God's "Wall Of Fire"

The construction of the Great Wall of China began in the third century BC. Often called one of the “Seven Wonders of the Medieval World,” it is approximately 1,500 miles long. The Great Wall was built to protect the people against raids by nomadic peoples and invasions by rival states.

In Zechariah Chapter 2, we read about another wall of protection. Zechariah had a vision of a man with a measuring line, who was trying to determine the length and width of Jerusalem (Zechariah 2:1-2). His intention was apparently to begin rebuilding the fortified walls surrounding the city. The man was told that this would not be necessary, because the number of God’s people would be so great that Jerusalem’s walls would not be able to contain them (Zechariah 2:4).

Besides, they would not need walls, for the Lord promised:

“I …. will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst” (Zechariah 2:5).

Physical walls can be scaled or broken through, no matter how high or strong they are. But as God’s children, we have the best wall of protection anyone can have — God’s personal presence. Nothing can pass through to us without first passing through Him and His will. In Him we are safe and secure. Safety is not found in the absence of danger, but in the presence of God (Psalm 23:4; Psalm 27:1).

"He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessed will;
A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,
With His manna He my hungry soul shall fill." –C.W. Fry

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets