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I - will be unto her a wall of fire - Her safety shall consist in my defense. I shall be as fire round about her. No adversary shall be permitted to touch her. Much of this must refer to the New Jerusalem.
And I, Myself in My own Being, will be to her a wall of fire - Not protection only, an inner circle around her, however near an enemy might press in upon her, but destructive to her enemies. Isaiah says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise in judgment against thee thou shalt condemn” Isaiah 54:17. Its defense, Isaiah says, shall be immaterial. “We have a strong city; salvation shall God appoint for walls and bulwarks” Isaiah 26:1; “thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise” Isaiah 60:18). By a different figure it is said, “I will encamp about mine house because of the army” Zechariah 9:8.
And glory will I be in the midst of her - As Isaiah says, “The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” Isaiah 60:19; and of Christ, “In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be Beauty and Glory - to the escaped of Israel” Isaiah 4:2.
Zechariah then saw the powers that had “scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem,” symbolized by four horns. Immediately afterward he saw four carpenters, representing the agencies used by the Lord in restoring His people and the house of His worship. See verses 18-21. PK 581.1
“I lifted up mine eyes again,” Zechariah said, “and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, 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: for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.” Zechariah 2:1-5. PK 581.2
God had commanded that Jerusalem be rebuilt; the vision of the measuring of the city was an assurance that He would give comfort and strength to His afflicted ones, and fulfill to them the promises of His everlasting covenant. His protecting care, He declared, would be like “a wall of fire round about;” and through them His glory would be revealed to all the sons of men. That which He was accomplishing for His people was to be known in all the earth. “Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” Isaiah 12:6. PK 581.3
Read in context »We must seek to separate sin from us, relying upon the merits of the blood of Christ; and then in the day of affliction, when the enemy presses us, we shall walk among the angels. They will be like a wall of fire about us, and we shall one day walk with them in the city of God. HP 30.5
Read in context »To His church, Christ has given ample facilities, that He may receive a large revenue of glory from His redeemed, purchased possession. The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depository, in which the wealth of His mercy, His love, His grace, is to appear in full and final display. The declaration in His intercessory prayer, that the Father's love is as great toward us as toward Himself, the only-begotten Son, and that we shall be with Him where He is, forever one with Christ and the Father, is a marvel to the heavenly host, and it is their great joy. The gift of His Holy Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to be to His church as an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of hell shall not prevail against. In their untainted purity and spotless perfection, Christ looks upon His people as the reward of all His suffering, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory—Christ, the great center from which radiates all glory. HP 282.4
Read in context »In the day of affliction, when the enemy presses us, we shall walk among the angels. They will be like a wall of fire about us; and we shall one day walk with them in the city of God.... LHU 341.4
Read in context »