443. Dwell Safely in the Land
Zechariah 14:11 And men shall dwell in it and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
God promises that people will live in the Land, and that Jerusalem will be safely inhabited. The “land” is the kingdom of God, which is full of a safe and happy life. This eternal land is presently spiritual until the Last Day when it all becomes the Eternal State of the new heavens and the new earth. Then we will physically and spiritually see it with our physical and spiritual eyes. Believers live in the land now by faith and will enjoy the land by sight later. No death or destruction will ever be able to enter that land and bring destruction.
The Sin of the Fall brought destruction. So also did the Flood bring utter destruction. So do all the judgments of sin and the curse upon our world and our temporal life. But Sin and Satan and Death cannot touch the Kingdom of God, the Life of God that lives within us. And then all our enemies will be eternally confined to the lake of fire forever.
Jerusalem is the Church of believers in Christ. In that place the believers will be able to live safely. We need this promise during all the troubling times to which men are subject. There is a place we may go: into the kingdom, into the presence of God, into the life that lasts forever. In that place it is safe. The Church that preaches the Gospel is that place. That Gospel is always proclaimed by the Church on earth whether it is gathered in a large assembly, or where two or three gather, or when we personally communicate with the Lord in the Word and prayer. This two-way conversation (God speaking to us in the Word and us speaking to God in prayer) places us in that Promised Land and into the City of God. We avail ourselves of that promise by faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.