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The man with the measuring line goes to Jerusalem to establish its width and its length.
But this is a city that has no walls. Is it because its people would be eventually scattered all around the world? And since there is no physical wall, God tells Zechariah to tell the people of Israel that he himself will be a wall around them.
And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’declares the LORD, ‘and I will be its glory within.’
I find that to be a most comforting thought! In a day and age where the word ‘firewall’ has been coined to mean a protection for the hardware and software of computers, it is refreshing to see that it was used in much the same way many thousands of years ago to signify God’s protection to his people.
Turning next to our reading in the book of Revelation, John describes a similar scene affirming its future context where he “was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the Angel stood saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar and those who worship there.”
The symbolism of replacing the filthy garments with clean ones is quite plain to see: our sin is removed just like an unclean garment, and in its stead, a new and clean one is put on us when we claim to become God’s child.
What simple yet effective imagery, wouldn’t you say?
The thirteenth chapter of Revelation continues with the description of the coming end-times, also known as the Apocalypse. I cannot wrap my head around these awesome and fearful events, and turned once again to commentary for help. Here’s one I found– check it out!
As for all those pseudo-intellectuals who like to think it is quite fashionable to talk of the Antichrist, this passage is where they ought to go first before citing movies like The Omen and The Antichrist!
The Psalm for today is yet another psalm of praise and supplication. Like David, I too wish to say:
1 I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you. 2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Finally, Solomon’s proverbs for the day are food for thought. The four “amazing” things give pause for thought to the smooth and slippery ways of a young man in love.
And regarding that very last verse, may it be that you are not the kind of woman that he describes here!
18 “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: 19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman.
20 “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word. Amen.
