Come back! Come back!

In Zechariah’s day it was soon after Cyrus blessed the Jewish people to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem. Some did but many stayed behind in the familiar Babylon. That and the walls around Jerusalem were not restored. And walls meant safety.

The LORD said He himself would be a wall of fire around Jerusalem for the glory of the LORD. And that once again Jerusalem was to be inhabited by many people and animals.

But they needed to come out of Babylon. To come home to their city and their land. If anyone touched them it would be like touching the eye of the LORD. God would protect them. He would indwell the city and the land once again.

Why were they tempted to stay in Babylon? Because these were the children of their parents who had never lived in Babylon. Babylon was familiar to them. And reasonably safe. Jerusalem was something talked about by their parents who were likely deceased. Not only that but it didn’t seem safe.

But God says he would protect them. It was time to return.

The familiarity of what is comfortable is very real. We tend to want what is safe. But what is the LORD calling us to? Is he asking us to step out into something? Something in which he will be our protection?