to bring it down to our own individual lives, and to be quite sure of this, that in spite of all that sense says, in spite of all that quivering hearts and weeping eyes may seem to prove, there is a wall of fire round each of us, if we are keeping near Jesus Christ, through which it is as impossible that any real evil should pass and get at us, as it would be impossible that any living thing should pass through the flaming battlements that the Prophet saw round his ideal city. Only we have to interpret that promise by faith and not by sense, and we have to make it possible that it shall be fulfilled by keeping inside the wall, and trusting to it. As faith dwindles, the fiery wall burns dim, and evil can get across its embers, and can get at us. Keep within the battlements, and they will flame up bright and impassable, with a fire that on the outer side consumes, but to those within is a fire that cherishes and warms.
II. The next point of the promise passes into a more intimate region.
It is well to have a defence from that which is without us; but it is more needful to have, if a comparison can be made between the two, a glory ‘in the midst’ of us.
The one is external defence; the other inward illumination, with all which light symbolises-knowledge, joy, purity.
There is even more than that meant by this great promise. For notice that emphatic little word the-the glory, not a glory-in the midst of her. Now you all know what ‘the glory’ was. It was that symbolic Light that spoke of the special presence of God, and went with the Children of Israel in their wanderings, and sat between the Cherubim. There was no ‘Shechinah,’ as it is technically called, in that second Temple. But yet the Prophet says, ‘The glory’-the actual presence of God-’shall be in the midst of her,’ and the meaning of that great promise is taught us by the very last vision in the New Testament, in which the Seer of the Apocalypse says, ‘The glory of the Lord did lighten it’ {evidently quoting Zechariah}, ‘and the Lamb is the light thereof.’ So the city is lit as by one central glow of radiance that flashes its beams into every corner, and therefore ‘there shall be no night there.’
Now this promise, too, bears on churches and on individuals. On the Church as a whole it bears in this way: the only means by which a Christian community can fulfil its function, and be the light of the world, is by having the presence of God, in no metaphor, the actual presence of the illuminating Spirit in its midst. If it has not that, it may have anything and everything else-wealth, culture, learning, eloquence, influence in the world-but all is of no use; it will be darkness. We are light only in proportion as we are ‘light in the Lord.’ As long as we, as communities, keep our hearts in touch with Him, so long do we shine. Break the contact, and the light fades and flickers out.
The same thing is true, dear brethren, about individuals. For each of us the secret of joy, of purity, of knowledge, is that we be holding close communion with God. If we have Him in the depths of our hearts, then, and only then, shall we be ‘light in the Lord.’
And now look at the last point which follows, as I have said, as the result of the other two.
III. ‘Jerusalem shall be without walls.’
It is to be like the defenceless villages scattered up and down over Israel. There is no need for bulwarks of stone. The wall of fire is round about. The Prophet has a vision of a great city, of a type unknown in those old times, though familiar to us in our more peaceful days, where there was no hindrance to expansion by encircling ramparts, no crowding together of the people because they needed to hide behind the city walls; and where the growing community could spread out into the outer suburbs, and have fresh air and ample space. That is the vision of the manner of city that Jerusalem was to be. It did not come true, but the ideal was this. It has not yet come true sufficiently in regard to the churches of to-day, but it ought to be the goal to which they are tending. The more a Christian community is independent of external material supports and defences the better.
I am not going to talk about the policy or impolicy of Established Churches, as they are called. But it seems to me that the principle that is enshrined in this vision is their condemnation. Never mind about stone and lime walls, trust in God and you will not need them, and you will be strong and ‘established’ just in the proportion in which you are cut loose from all dependence upon, and consequent subordination to, the civil power.
But there is another thought that I might suggest, though I do not know that it is directly in the line of the Prophet’s vision; and that is-a Christian Church should neither depend on, nor be cribbed and cramped by, men-made defences of any kind. Luther tells us somewhere, in his parabolic way, of people that wept because there were no visible pillars to hold up the heavens, and were afraid that the sky would fall upon their heads. No, no, there is no fear of that happening, for an unseen hand holds them up. A church that hides behind the fortifications of its grandfathers’ erection has no room for expansion; and if it has no room for expansion it will not long continue as large as it is. It must either grow greater, or grow, and deserve to grow, less.
The same thing is true, dear brethren, about ourselves individually. Zechariah’s prophecy was never meant to prevent what he himself helped to further, the building of the actual walls of the actual city. And our dependence upon God is not to be so construed as that we are to waive our own common-sense and our own effort. That is not faith; it is fanaticism.
We have to build ourselves round, in this world, with other things than the ‘wall of fire,’ but in all our building we have to say, ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchers watch in vain.’ But yet neither Jerusalem nor the Church, nor the earthly state of that believer who lives most fully the life of faith, exhausts this promise. It waits for the day when the city shall descend, ‘like a bride adorned for her husband, having no need of the sun nor of the moon, for the glory . . . lightens it.’ Having walls, indeed, but for splendour, not for defence; and having gates, which have only one of the functions of a gate-to stand wide open, to the east and the west, and the north and the south, for the nations to enter in; and never needing to be barred against enemies by day, ‘for there shall be no night there.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.