Zechariah 1

Zec 1:1-17.

INTRODUCTORY

EXHORTATION TO

REPENTANCE.

THE

VISIONS.

The man among the myrtles: Comforting explanation by the angel, an

encouragement to the Jews to build the city and temple: The four horns

and four artificers.

1. See

Introduction.

2. God fulfilled His threats against your fathers; beware, then, lest

prophets, ye suffer like them. The special object Zechariah aims at

is that they should awake from their selfish negligence to obey God's

command to rebuild His temple

(Hag 1:4-8).

sore displeased--Hebrew, "displeased with a displeasure," that is,

vehemently, with no common displeasure, exhibited in the destruction of

the Jews' city and in their captivity.

3. saith the Lord 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--that is, and then, as the

sure consequence, "I will turn unto you"

(Mal 3:7;

Jas 4:8;

compare also

Jer 3:12;

Eze 18:30;

Mic 7:19).

Though God hath brought you back from captivity, yet this state will

not last long unless ye are really converted. God has heavier scourges

ready, and has begun to give symptoms of displeasure [CALVIN].

(Hag 1:6).

4. Be ye not as your fathers--The Jews boasted of their fathers; but he shows that their fathers were refractory, and that ancient

example and long usage will not justify disobedience

(2Ch 36:15, 16).

the former prophets--those who lived before the captivity. It

aggravated their guilt that, not only had they the law, but they had

been often called to repent by God's prophets.

5. Your fathers . . . and the prophets, do they live for

ever?--In contrast to "My words"

(Zec 1:6),

which "endure for ever"

(1Pe 1:25).

"Your fathers have perished, as was foretold; and their fate ought to

warn you. But you may say, The prophets too are dead. I grant it, but

still My words do not die: though dead, their prophetical words from

Me, fulfilled against your fathers, are not dead with them.

Beware, then, lest ye share their fate."

6. statutes--My determined purposes to punish for sin.

which I commanded my servants--namely, to announce to your fathers.

did they not take hold--that is, overtake, as a foe overtakes one

fleeing.

they returned--Turning from their former self-satisfaction, they

recognized their punishment as that which God's prophets had foretold.

thought to do--that is, decreed to do. Compare with this verse

La 2:17.

our ways--evil ways

(Jer 4:18; 17:10; 23:2).

7. The general plan of the nine following visions

(Zec 1:8-6:15)

is first to present the symbol; then, on a question being put, to

subjoin the interpretation. Though the visions are distinct, they form

one grand whole, presented in one night to the prophet's mind, two or

three months after the prophet's first commission

(Zec 1:1).

Sebat--the eleventh month of the Jewish year, from the new moon in

February to the new moon in March. The term is Chaldee, meaning a

"shoot," namely, the month when trees begin to shoot or bud.

8. by night--The Jews begin their day with sunset; therefore the night

which preceded the twenty-fourth day of the month is meant

(Zec 1:7).

a man--Jehovah, the second person of the Trinity, manifested in

man's form, an earnest of the incarnation; called the "angel of

Jehovah"

(Zec 1:11, 12),

"Jehovah the angel of the covenant"

(Mal 3:1;

compare

Ge 16:7

with Zec 1:13;

Ge 22:11

with Zec 1:12;

Ex 3:2

with Zec 1:4).

Being at once divine and human, He must be God and man in one person.

riding--implying swiftness in executing God's will in His providence;

hastening to help His people.

red horse--the color that represents bloodshed: implying vengeance

to be inflicted on the foes of Israel (compare

2Ki 3:22;

Isa 63:1, 2;

Re 6:4);

also fiery zeal.

among the myrtle trees--symbol of the Jewish Church: not a

stately cedar, but a lowly, though fragrant, myrtle. It was its

depressed state that caused the Jews to despond; this vision is

designed to cheer them with better hopes. The uncreated angel of

Jehovah's presence standing (as His abiding place,

Ps 132:14)

among them, is a guarantee for her safety, lowly though she now

be.

in the bottom--in a low place or bottom of a river; alluding to Babylon

near the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, the scene of Judah's captivity.

The myrtle delights in low places and the banks of waters

[PEMBELLUS].

MAURER translates, from a different root, "in a shady place."

red horses--that is, horsemen mounted on red horses;

Zec 1:10, 11,

confirm this view.

speckled . . . white--The "white" implies triumph and victory for

Judah; "speckled" (from a root "to intertwine"), a combination of the

two colors white and red (bay

[MOORE]), implies a state of

things mixed, partly prosperous, partly otherwise

[HENDERSON]; or, the

connection of the wrath (answering to the "red") about to fall on the

Jews' foes, and triumph (answering to the "white") to the Jews

themselves in God's arrangements for His people

[MOORE]. Some angels

("the red horses") exercised offices of vengeance; others ("the white"),

those of joy; others ("the speckled"), those of a mixed character

(compare

Zec 6:2, 3).

God has ministers of every kind for promoting the interests of His

Church.

9. the angel that talked with me--not the "man upon the red horse,"

as is evident from

Zec 1:10,

where he (the Divine Angel) is distinguished from the "angel that

talked with me" (the phrase used of him,

Zec 1:13, 14;

Zec 2:3; 4:1, 4, 5; 5:5, 10; 6:4),

that is, the interpreting angel. The Hebrew for "with

me," or, "in me"

(Nu 12:8),

implies internal, intimate communication

[JEROME].

show thee--reveal to thy mental vision.

10. answered--The "angel of the covenant" here gives the reply instead

of the interpreting angel, to imply that all communications through the

interpreting angel come from Him as their source.

Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth--If "Satan walks

to and fro in the earth" (implying restless activity) on errands of

mischief to God's people

(Job 1:7),

the Lord sends other angels to "walk to and fro" with unceasing

activity everywhere to counterwork Satan's designs, and to defend His

people

(Ps 34:7; 91:11; 103:20, 21;

Heb 1:14).

11. The attendant angels report to the Lord of angels, "the

earth . . . is at rest." The flourishing state of the heathen

"earth," while Judah was desolate and its temple not yet restored, is

the powerful plea in the Divine Angel's intercession with God the

Father in

Zec 1:12.

When Judah was depressed to the lowest point, and the heathen elated to

the highest, it was time for Jehovah to work for His people.

sitteth still--dwells surely.

12. Not only does Messiah stand among His people (the

"myrtles,"

Zec 1:8),

but intercedes for them with the Father ("Lord," or "Jehovah of hosts")

effectively

(Zec 1:13;

Heb 7:25).

Compare

Ps 102:13-20;

Isa 62:6, 7,

as to Judah's restoration in answer to prayer.

answered and said--said in continuation of the discourse:

proceeded to say.

how long--Messiah's people pray similarly to their Head.

Re 6:10,

"How long," &c. Heretofore it was vain to pray, but now that the

divinely appointed "threescore and ten years"

(Jer 25:11; 29:10)

are elapsed, it is time to pray to Thee for the fulfilment of Thy

promise, seeing that Thy grace is not yet fully manifested, nor Thy

promise fulfilled. God's promises are not to make us slothful, but to

quicken our prayers.

HENDERSON,

dating the seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem

(588 B.C.),

supposes two years of the seventy had yet to run

(520 B.C.).

13. the Lord--JEHOVAH, called "the angel of the Lord (Jehovah)"

(Zec 1:12).

good words and comfortable words--literally, "words, consolations."

The subject of these consolatory words is stated in

Zec 1:14,

&c.; the promise of full re-establishment,

Jer 29:10, 11

(compare

Isa 57:18;

Ho 11:8).

14. Cry--Proclaim so as to be heard clearly by all

(Isa 40:6; 58:1).

I am jealous for Jerusalem--As a husband jealous for his wife, wronged

heathen

(Zec 8:2;

Nu 25:11, 13;

1Ki 19:10;

Joe 2:18).

15. very sore displeased with the heathen--in contrast with "I was

but a little displeased" with My people. God's displeasure with His

people is temporary and for their chastening; with the heathen

oppressors, it is final and fatal

(Jer 30:11).

God's instruments for chastising His people, when He has done with

them, He casts into the fire.

are at ease--carnally secure. A stronger phrase than "is at rest"

(Zec 1:11).

They are "at ease," but as I am "sore displeased" with them, their ease

is accursed. Judah is in "affliction," but as I love her and am jealous

for her, she has every reason to be encouraged in prosecuting the

temple work.

helped forward the affliction--afflicted My people more than I desired.

The heathen sought the utter extinction of Judah to gratify their own

ambition and revenge

(Isa 47:6;

Eze 25:3, 6;

Ob 10-17).

16. I am returned--whereas in anger I had before withdrawn from her

(Ho 5:15).

with mercies--not merely of one kind, nor once only, but repeated

mercies.

my house shall be built--which at this time

(the second year of Darius,

Zec 1:1)

had only its foundations laid

(Hag 2:18).

It was not completed till the sixth year of Darius

(Ezr 6:15).

line--

(Job 38:5).

The measuring-line for building, not hastily, but with measured

regularity. Not only the temple, but Jerusalem also was to be

rebuilt

(Ne 2:3,

&c.; compare

Zec 2:1, 2).

Also, as to the future temple and city,

Eze 41:3; 42:1-44:31; 45:6.

17. yet--though heretofore lying in abject prostration.

My cities--not only Jerusalem, but the subordinate cities of Judah.

God claims them all as peculiarly His, and therefore will restore them.

through prosperity . . . spread abroad--or overflow; metaphor from

an overflowing vessel or fountain (compare

Pr 5:16)

[PEMBELLUS].

Abundance of fruits of the earth, corn and wine, and a large increase

of citizens, are meant; also spiritual prosperity.

comfort Zion--

(Isa 40:1, 2; 51:3).

choose--

(Zec 2:12; 3:2;

Isa 14:1).

Here meaning, "show by acts of loving-kindness that He has

chosen." His immutable choice from everlasting is the fountain

whence flow all such particular acts of love.

Zec 1:18-21.

SECOND

VISION.

The power of the Jews foes shall be dissipated.

18. four horns--To a pastoral people like the Jews the

horns of the strongest in the herd naturally suggested a symbol

of power and pride of conscious strength: hence the

ruling powers of the world

(Re 17:3, 12).

The number four in Zechariah's time referred to the four

cardinal points of the horizon. Wherever God's people turned, there

were foes to encounter

(Ne 4:7);

the Assyrian, Chaldean, and Samaritan on the north; Egypt and Arabia on

the south; Philistia on the west; Ammon and Moab on the east. But the

Spirit in the prophet looked farther; namely, to the four world

powers, the only ones which were, or are, to rise till the kingdom of

Messiah, the fifth, overthrows and absorbs all others in its universal

dominion. Babylon and Medo-Persia alone had as yet risen, but soon

Græco-Macedonia was to succeed (as

Zec 9:13

foretells), and Rome the fourth and last, was to follow

(Da 2:1-49; 7:1-28).

The fact that the repairing of the evils caused to Judah and Israel by

all four kingdoms is spoken of here, proves that the exhaustive

fulfilment is yet future, and only the earnest of it given in the

overthrow of the two world powers which up to Zechariah's time had

"scattered" Judah

(Jer 51:2;

Eze 5:10, 12).

That only two of the four had as yet risen, is an argument having no

weight with us, as we believe God's Spirit in the prophets regards the

future as present; we therefore are not to be led by Rationalists who

on such grounds deny the reference here and in

Zec 6:1

to the four world kingdoms.

19. Judah, Israel--Though some of the ten tribes of Israel returned

with Judah from Babylon, the full return of the former, as of the

latter, is here foretold and must be yet future.

20. four carpenters--or "artificers." The several instrumentalities

employed, or to be employed, in crushing the "Gentile" powers which

"scattered" Judah, are hereby referred to. For every one of the

four horns there was a cleaving "artificer" to beat it down. For every

enemy of God's people, God has provided a counteracting power adequate

to destroy it.

21. These are the horns--rather, Those, namely, the horns being

distinguished from the "carpenters," or destroying workmen ("skilful to

destroy,"

Ex 21:31),

intended in the "these" of the question.

no man . . . lift up his head--so depressed were they with a heavy

weight of evils

(Job 10:15).

to fray--to strike terror into them

(Eze 30:9).

lifted up . . . horn--in the haughtiness of conscious strength

(Ps 75:4, 5)

tyrannizing over Judah

(Eze 34:21).