Zechariah the Prophet

E. Dennett.

Preface

The following pages contain a simple exposition of the prophet Zechariah; and the writer cannot but hope that the reader will be drawn to the study of this book with increasing interest by what he has written. From much observation he has been forced to the conclusion that the prophetic books are losing their hold on the young believers, if not upon those who are older, of the present day. It is not forgotten that the portion of the heavenly saints, and the hope of the Church, are found in the New Testament; but, while this is true, it is of exceeding moment that the believer should be interested in all that concerns the purposes of God, and the glory of His Christ here upon the earth. Without this the heart is apt to become narrowed and contracted, and the zest is wanting for the intelligent perusal of the Old Testament Scriptures. Besides, there is a special interest attaching to the sacred writings in connection with the restored remnant of the post-captivity period, inasmuch as they so often depict morally the position of saints now while waiting for the return of their Lord. For these reasons the writer most earnestly commends to his readers this portion of the word of God, in the full assurance that both increased intelligence and blessing will be the result of its prayerful study.

Another has said, and the statement is fully endorsed, that his writings express the process of arriving at the truth. This is surely the case; for what with the additional light and understanding given in the course of writing, the feeling is often begotten at the conclusion, that the work should be recommenced. The consolation is that the Lord Himself is the Teacher; and the writer's prayer is that this may be abundantly verified by his readers.

E. D. London, 1888.

Introduction

In the book of Ezra we have the general statement that "Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo,* prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel." (Ezra 5: 1) Zechariah, however, did not commence his ministry (as far as has been recorded) until two months after the first prophecy of Haggai, though the first prophecy of Zechariah was at least a month before the last two of Haggai. They were therefore contemporaneous, and both alike laboured for the encouragement of the children of the captivity in building the temple. (See Ezra 5: 2) But Zechariah takes, under the guidance of the Spirit, a far wider range of vision than Haggai. The latter deals mainly with the moral state of the people in relation to the purpose for which they had returned from Babylon; viz., to build the Lord's house, while, for their encouragement, he unfolds the glories of the future when the kingdom should be established. Zechariah includes in his prophetic vision the Gentile kingdoms to whom the Jews were in subjection, the establishment of the Messiah as a Priest on His throne, who should build the temple of the Lord, and "bear the glory." (Zech. 6: 13) He also deals with the rejection of the Messiah and its consequences, together with the final siege of Jerusalem by the nations, and its deliverance by the sudden appearance of the Lord Himself. Thereon the remnant, as he points out, are humbled to contrition as they look on Him whom they had pierced; and their enemies are destroyed. Moreover, the prophet exhibits Jehovah as king over all the earth, and all nations ascending yearly to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Finally, he depicts holiness to the Lord as marking every detail of the daily life of the people in Jerusalem and Judah. These several points, with their important links and developments, will come before us in our examination of the book. The book divides itself into two parts: Zechariah 1-6, which contain, after the first six verses, a series of prophetic visions vouchsafed to Zechariah; and Zechariah 7-14, which comprise the messages he received for the instruction and encouragement of the people. The first part may be therefore termed apocalyptic, while the second partakes of the ordinary prophetic character.

*Zechariah, as is stated in the first verse of his prophecy, was the son of Berechiah. Iddo was his grandfather, and inasmuch as Zechariah succeeded Iddo in the priestly office, Berechiah must have died during the youth of his son. Zechariah thus united in himself the offices of prophet and priest.

Zechariah 1.

This short message from Jehovah to the people, which is found in the first six verses, is the introduction to the whole book. In verse 1, the date with the genealogy of the prophet is given; and the reader will note the significant fact that, as in Haggai so here, the date is indicative of the times of the Gentiles. It was "in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius." Through the failure of the kingdom in man's hand, God had transferred His earthly throne from Jerusalem to Babylon, and to its successors. At this time, Babylon having fallen, Darius was the head of the Gentile monarchy, and hence the introduction of his name.

The commencement of this "word of the Lord" is abrupt and solemn; and it is designed to recall to the minds of the people Jehovah's past ways with their fathers, both as a warning and a ground of appeal. "The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers." (v. 2.) Did not the people know it? Was not their present mean condition, in contrast with the glory and prosperity of the past, an evidence of it? The fact that God's chosen people should have been carried away captive, and that they were only now permitted to return by the will of a Gentile monarch, was surely enough to awaken sad reflections as to the cause of their humiliation and sorrow. But it is easy, as we all know, to become habituated to our circumstances, and to ignore the Lord's hand in them, and thus to blame anything and everything, rather than ourselves. It is on this account that the prophet goes down to the root of things, and reminds them of their fathers' sin and the Lord's consequent displeasure.

The next verse contains a principle of the utmost importance. "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." (v. 3.) "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11: 29); and thus He never gives up the purposes of His grace whatever the practical condition of His people. Their sin may bring down His chastening hand upon them, but He does not break off His relationship with them on this account. As He Himself hath said, "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Mal. 3: 6.) The unchanging character of His relationships in grace with His people lies, indeed, at the basis of all His dealings with them; and hence, because He is a faithful God, He can send such a message as this before us — "Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you." Being what He is, He could not sanction their transgressions and iniquities, and He thus reminds them that the condition of His presence with them, of His actings on their behalf, is that they turn unto Him. As James says, "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." (James 4: 8; compare 2 Chronicles 15: 2.) It is so now. The Lord can say that He will never leave nor forsake His people, that having loved His own that are in the world, He loves them unto the end, but, at the same time, He will never walk with them, or minister to them the consolations of His presence, in their backslidings and sins. The maintenance of dependence and obedience, of communion with Him, is the secret of all blessing. (Compare John 14: 21-23.) The reader will remark the solemn sanctions appended to this exhortation. Three times are the words "The Lord of hosts" repeated, seeking in this way to reach the consciences of the people, and to remind them of the power and majesty of their covenant God.

The exhortation is based further upon the sad example of their fathers. The former prophets had cried unto them, in the name of 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." (v. 4.) And what was the consequence? Have any of the Lord's people found the path of disobedience to be a path of safety or blessing? No; that were impossible; and Zechariah recalls the fact to the people's mind that, while their fathers and the prophets who had spoken to them the word of the Lord had passed off the scene, the word of God had not failed. "But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of [margin, overtake] 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." (v. 6.) We thus learn that the word of God never returns to Him void, that it must accomplish that which He pleases; heaven and earth may pass away, but His word will never perish; it will infallibly execute the mission on which it is sent. Woe therefore to him who neglects it, who walks according to his own will instead of by the light which it affords; for sooner or later he will have to confess, as these fathers did, that the word was sure, and that, if its warnings were despised, its threatenings would surely be accomplished. (Compare Joshua 23: 14-19.)

Such are the foundation principles with which Zechariah commences his prophetic mission; first, the condition of all blessing (v. 3); second, the evils of disobedience (v. 4); thirdly, the immutable character of the word of God, as unchangeable in its warnings as in its promises; and lastly, that God ever deals with His people, in His government, according to their ways and doings. And these principles are confined to no period, but obtain in and run through all dispensations, because they flow out from what God is in Himself in His unchanging and unchangeable character and nature.

More than three months elapsed, as will be seen from a comparison of the dates in verses 1 and 7, before the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah. His work was simple — to speak when He was commanded, and to be silent when he was without a divine message. Even the Lord Himself, coming to do the Father's will, took the same subject place; as He said, "I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." (John 12: 49; see also John 14: 10) But since the Holy Ghost came, the direction, as for example, to Timothy, is "Preach the word; be instant in season, and out of season." (2 Tim. 4: 2.) In all alike such a responsibility could only be met by the maintenance of a dependent spirit, and an opened ear. (See Isaiah 1. 4.)

It was an apocalyptic vision, in this case, vouchsafed to the prophet. He says, "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 [margin, bay], and white." It is to be observed, as will be seen from verse 11, that the man on the red horse among the myrtle trees is the angel of the Lord. Angels are often spoken of as men. (See Luke 24: 4 et passim.) Now a horse, to borrow the definition of another, is "the symbol of divine energy of government in the earth," and hence there will be, in some sort, a correspondence between the horse of the angel, and the three sets of horses standing behind him; and this fact will afford the key wherewith to unlock the mystery of the vision. As every reader of prophecy knows, when God committed the government of the earth, on removing His throne from Jerusalem, to Nebuchadnezzar, it was revealed that three kingdoms would succeed that of Babylon before the kingdom of Christ should be established. At the time of this prophetic vision Babylon had already been judged, and hence there were only these three to follow; viz., Persia, Greece, and Rome.* It is very evident, therefore, that these three empires are represented by the red, speckled, and white horses. Another feature is to be noticed. The colour of the horse on which the angel sits is the same as that of the red horses; that is, the horses which represent the Persian empire. The reason of this may be found in the fact that, at this time, the throne of Persia was favourable to the restored remnant in Judea, as is seen from Ezra 6; and we learn now that the energy of government, acting at this moment through human hands on behalf of God's people, had its source in God Himself: that it was the angel on the red horse that directed, though unseen, the movements of the red horses of Persia's throne. This indeed is characteristic of God's government of the earth all through the period during which Lo-ammi (see Hosea 1) is written upon His people. Man acts, and apparently according to his own arbitrary will, doing as he pleases, but we gather, especially from the book of Esther, that "the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will." (Prov. 21: 1) How calmly, therefore, may God's people rest, in the consciousness of this, in the midst of the busy movements and political agitations of the world!

*We add some important words of another as to the judgment of Babylon: "The destruction of Babylon had a peculiar importance: first, because it was substituted by God Himself in place of His throne at Jerusalem; secondly, because it was the only Gentile power directly set up by Him, though all power be from Him. The others replaced Babylon providentially. Hence, at the destruction of Babylon, Jerusalem is restored — however partially it shows the principle — and the power which judges Babylon is the setter up of God's people again in the holy city. Babylon — its setting up, its rule, and its destruction — involved the whole of the direct dealings of God with the Gentiles, and with His people in power. All the rest came in merely as a prolonging, by-the-bye."

The prophet enquires as to the meaning of the vision unfolded before his eyes. (v. 9.) "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." (v. 10) The reader may find instruction in comparing the expression in Revelation 5: "A Lamb . . . having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." (v. 6.) This fixes the interpretation of verse 10; for the Lamb "in the midst of the throne" has in this scene the government of the earth in His hands, although He has not yet taken it into possession. So here, the horses are they "whom the Lord has sent forth to walk to and fro through the earth" — the power of government, universal government, being deposited for the time in their hands. To him — to the angel of the Lord — they also give account of what they found in their mission: "We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." (v. 11)

The meaning of this report is discovered by what follows. Jerusalem was lying desolate, and God's people were in captivity, and the nations, careless of the state of this despised people, and of the thoughts of God towards them, were at rest. Jehovah had used the Gentiles to inflict His chastisements upon His rebellious and apostate people, and had, as we have pointed out, committed the government of the earth into their hands; but, instead of holding it in responsibility to God, they exercised it for their own enrichment and aggrandisement, and for the oppression of the people over whom they had been permitted to triumph. He therefore says, "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." (v. 15; compare Isaiah 47: 6; Jeremiah 50. 51) Man, as ever, cannot understand the thoughts of God.

On receiving the report as to the state of the earth* "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?" (V. 12.) What a comment upon man! Heaven was occupied with Jerusalem and Judah, while man was occupied with his own interests, and seeking only his own ease and prosperity. And what a lesson for the believer! Vain is the help of man, but he can always turn to God. As we read in the psalm (margin), "Shall I lift up mine eyes unto the hills? Whence should my help come? My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121: 1, 2.) The answer came immediately, and it was couched in "good and comfortable words." (v. 13). It is to be observed that the angel bases his plea upon the fact that the indignation had endured for seventy years — the period spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet. (Jer. 25: 11, 12; see also Daniel 9: 2.) The time therefore had come for the Lord to remember Jerusalem; and blessed is it for those who, like Daniel, have understanding of the Lord's mind, and can plead with Him, in communion with His own thoughts, on behalf of His people. But if any would enjoy this privilege they must set themselves, also like Daniel, to understand by books — the books of Scripture — what the will of the Lord is. (Cp. John 15: 7.)

*The horses "have the character of the providentially administering spirits of the empires rather than of the empires themselves;" and the reader will understand that the state of the earth, above referred to, was existent under Darius, the head of the Persian empire.

The answer of Jehovah of hosts is contained in verses 14-17. In the first place the Lord declares His unalterable love for Jerusalem. The angel thus said to the prophet, "Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy." True that He Himself had caused the beloved city to be desolated, that Nebuchadnezzar was His own rod wherewith He had chastised her; but He had dealt thus with her because of her sins, and because indeed of the place of nearness and blessing which she had enjoyed (see Isaiah 1), but now she had received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins, and He could again speak to her heart. (Isaiah 40) Thus it was that the pent-up fires of His zeal and jealousy could again break out on her behalf; the love, which the sin of His people had driven back into His heart, could once more pour itself forth in efforts for her reestablishment and prosperity. This was the one object Jehovah had at this time on the earth; and hence it was that He was sore displeased with the heathen that were at case. (v. 15.) God could not rest because of the state of Jerusalem and Zion; the heathen could be at ease, for they had profited by the sins and sorrows of God's people, and they had no desire for the restoration of a city which, in former days, had been the object of their fear and envy. They had no communion, therefore, with Jehovah's mind. He had been "but a little displeased," and they, wreaking their own revenge, had "helped forward the affliction," and had thus laid the foundation for their own judgment when Jehovah should interpose for the accomplishment of His counsels of grace concerning His people.

After bringing out the contrast in this way between His own mind and that of the heathen, and consequently between His present attitude towards Jerusalem and them, Jehovah announces His unalterable purposes for the full blessing of Jerusalem and Zion. "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; 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. 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." (vv. 16, 17.)

The full application of these magnificent promises could only be in the future when Messiah shall have returned and taken His kingdom. But they were given for the present comfort and encouragement of the poor and feeble remnant that had returned from Babylon. They might have well been despondent if occupied with their then circumstances; but man never sees as God seeth, nor thinks according to His thoughts. Jehovah therefore, reveals to this despised few all His heart, and all His counsels for their future prosperity and glory; and He thus gave them a mighty incentive to diligence and zeal, in building the house of their God; and He taught them, at the same time, that their return from Babylon, partial as it was, contained within itself the promise of the fulfilment of every word that He had spoken concerning His ancient people. Nay, more; there is a lesson in this message which God's people would do well to mark in every age. The importance of any work depends not, in anywise, upon its outward magnitude or display, but upon the thoughts of God about it. In all the earth, at this moment, there was nothing to be compared, in the eyes of God, with the work on which His people were now engaged at Jerusalem. And yet what was it to man? A poor and contemptible effort to rebuild a house for the celebration of their national rites and ceremonies! A movement of no account whatever in the busy political activities of the day — lying outside, as it did, of the sphere of the world's observation! But it was there — on that work — that the mind and heart of God were at that moment concentrated. Let this fact speak to our hearts as with a trumpet-tongue; for how often have we been tempted to love that which looms large in the eyes of the world, which commands the world's attention, instead of seeking to be in fellowship with the mind and heart of God, and to be identified with His aims and ends. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Upon this follows a vision for the confirmation of the faith of the prophet. "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns" (v. 18); and the angel, in answer to his inquiry, said, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." (v. 19) That is, the horns are symbolical of the several powers, or kingdoms, that had been used to punish, and to scatter, both Israel and Judah. It is not here the question as to what kingdoms they were, though they can be easily traced in Scripture; but the number four represents the whole of the powers, as four is often used for completeness on earth. Thereon Jehovah showed him four carpenters; and, in answer to the prophet, He spake, saying (after repeating the truth as to the horns), "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" (v. 21.) The meaning of the carpenters is not given, only Jehovah assures the prophet, that as He used the four horns to scatter His people, so He will provide four instruments, at the proper moment, to fray (i.e., to terrify, or to drive them away with fear — see Psalm 48: 4-6) them, and to cast out the Gentile powers who had served themselves in scattering His people. We thus learn that God still retains the government of the earth in His hands, and that the movements of nations, wars and conquests, are but the means whereby He accomplishes His own purposes in respect of His earthly people. The Gentile powers, or any given nation, may appear never to be so firmly established; but at the appointed moment the  carpenters "come upon the scene, and they are frayed," "cast out," and their dominion is swept away.

Zechariah 2.

The connection of this with the next four chapters may be concisely stated in the words of another. "From chapter 2 to the end of chapter 6 the Spirit presents the circumstances, the principles, and the result of the reestablishment of Jerusalem and of the house [the temple]; and also the judgment of that which was wicked and corrupt. Each chapter has a distinct subject — a vision detached from the others — while forming a portion of the whole. The present responsibility on which the blessing depended, and the sovereign grace that would assuredly accomplish all, are both set before us, each in its place."* This will be more fully seen as we pursue the details.

* Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, by J. N. Darby, vol. ii., third edition.

The subject of our chapter (chapter 2) is the restoration of Jerusalem — full and complete deliverance from the nations which had spoiled her, and her consequent blessing as the result of being once more the dwelling-place of Jehovah And it will help the reader if he remember that this final deliverance flows out of, and is connected with, the partial deliverance enjoyed by the remnant as returned from Babylon. This has already been touched upon in chap. 1, for it has ever been the way of God with His people to use their partial deliverances as shadows of their full blessing under the promised Messiah.

In verses 1, 2 we have the introductory vision: "I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof." Two similar passages are found in the Scriptures — the first in Ezekiel 40; and the Second in Revelation 11, and a reference to them will aid in the interpretation. In both of these cases measuring would seem to be preparatory to appropriation for blessing; that is to say, it is an action directed by God on the eve of His once more coming in to re-establish His dwelling-place, and to own His people. It is so also in Zechariah. Jerusalem had been, as indeed it is at the present moment, trodden down by the Gentiles, made desolate for her sins. But the eye and the heart of God were perpetually upon her; and now that the time of her warfare was drawing to a close, now that she was draining the last drops of the cup of her judgment (for the seventy years of the promised desolations were now ended), He remembers His former mercies towards her, and He sends the "man with a measuring line in his hand" to ascertain the breadth thereof, and the length thereof, before taking possession, and establishing in her His royal throne for righteous government in blessing.

That this is the meaning of the symbolical vision is evident, from the following action: "And behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man,* saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." (vv. 3-5).

*This young man is the prophet himself; and it has been contended from the word employed — the same as is used of Jeremiah (Jer. 1: 6) — that Zechariah was but a youth when called to the prophetic office. But as the word is sometimes applied to those who are older, expressive perhaps of affection, as in the cases of Benjamin and Absalom, it would be unsafe to draw any definite conclusion.

To understand the import of this magnificent promise, the reader must place himself in the circumstances, at that moment, of the prophet and his people. They had been permitted to return from Babylon, and they were laboriously engaged, under every form of discouragement and active opposition, in rebuilding the temple, and a temple which, from its contrast to that of Solomon amid the former splendours of the kingdom, only reminded them of their weakness and poverty. The Lord saw the hearts of His people, their fears, faithlessness, and despondency; and He sent them the blessed encouragement of the future — unveiled before their eyes the glory of Messiah's presence, which would eclipse the glory of the past far more than the past did that of their then condition. We should do well to heed this divine method, and learn that the antidote to all despondency, arising out of the confusion and weakness of the present state of the Church, lies in the contemplation of the future, that it is thence we are to draw our sustainment and hope; for just as the joy set before us is given for individual encouragement (see Heb. 12: 2; Rom. 5: 2), so is the presentation of the bride to Christ in her perfect beauty held out for the comfort and consolation of the Church in her widowed condition. (Eph. 5, Rev. 21) To compare the present with the past is always a source of weakness; but the contemplation of the future — of the future in glory with Christ — is as surely the efficacious remedy for all fear and apprehension.

Two things are contained in this glowing prediction — the fact and character of Jerusalem's future prosperity; and its source and means of preservation. The time of this prosperity is plainly indicated from its character. Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls; a population that should increase and break out on every side beyond all restraining limits; and the cattle should share in this illimitable blessing — a prosperity which loudly speaks of full earthly blessing under the peaceful sway of Emmanuel. Isaiah, dwelling upon the same period, says, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left." (Isaiah 54: 2, 3.) But the secret of all is found in the next verse. Jehovah Himself will be a wall of fire round about her; a sure protection therefore from her foes, and will also be the glory in the midst of her. It is always so. Jehovah's presence has ever been the source of all blessing for His earthly people, just as the Lord's presence is now in the midst of those who are gathered unto His name. And while His presence is the source of blessing, it is also protection; the wall of fire and the glory are ever connected. (Compare Exodus 14: 24, 25; Isaiah 4: 5.)

Another paragraph commences with verse 61 extending to end of verse 9, and contains an address to those who were still in the land of their captivity. The connection with the previous verses is very striking. In the prophetic vision Jerusalem, once more restored and inhabited, is again the dwelling-place of Jehovah; and thereon an appeal is made, a summons issued, to those who had not yet returned, to come and share in the blessing. And not only this, but it is also a warning to escape from the judgments about to fall upon those whose captives they at this time were. (Compare Isaiah 48: 20; Jeremiah 51: 6, etc.) The land of the north is thus clearly Chaldea, the Babylonian empire, throughout which the Jews were scattered — "spread abroad as the four winds of heaven." (See Esther 3: 8.)* In this way God sounds the trumpet-call for the assembling of His outcast people; and in the next verse, addressing them collectively as Zion, He cries, "Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon." (v. 7.) Many thoughts are suggested by this remarkable combination of words. First, we learn that whatever the state and condition of the people they never lose their character before God, neither their place nor their corporate existence. Not only do they belong, equally with the restored remnant, to Zion, but together with them they are Zion. What a seeming contradiction therefore lies in the fact that Zion was dwelling with the daughter of Babylon! What had God's people to do with such an alliance in such a scene of corruption? Alas! they had long since become Babylonian in character; and hence it was that Jehovah had permitted them to be enslaved, and to be transported to this region of man's corruption and power. But now the cry is raised, "Deliver thyself." So also Jeremiah had cried, "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity: for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance: He will render unto her a recompence." (Jer. 51: 6.) And would that God's people today might hear the same mighty voice, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Cor. 6: 17, 18.) There is no other way of deliverance from that which ensnares and enslaves us than by coming outside altogether of the scene of its authority and power. Overcoming, even within the sphere of the professing Church, can only be by complete separation in the power of the Spirit from its evil and corruption. In this way alone could the daughter of Zion deliver herself, and return to the dwelling-place of Jehovah Mount Zion, which He loved, where He displayed His glory, and where He encircled the habitation of His holiness as with a wall of fire.

*There are several passages in Jeremiah that help to fix the interpretation of the land of the north (Jer. 1: 13, 14; Jer. 3: 18; Jer. 4: 6, &c.), and which will thus enable the reader to enter more intelligently upon the study of the events of the last days in which the king of the north plays such a conspicuous part.

The ground of the appeal then is given: "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." (v. 8.) The expression — after the glory — has been, owing to ignorance of dispensational truth, a source of great perplexity to many teachers and readers. But to those who understand that it is not until after the appearing of the Lord in glory that He will gather His scattered people from the four winds of Leaven (Matthew 24: 30, 31), and thereafter judge the nations (Matthew 25: 31, 32), it is a beautiful example of the exactitude of Scripture. This is then the order:* after the glory, after the appearing of the Lord, His manifestation to Israel, when, as we read in Zech. 12: 10, they will look on Him whom they had pierced, He will establish His earthly throne in Jerusalem, and He will use His people as His battle-axe and weapons of war to break in pieces the nations, and to destroy kingdoms. (Jer. 51: 20.) The reason is given, "For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye"; i.e., will do himself irreparable damage, or injure himself in the most sensitive part.† "For, behold," the Lord proceeds, "I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me." (v. 9.) Jehovah will in this manner execute judgment upon the nations, and His people, in the words of another prophet, "shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors." (Isaiah 14: 2.) And this verification of the message of the prophet should convince the people of the divine mission of the angel of the Lord. (Compare John 17: 21-23).

*The reader may be interested in comparing the exact translation of Psalm 73: 24: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and after the glory thou shalt receive me."

†It is contended by many that "the apple of his eye" refers to God. (Compare Deut. 32: 10). It is a question of interpretation, not of translation, and while in no wise objecting to this, the above is preferred as more in harmony with the context.

According to a frequent manner of prophecy the prediction is no sooner uttered than it is regarded as fulfilled; and hence the prophet proceeds to call upon Zion to sing and rejoice, "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord." (v. 10) As the departure of the Lord from Zion, His rejection of the holy city as His habitation, was in consequence of His people's sins (Ezekiel 9, 10), so His return would, at the same time, mark their restoration to His favour, and be the consummation of all His purposes of blessing towards "the mountain of His holiness." It is in anticipation of this, faith being the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not, seen, that the prophet seeks to awaken the daughter of Zion to rejoice — thus teaching, as before pointed out, that our springs of energy and gladness are to be found in the revelation of the accomplished purposes of God.* It should also be again noticed that the source of all blessing for God's people lies in His dwelling in their midst. From the very first this was the sign of their being His redeemed people (Exodus 25: 8), and of their having found favour in His sight (Exodus 33: 16), even as having His tabernacle with men is the distinctive blessedness in the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness will dwell. (Rev. 21) The Church should also be able to prove this blessedness, as the two or three gathered unto the name of the Lord Jesus Christ have ever done and do. (Matt. 18: 19, 20) But when Jehovah dwells again in Zion it will be in manifested glory and connected with the splendours of His millennial kingdom.

*There are three other instances in which Zion is similarly addressed — Isaiah 12: 6, 54: 1; Zephaniah 3: 14.

It will be, moreover, a source of blessing for the nations, as the prophet speaks, "And many nations shall be joined [or shall join themselves] to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people." (v. 11) The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the same period when the glory of the Lord shall have risen on Zion, says, "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." (Isa. 60: 3.) It is for this period, indeed, the nations are waiting and unconsciously longing (see Haggai 2: 7), although they are ignorant that their blessing is dependent upon the restoration of the despised race of Israel. Yet it is so; and no sooner will Jehovah have returned to Zion, judged His enemies and founded His kingdom, than the nations will be attracted to the scene of His power and glory, and count it their highest honour to be enrolled amongst His people. (Compare Isaiah 2: 1-5, 19: 23-25, etc.) For, as David speaks, Messiah's "name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed." (Psalm 72: 17). Thereon the promise is repeated, "I will dwell in the midst of thee," the repetition affording a double security for His people's faith, as well as an immutable guarantee of its accomplishment; and the fulfilment of this promise of blessing, even as that of judgment upon the nations, is appealed to in proof that Jehovah of hosts had sent His angel. (v. 11)

There is still more: "And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." (v. 12.) God had ever spoken of Israel as His inheritance — His portion (Deut. 4: 20, Deut. 9: 26, 29; 1 Sam. 26: 19, and numberless passages; compare as to the Church, Ephesians 1: 18); and though His ancient people are now scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth, He will yet gather them, re-establish them in their own land, and then it is that He will, in the purposes of His grace, inherit Judah — the tribe out of which Christ came according to the flesh — as His portion. The expression is to be observed — "in the holy land" not holy merely on the ground of its being the land of promise; but because its iniquity will be removed in one day (Zech. 3: 9), and thus cleansed from all its defilement, it will again be holy to the Lord — set apart for Him and for His use and service. And He "shall choose Jerusalem again." Ages have passed since these words were uttered, but they have never been, and will never be, recalled, and thus faith knows that, though Jerusalem is trodden down at this moment under the foot of the Gentile, these words will have their fulfilment, and Jerusalem will, in the future, become "the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth," because the object of Jehovah's favour and the seat of His throne.

The chapter concludes with a solemn address to all flesh: "Be silent [or hush] O all flesh, before the Lord: for He is raised up out of His holy habitation." (v. 13). It is a striking appeal. The prophet sees Jehovah in the act of rising up, as it were, out of the habitation of His holiness, coming out in judgment for the accomplishment of the purposes just announced, and, in view of the effect upon men, the prophet cries, "Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord." for when the day of His wrath shall come who will be able to stand? It is at that time the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together, when every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. (Isa. 40; Rev. 1: 7; compare Matt. 24: 29, 30.) Well, then, might all flesh be hushed in the presence of Him who comes forth to smite the earth in judgment as well as to deliver His people. It is in the prospect of the same event that Isaiah cries, "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty" (Isa. 2: 10); and that Habakkuk says, "The Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him." (Hab. 2: 20; see also Zeph. 1: 7.)

Zechariah 3.

In chapter 2 the Lord has revealed His purposes of grace in the future restoration both of Jerusalem and of His people; chapter 3, while containing a distinct vision and complete in itself, explains how He will accomplish His purposes consistently with His righteousness. Hence we have first of all the state of the people exhibited in the person of Joshua, the high priest, as their representative: "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him." (v. 1) There are three parties in this striking scene — Joshua, the angel of the Lord, and Satan. Joshua as the high priest is, as already stated, viewed as representing the people, and the fact of his being clothed in filthy garments (v. 3) shows their guilty condition before God. The angel of the Lord is really Jehovah — Jehovah as He had been revealed in the midst of Israel; for as was said to Moses, "Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him." (Exodus 23: 20, 21.) This makes it very clear that it is Jehovah Himself who is meant. Satan is, as given in the margin, the adversary, the adversary to God and to man, and hence is known, as the word here etymologically signifies, as the enemy or adversary. But in order to understand the scene, it is necessary to remember that Satan has acquired certain rights over man through man's sin; and he is thus spoken of as having had the power of death, which indeed he wielded over man as God's just judgment against sin. (See Heb. 2: 14.) It was Satan, in these rights which he possessed over the sinner, that our blessed Lord, as we learn from the scripture just cited, through His death destroyed or brought to nought, in order to deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage; and this must be borne in mind in the explanation of the Lord's action with reference to Joshua. Satan, therefore, had grounds for resisting Joshua, i.e., for opposing God's purposes of grace towards His people. They were guilty, and this was evident from the very garments with which Joshua was clothed; and the problem here to be solved was, How could God bless, righteously bless, His people, according to His purposes, while they were in this condition, seeing, in fact, that they were amenable to judgment, on account of their iniquity? How could the claims of Satan be discharged, and the people be set in favour and blessing?

The answer is found in verse 2, an answer which not only reveals the way of the nation's deliverance, but also teaches the way of justification for every poor sinner who seeks salvation. "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Satan had rightly read the terms of the law under which the people had been placed; he had also rightly construed his own power accruing from that ministration of condemnation and death; but he had neglected to observe, indeed it was not possible for his evil heart to understand, the intimations of grace which were scattered here and there throughout the Pentateuch and the Prophets, and he consequently concluded that his claims were irresistible. He was thus but little prepared for the withering answer, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan;" and the rebuke is administered because of grace, that grace which had stepped in and rescued Jerusalem and Israel from the curse under which they had fallen, and made it possible for them to be restored to the favour of God. Hence it is added, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

This may need a further word of explanation. Grace then is expressed in the words, "The Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem." She had indeed failed in her responsibility, and had fallen under the rod of Jehovah's anger; but she was, notwithstanding, the object of His grace; and the grace that had chosen would in due season declare the righteous ground of its action (for grace can only reign through righteousness), and, in the prospect of its full display in blessing, could even now view Jerusalem as a brand plucked out of the fire. This righteous ground was found in the death of Christ (see John 11: 51; Acts 5: 31), which is alike the foundation for the salvation of believers in this dispensation, and for the accomplishment of God's purposes of grace towards His ancient people.

A full and complete answer is given to Satan in verse 2. Verse 3 brings out distinctly the state of the nation as seen in the person of Joshua, who was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. In verse 4 Jehovah proceeds to act, on the ground of the grace announced in verse 2, and to show how He will make Israel fit, morally fit, for His own presence. "And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." (v. 4.) First, He commands those that stand before Him to take away Joshua's filthy garments. This is ever the first action of grace when the sinner comes to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; for the first thing that troubles the soul when divinely awakened to feel its sin is a sense of its guilt, and its consequent unfitness for the presence of God. The answer to this need is discovered in the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin. But not only are the filthy garments removed, but Jehovah also says to Joshua, "I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee," etc. So now God gives the certainty to the soul of being cleansed, even as the Lord Himself when on earth, for example, assured the woman who was a sinner that her sins were forgiven her; for if grace removes our filthy garments, it would also have us know that they are gone.

But this is not all, for there is a further announcement: "And I will clothe thee with change of raiment." And this is effected in the next verse: "And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by." (v. 5.) The change of person in the speaker is worthy of notice — "And I," not He, "said." It would seem as if the prophet had been so brought into communion with the mind of God by the vision which he beheld that he is used to become its expression. He had heard the divine word, "I will clothe thee [Joshua] with change of raiment," and entering into what had thus been promised, he intercedes, as it were, that it might at once be done. In this lies the principle of all prevailing intercession — the soul entering into the thoughts of God and turning them into prayer. (Compare 2 Samuel 7: 25-29; Daniel 9; John 15: 7.) The word, "fair" would be more accurately rendered "pure," as the reference is to the high-priestly garments of fine linen (Exodus 28: 39), which are specially a type of purity, and in one place of the righteousness of saints (Rev. 19: 8); but as worn by the high priest they were a symbol rather of the spotless purity of Christ. And this will enable us to understand the meaning of the action before us. The iniquity of Joshua had been removed, his filthy garments had been taken away, and thus that which disqualified him for the presence of Jehovah was gone; but, now that he was clothed in pure garments, he received his positive fitness and qualification to be before God; and, inasmuch as the mitre was significant of office, he was qualified to be there on behalf of the people. Two things indeed followed upon his receiving the pure garments — he could now stand in righteousness in the presence of Jehovah and he could enjoy continued access there as the ministering priest. Grace thus fully answered the accusations of the adversary, and showed in the completion of its work how "the brand plucked out of the fire," — Jerusalem, or the people — could righteously have a place in the immediate presence of God as a nation of priests.

And it may again be observed that God deals with the individual sinner in precisely the same way; for not only does He, through the applied efficacy of the work of Christ, remove his guilt, but, through his death and resurrection, He brings him into a new place and standing, makes him the righteousness of God in Christ, so that in that new place and condition the sinner answers fully to the mind of God, and can therefore be in His presence in perfect peace and liberty.

If grace, however, brings into blessings and privileges, it makes the realisation and enjoyment of these dependent upon walk and conduct. Accordingly we find Joshua addressed by the angel, in the name of the Lord of hosts, "If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shall also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts; and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by." (v. 7.) To judge the house of God and to keep His courts belonged to the priest's office (see Deut. 17: 9-13; Malachi 2: 7; also 2 Chr. 26: 16-21), but none could do these things truly unless they themselves were walking in obedience to the word; and thus Joshua's occupation of these exalted offices is expressly made conditional upon it, if it be not rather a promise, an encouragement held out to him that he might be enabled to walk in the ways of his God. There is surely a voice in all this for those who take the lead among the saints of God (compare 1 Tim. 3); for just as in Eli's and Samuel's days, when manifold evils, corruptions, and abuses had crept in among the people, to the dishonour of Jehovah's name, when their sons walked according to their own inclinations, instead of keeping the charge of God, so now when man's will in those who lead sets aside the authority of Christ, there can be nothing but confusion and corruption in the assembly. The priests' lips — and this is ever true — should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; and only in this way are those who have prominence among the Lord's people qualified for the maintenance of discipline in the house of God, as upholders and vindicators of the Lord's name and honour entrusted to their care. Moreover Joshua should, if faithful, have a special position before God, liberty of access, and association with, "places to walk among," those that "stand by" in the presence of Jehovah

Verse 7 deals with Joshua in his then relation to the people, charged as he was with the interests of the house of God; whereas verse 8 takes him up, and presents him, as a type of Christ in the days of the kingdom when He will associate Israel with Himself as a nation of priests. (Compare Rev. 1: 5, 6.) This will help to the understanding of the language employed: "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at [or, men of marvellous signs are they]: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH." (v. 8.) The fellows of Joshua will be the ordinary priests; and as Aaron, together with his sons, ever represents the Church as the priestly family in association with Christ, so Joshua and his companions, in this connection, shadows forth Christ in the midst of His "fellows" (Heb. 1: 9), who, through association with Him will then be a "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." And this exaltation will cause them to be men of signs, wondered at, even as when Christ displays the saints in heavenly glory, He will be glorified in them, and admired, wondered at, in all them that have believed. For truly the world will be astonished in beholding the poor despised race of Israel lifted up into association with the King of kings, and Lord of lords, as indeed the prophets have foretold. (See Isaiah 60: 14-22, etc.)

The ground of all is the introduction of the Branch — the Messiah in whom, and by whom, all blessing, whether for the Church or for Israel, is secured. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah had prophesied of Christ in this character (Isa. 4: 2, Isa. 11: 1; Jer. 23: 5, Jer. 33: 15, etc.), and a single citation from one of these will explain its meaning. "There shall come forth a rod," says Isaiah, "out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." (Isa. 11: 1) The figure of a branch is thus evidently derived from the fact that the Messiah has sprung from the family of David according to the flesh, from a root or stock long hidden, as if dead, but which, as will one day be seen, is still full of sap and life. In Revelation we learn that He is the root as well as the offspring of David (Rev. 22: 16); for He who became of the seed of David according to the flesh, was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 1: 3, 4.) He was therefore both David's Son and David's Lord. (Matt. 22: 42-4.5.)

The bringing forth of Jehovah's servant, the Branch, will, then, be the means of the accomplishment of the promised blessing; and hence it is that the actual stone which had been laid before Joshua, the foundation stone of the temple, was a type of Christ as the foundation in Zion, "a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation." (Isaiah 28: 16). And there are three things connected with Him in this character: first, "upon one stone shall be seven eyes." (v. 9.) This "one stone" is Christ; and Christ, inasmuch as the stone is to be laid in Zion, as the foundation of God's government in the earth; and on this stone will be the seven eyes, because there will be seen in it the omniscience of God, His perfect intelligence, as displayed in Messiah's righteous government, from Zion as the centre, of the nations of the earth.* The second thing is, "Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts." It should receive the exact impression of His own thoughts, have His own endorsement, be graven with His own device or seal, and thus be publicly known as His; and then we have, thirdly, "I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day." This will be the consequence of the all-efficacious work of Christ; for it was through His death and resurrection that He became the foundation stone, and when His government is established in Zion, His people will have looked upon Him whom they had pierced (see chapters 12 - 14), and thus will, through repentance and faith, have been brought under the value of His atoning sacrifice, so that Jehovah will righteously remove the iniquity of the land in one day. It looks forward to the time when the nation will be cleansed from their sins by the blood of Christ, and when it will thus be possible for Jehovah to dwell once more in the midst of His people.

*For the profit of the reader the following remarks of another are transcribed: "In 2 Chronicles 16 we find the eyes of Jehovah represented as running to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards Him. This is the faithfulness of God in taking cognizance of all things in His ways of government. In Zechariah the eyes are found upon the stone that is laid in Zion. It is there that the seat of that government is placed which sees everything and everywhere. In verse 10 of the next chapter these eyes, which behold all things, which run through the whole earth, are said to rejoice when they see the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel, that is to say, the house of Jehovah's habitation entirely finished. In this case they are not presented as established in the seat of government upon earth, but in their character of universal and active oversight, and in this providential activity, never resting until Jehovah's counsels of grace towards Jerusalem are accomplished; and then they shall rejoice. The active intelligence of providence finds its full delight in the accomplishment of the unchangeable purpose of the will of God. Finally these eyes are again seen in Revelation 5, in the Lamb exalted to the right hand of God, who is about to take possession of His inheritance of the earth. Here it is the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth; for the government is in the hands of the Lamb, although He has not yet exercised it in the earth, of which He is about to be put in possession." — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, by J. N. D., vol. ii., 3rd edition.

It is interesting to point out the reference to, and the application of, this scripture by the apostle Paul. "Nevertheless," he says, "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal ['the graving thereof'], The Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one that nameth the name of Christ [or, of the Lord] depart from iniquity." (2 Tim. 2: 19) The foundation no one could overturn; and the Lord knew in a day of confusion and ruin, who were resting upon it; but it was incumbent upon all who professed His name, owned His authority, to depart from iniquity. If in Zechariah it was God stepping in, on His people's repentance, to remove the iniquity of His land, in Timothy it is the responsibility of all who acknowledge Christ as Lord to walk in separation from evil — this being the evidence of the reality of their profession.

But to return. Following, then, upon the purging of the land there is further blessing. "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree." (v. 10) This is the blessed effect of the reign of the Prince of Peace, of Christ in the character of Solomon, and therefore the fulfilment of the words spoken of Solomon's reign: "Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry." (1 Kings 4: 20.) It is the favour and blessing of God, and peace with one another, and, as a consequence in the kingdom, full earthly prosperity — the realisation indeed of the truth of the words of the angels at the birth of Christ. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men [or; in men]." (Luke 2: 14.)

Zechariah 4.

The apocalyptic character of this part of the prophecy is seen again from verse 1, showing, as it does, that this is one of a series of visions which passed before the eyes of the prophet. "And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep." The prophet was in the condition of Daniel by the banks of Ulai when Gabriel was sent to make him know what should be in the last end of the indignation. (Daniel 8: 15-19) Awakened by the angel, he beheld "a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof." (vv. 2. 3.) Such was the vision. Then we have the angel's explanation of the general meaning of it (vv. 5-7), together, as growing out of this, a special message, "the word of the Lord," to Zechariah (vv. 8-10); and finally, the interpretation of the two olive trees.

Before entering upon these several points, it may be observed that the candlestick is the well-known candlestick — the seven-branched candlestick — of the tabernacle (Exodus 25: 31-40), and that it ever was the symbol of the light of God in the perfection of testimony — testimony in the power of the Holy Spirit on the earth — first in Israel, and then in the Church. (Rev. 1) There are several differences from the original candlestick to be noted. First, the bowl upon the top of it; next, each lamp (see margin) would seem to have seven pipes for the conveyance of the oil from the bowl to the lamps; and lastly, the two olive trees with their branches and golden pipes, through which the oil was supplied to the bowl. Generally speaking, it was no doubt a revelation of the perfect order in government and testimony which Jehovah would establish in Jerusalem in connection with the royal, the Melchisedek, priesthood of Christ. In its full accomplishment it would be, as another has written, — "the royalty and the priesthood of Christ, which maintain, by power and spiritual grace, the perfect light of divine order among the Jews. The work was divine; the pipes were of gold. The thing ministered was the grace of the Spirit, the oil which fed the testimony, maintained in this perfect order."

To comprehend the meaning of the candlestick will enable us to understand the angel's answer to Zechariah. (v. 6.) The time had not yet come, as we know, for the establishment of the kingdom, when Christ will sit as a priest upon His throne; in fact, a poor, feeble remnant only of the people had returned from captivity; and these, without any visible signs of Jehovah's presence, were engaged, amid doubts and fears, in the erection of the temple. But Jehovah watched over the people. His eye and His heart were on their work, and He would animate their drooping spirits, supply them with new energy for their service by directing their gaze, through the prophet, to the glories of the future, and by teaching them that their feeble work was itself the promise of the fulfilment of all His purposes of grace towards His ancient people. Hence it is that when Zechariah enquires, "What are these, my Lord?" the angel replies, "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." (vv. 6, 7.)

This explains most clearly the application of the vision to the circumstances of the moment. There was, as already stated, the exhibition of the perfection of the light of God's order in the future, a testimony to the fact that God never forgets His ultimate purposes. But there was also a present application; and on this account it is that the explanation of the angel takes the form of a message to Zerubbabel — to Zerubbabel who, as governor of Judah, together with Joshua the high priest, was the leader of the people in the work of building the temple. (Ezra 5: 2; Haggai 2: 2, &c.) Zerubbabel was therefore taught that the time had not yet arrived for the display of Jehovah's might or power on behalf of His people; but that if it were, as it was, a time of feebleness, God's Spirit was working to secure, both in the hearts of the people and in their service, all that His name and interests required, and hence that the character of the moment demanded dependence upon, and confidence in, God. This was doubtless a needed lesson for Zerubbabel in his trying position — a position rendered more trying by his own fears. It is comparatively easy, even for the natural man, to engage in the service — the outward service — of God, when He intervenes in power to sustain His servants and to secure the result; but it is only the man of faith who can labour on amid discouragements of every kind, who can trust to a power not seen to uphold and prosper, and is assured that the Spirit, who is invisible in His working to the natural eye, is even more mighty than manifested power. There are many Elijahs indeed who prefer the strong winds and the earthquakes to the all-efficacious still small voice of the Spirit of God.

In the first place then Zerubbabel is to be directed to the only source of power — to the Spirit of God; in the next he is sustained by the promise of the successful issue of his work. The great mountain should "become a plain: and he should bring forth the headstone [of the temple] with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." (v. 7.) By the mountain, we apprehend, is symbolized all the obstacles that lay, in the way of the completion of the work. It is a figure gathering up the whole of the difficulties, as well as the opposition encountered, the details of which are given in the book of Ezra. But all these — whatever the activity, power, or influence of the adversaries — are nothing to God; and they are likewise nothing to the man of faith when resting alone upon the power of the Spirit, and when walking in the path of God's will. It is thus that the question is triumphantly, not to say defiantly, put, "Who art thou, O great mountain?" It is indeed an exultant challenge, bringing out the confident assurance that before Zerubbabel it should become a plain. (Compare Isaiah 40: 35.) The Lord Jesus, it is more than probable, referred to this scripture when He said to His disciples, "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done." (Matthew 21: 21.) For what is the mountain in this case? It was doubtless the Jewish nation in its unbelief and opposition to grace, that enmity of the Jews which was ever the obstacle to the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles, and which, overcome by the faith of the disciples, finally disappeared as the Jews were merged in the sea of the nations. But whether this or that, it affords abundant encouragement in the Lord's service, as it will enable His servants to regard the most insurmountable difficulties as occasions only for the display of almighty and victorious power through the working of the Holy Spirit.

The headstone is connected with the completion of the building; the foundation-stone had long since been laid (see Ezra 3: 10; Ezra 4: 24; Ezra 5: 1); and hence the promise refers to the conclusion of the work, which should be accompanied by the joy of the people, and their acknowledgment in their joy that grace, Jehovah's favour, had accomplished all. As a symbol, the headstone, equally with the foundation-stone, points to Christ. This will be seen from the words, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head[stone] of the corner." (Psalm 118: 22.) And it is possible that the passage in Ephesians may connect itself with this: "Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone" (Eph. 2: 20), teaching that He is both the foundation and the crown, the beginning and the end, of the house of God.

Following upon this, another message is given to the prophet, concerning Zerubbabel, even more explicit as to his completion of Jehovah's house, and adding the assurance that the eyes of the Lord would rejoice when they saw the plummet in his hands, on the work being finished. "Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shalt see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven: they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth." (vv. 8-10) Here we have, then, a solemn renewal of the assurance that nothing should hinder Zerubbabel from the execution of his work. The hands that laid the foundation of the house should finish it; and we are thereby taught that no opposition or enmity, not all the subtlety of the adversary, can hinder or even impede, the progress of the work of God, when His people labour in dependence on Him, and count alone on His sustainment and protection. Such an assurance could not fail to comfort the hearts of this feeble remnant at such a moment; for it was not only that the house should be completed, but also that Zerubbabel's hands should finish it. If they did but believe the message, with what courage would they proceed with their labours! Appearances might be, as indeed they were, all against them, but under the influence of faith, they would be able to say, We know that our work will prosper because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Compare 1 Cor. 15: 58.) Once again the fulfilment of the prophecy (see Zech. 2: 9, 11) is given as a proof of the fact that the Lord of hosts had sent His angel to the prophet.

The question then comes, "Who hath despised the day of small things?" Some, if not all, had been tempted to do this (Ezra 3: 12); for they had compared the meanness of the present building with the glory of that of Solomon. They had been thus discouraged by comparing the present with the past, and, in their discouragement, they had low thoughts of the work on which they were engaged. They are now shown that, in this state of mind, they were not in fellowship with the mind and heart of God; that the question was not concerning the outward glory of their work, but what were God's thoughts about it. They had been repining and were unbelieving while God's heart was upon His people, and His eyes were waiting to express their joy when they should see the building completed — for this is the meaning of the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel.* It would be well for us if we carefully treasured up this instruction; for we also are slow to learn that the importance of any service depends upon God's estimate of it. If we have once lost fellowship with Him as to our work, our spiritual energy and perseverance are gone, we cease to look to the only source of our strength, and give place, at the same time, to doubts if not despair, because we have commenced to walk by sight instead of by faith. Let us learn then, with these returned captives, that the meanest service, as to its outward character, is worthy, of all our devotedness and zeal if the mind and heart of God are upon it, if He has put it into our hands, and that nothing is to be despised, no day of small things, when it contains in itself the pledge and guarantee of the fulfilment of the purposes of God.

*As to the expression "those seven," "the eyes of the Lord," see Note on Zech. 3: 9.

The prophet then proceeds to enquire, "What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches, which through [or, by means of, literally 'by the hand of,'] the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones [sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." (vv. 11-14.) The final answer of the angel gives, as we may see, the key to the whole chapter. The details of the symbol are somewhat difficult to seize; for, as will be perceived, one of the questions of the prophet (v. 12) imports an additional particular into the original vision. We find no mention there of the olive branches. Putting now the whole together, there is, first, the seven-branched golden candlestick; then the bowl on the top thereof with "seven pipes" connected with each of the seven lamps; further, there are the olive trees on either side of the bowl; and finally, we have the two olive branches ["spikes of the olive"], which have their two golden pipes by means of which they empty forth the golden oil out of themselves — presumably, though it is not distinctly said, into the bowl upon the top of the candlestick. One thing more may be noted, before giving the interpretation; viz, that the angel, in replying to the prophet, does not answer his two questions, but, evidently regarding the olive trees and the olive branches as one and the same, says, These are the two sons of oil, etc.

Now, without attempting to explain the vision in all its features, the main lines of its significance are easily followed by the light of verse 14. First, the candlestick with its seven branches represents Christ as the Lord of the whole earth. It looks onward therefore to the time when He shall have come, have established His throne in Zion, and when all nations will have owned His universal sway, when He will be "a great King over all the earth." (See Ps. 47: 2, and the series Ps. 45 - 48 in their connection.) Then it will be, if we understand rightly, that He will be God's golden candlestick on the earth, "the vessel of the light of God on earth ordained in all its perfection. The candlestick was one, but it had seven branches. It was unity in the perfection of spiritual co-ordination, perfect unity, perfect development in that unity," and thus will only find its complete fulfilment in Christ. Israel was set to be God's vessel of testimony on earth, and it failed, how completely we know. After the Jewish nation had been rejected as God's responsible witness, the Church came into its place; and the letter to Laodicea (Rev. 3) informs us also of its failure. After the Church shall have been removed from the scene, Christ Himself will come, and He will answer to all God's thoughts in the perfectness of His testimony. Already He has been here as the faithful witness (Rev. 1: 5), and in that character He was rejected and crucified; on the failure of the Church, which should have borne faithful testimony for God, He presented Himself to her as "the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3: 14), and now we behold Him, again on the earth, in the same character, not now as the rejected One, but as, having made his title good in power and taken possession of His rightful inheritance, the Lord of the whole earth. God's thoughts must be realised (see Psalm 33: 11); but the history of the dispensations teaches that they will only be realised in Christ. Man has failed, and will, whatever his privileges, fail in everything, but in Christ all the glory of God will be secured.

In addition to — on either side of — the golden candlestick were there these two olive trees, and the question of the prophet concerning the olive branches would seem to make it plain that the olive trees (the sons of oil) were the two sources whence the light of the candlestick was fed and sustained. What then are these? Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah, Joshua (Zech. 3) was the high priest, and the two combined were therefore a type of Christ as the priest on His throne; and hence the two olive trees, as another has written, "are the royalty and the priesthood of Christ, which maintain, by power and spiritual grace, the perfect light of divine order among the Jews." These are the sources whence this perfect light is fed and maintained.*

The reader's attention may also be directed to the term "golden oil." The candlestick is of gold, and though the oil flows from the olive trees, it is through golden pipes, and the oil itself is "golden." The gold, as ever, represents that which is divine, while the oil is the emblem of the Holy Spirit — the Holy Spirit here, inasmuch as it is through Christ as Lord of the earth that the testimony will be borne, in all His divine energy, and manifestly so, and hence it is golden, divine oil. The point is interesting in another way. When Jesus walked here upon the earth He lived, acted, and wrought in the power of the Holy Ghost. This was the source of His words, acts, and miracles. After His resurrection He acted still by the same mighty power; for it is written, "He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen." (Acts 1: 2.) And now, as it appears from Zechariah's vision, when He will be here in the glory of the kingdom, He also will rule, maintain His rights, bear testimony for God, in the power of the Holy Ghost.

*If the reader has followed this interpretation, he will be greatly assisted in reading Revelation 11, for there the two witnesses are said to be "the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God [it should be the Lord] of the earth" From this it would appear that the subject of their testimony will be to the claims of Christ over the earth in connection with His royalty and priesthood,

Zechariah 5.

The visions in this chapter are more obscure, though sufficiently plain in their general import. Their subject is the judgment of the wicked in Israel in the last days, and the revelation of the true character, God's estimate, of that which claimed to be Israel, but which had really become an apostate nation. The first vision concerns individuals, and the second the people as a whole — the people in its outward public character, as distinguished from the remnant, hidden from man's eyes, but known to God and having, in fact, before Him the place of the nation.

"Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits." (vv. 1, 2.) The roll is the ordinary form of the ancient Hebrew books; and we accordingly read in Ezekiel, "An hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without [i.e., on both sides]: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe." (Ezek. 2: 9, 10, compare Rev. 5: 1) But the roll in Zechariah was, as may be seen from its dimensions, of no ordinary kind, being purely symbolic there — beheld as it was in prophetic vision. There are things connected with it demanding distinct notice. The first is its size — a feature which immediately attracts the prophet's attention. It was twenty cubits long and ten broad; and this was the exact size of the tabernacle in the wilderness, as may be gathered from the number and the width of the boards which composed it (Exodus 26: 15-25); and it was also the size of the porch of Solomon's temple. (1 Kings 6: 3.) These correspondencies cannot be accidental; on the other hand, they must have been designed, and hence they teach, either that the judgment proceeding would be according to the holiness of Jehovah's habitation in the midst of Israel, that He was about to weigh the conduct of the wicked in Israel in the balances of the sanctuary, or that judgment would begin at the house of God. (See Ezekiel 9: 6.) In either case the holiness of the house, that is, the holiness of Him who dwells therein, according to the revelation of His name to His people, would be the standard of judgment.

The second point is the contents of the roll. The angel explaining, says to Zechariah, "This is the curse that goeth forth over the lace of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it." (v. 3.) It has been a question whether "the whole earth" is universal, or whether it should be rendered, as it might be, the whole "land." The expression in the next verse "that sweareth falsely by my name" would point rather to the latter interpretation; and thus the curse which was written in the roll was one pronounced upon the thieves and the perjurers in the midst of God's professing people — an inexorable curse; for it is to be remembered that the time spoken of is subsequent to the day of grace, and connected with the acting of Jehovah in the land just previous and preparatory to the establishment of Messiah's throne in righteousness. Hence all thieves and false swearers were surely to be cut off, according to the curse on the roll. But what a contradiction — that such open sinners should be found amongst the professing people of God! This is Satan's most successful effort — to introduce his servants among the Lord's people (see Jude), knowing as he does that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The very fact, however, that God Himself is compelled to step in and vindicate His name, and the holiness of His house, reveals a sad state of general declension. When the consciences of the saints are in exercise, and they are walking humbly before God, they are necessarily, as being in the enjoyment of fellowship with Him, intolerant of evil, and zealous to maintain His honour.

When, on the other hand, they are careless, and the word of God is no longer looked to as the guide of their path and conduct, a spurious charity ensues, discipline is neglected, and iniquity vaunts itself in the open light of day. Such a state of things constrains God, as in the case before us, to interpose that He may cause His people to hear the rod and who hath appointed it. This is an unchangeable principle of His acting, as, for example, we read in Ezekiel, after the details of the evil conduct of Israel in their captivity, "And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them." (See Ezekiel 36: 17-23.)

Lastly, we are told that He who pronounces the curse will cause it to be executed. "I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof." (v. 4.) Well might the prophet Jeremiah say, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord." (Jer. 23: 24.) Thus in the cases before us the thief and the perjurer might flatter themselves that their iniquity was unknown, that they had succeeded in covering up from it all human eyes; and they might even be mixing with their neighbours without a known stain on their character. They might have gone further and said, "The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it." But "he that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?" (Psalm 94: 7, 9.) Sooner or later all such are here warned that their false security will surely be disturbed, and that God's swift curse will enter their houses for their destruction. It does not follow, we apprehend, that the judgment here spoken of will of necessity be public or sudden. The language is peculiar — the curse enters, remains in their houses, and the houses are consumed. It would seem to be in the way of God's governmental dealing. Whether in this or in any other way, the lesson is the same, that sinners cannot harden themselves against the Lord and prosper, that His strong arm will as surely overtake them in judgment as that His eyes behold the secrets of their hearts; and thus with the arrival of the day of the Lord He will destroy the sinners out of His land. (Isaiah 13: 9.)

The most cursory reader will not fail to notice the difference, in the ways of God in government, between the present time and that spoken of by the prophet. Now in this day of grace, wherein the gospel is proclaimed, God, while He does not give up any of His rights, does not always interpose in judgment, for He is not willing that any should perish, but desires that all should come to repentance. As soon, however, as this day closes, and when once again He begins to act in the earth in righteousness, He will then deal with sinners in the way unfolded to the prophet in this vision. It is necessary to understand these dispensational distinctions in order to read intelligently the Scriptures. It should, however, be added, to prevent misconception, that God does not pass by sin even in this day of grace. He waits upon and pleads with the sinner, to see if he will bow in repentance before Him, and receive, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation; but should the sinner refuse to listen to the voice of God's love and mercy in the gospel, he will but aggravate his doom when judgment is finally executed. (See Romans 2: 4-11.)

The next vision is more mysterious in its form and symbols, although its main significance is clearly seen. "Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said, moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth [or their look or aspect in all the land]. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of the lead upon the mouth thereof." (vv. 5-8.) This is the first part of the vision, the remaining verses comprising a distinct development, revealing the final consummation of the wickedness first seen among the Jews. And this may explain perhaps the term found so frequently in this chapter — "goeth forth" — a term indicating not only movement, but also, in relation to the subject of the visions, progress in or the development of evil. The beginnings, the germs, were visible in the days of Zechariah; and just as the apostle John speaks of many antichrists having already appeared and looks upon these as the certain precursors of the antichrist, so these germs are taken up in the vision as the foreshadowings of the complete manifestation of the evil which they go on to depict. The exact meaning of the ephah, beyond the fact that it was a measure in use among the Jews,* is not revealed; but, in accordance with what has been said as to progress, its "going forth" would seem to point to the spread of evil throughout the land (Judea); and the fact that it was a known measure may signify that whatever its virulence and power the evil would be, in the government of God, confined within certain limits; or that there were determined bounds, beyond which the long-suffering of God would not pass. Our Lord speaks for example to the Jews, "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. "

*Its size even cannot be now ascertained. It is said, on the authority of Josephus, to have contained something over a bushel.

The evil itself was personified by a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. This is explained in verse 8: "This," said the angel, speaking of the woman, "is wickedness. And he cast it [i.e. the woman] into the midst of the ephah." So that the end of verse 7 gives the result of the action at the beginning of verse 8; that is, it is the angel who casts the woman (wickedness) into the midst of the ephah, and the prophet beholds her, as a consequence, sitting there. There is yet another action — the angel also "cast the weight of lead [probably the talent of lead named in verse 7] upon the mouth thereof" (of the ephah). A woman is a well-known symbol in Scripture for the expression of a system, sometimes personifying a nation — as, for example, the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Babylon — and sometimes, as in the Apocalypse, setting forth a religious organization. As an illustration of the latter meaning, we have the woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, arrayed in every kind of human glory and grandeur. with her. name written upon her forehead, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." (Rev. 17: 5.) And we know from verse 18 of that same chapter that Rome — the Romish system, what we understand by the Papal religion — is presented under the form of this woman. This enables us at once to perceive, and the more certainly from the fact that she is sitting in the midst of a Jewish measure, that the woman of our chapter is the expression of organized wickedness among the Jews of the last days. Having rejected Christ, and, as He foretold, having received another who will have come in his own name, they will become the sport and prey, as well as the dwelling-place, of the seven wicked spirits of idolatry, and thus their last state will be worse than the first. (See Matt. 12: 43-45.) This then is wickedness — an organized system of idolatry. She sits in the midst of an ephah, as indicating the Jewish character of her outward form and habitation; and her "sitting" (compare Rev. 17: 3, 9, 15) sets forth the fact of her supremacy over the Jewish nation, that Judaism is the seat of her throne and government.

It is more difficult to seize the precise meaning of the casting the weight of lead upon the mouth of the ephah, but we judge that it points to the immense energy of the wickedness as contained in the ephah. The great weight of lead was cast upon its mouth; some severe repression exercised, it may be, in the way of government, rather than directly, to hinder further expansion and development; and yet, as the remaining part of the vision shows, the wickedness was irrepressible, and flowed out in its true form and character. In a similar way evil is restrained at the present moment, according to that word in 2 Thess. 2: "And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth, will let, until he be taken out of the way, And then shall that Wicked be revealed," etc. (vv. 6-8) In like manner the weight of lead may represent the restraint for a time of the power of the wickedness, symbolized by the woman, through human government, or by other means, confining it to the Jewish ephah until God permits it to overflow and reveal its true origin and habitation. If this be so, verses 9-11 may not follow as to time immediately upon verse 8, but may refer, as before suggested, to the full development of the wickedness which in an organized form had found a home in Judaism. This is the more probable, as there is a distinct break in the vision, if it be not indeed the commencement of a new, though intimately connected, one in verse 9, as shown by the words, "Then lifted I up mine eyes" — words which so frequently are used as introductory to a new subject. (See Zech. 2: 1; 5 Zech.: 1, 5)

When the prophet had again lifted up his eyes, he says, I "looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base." (vv. 9-11) The primary feature of this vision is, that two women come out of the ephah where there had been but one; and, holding to the Scripture symbolism of the woman, the meaning will be, that two systems, united but distinct, are developed out of that which had been contained in the Jewish measure. Then it had a Jewish form as well as a Jewish home, but now its component parts are resolved into two, both of which are represented by a woman. And what are these? An examination of the state of the Jews, as unfolded in the Scriptures, leaves little doubt that they are the twin sisters, SUPERSTITION and INIFIDELITY. It was these our Lord Himself had to contend with in the form of the Pharisees and Sadducees, they are conjoined in their baleful work at this moment in the professing church, and nowhere more apparently than in Romanism, and they will be seen exercising all their frightful influence over the souls of men under the sway of the antichrist, who calls in superstition to his aid when he is permitted to make fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men; and he avails himself of her sister infidelity when he opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or is worshipped.

Such are the two women that came out of the ephah; and then we are told that "the wind was in their wings, for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven." (v. 9.) The wings, we conceive, are merely a detail of the symbol, signifying perhaps rapidity of movement, — the wings of a stork being a figure derived from what often met the eye of the Jew in the annual departure of the storks from their country. The only point of importance to be noted is, that the wind was in their wings. When the disciples were crossing the sea of Galilee by night to go to Bethsaida, we are expressly told that "the wind was contrary unto them" (Mark 6), a figure doubtless of the fact that all the influences of this world, governed as it is by Satan, are against the Lord's people in their passage across the stormy sea of this life. On the other hand, that same wind always swells the sails of Satan's vessels, and we find accordingly in this prophetic vision that the wind was in the wings of these two symbolic women, teaching that all the influence and energy of this world were aiding them in their design. They were doing the work of Satan, and all his forces were therefore at their service. It is ever so, and this accounts for the fact that wicked men are often seen to succeed beyond all expectation in their enterprises. The wind is in their wings, bearing them aloft and onward to their goal.

Zechariah enquires, "Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it" (the house) "shall be established, and set there upon her own base."* (vv. 10, 11) This answer of the angel reveals the whole truth of the vision and of the ephah. The ephah, as we have seen, represents a Jewish form of wickedness, an organized system of evil, but retaining the outward forms of Judaism. This produces, develops, the twin sisters of evil, superstition and infidelity; and these now lead on to full apostasy, and hence they are seen bearing the ephah to the land of Shinar, the place and the home of avowed opposition to God (see Genesis 11: 2), where this incarnation of wickedness should have a house established, and be set upon her own base. The Jewish nation — that is to say, that which is publicly owned as such, although there will be a true remnant which will have this place before God — will become openly apostate, and will then be seen in its real Babylonish character. The fulfilment of all this will take place during the sway of the anti-christ, who will be an apostate Jew (Daniel 11: 37) as well as the. denier of the Father and the Son. (1 John 2)

*The last clause, "set there upon her own base," refers to "wickedness," as the previous one does to the house. This is shown by the difference in the genders of the words.

The reader will not fail to perceive the similarity in this to the course of Christianity. At the end of Rev. 3 Laodicea retains the name and the form of the church, but even then she corresponds with the woman sitting in the ephah; for Christ is outside. Rejected by Christ because she is lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, she progresses in evil with frightful rapidity until, in Rev. 17, she is seen to be Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. She has thus been borne, as it were, on the wings of the wind, and has had a house built for her in the land of Shinar. This is the final goal of Christendom, no less than that of Judaism. and there in the land of Shinar the two will probably coalesce. Mat solemn reflections rise up within our hearts as we behold the future both of Judaism. and Christendom, both alike having possessed the Scriptures; but, turning aside from the light of this sure and infallible guide, both alike fall under the terrible power of Satan, who, transforming himself into an angel of light in man's estimation, and appealing to man's pride and vanity, succeeds in leading both into the denial of all that they had once learned from the word of God. And it were easy, if this were the time and place, to point the reader to existing things which are the sure precursors of this open apostasy; for already the fundamental doctrines of Christianity are being ignored or denied, and man's wisdom and man's power are being vaunted above the wisdom and power of God. There was never more need therefore than at the present moment for the exhortation of the apostle — "Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning." (1 John 2: 24). For the only safety of the believer in these perilous times lies in adhering in every particular to, in testing all things by, and in treasuring up in his heart, the word of the living God.

Zechariah 6.

Another vision now dawns upon the soul of the prophet. "And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass." (v. 1) We are passing now again, it is evident, into the sphere of the world's empires, and God's government of the earth by their means. In chapter 1 there were horses representing the three empires — Persia, Greece, and Rome — that succeeded Babylon; here all these four empires are shown under the symbol of chariots and horses. And they come out from between two mountains of brass. We may be helped in ascertaining the meaning of this expression by the statement in verse 5: "These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth." The chariots thus come out from the presence of the Most High; and the mountains (which are sometimes figuratively used for seats of government,