Peace Be Upon Jerusalem

“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."  Zech. 2:6-9

There's a lot in Zechariah that is very cryptic and which I don't understand, but what I DO understand is that the LORD is going to preserve and defend Jerusalem and Israel, and those who oppose them (and Him) will be destroyed.  That's a no-brainer.

Let me tell a little story.  When I was a very new believer, in the late '70s, I was reading Zechariah for the first time, and was blown away by it.  I was at church one day and encountered people from a cult who were visiting, who called themselves "Children of God" or some such.  I got into a conversation with one of them and told him excitedly about what I was reading in Zechariah (new believers are like that).  This led to my being invited to their house where they attempted to indoctrinate me.  One of their tenets was that Paul's writings were not Scripture.  Afterward I was in my room praying about it, and opened my Bible.  Which verse do you think popped up almost immediately?  Right on, 2 Pet. 3:15,16: 

"And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."

Whoa!  Peter is saying right here that Paul's writings are Scripture!  Now WHAT ARE THE ODDS, that I would go straight to that verse, not knowing it, out of all the verses in the Bible?  You do the calculation if you want, but I'm convinced it was God's leading.

Blessings to you, and to all who love the LORD in truth.  Peace be upon Jerusalem.