IN THE EIGHTH MONTH - o. The date joins on Zechariah’s prophecy to those of Haggai. Two months before, “in the sixth month” Haggai 1:1, had Haggai, conjointly with Zechariah Ezra 5:1, exhorted Zerubbabel and the people to resume the intermitted building of the temple. These had used such diligence,... [ Continue Reading ]
WROTH WAS THE LORD AGAINST YOUR FATHERS WITH WRATH - o, that is, a wrath which was indeed such, whose greatness he does not further express, but leaves to their memories to supply. Cyril: “Seest thou how he scares them, and, setting before the young what befell those before them, drives them to amen... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE SAY THOU - Literally, “And thou sayest,” that is, this having been so, it follows that thou sayest or must say, “Turn ye unto Me.” In some degree they had turned to God, for whose sake they had returned to their land; and again when, after some negligence Haggai 1:2, they renewed the build... [ Continue Reading ]
BE YE NOT LIKE YOUR FATHERS - Strangely infectious is the precedent of ill. Tradition of good, of truth, of faith, is decried; only tradition of ill and error are adhered to. The sin of Jeroboam was held sacred by every king of Israel: “The statutes of Omri were diligently kept, and all the works of... [ Continue Reading ]
YOUR FATHERS, WHERE ARE THEY? - The abrupt solemnity of the question seems to imply an unexpected close of life which cut short their hopes, plans, promises to self. “When they said, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them” 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Yet not they only but the prophets t... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY MY WORDS AND MY DECREES - Which God spake by them, “did not they overtake them?” (as Psalms 2:7; Zephaniah 2:2). Pagan reminiscence of God’s justice acknowledged , “Rarely hath punishment with limping tread parted with the forerunning miscreant.” “All these curses,” Moses foretells, “shall come... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY - Exactly five months after the building of the temple was resumed Haggai 2:15, and two months after Haggai’s last prophecy Haggai 2:20. The series of visions, leading onward, from the first deliverance from the enemies who oppressed them, to the Coming of Christ, is given a... [ Continue Reading ]
I SAW IN THE NIGHT - that is, that following on “the twenty-fourth day.” The darkness of the night perhaps was chosen, as agreeing with the dimness of the restored condition. Night too is, Dionysius), “through the silence of the senses and of the fancy, more suited for receiving divine revelations.”... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT ARE THESE? - He asks, not who, but what they import. THE ANGEL THAT TALKED WITH ME - Literally, “spake in me.” The very rare expression seems meant to convey the thought of an inward speaking, whereby the words should be borne directly into the soul, without the intervention of the ordinary out... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MAN ANSWERED - To the question addressed to the attendant-angel. He himself took the word. THESE ARE THEY WHOM THE LORD SENT TO WALK UP AND DOWN - Satan says of himself that he came “from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it” Job 2:2. As he for evil, so these for... [ Continue Reading ]
SITTETH STILL AND IS AT REST - At rest, as the word seems to express, from its accustomed state of tumult and war. Wars, although soon to break out again, were in the second year of Darius for the time suspended. The rest, in which the world was, suggests the contrast of the yet continuing unrest al... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD ANSWERED - the implied longing, by intercession with God. As the angel-interpreter in Job had “the office of no mere created angel, but one, anticipative of His, who came at once to redeem and justify,” so the Angel of the Lord, in whom God was, exercised at once a mediator... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD ANSWERED THE ANGEL THAT TALKED WITH ME - Either directly, at the intercession of the angel of the Lord, or mediately through an answer first given to him, and by him communicated to the subordinate angel. Neither is expressed. GOOD WORDS - As God had promised, “after seventy years shal... [ Continue Reading ]
CRY THOU - The vision was not for the prophet alone. What he saw and heard, that he was to proclaim to others. The vision, which he now saw alone, was to be the basis and substance of his subsequent preaching Jonah 1:2; Isaiah 40:2, Isaiah 40:6, whereby he was to encourage his people to persevere. I... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM SORE DISPLEASED - literally “with great anger am I angered against the nations which are at ease.” The form of the words shows that the greatness of the displeasure of God against those who oppress His people, is proportionate to the great and tender love toward themselves. God had been angered... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE - This being so, since God was so jealous for His people, so displeased with their persecutors, “thus saith the Lord,” Dionysius, “I who “in wrath remember mercy, am returned” Habakkuk 3:2, not by change of place, who am uncircumscribed, not existing in place, to the people of Judah and Je... [ Continue Reading ]
CRY YET - A further promise; not only should Jerusalem be rebuilt, but should as we say, overflow with good ; and God, who had seemed to cast off His people, should yet comfort her, and should show in act that He had chosen her. “love.” In all the cases, which Gesenius cites as meaning “love” Genesi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I LIFTED UP MINE EYES - o. Cyril on Zechariah 2:1 : “Not those of the body (for such visions are invisible to the eyes of the flesh), but rather the inner eyes of the heart and mind.” It seems as though, at the close of each vision, Zechariah sank in meditation on what had been shown him; from w... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE ARE THE HORNS WHICH HAVE SCATTERED - o “The four horns which scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, are four nations, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Romans; as the Lord, on the prophet’s enquiry, explains here, and Daniel unfolds most fully Daniel 2; who in the vision of the... [ Continue Reading ]