Zechariah 2
The Prophet’s Third Vision: A Surveyor
The third vision revisits the promise of Jerusalem being rebuilt but enlarges the scope dramatically. - D. Brent Sandy
In the first vision, God promised comfort to Israel. In the second, He explained that He would bring this comfort by punishing the nations that had afflicted Israel. In this third vision, He guaranteed the future prosperity and expansion of Israel. Jerusalem has a divine protector. As will become clear, this future blessedness must extend beyond the restoration period to messianic times. - Thomas Constable
God Will Multiply His People
Vs. 2 - I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Apparently, Jerusalem was measured to make sure that it is large enough for the multitudes God would bring to it. In the time of Zechariah, it seemed strange to worry about Jerusalem being big enough, because there seemed to be too few people for the city. - David Guzik
The restoration of Jerusalem in progress in Zechariah’s day was only a foreview of a much grander future restoration to be described. - Thomas Constable
Zechariah spoke of a future time when God would multiply the remnant He had preserved. His vision provided hope to his discouraged people.
God Will Protect Jerusalem
Vs. 5 - The declaration of the Lord: “I myself will be a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory within it.”
Vs. 6 - “Listen! Listen! Flee from the land of the north”—this is the Lord’s declaration
Those Jews still in Babylon may have made living conditions reasonably comfortable for themselves, but they should beware of becoming too settled. They should return to Jerusalem as quickly as possible, both to enjoy its blessings and to avoid the punishment about to fall on their captors. - Don Fleming
Vs. 8 - For the Lord of Armies says this: “In pursuit of his glory, he sent me against the nations plundering you, for whoever touches you touches the pupil of my eye.
The person whom the Lord would send as His representative ("Me") could not be Zechariah, in view of what the following verses say He would do. He must be Messiah, the only one with sufficient power and authority to fulfill what God predicted here.
The Lord promised to be Jerusalem’s defense instead of a physical wall and to be the glory in her in contrast to any human glory. Such a promise would have been a great encouragement to the returnees from captivity. Both the second and third visions guarantee the future safety of Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem has not been safe for millennia, it seems reasonable to expect a fulfillment in messianic times. - Thomas Constable
“Pupil of my eye” refers to the most valuable yet vulnerable part of the body… the metaphor functions to express God's deepest feelings for his chosen people. - D. Brent Sandy
God Will Dwell with His People
Vs. 10 - “Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, for I am coming to dwell among you”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
Vs. 11 - “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become my people.
God’s desire to bless Israel was never intended to stop with Israel, but to use them as a channel of blessing for many nations. - David Guzik
Vs. 12 - The Lord will take possession of Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem.
This vision is packed with hopeful promises for hurting people. God would:
Protect His people
Punish their enemies
Live with them
Choose them again
