Zechariah 1:3

Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. THUS SAITH THE LARD OF HOSTS - a phrase frequent in Haggai and Zechariah, implying God's boundless resources and universal power, so as to inspire the Jews with confidence to work. TURN YE UNTO ME ... AND I WILL TURN UNTO YOU - i:e., and then, as the sure consequence, "I will turn unto you" (; : cf. also ; ; ). Though God hath brought you back from captivity, yet this state will not long last unless ye a...

It then follows, _Thou shalt say to them, Return ye to me, and I will return to you _(11) The Prophet now expresses more clearly for what purpose he had spoken of God’s vengeance, with which he had visited his chosen people, even that their posterity might take heed to themselves; for the common proverb, “Fools by adversity become wise,” ought in this case to have been verified. For where there is really a teachable spirit, men become instantly attentive to what God says: but even when they are sluggish and slothful, it is a wonder, that when they are smitten, the strokes which they feel do not shake off at least in some degree their torpor. Hence the Prophet, after having spoken of the punishments which God had inflicted, exhorts the Jews to repentance. It ought however to be observed, that our Prophet not only speaks of repentance, but shows also its true character, that the Jews might...

1-6 God's almighty power and sovereign dominion, should engage and encourage sinners to repent and turn to Him. It is very desirable to have the Lord of hosts for our friend, and very dreadful to have him for our enemy. Review what is past, and observe the message God sent by his servants, the prophets, to your fathers. Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings. Be persuaded to leave your sins, as the only way to prevent approaching ruin. What is become of our fathers, and of the prophets that preached to them? They are all dead and gone. Here they were, in the towns and countries where we live, passing and repassing in the same streets, dwelling in the same houses, trading in the same shops and exchanges, worshipping God in the same places. But where are they? When they died, there was not an end of them; they are in eternity, in the world of spirits, the unchangeable...

Verse Zechariah 1:3. _TURN YE UNTO ME_] This shows that they had _power_ to return, if they would but _use_ it. _AND I WILL TURN UNTO YOU_] I will show you mercy and grant you salvation, if you will _use the grace I have already given you_. Men are lost, because they _turn not_ unto God; but no man is lost because he had not _power_ to return. God gives this, and he will require it....

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 building of the temple, and God had said, “I am with you” Haggai 1:13. But there needed yet a more inward, more complete turning, whereon God promises a yet nearer presence, as Malachi repeats the words Malachi 3:7, and James exhorts, “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you” James 4:8. Those who have turned to God need ever to tur

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-6:15 Part I. A SERIES OF EIGHT VISIONS, AND A SYMBOLICAL ACTION. ZECHARIAH 1:1 § 1. _Title of the book, and author. _THE EIGHTH MONTH. This was called Bul before the Captivity (1 Kings 6:38), and afterwards Marchesvan (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 1.3 3); it answered to parts of October and November, and was a time of rain. Haggai had first prophesied two months earlier. THE SECOND YEAR OF DARIUS. Being now under foreign rule, the prophet uses the regnal years of the king to whom his people were subject (see note on...

THEREFORE SAY THOU UNTO THEM,.... This is an order from the Lord to Zechariah, to say unto them, in the name of the Lord: THUS SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS; of the hosts above and below, of angels and of men, of heaven and earth, and all that is therein: this is said, that the greater regard might be had to his words: TURN YE UNTO ME, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS; by repentance, and acknowledgment of former sins; by reformation for the future; by attending to the worship and service of God, and seeking to glorify him. So the Targum, "return to my worship": this is not the condition of what follows, but what follows is the motive and encouragement to this: AND I WILL TURN UNTO YOU, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS; to dwell among them, manifest himself unto and protect them. Three times the phrase, "the Lord of hosts", is used in this verse: it may be with respect to the three Persons in the Godhead, Fat...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS 1. THE NIGHT VISIONS CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction (Zechariah 1:1) _ 2. The first night vision (Zechariah 1:7) 3. The second night vision (Zechariah 1:18) Zechariah 1:1. The first utterance of Zechariah concerns the past. “The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.” They were a disobedient, stiff-necked people. The pre-exilic prophets had called them to repentance, but they did not hearken. Then he gives the message to turn to the Lord, with the promise that He will turn to them; they should not be like their fathers. And their fathers, where w

This rebuke (see above, p. 575) seems inconsistent with a date five weeks or more after work had been begun at the Temple and at least ten days after the prophecy in Haggai 2:1. The clumsy handiwork of one or more editors is also evident in the section. The thought appears to be as follows: The Lord had great cause to be wroth with your fathers, and their punishment has largely fallen upon you. But now if you will change your attitude towards Him in showing loyal obedience, He will change His attitude towards you in showing you mercy. Your fathers were stubborn, and they are gone; but the prophets-' words came to pass, and your fathers were constrained to acknowledge the justice of their punishment. Zechariah 1:5, as it stands, is difficult. The required sense is best given by the restoration of a negative omitted by

SAITH. hath said. THE LORD OF HOSTS. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ Zebbaioth. App-4. This title occurs fifty-three times in this book, forty-four times in chs. 1-8, and nine times in chs. 9-14. It is characteristic of this book twenty-nine times it is with the verbs saith or speaketh. All are referred to in the notes. TURN. Return. Note the Figure of speech _Epimone_ (App-6), in verses: Zechariah 1:3, in which the fact is emphasised by dwelling upon it as the cause of all Jehovah's displeasure. SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS. [is] the oracle of Jehovah Sabaioth....