Zechariah 2:6 - Meaning and Application

One might have expected Cyrus’s proclamation, which gave the captive Jews freedom to return to their own land, to bring them all back. It was much like when Pharaoh let Israel leave Egypt, so that not a hoof was left behind. But that was not what happened. About 40,000 had their hearts stirred by God and returned, but many, perhaps most, stayed where they were.

For most of them, the land of exile had become the land of their birth. They had settled there, put down roots, and many lived comfortably. Some may even have gained property or public honor there, and they did not think returning would improve their lives. They had little love for their own land, and they thought the dangers of going back were too great. This came from a bad root, a lack of trust in God’s power and promise, a love of comfort and wealth, and little concern for the faith of their country or for the God of Israel.

It also had a bad effect. By staying back, they quietly judged those who did return as foolish, hasty, or unstable. Their choice also weakened the hands of those doing God’s work. People like this could not sing in their captivity, as in Psalm 137, because they had forgotten Jerusalem. They were far from preferring Jerusalem above their highest joy, and in fact they preferred any joy to it.

So here God sends out another proclamation to his free-born people, wherever they have been scattered. He commands them to return quickly to their own land and take their places there. He calls out loudly: “Ho! Ho! Come out and flee from the land of the north” (Zechariah 2:6). This fits well after the promise that Jerusalem will be rebuilt and enlarged. If God will build the city for their good, they should come and live in it for his glory, not keep hiding in Babylon.

The promises and blessings God gives his people should move us to join ourselves to them, whatever it costs. When Zion is being enlarged to make room for all God’s people, it is extreme folly for any of them to stay in Babylon. The captivity of a sinful life should not be continued, even if it seems easy in worldly terms. No, they must come out quickly and lose no time, as one fleeing for life who does not look back.

God gives three reasons to hasten their return. First, they are scattered, and they need to gather together for mutual help and defense. He says, “I have spread you abroad as the four winds of heaven” (Zechariah 2:6). He had scattered them in anger, and now this invitation is a sign that he is willing to be reconciled to them. They should not reject his kindness.

Second, they are in bondage, and they must claim their liberty. So the call is, “Deliver yourself, O Zion!” They should flee from the oppressor and make every effort to escape. God expects the noble children of Abraham to make brave efforts on their own behalf. When Christ has announced the deliverance he himself has won for captives, each of us must also work to free ourselves from sin’s control, and not let sin rule over us.

Zion is said to dwell with the daughter of Babylon because many precious sons of Zion lived there. Wherever God’s people are, there is his church, since it is not tied to one place. But it is not right for Zion to stay with Babylon. What fellowship can light have with darkness? Zion would be in danger of sharing in Babylon’s sins and also in her judgments. So the command is, “Come out of her, my people” (Revelation 18:4). They must not destroy themselves by remaining in that polluted land. Those who want to be counted among God’s children must save themselves from this crooked generation, as Peter charged the new believers (Acts 2:40).

Third, they may have seemed forsaken and forgotten by God, but God will now show that he has taken up their cause and will defend it with zeal (Zechariah 2:8, 9). Those who stayed in Babylon were discouraged by the hardships their brothers faced after returning. They may have thought, “We might as well stay still as rise and fall.” To answer that fear, the angel who spoke with the prophet, that is, Christ, explains what he is sent to do for their protection and final rescue. In this, he is also pointing ahead to the great redemption he would bring in God’s time.

Christ, who is the Lord, the Lord of hosts, says, “He sent me.” This means the Father sent him. What Jesus does for his church against its enemies, he does under the Father’s commission. He often speaks with joy about the Father who sent him.

He is sent after the glory. After the glorious beginning of their rescue, he is sent to complete it, for he finishes the work he begins. He is first sent to the Jewish nation and people, to whom belonged the glory (Romans 9:4). He himself was the glory of Israel. But after the glory, he is also sent to the nations, to be a light for the Gentiles and to bring them, by the power of his gospel, into obedience to himself.

He is also sent against the nations that had harmed Israel, to punish them for their wrongs against Zion, when the time of his redeemed and the time of judgment comes (Isaiah 34:8). He will shake his hand over them, lift up his hand against them, and strike them with power. He can easily humble them, almost by a mere motion of his hand. They will become a spoil for their own servants, enslaved by those they once enslaved, and plundered by those they once plundered. This was partly fulfilled in Esther’s time, when the Jews gained power over those who hated them (Esther 9:1), and often again in the days of the Maccabees.

This promise is further fulfilled in Christ’s victory over our spiritual enemies. He stripped the powers and authorities of their strength and exposed them openly as defeated foes (Colossians 2:15). It still stands true for the gospel church today. Christ will settle accounts with everyone who is hostile to his church, and in time he will make them his footstool (Psalm 110:1; Revelation 3:9).

What he does for his church is also clear proof of God’s tender care and love for her. “He who touches you touches the apple of his eye.” This is a strong way of saying how dear the church is to God. When he responds so seriously to injuries done to her, he shows how deeply he is involved in all her concerns, and how he takes attacks against her as attacks against himself, and even against the most delicate part of the eye. That part is naturally protected with special care, and the smallest touch is a serious offense.

This truth encourages God’s people to pray with David, “Keep me as the apple of your eye” (Psalm 17:8). It also urges them to obey Solomon’s wise advice, to keep God’s law as carefully as one guards the apple of the eye (Proverbs 7:2). Some understand the verse this way: whoever harms you is really harming himself, because in the end that person will suffer the greatest loss.

It also gives clear proof of Christ’s mission. “You will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me” to protect his church, and that God’s promises to the church are all “yes” and “amen” in him. Christ’s victory over our spiritual enemies proves that the Father sent him and was with him.