Zechariah 2:1-13

Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line

2:1 I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 Then I asked, "Where are you going?" He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length." 3 Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him, 4 and said to him, "Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and animals in it. 5 For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the LORD, and I will be the glory within it."

Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles

6 Up, up! Flee from the land of the north, says the LORD; for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the LORD. 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon. 8 For thus said the LORD of hosts (after his glory sent me) regarding the nations that plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye. 9 See now, I am going to raise my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the LORD. 11 Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on 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. 12 The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

13 Be silent, all people, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. (Zechariah 2:1-13, NRSV)

The following comments are based on comments on Zechariah 2:10-13 of December 25, 2008 (Christmas Day, Year One), on comments on verses 1-13 of December 18, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two.), and earlier comments as noted there:

As noted yesterday (Dec. 14, 2009), the first part of the Book of Zechariah contains a series of vision reports. Between the first vision, yesterday’s reading, in which “divine horsemen patrol the earth” (Zech. 1:7-17), and today’s reading, which begins with the third vision, in which “a surveyor measures Jerusalem” (NRSV 2:1-5, Heb. 2:5-9, cf. Gregory Mobley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Zech 1:7-17; 2:1-5), the assigned readings pass over the second vision, “four horns and four smiths” (NRSV 1:18-21, Heb. 2:1-4). Zechariah is told, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no head could be raised; but these [blacksmiths, v. 20] have come to terrify them, to strike down the horns of the nations that lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people” (NRSV 1:21, Heb. 2:4). According to Ehud Ben Zvi, “Horns are symbols of power. Here they represent politico-military agents, nations. The number four connotes a sense of totality, because it points to the four points of the compass (a concept also attested in Mesopotamian literature); see also 2:10 [NJPS = Heb = 2:6 NRSV]” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Zech 2:1-4 NJPS [1:18-21 NRSV]).

As today’s reading begins, Zechariah tells us, “I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand” (Zech. 2:1 NRSV = Heb. 2:5). “Measuring line,” says W. Sibley Towner, is “used here to find the limits of the extant Jerusalem (cf. Am. 7:17; Mic. 2:4-5), producing dimensions that are immediately pronounced obsolete” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Zech. 2:1). R. Lansing Hicks and Walter Brueggemann say, for the “measuring line, see Ezek. 40:3-4; Rev. 11:1; 21:15-17. This measurement, as in Ezek. 41:13, is part of the restoration, but the presence of the LORD, as at the Exodus, is what will afford true protection” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Zech. 2:1). Zechariah asks about the measuring line. “Then I asked, ‘Where are you going?’ He answered me, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length’ ” (Zech. 2:2 NRSV = Heb. 2:6). Ben Zvi says, “Questions of the type ‘who are those?’ (1:9; 2:2 [NJPS = Heb. = NRSV 1:19 ‘what are these’]) are omitted now. The prophet is described as getting more and more acquainted with his (and God’s) visionary world. Ezek. 48:15-20 describes the size of ideal Jerusalem also in terms of length and width (see also Ezek. 45:1-6)” (op. cit., on Zech. 2:5-6 NJPS = Heb. = 2:1-2 NRSV).

“Then,” says Zechariah, “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 like villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and animals in it. For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the LORD, and I will be the glory within it’ ” (Zech. 2:3-5 NRSV = Heb. vv. 7-9; cf. Rev. 21:22-23). “There is no need to measure Jerusalem,” says Ben Zvi, “for it will be or grow without any material limit, such as the one created by a city wall. Of course, a city without walls might evoke the image of a defenseless city, but the LORD will be its wall” (op. cit., on vv. 7-9 NJPS = Heb. = NRSV vv. 3-5). Towner says, “The restored city will have a multitude of human and animal inhabitants. Second Isaiah (chs. 40-55) also envisions restored Israel as ‘too crowded for your inhabitants’ (Isa. 49:19; see 54:3; Zech. 14:11). The resulting ecological crisis is addressed in 11:1-3). Hicks and Brueggemann say, “God is Jerusalem’s guard and glory (Isa. 4:5 n.; Ezek 43:2-5)” (op. cit., on v. 5). They refer to Isaiah’s promise, “Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a canopy” (Isa. 4:5). R. B. Y. Scott and Roland E. Murphy comment: “Smoke and flaming fire [are] the signs of God’s presence among his people at the Exodus (Ex. 13:21-22; 40:34-38)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Isa. 4:5).

From Jerusalem, where he lives with the first Jews who returned from Babylon, according to Mobley, Zechariah presents “a summons to the exiles” (op. cit., on Zech. 2:6-13). “Up, up!” says the prophet in the words of the LORD. “Flee from the land of the north, says the LORD; for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the LORD” (Zech. 2:6). The repetition makes it clear that the call is to flee from Babylon. “Up! Escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon” (v. 7). Compare Isaiah’s summons: “Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, / declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, / send it forth to the end of the earth; / say, ‘The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!’ ” (Isa. 48:20). The basis for the summons is the LORD’s regard for Israel. “For thus said the LORD of hosts (after his glory sent me) regarding the nations that plundered you: truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye” (Zech. 3:8). According to Mobley, “the apple of my eye” is “the pupil the most precious, the most fiercely defended part (Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8)” (ibid., on v. 8).

“See now,” says Zechariah, speaking for the LORD, “I am going to raise my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves” (v. 9a). “Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me” (v. 9b). So the summons to return becomes a call to sing and rejoice. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the LORD” (v. 10). The rejoicing is for more than just the restoration of Israel–as marvelous as that will be. “Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,” says the prophet, “and shall be my people, and I will dwell in your midst” (v. 11a). According to Towner, “The notion that on the ‘day of the LORD’ the gentile nations shall be God’s people has many precedents in prophetic literature (e.g., Isa. 19:24-25; 56:6-8; 60:3)” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Zech. 2:11). Mobley says “Jerusalem will be the site of a universal pilgrimage in the ideal age ([Zech.] 8:20; Isa. 2:2-4; 56:6-7; Micah 4:1-2)” (op. cit., on v. 11). This expectation of many nations coming to Jerusalem to worship the LORD makes this text most appropriate for the Christmas celebration in a Christian (and if they would agree, a Jewish) context.

Compare the following from Isaiah: “But be glad and rejoice forever / in what I am creating; / for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, / and its people as a delight. / I will rejoice in Jerusalem, / and delight in my people; / no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, / or the cry of distress” (Isa. 65:18-19).

Also compare this from later in Zechariah:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: People shall yet come, the inhabitants of many cities; the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, "Come, let us go to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going." Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from nations of every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." (Zech. 8:20-23)

But there is special emphasis upon Judah in this restoration. “The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem” (v. 12). According to Mobley, “This is the only reference to Judah, or Israel, as the holy land in the Hebrew Bible (though see, in the Apocrypha, Wis.12:3; 2 Macc. 1:7)” (op. cit., on v. 12). As the reading closes, all people are called to “be silent . . . before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling” (v. 13).

Revelation 3:14-22

The Letter to Laodicea

14 "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation:

15 "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, 'I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. 20 Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. 21 To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches." (Revelation 3:14-22, NRSV)

On December 18, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from December 13, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two), when comments were adapted from an E-mail sent December 15, 2003, for December 16, 2003; the comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

John's seventh letter is to Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22). According to Mary K. Milne, Laodicea was “a prosperous commercial city in the region of Phrygia in northwest [rather southwest, or west central] Asia Minor . . . named after his wife, Laodice, by Antiochus II, of the Seleucid dynasty, which ruled Syria [and parts of Asia Minor] after the death of Alexander the Great” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, rev. ed., 1996, s.v. Laodicea, with my comments in square brackets). Milne says that Laodicea was “situated on a plateau in the south of the Lycus River valley . . . adjacent to one of the ancient trade routes from the east. Two neighboring cities with Christian communities, Colossae and Hierapolis (Col. 2:1; 4:13-16), were in this same river valley. Epaphras, portrayed as one of Paul’s companions, apparently worked in all three cities (Col. 4:12-13)” (ibid.). She adds that, “According to Col. 4:16, Laodicea received a letter from Paul, and it was to exchange letters with the neighboring community at Colossae. The Laodicean letter is no longer extant, although various attempts to trace or identify it have been made over the centuries” (ibid.).

The letter “to the angel of the church in Laodicea,” as John’s others, is from Christ, called here “the Amen”: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation” (v. 14). For “the Amen,” compare 2 Corinthians 1:20, and for “the faithful . . . witness,” compare Revelation 1:5). The Laodiceans are given a severe rebuke. “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit ( ejmevsai, emesai) you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16). You and I would prefer hot coffee or tea, or a cold soft drink, to lukewarm water. Bruce M. Metzger calls Laodicea “a proud and wealthy city near Colossae” whose “lukewarm Christianity is nauseating” (B.M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on vv. 14-22, cf. vv. 15-16). Following Metzger, Jean Pierre Ruiz adds, “Their lukewarm Christianity is nauseating like the tepid water for which the city was known” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on vv. 15-16). According to David E. Aune, “Cold, hot, and lukewarm are figures of speech meaning ‘against me,’ ‘for me,’ and ‘indifferent’; lukewarm may be a double entendre alluding to the tepid and nauseous local water supply” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Rev. 3:15-16). He adds that “spit, lit. ‘vomit’ [means to] reject utterly” (ibid.). Frederick W. Danker supports this understanding of the verb ejmevw (emeō ): “[cp. Skt. vámiti ‘vomit’] vomit, throw up, in graphic imagery” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. ejmevw, emeō ). According to F. Wilbur Gingrich, the verb occurs only here in the New Testament (Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 1965, s.v. ejmevw, emeō , cf. the ref. and asterisk Rv. 3:16*).

Christ explains the charge of being lukewarm. “For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (v. 17). “Complacent and self-satisfied,” says Metzger, “they are spiritually poverty-stricken” (Hos. 12:8)” (op. cit., on v. 17; cf. Ruiz, op. cit., on v. 17). “Rich,” says Aune, “materially wealthy, though morally and spiritually poor”; and he refers to the opposite statement about the church at Smyrna in 2:9 (op. cit., on 3:17). The Laodiceans don’t understand–or at least don’t admit–their true spiritual condition. They are advised to focus on true values, to “buy from me gold refined by fire . . . and white robes to clothe you . . . and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see” (v. 18), metaphors for repentance (refinement), purity (white robes), and spiritual insight. “I reprove and discipline those whom I love,” says Christ. “Be earnest, therefore and repent” (v. 19). The church at Ephesus was called to repent (2:5), as was the church at Pergamum (2:16), and the followers of “Jezebel” at Thyatira (2:22). So also was the church at Sardis (3:3). But in some sense, the most serious call to repentance is directed to the church at Laodicea. Christ follows with an invitation: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me” (v. 20). According to Metzger, this is “an invitation to share the joys of the Messianic banquet in the coming age (compare Mt. 26:29)” (op. cit., on v. 20). And even the Laodiceans are given a promise. “To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (v. 21). This, says Metzger, is “a promise of reigning with Christ in glory (22:5; Lk. 22:30)” (ibid., on v. 21). And the letter closes with the familiar admonition: “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (v. 22; cf. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13).

Matthew 24:32-44

The Fig Tree Lesson (Mk 13.28-31; Lk 21.29-33)

32 "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

You Must Be Ready! (Mk 13.32-37; Lk 17.26-27, 34-35; 21.34-36)

36 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. (Matthew 24:32-44, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of December 18, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), comments that were repeated from July 15, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two), when comments were combined and adapted from an E-mail message sent December 15, 2003, for December 16, 2003, another from July 10, 2004 in a email sent July 9 for July 10-11, and from comments posted for December 13, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two).

This is the third of four readings from Jesus’ eschatological discourse in Matthew. An outline of the discourse with references to parallel passages is found in the table in the separate file Eschatological Speech Outline. For a table of parallel versions in Matthew, Mark and Luke, see the separate file, Eschatological Speech Parts 3 &4. For recent comments on Mark 13:28-37, see the Archive for August 25, 2009 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 24, Year One). For recent comments on Luke 21:29-36, see the Archive for June 22, 2009 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 22, Year One); for recent comments on Luke 19:11-27, see the comments for June 10, 2009 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One).

Jesus’ answer to the question about “the signs of your coming and of the end of the age” (Mt. 14:3) continues today with a lesson “from the fig tree” (Mt. 24:32-33). The three versions of the Parable of the Fig Tree (Mt. 24:32-36; Mk. 13:28-32; Lk. 21:29-33) are in essential agreement; the main exception is Luke’s omission of the words, “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mk. 13:32; cf Mt. 24:36), but this is taken as the beginning of the next paragraph (NRSV, NIV), and in any case the point that the day of the Son of Man’s coming might catch the disciples unexpectedly is made in Luke 21:34-36. Jesus uses the fig tree as an object lesson. “As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near” (Mt. 24:32; cf. Mk. 13:28; Lk. 21:29-30). Likewise, “when you see all these things [i.e. what is described earlier in the chapter], you know that he [or it, NRSV note] is near, at the very gates” (Mt. 24:33; cf. Mk. 13:29; Lk. 21:31).

The point of the Parable of the Fig Tree is what tender leaves indicate: “summer is near” (Mt. 24: 32; Mk. 13:28; “summer is already near,” Lk. 21:30). By analogy the signs Jesus describes (Mk. 13:14-27; cf. Mt. 24:15-31) are signs that the Son of Man’s coming “is near,” “he is near, at the very gates” (Mt. 24:33; Mk. 13:29; “the kingdom of God is near,” Lk. 21:31). Richard A. Horsley says that the image of the fig tree here (Mk. 13:28-31) “reverses the image of the fig tree from Mk. 11:12-14 (cf. Mt. 21:18-19), now symbolizing new blessing for the people” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Mk. 13:28). In this passage Horsley sees “reassurance that the resolution of the historical crisis is near, as symbolized by the impending coming of the Son of Man, and that Jesus’ words are utterly credible (ibid., on Mk. 13:28-31).

Then comes the reminder, “about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mt. 24:36; cf. Mk. 13:32). In a comparison to the days of Noah and the flood (Mt. 24:37-39; cf. Lk. 17:26-30), the coming of the Son of Man will be “as the days of Noah were” (Mt. 24:37; cf. Lk. 17:26), . Life was continuing in the normal manner, “eating and drinking and giving in marriage” (Mt. 24:38; cf. Lk. 17:27a), but they were overtaken by the flood (Mt. 24:39; cf. Lk. 17:27b). “Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left” (Mt. 24:40; cf. Lk. 17:35). The coming of the Son of Man will be as unexpected as the coming of a thief in the night; if “the owner of the house had he known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake” (Mt. 24:43; cf. Mk. 13:33-34; Lk. 21:34, 35a) “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour” (Mt. 24:44; cf. Mk. 13:35; Lk. 21:35b, 36)

Jesus concludes the speech on the end of the age in chapter four with an interpreted parable, but that is tomorrow’s reading. The parables and final judgment scene of chapter 25, of course, follow on Thursday through Saturday.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net