September 22, 2001
"And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's
eleventh year, the city wall was broken through."
Jeremiah 39:2
As I read this today I wondered how God felt when the walls were broken through? It must have been such a painful moment to see his people completely vulnerable to their enemies. This thought sent me off on a side study on walls and what they mean to God; there are a lot of scriptures about this topic. The wall around Jerusalem was to protect them from their enemies and make them feel secure. In Isaiah 26:1 & 60:18 it's made clear that standing walls = salvation = God's protection. it would give them a sense of his presence and security.
"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me. "
Isaiah 49:16
I think this promise in Isaiah was to be a reassurance that they were safe, that God was watching over them. Given the heart of God I can only imagine how painful it was to see their walls destroyed, to see them exposed and vulnerable, living now in constant fear and insecurity. That's why it was on God's heart, and prophesied about many times, that God would restore their walls.. so they would now a day would come when they would be assured of God's safety and protection. The promises today for us come out of Isaiah 62 in this chapter he's looking toward the future, the time of the church and he says
"I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night."
Isaiah 62:6
It's the heart of God that he wants us to live secure; to know that he has placed and is constantly watching the walls around us... we can live confident and secure that anything that Goes on is not because the walls have been breached; the enemy can't gain the victory. When hard times come we are still secure within the walls, God is still present and very much in control!!