“And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.”
When God rescues, then He gives safety. This is not for all, but for the remnant that He’s chosen – “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the reside of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zech 14:2). But, though salvation be for a few, the few shall be saved, no matter the enemies strength, because God is with us, even as He was with us in deliverance from the start.
He brought us through the Red Sea, delivering us from sin because Jesus had died in our place, as the Passover revealed. Now, we are worthy of God’s full blessing because He REVEALS to us the basis is the forgiveness of sins through the blood He shed, not that we are good, but that He is JUSTLY gracious and determined to glorify Himself in saving us from sin.
Our hope is not our past or the fact that we don’t suffer; we PROSPER amidst tribulation says God. He says, “there shall be a great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And you shall flee to the valley of the mountains… yes, you shall flee, like as you lfed from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with you”, so that God’s people find peace amidst great trouble. The same God who destroys the wicked, is the same God that brings sinners into His bosom, pardoning our sins. Like the mercy seat within the tabernacle, we see peace amidst the wrath of God in the punishment of Christ. Now, though we suffer tribulation, we have confidence in God to continue, and He uses our afflictions to enable us to speak more powerfully of His love. II Cor 4:8-10, says, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life”, the life of God given power by faith, “also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”
God’s gospel succeeds. He says, “safely inhabited”, so that we are safe from Satan by God’s power, and we experience imperfect safety down here (vs11).
In heaven, we shall be safe and safe alone, yet here, while safe, we are alarmed and terrorized, but not to the point of despair. He promises, “And it shall come to pass in that day”, when He is returned in mercy, “that the light shall not be [precious], nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, nor day, nor night: but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light”, so that He won’t let us lose hope because we see a Savior over sin, even as Joshua whipped the enemy all day and prayed the sun not to move nor the moon to move, so that God gave victory, which is light SUPERNATURAL, even as every believer receives Him (Zech 14:6-7).
God’s salvation is secure and REVEALS our security. The gospel reveals salvation from sin, that all the Father gave Him shall come to Him, and it proclaims Christ’s victory over the world, which, by proclamation and the Spirit, it produces, “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth”, proclaiming salvation sure to happen, “in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one”, because He has power to save whom He will, even the wickedest sinners alive (Zech 14:8-9).
Lastly, salvation’s certainty enables us to preach Christ to the world – “All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place… And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited” (Zech 14:10-11). He, we experience imperfectly what we’ll know perfectly in heaven. But safety is revealed to us, so that we can preach it to the world, so that all the Lord returns unto in love can be saved.
He brought us through the Red Sea, delivering us from sin because Jesus had died in our place, as the Passover revealed. Now, we are worthy of God’s full blessing because He REVEALS to us the basis is the forgiveness of sins through the blood He shed, not that we are good, but that He is JUSTLY gracious and determined to glorify Himself in saving us from sin.
Our hope is not our past or the fact that we don’t suffer; we PROSPER amidst tribulation says God. He says, “there shall be a great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And you shall flee to the valley of the mountains… yes, you shall flee, like as you lfed from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with you”, so that God’s people find peace amidst great trouble. The same God who destroys the wicked, is the same God that brings sinners into His bosom, pardoning our sins. Like the mercy seat within the tabernacle, we see peace amidst the wrath of God in the punishment of Christ. Now, though we suffer tribulation, we have confidence in God to continue, and He uses our afflictions to enable us to speak more powerfully of His love. II Cor 4:8-10, says, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life”, the life of God given power by faith, “also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”
God’s gospel succeeds. He says, “safely inhabited”, so that we are safe from Satan by God’s power, and we experience imperfect safety down here (vs11).
In heaven, we shall be safe and safe alone, yet here, while safe, we are alarmed and terrorized, but not to the point of despair. He promises, “And it shall come to pass in that day”, when He is returned in mercy, “that the light shall not be [precious], nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, nor day, nor night: but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light”, so that He won’t let us lose hope because we see a Savior over sin, even as Joshua whipped the enemy all day and prayed the sun not to move nor the moon to move, so that God gave victory, which is light SUPERNATURAL, even as every believer receives Him (Zech 14:6-7).
God’s salvation is secure and REVEALS our security. The gospel reveals salvation from sin, that all the Father gave Him shall come to Him, and it proclaims Christ’s victory over the world, which, by proclamation and the Spirit, it produces, “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth”, proclaiming salvation sure to happen, “in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one”, because He has power to save whom He will, even the wickedest sinners alive (Zech 14:8-9).
Lastly, salvation’s certainty enables us to preach Christ to the world – “All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place… And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited” (Zech 14:10-11). He, we experience imperfectly what we’ll know perfectly in heaven. But safety is revealed to us, so that we can preach it to the world, so that all the Lord returns unto in love can be saved.
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