Zechariah 2: time to leave Babylon

The Lord is guiding his people through the prophets. Jeremiah told that the Jews should settle in Babylon and help it prosper; but now, it is time to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem. We read:

8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the One of Glory who sent me on my mission, commenting on the godless nations who stripped you and left you homeless, said, “Anyone who hits you, hits me—bloodies my nose, blackens my eye. Yes, and at the right time I’ll give the signal and they’ll be stripped and thrown out by their own servants.” Then you’ll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission.

Although the people of the Lord were in Babylon, their values and priorities should be different. Now, the Lord is commanding Judah to return to Jerusalem that was devastated. We read:

4 And he said to him, “Run, speak to that young man there, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as open country because of the multitude of people and cattle within it. 5 But I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire to her on all sides, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

Jerusalem was once dead, but now she comes back to life again, protected by the Lord.