“And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.”
– Zechariah 2:5
What a picture. This is God talking about how he’s going to bless his people in Jerusalem. The verse right before this says, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls because of the multitude of people and livestock in it.” Just a picture of God’s blessing. And then in verse 5, God says, “I will be to her,” to Jerusalem, to my people in Jerusalem, “a wall of fire all around, and I will be the glory in her midst,” God says. What a picture of God saying to his people, “I am your protector. I am your provider. I am watching out for you. I’m setting a wall of fire around you, and my glory will be among you.”
Zechariah 2:5 Reminds Us God Protects His People
Obviously, there was direct application of this word to God’s people in Zechariah 2 at the same time, as we’ve talked about. These are promises that we see for all of God’s people in the New Testament, under the new covenant, under Jesus, His glory dwelling in us, our bodies a temple of the Holy Spirit. And He has promised as our father, as our king, as our savior, as our deliverer, to be our protector.
So picture the imagery around you today and live in light of this reality. God is a wall of fire all around you. Amidst all kinds of spiritual warfare. I just think about different challenges in my own life and family and church and in the world, and had numerous conversations recently just about the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. Spiritual warfare at work all around me, all around you. And to know that our God is a wall of fire around us and his glory is in us.
Zechariah 2:5 Shows God’s Fierce Care of His People
1 John, “Greater is He who is in you.” I feel this right now. Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world. So God help us to live in light of this reality. We praise you for this reality. Lord, we praise you for being a wall of fire around your people. We praise you as our protector, as our protector against sin and temptation, our protector against all the spiritual forces of evil that work for our destruction, that work to pull us away from you and the life that you’ve created us to live.
God, we praise you as our protector and we pray for your protection today. We pray that your wall of fire around us would guard us, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Guide us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And may we live all day long with your glory in our midst, realizing we are the temple of your Holy Spirit.
And God, as we pray this as your people, we think about Zechariah 2:10 and 11, a few verses after this talks about how you will come and dwell in the midst of your people and many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be my people. God bringing about. We pray.
Praying for the Acehnese People
Bring your glory into the midst of the Acehnese people of Indonesia, 4 million of them, very few followers of Jesus in Aceh. God, we pray for this Muslim people group for the Acehnese of Indonesia to hear the good news of your grace, your love, that you are their deliverer, savior, protector, Jesus.
And we pray that you would cause disciples to be made and churches to be multiplied among the Acehnese of Indonesia, cause people to go with the gospel there, Indonesian Christians and Christians from all over the world, to spread the gospel to the Acehnese that your glory might be in their midst and you might be a wall of fire all around Acehnese brothers and sisters, sons and daughters in your kingdom. We pray all of this in light of your word in Zechariah 2. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
