“Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of Truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his had for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof” (Zech. 8:3-5).
What a beautiful picture the prophet paints for us in this scene. It is a picture showing peaceful serenity. Chaos and conflict are no where to be found. It reminds us of days gone by in our country when we could walk the streets of our cities without fear. It was a time when our older citizens could walk the streets without fear and a time when we as children could play in the streets without concerns of what evil men would do. It is a time many of us long to see again. Where have those days gone?
In this passage found in Zechariah 8, we find the key to peace and serenity with the absence of chaos and conflict. It says, “Jerusalem shall be called a city of TRUTH”. In 1 Timothy 3:15 we read, “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the TRUTH”. The church is the bulwark of truth. She is the protector of truth. I believe it is significant that she is also a place of refuge from the wickedness that lies at the door.
In the Church we have fellowship with the father, and with believers. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:6,7). This fellowship however, is based on our walking in the light. In Psalm 119:105 we read, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”. Notice how our fellowship with the Father hinges on our walking in the light of God’s Word, or in his truth.
In Ephesians 2:13-16 we learn that it is in one body in which we find peace. “But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace,…Having abolished in his flesh the enmity…for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby”.
Though our country has digressed to the point in which the picture the prophet paints for us seems foreign, we need not despair to the point in which we loose hope. For the description that is painted is very well present in the Spiritual realm of the church. However, it’s reality is known only to them who handle truth properly. That is we must be obedient to Truth (Heb. 5:8,9), and an upholder of truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Truly we should “buy the truth and sell it not” (Prov. 23:23). For the peace and comfort God provides through truth cannot be surpassed.
May we each one mediate on these words as we study our Bibles more and more.