A man with a measuring line
10 “Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the LORD. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
The theme of verses 10 to 13 is “I am coming to live with you.” This is Immanuel—God with us. And if God is with us, who can be against us? Worry and anxiety come because we forget the fact that God is with us.
Our way home leads us past the bully’s house. Down through the ages, God’s people have feared the prospect, even to the point of not wanting to go home. But then they look up and see their Champion, and he says, “I am with you.” Whether to Zechariah’s people, a group of terrified disciples about to enter their ministry in this world, or to us in this modern day, the message is the same. Our need is the same. “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Verse 11 promises that this God who wants to live with his people also wants to live among the nations. We have a special reason to be thankful for this, since most of us who read this book are Gentiles. God wants to live among us too. We are included in the Jewish religion led by the Jew Jesus. We cannot claim a genealogy in one of the 12 tribes, but we can claim a part in the inheritance of the kingdom to come.
Verse 13 begins with the translated words “Be still!” The Hebrew word is Has! In English we say the same thing when, with urgency, we say to someone who is making noise when they should not be, “Sssshhh!” “Sssshhh! Our God is here!”
There is another reason to be quiet: “He has roused himself from his holy dwelling.” This too is a picture that Zechariah’s people understood better than we do today.
This is the picture of a lion rising suddenly from his hidden liar and shaking himself. He looks around. Something has disturbed him, but there is no fear in his eyes. The hackles on his neck rise. Someone has challenged his holy place, and lions don’t back down.
The Lion of Judah has risen from his hiding place. No one suspected that he was there. No one worried about his power and his presence—when they couldn’t see him. But when he rises, they are rooted to the spot in fear. Even his own are awestruck. This is the one on our side! “Great Captain, now Thine arm make bare, Fight for us once again!” (The Lutheran Hymnal [TLH] 263:4).
“Be still before the LORD, all mankind!”