_And thy spoil shall be divided _ A SKETCH ON BAD MEN Three facts concerning such. I. They are capable of perpetrating the greatest enormities on their fellow men. In the account given by Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans we have a record of enormities at which we might stand... [ Continue Reading ]
_And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives _ GOD IN RELATION TO A SUFFERING WORLD The men in Jerusalem were in great suffering and imminent peril, and here is a figurative representation of the Almighty in relation to them. I. He observes their terrible condition. “And His fee... [ Continue Reading ]
_It shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark _ THE DAY OF THE LORD This phrase denotes not one time, but many. Any signal manifestation of the Divine government of the world, or any such event as made men’s hearts quake within them for fear, is described as the da... [ Continue Reading ]
_At evening time it shall be light _ AGED PEOPLE’S SERVICE Nature’s sunset is beautiful, so beautiful that every painter strives in vain to catch it and give it permanence on his canvas. But the sunset of life transcends it; as the reality always transcends the type, as the spiritual always transc... [ Continue Reading ]
_Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem _ THE LIVING WATERS Like all his predecessors, Zechariah speaks much of Christ. Some of his prophecies, owing partly to the predominance of figurative and symbolical language, are difficult and obscure. In the text he refers to Gospel days and to the Gos... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord shall be King over all the earth _ THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST That the passage Job 19:25 has reference to Jesus Christ, and to His coming to judgment at the last great day, I think there can be no dispute. Unless, then, we look to the reappearing of the Son of Man upon this earth, we st... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this shall be the plague _ THE PUNISHMENT OF GOD’S ENEMIES This is a figurative description of the punishment of sin. The first element of the punishment is corruption, which is set forth by the terrible image of a living death, a fearful anomalous state, in which the mouldy rottenness of dea... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shall go up from year to year to worship the King._ THE GENIUS AND INNER HEART OF CHRISTIANITY 1. It brings us into the possession of a new life. We are Christians, not because we avow a certain creed, or conform to certain outward exercises; but because we have received the life, the Eternal Lif... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord _ UNIVERSAL HOLINESS This text may be a prediction of the latter-day glory, when the knowledge of Christ shall cover the whole earth. But at all times, and in all places, “holiness becometh the house of the Lord.” It... [ Continue Reading ]