Catholic Commentary on Zechariah 2

“Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you, declares the LORD.” (Zechariah 2:10)

The Man with the Measuring Line; God's Presence

Zechariah sees a man with a measuring line going to measure Jerusalem. An angel runs to meet him: run, tell that young man, Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it, and I will be its glory within. Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD, for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven. Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you, declares the LORD. Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. And I will live among you.

The Catechism identifies the LORD's declaration I will live among you as the Old Testament anticipation of the Incarnation: the God who promises to dwell with his people fulfils the promise definitively in Jesus Christ (CCC 2143).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, I am coming, and I will live among you. The city without walls protected by a wall of fire, the many nations joined to the LORD's people: this is the community that the Incarnation inaugurated and the Church embodies. The God who promised to live among the restored Jerusalem came and pitched his tent among us. Emmanuel. Shout and be glad.

Prayer

Lord God, you came and lived among us. Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

2
The Vision of the Measuring Line
(Ezekiel 40:1-4)
1 Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
 
2 “Where are you going?” I asked.
 
“To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “and to determine its width and length.”
 
3 Then the angel who was speaking with me went out, and another angel came out to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run and tell that young man: ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the multitude of men and livestock within it. 5 For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’ ”
The Redemption of Zion
(Hosea 3:1-5)
 
6 “Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD. 7 “Get up, O Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the Daughter of Babylon!”
 
8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me * 2:8 Or After the Glorious One has sent Me or After He has honored Me and sent Me against the nations that have plundered you-for whoever touches you touches the apple † 2:8 Or the pupil of His eye- 9 I will surely wave My hand over them, so that they will become plunder for their own servants. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me.”
 
10 “Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the LORD. 11 “On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”

*2:8 2:8 Or After the Glorious One has sent Me or After He has honored Me and sent Me

†2:8 2:8 Or the pupil

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