Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Zechariah 3:4

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Zechariah 3:4. Take away the filthy garments — The Jews wore sackcloth in times of public calamity; probably the filthy garments refer to this. Let their clothing be changed. I have turned again their captivity; I will fully restore them, and blot out all their iniquities.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Encouragement to Joshua (3:1-10)

Zechariah then has a vision in which he sees Satan accuse the high priest Joshua (and therefore the people he represents) of being unclean. Because of their long exile in idolatrous Babylon, they are no longer fit to enter God’s presence. In other words, Satan is hinting that the people are wasting their time building the temple. Since they are unclean, no sacrifices that they offer there will be acceptable to God (3:1; see also v. 3).
God replies that he has not cast off his chosen people. Their time of exile in Babylon has been his punishment on them because of their sin, but now he has saved them. He has snatched them from the hand of their enemies, brought them back to their land and cleansed their sin. Now he is going to set up the temple and its priesthood for them once again (2-5).
Joshua and his fellow priests are warned to be faithful to God in carrying out their duties in the new temple that God will put in their care. Joshua will then be able to enter the presence of God without fear of Satan’s accusations (6-7). The reestablishment of the Israelite priesthood is a further sign to assure the people that their Messiah will come (8. For the significance of the messianic title ‘the Branch’ see commentary on 6:12-13). A specially engraved stone is to be set in the temple as a reminder of what the Messiah will do. He will cleanse the land of sin and bring in a new era of contentment and prosperity (9-10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him the said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel."

"Filthy garments" Some have advanced the notion that the filthy garments here indicate penitence and mourning on the part of Joshua; but the mention of "iniquity" in Zechariah 3:4 confirms the view that they stand for the scandalous sins of Israel, the whole nation, the sins of their kings, judges, priests and the people generally. They are represented, moreover, as being still filthy, even after their being plucked out of the fire, indicating that not even God's punishments had made them righteous in God's sight.

It is safe to conclude that the prophet in this vision intended to represent Judah as still, in spite of penalties endured, guilty before God, and so evidently guilty… that a successful defense is impossible.Hinckley G. Mitchell, op. cit., p. 150.

"Take the filthy garments from off him" That not merely Joshua the individual is meant here becomes plain in the light of Zechariah 3:9, where taking off the filthy garments becomes, "Remove the iniquity of the land; therefore, Joshua represents the land."Robert Jamieson, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961), p. 848.

"I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee" This does not refer to something then and there accomplished. The prophetic tense in which the past perfect stands for the future is definitely used here, as definitely proved by Zechariah 3:9. God indeed would, in time, remove the guilt of all men "in Christ"; an event that would occur in "one day" (Zechariah 3:9), and would include the removal of the guilt of all who are to be saved eternally. The great error of the old Israel was in their false assumption that God would cleanse them, regardless of their deeds, solely upon the premise of their being literal descendants of Abraham. The strong Messianic impact of this vision will be made immediately apparent in the reference to the BRANCH and the STONE.

It is our conviction that they are in error who affirm from the past tense in this verse (which is actually the prophetic tense) that God decided to cleanse Israel then and there "independently of any sacrifice or offering whatever."Hinckley G. Mitchell, op. cit, p. 152. Such a view is contrary to all that the Bible teaches. Before any sins of any man could really be blotted out, the blood of Christ would need to be poured out in Calvary's great atonement. Men who would like nothing more than to remove the very principle of sacrifice from holy religion are quick to seize any opportunity to attempt it. Zechariah 3:9 shows conclusively that the actual forgiveness of Israel was an event to take place after the appearance of the BRANCH and the LIVING STONE.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And He spake to those who stood before Him - the ministering angels who had waited on the Angel of the Lord to do His bidding.

See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee - The pardoning words of the Lord to David by Nathan, “The Lord too hath put away thy sin” 2 Samuel 12:13. “And clothe thee with change of raiment, that is, such as were taken off and reserved for great occasions. As the filthy garments were not necessarily other than the high priest’s vesture, symbolically defiled through the sins of the people, so neither need these be other than the priestly garments in their purity and freshness. The words imply the condition, not the nature of the vestment. (Cyril: “The high priest having been thus taken to represent the whole people, the filthy garments would be no unclear symbol of the wickedness of the people. For clad, as it were, with their sins, with the ill-effaceable spot of ungodliness, they abode in captivity, subject to retribution, paying the penalty of their unholy deeds. But when God had pity on them, He bade them be freed from their defilements, and in a manner re-clad with justifying grace. He indicates to them the end of their toils. For where remission of sin is, there follows of necessity freedom from the evils brought through sin.” He adds that a clean mitre should be put upon his head, (Cyril), “that so we might understand that the glory of the priesthood ever, in a sort, concurs with the condition of the people. For the boast of the priesthood is the purity of those in their charge. As then when the people was in sin, the raiment of the priest also was in a manner defiled, so if it were again well-approved, pure and bright is the fashion of the priesthood, and free its access to God. So the inspired Paul having ministered to the Gentiles the Gospel of Christ, seeing them advancing in graces, writes, “By your boast, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus” 1 Corinthians 15:31, and, “my joy and crown” Philippians 4:1.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

We now see that he who is often said to be Jehovah is called an angel: the name therefore of Angel as well as of Jehovah, I doubt not, ought to be applied to the person of Christ, who is truly and really God, and at the same time a Mediator between the Father and the faithful: and hence he authoritatively commanded the angels who were present; for Christ was there, but with his hosts. While therefore the angels were standing by, ready to obey, he is said to have bidden them to strip the high priest of his mean garments.

Afterwards the angel addresses Joshua himself, See, I slave made to pass from thee thine iniquity, and now I will clothe thee with new or other garments ⁽³⁸⁾ When the angel said that he had taken away iniquity, he justly reminded them of the filthiness contracted by the priest as well as by the people; for they had denuded themselves of all glory by their iniquities. We hence see that the mouths of the Jews were here closed, that they might not clamor against God, because he suffered them still to continue in their sordid condition, for they deserved to continue in such a state; and the Lord for this reason called their filth, iniquity. He further teaches us, that though the Jews fully deserved by their sins to rot in their struggle and filthiness, yet the Lord would not finally allow their unworthiness to prevent him from affording relief.

The import of the prophecy then is this, — That however much the mean outward condition of the high priest might offend the Jews, they were still to entertain hope; for the remedy was in God’s power, who would at length change the dishonor and reproach of the high priest into very great glory, even when the time of gratuitous remission or of good pleasure arrived.

(38) [מחלצות ], from [חלף ], to set loose, or to put off. Both Parkhurst and Blayney think that they were the garments which the high priest wore on particular and solemn occasions, and which he put off when he had performed his office. “Holy garments” would perhaps be the best rendering. Newcome has “goodly apparel;” and Henderson, “costly habiliments;” garments of the high priest. And that they were the holy garments, such as the high priest wore on especial occasions, appears probable from what follows respectng the mitre, which formed a part of the high priest’s dress. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 3

Now the fifth vision, the Lord showed him Joshua. Now Joshua was the high priest who along with Zerrubbel, a priest who was in charge of the rebuilding of the temple. Stood side by side with Zerrubbel.

He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan was standing at his right hand to resist him ( Zechariah 3:1 ).

Satan is seeking to resist you from whatever work you may desire to do for the Lord, or be called to do for the Lord.

And the Lord said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke you ( Zechariah 3:2 ):

Now, I do feel that in the scriptures we do have a pattern when we are dealing with Satan. That is, of not directly dealing with him. I've heard people say, "I rebuke you, Satan." And every time I hear them say that, I shudder. Because I am certain that he is saying, "Paul I know, Jesus I know, who are you?"

It is interesting in the book of Jude we are told that when Michael, who is one of the chief angels of heaven, when he was disputing with Satan over the body of Moses, Satan was probably wanting to desecrate the body of Moses, and Michael was standing there, and they were disputing over the body, they were fighting over the body of Moses, that Michael did not bring any railing accusations against Satan. He didn't rail on him. But Michael this archangel said, "The Lord rebuke thee." Michael didn't say, "I rebuke you," but he said, "The Lord rebuke you."

Here when he saw Satan standing at the right hand of Joshua the high priest seeking to resist him, and Joshua was standing before the angel of the Lord, that the Lord said unto Satan, "The Lord rebuke you." So I think that if you're going to be rebuking Satan, that is the way you should do it. That rather than saying, "I rebuke you, Satan," or even, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," I think that you would be better off to just say, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan, in the name of Jesus." I always like to keep the Lord between me and Satan. I feel so much safer when I do. "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee:"

is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? ( Zechariah 3:2 )

Referring to Satan, he's like a brand, a coal, a live coal that's been plucked out of the fire. Now the Bible uses this phrase in the New Testament as far as our winning some of the lost. That we, in winning the lost, are plucking coals right out of the fire, and there are people that are almost in hell. By our bringing the glorious news of Jesus Christ, and their reception of it, they are like brands plucked out of the fire.

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments ( Zechariah 3:3 ),

Now here's the high priest clothed with filthy garments as he stood before the angel. Now in the scripture, garments are representative of a person's righteousness. Filthy garments represent a person's self-righteousness. Or that righteousness that you have created for yourself by your own good works. Paul speaks about his endeavors under the law in Philippians, chapter 3. In speaking of all of his adherence to the law, he said, "Those things which were gain to me I counted loss for the righteousness of Jesus Christ, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and can't count them as refuse that I may know Him, and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of Christ, through faith."

So here was Joshua standing there before the Lord in filthy garments. Jeremiah said, "Our righteousness is as filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord." How crass can we be trying to present ourselves to God in our own righteousness? "Well Lord, here I am. Let me tell You what I've done for You this week. Sit down Lord, let me brag a bit." And I'm trying to present myself to God in my righteousness, and they're as filthy rags in His sight. In the book of Revelation, John sees the saints of God clothed in fine linen, pure and clean. The fine linen, the white linen is the righteousness of the saints. But what is the righteousness of the saints? It is that which God has imputed to you because you have believed in His Son Jesus Christ.

Now if I can be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, then it's sheer stupidity to try to come before God in my righteousness and in my goodness. That just doesn't make sense. When God is willing to accept me in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, it's absolute folly for me to try to present to God my own righteousness.

So he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, [This is the angel of the Lord] Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe you with a change of raiment ( Zechariah 3:4 ).

Oh, what a glorious day that was when God did that for me. Standing before the Lord said, "Take off his filthy garments." Then He said, "Behold I'm gonna clothe you with new raiment." The righteousness of Christ in which I'm clothed tonight, through my faith in Jesus Christ. Oh, I'll tell you this was the most glorious experience in my whole Christian walk. It came to me right out of Romans. We're in that book right now on Thursday nights. So if you want to get rid of your old rags, I invite you to come out to Thursday night studies.

And I said, Let them set a fair mitre [or crown] upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and they clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by. And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge, then you shall also judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that are standing by ( Zechariah 3:5-7 ).

So walk in My ways, do My charge, do My work, and you can dwell in My courts and judge there.

Now the sixth vision.

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and all of your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH ( Zechariah 3:8 ).

Here we have now the prophecy of Jesus Christ. In Jeremiah and in Isaiah, Jesus is referred to as the Branch, the righteous Branch that shall come out of the root of Jesse, Jesus Christ. "I am gonna bring forth My Servant, the Branch."

For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the engraving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day. And in that day saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree ( Zechariah 3:9-10 ).

Looking on into the glorious Kingdom Age when Jesus comes again, the Branch, and establishes His kingdom and the iniquity will be purged in a day, and the Lord will reign. Every man neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace, and be not afraid. "They will beat their swords into plowshears, and their spears into pruning hooks." "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. The symbolic Acts 3:1-5

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Lord then instructed others who were standing before Him, probably angelic servants, to remove Joshua’s filthy garments (cf. Exodus 28:8-9; Exodus 28:41; Leviticus 8:7-9; Numbers 20:28). The Lord explained that these garments symbolized the high priest’s (Israel’s) iniquities, which He had forgiven. He promised to remove his representative’s filthy robes and replace them with festal, stately robes, the apparel of royalty and wealth, symbolic of God’s righteousness (cf. Isaiah 3:22). Thus God would restore Israel to her original calling as a priestly nation (cf. Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6).

"Theologically, however, there also seems to be a picture here of the negative aspect of what God does when he saves a person. Negatively, he takes away sin. Positively, he adds or imputes to the sinner saved by grace his own divine righteousness (cf. Zechariah 3:5)." [Note: Barker, p. 624.]

Amillennialists contend that this is all that the vision means; it contains no special promises for Israel. [Note: See Leupold, pp. 74, 77.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he answered, and spake,.... That is, the Angel of the Lord, before whom Joshua stood, answered to the accusations of Satan, and the entreaties of Joshua: and spake

unto those that stood before him; not the fellows that sat before Joshua, Zechariah 3:8 for the priests, who were Joshua's fellows, could not take away sin; nor indeed can ministers of the Gospel, only ministerially or declaratively, as instruments, in bringing the good news of pardon to the comfort of distressed minds; whom the ministering angels may here represent, that stood before Christ the Archangel, the Head of all principalities and powers, and who are ministering spirits to him; and so the Targum paraphrases it,

"and he said to them who ministered before him;''

who, though they can not expiate sin, or make atonement for it, may bring the tidings of pardon to a poor fallen believer:

saying, Take away the filthy garments from him; it may be observed, that the garments of the priests were to be new and fair, according to the Jewish canons i; and if they became filthy, they did not whiten them, nor wash them, but left them for threads (or wicks of candles), and put on new; and so orders are here given not to wash the filthy garments of Joshua, but to take them away: it is not, take him, Satan, the address is not to him; nor angels, who are spoken to, take away this filthy creature from me, I can not bear the sight of him; but take away his sins, not the being, power, or sense of them; nor does it signify making atonement for them, or removing them out of the sight of justice; but a taking them away out of Joshua's sight, and giving him a sense of pardon, a comfortable view of it, in which angels and ministers of the word may be assisting; see Isaiah 6:6 and is effectually done, when Christ, who has power to forgive sin, makes an application of forgiving grace himself, as follows:

and unto him he said; that is, the Angel of the Lord said to Joshua:

Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee; which shows that he had sinned, and interprets the filthy garments he was clothed with: Christ took his iniquity upon himself, bore and made satisfaction for it, and removed it as far from him as the east from the west; and now caused the guilt of it to pass from his conscience, and gave him a comfortable view of the free and full pardon of it. The word "behold" is prefixed to this declaration of pardon, to ascertain the truth of it, to fix his attention to it, and raise his admiration at it:

and I will clothe thee with change of raiment; garments to put on and off; for, in those hot countries, they used to shift their garments often; and these do not design priestly garments, such as the high priest put on, on the day of atonement, when he put off his common garments, and, having done his work, shifted again, Leviticus 16:23 such change of garments the high priest, indeed, had; and so had the common priests; for they did not wear the same garments, when out of service, as when in it; Leviticus 16:23- : Leviticus 16:23- :; but priestly garments seem rather to be intended in the following verses, which were put on along with the mitre: change of raiment here rather signify such as used to be wore on festivals and holy days, rich, valuable, precious garments; such as men wore when they went abroad, and appeared in company, and upon return home put off again; and especially clean neat garments, as some render the word k, in opposition to filthy ones Joshua was clothed with: when arraigned persons put on sordid garments, they were said, "moutare vestem", to change their apparel; but here clean, instead of filthy garments, are called change of raiment with great propriety; and a happy exchange is this indeed! The word is in the plural number, and may point at more garments than one, different suits of apparel, with which changes might be frequently made, both for delight and refreshment; and may have regard to the several garments of believers in Christ, of all good men, partakers of the grace of God: they have the garment of an outward holy conversation, which they are to watch and keep, lest they walk naked; and which, as it is often spotted with sin, they wash and make white in the blood of the Lamb: and there is the integrity and faithfulness of the saints in the performance of their duty, in their several stations of life; and especially of those in public office, in the discharge of that; who, as Job, put on righteousness, and it clothes them, and judgment is as a robe and diadem to them, Job 29:14 and there is the garment of internal holiness, the new man, consisting of the various graces of the spirit, which is put on as a garment, and makes believers all glorious within; as well as their clothing is of wrought gold, the righteousness of Christ; the principal garment, called the robe of righteousness, and garments of salvation; the best robe, and wedding garment, fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness or righteousnesses of the saints, Revelation 19:8 and so the Targum renders the word here, "with righteousnesses": though, as one change of raiment, or suit of apparel, may be meant, so one sort of righteousness only may be pointed at, even the one obedience of Christ, or his justifying righteousness; which may be so called, to denote the excellency and fulness of it, being sufficient to clothe and justify all the elect of God; like raiment, this is not in the saints, but put upon them, and covers them, and keeps them warm; protects from injuries, and beautifies and adorns: this robe of righteousness Christ has wrought out for his people, and he clothes them with it; it is his gift unto them, and they receive it from him; by which they are freed from all sin and condemnation, and their persons and services are accepted with God.

i Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 4, 5. k מחלצות "vestibus aliis", i. e. "puris", Munster; "mundas et pretiosas", Vatablus; "vestes elegantiores et cultiores", Drusius; "vestibus mundioribus", Grotius; "vestibus mundis", Burkius; "significat in genere vestes decoras et pretiosas", ib.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.   2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?   3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.   4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.   5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.   6 And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,   7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.

      There was a Joshua that was a principal agent in the first settling of Israel in Canaan; here is another of the same name very active in their second settlement there after the captivity; Jesus is the same name, and it signifies Saviour; and they were both figures of him that was to come, our chief captain and our chief priest. The angel that talked with Zechariah showed him Joshua the high priest; it is probable that the prophet saw him frequently, that he spoke to him, and that there was a great intimacy between them; but, in his common views, he only saw how he appeared before men; if he must know how he stands before the Lord, it must be shown him in vision; and so it is shown him. And men are really as they are with God, not as they appear in the eye of the world. He stood before the angel of the Lord, that is, before Christ, the Lord of the angels, to whom even the high priests themselves, of Aaron's order, were accountable. He stood before the angel of the Lord to execute his office, to minister to God under the inspection of the angels. He stood to consult the oracle on the behalf of Israel, for whom, as high priest, he was agent. Guilt and corruption are our two great discouragements when we stand before God. By the guilt of the sins committed by us we have become obnoxious to the justice of God; by the power of the sin that dwells in us we have become odious to the holiness of God. All God's Israel are in danger upon these two accounts. Joshua was so here, for the law made men priests that had infirmity,Hebrews 7:28. And, as to both, we have relief from Jesus Christ, who is made of God to us both righteousness and sanctification.

      I. Joshua is accused as a criminal, but is justified. 1. A violent opposition is made to him. Satan stands at his right hand to resist him to be a Satan to him, a law-adversary. He stands at his right hand, as the prosecutor, or witness, at the right hand of the prisoner. Note, The devil is the accuser of the brethren, that accuses them before God day and night,Revelation 12:10. Some think the chief priest was accused for the sin of many of the inferior priests, in marrying strange wives, which they were much guilty of after their return out of captivity, Zechariah 3:1; Zechariah 3:2; Nehemiah 13:28. When God is about to reestablish the priesthood Satan objects the sins that were found among the priests, as rendering them unworthy the honour designed them. It is by our own folly that we give Satan advantage against us and furnish him with matter for reproach and accusation; and if any thing be amiss, especially with the priests, Satan will be sure to aggravate it and make the worst of it. He stood to resist him, that is, to oppose the service he was doing for the public good. He stood at his right hand, the hand of action, to discourage him, and raise difficulties in his way. Note, When we stand before God to minister to him, or stand up for God to serve his interests, we must expect to meet with all the resistance that Satan's subtlety and malice can give us. Let us then resist him that resists us and he shall flee from us. 2. A victorious defence is made for him (Zechariah 3:2; Zechariah 3:2): The Lord (that is, the Lord Christ) said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee. Note, It is the happiness of the saints that the Judge is their friend; the same that they are accused to is their patron and protector, and an advocate for them, and he will be sure to bring them off. (1.) Satan is here checked by one that has authority, that has conquered him, and many a time silenced him. The accuser of the brethren, of the ministers and the ministry, is cast out; his indictments are quashed, and his suggestions against them as well as his suggestions to them, are shown to be malicious, frivolous, and vexatious. The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan! The Lord said (that is, the Lord our Redeemer), The Lord rebuke thee, that is, the Lord the Creator. The power of God is engaged for the making of the grace of Christ effectual. "The Lord restrain thy malicious rage, reject thy malicious charge, and revenge upon thee thy enmity to a servant of his" Note, those that belong to Christ have him ready to appear vigorously for them when Satan appears most vehement against them. He does not parley with him, but stops his mouth immediately with this sharp reprimand: The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan! This is the best way of dealing with that furious enemy. Get thee behind me, Satan. (2.) Satan is here argued with. He resists the priest, but let him know that his resistance, [1.] Will be fruitless; it will be to no purpose to attempt any thing against Jerusalem, for the Lord has chosen it, and he will abide by his choice. Whatever is objected against God's people, God saw it; he foresaw it when he chose them and yet he chose them, and therefore that can be no inducement to him now to reject them; he knew the worst of them when he chose them; and his election shall obtain. [2.] It is unreasonable; for is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Joshua is so, and the priesthood, and the people, whose representative he is. Christ has not that to say for them for which they are to be praised, but that for which they are to be pitied. Note, Christ is ready to make the best of his people, and takes notice of every thing that is pleadable in excuse of their infirmities, so far is he from being extreme to mark what they do amiss. They have been lately in the fire; no wonder that they are black and smoked, and have the smell of fire upon them, but they are therefore to be excused, not to be accused. One can expect no other than that those who but the other day were captives in Babylon should appear very mean and despicable. They have been lately brought out of great affliction; and is Satan so barbarous as to desire to have them thrown into affliction again? They have been wonderfully delivered out of the fire, that God might be glorified in them; and will he then cast them off and abandon them? No, he will not quench the smoking flax, the smoking fire-brand; for he snatched it out of the fire because he intended to make use of it. Note, Narrow escapes from imminent danger are happy presages and powerful pleas for more eminent favours. A converted soul is a brand plucked out of the fire by a miracle of free grace, and therefore shall not be left to be a prey to Satan.

      II. Joshua appears as one polluted, but is purified; for he represents the Israel of God, who are all as an unclean thing, till they are washed and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Now observe here, 1. The impurity wherein Joshua appeared (Zechariah 3:3; Zechariah 3:3): He was clothed, not only in coarse, but in filthy garments, such as did very ill become the dignity of his office and the sanctity of his work. By the law of Moses the garments of the high priest were to be for glory and for beauty,Exodus 28:2. But Joshua's garments were a shame and reproach to him; yet in them he stood before the angel of the Lord; he had no clean linen wherein to minister and to do the duty of his place. Now this intimates, not only that the priesthood was poor and despised, and loaded with contempt, but that there was a great deal of iniquity cleaving to the holy things. The returned Jews were so taken up with their troubles that they thought they needed not complain of their sins, and were not aware that those were the great hindrances of the progress of God's work among them; because they were free from idolatry they thought themselves chargeable with no iniquity. But God showed them there were many things amiss in them, which retarded the advances of God's favours towards them. There were spiritual enemies warring against them, more dangerous than any of the neighbouring nations. The Chaldee paraphrase says, Joshua had sons who took unto them wives which were not lawful for the priests to take; and we find it was so, Ezra 10:18. And, no doubt, there were other things amiss in the priesthood, Malachi 2:1. Yet Joshua was permitted to stand before the angel of the Lord. Though his children did not as they should, yet the covenant of priesthood was not broken. Note, Christ bears with his people, whose hearts are upright with him, and admits them into communion with himself, notwithstanding their manifold infirmities. 2. The provision that was made for his cleansing. Christ gave orders to the angels that attended him, and were ready to do his pleasure, to put Joshua into a better state. Joshua presented himself before the Lord in his filthy garments, as an object of his pity; and Christ graciously looked upon him with compassion, and not, as justly he might have done, with indignation. Christ loathed the filthiness of Joshua's garments, yet did not put him away, but put them away. Thus God by his grace does with those whom he chooses to be priests to himself; he parts between them and their sins, and so prevents their sins parting between them and their God; he reconciles himself to the sinner, but not to the sin. Two things are here done for Joshua, representing a double work of divine grace wrought in and for believers:-- (1.) His filthy garments are taken from him, Zechariah 3:4; Zechariah 3:4. The meaning of this is given us in what Christ said, and he said it as one having authority, Behold, I have caused thy iniquity to pass from thee. The guilt of it is taken away by pardoning mercy, the stench and stain of it by peace spoken to the conscience, and the power of it broken by renewing grace. When God forgives our sins he causes our iniquity to pass from us, that it may not appear against us, to condemn us; it passes from us as far as the east is from the west. When he sanctifies the nature he enables us to put off the old man, to cast away from us the filthy rags of our corrupt affections and lusts, as things we will never have any thing more to do with, will never gird to us or appear in. Thus Christ washes those from their sins in his own blood whom he makes to our God kings and priests,Revelation 1:5; Revelation 1:6. Either we must be cleansed from the pollutions of sin or we shall, as polluted, be put from that priesthood,Ezra 2:62. (2.) He is clothed anew, has not only the shame of his filthiness removed, but the shame of his nakedness covered: I will clothe thee with change of raiment. Joshua had no clean linen of his own, but Christ will provide for him, for he will not let a priesthood of his own instituting be lost, be either contemptible before men or unacceptable before God. The change of raiment here is rich costly raiment, such as is worn on high days. Joshua shall appear as lovely as ever he appeared loathsome. Those that minister in holy things shall not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well; God will make them wise, and humble, and diligent, and faithful, and examples of every thing that is good; and then Joshua is clothed with change of raiment. Thus those whom Christ makes spiritual priests are clothed with the spotless robe of his righteousness and appear before God in that, and with the graces of his Spirit, which are ornaments to them. The righteousness of saints, both imputed and implanted, is the fine linen, clean and white, with which the bride, the Lamb's wife, is arrayed, Revelation 19:8.

      III. Joshua is in danger of being turned out of office; but, instead of that, he is reinstalled and established in his office. He not only has his sins pardoned, and is furnished with grace sufficient for himself, but, as rectus in curia--acquitted in court, he is restored to his former honours and trusts. 1. The crown of the priesthood is put upon him, Zechariah 3:5; Zechariah 3:5. This was done at the special instance and request of the prophet: I said, "Let them set a fair mitre upon his head, as a badge of his office. Now that he looks clean, let him also look great; let him be dressed up in all the garments of the high priest." Note, When God designs the restoring or reviving of religion he stirs up his prophets and people to pray for it, and does it in answer to their prayers. Zechariah prayed that the angels might be ordered to set the mitre on Joshua's head, and they did it immediately, and clothed him with the priestly garments; for no man took this honour to himself, but he that was called of God to it. The angel of the Lord stood by, as having the oversight of the work which the created angels were employed in. He stood by, as one well pleased with it, and resolved to stand by the orders he had given for the doing of it and to continue his presence with that priesthood. 2. The covenant of the priesthood is renewed with him, which is called God's covenant of peace,Numbers 25:12. Mr. Pemble calls it the patent of his office, which is here declared and delivered to him before witnesses, Zechariah 3:6; Zechariah 3:7. The angel of the Lord, having taken care to make him fit for his office (and all that God calls to any office he either finds fit or makes so), invests him in it. And though he is not made a priest with an oath (that honour is reserved for him who is a priest after the order of Melchisedek, Hebrews 7:21), yet, being a type of him, he is inaugurated with a solemn declaration of the terms upon which he held his office. The angel of the Lord protested to Joshua that, if he would be sure to do the duty of his place, he should enjoy the dignity and reward of it. Now see, (1.) What the conditions are upon which he enters into his office. Let him know that he is upon his good behaviour; he must walk in God's ways, that is, he must live a good life and be holy in all manner of conversation; he must go before the people in the paths of God's commandments, and walk circumspectly. He must also keep God's charge, must carefully do all the services of the priesthood, and must see to it that the inferior priests performed the duties of their place decently and in order. He must take heed to himself, and to all the flock,Acts 20:28. Note, Good ministers must be good Christians; yet that is not enough: they have a trust committed to them, they are charged with it, and they must keep it with all possible care, that they may give up their account of it with joy, 1 Timothy 6:14. (2.) What the privileges are which we may expect, and be assured of, in the due discharge of his office. His patent runs, Quamdiu se bene gesserit--During good behaviour. Let him be sure to do his part, and God will own him. [1.] "Thou shalt judge my house; thou shalt preside in the affairs of the temple, and the inferior priests shall be under thy direction." Note, The power of the church, and of church rulers, is not a legislative, but only a judicial power. The high priest might not make any new laws for God's house, nor ordain any other rites of worship than what God had ordained; but he must judge God's house, that is, he must see to it that God's laws and ordinances were punctually observed, must protect and encourage those that did observe them, and enquire into and punish the violation of them. [2.] "Thou shalt also keep my courts; thou shalt have oversight of what is done in all the courts of the temple, and shalt keep them pure and in good order for the worship to be performed in them." Note, Ministers are God's stewards, and they are to keep his courts, in honour of him who is the chief Lord and for the preserving of equity and good order among his tenants. [3.] "I will give thee places to walk among those that stand by, among these angels that are inspectors and assistants in this instalment." They shall stand by while Joshua is at work for God, and shall be as a guard to him, or he shall be highly honoured and respected as an angel of God,Galatians 4:14. Ministers are called angels,Revelation 1:20. Those that walk in God's ways may be said to walk among the angels themselves, for they do the will of God as the angels do it that are in heaven, and are their fellow-servants,Revelation 19:10. Some make it a promise of eternal life, and of a reward of his fidelity in the future state. Heaven is not only a palace, a place to repose in, but a paradise, a garden, a place to walk in; and there are walks among the angels, in society with that holy and glorious company. See Ezekiel 28:14.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

Zechariah’s Vision of Joshua The High Priest

JANUARY 22 nd 1865 by

C. H. SPURGEON

(1834-1892) “And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him be said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.” Zechariah 3:1-5 .

The original intention of this vision was to foretell the revival of the Jewish state after its long depression through the Babylonish captivity. Joshua, the high-priest, with his tattered garments, must be looked upon as the type of the Jewish people in their deep distress. He was ministering before the Lord in worn and filthy garments, to show at once the sin of Israel and the poverty into which they had fallen; for so poor were they, that the service of God could not be conducted in suitable apparel, but the high-priest himself appeared before the altar in robes unfitted for his sacred work. The set time to favor Zion is according to the visions most near at hand; and Satan, the old adversary of the chosen race, bestirs himself to resist them, and turn away the favor of God from them; but that same angel of the covenant who led the people through the wilderness, and carried them all the days of old, stands before the throne as their advocate, and at his request, Jehovah rebukes Satan, and begins to bless the people. Joshua, their representative, receives a change of raiment, in testimony that the people’s sin is forgiven, and that God accepts their worship. The vision then sweeps on to the day of the Lord Jesus, and the heart of the prophet Zechariah is cheered by a sight of the whole land restored to its former peace and happiness, under the reign of the glorious one who is called “My servant, The Branch.”

While we have been interpreting the other visions of Zechariah, we have tried to derive present comfort and profit from them. We will endeavor to do so on this occasion. We may very properly take Joshua as a type of all the people of God, as they stand in their sense of sin and natural faultiness, subject to the accusations of Satan, but delivered by their ever gracious Lord; and the change of raiment as setting forth the forgiveness of sin and the imputation of the Savior’s righteousness, which is the joy of all believers. Let us take each particular separately, and may God the Holy Spirit shed a sacred light upon the vision, and may we see in it more than Zechariah himself discovered; may we see Jehovah Jesus in all the glory of his love, manifesting himself to his chosen as he doth not unto the world.

I. To begin, then, where the vision begins, with The Believer Himself Represented By Joshua.

The believer himself is described as a priest standing before the angel of the Lord. Let us mark this. He is a priest. Who are the priests? Certain sons of Korah, who take too much upon them, say, “We are the priests, we are the legitimate descendants of the apostles, and a mysterious power distills from our priestly hands.” We reply to them, it is impossible that you should be descendants of the apostles and yet claim to possess priestly power, for the apostles never claimed any peculiar priesthood for themselves above other believers, but they spoke of their Brethren, the Christians of their age, as being on a par with themselves in the matter of priesthood. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 .) If then these pretenders to priesthood be priests in any special sense, they certainly are not descendants of the Apostles, for the Apostles claimed no priority of priesthood beyond the rest of their brethren, but said of all the saints, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood.” The fact is they are neither one nor the other they are not descendants of the Apostles, for they preach not the Apostles’ gospel, and know not their spirit; nor have they any priestly office, unless it be that the old Babylonian harlot accepts them as her foster-children, and gives them a name and a place among those who partake in her abominations. Who are the priests? Why, every humble man and woman that knows the power of Jesus Christ in his own soul, to purge and cleanse him from dead works, is appointed to serve as a priest unto God. I say every humble man and every humble woman too, for in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female, but we are all one in him. We offer prayer unto God, knowing that it ascends to heaven like sweet odors before the throne; we offer praise, believing that “whoso offereth praise, glorifieth God.” “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Jesus hath made us priests and kings unto God, and even here upon earth we exercise the priesthood of consecrated living and hallowed service, and hope to exercise it till the Lord shall come. When I see then Joshua the high priest, I do but see a picture of each and every child of God, who has been made nigh by the blood of Christ, and has been taught to minister in holy things, and enter into that which is within the veil.

But observe where this High Priest is, he is said to be “standing before the angel of the Lord,” that is, standing to minister. This should be the perpetual position of every true believer. I have no business on the bed of sloth; I have no right to be wandering abroad after private business; I can claim no time which I may set apart to my own follies, or to my own aggrandizement. My true position as a Christian is to be always ministering to God, always standing before his altar. Do I hear you ask how this can be, with your farms and with your merchandise? Know ye not, brethren, that whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, ye may do it all to the glory of God. Understand ye not that every place is now God’s temple, and that everywhere is God’s altar, and that ye can as truly serve him in your daily callings as in the assemblies of the place of worship. You know not the true position of a Christian if you fancy that you are only priests on the Lord’s-day, and only to minister before God when you stand in the congregation of the faithful. You are appointed priests like your Lord, forever, and you are forever to be offering the sacrifice. By day and by night should your hearts be going up to him. You should fall asleep with your Master’s name upon your tongue, and when you awake you should say with the Psalmist, “I am still with thee.” Happy Joshua! Notwithstanding the filthiness of his garments, he is to be commended because he keeps in the position to which he is called, and like the servant whose ear was bored, he does not leave his master’s house. Come you that profess to be God’s people, if you have been negligent in the duties of your high calling, and if your hearts at this moment are going after vanity, pray God the Holy Spirit to put you into a proper state to perform the functions of your holy office, and now in the courts of the Lord’s house, stand like Joshua, with your hearts prepared by the Lord of Hosts to minister before the Lord.

Yet, notice where it is that Joshua stands to minister; it is before the angel of Jehovah. You and I can never stand to minister before Moses, the mediator, under the law; much less before Jehovah himself, for even our God is a consuming fire. It is only through a mediator that we poor defiled ones can ever become priests unto God. Peradventure, some of God’s people here may have forgotten this. You have been searching yourselves and trying your hearts as in the sight of God’s law, and you feel very deeply that you are far behind what the glory of the God in the law would ask of you; and therefore you begin foolishly to mistrust your Father’s love, and to think that your service before him will not speed. Beloved, it is ill serving God in the light of the law: but oh! how blessed is it to stand and minister before Christ and in Christ! Then, if I can bring him nothing but my tears, he will put them in his bottle, for he once wept; if I can bring him nothing but my groans and sighs, he will accept these as an acceptable sacrifice, for he once was broken in heart, and sighed heavily in spirit. Gracious God, I bless thee that I have not to present my sacrifice directly to thyself, else thou wouldst consume my sacrifice and me with the flames of thy wrath; but I present what I have before thy messenger, the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus, and through him my prayers find acceptance wrapped up in his prayers; my praises become sweet as they are bound up with bundles of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, from Christ’s own garden; then I myself, standing in him, am accepted in the Beloved; and all my poor, defiled, polluted works, though in themselves only objects of divine abhorrence, are so accepted and received, that God smelleth a sweet savor. He is content and I am blessed. See, then, the position of the Christian as a priest: he is to stand before the angel of the Lord.

Now read the next word in the light of your own experience-- “Clothed,” it is said, “with filthy garments.” Did you ever feel this when you have come to serve God? Perhaps it is at evening prayer- there has been something amiss in the family during the day, and you know it perhaps, as the head of the household, you have to conduct prayer, and you feel, “O God, I cannot pray, I cannot pray as I would; I am thy priest in this house, I know, but how can I minister before thee, for I have filthy garments on?” Possibly your business kept you up very late last night; things are not going on as well as you wish in matters of trade, and you have come here distracted; and while sitting in the pew listening to God’s people as they praise the Lord, you have thought, “Ah! I have my filthy garments on; I cannot pray to him, I cannot praise him as I would.” I know what it is to come and preach to you sometimes, and to feel such an overwhelming sense of my own unworthiness, that, were it not Woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel, I would not come on this platform again, for it is hard to feel that your garments are defiled even while endeavoring to be God’s mouth to men. Perhaps this afternoon, when you are going into your Sunday-school class, you will feel much warmth of heart towards God, you will confess that you are not your own, but bought with a price, you will desire to live unto Him and honor him; but, oh, that dread impediment of conscious guilt, it will make you cry out, “How can I stand before Him who charged his angels with folly, and declares that the heavens are not pure in his sight? How can I hope to have a blessing on anything that I do, when I feel a heart of unbelief departing from the living God? How can I give a blessing to his saints, when I want a blessing myself? How shall I break the bread of Christ with unholy fingers, and pour out the wine into his cup with a sinful hand?” But stop, Christian, do not think of renouncing your priesthood; do not let a sense of unfitness keep you from your service. Stand where you are; for remember, you are standing in the only place where pollution can be washed away, you are standing before the angel of the covenant. It is before Christ that sin is to be confessed. Confess it anywhere else, your sorrow is not repentance but remorse. “What is remorse?” says one. Remorse is repentance made out of sight of Jesus; true repentance is sorrow of sin in the presence of Christ. Foul and filthy as you are, there is but one voice which can speak you clean. Go not away from that voice. There is but one hand which can touch you and make you pure; stand where that hand is close to you, and still, filthy as your garments are, shun not the face of your best, your only friend, but breathe out this prayer, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Purge me, oh, purge me now, for thy love’s sake.”

II. Let us turn to another individual who figures in the group. We have, in the second place, An Adversary.

Satan stood before the angel to resist Joshua. Does not his opposition seem superfluous? Poor Joshua feels enough the filth upon his garments, without needing to have the devil to withstand him. And I, poor I, do often feel so much my own sinfulness, that it seems a work of supererogation on the devil’s part, to lay accusations-conscience accuses enough without him. But yet, so cruel is he, that he avails himself of the times of the weakness of God’s people, there and then to resist them. Observe what he is called. He is called Satan, which signifies an adversary. He is an adversary, and that by nature. His nature is now so vile that he cannot help being the adversary of everything that is good. From the day on which he was expelled from heaven, and dragged with him a third part of the stars of glory, he has been God’s bitterest foe; and as to man, from the hour in which it was said, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head,” he discovered in that humble creature man, his great destroyer, and he has never ceased to nibble at the heel of the seed of the woman, foreknowing how terribly his head is to be bruised. There is something, however, very comforting in the thought that he is an adversary: I would sooner have him for an adversary than for a friend. O my soul, it were dread work with thee if Satan were a friend of thine, for then with him thou must for ever dwell in darkness and in the deeps, shut out from the friendship of God; but to have Satan for an adversary is a comfortable omen, for it looks as if God were our friend, and so far let us be comforted in this matter. Yet, remember, Satan is an adversary not to be despised. Of keen intellect, ripened by years of experience, with a fullness of cunning and craft which made even the serpent, when possessed by him, more subtle than any other beast of the field, he is an antagonist worthy of angelic might. Gabriel might quail in such a conflict if he did not stand clad in the golden armor of perfect innocence. We, so apt to sin, carrying about with us so much tinder, had need to fear the fiery sparks which he scatters. It is a dreadful thing to stand foot to foot with Apollyon. Read Bunyan’s description of Christian’s fight in the Valley of Humiliation, and you have there a shadow-picture of what the true conflict is. Better to endure all kinds of temporal pains and trials, than to be beset by Satan. He who wins gains nothing, and he who fails will find his weight full heavy when the dragon sets his foot upon his neck. Thou hast a stern adversary here, and one who will never cease to vex thee till thou shalt be out of gunshot of him, in having crossed the river of death.

Now you will perceive, if you look at the passage, that this adversary selected a most fitting place in which to do Joshua damage. He came to accuse him before the angel before God’s own Son. Oh! if he could once make the Lord loose his hold of us, then we should soon be his prey. You perceive he does not attack Joshua first, but he comes before the angel to prevent Joshua’s being accepted. If Satan can once persuade you or me to think we are not God’s children and not accepted, he knows that he has done us serious injury. In the arsenals of hell there are great stores of “ifs:” “its” are Satan’s bombshells “If thou be the Son of God.” If he can make you doubt, then he makes a breach in your wall. If you be strong enough to say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him,” you will then come off more than conqueror. But the drift of Satan is to touch you just there, in that place where your strength lieth. He is like Delilah; he feels that if he can cut off the locks of your faith, where your strength dwells, then he may put out your eyes and sell you to the Philistines for ever. Take care, take care, when Satan comes to accuse you before the angel and to make you doubt your interest in the Lord Jesus, that you at once leave the case in the angel’s hands, for your advocate can plead better against the accuser than you can, and it is best for you to hold your peace, and to let that great Advocate stand up, and to say, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee.”

You will agree with me that the adversary not only selected a very fit place by coming at once to the throne to lay the accusation, but a very fit opportunity. Joshua had his filthy garments on. Satan is a great coward: he will generally meddle with God’s people when they are down. I find that when I am in good physical health, I am not often tempted of Satan to despondency or doubt; but whenever I get depressed in spirit, or the liver is out of order, or the head aches, then comes the hissing serpent, “God has forsaken you, you are no child of God, you are unfaithful to your Master, yea have no part in the blood of sprinkling,” and such-like things. You old rascal! if you say as much as that to me in my days of health, when my blood is leaping in my veins, I shall be more than a match for you; but to meet me just then, when you understand that I am weak, ay! this is like you, Satan. What a thorough devil our enemy is! I can call him by no worse name than his own; but if worse there were, richly would he deserve it. You must expect, Christian, when you have lost your sense of justification, when you are conscious of sin, when you feel unfit to minister before God, you must expect that just then he will come to accuse you. If Joshua’s garment had been perfectly clean that morning when he went to minister as a priest, Satan would have let him alone. But see Joshua depressed in spirit, and heavy in mind, weeping over his sins, then comes Satan, and he says, “Now, I shall speed with him, God will hate Joshua, for he cannot bear filth; he will be sure to cast away the filthy priest. And Joshua is hating himself too, and so I shall plunge him in despair, and make an end of the man.” Surely, so it would have been if the angel had not been there; but the angel of the Lord, by his presence, is ever a wall of fire round about his people, and a glory in the midst. If the lion of hell comes prowling forth to seize the very weakest lamb, the great Shepherd will deliver the lamb out of his teeth; nor shall the infernal lion rend the meanest of his sheep.

Commentators have puzzled themselves to know what Satan would have to say against Joshua. As I read their conjectures, I thought that it would never have puzzled me, for my question would be in my own case, which out of fifty thousand things the devil would choose to bring? Not what he could bring, but I say, which out of fifty thousand things he would choose to bring? Truly, dear friend, if Satan wants to accuse us, any page of our history, any hour of any day will furnish him material for his charges. Yesterday you were impatient, the day before you were proud, another day you were slothful, on another, angry. Oh, what a den of unclean birds the human heart is! I would God we could wring their necks, but they are too many for any power less than divine to destroy them all; one chirps at one time and one at another, and between them they maintain a dolorous discord. Talk of perfection in the flesh! The man who dreams of it is either a fool or a knave, one of the two; he is either a fool and does not know his own heart, or else he is a knave before God, and is dishonest, and does not call that sin which is sin. Perfection in the flesh! why, those believers who live nearest to God and have the deepest experience of divine things will tell you they have given up that dream long ago, they never expect to be perfect except in Christ Jesus, and never to be complete in themselves but only to be complete in him. If the old accuser wants reasons for accusation he may indeed find as many as he wills, and continue to accuse as long as ever he pleases, for we are altogether as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. I have heard of a certain divine that he used always to carry about with him a little book. This little book had only three leaves in it, and truth to tell there was not a single word in the book. The first was a sheet of black paper, black as jet; the next was a sheet of red-scarlet; and the next was a sheet of white without spot. Day by day he used to take out this little book, and at last he told some one the secret of what it meant. He said, “There is the black leaf that is my sin, and the wrath of God which my sin deserves; I look, and look, and think it is not black enough, though it is black as black can be. Then the next, that is the leaf of the atoning sacrifice, the precious blood the red leaf how I do delight to look at that, and look, and look again. Then there is the white leaf, that is my soul, as it is washed in Jesus’ blood, made white as snow, through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and washing in the fountain which Christ has filled from his own veins.” Ah, that first black leaf! That black leaf! Surely, if Satan looks over it, it will be no puzzle to him to find somewhat against you, for he may continue to plead against you till doomsday, and always find ground in your shortcoming for accusing you before the angel of God.

And what was it that Satan was after, after all, with Joshua? Was it that he hated Joshua’s sins? Did he bring these before the angel because be really was vexed that such a sinner as Joshua should defile the courts of God’s house? Ah, not a bit of it. It is an edifying spectacle, certainly, to see Satan pleading against sin. It is sometimes good to turn the tables on Satan, as Martin Luther does, and tell him, “Supposing I am all thou sayest I am, yet what are you that you should bring accusations against me? I am no servant of thine, Satan. If my Master does not find fault with me, who am I that I should be afraid, because you assail and accuse me? What are you, after all? You do but look round my castle wall, and smile at every rift, and so tell me where it wants mending! What are you, but a fierce dog, keeping me awake by your howling? Better that I have you than be without you, lest I fall into a deadly slumber, and so sleep myself into carnal security and spiritual death. What art thou after all, arch fiend, but one who, like a terrible tempest, drives me nearer to my Savior, compels me to find a harbor in his bosom.” Satan aims at our destruction; that is the point at which he drives. He does not care for our pleasure, it is our total and eternal ruin. Let us know this, and never be beguiled by him. In whatever way he puts sin, let us understand it to be sin still, and therefore keep out of his clutches. When at the council of Basle, a certain cardinal had spoken very fairly about Protestants, the Emperor Sigismund rose and said, “Yes, he talks very prettily, but remember he is a Roman, he is a Roman still.” So when the adversary advances with his blandishments and temptations, remember he is a devil still, though dressed in his best robes, and detect him always under any of his various subterfuges; for his desire is at all times and all seasons, your total destruction.

We have now, a very gloomy picture before us. We have the poor believer in Christ willing to minister unto the Lord, but quite unable to do so because of his filthy garments; and we have at the same time a clamorous accuser who is crying out before the bar of justice “Condemn him! condemn him! condemn him!” and well may that poor believer tremble from head to foot as he recollects how true the charge is.

III. But stop, the picture changes now, for The Angel Speaks; he has been silent till now, but now he comes into the foreground. “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” Take note that this rebuke comes at the right season. When Satan accuses, Christ pleads. He does not wait till the case has gone against us and then express his regret, but he is always a very present help in time of trouble. He knows the heart of Satan, being omniscient God, and long before Satan can accuse he puts in the demurrer, the blessed plea on our behalf, and stays the action till he gives an answer which silences for ever every accusation. Do not think, Christian, that there will ever come a night so dark that there will be no light shining for you in it, or that Satan will be able to surprise the Savior and take you by storm. At the nick of time Christ will be sure to be your help.

Observe that this rebuke also came from the very highest authority. He says, “Jehovah rebuke thee, oh Satan.” Christ does not merely rebuke Satan himself, but he prays the Lord to do it. The eternal God, who is full of justice, says to the accuser, “I have justified, why dost thou accuse. I accepted my own dear Son in the room and place of the poor sinner with the filthy garments on; why dost thou accuse?” That is a joyous utterance of the apostle, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” If God justifieth, that very act is a rebuke to all the accusations of the false fiend. Courage, Christian! the voice which silenced thy cruel foe is the voice that rolls the stars along, against which nothing can stand.

You must not fail to observe, however, that this rebuke was founded upon electing love. You that deny the doctrine of election come here and read this verse: “Jehovah rebuke thee, old Satan; even Jehovah that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.” If God hath chosen his people, then it is of no use for Satan to attempt their overthrow. Christ does not here meet Satan with any “ifs” ands ’buts,” and “peradventures,” he does not meet him with those truths which are merely matters of experience, and about which there may be a question, but he meets him with the high mysterious truth which was settled before the world was, he throws as it were this chain into his teeth, and bids him champ that till he breaks his teeth. “God hath chosen Jerusalem; “let that be rebuke enough. I think your experience will bear out what I now say, that it is all very well to live on spoon victuals, and on milk, when you have no trials and troubles; but if it ever comes to a pinch between your soul and sin, if you are in the deep waters of conscious sinfulness, and Satan is accusing you, nothing will do for your soul to meet the adversary with, but the doctrine of sovereign grace. You may be an Arminian in summer, but you must be a Calvinist in the roaring winds of winter. Arminianism is a very pretty sort of theology for a painted boat upon a glassy lake, but they that do business on deep waters, and weather the storms and hurricanes, must have a good substantial bark of everlasting immutable love; otherwise, if the vessel be not staunchly and well built, their tacklings are loose, they cannot well strengthen their mast, and the vessel drives upon the quicksands. Beloved, in my spiritual building I want to get more and more on to the rock, immediately on the rock. I know I am told that the rock does not yield a harvest, that election is not a practical truth; but after all, if I want a house built, let me have it on the rock, for if it does not yield me any present practical results, yet I must have some comfort, I must have some place to dwell in the storm. I can go out to other fields to sow my corn and reap my harvest, but for my everlasting confidence I want a rock.

Rest assured that the doctrines commonly called Calvinistic are the only doctrines that can shut the mouths of devils, and fill the mouths of saints in the day of famine and in the time of extremity. “The Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.” When I am bowed down under sin, next to my Bible I love such books as “Elisha Coles on Divine Sovereignty,” or “Dr. Crisp’s Sermons.” Albeit that they do not contain all the truth, yet they teach very clearly that part of it which a troubled spirit needs. Does eternal love ordain sinners to eternal life irrespective of their works? Does the Lord absolutely, out of sovereign mercy, make men to be his children? Did God choose the chief of sinners, and does he never cast them away? Does he say, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy?” Does he declare that he is absolutely justified in doing whatever he wills with his own? Does he on such terms as that choose me? Then blessed be his name, such an election as this just suits my case; and I find that believing the doctrine in that light, I can say to all my doubts and fears “Jehovah that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.”

The rebuke is forcibly applicable to the case in hand. He says, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire.” Satan says, “The man’s garments are filthy?” “Well,” says Jesus, “how do you expect them to be otherwise? When you pull a brand out of the fire, do you expect to find it milk-white or polished?” No, it had begun to crack and burn, and though you have plucked it out of the fire, it is in itself still black and charred. So it is with the child of God. What is he at the best? Till he is taken up to heaven, he is nothing but a brand plucked out of the fire. It is his daily moan that he is a sinner; but Christ accepts him as he is: and he shuts the devil’s mouth by telling him, “Thou sayest this man is black of course he is: what did I think he was but that? He is a brand plucked out of the fire. I plucked him out of it. He was burning when he was in it: he is black now he is out of it. He was what I knew he would be; he is not what I mean to make him, but he is what I knew he would be. I have chosen him as a brand plucked out of the fire. What hast thou to say to that?” Do observe that this plea did not require a single word to be added to it from Joshua. If you look, Joshua did not say a solitary word. This so silenced the devil, that he was speechless. How often Satan has been nonplussed! He has made up a very pretty case against us; he has caught us in our worst moments and he has thought, “I will sift him like wheat in my sieve.” His plans would have succeeded, but there was a “but” in his way: (an unfortunate “but” for him, but a blessed “but” for us:) “But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.” Satan is something like Haman. What an admirable plot Haman had laid for the destruction of Mordecai and the Jews! Yes, but there was one little thing which he had not reckoned on-the Jews had a friend at court who lay in the bosom of the king. And so, Satan has often a scheme for the destruction of God’s people, but there is one thing which frustrates him, namely, that they have a dear friend at Court who lies in the bosom of the Eternal King, who pleads for them; and while he is there poor Joshua shall never fail, for the great Joshua, even Jesus his near kinsman, says, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”

IV. We have not yet entered into the soul of our text, but here it Is, A Matchless Deed Of Grace.

Thus said the angel, “take away the filthy garments from him.” Here is a picture of sin removed. Do you not think you see him; they have taken off his vestments, every single piece of the robe which was too defiled for him to wear has been taken away, and there he stands; and as the angel looks at him he sees the man’s nakedness, but he cannot see any defilement, for the filth is all gone. So is every pardoned sinner; so am I this morning; so are you, dear brother. God has commanded, “Take away his filthy garments from him,” and as easily as we take off filthy robes, so easily does God take away sin through the atonement of Christ. There is more than that here; the Lord doth not only take away the sin itself, but he takes away the consciousness of it. You feel as if you could not serve God because sin is heavy on you. Look to Jesus, the covenant angel. Hear him say “It is finished,” and if you can but lay hold on him, in a moment you will lose all sense of sin; you will know yourself to be a sinner, but at the same time you will feel that you are a blood-washed sinner, a sinner saved by grace, and your soul, with your Saviours garments on, made holy as the Holy One, will venture close to the throne and stand there unabashed. That is a delightful sentence where Paul speaks of “having our conscience purged from dead works;” not merely having the dead works forgiven, but having the conscience purged of them, so that you have no more conscience of sin. Sin is gone, you do not stand now in God’s sight as a sinner, but as one who is perfect in Christ Jesus; you have not a sin in God’s book against you, but you are absolved, Christ has said it, “Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee.” You have an admirable picture of this in Joshua’s losing his filthy garments.

Nor was this all. The order was now given to clothe him: “I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” Christ has performed a complete obedience to the divine law. He had no need to do this for himself, but he did it for his people. What he did is ours; the perfect obedience of Christ is imputed to every believer. We wrap ourselves about with the garments of Christ, just as Jacob put on the robes of his brother Esau; and our Father gives us the blessing, because he finds us in our brother’s clothes. Oh, this is gracious, for all the righteousness you and I could ever have if we had been perfect would only have been human, but this is divine; Christ is the Lord our Righteousness, and we are sumptuously arrayed in his seamless robe.

Here let me remark that this is matter of experience too, for the believer gets to feel that he can now minister before God without trembling, for he wears Christ’s garments. Oh, how delightful it is to preach, dressed in the robes of Christ, or to pray when you feel you have Christ’s vestments on! Oh, how fair a thing it is to minister at God’s altar, when you know that you are dressed in the white linen, the righteousness of Christ, so clean that even God’s all-seeing eye cannot detect so much as a spot or blemish in it. Pure, lovely, beautiful, without blemish from head to foot in the sight of God, is every justified soul. Oh, Christian, never be satisfied unless you know this, and live in the constant enjoyment of it.

Notice one more thing, and I will not keep you longer. The prophet was so astonished to see the alteration which had taken place in Joshua dressed out in his new and sumptuous apparel, that he broke in upon the vision, and spake himself, “And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head.” I do not know what business Zechariah had to speak; but truly, if I had seen the vision, I must have done the same. Gazing through my tears, seeing the Lord’s people thus transformed from filthiness to cleanliness, and from shame to beauty, I think I should have said, “Now, Lord, finish the work; make that servant of thine to serve thee; as he is perfectly clothed, now, Lord, put on the mitre, and make him fit to do thy work.” Some of God’s people appear to me to forget this. They get as far as imputed righteousness, and believe themselves to be accepted in the Beloved. There they are content to tarry. But, ah, my soul desires even to say, “Lord, set a fair mitre on the head of every one of thy saved ones.” Some of you I do trust are saved, but then how little you do for Christ! My prayer shall be for you “Lord, set the mitre on their heads; make them priests they ought to be such; thou hast washed them, cleansed them, and clothed them, on purpose that they may be such: but they have laid aside their mitre-Lord, set it on their heads.” I pray that you may have it on your head to-day; that you may in your family, in the Sunday-school, to-morrow in your business, in the street, and in the shop, go forth wearing the mitre, ordained to be true priests unto God, and exercising your functions, not laying aside your office. Some act with their mitres as our kings and queens do with their crowns: they only put them on upon state occasions do not wear them always, because they are too heavy. Oh Christian, your state occasion should be always; you are always dear to Christ, and always near the Father’s heart. Never take your mitre off. Believers, put it on and go forth from this time forth praising and blessing the covenant angel who in Jehovah’s name has taken away your filthy garments, and who still stands by! I like that closing sentence, “And the angel of the Lord stood by.” Oh, yes, we want him always to stand by; when you have your new garments on, when you wear your mitre, you still want his presence. “Abide with us,” must be our daily prayer. We want still his strength, his comfort, his smile, the help of his arm, the light of his countenance; for if we have him not, we shall soon slip from our steadfastness, and have reason to stand again, like Joshua, with filthy garments on.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

Lectures on the Minor Prophets.

W. Kelly.

Zechariah was plainly a contemporary of Haggai. Like him he dates his prophecies from the second imperial power of the Gentiles; but he goes a great deal farther than Haggai in giving God's testimony about these powers. In the former prophet there was no doubt a divine intention in the allusion to the era measured by Darius's reign: not only is this kept up in Zechariah, but we have the general relation of the powers in a measure analogous to Daniel, but having its own special character and design as with all scripture. Hence it is not merely the sign of subjection in the government of God; but further we have the due relationship for the present, what was to be expected in the future, and then the final overthrow of all those powers which had come in intermediately, not only on Judah's judgment, but still more widely during the time of Israel's unfaithfulness. Malachi differs from them in being exclusively occupied with the moral condition of the Jews; hence he takes no notice whatever of the Gentile powers. Thus the prophets of the restoration, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi have each sufficiently distinctive traits.

Zechariah then brings first before us Jehovah's sore displeasure with the fathers of the Jews. They had slighted the former testimony. When it had been commanded them in the name of Jehovah of hosts to turn unto Him who would turn unto them, they had not done so; and now the children are exhorted not to be as their fathers to whom the former prophets had cried in vain. "They did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith Jehovah. Your fathers, where are they?" The present desolation therefore, and the weakness of the things because of which the children were groaning, ought to be a serious and standing lesson to their souls. "Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as Jehovah of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us." The word of Jehovah therefore had received its full sanction, and, instead of being disheartened by the circumstances which proved its truth, their place was to profit by the further communications which applied to their state. Every accomplishment of His chastening on Israel ought to be a call to their souls to heed the word of Jehovah now. This however was but prefatory, though of moral importance The call to them to think of their fathers and their own sins and danger is the clearing of the ground for what should follow. Prophecy supposes sin and the necessary judgment of God; but then, thanks be to God, it also holds out before us a great deal more. It shows how impossible it is that God should be overcome of evil, and that the abuse of a good thing when judged He replaces by a better in His mercy. Certainly if He has called us as Christians to overcome evil with good, He acts upon it Himself: whether in government or in grace, God is supremely above evil; and this is the one resource and unfailing comfort of faith.

The vision first introduced to us the prophet has by night: indeed the same thing applies to the first six chapters where we have a series of visions which the prophet beheld in a single night, and which traverse in that kind of outline the course of God's ways from their setting aside for the time as His people till their restoration to the land with their city and temple under Messiah. "I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be."

Again we find a considerable resemblance to the manner in which some of the visions of the Apocalypse were given. There is the presence of an angelic communicator and interpreter. One sees therefore how the links of divine truth are found throughout scripture and always, it may be added, with due account taken of the subject, so as to preserve moral suitability. The position of Zechariah in relation to the Jew had many points in common with that of St. John towards the failing Christian body, which was already morally judged and was about to be spued out, as he said of Laodicea to them all in the Lord's name. We can understand therefore that the introduction of an angel who speaks, instead of Jehovah in more direct style of address, was by no means without its significance. There was reserve and distance implied, and this it was right to notice, for God meant it to be felt. This does not in the least degree hinder communications rich in compassion and divine goodness, not without present blessing, and pregnant in the glorious prospect for the future. In fact, though we may notice profitably this retreating of God and the intervention of angels, there is no prophet of the Old Testament who opens out a finer vista of blessedness on earth than Zechariah.

So we know that the Apocalypse of John is the main prophetic unfolding in the New Testament. Indeed its method is deeper and more complete, while at the same time it is more precise and orderly than any other in the whole Bible. Is it not then a matter of real thankfulness to God that we are not thrown on a mere inferential course of application in having to do with the ruin of Christendom just as Zechariah had with the ruin of the Jews? For a generous mind and a humble one would surely shrink from pronouncing on others unless divine authority interposed and made it simply a duty. The more one desired the glory of the Lord and loved the church, the slower one would be to form a strong judgment on the state of that which bears the name of the Lord. Now God has met this unwillingness which one might otherwise have excused as having really good and becoming elements in it. But there are other considerations of more importance than the feeling of Christians about their brethren in Christendom: we must not overlook but first of all weigh all in the light of the glory of God, and of what is due to Christ. Hence therefore God, who always cares for the name of His Son, and hence watches with tender interest those who have been given Him, God has met this reluctance by pronouncing on it with clearness and solemnity, and distinct evidence that what gave Him ground for so strong and decided a judgment was then before His eyes, though of course about to be still more developed. Evil certainly does not grow less but more in course of time, with the continual influences which go to augment its volume and to darken its character. So we know in Christendom the declension then before the eye of the Spirit of God has gone on always increasing; but the apostles were not taken away before God pronounced on its existence, its extent, and its irreparableness, only to be set aside by divine vengeance at the end of this age.

I make these remarks of a general kind to show the value of these later prophets as furnishing the final sentence of God on the state of Israel, even of those comparatively true-hearted Jews who had come back instead of going on content to be with their Gentile captors. There was no excuse therefore for their being deceived; there is less now for us, as, God has shown His mind with all fulness about the present state of Christendom and the consequent duty of saints, not a little manifest before the apostle John became the medium for the Lord Jesus to address the Asiatic churches inRevelation 2:1-29; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22. Amply sufficient is the record to give us clear grounds for a moral judgment. No man can slight this without positive loss. We are called to take heed. Let him that has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Just as the Apocalyptic epistles differ manifestly from the general testimony of apostolic letters, so does Zechariah even from preceding prophets, save in a measure Ezekiel and Daniel, still more from the rest of the Old Testament. The occasion was peculiar. The Persian empire considerably favoured the Jews. Consequently there were two things necessary to communicate: one was the Lord owning what was of Himself providentially for the help of His people, and at the same time bringing in the whole course of these powers. These two things are done separately in this chapter.

First of all we are told of the man riding upon a red horse who stood among the myrtle trees; and then further of red horses, speckled, and white, which are explained afterwards. "These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of Jehovah that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." I think that "red" is used symbolically as a sign of devotedness to God, whether in judgment, or in grace as in the rams' skins dyed red of the tabernacle, but even these founded on judgment. He who was on the red horse had been on the Lord's behalf the executor of His judgment, and was now using Persia as His instrument for so dealing and thus favouring the Jews. This was the second of the world powers, and two more were to follow as we see here. It would seem that the symbols here are rather of the angels whom Jehovah employs to overrule than of the kingdoms themselves which follow separately; and it is clear moreover that we have the connection of these powers with the history of the ancient people, but that people now in a strikingly abnormal state. We must remember that all through the last three prophets they are never owned as the people of God. This is of much importance. They are destined to be blessed and exalted more than ever as the people of God, but meanwhile they are seen out of national relationship with God. "They shall be my people," but they are not. Such was and is then their state. Not that God ceased to care for them: the raising up of these post-captivity prophets, and above all the mission of the Messiah, prove the contrary.

But remember that vague ideas prevail as to what is meant by "the people of God." The proper force of that expression in the Old Testament is seen in the public relationships God had with them when He identified His name with them as His nation chosen out from all others. This tie was broken at the time of the Babylonish captivity. The Jews then ceased to be openly and formally the people of God. This in no way whatever interferes with His having persons in the midst who had living faith There were such who by grace looked for the woman's Seed before the call of the people of God or their first father Abraham. In fact we have all been deeply injured by the current phrases of modern religious language, and indeed of ancient theology. Thus when people speak of the people of God, they almost always understand the line of believers. Now this is not the meaning of the people of God in the Bible, manifestly not in the Old Testament. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the saints before them, as Noah, Enoch, Abel, are never called the people of God. It was a new fact that began with the call of Israel, who were put in a national relationship with God, with the law subsequently to regulate their walk, and a sanctuary, ritual, and priesthood. Then a king was demanded on their part, and given in God's anger (for it was to reject Him); and when they began to fail under the new regime, and when prophets were raised up more and more on the total ruin of the house of David, and the final acceptance of idolatry by that house and the most faithful part of the people that had been raised up as a witness against it, then they lost their title. They were thenceforward to be Lo-ammi (Not-my-people). But this does not at all imply that no more believers were among them. As believers had been before "the people of God," so there were afterwards. In short to have believers in the midst is a wholly different thing from being the people of God: else all nations would be so. Whereas at most it can only apply to Christians now while Israel is disowned; and strictly speaking seems only applied in scripture to that portion of the Jews who believe while the rest refuse the Messiah. Compare Romans 9:1-33 and 1 Peter 2:1-25; though of course the principle applies to all baptized in His name.

In these three prophets then we find contemplated this state of things most serious for a Jew when they were no longer the people of God, and there might have risen for those who misunderstood it the danger of fearing that God no longer cared for them, because He took away their honourable title and no longer dwelt in their midst as He had once done. This would have been a fatal error. Hence therefore we find, particularly in Zechariah, the two facts clearly shown how far God used or recognised the external powers of the world, and what was the relationship of His people during a time that He could not publicly own them as His. The prophet shows us that everything is caused to work for the good of those that love Him a principle just as true in the Old Testament as in the New, but one which requires much delicacy in order to apply it aright, particularly in examining the ancient oracles of God, seeing that there is in this case a relationship different from our own.

But on the face of it we have One who proves Himself especially interested in the returned remnant It is evident that the light of His word was afresh vouchsafed in the new circumstances when this might have been judged impossible. We hear it from Haggai; we have fresh proofs in the visions of Zechariah. God would regulate everything with a view to this very people after they had been utterly faithless. And these different spirits go forth and do the bidding of God, not in public but in a providential way, which He makes known to the Jew as a sign of His real care for them. He would have them confide in Him. They could no longer be called His people in the formal sense now, but those who had lost the title of it were nevertheless maintained in His gracious consciousness of care, as they will surely have that title given again in a better way by and by. Such is the posture of things in Zechariah, as it was the object of his prophecy to make it known. Thus the preliminary vision was of very great importance, just as much as the moral preface that we have seen.

"We have walked to and fro (said they) through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." This rest of their foes boded no good to the Jew. "Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah" He does not say "on the people of Jehovah" "against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen." Clearly this is the point that now comes forward. He first declares that He was sore displeased with their fathers, and that He had dealt accordingly, sending them into captivity and taking away their "Teat distinctive title for the time with all the singular signs and effects of His presence with them nationally. Then it is shown that, though He had sanctioned Gentile powers in their place of earthly supremacy, He was none the less aggrieved by their pride and cruelty toward the Jews. "I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith Jehovah; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith Jehovah of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem." This was having then a partial accomplishment on the fall of Babylon, but the fulfilment in the strict sense of the word awaits another day; and we may enquire why, before we close with Zechariah.

For this reason, I suppose, it is that in the opening vision the horse of the man seen to stand among the myrtle trees in the shade (verse 8), and the first of the horses behind him were of the same colour red. For a similar reason also there is an absence of a fourth colour here; as in fact the Babylonian empire had been already put down by Cyrus the Persian, who in a dim way prefigured Christ as the deliverer of the Jews from their oppressive captivity, vindicating the true God and His word against idols, restoring them to their land and encouraging them to build the temple of Jehovah. The vision however seems purposely general. There is more precision in the corresponding one of chapter 6, where also the purpose in hand brought the first empire into view, as we shall see. But it is not here as in Daniel a symbolical sketch of the world-powers, outwardly or inwardly, but rather of the spiritual powers behind the scenes. "Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth."

It seems plain that the man who stood among the myrtle trees is no other than the angel of Jehovah, familiar to us elsewhere "And they answered the angel of Jehovah that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words." The same who revealed Himself of old to the fathers, to Moses, Joshua, and others; so did He now according to the circumstance and need of the remnant. We must distinguish Him from the angel that talked with the prophet ordinarily.

Again it must not be forgotten that the proper national history of Israel closed with the captivity, and that after their return it was only a provisional state in the mercy of God here and elsewhere guaranteed, while waiting for the Messiah. His rejection brought wrath on them to the uttermost; but in it the hidden purposes of God were accomplished where all seemed most to fail in the cross of the Lord Jesus, by virtue of which God not only gathers out the church now, but will return in sovereign mercy to the Jew ere long, after working graciously in their hearts and producing both repentance and a looking out in faith to Him whom they once crucified and slew by the hand of lawless men.

"Therefore thus saith Jehovah; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith Jehovah of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." Now what gives this its force is that these words were uttered after the return from captivity. Consequently this return could not furnish the complete fulfilment of the divine assurance, though it was no doubt a pledge of it. Therefore the object of these words was not to make them contented with the measure of mercy already shown them, but to use the present as a ground to look for greater blessing which grace has in store: "Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." As far as the return from Babylon is concerned, it was already accomplished; and there never has been a return since but another and worse scattering. It is plain and certain therefore that God intimates a fresh return. He shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

But a fresh sight presents itself. "Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns." Here we have the full course of the Gentile powers: clear if an allusion to Daniel 2:1-49 and Daniel 7:1-28, but hardly intelligible otherwise. "And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me. These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." It is not the providential agencies which God employed to act within and by the empire: these were represented by the horses. But here we are in presence of the kingly powers which successively ravaged Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem (verse 19). Hence horns are the symbols employed, of which the prophet saw four, as we might expect, answering to the four powers from first to last that were successively to reign. It is a general picture grouped prophetically and bringing into one glance both past and future, Babylon and Rome, Israel and Judah.

But vengeance belongs to God, and instruments of it are next seen. "And Jehovah showed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them." They are the instrumentality God will use to overthrow the powers that He was pleased to raise up in His sovereignty for the chastening of Israel. But God will know how to deal with them, especially in the end of the age. He will then "cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it."

Now it is clear that all this has a general character. The opening vision gives no more than a broad panoramic picture or the outline from first to last what was even then true but at the same time what would go down to the close when the judgment of these horns should have been finally executed.

The second chapter lets us know that, whatever God may tell us about others, His heart is always occupied with Jerusalem. "I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said onto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him Run, speak to this young man." It is the prophet Zechariah, of whom we learn this personal circumstance by the way; though some take it as merely a servant apart from age, which seems to me rather unnatural.

The measuring line is the symbol of taking possession, either in title or in fact, when renewed dealings or restorations would follow. Here it is rather the former, because the proper possession would await the overthrow of the Gentile powers; but the act of measuring was meant to show even then God's intention to bless after this sort.

"Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: for I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." It is very evident that nothing that has yet been at all meets the terms of the prophecy. We look onward to the day when the multitude of her inhabitants will break all bounds; and, instead of vassalage under Persian or Greek or Roman masters, they will have Jehovah Himself their fortress and wall of defence.

In the next place comes the call to all that remain: the restoration of the Jews will be then complete. "Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith Jehovah: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith Jehovah." This refers to the previous dispersions of Israel. "Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you." Nothing can be more distinct. How any with the smallest attention to scripture, not to say spiritual judgment, can mistake the scope or nature of this prophecy, or think that this has been fulfilled, it is difficult to understand. Observe the words "after the glory:" consequently no blessing before Christ came could possibly accomplish Zechariah's words. More than this; when Christ presented Himself, so far from then accomplishing these words, there was a further sin and a fresh dispersion. Thus the dealings of God after the first advent and the crucifixion put the accomplishment of this prophecy farther off than ever and brought in fresh grounds for a new punishment of Israel, not as yet the fulfilment of the prophecy. This will be "after the glory." Christ must first appear in glory. "For thus saith Jehovah of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me." Consequently there is a song of joy even now raised in anticipation of the fulfilment of glory for the people of Israel. "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee." What Jehovah did when He brought them out of Egypt will be accomplished and much more. "I will dwell in the midst of thee."

The statement of His dwelling among His people regularly follows that of their redemption; as we see inExodus 15:1-27; Exodus 15:1-27; Exodus 29:1-46 and many other passages. When the redemption was figurative, He dwelt after a visible sort in their midst. When true and eternal redemption shall have been by faith applied to Israel, then will be His true and everlasting dwelling in the midst of His people; but this is "after the glory." "And many nations shall be joined to Jehovah in that day." There we find clearly the circumstances of the millennial glory. We see how repeated is the testimony to this inestimable privilege of Zion, as indeed it goes out to all mankind. It seems astonishing how any student of scripture could point to the sojourn of the Son of God before redemption in the land of Judea. The similarity of the language to Zechariah 9:9 compels to no such conclusion, because this prophecy was fulfilled in the presentation of the King, not at all in His action or the consequences of His advent described immediately afterwards. The rejection of the King postponed the complete fulfilment. His coming will take up the broken thread and perfect the web of divine purposes. The comparison therefore with the latter chapter really compels to the inference that both await the public reign of Christ over the land. "And I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And Jehovah shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before Jehovah: for he is raised up out of his habitation." The age to come will be characterised not by some believing and others not (Mark 16:16, Acts 28:24), but by universal homage under the kingdom of Jehovah and the Christ, when judgments on the nations after the manifestation of the divine glory have broken the pride of man.

All this part is sufficiently clear. The first chapter in a general way brings in the Gentile powers and their destroyers; the second chapter shows us proof of Jehovah's peculiar care for this purpose for the earth, of which Jerusalem is the centre, the witness of which goes out to all nations when Jehovah shall have made the daughter of Zion His holy habitation. It is to me beyond question that the moment is fixed by the expression "after the glory." That great event will be when the Lord appears in glory. "That day" fairly and fully interpreted cannot be short of His manifested kingdom over the earth, when Israel is restored to the land, and the nations, having undergone in one form, and in another continuing to undergo, the solemn judgment of the quick, learn righteousness under His reign, and bow to the holy pleasure which Jehovah takes once more and for ever in His chosen city. The fact that the remnant had already returned from the Babylonish captivity makes it so much the more evident that God here reveals His purpose of effecting a still more complete restoration of the Jews to the land. But all His purposes centre in Christ, and will only be displayed when He comes in the clouds of heaven with power and glory, not to destroy but to reign. The judgment of the dead will follow in its season.

But then supposing Jerusalem could be thus blessed according to the sovereign choice of God, who never revokes His gifts or His calling supposing all nations could be thus joined not merely to them but to Him with Jerusalem as their centre would that satisfy God without putting their hearts and consciences in communion with Him? Impossible. Hence another scene follows to this end inZechariah 3:1-10; Zechariah 3:1-10. "He showed me Joshua the high priest." This, as is evident, touches relationship with God, and brings in not merely the city but the sanctuary. "He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan; even Jehovah that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel." The high priest bears a representative character, not here entering within the veil, but much more like the same personage when he confessed the sins of Israel on the head of the people's lot, the live goat sent into the land of forgetfulness. We must remember that the high priest had not only an intercessory function but a representative character, the latter outside, the former within the veil when the blood was put before and upon the mercy seat.

Here the scene has clearly a representative design. Hence Joshua is seen not clothed in garments of glory and beauty, nor even in the linen garments of daily service. He is on his trial, so to speak, like one suspected of crime. Notoriously the Easterns are as to this rapid in their thoughts and prompt in action. When a man was suspected of crime, it was the common habit to take for granted that he was guilty till he had cleared himself. They do not resemble the Westerns, who take for granted that a man is innocent till he is proved guilty. Here however all stand on solemn ground. It was not a question of Oriental any more than of Western thoughts, but of God and the adversary, who both knew the guilt of Jerusalem. Properly therefore do we see the strange sight of the high priest clad in filthy garments. It was only to be expected that Satan should be there taking advantage of the guilt and the confessed condition of the representative high priest as a reason why God should cast Jerusalem back into fiery trouble again. Why should He pluck such a brand as that out of the fire? Was it better than other brands? Such was Satan's reason; but Jehovah had seen all according to His grace, and in sovereign mercy says, "Take away the filthy garments from him." It was a sentence which had its spring in His own affection. Nevertheless it has a firm ground of righteousness, as we know well, though this be not here brought forward, yet never absent from the eye of God. "And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with costly [not merely change of] raiment." Such is His good pleasure, which is not more gracious toward the Jew than glorifying to Himself. "He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy," and He has mercy on Joshua as standing for the people. But this is not all. "And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head ;" for he is not content with acquittal merely, but lavishes signs of honour and full favour. "So they set a fair mitre on his head, and clothed him with the garments. And the angel of Jehovah stood up. And the angel of Jehovah protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways." This solemn declaration was a charge conditional on obedience and even then valid and applicable. Although God put before the people His purpose of grace He did not for the present take them out of government proceeding on the ground of their own responsibility. It was not the new covenant the Messiah. There was but a sign of the good things coming, but not yet come. The very image could not be beforehand; nor should it be looked for in the past.

The angel of Jehovah means, I think, Jehovah acting by one who represented Him. The angel stood in a relation with respect to Jehovah similar to that which the high priest held towards Israel at least to a certain point. The same principle in the Revelation is true of the angel of Jesus, and the angels of the churches, which last of course were men in their midst.

This then was the ground on which the Jews stood for the present. There was as yet no taking them out from their place of responsibility under law. This could not be till the Messiah came and was received by Israel. But there is more added. "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy companions that sit before thee: for they are men of a sign or portent [that is, representative men]: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH." The effort of Grotius to lower this to Zerubbabel is mischievous; and a grievous thing that Dr. Blayney should acquiesce in an unbelief too strong not only for many a learned Rabbi, but even for such rationalists as Gesenius and Hitzig, who deny not the Messianic reference. From Isaiah the application is unquestionable; and in Luke 1:1-80 we see the Septuagintal alternative, ἀνατολή , as is commonly known. "For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon the one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity [or punishment] of that land in one day."

Why should one think that the stone then in vision before Joshua sets aside the future reference of verse 9, typified by the foundation stone of the temple then laid? The context is decidedly Messianic. As yet it was the blessed sign only; the shadow and not the substance for the Jews till Jesus come and reign. "In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree." What "one day" but the day of Messiah's glory can remove the punishment of Judea with its cause? Meanwhile we come into the blessing for heaven we who believe on Him, our life hid in God. Surely it is not the day when they were still exposed to the evil eye and malicious report of their Samaritan and other envious neighbours; but a day of mercy and power flowing from God's grace towards the Jews. It is not indeed the deeper calling we know now by the Spirit according to the once hidden counsels of God, who unites us to Christ in heaven and for heaven. This will be a day for the earth. Consequently we hear of each inviting his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree. We follow Christ unseen through shame and suffering till we go to meet Him on high. Here it is not those whom the Lord is not ashamed to call His brethren, while the world disowns them, whose joy it is to know "His Father and our Father, his God and our God." The prophet never intimates such language for the earth any more than the New Testament puts such figures as theirs in our mouth. Although we are on the earth, we stand in a heavenly relationship already, and shall be changed accordingly when Jesus comes. (1 Corinthians 15:1-58) They at His coming shall enjoy all that God promised Israel of old and down through the line of prophets.

But there is more still. "And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold." It is not only the future justification of Israel: it is not only that there is a foundation stone of the perfect government of God exhibited; but further we find now the manner in which Jehovah will give a suitable display of the Spirit's power in the day that is coming. This is so represented by "a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof," with evident allusion to Joshua and Zerubbabel, though looking on to a far greater One of manifold office and deeper glory than any type could express. Joshua represented the high priestly function, Zerubbabel in a measure bore witness to the kingly one. As we know, this will centre in Christ, and then will perfection be seen, and not before. He only will supply, dispense, and keep up, as the true Priest and King, the light of the Spirit in Israel to the glory of Jehovah. Before this shall be established in the kingdom, we see a pledge of it in the two witnesses ofRevelation 11:1-19; Revelation 11:1-19, after the translation of the saints to heaven, when God begins to work anew in the Jewish remnant. But here it is the full divine order of Messiah. It is a state of things obviously distinct from the church. Both the high priest and the governor might be feeble shadows indeed; still they brought before the mind of God, and drew out for the remnant the sure sign of what should be when the Messiah fulfils both. So we find this assuredly is to be brought into being, not by human resources, not by a mere amelioration of the Jew, "but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts." It is not by might nor by power; that is, in no way through external resources, nor even the mental or moral power of man, although there will be a suitable condition of man by grace; but all will be distinctively by the Holy Ghost. On the other hand there is no reference to the operation of the Spirit in the conversion of sinners or the new birth, which is ever set forth under the figure of water. Anointing is a question of power in those already washed and set apart to God.

Obstacles are nothing to God. "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." David's son is here again the plain type of Him whom Jehovah shall bring forth as the chief Stone with acclamations of Grace, grace, to it. From Genesis 49:1-33, Isaiah 28:1-29 and Daniel 2:1-49 the reference is obvious. "And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you." It was but a day of small things now, but the man that despised it would not be in unison with Jehovah of hosts when the accomplishment came. The same spirit which owns God's complacency in what is little will have honour from God in the great day, and none others. But the day when God is morally testing souls is always a day of small things open to the scorn of him whose heart is not content to serve God. Those whose delight is in God's will and work in the day of small things are in communion with Himself. What a thought that Jehovah can and does rejoice in the little efforts of those who are guided by His word in seeking His glory! "Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?" And we are told here, "These are the two anointed ones, that stand by Jehovah of the whole earth." That I have already explained in few words to mean Joshua and Zerubbabel, as the heads of the religious and civil power then known in Jerusalem, but looking onward to Christ who will unite both, as we see in Zechariah 6:1-15.

But now come two other and very different signs of warning. "Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits." The Jews must not mistake, nor turn the grace of God toward their present condition into a license. It was well to know the gracious intimations of Jehovah, who fully recognises a day of small things, and will mark him who cloaks his selfish unbelief under despite of better men than himself. But the faith that sustains, spite of weakness and contumely, does look onward to the day of great things, when Jehovah-Messiah shall be the full and ultimate accomplisher of the purposes of God. And faith turns all this for use in present difficulties; and it is not blind to the awful results of the evil that was then at work among the people. The introduction of Messiah's kingdom in power on earth supposes evil exposed and judged as surely as the establishment of righteousness and peace. Both will be true, and both are predicted in their place.

We have already had the bright side; we have just seen in the flying roll the solemn testimony of God, that the evil which was then among the Jews would work out its worst results. Its source and doom are here pronounced. "Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth," or rather land. The same word in Hebrew as in Greek means "earth" and "land." We are dependent on contextual reasons to decide which is meant. But here I should suppose it is the whole land only, while unwilling to speak dogmatically. It is entirely a question of the context. The word meaning either, there is nothing to decide us in itself. The real question here, in view of what is treated, is which best suits Jehovah's object in the warning Now the design here is not to lower the estimate of evil in the Jewish people, but rather to prepare the prophet and believer for hopes deferred; to explain how it is that with such glorious predictions there was to be a postponement in their accomplishment. Hence the occasion, actual or at hand, is shown to be frightful in God's eyes. The captivity, humiliating as it was, had not at all stamped it out of the people.

We shall see presently that the sin of the Gentiles against which Israel was raised up to be witnesses, was, or at least will be, at work, and no prospect for the present of its extirpation; and so far was Babylon from being its grave, the Spirit of God points to Shinar as its nurse and proper sphere. Babylon's doom therefore would belong to Babylon's sins; and none the less if done in Israel. It might not appear all at once, but it was there, not purged out.

And what is the wickedness here in view? Two things are noticed more particularly. "Every one that stealeth shall be cut off;" and "every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it." These are taken as a sample, not as the whole: one from the second table of the law which deals with man; the other from the first, which deals with direct offences against God. Stealing is the evidence of utter disregard to the rights of one's neighbour in his goods. Swearing is the sign of equal disregard to the majesty and truth of God. In short both man and God were thoroughly despised and rebelled against, so that the curse which took notice of these two flagrant sins comes before us. "I will bring it forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name." This evidently suits much more "the whole land" than "the whole earth." "And it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof."

But then comes the second part of this chapter. We have had the double curse; but there is a figure appended which shows that God traced the iniquity to its source; and a very important principle this is in God's judgment. "Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base." The ephah was a well-known Hebrew dry or corn measure, equal nearly to an English bushel. This is their eye, ayinim * in all the land. This some take to indicate the intent of the heart set on evil; and others derive from it the sense of sight, and hence appearance or resemblance. It is again (verse 8) said to be wickedness, after the woman was shown sitting in the ephah. The meaning of the sign I take to be that idolatrous wickedness is here seen caught and shut up as it were by the leaden weight, and presently afterwards (verses. 9-11) transported rapidly to the mother source of idols the land of Shinar that it might be set there in its congenial haunt: why should it pollute the land of Jehovah?

*There is a various reading in one of De Rossi's copies which means their iniquity, which seems to have been read by the LXX, Arabic and Syriac, and is preferred by not a few moderns.

From Shinar religious corruption came, and thither it must go, forcibly and swiftly carried off: such is the measure meted by Jehovah. This again seems to confirm the idea that it is the idolatrous evil of the Jew derived from and sent back to Babylon. This was particularly emphatic. The judgment of God which had transported the Jews to Babylon had not destroyed the iniquity for which they were carried there. The post-captivity prophet lets us know that, when God has traced the evil to its source, it has to be taken out of His land, and set upon its own base, where it really is at home, even in the land of Shinar, the plain on which Babylon was built. He does not speak of Babylon now, but simply the scene of it. It is all no doubt a symbolical prophecy. One may not agree with D. Kimchi and others of the Rabbinical commentators that the woman means the ten tribes, and the ephah Jeroboam's calves and the worship of Israel; but I am farther still from believing that the vision is God's sentence on modern commerce, borne on stork's wings from the east to the west. This seems to be the most unfounded and grotesque of all interpretations, though I do not deny the corrupting influence of commercial principles and effects.

But the vision before us carries us on to the iniquity in the land which God must judge; and I will add too in the last days, confident as some are that idolatry can never be among the Jews again. But the Lord warned them of the contrary (Matthew 13:43-45; Matthew 24:15), for the last state of that Christ-rejecting generation; and so do the prophets when speaking of the end of the age. (Daniel 11:38; Revelation 13:15; Revelation 18:4) The truth is that Babel was not only the beginning of earthly monarchy, but also, from the beginning of that power (by the man who sought self-exaltation here below in despite of God), accompanied by idolatry. Babel was thus the fountain-head of idols. Now idolatry is the evil that has afflicted the Jews, particularly as is known from all their ancient history, because of which they were at length sent to Babylon, which was no fortuitous scene of exile but retributively chosen of God.

The future should not be overlooked. The Jews have long and completely laid aside idolatry. They always boast themselves that it was unheard of since their return from captivity. But our Lord let them know in His own day, though they were so self-complacent on this head, that as surely as there then was a swept and empty and garnished state, the unclean spirit would in the end return, and this with seven spirits worse than himself, and thus the last state should be worse than the first. This seems to link itself with the comparatively enigmatic vision seen here. The iniquity was but suppressed and shifted for the time. It is only held down, not destroyed or extirpated. Traced up to its own proper source on the plain of Shinar, it will be judged of God in that day, when not only moral offences against God and man shall be avenged speedily, but man shall consign every idol to the moles and to the bats. Idolatry will surely reappear, and this not only among the Christianised Gentiles, but among the Jews, little as they may suspect such an issue. It is an invariable truth of scripture that the mere absence of evil is never a deliverance from its power. An empty, swept, or even garnished condition in itself implies no final escape. It may go on if God so please to hinder the inroads of the enemy; but in fact an empty state always exposes to the return of the old evil. There must be possession taken by the positive power of God in order to keep mischief out. Unless the Holy Spirit seize and fill the scene, there never can be an effectual barrier against the return of the evil which we least of all look for, especially of that from which we count ourselves radically delivered. So far indeed from this it is the old evil that ever tends to come up again when conscience relaxes and faith wanes, and religious habits or traditions grow up instead. There may be other and worse evil: as we have seen, the unclean spirit will come with seven other spirits worse than himself. Thus there will be at the end of the age, and especially in Jerusalem, a combination of these two things, as we learn from our Lord's clear and full and solemn warning. There will be a special power of Satan let loose at the close of this age, as well as the recurrence of the old idolatrous evil which afflicted the Jews in times past.

Plainly then this vision traces the civil to its Babylonish source, and shows us that there will be undoubtedly an idolatrous issue in the land once again, but then to be judged in connection with that which really represents its birthplace. The ephah with the woman within and held down by the lump of lead, next carried from the land back to the plain of Shinar, appears to be the instructive but symbolical form of expressing the true character and source of the idolatry then to be judged. If it should reappear in connection with the Jews, just before the Lord returns in power and glory, they will feel the more ashamed of their folly when it is seen thus transferred to its own place to be disposed of and finally judged there. I should take the vision as a symbolical picture, as simply showing when and how the Lord detects this iniquity at the end. The great flying roll deals with the moral transgressions of the Jew; the vision of the ephah shows that religious iniquity will be taken clean away. This, it seems, is the idea of the measure borne off by the women, with their stork-like wings filled by the wind, and bound for Shinar. They thus take all bodily away where the hidden evil will not be hindered only from working but be finally judged, and this as divinely traced to Babylon, for it had no better source than that beginning of self-will, violence, and pride. I have not the slightest doubt that idolatry will return (that is, virtual heathenism), and am persuaded that principles are at work at present in these lands which will bring it back. Even now they are working in Christendom; but what will it be when God gives men up to strong delusion that they should believe falsehood, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved?

Zechariah 6:1-15 closes these preliminary visions. "And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass [or copper]." Thus we find that God fully maintains His witness of Gentile imperial authority. Israel had ceased to be the place of His direct rule on earth; but He sanctions fully the Gentiles in the government providentially given to them, which the Jew was bound to own, humiliating as it must be to him. The four chariots are an unmistakable reference (mutatis mutandis) to the course of earthly power as already made known in detail by Daniel. There is no more real difficulty here than in the statue or the four beasts seen to emerge together when the winds strove on the great waters there. "These are the four spirits of the heavens which go forth." They are looked at not so much as powers, but in virtue of their unseen animating agents in providence: and this is the reason why we hear of spirits in this place. The horns in chapter 1, as was said before, show them as kingly powers strictly; the chariots and horses seem to be more intimate and to exhibit God's purpose, rather than simply to set them out as the powers themselves

"In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses." The main point to observe is that of the red* we hear no more than the fact; that the black horses (which were quite absent fromZechariah 1:1-21; Zechariah 1:1-21) seem connected with those who followed the empire of Babylon (verse 8); that the white are shown to have pursued their way to the north country in the eastern world; and that the fourth or Roman chariot has a twofold description, an earlier and a later. The grisled are seen to push their way southward, which may indicate the full establishment of the empire by the battle of Actium, which decided the fate of the world in that day. But it is the bay or strong horses which sought to go, that they might walk to and fro through the earth. To these especially the word is, (verse 7) Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. The early powers had the title, and aspired after universality of dominion; the third won it by conquest of unexampled rapacity and success; the fourth alone made it good with anything approaching to permanence of power. The context here (I may say in contrast with verse 8) seems plainly to show that we should understand earth and not land in verse 7. How completely all were but carrying out in result the will of God, whatever their own ways, is shown for the comfort of the Jew even now in the close of the vision: much more will it be clear when He takes the kingdom whose right it is.

*"The red" in this connection here presents a difficulty at first sight when compared with chap. 1 where the second empire is so characterised. But we must not forget that abstractions alone meet symbols. And Babylon in its day had been an instrument of God's judgment, as Persia afterwards became to Babylon itself. Hence Persia might be seen of such a colour among the three, as Babylon had been when the first of the four.

Hence the chapter furnishes then another picture, yet connected with what goes before. "Take from the captivity, from Heldai, from Tobijah and from Jedaiah, who are come from Babylon, and go thou on that day, yea, go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; and take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and speak unto him, saying." It is a further prophecy of the Branch, the Messiah, and thus confirms thoroughly what we have seen before. "Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of Jehovah: even he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne." The building of Zerubbabel was precious in Jehovah's eyes, but most of all as bringing before His eyes a greater Son of David and abiding glory when He sits a priest upon His throne. In no sense was it true that Zerubbabel was a priest; in no sense was Joshua a king. The Messiah alone can build the glory and will display it to the glory of God here below. He is now the rejected King, a priest, the great high priest undoubtedly, but on His Father's throne, not yet on His own, as He Himself expressly declares and distinguishes in Revelation 3:21. He is now a priest after the order of Melchisedec; He will then exercise it in all its fulness of meaning (not as now Aaronically in the holiest, but) coming forth with refreshment for the conquerors over the hostile powers of the earth, blessing the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth (manifestly so then), and blessing man, Himself the channel and security of all blessing for ever. "Even he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory." It is only prejudice which compels any one to bring in here the church; for the theme is clearly the kingdom, and embraces the Jews as His people on earth, as the temple is clearly that described in Ezekiel, not the New Testament habitation of God in the Spirit. "And the counsel of peace shall be between them both." Anything short of the Messiah is altogether inapt. Further, it seems far-fetched and, if intelligible, rather strange doctrine that the priesthood and royalty should be personified, and the last phrase mean that the counsel of peace is "between them both." The notion of Jew and Gentile is also intolerable. The only two persons named previously are Jehovah and the Branch.*

* There seems to me no force in Dathe's objection: "quondam enim Deus in toto hoc loco loquitur, affixum in senehem non potest ad Jovam referri;" for Jehovah does not speak of Himself in the first but in the third person. This therefore rather confirms than sets aside the reference to Jehovah and the Branch.

The crowns then were to be for Helem and his companions (ver. 14) not as their property but in memorial of the crowning of Joshua as the symbolic representative here of the Messiah; just as Zerubbabel was before, and as both together, sons of oil, were inZechariah 4:1-14; Zechariah 4:1-14. What strikingly confirmed the provisional character of the then state of things and the symbol of Messiah's kingdom and the temple of Jehovah in the future is given in verse 15. "And those from afar off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall know that Jehovah hath sent me to you. And it shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God." So the passage abruptly terminates. Gentiles should come and help toward the temple of Jehovah which Messiah is to build (which could not be the one then in course of building, nor surely Herod's); and the Jews are left in this inexpressible solemnity on that hinge of personal responsibility, just indeed but ever fatal to the first man.

In the fourth year of king Darius we find a strain of prophecy, but broken up like the former into various sections. As to the idea that there was any different writer, it need scarce be said that it is a dream, and quite unworthy of serious consideration for a Christian One may in grace notice it for the sake of others, and seek the removal of the diligently gathered difficulties; but there is no sufficient internal ground whatever for such a thought. There is, it is true, the remarkable fact that Matthew, in quoting words in Zechariah 11:1-17, gives us the name of Jeremiah. But this is merely a difficulty, not a ground for denying Zechariah's title to the latter half or the last quarter of his prophecy. It is quite possible that Jeremiah may have predicted the same thing, and that Zechariah may have written what Jeremiah predicted, without affirming that this is the solution of the difficulty. Again, it appears that it was customary among the Jews in quoting from the prophets to take the great characteristic prophet, and to class others under his name. Thus there is a choice of solutions of the particular difficulty in question, which the late Dean of Canterbury was not justified in branding a "means of evading," any more than he is to be followed in the frightful alternative of imputing an inaccurate memory to the evangelist and so compromising the Gospel. But in no way does the point fairly touch Zechariah, though some no doubt would like thereby to lower both the Old Testament and the New. It is enough to notice these facts by the way, in order not to be detained by such external points, while Biding any who may be perplexed by such an objection.

But it is plain that in the latter half of Zechariah the first two chapters are on the surface distinct from what follows. The occasion of Zechariah 7:1-14; Zechariah 8:1-23 was the fact that certain feasts had been instituted by the Jews in consequence of the captivity. They were naturally much distressed that the hand of God should be stretched out against them, as proved by the humiliation to which they were reduced before the whole world. Hence they had recourse to fasts instituted for the purpose of bewailing their sins and imploring mercy before God. Some of these Jews felt now that Jehovah had appeared for the remnant and brought them back into the land; and, the temple approaching its completion, the continuance of these fasts was hardly suitable. This gives occasion accordingly to the prophet for a new communication from God. "Then came the word of Jehovah of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which Jehovah hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity."

"Execute true judgment (adds he), and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother." Ordinances, whatever they may do, never take the place of practical righteousness, and still less of faith, in the sight of God. There may be, there is often, the utmost zeal for an external institution where the heart is far from Him. Need it be said how perfectly this falls in both with Isaiah before the captivity, and with the Saviour's application of Isaiah to the state of things then in Israel? But while the prophet shows how Jehovah had scattered the people, spite of the ritual observances, and that consequently having recourse to them was in no way the true remedy for a low or evil condition, although they might have their place along with the weightier matters, he fully predicts the blessing in store for Jerusalem. "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith Jehovah; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem." He does not say that He was, but that He would be. "And Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts the holy mountain. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age." Mark, "every man:" he is looking onward to the day when death should not be, as we are told in Isaiah. "Every man with his staff in his hand for very age" not that there should not be the young, but that the old should not vanish away. It is the reversal of all past history "and he died," "and he died." Under Messiah men will go on living and last out the whole millennial reign. "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts." Not so; God is always waiting for that day. "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people." Thus the sentence will be taken off from them. "They shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness." Then all the degradation to which they had been so righteously condemned would be completely effaced in the day of renewed and better and enduring glory for Israel.

This accordingly is turned to present practical profit in what follows. The chapter ends with showing that fasts should be changed into feasts, and sorrow into gladness. Compare the inverse in Matthew 9:1-38 in answer to the complaining disciples of John.) And not only should this blessedness be for Israel, but "in those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." Such will be the complete change of the day of Jehovah.

Then we enter on two great burdens: the first of them running on from Zechariah 9:1-17 to the end of Zechariah 11:1-17; and the next taking up some special features of chapter 11, which are expanded in the last burden to the end of the book.

As to the first, beginning with chapter 11, it is said, "The burden of the word of Jehovah in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward Jehovah." We find accordingly the judgment of the nations which were near at hand. But further, while there should be the overthrow of Tyre and Sidon while there should be sorrow therefore for Ashkelon and Gaza it is written that there should be a state of confusion in Judah. But Jehovah would undertake the cause of the people. "And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes." This brings in the Messiah. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." We know how this is applied by the evangelists, just so far as was true then, and no farther, leaving for future fulfilment what did not then apply. It would be hard to wish for a finer instance of scripture exactitude where all is perfect. The mode of citation clearly shows the admirable manner in which the Holy Ghost is pleased to employ the Old Testament. There is first of all His title, and then His character, but not the consequences for others, of which unbelief deferred the accomplishment.

As to the early verses of the chapter there seems no reason to question that they distinctly apply to the march of Alexander's army and the heavy blows struck north and south of Judea after the battle of Issus (as well as certain successes of Jews long afterwards over Greeks), and above all to Jehovah's then protection of His house when the conqueror of the east passed by on his return westward to secure the coasts of the Mediterranean before pushing into the interior of Asia (ver. 8). Even rationalists admit the exact parallel between the list of his captures and the places which gave him especial trouble in besieging them, as Tyre and Gaza; as well as the long subsequent Maccabean victories. But plain as this is and in its measure important, how much more so is it to see that as a whole the prophecy like others is of no isolated interpretation? It joins all the rest in converging on the great events of the last days when the King shall make goad the sure mercies of David, now established in His resurrection, by coming to them, not as before in humiliation but in power and glory (though that be the pledge of this), and sounding the trumpet as He defends themselves visibly (not His house as erst invisibly in His providence), and saving them in that day as the flock of His people, when they shall be more conspicuous for strength against all adversaries than they have ever been for weakness and fear, and they shall walk up and down in His name, saith Jehovah.

The prophecy most plainly renews the time of the judgment when Jehovah is seen cutting off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse and the battle bow from Jerusalem. At that very time He will undertake for the Jew. "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; when I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man." This is the more remarkable, because Greece was then coming forward and soon going to overthrow the Persian master of Israel; but the day comes when the sons of Zion shall surely overthrow Greece If this has never yet been, it remains to be. "And Jehovah shall be seen over them." This clearly marks when the accomplishment must be, even when the glory of Jehovah shall be manifested in this world. "And Jehovah shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and Jehovah God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south." It is really no small absurdity to apply all this to anything that has ever been since here below.

We see that Greece does not merge in the beast when it rises from the abyss according to the energetic symbolical language of the Revelation. We must leave scope for all the actors in the final crisis, for the eastern as well as the western powers, and others of less moment who move rather independently. The last resuscitated empire will represent the previous universal empires as to their principles, that is Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, but will not have their dominions.

The principle is one thing, their territorial possessions another. It seems plain from Daniel 2:1-49 that there will be a representative of all in that day when the blow falls on the feet of iron-clay and breaks them to pieces. Then we find the gold and silver and the brass and iron not all changed into iron, but each with a representative, not excepting even Babylon, although the Roman only retain among them imperial power. Thus there will be a representative of Persia, and so it exists now. There will be a representative of Greece, as we know it has begun to be represented afresh, but it will assume, I suppose, a more definite form and greater importance. Assyria, as we have frequently seen, will be represented by the king of the north where the Ottoman Porte is now I do not say properly or formally Russian, but certainly a power in league with Russia, subservient to its policy and maintained by its influence. The remoter power will be its suzerain, which seems to me implied in Daniel's description (Daniel 8:24). It will be an energetic power, which is far from being true now any more than of Greece. As we know, neither can keep head against external foes or maintain order in their own dominions: such is their state of prostration or disorganisation. But there will be a vast development, and with it may be great rapidity. It would appear that much of it will be brought about by Russian power, no doubt to further their aggressive policy. I believe that this lies before Greece; but, coming into collision later with Judah, its total overthrow is shown here in a general way. "Jehovah of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And Jehovah their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people." Thus we see the union of future power and glory on earth with the statement that He should come having salvation. "For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!" The general beneficence of His reign follows.

In Zechariah 10:1-12 it is shown how God will make use of Judah and Ephraim in that day. He will fight not merely for them, but in and by them. It is a great mistake to suppose that all will be accomplished by Jehovah single-handed. There is a judgment which He will execute on His appearing from heaven, in which the Jews can have no part whatever, namely, the destruction of the beast and the false prophet, with the flower of the rank and power of the revived Roman empire. Thus the western powers will be completely crushed by the Lord coming in judgment from heaven. After that He will use both Judah and Ephraim, as we see here, to deal with other refractory Gentiles. "When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion;" and so He further says: "Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together." That clearly shows the meaning. "And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight."*

*The attempt of some freethinking Germans and others to make out two authors, if not more, by a comparison ofZechariah 9:1-17; Zechariah 9:1-17; Zechariah 10:1-12 with 14 seems quite as futile as usual. If Messiah speak peace not to Israel only, but to the Gentiles if His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, what more consistent with the reign of Jehovah over all the earth? The return of the captive and dispersed Israelites is in no way compromised by the fact that half the city goes into captivity just before their final deliverance; still less is there difficulty in seeing two parts cut off, and the third going through the fire in the land, while Jerusalem has half taken and the rest not. Jehovah acts mightily for His people in Zechariah 9:1-17, and not to their exclusion inZechariah 14:1-21; Zechariah 14:1-21. What, lastly, is to hinder Jehovah's cutting off the war-horse from Jerusalem, while the horses employed in peace bear the stamp that their masters are wholly devoted to His name? We shall see that no chapter in the prophecy deserves less than the last to be taxed with "a misty indistinctness" The haze must be in the reader who says so.

But this judgment is not a description of the empire and its doom, with that of its adherents. The western powers will have gone deeper in evil, and must fare accordingly. Having enjoyed unexampled privileges, they will finally turn them to the boldest impiety and lawlessness, coupled with the highest pride; and so the Lord reserves the blow to Himself. When the last Assyrian comes up against the land, he will find the two tribes there; and perhaps on the last occasion (for there are two attacks on the city of Jerusalem in the future) Israel may be there too, as we shall find further on in this prophecy. The same thing, I think, appears in Isaiah 38:1-22; Isaiah 39:1-8. We can easily understand the flocking thither of Ephraim between the two assaults. This is the main question that might be raised. The Lord here promises to strengthen the house of Judah, and save the house of Joseph. Most evidently, therefore, it is the future ingathering of the whole nation, the "all Israel" that is to be saved. "I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria." It is not a mere remnant returning from Babylon, but a complete ingathering of the people from every quarter, taking the north and the south more particularly into account, and specifying them here. Then Jehovah summarily puts down the pride and power of all their enemies. "And I will strengthen them in Jehovah; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith Jehovah."

But Zechariah 11:1-17 is still more solemn, and brings other and deeper elements into the final scene. "Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down." They are vivid figures of judgment on the outward strength and the dignity of the Jews. The rulers are in grief and dismay at their spoliation when their hopes once more beat high. Their river, even then as ever figuring national resource and power, suffered no less. "There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled." The nations are gathering against Jerusalem. "Thus saith Jehovah my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter." "Flock of the slaughter" means those of Israel that men devoted to persecution, to whom the Lord's heart specially turned: "Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not." These godly Jews are in peculiar distress and danger. While the Jews themselves as a whole are hated by the nations, the true-hearted ones are hateful to their own brethren. Thus their state is outwardly deplorable. "For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah: but 10, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them." It is the final trouble of Jerusalem. "And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock."

The crisis brings to light a remarkable under-current. What lay at the bottom? and how can one account for such a state of things? The prophet accordingly in a symbolical method, which shows us the same hand and mind as the earlier part of the book where it abounds, proceeds to explain how it came to pass. "And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock." As we saw with Joshua and Zerubbabel before, so now the prophet personates first of all the Messiah, and then the Anti-Messiah. From verse 7 to 14 he personates the Christ; from verse 15 to the end he personates Antichrist, as he was directed.

"I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock." These staves represent the authority that properly belongs to the Messiah. The first staff he breaks in verse 10. This is in view of the awful condition of the Jews. "Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me." There was no sympathy between Christ and those who led or misled the people the shepherds, as they are called, who do not answer to Christian ministers, as the ignorant are apt to fancy, but mean the chief government of the nation. "Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and the rest eat every one the flesh of another." Then Jehovah Messiah, personated by the prophet, takes His staff, even Beauty, and cuts it asunder, that He might break His covenant that He had made with all peoples. It is not the people of Israel, but all the nations in relationship with Him.

In short the rejection of the Messiah made it impossible to gather all nations. This seems a plain allusion to the great prophecy of Jacob: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet till Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering [or obedience] of the peoples be." The condition of the Jews made it no longer a question of accomplishing this great and blessed purpose of His kingdom. The Hebrew word in ver. 10 signifies "peoples;" and so it is in Genesis 49:10: "To him shall the gathering of the peoples be." It is very important for the proper understanding of both. One letter makes all the difference.

Thus the unreadiness morally of the Jews for the Messiah made it impossible to gather the peoples. Their sight was abhorrent to Him, and in point of fact He was not tolerable to them. There was no groundwork therefore for gathering the peoples. It could not be then and must be postponed, but not abandoned save only for the present. So the staff Beauty was broken, the image of the authority of God to carry out this end now. But He will surely put it in force on behalf of all the peoples whom He will gather around Israel when they bow and bless their Messiah. For the time it disappears. The staff was broken in that day; and so the poor of the flock who waited upon Him knew that it was the word of Jehovah. His secret is with those that fear Him.

Then comes another development far more awful and of endless moment. "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver." It was not only that the purpose of gathering the nations was postponed, but Christ also was sold unto death by His own! and at what a price! "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." The consequence was the other staff had to be broken. "Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands." This went far beyond interfering with the gathering of the peoples; its effect was "to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel." God would not even gather Israel now, Not only would He not gather the nations round the Messiah according to His earthly purpose of blessing; but He would not even assemble the Jewish people. Thus the rejection of Jesus during His life made it impossible to gather the Gentiles, the rejection of Jesus in His death broke for the time all hopes of gathering Israel. The Jews must be scattered instead of Israel being gathered. All such plans were shattered for the time.

This introduces at once the final struggle. The whole of the wonderful dealings of God with Christianity are passed over. They are not, and could not be, the proper theme of Old Testament prophecy, though words here and there leave room for and illustrate most important points and prove that all was known from the beginning. The immense system of the church, the mystery of Christ, fills up the gap between verses 14 and 15, which last at once plunges us into the dismal circumstances at the end of the age. "And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd." Having brought in Christ up to His death, now he brings in the Antichrist as it were straight upon Him. Obviously there is a moral link and a real allusive contrast between the two. So He Himself tells the Jews in John v. that if they would not have Him who came in the Father's name, they would receive the one who comes in his own name. If in the evangelist the two are brought together, we need not wonder that Zechariah does the same after his manner. "Take unto thee the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still." The exact contrary Christ did: "but he [the Antichrist sad contrast!] shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened." The judgment of God shall be upon him. It is described here in terms suitable to a shepherd; but we know how it will be accomplished in the Antichrist.

Then comes the last burden of the prophet, which sets out the consummation in great prominence: only instead of confining us to an account of this alone, he interweaves once more a beautiful allusion to Christ the suffering man, yet we shall find nothing detailed, but connected with the subject in hand.

"The burden of the word of Jehovah for Israel, saith Jehovah." Let it be marked here, that the whole people are before Him now. It is not merely Judah. "The burden of the word of Jehovah for Israel, saith Jehovah, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, [it is the peoples again, not of course the Jews,] when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in Jehovah of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem." This, of course the end of the age, is to bring in the full time of blessing for Jerusalem, out of that furnace of affliction, when all nations hang around with open mouth to devour, but in vain. They will not only be disappointed, but themselves be devoured of Him who in that day reverses the long penalty, and protects Jerusalem for evermore.

But it would involve prophecy in miserable confusion to assume that these mean the western powers, which at this time will have been totally overthrown by the Lord's judgment, as already explained. (Revelation 19:1-21) All nations must mean here the hostile Gentiles who take up arms against Israel, after the destruction of the beast, and his vassal king of the west, with their false prophet ally in Jerusalem. They are the nations in league with the king of the north, and quite opposed to the beast, though openly the antagonist of Israel. In fact all nations in the prophets never mean the western powers, but all that remain after the ruin of the beast and the horns. This may be to some an important help in interpreting these scriptures. The western powers are only a part of the nations, a particularly favoured and responsible part, with a defined relation to the Jew and even Christ, both in the past and. in the future. Their position is peculiar and their responsibility; so their guilt is apart, and their judgment also. The western powers compose a special parenthesis; their connection is exclusively with the Jews, never with Israel. If this is apprehended, it may serve to make distinctions plain, which are all-important to him who would understand the divine chart of unfulfilled as well as fulfilled prophecy.

"Every horse" here has been frequently referred to as a great array of western cavalry: why it should be "western" does not appear. I am sorry to differ from any who say so; but the inference completely fails. There is no doubt about the cavalry: whence it comes depends on no theory, but on the accurate and full examination of scripture as to that time. I think that all who so take it mistake the true bearing, not of this passage only, but of the then situation. Besides, easterns are more remarkable for cavalry than westerns in general. Infantry was always the right hand of Roman armies; and so it has continued in the west, and will, I doubt not, spite of modern inventions, to the last. But the easterns are described as very particularly notorious for their abundance of fine and showy cavalry. Other evidence may appear as we go on, which I trust will commend itself to all unprejudiced minds; for the point is not without importance. It is a difference found among prophetic students generally, growing out of the confirmed habits of thought which tended to make everything of the beast and his satellites the ten kings.

Indeed the reason lies further back still; for it clearly is an off-shoot of the old system which loved to see the Pope in every evil one whom scripture denounces as the enemy of God's people. It was really therefore the narrowness of mind which shut the vast field of prophecy up to the limits of the circumstances which we Christians or rather Protestants were connected with. In truth, properly speaking, this is not the scheme of prophecy at all. As the rule, it embraces for its subject-matter the earth and all the nations of which the Assyrian will be the head. The imperial course of the four beasts is an exceptional intermediate system, of which Daniel treats, and Zechariah in a measure, but only touched incidentally by the general stream of the prophets greater or lesser. It is no doubt of deep interest, but still a very small part of the prophetic vista.

We must then distinguish between the Lord appearing in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those that know not God, etc., and the earthly judgments He will after a certain interval execute, as inZechariah 12:1-14; Zechariah 12:1-14. This is not His appearing to destroy the beast and the false prophet. It is afterwards that He makes Jerusalem a cup of trembling to the nations. His first judgment is on the apostates, whether Jews or Gentiles. Jerusalem will tremble for her own sins and punishment. Instead of its being as yet a cup of trembling to others, the city must bow under the Lord's righteous dealing with her own misdeeds. But when the Gentiles rise up against the chosen city, "In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem." When He appears in glory from heaven, and the beast and the false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire, there will be no question of such a defence of the city still defiled, but of purging it of the rebels. The man of sin will have been sitting as God in the temple of God, who will not have the iniquity passed lightly over; neither on the other hand will He turn His back after His appearing till the evil is judged thoroughly, and He can reign in righteousness over them. "In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David." When Antichrist was suddenly overwhelmed, the Jews took no part whatever in that most solemn act. Long before, according to His warning (Matthew 24:16), the godly ones had fled from Jerusalem. They were not inhabitants of Jerusalem from the day the abomination of desolation was set up in the sanctuary, but had deaf here and there through horror at their sin, and for refuge from the predicted tribulation. "And the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."

Here again the difference of time and circumstance is as plain as can well be conceived. "And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me* whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart." Thus our prophet gives the general account of Jehovah's gracious action, when He espouses the cause of the remnant already delivered from the inward evil, and exposed to the attacks of the nations who believe not that Messiah is with His people. And now that this mighty overthrow of the gathered Gentiles has been wrought, an immensely deepened spiritual work goes on in their souls. The word of God enters profoundly into their conscience, the effect of which is that each retires alone as it were before God. For indeed their grief of heart is such that they feel the need of having to do with Him alone: if they could bear another's presence than His against whom they had so variously and long sinned, what could any other avail at such an hour? No; they must go to the Lord with it all to the very One who is not more surely their Jehovah-Elohim than their pierced Messiah! It is not despairing remorse, but a gracious sorrow. It is self-judgment that takes to heart their own sin, that looks back at all without excusing any, that takes God's side against every evil way, and above the rest their shameless rejection of His Messiah. All, no matter how far back, own it as their own sin. So they mourn as for their only son a mourning in love, but with the deepest pain and shame that they had so treated Him who loved them perfectly. This is what they most feel now it was against Him.

*The reading of the Keri "on him" instead of the textual "on me," seems evidently to bear the stamp of a correction designed to remove an apparent anomaly from the construction as well as to get rid of the plain truth, as the text stands that the pierced One is Jehovah. Hence the correction has even crept into the text of not a few MSS. of both Kennicott and of De Rossi. The truth is that these tamperings with the reading and the efforts of others to enfeeble the translation only show the deep moment of what is here written by the Holy Spirit. It was to escape from this text in particular that some of the Rabbis invented the absurdity of two Messiahs, Ben-Joseph and Ben-David, but even so with singular inconsistency as Mc.Caul has well shown. One may lament but need not be surprised at such a version as Mr. Leeser's who uses the transition from the first to the third person as a reason for interpolating as well as changing the natural import of the clause. He gives it thus: "They will look up towards me (for every one) whom they have thrust through." Even Abarbanel and other Rabbis condemned D. Kimchi's "because they pierced," depriving the verb of its object which is invariably expressed. What would even they have thought of introducing an imaginary one to get rid of the true one? And where is the propriety either of such rapt looking to Jehovah for "every one" so thrust through, or for the grief beyond measure that follows in the passage? The prophet could only compare the bitter yet gracious lamentation to that for Josiah are the Jews to wail for every one they slay of their gentile assailants? And is the spirit to be poured out for an end so strange and unworthy? were it for some One incomparably glorious whom they woke up to find that they had blindly pierced, who after all appeared to save them in their last trouble, one could understand the striking force of the whole context, and especially if somehow He could unite in His person one nature entitling Him to be called Jehovah, and another which might leave Him open to be pierced.

Thus too, we find certain families mentioned with a very peculiar choice and beauty. The family, we are told, of the house of David, beginning with the very highest or royal line. "They mourn," as it is said, "the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart." But the family of the reproving prophet is also there: the descendants of Nathan are mourning too. Instead of now reproving David, they unsparingly judge themselves, and confess each his own sin. Grace no doubt can identify itself with others' sins; but this cannot rightly be unless one walks with God in pure conscience. Here it is the thorough repentance of those who are the first to own their long and guilty blindness. Hence it will be no question of David exposed before Nathan, or of Nathan dealing with David: each will find his own sin, and all will deplore their common sin against the Messiah.

But further still, this might be said to be when the nation was grown up into a maturity of greatness. The work, however, will go farther back still; it will mount right up to the beginning. For as we read, "The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart." Notoriously Levi and Simeon,* or Shimei, were the very heads who conspired in revenge for their sister Dinah, and caused the names of the sons of Jacob to stink in the earliest days; and now the posterity of the two who were together in their cruel wickedness are named together in bending alone to confess each his guilt before Jehovah. There is no more beautiful description of the power of divine grace in searching the heart, fully trusting in the Lord, yet condemning one's sins to the uttermost. There is nothing finer in its way than the view it gives of the operation of the Spirit on the conscience, which so isolates the soul that we hear of the husbands apart, and their wives apart. The closest relationship is as nothing in presence of sin and God as its judge. Each must be alone: the husband apart and the wife apart, shut out from every influence and thought save of what He is spite of what each had been to Him whom they pierced, yet who died for them. The whole work must be done the work not of deliverance only, but of restoration in conscience before God.

*So the LXX, the Syriac and the Arabic versions.

It is not that they were not quickened before, nor that they only now first knew real compunction of conscience by the Spirit of God. But the dealing of the soul with God and under His truth is far more profound when the sense of danger is gone and the power of God has wrought unmistakable deliverance. In this case, as we have seen, not only was the beast destroyed who rose up against the Lamb, but now the open and earthly enemies of Israel. The rich and manifest mercy opens the heart, and conscience unburdens itself before God.

It seems to be after the destruction of the king of the north. Till then the Jews will be harassed and threatened. They will be in circumstances of danger and difficulty until the Lord has won the final victory for them. Not till then will there be the full work in their souls. He can then use them freely, as they can enjoy Him without a question. They will have been converted before; but this brings them by self-judgment in all that dishonoured and grieved Him into the communion of His mind and love. So true is the distinction between the two things for the Israelite as well as the Christian.

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." It is not merely that they will "look on him whom they have pierced," but besides there is the washing of water by the word. There is no such thing in scripture as a fountain of blood, spite of our own poet Cowper. To be cleansed with blood is not enough. We need to be bathed in water and to wash our feet also day by day. And all this we have in our Lord Jesus. "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood." He cleanses His people morally as well as atones for them.

But in Zechariah 13:1-9 it is the water, not the blood. Here the Spirit uses the word as the moral power of the death of Christ doubtless; but still it is the word. Along with expiation, before God we need communion with the truth practically. Then appears the result for others. "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land." Everything now is weighed that was offensive to God's character. "And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah." How many and grave had been the defilements, uncleannesses, and false prophesyings in the days of Antichrist! False Christs and false prophets had abounded then. All this will now be completely purged out.

"And his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth." They will play the part of Phinehas now in indignation at what dishonours the Lord. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive." Most seem disposed to take the two next verses as a continuation of the deceiver, who now repudiates any such claim, professes nothing but a mean condition, and either pretends that the idolatrous marks in his hands were the effects of maiming in grief for friends, or alleges that he was already punished for life, though not put to death for his fault.

This may be a simple enough meaning; but it certainly presents a poor sense of verse 6. Others accordingly apply it to Christ thus: "But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man acquired me as a slave from my youth." This last is a difficult passage, because it brings in Christ in so abrupt a manner; if I mistake not, contrasted with the false prophets, as we saw similarly with the shepherds. Just as in Zechariah 11:1-17 so in this, He is heard so suddenly that it is not easy to decide where Christ begins; but I suppose it to be from verse 5, which shows that the Lord was not in any way connected with the schools of men. He accepted the place of a Nazarene which God in His wisdom gave Him according to the record. For man had acquired Him as a slave from His youth. Compare the Hebrew servant in Exodus 21:1-36. He was the bondman of all, so much the more because He was the perfect servant of God. It is a figurative expression as applied to Christ; for I am now assuming this to be the true meaning. "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." It can hardly be doubted save by an unbeliever that verse 7 applies to Christ. There may be a question about the preceding verses, but it is better in my opinion to take in all.

Then is heard a voice still more solemn. It is not wolves now, but God. "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones." There is no more difficulty in "the sword" here than inZechariah 11:17; Zechariah 11:17, where it is spoken of for the judgment of the worthless shepherd: it is used figuratively as to both for a violent end of life; but O how deep the contrast! No longer do we hear of deceivers, or idolaters, or other wicked persons, who are outwardly and ostensibly in the house of the Messiah's friends; but Jehovah Himself gives Him up to complete humiliation and rejection. A most solemn consideration; and how true! For we must remember that whatever the mischievous and miserable hatred of the Jews against the Messiah, it could have availed nothing unless Jehovah had allowed it for His own mighty purposes; and this He did. Consequently here it is applied to Him. "Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones." Out of the rejection of Christ comes all blessing to those that are His out of that which was His unexampled shame and His unutterable sorrow in the cross; and this, in every point of view, not only for the counsels of grace, but also in the government of God. There is nothing holy in God which is not vindicated by it; there is nothing gracious toward man for which it has not laid a righteous ground.

At the same time the discerning government of God will have its way, for it is said here, "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried." The dross must perish, and what is precious be refined and tried. His people must go through trouble. "They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, Jehovah is my God." It is humiliating to read the comments even of such a man as Calvin, starting with the erroneous confusion of the church with the Jews in such a passage as this: "For when three hundred shall profess to worship God, one hundred only, says Zechariah, shall be saved." Not so; it is only a mistaken expositor who says so, applying to the church in general what is really said of the Jews in their last crisis.

Finally, Zechariah 14:1-21 shows us how all this is brought out. "Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city." It is a truly singular state of things. The siege has taken place, with the king of the north at the head of all these nations. It is clearly not the beast who, instead of besieging Jerusalem, supports the false prophet with all his might, and the latter is "the king" who reigns in Jerusalem, whom "the many" accept as the Messiah and Jehovah of Israel. The king of the north is an outside enemy who at the head of all the nations of the east attacks Jerusalem. We must always remember that the man of sin, or the Antichrist, is inside Jerusalem; he is nowhere said to besiege it, for it is too submissive to him as "the king." With him the beast and his ten kings make common cause. The Assyrian or "king of the north" is at the head of all the opposed external nations.

This is an important point to bear in mind, and contributes to make the general outline plain. The man of sin, the Antichrist, is accepted by the Jews as the Messiah, and He will reign over the land with the highest pretensions. But he none the less hates and is hated by the king of the north, who will seek his ruin and the capture of Jerusalem. Two bad princes may bitterly hate one another, because they are each striving to get the mastery. So the man of sin is not only the lawless enemy of God, but also obnoxious to the ambitious leader of the eastern powers, namely, the Assyrian, who will stand forward the then representative of what may be called the old heathen policy, as well as of modern Russian feeling. Russia will indeed oppose to the last the powers of the west; as it will also be destroyed by the distinct judgment of God (Ezekiel 38:1-23; Ezekiel 39:1-29) at a different time and in a somewhat different way from the antichristian coalition.* There is nothing to choose between them. The western powers have no ground to glory over Russia, unless it be that they are to be more openly apostate and audacious, as they will also be destroyed first. But the doom of the Assyrian will be substantially similar to that of the beast and the false prophet; for if the beast and the false prophet be thrown alive into the lake of fire, the Assyrian will be so a little later. Isaiah 30:1-33 reveals that the Assyrian is to have Tophet prepared for him as well as for the king the anti-Messiah. "For the king also [not "yea"] it is prepared;" but the Assyrian will be cast alive into the lake of fire no less than the beast and the false prophet, which last is the Antichrist. The Lord Jesus will appear on both these occasions and take the lead in them, first of all from heaven dealing with the beast and the false prophet, then on the earth and now as the king of Israel, though in an infinitely glorious way, disposing of the Assyrian at the head of all the combined nations who were not destroyed with the beast.

*Unless Gog be identified with the Assyrian, there is no intimation that the former is thrown alive into Tophet, as the latter is.

It is to be hoped that these distinctions of scripture may help souls and not perplex them; for it need hardly be said that the object is to solve the chief difficulties by which most students of the prophetic word are arrested. At the same time it is quite possible that those to whom the subject is somewhat new, or who have not maturely considered it, may at first find difficulties suggested or increased, which is necessarily the case in any untrodden and varied ground. But I am satisfied that the true line of things has been pointed out. For, while difficulties may first be augmented by drawing attention to the various actors in the scenes who are too often confounded to the injury of the truth, the darkening of enquirers and the strengthening of objectors, the result will be that the different persons and actions of prophecy will in the long run get cleared and settled in the minds of any who examine with care this large and momentous portion of the divine word.

Let it be observed that siege is laid by the Assyrian with all the nations who own him as leader against Jerusalem, and that the siege is partially successful, for half the city is taken. Nothing like this has ever been since Zechariah's day: still less does anything in history resemble what follows, as we shall see presently. It was not so when Ptolemy Soter took the city about B.C. 320, nor when Antiochus the Great took it B.C. 203, nor again B.C. 199, when Scopus the Egyptian general took it once more, nor the following year when it yielded to Antiochus, nor even when it was pillaged B.C. 170 by Antiochus Epiphanes, nor two years later under the frightful efforts of his army under Apollonius to destroy the city and the people, nor after that when his emissary Athenaeus profaned the sanctuary, and set up heathenism, with the utmost scorn to the law, which was followed by the exploits of the Maccabees, the issue being under Simon that the foreigner was expelled B.C. 142, and Acra demolished, as is commonly known. Under John Hyrcanus, the Syrian king Antiochus Sidetes was obliged to abandon the siege. Passing over internal or family disputes which have no possible resemblance, and the intervention of Aretas, it is impossible to identify with the prophecy Pompey's capture of the temple B.C. 63, nor Crassus' plunder of the city B.C. 54, nor the Parthian surprise B.C. 40. Herod's siege was more similar perhaps, but essentially distinct, as we shall see by and by. Neither its final destruction by Titus, nor the move of Bar-Cochba under Hadrian, calls for lengthened remarks, as they are obviously different. Nothing since bears the smallest likeness to the prophecy.

How any sensible persons can venture to say, as many have done, that the opening verses describe the past destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is a real wonder. Waiving "the day of Jehovah" which may no doubt apply providentially as an earnest of the great fulfilment), was that a gathering of all the nations? Is it true then that half the people went forth into captivity, and that the rest were not cut off from the city? It is in vain also to smooth over verse 3 with such words as "the Roman power was doomed in its turn to destruction." For what the prophet intimates is a speedy and awful overthrow, not in the course of ages and elsewhere, but as part of the same suite of events and in the neighbourhood by a special display of divine power and glory on behalf of the Jews when at the last extremity; and this attested by the splitting of the mount of Olives toward the east and toward the west into a very great valley, half receding toward the north and half toward the south. To resolve such a carefully put geographical statement into a poetical figure, and to extract from it no more than the disciples fleeing to Pella, as Eusebius tells us, in the breaking out of the Jewish war with Rome, is to run the risk of reducing the prophets to the rank of bombastic dreamers. But the sober fact is, that the application of this chapter in the Dem. Evang. 6: 18 is as dismal a specimen of forcing scripture as anything forged by the mind of a rationalist. There is this only difference between the two, that Eusebius meant well by the Bible, which is not the case with those who plume themselves on "the higher criticism." But as an unfolding of the divine word they are alike misleading and I must say contemptible. He interprets the chapter of the Saviour's first advent and of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. The change of circumstance for professing Christians under Constantine seems to have turned a head which never gloried in the reproach of the cross, and led to such misinterpretation.

But there is a second siege after this first, or a second attack, at any rate, after the first success. When the Gentiles have been partially successful, Jehovah will "go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east." This is not His coming from heaven to destroy the lawless one and his party. It is a subsequent and an earthly action. "And the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." There the paragraph ends.

What is put as the last clause of the verse ought to be the beginning of a new section. These divisions are not inspired. They are only the effect of an editor's effort to give the sense, and are sometimes mistaken, as I believe the fact is here. That physical changes are meant seems to my mind beyond doubt. There will be for the alarmed Jews in that great day a complete passage made instantly by divine power through the mount of Olives a standing witness whether or not this prophecy is fulfilled. "And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." The distress would be immense, the danger in appearance most imminent, when safety opens by the seemingly awful door of a valley so suddenly formed for them through the solid mountain, or as it is here styled (and no wonder) the "valley of my mountains." It would seem that the alarm is compared to a flight that occurred during a well-known earthquake in Uzziah's days. We can understand such a phenomenon adding to the terror of successful enemies till they know that it is the hand of God on their behalf.

After this the new section begins. "And Jehovah my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." For it would be harsh to suppose that He comes afresh after His going forth and fighting against the congregated nations, as already described in verse 3. I think therefore that the context proves it must be taken as another paragraph, presenting His coming in another point of view and for other ends.

There is a peculiarity in the construction of the last clause of verse 5: "And Jehovah my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." The MSS. differ too; for near forty, and all the versions, give "with him;" and some again follow the Rabbis in understanding "with thee" of Jerusalem. But the difficulty is cleared up as the text stands by seeing that the prophet turns to Jehovah who is thus to be seen interfering for the Jew, and for the greater force exclaims "Jehovah my God shall come," following up this sudden change by describing in such a scene the presence of others foreseen in his vision, "and all the saints with thee." Zechariah supposes himself addressing Jehovah in these words.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark [or possibly "and dark"].* To take this as the prediction of a period of unmitigated calamity, which may be regarded as comprehending the long centuries of Jewish suffering since Titus took the city, is an idea natural to such as can interpret the preceding verses of that famous siege. The phraseology in the close of the verse is hard. The text would mean that the precious lights should withdraw themselves; others with the Keri take it as "shall not be, but condensed darkness," or thick fog.

*One can hardly regard as certain the reading at the end of this verse, that of the Keri being apparently the best and well supported, especially if we give weight to the ancient versions. Translators and commentators differ widely. According to the Ketib, the sense would run, "there shall not be the light of precious things, they shall withdraw themselves," or be withdrawn; according to the Keri, it might be "and density" or "but density," that is, darkness. Dathe, Maurer, etc. contend for the rendering "lux non erit sed frigus et gelu," and so the LXX. Sym. Syr. Vulg. But the process of extracting such a result seems as precarious as the result when extracted. kind is it not pitiful the comment of such a man as Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus near the Euphrates early in the fifth century, and one of the most learned and moderate of the Greek fathers, who perverts all this to the Gospel history, and finds this verse for instance fulfilled in the darkness of the cross, and the leader of the apostles warming by the fire with the high priest's servants. One wonders not that such trifling breeds or provokes rationalism.

But the incalculably great event of the day is plain enough, having its effect not only on the earth, but even in the heavens. This was reserved for the new section. The earthly fact and the destruction of foes were mentioned in the former part; another and higher fact with its consequences falls under the latter. Now the prophet looks at Jehovah coming with His holy ones not so much here to fight a battle, but His saints coming with Him. This has an evidently deeper purpose. Hence the marked outward change which introduces that day, in order that in every way it may stand out distinctly from all before. It is absurdly wrong to dislocate verse 7 from verse 6, as if a time wholly different were intended. Not so; it is the continuation of the same unique circumstances. Hence there will be no such changes as men have known through light and darkness following each other, but it shall be one day which shall be known to Jehovah not day succeeding night, "but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light." God thus marks the new era as significantly by a revolution in the heavens as He had by His intervention and the rent of mount Olivet on the earth. Thus evidently is there another paragraph introducing another order of events, with their accompaniments and effects.

But what follows is not dreadful like the yawning mountain, but most encouraging. At the evening time, instead of the darkness of night coming on, the brightness of the day continues. If the rending of Olivet was in keeping with the hopeless confusion from which they had to emerge, when all things must be shaken, the dawn of a new and brighter day shines on all from above. "And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be." Unlike the torrents of the desert which dry up in time of heat, this should be ever flowing. It is a literal fact, I suppose, but highly significant of spiritual blessing at the same time. From the holy city go forth westward and eastward the waters which are destined to heal the long miseries of a world groaning under Satan's thraldom, themselves the effect and the symbol of the rich blessing which Jehovah then diffuses far and wide, and this above all the changes ordinary in nature: in summer and in winter it shall be. Drought and frost will not affect them; neither will the obstruction of the hilly ground toward the west: the waters shall flow as steadily to the great sea on the west as to the Dead Sea on the east.

In this connection the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea are specially named. For it may be well to explain that in Hebrew the east is reckoned the point at which one looks, and the west is thus behind the spectator Hence Arabia is called the land of the right hand, as the north would be the left. Of course therefore to one with Palestine as his stand-point and thus facing, the Dead Sea would be in front and the Mediterranean in the rear.

But there are better blessings still. "In that day there shall be one Jehovah, and his name one." Idols fall; the King of kings reigns without rival or dispute. This is explicit, as if to cut off all possibility of evasion on the plea of previous figurative language. Who can pretend that it is so here?

A chart minutely distinct is appended, which refutes all pretence of heavenly glory being meant, or the spiritual blessing we have now in Christ: "All the land shall be turned as into a plain from Geba [in Benjamin on the northern frontier of the kingdom of Judah] to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and it shall be lifted up and inhabited in its place [the city on its old site] from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate up to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's wine-presses. And they shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more curse; and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety." Then in verses 12-15 we learn the provision for the due maintenance of order and honour in the earth. The awful judgment of the nations which fought against Jerusalem is set forth. We see the last sample of this stroke in Ezekiel 38:1-23; Ezekiel 39:1-29 before peace flows like a river. It is really painful to see how Catholics like C. a Lapide and Protestants like Venema pare down the glorious hopes of Israel to the circumstances of the Maccabean times.

From verse 16 we have the regulation of the homage imposed on the residue of those hostile nations during the kingdom. Its proper theocratic character is unquestionable, and too distinct from the nature of Christianity to call for argument. "And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which come against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith Jehovah will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles." I do not pretend to say how, or how far, all the nations will attend the final feast of ingathering, the type of glory: the fact is certain, and God will see to its fulfilment. Jerusalem thus, as the city of the great King, is the religious metropolis of the earth; and there all must be at least represented year by year. We are not warranted in concluding that absence of the Passover here implies that it will not then be celebrated; for we know from the end of Ezekiel (which clearly speaks of the same time and circumstances) that it will be observed as well as the feast of Tabernacles, but not Pentecost, the characteristic feast which finds its full meaning exhausted in the church that now is, and therefore appears in God's wisdom to lapse. To refer the close of Ezekiel to the post-captivity state is to despise unwittingly both scripture and the facts, in order to avoid the divine testimony to the total change of dispensation at the end of this age.* As Egypt might be thought unaffected by the penal want of rain in case of failure to come up, the punishment is expressly said to fall there.

*The statement in Hebrews, that where remission of sins is, there is no more offering for sin, applies to the Christian simply, and in no way forbids other facts which the prophets clearly predict of an age wholly different and not yet arrived.

But so thorough and complete would be the change,that holiness pervades things the most common. The very pots, the humblest utensils in Jehovah's house, "shall be like the bowls before the altar" those that were most holy. "Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto Jehovah: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of hosts." I admit the curse of a mercenary caste of religious teachers, and we see what a stumbling-block the covetousness of the Jewish priesthood proved in Israel; but I see no reason to abandon the simple force of Canaanite here, while allowing broad and deep principles as well as facts. He was in the land when Abram entered it; he was not banished from the land by the victories of Joshua. The enemy, never fully expelled before, should vanish then. All is to be according to God, as far as this can be in the earth till God in the most absolute way make all things new. Who can wonder when Jehovah takes the kingdom?