The Seeker's Network

Without Limits

1 I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. 3 And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, 4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: 5 For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.


How great is your God? What do you ask him for and how much do you expect from Him? If you are like me, you are always setting goals that are much smaller than God's plan. Why do we always put limits on Him, if we believe that nothing is impossible for Him? Why don't we just expect Him to do the impossible?

In Zechariah's third vision, he sees a man with a measuring line in his hand. This is presumably the line that was mentioned in 1:16. It was to be stretched over Jerusalem. "Where are you going?" he asked the man.

And, the man replied, "To measure Jerusalem." God had promised that the holy city would be rebuilt. It had been destroyed, because the Jewish people had become over-confident in their relationship with God. They felt like this was God's city in which He had His temple. It was here that He had chosen to live among His people. Surely, they were safe living in the city that was so precious to God. He would not allow His enemies to destroy it, but He did.

Now, this young man was enthusiastically rushing to measure it, in order to plan the surrounding walls. Suddenly the angel speaking to Zechariah stepped forward and another angel came to meet him, saying, "Run! Speak to the young man." What was so urgent?

It seems that the man's plans were much smaller than God's plans. God was going to make the city so prosperous that it could not be contained within the old walls. There would be a multitude of people and animals overflowing the city's former limits.

Furthermore, the walls would be unnecessary. Yahweh Himself would be a wall of fire around the city. God always exceeds our expectations, always supplies us with an abundance, and our cup runneth over. How much more secure would the city be with God as their wall of protection than with a stone wall?

This is where modern Christians fall so far short in our relationship with Christ. We tend to trust everything to worldly protections. Doctors, lawyers, insurance companies, the police, security surveillance equipment and many other protections seem to be sufficient for us, but we would be much more secure, if we remembered to place our trust in God instead.

The N.T. church is Jerusalem. A city is nothing but bricks and mortar, worldly substance, which cannot hold the love and interest of the eternal God. The real Jerusalem is the people whom He loves. While the physical Jerusalem did become prosperous again and overflowed its old boundaries, the New Jerusalem has stretched around the world. Its gospel is being preached in nearly every country and the glory of the church is Christ who dwells in the midst of it.

Before the Throne:

Today when you pray, do not place any limits on what you want God to accomplish in your life. Pray with great expectations. Pray for the impossible. Pray believing. Pray with the confidence that He is standing as a wall of fire around you. "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)

For Further Study:

(v.1) ** a man. Ezek 40:3, 5; 47:4; Rev 11:1; 21:15;

(v.2) ** Whither. Zech 5:10; John 16:5; ** To. Jer 31:39; Ezek 45:6; 48:15-17, 30-35; Rev 11:1; 21:15-17;

(v.3) ** the angel. Zech 1:9, 13, 14, 19; 4:1, 5; 5:5; ** and another. Zech 1:8, 10, 11;

(v.4) ** young. Jer 1:6; Dan 1:17; 1Tim 4:12; ** Jerusalem. Zech 1:17; 8:4, 5; 12:6; 14:10, 11; Isa 33:20; 44:26; Jer 30:18, 19; 31:24; 31:27, 38-40; 33:10-13; Ezek 36:10, 11; Mic 7:11;

(v.5) ** a wall. Zech 9:8; Psa 46:7-11; 48:3, 12; 4:5; Isa 12:6; 26:1, 2; 33:21; Isa 60:18, 19; ** the glory. Psa 3:3; Isa 60:19; Hag 2:7-9; Luke 2:32; Rev 21:10, 11, 23; 22:3-5;