Living without Walls

"Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls... For I, says the Lord, "will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst" (Zecharaiah 2:4-5).

In April, 2015, Beth and I ministered to the World Gospel Mission missionaries in Mexico. We arrived in Leon. Dennis and Twana Johnson, career missionaries with WGM, met us. Dennis and Twana showed us all over Leon, Silao, and Guanajuato. Leon is the leather capital of the world. Silao is the auto manufacturing center of Mexico. Chevrolet pickup trucks are made there. The cities sprawl across the high desert of central Mexico. One cannot easily discern where one city stops and another begins. And this area of Mexico is growing. New construction is everywhere. No ancient city walls or boundaries prohibit the growth of the sprawling metropolis, which is home to millions.

Zecharaiah, the prophet of Hebrew repatriation, described Jerusalem as a growing boomtown. He said that "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls... For I, says the Lord, "will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst" (Zecharaiah 2:4-5).

It was about 520 B.C. when Zecharaiah prophesied. Shortly after Darius the Mede conquered Babylon, Zecharaiah returned to Jerusalem when Zerubbabel was governor. Zecharaiah and his fellow prophet Haggai preached restoration to the people. Haggai delivered passionate messages to stir the people to rebuild the temple and call them to holiness. Zecharaiah encouraged the people to rebuild the temple in preparation for the coming Messiah. God remembered His covenant people, and by 516 B.C. the temple was dedicated.

In the midst of his prophecy, Zecharaiah sees a vision of a young man measuring the length and width of the city of Jerusalem. He observed two angels conversing. One told the other to run to the young man and give him this message: "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls... For I, says the Lord, "will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst" (Zecharaiah 2:4-5).

The message of the angels was that joy and prosperity was on the horizon for Jerusalem and the people of God. The Lord declared that He would shake His hand against their enemies. Messiah would come and live among the covenant people of God. Worldwide evangelism of the nations would be launched from the Holy Land. God had awakened from His slumber to restore Jerusalem! (Zecharaiah 2:13).

Since God called me to Wesley Biblical Seminary in 2013, He has been teaching me to live without walls. God’s promise to me has been that WBS shall be inhabited as a town without a wall... “For I, says the Lord, "will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.”

Dennis Kinlaw wrote: "Are you afraid of living without walls? Hide yourself in His Presence and you will find that His Presence is your protection."

Living without walls is a metaphor for unlimited growth. Living without walls is a picture of explosive potential, spreading, and reaching out. So often, our thinking gets limited by our walls, our boxes, our silos, our confining ways of knowing and doing that which is within our comfort zone.

Do we need some walls? Yes. “‘For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

What does it mean to live without walls? It means to live by faith, rather than by sight. It means to seek God’s glory in our midst above any personal or institutional success. It means to allow God, not things to be the Source of our security. It means to embrace His promise of hope for the future.