Zechariah 7:14

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. BUT I SCATTERED THEM WITH A WHIRLWIND - of wrath (). AMONG ALL THE NATIONS WHOM THEY KNEW NOT - foreign and barbarous. THUS THE LAND WAS DESOLATE AFTER THEM - after their expulsion and exile. It was ordered remarkably by God's providence that no occupants, took possession of it, but that during the Jews' absence it was reserved for them against their return after seventy years. FOR THEY LAID THE PLEASANT LAND DESOLATE - the Jews did so by their sins. The blame of their destruction lay with themselves, rather than with the Babylonians ...

Here the Prophet concludes what he had been speaking of God’s vengeance, by which he had fully proved, that the sins of that nation had arrived to such a pitch, that there was no room for pardon. Hence he says, that they had been _dispersed_; for so I prefer to render the word, and the context seems to require this. Interpreters vary as to its meaning; and, indeed, the Hebrews themselves say, that this is a difficult passage, for, according to the rules of grammar, the word can hardly be made suitable to the context. But let us first see what the Prophet treats of; and secondly, what meaning, as the word signifies various things, is the most suitable. The Prophet no doubt refers here to God’s vengeance, as evidenced by the dispersion of the Jews among many nations, not only when they were driven into exile, but also when scattered in various parts of the world. The verb, taken transitive...

8-14 God's judgements upon Israel of old for their sins, were written to warn Christians. The duties required are, not keeping fasts and offering sacrifices, but doing justly and loving mercy, which tend to the public welfare and peace. The law of God lays restraint upon the heart. But they filled their minds with prejudices against the word of God. Nothing is harder than the heart of a presumptuous sinner. See the fatal consequences of this to their fathers. Great sins against the Lord of hosts, bring great wrath from his power, which cannot be resisted. Sin, if regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the success of prayer. The Lord always hears the cry of the broken-hearted penitent; yet all who die impenitent and unbelieving, will find no remedy or refuge from miseries which while here they despised and defied, but which they then will not be able to bear....

Verse Zechariah 7:14. _I SCATTERED THEM WITH A WHIRLWIND_] This refers to the swift victories and cruel conduct of the Chaldeans towards the Jews; they came upon them like a _whirlwind_; they were tossed to and fro, and up and down, everywhere scattered and confounded....

BUT I SCATTERED THEM - Rather, “And I will scatter them.” The saying continues what God had said that he had said, and which had come to pass. Among all nations whom they knew not. So God had repeatedly said by Jeremiah, “I will cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, ye nor your fathers; where I will not show you favor” (Jeremiah 16:13; add Jeremiah 15:14; Jeremiah 17:4). This was the aggravation of the original woe in the law: “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, a nation of fierce countenance”...

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-8:23 Part II. THE ANSWER TO A QUESTION CONCERNING THE OBSERVANCE OF CERTAIN FASTS. ZECHARIAH 7:1 § 1. _A deputation comes from Bethel to ask whether a fast instituted in memory of the calamity of Jerusalem was still to be observed._ ZECHARIAH 7:1 IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF KING DARIUS. This happened, then, B.C. 518, nearly two years after the visions had occurred (Zechariah 1:7). In two years more the te

BUT I SCATTERED THEM WITH A WHIRLWIND,.... Denoting the fierceness of his wrath, and the strength of his fury, seen in their dispersion: AMONG ALL THE NATIONS WHOM THEY KNEW NOT; such as the Babylonians, Medes, and Persians, people before unknown to the Jews: THUS THE LAND WAS DESOLATE AFTER THEM; that is, the land of Judea was destitute of inhabitants, or had but few remaining in it, after the Jews were carried captive into Babylon; for the rest, after the death of Gedaliah, fled into Egypt: THAT NO MAN PASSED THROUGH, NOR RETURNED; neither from Egypt, nor from Babylon, until the seventy years of captivity were ended; nor indeed did any from other nations pass through and fro, or settle in it, during this time, that we have any account of: FOR THEY LAID THE PLEASANT LAND DESOLATE; either the Israelites by their iniquities, which were the cause of it; or the Babylonians, as the instr...

Zechariah 7:1. _And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;_ God's prophets were not always in the spirit, and when the Word of God came to them, it was a notable day, and they marked it in their diary. I think that we, too, who are not prophets can remember some special time when God's Word was peculiarly precious to us. We can put down «the fourth day of the ninth month.» Zechariah 7:2. When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done thes

II. QUESTIONS CONCERNING CERTAIN FASTS CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The question (Zechariah 7:1) _ 2. The reproof (Zechariah 7:4) 3. The lessons of the past (Zechariah 7:8) Zechariah 7:1. Nearly two years had passed since Zechariah's great visions, and during that time the people had been obedient to the vision and built the house. Soon the ancient worship was to be resumed. A question arose in the minds of the people concerning certain Jewish days of fasting. The principal day was the day set apart in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. It was kept on the ninth day of the fifth mon

ZECHARIAH 7:8 is probably an amplification of the original address by a later hand and likewise Zechariah 8:1. Both are much like Zechariah 1:2....