The reassurances I need right now to return from exile and come home

Today we continue with Zechariah’s weird and wonderful visions. Some of which will make more sense than others. Some of which will resonate more with you than others. Isn’t that always the way?

VISION#2: four horns and four craftsmen

I asked the angel who was speaking to me, ‘What are these?’  Zechariah 1:19

And so the explanation came. The four horns represent the powers that bore down on Israel and Judah – maybe four specific nations, maybe all four directions the attack came from…- and destroyed Israel and Judah. The craftsmen represent God’s people who will now stand up and rebuild. They will now overcome.

Notice they are not soldiers matching might with might. These are skilled workers, the creative ones, the ones who can restore what has been lost. It’s not about perpetuating destruction, it’s about creating something new and whole and good out of the ruins. It’s not about revenge, it’s about restoration.

That’s how we win in the end.

VISION#3: a man with a measuring line

In this vision, Zechariah meets a man/angel (the two seem interchangeable here – maybe that’s the case in our actual lives sometimes!) with a measuring line who is going out to measure Jerusalem. That’s all that angel has to say, but this vision isn’t over. A second angel appears, urging the first return to Zechariah and reassure him.

Jerusalem will not have a wall around it because there will be so many people and animals in it.

It won’t need a physical wall anyway, because God will be a wall of fire around it.

And He will be present in the city in all His glory.

So come back everyone! Now is the time to return from exile. Come home.

Don’t worry, I’ll be there for you. I’ve got your back. I’ll protect you.

No one will dare touch you again.

Are you in need of reassurances like this right now? I am.

I’m being invited back into a situation where I have been deeply hurt in the past. Where I am terrified of being hurt again. Some of the people who rejected me and attacked me and exiled me first time round are still there. What’s to stop them doing it again? I feel like walking away most of the time, distancing myself so that I don’t have to go through all that again. But if I do that, how can there ever be the possibility of restoration and reconciliation and rebuilding? I can’t even imagine what that will look like from where I’m standing right now.

To go back there, I have to trust that God knows what He’s doing. That He is there, waiting for me. I desperately need these reassurances right now.

So come back everyone! Now is the time to return from exile. Come home.

Don’t worry, I’ll be there for you. I’ve got your back. I’ll protect you.

No one will dare touch you again.

Maybe you do too.

‘Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the Lord.  Zechariah 2:10

Emmanuel. God with us. God in human form, walking among us, living among us, showing us how to live in relationship with God.

This is what we celebrate at Christmas. God made man.

Everything will change after that. Many people of all nations will have the opportunity to become God’s people.

Be still before the Lord, all people.  Zechariah 2:13

This is the required response. Be still. Sit with the wonder of it all.

Be still? At Christmas? Are you mad? It’s the most frenzied time of year.

Exactly. We rush around so much in the preparations and festivities that we run the risk of missing the deeper significance altogether.

Let’s think already about how we can build some stillness into our lives. If we start now, if it’s already a habit come December, then making the time in the festive season to sit before the divine, aware of the breath entering and leaving the body, connecting mind, body and soul, will feel more possible.

God is with us, in us and all around us.

Let’s make the time to acknowledge that, marvel at that, be empowered by that, sit in gratitude with that.