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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
Z E C H A R I A H.
CHAP. I.
In this chapter, after the introduction
(ver. 1),
we have,
I. An awakening call to a sinful people to repent of their sins and
return to God,
II. Great encouragement given to hope for mercy.
1. By the vision of the horses,
2. By the prayer of the angel for Jerusalem, and the answer to that
prayer,
3. By the vision of the four carpenters that were employed to cut off
the four horns with which Judah and Jerusalem were scattered,
| Repentance Urged. | B. C. 520. |
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1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the
word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of
Iddo the prophet, saying,
2 The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
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.
4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have
cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from
your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not
hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.
5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they
live for ever?
6 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 the LORD of hosts thought to do unto
us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath
he dealt with us.
Here is,
I. The foundation of Zechariah’s ministry; it is laid in a divine
authority: The word of the Lord came to him. He received a
divine commission to be God’s mouth to the people and with it
instructions what to say. He received of the Lord that which also he
delivered unto them. The word of the Lord was to him; it came in
the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, as a real thing, and not
a fancy. For the ascertaining of this, we have here,
1. The time when the word of the Lord came first to him, or when the
word that next follows came to him: it was in the second year of
Darius. Before the captivity the prophets dated their writings by
the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel; but now by the reigns of
the kings of Persia, to whom they were subjects. Such a melancholy
change had sin made of their circumstances. Zerubbabel took not so much
state upon him as to have public acts dated by the years of his
government, and in things of this nature the prophets, as is fit,
complied with the usage of the time, and scrupled not to reckon by the
years of the heathen kings, as
Zechariah preached his first sermon in the eighth month of this
second year of Darius; Haggai preached his in the sixth month of
the same year,
The people being readily obedient to the word of the Lord in the mouth
of Haggai, God blessed them with another prophet; for to him that has,
and uses well what he has, more shall be given.
2. The name and family of the prophet to whom the word of the Lord
came; He was Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo,
and he was the prophet, as Haggai is called the prophet,
Hag. i. 1.
For, though in former ages there was one Iddo a prophet
yet we have no reason to think that Zechariah was of his progeny, or
should be denominated from him. The learned Mr. Pemble is decidedly of
opinion that this Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, is the same that our
Saviour says was slain between the temple and the altar, perhaps
many years after the rebuilding of the temple
and that our Saviour does not mean (as is commonly thought) Zechariah
the son of Jehoiada, for why should Jehoiada be called Barachiah? And
he thinks the manner of Christ’s account persuades us to think so; for,
reckoning up the innocent blood shed by the Jews, he begins at Abel,
and ends even in the last of the holy prophets. Whereas, after
Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, many prophets and righteous men were put
to death by them. It is true there is no mention made in any history of
their slaying this Zechariah, but Josephus might industriously conceal
that shame of his nation. Perhaps what Zechariah spoke in his
prophesying concerning Christ of his being sold, his being wounded in
the house of his friends, and the shepherd being smitten, was verified
in the prophet himself, and so he became a type of Christ. Probably,
being assaulted by his persecutors, he took sanctuary in the court of
the priests (and some think he was himself a priest), and so was slain
between the porch and the altar.
II. The first-fruits of Zechariah’s ministry. Before he came to visions
and revelations, and delivered his prophetic discourses, he preached
that which was plain and practical; for it is best to begin with that.
Before he published the promises of mercy, he published calls to
repentance, for thus the way of the Lord must be
prepared. Law must be first preached, and then gospel. Now,
1. The prophet here puts them in mind of the controversy God had had
with their fathers
(v. 2):
“The Lord has been sorely displeased with your fathers, and has
laid them under the tokens of his displeasure. You have heard with your
ears, and your fathers have told you of it; you have seen with your
eyes the woeful remains of it. God’s quarrel with you has been of long
standing, and therefore it is time for you to think of taking it up.”
Note, The judgments of God, which those that went before us were under,
should be taken as warnings to us not to tread in their steps, and
calls to repentance, that we may cut off the entail of the curse and
get it turned into a blessing.
2. He calls them, in God’s name, to return to him, and make their peace
with him,
v. 3.
God by him says that to this backsliding people which he had often said
by his servants the prophets: “Turn you to me in a way of faith
and repentance, duty and obedience, and I will turn to you in a
way of favour and mercy, peace and reconciliation.” Let the rebels
return to their allegiance, and they shall be taken under the
protection of the government and enjoy all the privileges of good
subjects. Let them change their way, and God will change his. See
But that which is most observable here is that God is called here the
Lord of hosts three times: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts.
It is he that speaks, and therefore you are bound to regard what he
says.” Turn you to me, saith the Lord of hosts (this intimates
the authority and obligation of the command), and I will turn to
you, saith the Lord of hosts–this intimates the validity and value
of the promise; so that it is no vain repetition. Note, The
consideration of God’s almighty power and sovereign dominion should
both engage and encourage sinners to repent and turn to him. It is very
desirable to have the Lord of hosts our friend and very dreadful to
have him our enemy.
3. He warns them not to persist in their impenitence, as their fathers
had done
(v. 4):
Be you not as your fathers. Instead of being hardened in their
evil courses by the example of their fathers’ sins, let them rather be
deterred from them by the example of their fathers’ punishment. We are
apt to be governed very much by precedent, and we are well or ill
governed according to the use we make of the precedents before us. The
same examples to some are a savour of life unto life, to others a
savour of death unto death. Some argued, “Shall we be wiser than our
fathers? They never minded the prophets, and why then should we mind
them? They made laws against them, and why should we tolerate them?”
But they are here taught how they should argue: “Our fathers slighted
the prophets, and God was sorely displeased with them for it; therefore
let us the more carefully regard what God says to us by his prophets.”
“Review what is past, and observe,”
(1.) “What was the message that God sent by his servants the prophets
to your fathers: The former prophets cried to your fathers.
cried aloud, and did not spare, not spare themselves, not spare your
fathers; they cried as men in earnest, as men that would be heard; they
spoke not as from themselves, but in the name of the Lord of
hosts; and this was the substance of what they said, the burden of
every song, the application of every sermon–Turn you now from your
evil ways, and from your evil doings; the very same that we now
preach to you. Be persuaded to leave your sins; resolve to have no more
to do with them. A speedy reformation is the only way to prevent an
approaching ruin: Turn you now from sin to God without
delay.”
(2.) “How little this message was regarded by your fathers: But they
did not hear, they did not heed. They turned a deaf ear to these
calls: They would not hearken unto me, saith the Lord. They
would not be reclaimed, would not be ruled, by the word I sent them;
say not then that you will do as your fathers did, for they did amiss;”
see
Note, We must not follow the examples of our dear fathers unless they
were God’s dear children, nor any further than they were dutiful and
obedient to him.
(3.) “What has become both of your fathers and of the prophets that
preached to them? They are all dead and gone,”
v. 5.
[1.] Your fathers, where are they? The whole generation of them
is swept away, and their place knows them no more. Note, When we think
of our ancestors, that have gone through the world and gone out of it
before us, we should think, Where are they? 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 churches. But where are
they? They are somewhere still; when they died there was not an end of
them. They are in eternity, in the world of spirits, the unchangeable
world, to which we are hastening apace. Where are they? Those of them
that lived and died in sin are in torment, and we are warned by Moses
and the prophets, Christ and his apostles, to look to it that we
come not to that place of torment,
Luke xvi. 28, 29.
Those of them that lived and died in Christ are in paradise; and, if we
live and die as they did, we shall be with them shortly, with them
eternally.
[2.] The prophets also, did they live for ever? No, they
are gone too. The treasure is put into earthen vessels, the water of
life into earthen pitchers, often cracked, and brought home broken at
last. Christ is a prophet that lives for ever, but all other prophets
have a period put to their office. Note, Ministers are dying men, and
live not for ever in this world. They are to look upon themselves as
such, and to preach accordingly, as those that must be silenced
shortly, and know not which sermon may be the last. People are to look
upon them as such, and to hear accordingly, as those that yet a little
while have the light with them, that they may walk and work
while they have the light. Oh that this weighty consideration
had its due weight given it, that we are dying ministers dealing with
dying people about the concerns of immortal souls and an awful
eternity, which both they and we are standing upon the brink of! It
concerns us to think of the prophets that are gone, that were before
us of old,
Jer. xxviii. 8.
Those that were the glory of men withered and fell; but the word of
the Lord endures for ever,
1 Pet. i. 24, 25.
The prophets that are now, do we live for ever? (so some read
it); no, Haggai and Zechariah will not be long with you, and prophecy
itself shall shortly cease. In another world both we and our prophets
shall live for ever; and to prepare for that world ought to be our
great care and business in this.
(4.) “What were the effects of the word which God spoke to them by his
prophets,
v. 6.
The preachers died, and the hearers died, but the word of God died not;
that took effect, and not one iota or tittle of it fell to the ground.”
As the rain and snow from heaven, it shall not return
void,
Isa. lv. 11.
He appealed to themselves; they knew very well,
[1.] That the judgments God had threatened were executed upon their
fathers, and they were made to feel what they would not believe and
fear: “My statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets,
the precepts with the penalties annexed, which I charged them with the
delivery of, did they not take hold of your fathers?” Though
God’s prophets could not fasten convictions upon them, the calamities
threatened overtook them, and they could not escape them, nor get out
of the reach of them. God’s words took hold of them as the bailiff
arrests the debtor, and takes him in execution for contempt. Note, The
unbelief of man cannot make the threatenings of God’s word of no
effect, but, sooner or later, they will take place, if the prescribed
course be not taken to prevent the execution of them. God’s anger will
certainly take hold of those that will not be taken hold of by his
authority; for when he judges he will overcome.
[2.] That they themselves could not but own the accomplishment of the
word of God in the judgments of God that were upon them, and that
therein he was righteous, and had done them no wrong: They returned,
and said (they changed their mind, and when it was too late to
prevent the ruin of their nation they acknowledged), Like as the
Lord of hosts thought to do unto us according to our ways and
doings, to reckon with us for them, so has he dealt with us,
and we must acknowledge both his truth and his justice, must blame
ourselves only, and have no blame to lay to him. Sero sapiunt
Phryges–It is late before the Phrygians become wise. This
after-wit, as it is a proof of the truth of God, so it is a proof of
the folly of men, who will look no further than they can see. They
would never be persuaded to say in time, “God will be as good as his
word, for he is faithful; he will deal with us according to our
deserts, for he is righteous.” But now they see both plainly enough
when the sentence is executed; now he that runs may read, and publish
the exact agreement that appears between the present providences and
the former predictions which then were slighted, between the present
punishments and the former sins which then were persisted in. Now they
cannot but say, The Lord is righteous,
Dan. ix. 11-13.
| The Vision of the Horse and Myrtles; Intercession for Jerusalem. | B. C. 520. |
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7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which
is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word
of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo
the prophet, saying,
8 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.
9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that
talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and
said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro
through the earth.
11 And they answered the angel of the LORD 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.
12 Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD 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?
13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with
good words and comfortable words.
14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou,
saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem
and for Zion with a great jealousy.
15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at
ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward
the affliction.
16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem
with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of
hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities
through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall
yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
We not come to visions and revelations of the Lord; for in that way God
chose to speak by Zechariah, to awaken the people’s attention, and to
engage their humble reverence of the word and their humble enquiries
into it, and to fix it the more in their minds and memories. Most of
the following visions seem designed for the comfort of the Jews, now
newly returned out of captivity, and their encouragement to go on with
the building of the temple. The scope of this vision (which is as an
introduction to the rest) is to assure the Jews of the care God took of
them, and the eye of his providence that was upon them for good, now in
their present state, when they seem to be deserted, and their case
deplorable. The vision is dated
(v. 7)
the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, three months after
he preached that sermon
(v. 1),
in which he calls them to repentance from the consideration of God’s
judgments. Finding that that sermon had a good effect, and that they
returned to God in a way of duty, the assurances he had given them are
confirmed, that God would return to them in a way of mercy. Now observe
here,
I. What the prophet saw, and the explication of that.
1. He saw a grove of myrtle-trees, a dark shady grove, down
in a bottom, hidden by the adjacent hills, so that you were not
aware of it till you were just upon it. This represented the low, dark,
solitary, melancholy condition of the Jewish church at this time. They
were over-topped by all their neighbours, buried in obscurity; what
friends they had were hidden, and there appeared no way of relief and
succour for them. Note, The church has not been always visible, but
sometimes hidden, as the woman in the wilderness,
Rev. xii. 6.
2. He saw a man mounted upon a red horse, standing in the
midst of this shady myrtle-grove. This man is no other than the man
Christ Jesus, the same that appeared to Joshua with his sword
drawn in his hand as captain of the host of the Lord
and to John with his bow and his crown,
Rev. vi. 2.
Though the church was in a low condition, yet Christ was present in the
midst of it. Was it hidden by the hills? He was much more hidden in the
myrtle-grove, yet hidden as in an ambush, ready to appear for the
seasonable relief of his people, to their happy surprise. Compare
Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, and yet Israel’s
God and Saviour at the same time, their Holy One in the midst of
them. He was riding, as a man of war, as a man in haste,
riding on the heavens for the help of his people,
He rode on a red horse, either naturally so or dyed red with the
blood of war, as this same victorious prince appeared red in his
apparel,
Isa. lxiii. 1, 2.
Red is a fiery colour, denoting that he is jealous for Jerusalem
(v. 14)
and very angry at her enemies. Christ, under the law, appeared on a red
horse, denoting the terror of that dispensation, and that he had yet
his conflict before him, when he was to resist unto blood. But,
under the gospel, he appears on a white horse
and again ch. xix. 11),
denoting that he has now gained the victory, and rides in triumph, and
hangs out the white, not the bloody flag.
3. He saw a troop of horse attending him, ready to receive and obey his
orders: Behind him there were some red horses, and some
speckled, and some white, angels attending the Lord
Jesus, ready to be employed by him for the service of his church, some
in acts of judgment, others of mercy, others in mixed events. Note, The
King of the church has angels at command, not only to do him honour,
but to minister for the good of those that are his.
4. He enquired into the signification of this vision. He had an angel
talking with him, as his instructor, besides those he saw in the
vision; so had Ezekiel
(ch. xl. 3),
and Daniel,
Zechariah asked him
(v. 9),
O my Lord! what are these? And, it should seem this angel
that talked with him was Christ himself, the man on the red
horse, whom the rest were attendants on; to him immediately
Zechariah addresses himself. Would we be acquainted with the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, we must make our application, not to angels
(they are themselves learners), but to Christ himself, who is alone
able to take the book, and open the seals,
Rev. v. 7.
The prophet’s question implies a humble acknowledgment of his own
ignorance and an earnest desire to be informed. O let me know what
these are! This he desired, not for the satisfying of his curiosity,
but that he might be furnished with something proper for the comfort
and encouragement of the people of God, in their present distress.
5. He received from the angel that talked with him
(v. 9),
and from the man that stood among the myrtle-trees
(v. 10),
the interpretation of this vision. Note, Jesus Christ is ready to
instruct those that are humbly desirous to be taught the things of God.
He immediately said, I will show thee what these are. What
knowledge we have, or may have, concerning the world of spirits, we are
indebted to Christ for. The account given him was, These are those
whom the Lord has sent: they are his messengers, his envoys,
appointed (as his eyes are said to do,
to walk, to run, to fly swiftly through the earth,
to observe what is done in it and to execute the divine commands. God
needs them not, but he is pleased to employ them, and we need the
comfort arising from the doctrine of their administration.
II. What the prophet heard, and what instructions were thereby given
him. Faith comes by hearing, and, generally, in visions there was
something said.
1. He heard the report or representation which the angels made to
Christ of the present state of the world,
They had been out abroad, as flying posts (being hastened by the
King of kings’ commandment,
Esth. iii. 15),
and, having returned, they give this account to the Angel that stood
among the myrtle-trees (for to the Lord Jesus angels themselves are
accountable): We have walked to and fro through the earth, and,
behold all the earth sits still and is at rest. We are taught to
pray that the will of God may be done by men on earth as it is done by
the angels in heaven; and here we see what need we have to pray so, for
it is far from being so. For,
(1.) We find the world of angels here very busy. Those that are
employed in the court above rest not day nor night from praising God,
which is their business there; and those that are employed in the camp
below are never idle, nor lose time; they are still ascending and
descending upon the Son of man
as on Jacob’s ladder,
they are still walking to and fro through the earth. Thus
active, thus industrious, Satan owns himself to be in doing
mischief,
It is well for us that good angels bestir themselves as much to do
good, and that here in this earth we have guardians going about
continually seeking to do us a kindness, as we have adversaries which,
as roaring lions, go about continually, seeking to devour us. Though
holy angels in this earth meet with a great deal that is disagreeable,
yet, while they are going on God’s errands, they hesitate not to
walk to and fro through it. Their own habitation, which those
that fell liked not, they will like the better when they return.
(2.) We find the world of mankind here very careless: All the earth
sits still, and is at rest, while all the church is made uneasy,
tossed with tempests and not comforted. Those that are strangers
to the church are secure; those that are enemies to it are successful.
The Chaldeans and Persians dwell at ease, while the poor Jews are
continually alarmed; as when the king and Haman sat down to drink,
but the city Shushan was perplexed. The children of men are merry
and jovial, but none grieve for the affliction of God’s
children. Note, It is sad to think what a deep sleep the world is cast
into, what a spirit of slumber has seized the generality of mankind,
that are under God’s wrath and Satan’s power, and yet secure and
unconcerned! They sit still and are at rest,
&c.
2. He heard Christ’s intercession with the Father for his afflicted
church,
The angels related the posture of affairs in this lower world, but we
read not of any prayers they made for the redress of the grievances
they had made a remonstrance of. No; it is the Angel among the
myrtle-trees that is the great intercessor. Upon the report of the
angels he immediately turned heavenward, and said, Lord, wilt thou
not have mercy on thy church?
(1.) The thing he intercedes for is mercy; as
Show us thy mercy, O Lord! Note, God’s mercy is all in all to
the church’s comfort; and all his mercy must be hoped for through
Christ’s mediation.
(2.) The thing he complains of is the delay of this mercy: How long
wilt thou not have mercy! He knows that mercies through him
shall be built up for ever
but thinks it long that the building is deferred.
(3.) The objects of compassion recommended to the divine mercies are,
Jerusalem, the holy city, and the other cities of Judah that were now
in ruins; for God had had indignation against them now
threescore and ten years. He mentions seventy years because that
was the time fixed in the divine councils for the continuance of the
captivity; so long the indignation lasted, and though now for a
little space grace had been shown them from the Lord their
God, to give them some reviving
(Ezra ix. 8),
yet the scars of those seventy years’ captivity still remained so deep,
so painful, that this is the melancholy string they still harp
upon–the divine indignation during those seventy years. Dr. Lightfoot
thinks that whereas the seventy years of the captivity were reckoned
from Jehoiakim’s fourth year, and ended in the first of Cyrus, these
seventy years are to be computed from the eleventh of Zedekiah, when
Jerusalem and the temple were burnt, about nineteen years after the
first captivity, and which ended in this second year of Darius
Hystaspes, about seventeen years after Cyrus’s proclamation, as that
seventy years mentioned
was about nineteen years after; the captivity went off, as it came on,
gradually. “Lord, we are still under the burden of the seventy years’
wrath, and wilt thou be angry with us for ever?“
3. He heard a gracious reply given to this intercession of Christ’s for
his church; for it is a prevailing intercession, always acceptable,
and him the Father heareth always
(v. 13):
The Lord answered the angel, this angel of the covenant, with
good words and comfortable words, with promises of mercy and
deliverance, and the perfecting of what he had begun in favour to them.
These were comfortable words to Christ, who is grieved in the
grievances of his church, and comfortable to all that mourn with Zion.
God often answers prayer with good words, when he does not immediately
appear in great works; and those good words are real answers to prayer.
Men’s good words will not feed the body
(Jam. ii. 16),
but God’s good words will feed the faith, for saying and doing with him
are not two things, though they are with us.
4. He heard that reply which was given to the angel repeated to
himself, with a commission to publish it to the children of his people,
for their comfort. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to
him he signified to his servant John, and by him to the
churches,
Rev. i. 1, 4.
Thus all the good words and comfortable words of the gospel we receive
from Jesus Christ, as he received them from the Father, in answer to
the prayer of his blood, and his ministers are appointed to preach them
to all the world. Now that God would speak comfortably to
Jerusalem, Zechariah is the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord. The voice said, Cry. Cry
then. The prophets must now cry as loudly to show God’s people
their comforts as ever they did formerly to show them their
transgressions,
Isa. xl. 2, 3, 6.
And if he ask, What shall I cry? he is here instructed.
(1.) He must proclaim the wrath God has in store for the enemies of
Jerusalem. He is jealous for Zion with great jealousy,
v. 14.
He takes himself to be highly affronted by the injuries and indignities
that are done to his church, as he had been formerly by the iniquities
found in his church. The earth sat still and was at rest
(v. 11),
not relenting at all, nor showing the least remorse, for all the
mischief they had done to Jerusalem, as Joseph’s brethren, who, when
they had sold him, sat down to eat bread; and this God took very ill
(v. 15):
I am very sorely displeased with the heathen, that are at ease,
and have no concern for the afflicted church. Much more will he be
displeased with those that are at ease in Zion
(Amos vi. 1),
with Zion’s own sons, that sympathize not with her in her sorrows. But
this was not all; they were not only not concerned for her, but they
were concerned against her: I was but a little displeased with
my people, and designed to correct them moderately, but those that were
employed as instruments of the correction cast off all pity, and with
the greatest rage and malice helped forward the affliction and
added to it, persecuting those whom God had smitten
and insulting over those whom he had troubled. See
Ezek. xxv. 12, 15.
Note, God is displeased with those who help forward the affliction even
of such as suffer justly; for true humanity, in such a case, is good
divinity.
(2.) He must proclaim the mercy God has in store for Jerusalem and the
cities of Judah,
v. 16.
He must cry, “Thus saith the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with
mercies. I was going away in wrath, but I am now returning in love.
Cry yet to the same purport,”
There must now be line upon line for consolation, as formerly there had
been for conviction. The Lord, even the Lord of hosts, assures
them,
[1.] That the temple shall be built that is now but in the building.
This good work which they are now about, though it meet with much
discouragement, shall be perfected, and they shall have the tokens of
God’s presence, and opportunities of conversing with him, and
worshipping him, as formerly. Note, It is good news indeed to any
place to hear that God will build his house in it.
[2.] That Jerusalem shall again be built as a city compact
together, which had formerly been its glory,
A line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem, in order to the
rebuilding of it with great exactness and uniformity.
[3.] That the nation shall again become populous and rich, though now
diminished and impoverished. Not only Jerusalem, but other cities that
are reduced and lie in a little compass, shall yet spread
abroad, or be diffused; their suburbs shall extend far, and
colonies shall be transplanted from them; and this through
prosperity: they shall be so numerous, and so wealthy, that there
shall not be room for them; they shall complain that the place is
too strait,
Isa. xlix. 20.
As they had been scattered and spread abroad, through their calamities,
so they should now be through their prosperity. Let thy fountains be
dispersed,
Prov. v. 16.
The cities that should thus increase God calls his cities; they are
blessed by him, and they are fruitful and multiply, and
replenish the land.
[4.] That all their present sorrows should not only be balanced, but
for ever silenced, by divine consolations: The Lord shall yet
comfort Zion. Yet at length, though her griefs and grievances may
continue long, God has comforts in reserve for Zion and all her
mourners.
[5.] That all this will be the fruit of God’s preventing distinguishing
favour: He shall yet choose Jerusalem, shall renew his choice,
renew his covenant, shall make it appear that he has chosen Jerusalem.
As he first built them up into a people when he brought them out of
Egypt, so he will now rebuild them, when he brings them out of Babylon,
not for any worthiness of theirs, but in pursuance of his own choice,
Jerusalem is the city he has chosen, and he will not cast it off.
| Comfort for Jerusalem. | B. C. 520. |
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18 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
19 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.
20 And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
21 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, to cast
out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over
the land of Judah to scatter it.
It is the comfort and triumph of the church
that when the enemy shall come in like a flood, with mighty
force and fury, then the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard
against him. Now, in this vision (the second which this prophet
had), we have an illustration of that, God’s Spirit making a stand, and
making head, against the formidable power of the church’s
adversaries.
I. We have here the enemies of the church bold and daring, and
threatening to be its death, to cut off the name of Israel; such
the people of God had lately been insulted by: I looked and behold
four horns
(v. 18),
which are explained
They are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and
Jerusalem, that is, the Jews both in the country and in the city,
because they were the Israel of God. They have tossed them (so
some read it), as furious bulls with their horns toss that which they
are enraged at. They have scattered them, so that no man did lift
up his head,
v. 21.
No man durst show his face for fear of them, much less give them any
opposition, or make head against them. They are horns, denoting
their dignity and dominion–horns exalted, denoting also their
strength, and power, and violence. They are four horns, for the
Jews are surrounded with them on every side; when they avoid one horn
that pushes at them they run upon another. The men of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and many of Israel that joined themselves to
them, set about the building of the temple; but the enemies of that
work from all sides pushed at them, and drove them from it. Rehum, and
Shimshai, and the other Samaritans that opposed the building of the
temple, were these horns,
So were Sanballat and Tobiah, and the Ammonites and Arabians, that
opposed the building of the wall,
Note, The church’s enemies have horns, and use them to the hindrance of
every good work. The great enemy of the New-Testament church has
seven heads and ten horns
(Rev. xvii. 3),
so that those who endeavour to do the church any service must expect to
be pushed at.
II. We have here the friends of the church active and prevailing. The
prophet did himself lift up his eyes and see the four horns, and saw
them so formidable that he began to despair of the safety of every good
man, and the success of every good work; but the Lord then
showed him four carpenters, or smiths, who were empowered
to cut off these horns,
With an eye of sense we see the power of the enemies of the church;
look which way we will, the world shows us that. But it is with an eye
of faith that we see it safe, notwithstanding; it is the Lord that
shows us that, as he opened the eyes of the prophet’s servant to see
the angelic guards round about his master,
Observe, Those that were to fray or break the horns of the Gentiles,
and to cast them out, were,
1. Carpenters or smiths (for they are supposed by some to
have been horns of iron), men who had skill and ability to do it, whose
proper business it was, and who understood their business and had tools
at hand to do it with. Note, God calls those to serve the interests of
his church whom he either finds, or makes, fit for it. If there be
horns (which denote the force and fury of beasts) against the church,
there are carpenters (which denote the wisdom and forecast of men) for
the church, by which they find ways to master the strongest beasts, for
every kind of beasts is tamed, and has been tamed, of mankind,
Jam. iii. 7.
2. They were four carpenters, as many horns so many hands to saw
them off. Note, Which way soever the church is threatened with
mischief, and opposition given to its interests, God can find out ways
and means to check the force, to restrain the wrath, and make it turn
to his praise. Some by these four carpenters understand Zerubbabel and
Joshua, Ezra and Nehemiah, who carried on the work of God in spite of
the opposition given to it. Those horned beasts broke into God’s
vineyard to tread it down; but the good magistrates and the good
ministers whom God raised up, though they had not power to cut off
the horns of the wicked (as David did,
yet frightened them and cast them out. Note, When God has work to do
he will raise up some to do it and others to defend it and protect
those that are employed in the doing of it.
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