Extreme JealousyZechariah 1:7–2:13

Main Idea: The Lord is jealously committed to His people.

1. We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overcoming Comfort (1:7-13).
2. We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overflowing Mercy (1:14-17).
3. We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overriding Justice (1:18-21).
4. We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overwhelming Love (2:1-13).

On a recent trip, my wife and I boarded a small helicopter in Juneau, Alaska, and landed on the surface of Mendenhall Glacier to visit a sled dog camp. As we landed on that snow-covered slab of ice, we saw dozens and dozens of white doghouses, each with a sled dog lying down in front, beside, or even on top of it. We got out of the helicopter to meet our musher, a young woman who would take us on our first ever dogsled ride.

“Welcome!” she said, “We’re going to go out to the dogs that I’m training. We’ll hook them up to the sled, and then we’ll get going.”

When we went out to where all the dogs were, nearly every dog seemed asleep. They looked lazy, lying down on the snow, with just a few dogs barely holding their heads up—until they saw their musher getting ready to hook them up to the harness. Then, the dogs went nuts. They were jumping all over on top of one another, trying to get to their spot in front of the sled.

Michele and I were tempted to reach out and touch one of those beautiful animals, but before we could, the musher stopped us, warning, “Don’t pet one of them. If you do, you’ll have to pet all of them.”

Then she told us, “They are just incredibly jealous of each other. If one gets food, all the others want food. If one gets attention, the others want it, too. They are jealous over everything. And, especially when it’s time to pull the sled, all of them just turn into green-eyed monsters.”

People often talk about jealousy the way that musher did, as a “green-eyed monster,” a phrase coined by William Shakespeare in Othello. Mark Twain, in an essay disparaging God, called jealousy “the trademark of small minds” (Letters from the Earth) Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, who also was no respecter of God, identified jealousy as “a symptom of neurotic insecurity” (Time Enough for Love, 250). In its human expressions, jealousy can truly be spiteful and destructive. Our jealousy is rooted in insecurity, fear, and anxiety that come when we anticipate losing something, such as a relationship, status, or possession. Jealousy creates friction and problems for us in our interactions with others.

As a result, we rarely consider it a virtue to be jealous. Instead, jealousy is ugly, petty, and hurtful. We think of jealousy as a negative emotion that leads to negative actions. Moreover, Scripture cautions us strongly against human jealousy as a work of the flesh (Gal 5:20), calling it inconsistent with love (1 Cor 13:4), and demonic in its source (Jas 3:14-15).

That’s why, for many people, it is surprising—and even offensive—to hear that God is jealous. We tend to think, “Surely God, in His perfection and goodness, could never display anything as base and ugly as jealousy.” Yet, the Old and New Testaments bear witness that jealousy is an essential part of God’s character. Consider just a few portions of Scripture (all emphases mine):

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me. (Exod 20:4-5)

You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God. (Exod 34:14)

But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions and sins.” (Josh 24:19)

Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. They provoked Him to jealous anger more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed. They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. (1 Kgs 14:22-23)

They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their carved images. (Ps 78:58)

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? (1 Cor 10:21-22)

Adulteresses! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. Or do you think it’s without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously? (Jas 4:4-5)

In each of these cases God expresses His jealousy in response to unfaithfulness on the part of His people. He conveyed His jealousy when Israel turned to idols or when the church became like the unregenerate world. As such, God’s jealousy flows out of His great love toward His redeemed ones. His jealousy is akin to the type of human jealousy described by poet and essayist Joseph Addison: “Jealousy is that pain which a man feels from the apprehension that he is not equally beloved by the person whom he entirely loves” (The Spectator, Volume 1, No. 170; Friday, September 14, 1711). God’s jealousy is His passionate commitment to that which rightfully belongs to Him—whether it is His glory that cannot be shared with another, His right to be worshiped as the one true God, or the affections and devotion of His people.

Zechariah 1:7-17 presents the first vision in a series of eight that the prophet experienced approximately three and a half months after his initial prophecy. The remaining visions continue through Zechariah 6:8. These visions were not dreams that came to Zechariah in his sleep, but waking revelations from God. Throughout the visions, Zechariah indicates that his eyes are wide open, using phrases such as “I looked” (1:8), “I looked up and saw” (1:18; 2:1; 5:1, 9; 6:1), and “he showed me” (3:1) as he introduces the visions. In each vision an angelic messenger brought a message from the Lord to the prophet. The first three visions are of horsemen (1:7-17), four horns and four craftsmen (1:18-21), and a man with a measuring line (2:1-13).

In some way these first three visions point to the central truth that God is jealously committed to His people. Through His angel, God proclaims His jealousy in Zechariah 1:14: “So the angel who was speaking with me said, ‘Proclaim: The Lord of Hosts says: I am extremely jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.’” The language the Bible uses in these verses is absolutely clear and unambiguous. In Hebrew the words translated “extremely jealous” are literally “jealous with a great jealousy.” God’s holy jealousy springs from His great love and unfaltering desire to have an exclusive relationship with those He has delivered and redeemed as His own. In this passage we see that God’s jealousy also moves Him to act against those who would harm or oppress His people. Zechariah’s initial visions demonstrate four assurances that God’s extreme jealousy brings to His people.

We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overcoming Comfort (Zechariah 1:7-13)

In his first vision Zechariah saw a man riding a red horse. According to verse 8, this rider was among some myrtle trees in a deep valley. Accompanying the first rider were other horsemen, riding horses of three different colors: red, sorrel (from a Hebrew word only found here in the OT that might mean “brown” or “speckled”), and white. While it may have been that there were only three riders on these horses, the language leaves open the possibility that there were many riders on multiple horses, the horses being of three different colors.

The language here is symbolic. Some biblical symbolism that seems mysterious to modern audiences would have been readily understood by the ancient recipients of Scripture. Certain colors and objects have an implied meaning within a culture. For example, if someone were to tell you about a vision of three eagles flying—one red, one white, and one blue—you would probably assume that the vision pertained in some way to the United States. The image of the eagle and meaning of the colors of the U.S. flag are common and understood. While the significance of every part of Zechariah’s vision can appear complicated, much of the symbolic language would have been quite clear to the Jewish people of the day.

Zechariah saw a grove of myrtle trees. The myrtle was a shrub that grew throughout Israel. Consequently, “myrtle” actually became a popular name for Israel. The myrtle tree, then, represents Israel. Zechariah saw a rider in a valley. The valley, being a low place, likely symbolized that Israel was in a time of deep humiliation. The people had been taken into exile. Their temple had been destroyed. They were now coming back to rebuild but faced great opposition. The different colors of the horses Zechariah saw also may have symbolic significance. He saw horses of red, white, and sorrel. Red is a color that often symbolizes war in Scripture. White may have represented peace. While the meaning of the color translated “sorrel” is harder to discern, the mixed color may suggest a time of tension—not all-out war, but not peace, either.

The Bible also identifies the first rider in the valley of myrtle trees as “the Angel of the Lord.” When the term Angel of the Lord is used in Scripture, this messenger of God is sometimes described as the Lord Himself (Gen 16:10-13; Exod 3:2-6; 23:20; Judg 6:11-18). The Angel of the Lord accomplishes actions closely associated with God, such as revelation, deliverance, and destruction, even though the Angel is also portrayed as distinct from God (2 Sam 24:16; Zech 1:12). The unique relationship this Angel has with God has led many students of the Bible to understand that the Angel of the Lord in the OT is, in fact, the Second Person of the Trinity. Though this book was written more than 500 years before Jesus was born, the Son of God has always existed, from eternity past. Prior to His incarnation, God’s Son manifests Himself from time to time in the OT Scriptures, where He is often called “the Angel of the Lord.” This appears to be the case in this text. The riders on the other horses can be seen as other angelic messengers sent out at the Lord’s command.

With all of these things in mind, the symbolic picture that emerges in Zechariah 1:8-10 is this: Christ is standing in a valley of myrtle trees that represents Israel in her humiliation. He is sending out angelic patrols to discover what is going on in the other nations surrounding them. He is asking for the conditions: Is there war? Is there peace? Is there tension?

The report comes back in Zechariah 1:11. The surrounding nations of the earth are enjoying “calm” and “quiet.” The word quiet translates the Hebrew word shaqat, describing a state of undisturbed tranquility. The term is used elsewhere in the OT to signify the condition during the absence of war (Judg 3:30) or a sense of safety and security (Ezek 38:11). In most contexts “calm” and “quiet” would describe a positive and comforting environment.

However, from the perspective of Zechariah and the people of Judah living in Israel, this is not a good report. Though Israel has been torn to pieces and left wounded and low, other nations—even the ones that have harmed God’s people the deepest—are enjoying peace and tranquility.

The report of the horsemen prompted the Angel of the Lord to bring this question to Yahweh at the end of verse 12: “How long, Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that You have been angry with these 70 years?” Usually in the OT the Angel of the Lord’s function is to communicate messages from God to His people. Here, remarkably, the Angel intercedes to God Almighty on behalf of the people, and asks “how long” Yahweh will continue to “withhold mercy.” “How long?” is a lament formula often found in Scripture. (See Exod 16:28; Ps 94:3; and Hab 1:2, along with numerous other passages.) It conveys a profound need for the Lord to deliver His people. The primary idea behind the Hebrew word translated “mercy” (racham) is “cherishing” or “soothing.” The word carries the thought of tender affection and compassion. Even after 70 years of captivity, Jerusalem was still in ruins. In the wake of the defeat and discouragement that God’s people were experiencing, the peace and tranquility of the surrounding wicked nations caused even the Angel of the Lord to question whether God would ever stop being angry with Israel.

Yahweh answers: “The Lord replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.” Here the heavenly messenger who receives the message is probably not the Angel of the Lord but another angel who was interpreting the vision for Zechariah. “The Lord,” in turn, may refer to “the Lord of Hosts” (v. 12) or to the Angel of the Lord. Regardless of the details of the chain of communication, the nature of the message from heaven is clear. The words from God were “kind” (tov, meaning “pleasant” or “agreeable”) and “comforting” (nichum, from a root word meaning “breathing deeply,” reflecting a physical display of compassion and sympathy).

Because God loves His people with a jealous, unfailing love, we can depend on His comfort, even when our enemies appear to be prospering and the consequences for our past failures linger. Through the Angel of the Lord, God extended overcoming comfort to Israel in four significant ways in this part of Zechariah’s vision:

(1) He showed concern for their situation. The horsemen, whom the Angel of the Lord sent in every direction to survey the situation of the earth, demonstrate God’s care for the state of His people. Then, as now, God is “very compassionate and merciful” (Jas 5:11) toward those who are hurting.

(2) He interceded on their behalf. The Angel of the Lord Himself articulated the heart-cry of Zechariah and all of God’s people: “How long?” The Bible promises that Jesus Christ “is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us” (Rom 8:34).

(3) He spoke words of encouragement. The kind and comforting words of the Lord brought encouragement to Zechariah, which he could then share with God’s people. All of these expressions of comfort are consistent with God’s character as

the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Cor 1:3-4)

(4) He was intimately present in their lives. Perhaps most powerfully, Zechariah’s vision revealed that the Angel of the Lord “stood among the myrtle trees in the valley” (1:8). During Israel’s time of physical weakness, emotional anguish, and spiritual discouragement, the Son of God was in the midst of God’s people, as He is now: “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit” (Ps 34:18).

During a recent conflict in the Middle East, a friend of a missionary couple serving in Israel watched as a shepherd cared for his flock near an area where the fighting was intense. Each time shots fired, the frightened flock would scatter. The shepherd would walk over to each of them, speak words of comfort, and touch each sheep with his staff. When another shot sounded, the shepherd did the same thing again. With each attack of the enemy, the sheep needed the shepherd to reassure them with his presence (Larson, 1001 Illustrations, 114).

Like those sheep, God’s people need to hear the soothing voice and feel the calming touch of our Shepherd. His jealous love for believers moves the Lord to reassure us with His overcoming comfort.

We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overflowing Mercy (Zechariah 1:14-17)

Beginning in verse 14, the angel sent to interpret Zechariah’s vision begins to deliver the message that Yahweh had spoken. In answer to the question “How long?” Yahweh professes His intense jealousy for Jerusalem and Zion. Then, in verse 15, He reveals that, while it may appear the oppressive nations surrounding Israel are enjoying peace and tranquility, the truth is that He is “fiercely angry” with them. In both His descriptions of His jealousy over Jerusalem and Zion and His anger toward the nations, God used double emphases in the Hebrew language, literally declaring that He is “jealous with great jealousy” (v. 14) and “angry with great anger” (v. 15). Indeed, He had only been “a little angry” toward Israel (v. 15), intending for His people to be punished for a season by the surrounding nations but not to be oppressed to the extent and intensity that Israel had been.

Motivated by His jealous love and offended at Israel’s mistreatment by the nations that were now at ease, God declared in verse 16, “In mercy, I have returned to Jerusalem.” God’s tender mercy (rachamim) toward His people reached out to them in spite of the judgment they deserved. In Deuteronomy, long before the time of Zechariah, God had prophesied Israel’s apostasy and eventual exile but had also promised that Israel’s return to the Lord would be met with God’s mercy:

When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am giving you today, then He will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. (Deut 30:1-3)

God’s mercy—which had spared Israel from utter destruction even when they had been unrepentant—would now work to restore His repentant people. Because of His mercy, God made four promises to Zechariah and Israel.

(1) He promised His returned presence. “I have returned to Jerusalem; My house will be rebuilt within it.” Prior to the exile, Ezekiel had seen a vision of God’s glory departing from the temple (Ezek 10:18-19; 11:22-23). Now God declared that He had returned and that His dwelling place, the temple, would be rebuilt in Jerusalem.

(2) He promised restored stability. “A measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.” This measuring line, prophesied earlier (Jer 31:38-40), is a symbol of restoration. The holy city, which had been desecrated in the past and which now was fragile and vulnerable to attack, would become established and stable.

(3) He promised rich blessing. “My cities will again overflow with prosperity.” Though the towns of Judah were currently impoverished, God foretold a coming day when they would, in the most literal sense of the words, “spread out with prosperity.” The language paints a picture of towns that were so blessed with God’s abundance that the city walls would not be able to hold all the wealth.

(4) He promised renewed favor. “The Lord will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.” The Lord promised to make Jerusalem His chosen place. The renewed city would become a model for the world, reflecting God’s favor and affection.

From a dispensational eschatological perspective, the ultimate fulfillment of these promises to Israel will only be realized with the second coming, the millennial temple, and the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth (Lindsey, “Zechariah,” 1551). Even so, the anticipation of God’s fullest expression of His mercy to Jerusalem would have invigorated the people of Israel to continue rebuilding the temple in Zechariah’s day. Understanding the hope and encouragement of God’s mercy also spurs us on when our situation seems bleak and hopeless.

God shows His people mercy. His words to Jerusalem centuries ago have never changed: “In mercy, I have returned.” He loves us so much that He overflows with mercy for us. His mercy moves Him to love us deeply. Because of His mercy, God is compassionate toward us with a kindness that we could never deserve. Whoever you are, wherever you have been, and whatever you have done, God longs to be merciful to you.

Luis Palau tells a beautiful story about a mother who approached the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor listened to her request, but then he replied that this young soldier had committed a certain offense twice and that justice demanded death.

The mother said, “I’m not asking you for justice; I’m asking you, I’m pleading, for mercy.”

Napoleon answered, “Your son does not deserve mercy.”

And the mother cried, “Sir, if he deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy, and mercy is all I ask for.”

The emperor said, “Well, then, I shall have mercy,” and he spared the woman’s son (Palau, “Hope for Healing”).

Mercy is God withholding from us the judgment we deserve because of our sin. Had Judah been guilty of rebelling and sinning against God? Yes. Had they deserved to be trampled by the nations around them? Yes. But in God’s mercy, He promised to restore them and give them prosperity again. Here’s why: His love will not let His people go. You can come to the God of the universe, throw yourself at His feet, and He will show you mercy. God extends His mercy to us because of the cross of Jesus Christ. God’s people can count on His overflowing mercy.

We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overriding Justice (Zechariah 1:18-21)

Beginning in verse 18, Zechariah receives a second vision from the Lord, this one consisting of four horns and four craftsmen. Among the Jews, the horns of an animal were a measure of that animal’s power. We have the same idea today. The avid hunter goes after the twelve-point buck. The rancher prizes the longhorn bull. Because horns represent strength in the animal world, the horn was also used figuratively in the OT to symbolize political or military strength. For instance, in Micah 4:13 God said, “Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion, for I will make your horns iron and your hooves bronze, so you can crush many peoples.” Horns were also used to symbolize kingdoms, as in Daniel 7:24. The four horns that Zechariah saw represented the power of the nations that had scattered Jerusalem, an interpretation made clearer by the words of the angel in verses 19 and 21.

A more difficult interpretive question is the significance of four horns. Why that specific number? What nations or kingdoms are being symbolized? Some interpreters have suggested that the four kingdoms are the world empires of Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Some have countered that earlier kingdoms—Assyria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Medo-Persia—are in view (Barker, Zechariah, 615). Others have proposed the four horns represent attacks against Israel from all sides: north, south, east, and west (Kaiser and Ogilvie, Micah, 318). No matter what the exact significance of the number, the four horns clearly portray total domination of the people of Israel by the powers that attacked and conquered them.

Because of His jealous love, God assured Zechariah that He would act with justice to override the great power of these conquering kingdoms. The four craftsmen in Zechariah 1:20 represent God’s instruments to bring justice to the nations that had abused God’s people. The image of the craftsmen is somewhat unusual. The Hebrew term charash refers to someone who is skilled at working in some type of medium, including metalwork (1 Chr 29:5), woodwork (Isa 40:20), or stonework (Exod 28:11). Zechariah himself does not ask about the identity of the craftsmen, however. Instead, he asks about their function: “What are they coming to do?” (Zech 1:20). The answer, which presumably comes from the angel, is that they have come to “terrify” the four horns that have abused Judah and “to cut off the horns” of these nations, indicating a dismantling of their power.

Perhaps the vision of the four craftsmen is meant to evoke the idea that just as a craftsman does his work slowly, carefully, and skillfully, so God skillfully works His justice in His own time. Also, sometimes we can only understand the work of a craftsman once it is finished. In the same way, God’s ultimate justice will only be fully understood when time has drawn to a close and God’s purposes are complete.

Ravi Zacharias tells the story of visiting the city of Varanasi in northern India. There he walked into the small side room of a building where a father and son were working together to make a wedding sari, a spectacular traditional garment that every bride in India wants to wear on her wedding day. He writes,

The father sits on a raised platform with huge spools of brilliantly colored threads within his reach. The son sits on the floor in the lotus position. . . . Before my eyes, though it did not appear so at first, a grand design appears. The father gathers some threads in his hand, then nods, and the son moves the shuttle from one side to the other. A few more threads, another nod, and again the son responds by moving the shuttle. The process seems almost Sisyphus-like in its repetition, the silence broken only occasionally with a comment or by some visitor who interrupts to ask a question about the end design. The father smiles and tries in broken English to explain the picture he has in mind, but compared to the magnificence of the final product, it is a mere lisp. Throughout the process, the son has had a much easier task. Most likely he has often felt bored. Perhaps his back has ached or his legs have gone to sleep. Perhaps he has wished for some other calling in life—something he might find more stimulating or fulfilling. He has but one task, namely to move the shuttle as directed by the father’s nod, hoping to learn to think like the father so that he can carry on the business at the appropriate time. Yet, the whole time, the design has remained in the mind of the father as he held the threads. (Zacharias, Grand Weaver, 15–16)

In the same way, sometimes we look at our lives and, from our limited earthly human perspective, we cannot see the pattern or the plan. We cannot see God’s justice at work, and life looks incredibly messy and unfair. Life is not fair, but God is fair, God is just, and God is greater than this life.

We may not experience the fullness of His plan for us in this lifetime. We may find ourselves wondering, Why am I suffering this way? Why am I going through this? But, like a craftsman, God is working everything together (Rom 8:28). As a result, we can say, “God, I know that You are just. I know that You are righteous. And I am counting on Your ultimate justice, that You’re going to take care of things, even if I don’t quite understand how.” God promised overriding justice to His people Judah. He promises that to us, as well.

We Can Depend on the Lord’s Overwhelming Love (Zechariah 2:1-13)

Zechariah 2 records a single vision that continues the theme of God’s jealous commitment to His people. In this vision Zechariah sees a man with a measuring line in his hand. The prophet asks the man where he is going, and the man indicates that he is on his way to take the measurements of Jerusalem (vv. 1-2). Then, as now, surveying property in this way was done in preparation for building. The man in the vision represents God’s desire to restore and rebuild the city. In verses 3-4 another angel instructs Zechariah’s interpreting angel to tell Zechariah, to whom he refers as “this young man,” that Jerusalem would have to expand its walls because so many people and livestock will be in it. This would have been a surprising message. At the time of Nehemiah, the city was in such ruin and so unstable that very few wanted to live in it, preferring the surrounding area in Judah (Neh 11:1-2). Verse 5 shows the reason the city would once again become safe for inhabitants. The Lord Himself would be the city’s defense, with His protection circling the city like “a wall of fire” and His glorious presence providing stability within it.

Based on this vision, in verses 6-13 Zechariah proclaims a message to the people of God. The message includes the following elements:

(1) The exiles remaining in Babylon should return to Jerusalem as quickly as possible (vv. 6-7). In verse 6 the “land of the north” is Babylon, identified explicitly in verse 7. The people of Zion, whom God has scattered out “like the four winds of heaven” in every direction, are urged to return immediately to Jerusalem.

(2) The nations that had been harming Israel will be judged (vv. 8-9). God promises to judge Babylon and other nations that have harmed Israel, which is another reason that the people of Judah needed to leave Babylon so quickly. Ironically, those who have plundered God’s people will now be plundered by the Lord Himself. The word for “plunder,” shalal, means to take by force.

(3) God will bless Israel and many nations through Israel (vv. 10-12). The expressions of God’s blessing on Israel include the Lord “coming to dwell” among them, other nations that “will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become My people,” and the Lord taking possession of Judah “as His portion in the Holy Land.”

(4) All people should be silent in the presence of the Lord (v. 13). In light of what God had revealed to His people, the only fitting response was awe-filled and silent submission to the Lord’s might.

Verse 8 contains a key phrase that reveals the overwhelming love of God for His people: “Anyone who touches you touches the pupil of His eye.” The figure of speech originates in Deuteronomy 32:10, where Moses says that the Lord found Jacob in a desolate wilderness, surrounded him, cared for him, and “protected him as the pupil of His eye.” More famously translated “the apple of His eye,” the word literally means the gate or opening of the eye, which is the part of the eye most easily injured and most in need of protection. Because of His love for His people, God placed Israel under His own protective and powerful care.

John Hyde, a missionary to India who died in 1912, became known as “Praying Hyde.” He told of the greatest lesson God ever taught him about prayer. Hyde was praying for a national pastor in India, a man who was causing problems.

Hyde began his prayer, “O God, Thou knowest this brother, how . . .” He was going to say “cold,” when suddenly a voice seemed to tell him, “He that touches him touches the apple of My eye.” Horror swept over Hyde. Falling to his knees, Hyde confessed his own sin and then prayed, “Father, show me what things are lovely and of good report in my brother’s life.”

Hyde instantly remembered the many sacrifices this pastor had made for the Lord, how he had given up all for Christ, how he had suffered deeply for Christ. He thought of the many years of difficult labor this man had invested in the kingdom, and the wisdom with which he had resolved congregational conflict. Hyde remembered the man’s devotion to his wife and family, and how he had provided a model to the church of godly husbanding. John Hyde wound up spending his prayer time that day praising the Lord for this brother’s faithfulness.

Shortly afterward, Hyde traveled to see this pastor, and he learned that the man had just experienced a personal revival and spiritual renewal (Carre, Praying Hyde, 136–37).

God’s overwhelming love for us that protects us, draws us back to Himself, and renews us is the ultimate root of God’s extreme jealousy for us. He will not let us go, because we are precious to Him!

Reflect and Discuss

1. What gives God the right to be jealous over His people?
2. How is human jealousy like God’s jealousy? How is it different? If a friend asserted that jealousy makes God seem petty or insecure, how would you respond?
3. Assuming that the “Angel of the Lord” is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus, in what ways does the Angel reflect the character and activity of Christ?
4. Zechariah’s vision revealed that the enemy nations surrounding Judah were enjoying peace while Jerusalem remained in ruins. How do you reconcile the prosperity of wicked people with the suffering of faithful believers?
5. God spared Israel even when the nation was unrepentant. What are ways that God has gone to extravagant measures to extend His mercy for you?
6. What are some of the circumstances both the church at large and individual believers face that can rob us of hope? How can we continue to live for God’s glory when our situation seems hopeless?
7. How does God’s jealousy for His people result in Him acting with justice on our behalf?
8. When does it become difficult to trust in the Lord’s justice?
9. Who are some people in Scripture, history, and your own life who experienced God’s goodness after a time of trial and testing? What areas of commonality can you see in their stories?
10. How does knowing that God’s people are like “the pupil of His eye” affect our thoughts, emotions, and responses to life’s challenges?