(REFLECTIONS ON Zechariah 2:1-13)

Church without walls (CWOW) is a concept that the church should not just isolate itself within the four walls of a building, but should go beyond the walls out into the world. Christ is not contained by walls, and neither should His body, the Church be confined by them. If the church can’t break out of its own walls, then how will the Gospel spread out to the world?

Perhaps it is difficult for us to think of a church without a physical building and presence, but does that then lead us to define our church by the building rather than Christ Himself? Church without walls helps to realign us with God, realizing that it is His people gathered together, and not the building itself that should define church.

In today’s Scripture, Zechariah saw an angel with a measure line in his hand.

2 So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.”

Is Jerusalem just the specific location contained within the walls of Jerusalem where the temple of the Lord is? Or did Zechariah see something different?

3 And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 and said to him, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within in it. 5 ‘For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'”

Jerusalem will not be contained by its walls, because it will expand beyond human expectation and imagination. How then will Jerusalem be protected without walls? The Lord will be a wall of fire around her, and will be the glory in her midst. Many nations will join themselves to the LORD and become His people, perhaps giving us a glimpse of the new Jerusalem that we read about in the Book of Revelation.

This new Jerusalem takes what was seen by Zechariah, as hope for the exiles that returned to Judah, and leads the Church to consider what this means for us. If we are Christ’s body, then rather than physical walls to constrict us and lock us in, this image of the Lord forming a wall of fire around Jerusalem can also become our hope for the promise of the Church in Revelation.

Revelation 21:1-3

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Let us now, as the body of Christ, live in anticipation for the new Jerusalem by practicing being a Church without walls. Through Christ and by the Holy Spirit, may we be a Church surrounded by the glory of the Lord, rather than letting the walls of our buildings define us.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Zechariah 2