The man among the myrtle trees
Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.’
16 “Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the LORD Almighty.
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
The Lord Almighty himself answered: “I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.”
The Lord Almighty jealous? Of what? Of children who went astray, did evil, and turned their backs on their Father? Yes, he was jealous for these reasons. As great as his love is, so great is his jealousy. His First Commandment stems from this burning jealousy: “Have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We understand, in our imperfect way, what the Lord feels. No one who has a sweetheart wants to be second on the list. No one who loves another feels good when he or she sees that “beloved” giving love and affection to another.
In his righteous, perfect way, the Lord is jealous for his people. Because he is jealous and because he does not give up on them easily, he does everything in his power to bring them back to their senses and to him. Seventy years of captivity in this case was the effort of the Lord not only to cause his people to long for the land he had given to their forefathers, but to long for him and his house.
The nations felt secure, but God was very angry with them. It seems they enjoyed peace and quiet, prosperity and riches. But appearances can be deceiving. Asaph, the writer of Psalm 73, wrestled with this seeming discrepancy when he wrote: “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills” (verses 3-5). But then Asaph came to this realization: “How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!” (verse 19). The weeds are allowed to grow unmolested with the wheat for a while, but the day comes when they will be gathered and thrown into the fire.
But there are kind, comforting words for God’s people: “So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.” Part of these words of comfort seems to be the skewering of the wicked by the words, “I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.”
The implication is that the wicked went beyond their bounds as God’s method for correcting his people. They supported the evil. They added to it. And although God did use earthly means to chastise his people, listen to what Isaiah the prophet says: “O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction. The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip” (10:24-26). In other words, God makes a whip to chastise his people, and then he whips the whip!
The words are comforting. They speak further of help and aid from the God who may be angry with his people. In the New Testament times, we live with the promise of the Comforter. This is God’s Holy Spirit, who wants to continue in the pattern of the past by speaking kind and comforting words to his people.
God’s house will be rebuilt. It will be rebuilt according to the straightness of the string. Each block will be laid exactly and true. The church will be built to stand according to divine specifications: “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:21).
Our section closes in verse 17 with a twofold promise: comfort and choosing.
The mother comforts her child because she wants to. It comes from within her. The Hebrew word for mercy, of which we have heard several times in these verses, is a word that also means “the womb.” This is where the people who heard Zechariah’s message considered mercy coming from. The mother cannot help herself. When she sees the fruit of her womb in trouble, discouraged, and hurting, her mother’s heart and feelings yearn to comfort that child. So it is with God.
The Lord “chose” Jerusalem. Any child on the playground knows the thrill in this word. When the children are mustered out to play, the captains step forward to pick “theirs.” The little boy watches his hero, and the hero’s eyes meet the little boy’s. His name is called! His heart beats quickly! He steps proudly over to be on the team of the one he admires. Many children also know the pain of standing and waiting and waiting to be chosen while other names are called.
Imagine, then, the Lord looking at each of us and saying, “I want you on my side!” “Lord, ’tis not that I did choose you; that, I know, could never be.” Then we sing, “It was grace in Christ that called me” (CW 380:2). The Lord chose Jerusalem.