Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
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And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
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And the LORD answered the angel that spoke with me with good words, even comforting words —
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Zechariah 1:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 40:1-2 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.”
- Jeremiah 29:10 For Yahweh says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
- Jeremiah 30:10-22 Therefore don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh. Don’t be dismayed, Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar, and save your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid. For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.” For Yahweh says, “Your hurt is incurable. Your wound is grievous. There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up. You have no healing medicines. All your lovers have forgotten you. They don’t seek you. For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased. Why do you cry over your injury? Your pain is incurable. For the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. Therefore all those who devour you will be devoured. All your adversaries, everyone of them, will go into captivity. Those who plunder you will be plunder. I will make all who prey on you become prey. For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds,” says Yahweh; “because they have called you an outcast, saying, ‘It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.’ ” Yahweh says: “Behold, I will reverse the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city will be built on its own hill, and the palace will be inhabited in its own place. Thanksgiving will proceed out of them with the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small. Their children also will be as before, and their congregation will be established before me. I will punish all who oppress them. Their prince will be one of them, and their ruler will proceed from among them. I will cause him to draw near, and he will approach me; for who is he who has had boldness to approach me?” says Yahweh. “You shall be my people, and I will be your God.
- Jeremiah 31:3-14 Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness. I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry. Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and will enjoy its fruit. For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’ ” For Yahweh says, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, ‘Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’ Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company. They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn. “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’ For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all. Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance; the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh.
- Amos 9:11-15 In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name,” says Yahweh who does this. “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills. I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
- Zephaniah 3:14-20 Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.” Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you. Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says Yahweh.
- Zechariah 1:9 Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’ ” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
- Zechariah 1:14-16 So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.” Therefore Yahweh says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” ’
- Zechariah 2:4-12 and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. For I,’ says Yahweh, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her. Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says Yahweh; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says Yahweh. ‘Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.’ For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me. Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell within you,’ says Yahweh. Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 4:1 The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
- Zechariah 8:2-8 Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.” Yahweh says: “I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, ‘The Holy Mountain.’ ” Yahweh of Armies says: “Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age. The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.” Yahweh of Armies says: “If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?” says Yahweh of Armies. Yahweh of Armies says: “Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they will dwell within Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.”
- Zechariah 8:19 Yahweh of Armies says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet shows here, that though God did not…
The Prophet shows here, that though God did not immediately on the first day stretch forth his hand to the miserable Jews, he was yet propitious to them. But we must notice, that God speaks only, and does not yet manifest his power. The Prophet’s design must be here observed; for first he reminds the faithful that there was no reason for them to despair, or to be cast down with sorrow; for celestial angels prayed to God for them, and pleaded for their salvation. This is one thing. But a greater and fuller confirmation is added; for God testifies that he is ready to deliver the Jews, though he does not declare this immediately at first. And here we may remark, that it ought to be sufficient to sustain our hope and patience, when God testifies and affirms that he favors us, and that our salvation is dear to him, however miserable our condition may apparently be. God might indeed have immediately given a real proof to the Jews that the time had come to restore them to full prosperity: this he did not, but only made a promise. He gave words only: but his purpose was, by an actual trial, to prove the patience and obedience of his people, when he said that he had not forgotten his covenant, on which depended all the promises previously made.
But the Prophet seems to allude to a prophecy of Isaiah in the fortieth chapter,
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“Comfort ye my people, saith your God.” Isaiah 40:1
The Prophets had been for a long time silent: it was indeed right that the Jews should remain long struggling, as they had for so many years hardened themselves against all threatening, and even despised all God’s judgments, according to what is said by Isaiah,
“Let us eat and drink, tomorrow we shall die.” (Isaiah 22:13.)
As then the obstinacy of the people had been so great, it was proper that they should long mourn without comfort. But Isaiah says, that the time would come when God would command his servants to comfort his people again as in former times. Zechariah says now, that God spoke consoling words. We hence learn, that the desires of the godly and the prayer of the angel had been heard; for redemption was now nigh at hand, according to what is said in the hundred and second Psalm, “It is time for thee, O God, to have mercy on Sion, for its time is come;” that is, “The seventy years are completed, which it has pleased thee to assign for our exile.” It now follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 1:13 And the LORD answered the angel that…
Zec 1:13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me [with] good words [and] comfortable words.
Ver. 13. And the Lord answered the angel] How should God do otherwise than answer his well beloved Son with good and comfortable words, since he is all in all with the Father, and can do anything with him? Father, saith he, I know thou hearest me always, Joh 11:42. Did God hear Abraham for Ishmael, nay, for Sodom? Did David hear Joab, interceding for Absalom? Did Herod hearken to Blastus, making request for those of Tyre and Sidon, with whom he was highly displeased? Act 12:20. And shall not God give ear to his Son, praying for his people, that are as dear to him as the apple of his eye? Good and comfortable words he doth surely answer him; such as were once those, Joh 12:27-28, when Christ had thus prayed, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I to this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven" (Bath-col the Rabbis call it), "saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." So, when he shall say in his daily intercession (for he ever liveth to make request for us, at the right hand of the majesty on high), It irketh me, that the whole earth is at rest, and my Church at so much unrest: "Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants," Psa 90:13 "Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity," Psa 118:25. How can God do less than answer, as Isa 33:10 "Now will I arise, now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself"; or as in the words next following here (which indeed are all good along words and comfortable words), I am jealous for Jerusalem. The Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem; yet for all the sorrow he shall do for it, and for all that others call her an outcast, saying, "This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after," Jer 30:17; and she herself concludeth her doleful ditty with, "Thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us." Lam 4:22
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Lord, God the Father, answered the angel; Christ,…
The Lord, God the Father, answered the angel; Christ, the uncreated Angel, Lord of angels and Redeemer of Israel.
That talked with me; who had first talked by signs and visions, and next by explaining the mind and meaning of them, and answering the inquiries Zechariah made.
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Good words; suitable and seasonable.
Comfortable words: the words ministered comfort to Jerusalem and the captives, the words imported deliverance and blessings.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the Lord answered the angel that talked with…
And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me,.... See Zac 1:9 what was the effect of Christ's intercession for the people of the Jews, was communicated to a ministering angel, and by him to the Prophet Zechariah:
with good words, and comfortable words; such as would be for the good and comfort of God's people, as follows; see Isa 40:1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. The Lord answered the angel] And the…
Verse 13. The Lord answered the angel] And the angel told the prophet that the answer was gracious and comfortable. This answer is given in the next verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Zec 1:13-17. And the Lord answered the angel —…
Zec 1:13-17. And the Lord answered the angel — “By a voice, or impulse; and the angel communicated the reply to Zechariah.” — Newcome. So the angel said, Cry thou — Now publish what thou hearest, and assure God’s poor, captive, empoverished church, that he will do her good. Saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts — The God of armies, and the Father of his people; I am jealous for Jerusalem — I have been jealous against, but now am jealous for Jerusalem; my love is now raised to a very high degree of compassion for my people, and of indignation against her enemies and oppressors. The words may be rendered, I am jealous for Jerusalem with great zeal, for so the word קנאהoften signifies. So that the meaning is, I have a great concern for the welfare of my people, and I will not any longer suffer them to be ill treated. I am very sore displeased with the heathen, &c. — The remnant of the Babylonians, Philistines, Edomites, Samaritans, &c., which had not been made such examples of God’s severity as the Jews were. For I was but a little displeased —
Namely, with the Jewish nation; and they — Namely, their enemies; helped forward the affliction — They added to, or lengthened out, the time of the affliction, namely, by hindering the accomplishment of Cyrus’s decree in favour of the Jews: see Ezr 4:1-6. Or the meaning is, “Mine anger did not rise so high, as the punishment which the enemies of my people inflicted.” I made the Babylonians instruments of my vengeance; but they exceeded their commission, and acted as they were prompted by their own ambition and cruelty; and I was displeased with them for their extreme cruelty, and with the nations who insulted over my people in their distress. Therefore I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies — I will have compassion on Jerusalem, and cause her to experience the effects of my favour. And a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem — That is, the architect’s measuring-line, for laying out the buildings. And Jerusalem shall be wholly rebuilt, and fortified with walls, &c. This accordingly was fulfilled not many years after, as we read Neh 3:4. My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad — Over the face of Judea: or, the cities of Judea shall be rebuilt, enlarged, and adorned, throughout the land. And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion — By showing his wonted kindness to her after her affliction.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And the Lord answered the angel that talked with…
And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me - Either directly, at the intercession of the angel of the Lord, or mediately through an answer first given to him, and by him communicated to the subordinate angel. Neither is expressed.
Good words - As God had promised, “after seventy years shall be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word unto you, causing you to return to this place” Jer 29:10; and Joshua says, “There failed not ought of any good word which the Lord spake unto the house of Israel” (Jos 21:43 (45 English) add Jos 23:14-15).
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Comfortable words - Literally, “consolations” (as Isa 57:18). Perhaps the Angel who received the message had, from their tender compassion for us, whereby they “joy over one sinner that repenteth” Luk 15:10, a part in these consolations which he conveyed.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Answered. We have here a proof of the intercession…
Answered. We have here a proof of the intercession of angel, and of its good effects. (Haydock) --- In me; revealing God’s will. (St. Jerome) --- Yet it seems to be St. Michael, chap. iv. 1. (Chaldean; Theod.[Theodotion or Theodoret]) (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the Lord--JEHOVAH, called "the angel of the Lord (Jehovah)"…
the Lord--JEHOVAH, called "the angel of the Lord (Jehovah)" (Zac 1:12).
good words and comfortable words--literally, "words, consolations." The subject of these consolatory words is stated in Zac 1:14, &c.; the promise of full re-establishment, Jer 29:10-11 (compare Isa 57:18; Hos 11:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Jehovah answered — Jehovah is to be identified…
13. Jehovah answered — Jehovah is to be identified with Jehovah of hosts (12). The fact that the reply disregards entirely the angel of Jehovah favors the identification of the two (compare Gen_31:11; Gen_31:13; Jos_5:13; Jos_6:2). The reply is addressed to the interpreting angel (see on Zec_1:9).
Good… comfortable — Though the contents of the divine answer had to be explained by the angel, the prophet seems to have understood from the beginning that the message was one of cheer. Good — promising good, salutary (Jer_29:10); comfortable, literally, consolations, so called because they were intended to cheer the drooping spirit of the prophet and the community.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. the Lord] i.e. Jehovah. This may either mean,…
13. the Lord] i.e. Jehovah. This may either mean, that Almighty God answered from heaven the intercession of the Angel of the Lord (Zec_1:12), not to himself directly, but to the interpreting angel, by words which, whether he heard them himself or gathered their import from the angel’s address to him (Zec_1:14), the prophet knew to be “good, even comfortable;” or the Angel of the Lord of Zec_1:12 may be here identified with Jehovah (comp. Gen_18:1-2; Gen_18:13; Gen_18:17; Gen_18:22; Jos_5:13; Jos_6:2). and represented as Himself communicating to the interpreting angel the answer, which He had received from heaven.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Angel.—The Lord does not reply directly to the…
(13) Angel.—The Lord does not reply directly to the intercessor, but addresses the angel-interpreter, who at once, in the words of Zec_1:14-17, delivers the message of comfort to the prophet.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The Lord answered. The Angel of Jehovah is thus…
The Lord answered. The Angel of Jehovah is thus ca]led as the representative of God, whether we regard him as the Logos or a created angel empowered by God (see note on ver. 11). This personage is often seemingly identified with Jehovah. (comp. Zec_3:2 Gen_18:1, Gen_18:2, Gen_18:13, Gen_18:17, 22Jo 5:14, 15 6:2) He gives the answer to the interpreting angel, which the latter is to convey to the prophet, which he, in turn, was to announce to the people. Good words, promising blessing and salvation; (1Ki_12:7) and these are comfortable words, (Isa_57:18) a message calculated to bring comfort to the people"s desponding hearts. What the message is given in the following verses (14-17).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Zec_1:16. Returned] to Jerusalem, from whom God had withdrawn.…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zec_1:16. Returned] to Jerusalem, from whom God had withdrawn. Line] All obstacles removed, the temple completed, and the whole city shall be regular in shape, and exact in its survey.
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Zec_1:17. Cities] Other cities of Judah belong to God, will prosper and spread] Lit. scattered not by an invading foe, but by growth and abundance (cf. Zec_2:4; Zec_8:4).
Zec_1:18-21.] Four horns] The second vision. The foes of the Jews will be destroyed. Scattered] The people of God surrounded by enemies on all sides. The number four referred to the four quarters of the earth in relation to Palestine [cf. Hend]; by others, to four chief nations.
Zec_1:20. Carpenters] Artificers for each horn, indicating the agencies God employs for the destruction of those hostile to his people; “skilful to destroy” (Eze_21:31). Lifted up] Depressed with suffering and fear (Job_10:15). Fray] Terrify and scatter them in their pride and tyranny (Eze_30:9; Psa_75:4-5).
HOMILETICS
COMFORTABLE WORDS.—Zec_1:13-17
Jehovah replied to the intercession of the angel that he loved Jerusalem, and that this love would be displayed in securing its good. If we wait patiently, and commit our trouble to our Intercessor, we shall have “good words” for ourselves, and “comfortable” words for others.
I. God’s love in its objects. He was jealous for his people, and angry with their enemies.
1. He loved Jerusalem. The city had been wronged by others. His honour was involved in its insults. He was zealous for her interests, zealous, “with a great jealousy,” for her good. He had been ill-requited for kindness—had chastised them for deserts—but his love changed not. In the past and in the present he was “a jealous God” (Exo_34:14).
2. He was displeased with their enemies. “I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease.” He was “but a little displeased,” when he gave them permission to chastise his people. But they afflicted them more than he desired, and sought their extinction to gratify lust and revenge. “They helped forward the affliction.” God’s displeasure is temporary and for good; men’s displeasure is lasting and cruel.
II. God’s love in its consequences. “Therefore, thus saith the Lord,” &c. (Zec_1:16). Judgments were designed to restore them to God—that he might return in mercy to them. God hides his face and we are troubled (Psa_30:7); he returns and we rejoice. We have mercy instead of wrath—mercies repeated and manifold. “I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies.”
1. The capital shall be built. All hindrances shall be removed, and instead of scattered houses, the whole city shall be measured in order and regularity. “A line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.”
2. The temple shall be restored. “My house shall be built in it.” The worship of God should be the concern of men. Cities without churches are cities without ornaments. The palace of the prince must never take the place of the temple of God.
3. The country shall flourish. “Cry yet,” in addition to foregoing promises, “my cities shall overflow with prosperity.” Not only Jerusalem, but subordinate cities of Judah, shall have abundance of outward and spiritual increase. The produce of the vintage and the fruits of the earth; an extension of trade and an increase of population, shall be given. Whatever be the immediate prospects of the Church, God has great consolation for her. He will yet prosper and comfort Zion. The completion of the temple, the restoration of the city, and the increase of the people, are a declaration of his love, a manifestation of his purpose, and a pledge of his fidelity. “The Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.”
THE FOUR HORNS AND THE FOUR SMITHS, OR THE DANGER AND THE DEFENCE OF THE CHURCH.—Zec_1:18-21
This second vision is a fulfilment of the foregoing promise. The horn is an emblem of power. The four mentioned indicate hostile powers on every side, which seek to oppress and crush the people of God. The four smiths signify antagonistic forces which God has raised up and commisioned to destroy. Learn—
I. The Church of Christ exists in the midst of conflict. “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” The Jews, in every age, were opposed by enemies. In Apostolic and succeeding times, the Christian Church had to contend with powers and principalities—persecutions strong and violent. In every quarter of the earth the people of God have been in danger, have had to endure wrath, conflict, and death. Fiery trials await them everywhere. They are left to be tossed by the horns of the enemies, apparently defenceless, though loyal subjects of him who has all power in heaven and earth. It is God’s will that they should struggle and conquer in conflict with evil.
II. In this conflict God raises up men. Enemies and difficulties may surround the Church, but God provides help, and opens our eyes to discern it. “The Lord showed me four (carpenters) smiths.”
1. Men qualified in strength. Workmen are needed. Men of iron hand and resolute will. Smiths who can wield the hammer and smash the horns in pieces. Right kind of men are often wanting. Jeremiah searched in vain (ch. Jer_4:22-25; Jer_5:1), and another cries with a similar result: “I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me, for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none” (Eze_22:30).
2. Men sufficient in number. For every horn there was a smith to fray or destroy it. Strange that a kind of equilibrium between assault and defence should be maintained. But this is no ground for despair. The agencies to foil are as numerous as the enemies themselves. For every evil there is a remedy, and for every danger a deliverer. The horn may do its work, but the smith will follow to take vengeance.
III. Men of the right kind are raised up at the right time. The prophet saw the horns first, but had not long to wait for the carpenters. Just when they wore required they came ready for work. Men will be called and qualified when God has a work for them to do. They may be in the hut of the peasant or in the school of the prophet, preparing for the contest. Moses and Joshua, Paul and Luther, Knox and Whitfield, were raised up at the right time. Have confidence then. A providence silent and unseen works on and prepares the way. Where God has a people, there he is to defend and prosper them. Rutherford wrote to a little church in Scotland, harassed and ready to despair on account of persecution: “So long as there is any of the Lord’s lost money in your town, he won’t put out the candle.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zec_1:15. God’s displeasure.
1. Towards his people only short. “A little displeased.” “Little,” says Pusey, “in comparison with our deserts; little, in comparison with the anger of the human instruments of his displeasure; little, in comparison with their’s who, in their anger, sought their own ends.”
2. Towards his enemies very great. “I am very sore displeased with the heathen.” At ease themselves they persecute others. Though permitted to correct God’s people, they often with revengeful malice exceed their commission, and thus bring mischief upon themselves (Pro_24:17-18). The chastisement of believers is temporary, and in love; the punishment of the wicked will be in anger, and for ever. “God uses not the rod where he means to use the sword,” says Bishop Hall.
Zec_1:16-17.
1. The nature of the mercies. The rebuilding of the temple—restoration of public worship—rebuilding of the metropolis, and increase of the cities.
2. The source of the mercies. “Thus saith the Lord, I am returned.” “Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (Ezr_9:13; Lam_3:22).
3. The measure of the mercies. In Zec_1:17 there are four yets, and all very gracious ones; to break their hard hearts and to raise their faith on his promised mercies. You shall have plentiful increase of men, cattle, and all manner of fruits of the earth, so that it shall no more be said, This is Zion whom no man careth for (Jer_30:17); yea, you shall have a fulness of all things, not only repletive, but diffusive, not only of abundance but of redundance too; your cup shall overflow into the lesser vessels of others [cf. Trapp].
“Surer to prosper than prosperity
Could have assured us” [Milton].
Zec_1:18-21. We learn from these verses that the friends of Zion are numerous as her foes; that her defence is equal to her danger; that as the state of his people requires it, the Lord will seasonably raise up means and instruments for their succour and deliverance. The assurance may be derived from four principles: the love of God—the power of God—the faithfulness of God—the conduct of God. In the first, we see that he may be inclined to appear for them, as they are infinitely dear to him. In the second, we see that he is able to save them. In the third, that he is engaged to do it. In the fourth, that he always has done it. Scripture, history, and experience, being witness—
“Then let the would forbear their rage,
The Church renounce her fear;
Israel must live through every age,
And be the Almighty’s care” [Jay].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Zec_1:18-20. Fray. The Church may rest calmly in the assurance that every hostile power shall be judged and destroyed. The primary reference was to the Jews in restoring the city and completing the temple. But it has a wider significance. In the long history of the Church, it is proved that “no weapon formed against her shall prosper” [cf. Lange]. God directs and overrules all counsels and events for the progress and ultimate triumph of his kingdom.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.