The Berean Pursuit
Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To measure Jerusalem," he replied, "and to determine its width and length."
Then the angel who was speaking with me went out, and another angel came out to meet him and said to him, "Run and tell that young man: 'Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the multitude of men and livestock within it. For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.'"
"Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north," declares the LORD, "for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven," declares the LORD. "Get up, O Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the Daughter of Babylon!"
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: "After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you-for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye- I will surely wave My hand over them, so that they will become plunder for their own servants. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me."
"Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you," declares the LORD. "On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem. Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
And the LORD said to Satan: "The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?"
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. So the angel said to those standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes!"
Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes."
Then I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him, as the angel of the LORD stood by.
Then the angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: "This is what the LORD of Hosts says: 'If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, then you will govern My house and will also have charge of My courts; and I will give you a place among these who are standing here.
Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch. See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, you will each invite your neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree.'"
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me, as a man is awakened from his sleep.
"What do you see?" he asked.
"I see a solid gold lampstand," I replied, "with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps. There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left."
"What are these, my lord?" I asked the angel who was speaking with me.
"Do you not know what they are?" replied the angel.
"No, my lord," I answered.
So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'"
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel."
Then I asked the angel, "What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?" And I questioned him further, "What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oil pours?"
"Do you not know what these are?" he inquired.
"No, my lord," I replied.
So he said, "These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth."
Again I lifted up my eyes and saw before me a flying scroll.
"What do you see?" asked the angel.
"I see a flying scroll," I replied, "twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide."
Then he told me, "This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed. I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones."
Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, "Now lift up your eyes and see what is approaching."
"What is it?" I asked.
And he replied, "A measuring basket is going forth." Then he continued, "This is their iniquity in all the land."
And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.
"This is Wickedness," he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.
Then I lifted up my eyes and saw two women approaching, with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
"Where are they taking the basket?" I asked the angel who was speaking with me.
"To build a house for it in the land of Shinar," he told me. "And when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its pedestal."
The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty;
the LORD has clothed and armed Himself with strength.
The world indeed is firmly established;
it cannot be moved.
Your throne was established long ago;
You are from all eternity.
The floodwaters have risen, O LORD;
the rivers have raised their voice;
the seas lift up their pounding waves.
Above the roar of many waters-
the mighty breakers of the sea-
the LORD on high is majestic.
Your testimonies are fully confirmed;
holiness adorns Your house, O LORD,
for all the days to come.
Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.
Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.
Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God's seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.
By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.