On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
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On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
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Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
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Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying —
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Passages linked to Zechariah 1:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here is related a second prophecy, connected with a…
Here is related a second prophecy, connected with a vision. At the beginning God alone spoke and gave commission to his Prophet to reprove the Jews: he now confirms the prediction as to the reduction of the city; for to the word is added a vision, which is, as we have seen elsewhere, a sort of seal. As the vision is obscure it may be variously explained, but I shall endeavor to accommodate it, without any refinements, to our use; and so no ambiguity will remain, provided we seek to be soberly and moderately wise, that is, provided we aim at no more than what edification requires.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which containeth part of January and part of February.
Which containeth part of January and part of February.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 1:7 Upon the four and twentieth day of…
Zec 1:7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which [is] the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
Ver. 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month] The third month after the former prophecy, when the Jews probably had practised the doctrine of repentance, so earnestly pressed upon them; and had humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God, who was now ready to lift them up by this and the seven following most comfortable visions touching the restoration and reformation of the Church and State. The devil and his imps love to bring men into the briars, and there to leave them, as familiars forsake their witches when they have brought them once into fetters; as the priests left Judas the traitor, to look to himself, Mat 27:4; and as the Papists cast off Cranmer, after that, by subscribing their articles, he had cast himself into such a wretched condition, that there was neither hope of a better nor place for a worse; ut iam nec honeste mori nec vivere inhoneste liceret (Melch. Ad. in Vita). But such is not God’s manner of dealing with those that tremble at his word, and humble at his feet. Deiecit ut relevet, premit ut solatia praestet. He comforteth those that are cast down, 2Co 7:6, commandeth others to comfort the feebleminded, 1Th 5:14, and noteth those that do not with a black-coal, Job 6:14, Nigro carbone notari. See the workings of his bowels, the rollings of his compassions, kindled into repentance toward his penitentiaries, Jer 31:20 Hos 11:8 Isa 40:1-2. See how he comforts them with cordials according to the time wherein he had afflicted them, Psa 90:15, and in the very thing wherein he had abased them; as he once dealt with their head, Php 2:7-8.
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Sebat, which answers to part of our January.
Sebat, which answers to part of our January.
Darius. see Hag 1:1,15.
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Came the word of the Lord, & c. see Zec 1:1. The first sermon Zechariah preached was three months before this, and that sermon was reproof, which probably had good effect, as Zec 1:6.
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Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain We not come to visions and revelations of the…
We not come to visions and revelations of the Lord; for in that way God chose to speak by Zechariah, to awaken the people's attention, and to engage their humble reverence of the word and their humble enquiries into it, and to fix it the more in their minds and memories. Most of the following visions seem designed for the comfort of the Jews, now newly returned out of captivity, and their encouragement to go on with the building of the temple. The scope of this vision (which is as an introduction to the rest) is to assure the Jews of the care God took of them, and the eye of his providence that was upon them for good, now in their present state, when they seem to be deserted, and their case deplorable. The vision is dated (Zac 1:7) the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, three months after he preached that sermon (Zac 1:1), in which he calls them to repentance from the consideration of God's judgments. Finding that that sermon had a good effect, and that they returned to God in a way of duty, the assurances he had given them are confirmed, that God would return to them in a way of mercy. Now observe here,
I. What the prophet saw, and the explication of that. 1. He saw a grove of myrtle-trees, a dark shady grove, down in a bottom, hidden by the adjacent hills, so that you were not aware of it till you were just upon it. This represented the low, dark, solitary, melancholy condition of the Jewish church at this time. They were over-topped by all their neighbours, buried in obscurity; what friends they had were hidden, and there appeared no way of relief and succour for them. Note, The church has not been always visible, but sometimes hidden, as the woman in the wilderness, Rev 12:6. 2. He saw a man mounted upon a red horse, standing in the midst of this shady myrtle-grove. This man is no other than the man Christ Jesus, the same that appeared to Joshua with his sword drawn in his hand as captain of the host of the Lord (Jos 5:13, Jos 5:14) and to John with his bow and his crown, Rev 6:2. Though the church was in a low condition, yet Christ was present in the midst of it. Was it hidden by the hills? He was much more hidden in the myrtle-grove, yet hidden as in an ambush, ready to appear for the seasonable relief of his people, to their happy surprise. Compare Isa 45:15, Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, and yet Israel's God and Saviour at the same time, their Holy One in the midst of them. He was riding, as a man of war, as a man in haste, riding on the heavens for the help of his people, Deu 33:26. He rode on a red horse, either naturally so or dyed red with the blood of war, as this same victorious prince appeared red in his apparel, Isa 63:1, Isa 63:2. Red is a fiery colour, denoting that he is jealous for Jerusalem (Zac 1:14) and very angry at her enemies. Christ, under the law, appeared on a red horse, denoting the terror of that dispensation, and that he had yet his conflict before him, when he was to resist unto blood. But, under the gospel, he appears on a white horse (Rev 6:2. and again Rev 19:11), denoting that he has now gained the victory, and rides in triumph, and hangs out the white, not the bloody flag. 3. He saw a troop of horse attending him, ready to receive and obey his orders: Behind him there were some red horses, and some speckled, and some white, angels attending the Lord Jesus, ready to be employed by him for the service of his church, some in acts of judgment, others of mercy, others in mixed events. Note, The King of the church has angels at command, not only to do him honour, but to minister for the good of those that are his. 4. He enquired into the signification of this vision. He had an angel talking with him, as his instructor, besides those he saw in the vision; so had Ezekiel (Eze 40:3), and Daniel, Dan 8:16. Zechariah asked him (Zac 1:9), O my Lord! what are these? And, it should seem this angel that talked with him was Christ himself, the man on the red horse, whom the rest were attendants on; to him immediately Zechariah addresses himself. Would we be acquainted with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, we must make our application, not to angels (they are themselves learners), but to Christ himself, who is alone able to take the book, and open the seals, Rev 5:7. The prophet's question implies a humble acknowledgment of his own ignorance and an earnest desire to be informed. O let me know what these are! This he desired, not for the satisfying of his curiosity, but that he might be furnished with something proper for the comfort and encouragement of the people of God, in their present distress. 5. He received from the angel that talked with him (Zac 1:9), and from the man that stood among the myrtle-trees (Zac 1:10), the interpretation of this vision. Note, Jesus Christ is ready to instruct those that are humbly desirous to be taught the things of God. He immediately said, I will show thee what these are. What knowledge we have, or may have, concerning the world of spirits, we are indebted to Christ for. The account given him was, These are those whom the Lord has sent: they are his messengers, his envoys, appointed (as his eyes are said to do, Ch2 16:9) to walk, to run, to fly swiftly through the earth, to observe what is done in it and to execute the divine commands. God needs them not, but he is pleased to employ them, and we need the comfort arising from the doctrine of their administration.
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II. What the prophet heard, and what instructions were thereby given him. Faith comes by hearing, and, generally, in visions there was something said.
1. He heard the report or representation which the angels made to Christ of the present state of the world, Zac 1:11. They had been out abroad, as flying posts (being hastened by the King of kings' commandment, Est 3:15), and, having returned, they give this account to the Angel that stood among the myrtle-trees (for to the Lord Jesus angels themselves are accountable): We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold all the earth sits still and is at rest. We are taught to pray that the will of God may be done by men on earth as it is done by the angels in heaven; and here we see what need we have to pray so, for it is far from being so. For, (1.) We find the world of angels here very busy. Those that are employed in the court above rest not day nor night from praising God, which is their business there; and those that are employed in the camp below are never idle, nor lose time; they are still ascending and descending upon the Son of man (Joh 1:51, as on Jacob's ladder, Gen 28:12); they are still walking to and fro through the earth. Thus active, thus industrious, Satan owns himself to be in doing mischief, Job 1:7. It is well for us that good angels bestir themselves as much to do good, and that here in this earth we have guardians going about continually seeking to do us a kindness, as we have adversaries which, as roaring lions, go about continually, seeking to devour us. Though holy angels in this earth meet with a great deal that is disagreeable, yet, while they are going on God's errands, they hesitate not to walk to and fro through it. Their own habitation, which those that fell liked not, they will like the better when they return. (2.) We find the world of mankind here very careless: All the earth sits still, and is at rest, while all the church is made uneasy, tossed with tempests and not comforted. Those that are strangers to the church are secure; those that are enemies to it are successful. The Chaldeans and Persians dwell at ease, while the poor Jews are continually alarmed; as when the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city Shushan was perplexed. The children of men are merry and jovial, but none grieve for the affliction of God's children. Note, It is sad to think what a deep sleep the world is cast into, what a spirit of slumber has seized the generality of mankind, that are under God's wrath and Satan's power, and yet secure and unconcerned! They sit still and are at rest, Luk 17:26, etc.
2. He heard Christ's intercession with the Father for his afflicted church, Zac 1:12. The angels related the posture of affairs in this lower world, but we read not of any prayers they made for the redress of the grievances they had made a remonstrance of. No; it is the Angel among the myrtle-trees that is the great intercessor. Upon the report of the angels he immediately turned heavenward, and said, Lord, wilt thou not have mercy on thy church? (1.) The thing he intercedes for is mercy; as Psa 85:7, Show us thy mercy, O Lord! Note, God's mercy is all in all to the church's comfort; and all his mercy must be hoped for through Christ's mediation. (2.) The thing he complains of is the delay of this mercy: How long wilt thou not have mercy! He knows that mercies through him shall be built up for ever (Psa 89:2), but thinks it long that the building is deferred. (3.) The objects of compassion recommended to the divine mercies are, Jerusalem, the holy city, and the other cities of Judah that were now in ruins; for God had had indignation against them now threescore and ten years. He mentions seventy years because that was the time fixed in the divine councils for the continuance of the captivity; so long the indignation lasted, and though now for a little space grace had been shown them from the Lord their God, to give them some reviving (Ezr 9:8), yet the scars of those seventy years' captivity still remained so deep, so painful, that this is the melancholy string they still harp upon - the divine indignation during those seventy years. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that whereas the seventy years of the captivity were reckoned from Jehoiakim's fourth year, and ended in the first of Cyrus, these seventy years are to be computed from the eleventh of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem and the temple were burnt, about nineteen years after the first captivity, and which ended in this second year of Darius Hystaspes, about seventeen years after Cyrus's proclamation, as that seventy years mentioned Zac 7:5 was about nineteen years after; the captivity went off, as it came on, gradually. "Lord, we are still under the burden of the seventy years' wrath, and wilt thou be angry with us for ever?"
3. He heard a gracious reply given to this intercession of Christ's for his church; for it is a prevailing intercession, always acceptable, and him the Father heareth always (Zac 1:13): The Lord answered the angel, this angel of the covenant, with good words and comfortable words, with promises of mercy and deliverance, and the perfecting of what he had begun in favour to them. These were comfortable words to Christ, who is grieved in the grievances of his church, and comfortable to all that mourn with Zion. God often answers prayer with good words, when he does not immediately appear in great works; and those good words are real answers to prayer. Men's good words will not feed the body (Jam 2:16), but God's good words will feed the faith, for saying and doing with him are not two things, though they are with us.
4. He heard that reply which was given to the angel repeated to himself, with a commission to publish it to the children of his people, for their comfort. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him he signified to his servant John, and by him to the churches, Rev 1:1, Rev 1:4. Thus all the good words and comfortable words of the gospel we receive from Jesus Christ, as he received them from the Father, in answer to the prayer of his blood, and his ministers are appointed to preach them to all the world. Now that God would speak comfortably to Jerusalem, Zechariah is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord. The voice said, Cry. Cry then. The prophets must now cry as loudly to show God's people their comforts as ever they did formerly to show them their transgressions, Isa 40:2, Isa 40:3, Isa 40:6. And if he ask, What shall I cry? he is here instructed. (1.) He must proclaim the wrath God has in store for the enemies of Jerusalem. He is jealous for Zion with great jealousy, Zac 1:14. He takes himself to be highly affronted by the injuries and indignities that are done to his church, as he had been formerly by the iniquities found in his church. The earth sat still and was at rest (Zac 1:11), not relenting at all, nor showing the least remorse, for all the mischief they had done to Jerusalem, as Joseph's brethren, who, when they had sold him, sat down to eat bread; and this God took very ill (Zac 1:15): I am very sorely displeased with the heathen, that are at ease, and have no concern for the afflicted church. Much more will he be displeased with those that are at ease in Zion (Amo 6:1), with Zion's own sons, that sympathize not with her in her sorrows. But this was not all; they were not only not concerned for her, but they were concerned against her: I was but a little displeased with my people, and designed to correct them moderately, but those that were employed as instruments of the correction cast off all pity, and with the greatest rage and malice helped forward the affliction and added to it, persecuting those whom God had smitten (Psa 69:26) and insulting over those whom he had troubled. See Isa 47:6; Isa 10:5; Eze 25:12, Eze 25:15. Note, God is displeased with those who help forward the affliction even of such as suffer justly; for true humanity, in such a case, is good divinity. (2.) He must proclaim the mercy God has in store for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, Zac 1:16. He must cry, "Thus saith the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. I was going away in wrath, but I am now returning in love. Cry yet to the same purport," Zac 1:17. There must now be line upon line for consolation, as formerly there had been for conviction. The Lord, even the Lord of hosts, assures them, [1.] That the temple shall be built that is now but in the building. This good work which they are now about, though it meet with much discouragement, shall be perfected, and they shall have the tokens of God's presence, and opportunities of conversing with him, and worshipping him, as formerly. Note, It is good news indeed to any place to hear that God will build his house in it. [2.] That Jerusalem shall again be built as a city compact together, which had formerly been its glory, Psa 122:3. A line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem, in order to the rebuilding of it with great exactness and uniformity. [3.] That the nation shall again become populous and rich, though now diminished and impoverished. Not only Jerusalem, but other cities that are reduced and lie in a little compass, shall yet spread abroad, or be diffused; their suburbs shall extend far, and colonies shall be transplanted from them; and this through prosperity: they shall be so numerous, and so wealthy, that there shall not be room for them; they shall complain that the place is too strait, Isa 49:20. As they had been scattered and spread abroad, through their calamities, so they should now be through their prosperity. Let thy fountains be dispersed, Pro 5:16. The cities that should thus increase God calls his cities; they are blessed by him, and they are fruitful and multiply, and replenish the land. [4.] That all their present sorrows should not only be balanced, but for ever silenced, by divine consolations: The Lord shall yet comfort Zion. Yet at length, though her griefs and grievances may continue long, God has comforts in reserve for Zion and all her mourners. [5.] That all this will be the fruit of God's preventing distinguishing favour: He shall yet choose Jerusalem, shall renew his choice, renew his covenant, shall make it appear that he has chosen Jerusalem. As he first built them up into a people when he brought them out of Egypt, so he will now rebuild them, when he brings them out of Babylon, not for any worthiness of theirs, but in pursuance of his own choice, Deu 7:7, Deu 7:8. Jerusalem is the city he has chosen, and he will not cast it off.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh…
Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat,.... Called Sabat in the Septuagint version, and in the Apocrypha:
"Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the country, and taking care for the good ordering of them; at which time he came down himself to Jericho with his sons, Mattathias and Judas, in the hundred threescore and seventeenth year, in the eleventh month, called Sabat:'' (1 Maccabees 16:14)
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It is said by the Jews (g) to be the beginning of the months of the year for trees, of which they bring the first fruits. It answers to part of our January, and part of February. This is the first time that the name of a month is mentioned by any of the prophets; this prophet prophesying after the captivity in Babylon; from whence the Jews (h) say the names of months came along with the returning captives, as well as the names of angels; and we nowhere meet with them but in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, all wrote after that time; for before they used only to say, the first, second, or third month, &c.; for, as for Abib, Zif, Bul, and Ethanira, mentioned in Exo 13:4, they are thought to be appellatives, and not proper names; though it may be observed that the books of Kings are said by the Jews (i) to be written by Jeremiah; more likely by several prophets, and at last brought into the order in which they now stand by Ezra, according to Huetius (k); and which may be thought probable enough; and, if so, the above names may be reckoned proper names of months; and the original of them may be accounted for as before. There were two fasts appointed by the Jews in this month; one on the tenth day of it, for the death of the elders which succeeded Joshua, Jdg 2:7 and another on the twenty third, on account of the Israelites making war with the Benjaminites, in revenge of what was done to the wife of the Levite, Jdg 19:1 (l). This prophecy, and the visions following to the end of the sixth chapter, were three months after the former prophecy, or more, if that was on the first day of the eighth month; and just two months after the foundation of the temple was laid, Hag 2:18, "in the second year of Darius", &c. See Gill on Zac 1:1.
(g) Targum Sheni in Esth. iii. 7. (h) T. Hieros. Roshhashanah, fol. 56. 4. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 48. fol. 48. 4. (i) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. (k) Demonstr. Evangel. prop. 4. p. 203. (l) Vid. Reland. Jud. Antiqu. par. 4. c. 13. p. 261.
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 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of…
Verse 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month] This revelation was given about three months after the former, and two months after they had recommenced the building of the temple.
Sebat] Answers to a part of our February. See Hag 2:18.
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 1:7-8. Upon the four and twentieth day of…
Zec 1:7-8. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month — That is, about three months after he had received the former vision; which is the month Sebat — This was the Chaldee or Syriac name of the eleventh month, not the Hebrew name. This month corresponded with the latter end of January and the beginning of February. Came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah — This second revelation contains eight distinct visions, following each other in the same night. “The first vision is of an angel in a human form, sitting on horseback, in a low valley among myrtle-trees, attended by others upon horses, of different colours. The prophet asks the meaning, and is informed that they were the ministers of Providence, sent to examine into the state of the whole earth, which they report to be quiet and tranquil. The angel hereupon intercedes for Judah and Jerusalem, which he represents to have suffered under the divine indignation seventy years. He receives a consolatory answer. The prophet is directed to proclaim, that God’s wrath against Judah was at an end; that he would cause the temple and Jerusalem to be rebuilt; and would fill the country with good, as a token and consequence of his renewed favour, Zec 1:7-17.” — Blayney. Saying, I saw, &c. — That is, the word came to the prophet, who said, I saw, &c., or, thus recited the divine vision which had been sent him. What now follows (which extends to the end of the sixth chapter) was uttered when the people had made a great progress in the work of the temple, and were now to be excited to the new labour of fortifying Jerusalem. And behold a man — The prophet terms him so, according to his appearance; till, perceiving by his answer, Zec 1:10, that he had a divine commission, he afterward gives him the respectable title of the angel, or messenger of Jehovah; riding upon a red horse — A horse of a red or bloody colour was an emblem of the slaughters of war, as appears from Rev 6:4. But the myrtle being a tree of pleasure, and an emblem of peace, therefore the red horse appearing among the myrtle- trees, signified that the slaughters of war were, or soon would be, repressed or restrained by a profound peace, namely, in the Persian empire, for that is here referred to: and accordingly there was a profound peace in it in the fourth, fifth, and sixth years of Darius. It is doubtful what angel or other being was represented by the figure of a man on this red horse. Some suppose Michael, whom the Prophet Daniel seems to mention as the guardian angel of the Jews, or the angel presiding, under God, over the affairs of their nation, and taking care of them. Others suppose the λογος, or Son of God, is meant; which opinion seems probable. The reason of his appearing in a bottom, or low place, amidst myrtles planted by the waters, is thought to have been to mark out the affliction, humiliation, and sorrow to which Judea was reduced. The myrtle flourishes best in shady and watery places. Littora myrtetis lætissima, says Virgil. See Calmet. Behind him were red horses — With riders on them, as appears from Zec 1:10, “who were angels, Zec 1:11. They had horses to show their power of celerity; and horses of different colours, to intimate the difference of their ministries.” — Newcome. Or, as others explain it, to signify the various events of the wars waged by Darius, which were sometimes fortunate, at other times unsuccessful.
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 On the twenty-fourth day - Exactly five months after…
On the twenty-fourth day - Exactly five months after the building of the temple was resumed Hag 2:15, and two months after Haggai’s last prophecy Hag 2:20. The series of visions, leading onward, from the first deliverance from the enemies who oppressed them, to the Coming of Christ, is given as a reward to their first whole-hearted endeavor to restore their worship of Him. The visions are called the “word of the Lord,” because they were prophecy, made visible to the eye, conveying the revelation to the soul, and in part explained by Him.
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 Sabath. These names were brought from Chaldea. The month…
Sabath. These names were brought from Chaldea. The month was lunar, and corresponded sometimes with parts of our December and January, at other times with January, or with that and the following month. (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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Zec_1:7 to Zec_6:15
II. THE NIGHT VISIONS
Zec_1:7 to Zec_6:15
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This division contains a series of visions all given at one time and therefore naturally supposed to be closely connected with each other and to exhibit an orderly progress of thought. The first vision sets forth the evident need of a divine interference in behalf of the people, with a strong assurance that it shall be vouchsafed. The second indicates one form of this interference in the fact that the foes are driven away. The third promises great enlargement and absolute security. The fourth exhibits the forgiveness of sin which had been the cause of all the previous troubles and endangered the recurrence of them. The fifth is a counterpart to the fourth by promising the positive communication of God’s Spirit and grace which secure sanctification as well as justification. The sixth gnards against a perversion of the two preceding visions as if they warranted security on the part of the impenitent, by exhibiting the fearful curse of God upon all sinners of whatever class. The seventh enforces the same point still further by representing that a longer and yet more dreadful deportation than that to Babylon awaited the unfaithful members of the theocracy. Finally, the eighth completes the entire series of visions in an artistic manner by returning to the point whence they set out, and repeating much the same imagery. It shows the accomplishment of all which the first image promised. From the purified and divinely protected theocracy, symbolized by mountains of brass, there go forth executioners of judgment who do not stay their hands until God’s Spirit is completely satisfied. But there is another future in reserve for the distant heathen, besides that of judgment. They are to be converted from enemies into friends, and in the days of the Branch shall come from far, and freely contribute to build up and glorify the Lord’s holy kingdom. This cheering thought is exhibited in the shape of a symbolical action, appended to the visions and appropriately closing and crowning their hallowed disclosures.
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VISION I. THE MAN AMONG THE MYRTLES
Zec_1:7-17
A. A symbolical Representation of the tranquil Condition of the Heathen World and consequent Need of Divine Interference (Zec_1:7-11). B. Intercession for Suffering and Desolate Judœa (Zec_1:12-13). C. Assurances of Relief and Restoration (Zec_1:14-17).
7On the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month which is the month Sebat,7 in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah to Zechariah, the son of 8 Iddo the prophet, saying: I saw that8 night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtles9 that were in the valley, and behind him were red, bay and white horses. 9 And I said, what are these, my lord? And the angel that talked with10 me said to me, I will show thee what they are. 10And the man who stood among the myrtles answered,11 and said, These are they whom Jehovah has sent to walk through the earth. 11And they answered the angel of Jehovah who stood among the myrtles, and said, We have gone through the earth, and behold, all the earth sits still12 and is at rest. 12Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, Jehovah of Hosts! how long wilt thou not pity Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which thou hast been angry these13 seventy years? 13 And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me, good words, comforting14 words. 14 And the angel that talked15 with me, said to me, Cry, saying:
Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
I am jealous16 for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy,
15 And I burn with great anger against the nations at ease.
For I was angry for a little, but they helped forward the affliction.
16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah,17
I have returned to Jerusalem in mercy,18
My house shall be built in her, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
And a measuring line19 shall be stretched over Jerusalem.
17 Cry also,20 saying, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
My cities shall yet overflow21 with prosperity,
And Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion,
And shall yet choose Jerusalem.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Zec_1:7. The dale of this revelation is from three to four months after Zechariah’s first prophecy and exactly two months after Haggai’s last, namely, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, Shebat, our February, of the year 519. The precise day of the month, here and in Hag_2:10-20, seems to have been suggested by the fact that on just this day of the sixth month the building of the Temple had been resumed (Hag_1:14-15). The Lord thus indicated his pleasure in the resumption of the work. The visions are called the word of Jehovah, because they had the significance and answered the purpose of oral revelations.
Zec_1:8. I saw that night. The disclosure was made to the Prophet, not in a dream (Ewald, Hitzig), but in a vision. His senses were not locked in sleep, but like Peter at Joppa (Act_10:10; Act_11:4) he was ἐν ἐκστάσει. This trance-like condition, according to Zec_4:1, bears the same relation to ordinary human consciousness which that docs to the condition of sleep. A man’s usual state when under the control of the senses and able to see only what his own faculties discover, is one of spiritual sleep; but an ecstatic condition, in which the senses and the entire lower life are quiescent, and only pictures of divine objects are reflected in the soul as in a pure and bright mirror, is one of spiritual waking. The Prophet received his visions at night, because then his susceptibility for divine communications was most lively, in consequence of the stillness, the suspension of worldly cares and the freedom from outward impressions. In the space of one night the whole series of stately symbolic scenes passed before his spiritual eye, for the title in Zec_1:7 extends to the end of chap. 6 after which a new title first occurs, and besides, the narrative itself shows (Zec_2:1; Zec_4:1, etc.) that as soon as one vision ended another began. Behold, a man riding upon a red horse, etc. A man, i. e., one in the shape or appearance of a man, for manifestly an angel and not a human being is intended. He is seated upon a red horse, the meaning of which is seen in the fact that red is the color of blood. In Rev_6:4, it is a rider on a red horse who receives a great sword and has power to take peace from the earth and cause men to kill one another. The color of the horse then is a symbol of the purpose of its rider, namely, wrath and bloodshed. He stood among the myrtles that were in מְעֻלָּה. The meaning of this word is much contested. The Vulgate gives it in profundo, which supposes that the text is only another form of מְצוּלָה, which ordinarily means the depths of the sea. Hengstenberg and Baumgarten adopt this, and explain it as a symbolical designation of the abyss-like power of the world, in which the Church stands like a feeble, lowly shrub. Others (Gesenius, Henderson), following the LXX., derive the word from צָלַל, in the sense of shade (so Dr. Van Dyck in the New Arabic Version), but in this case we should expect a different middle vowel, and besides, as Pressel says, it would be a pleonasm to speak of trees in a shady place. Others (Hitzig, Fürst, Bunsen), following an Arabic analogy, render it tent, by which they suppose heaven is intended, but this is extremely artificial. There seems no reason to depart from the Vulgate and Targum, or to make it other than=deep place, i. e., a low valley or bottom. It will then stand in vivid contrast with the corresponding point in the eighth vision, which is the complement of the first. There, the chariots start from between two mountains of brass=the theocracy under the mighty protection of Jehovah; here, the horsemen issue from amid myrtles in an open bottom=the Church in a condition of feebleness and exposure. Behind the first rider are other horses of different colors. They have riders (see Zec_1:11), but this fact is allowed to be understood, because the emphasis is laid upon the color of the horses. They are like their leader red (explained above), or bay, or white. The last like the first is easily understood from Scripture usage—white being the reflection of heavenly glory (Mat_17:2), and therefore the symbol of victory (Rev_6:2), But the second epithet is difficult שָׂרֹק is rendered by the LXX.: ψαροὶ καὶ ποικίλοι, Vulg., varii, Peshito versicolores, after whom Maurer, Umbreit, Keil, etc., render it as in text of A. V., speckled. But Gesenius and Fürst derive it from an Arabic root, signifying dark red, and Hengstenberg renders this brown, but Köhler bay or flame-colored. The latter gives the better sense. The colors do not signify the three kingdoms against whom the riders were sent (Cyril, Jerome, et al.), for all appear to go in company, nor the quarters of the heavens (Maurer, Hitzig, et al.), for the fourth quarter is wanting; but the nature of the mission which they had to perform, namely, to take an active part in the agitation of the nations, those upon red horses by war and bloodshed, those upon bay horses by burning and destroying, and those upon white horses by victory over the world.
Zec_1:9. The Prophet asks. What are these, i. e., what do they signify? The question is addressed to one whom he calls my lord, but who is this? Manifestly, the one who gives the answer, the angelus interpres. It is no objection to this that he has not been mentioned before, for in prophecies, and especially in visions, from their dramatic character, persons are frequently introduced in such a way that only from what they say or do, can we learn who they are. This angelus interpres, or collocutor, had for his sole function to open the spiritual eyes and ears of the Prophet and cause him to understand the meaning of the visions. The preposition in the phrase הֵדֹּבֵר בי is not to be understood, with Ewald, Keil, etc., as denoting the internal, character of the communications made, for this would not distinguish him from the other angels of the vision, but the phrase is simply an official designation of the angel’s character.
Zec_1:10. And the man who stood among, etc. The rider on the red horse states the object of the horsemen’s mission. He is said to have answered, because, although not referring to any definite question, his words were a reply to the Prophet’s desire for an explanation.
Zec_1:11. The riders themselves state the result of their mission. This is called an answer to the Angel of the Lord, because it replies to a question implied in the circumstances. It is given to the Angel of the Lord. But is this a created or an uncreated angel? The latter view is maintained by McCaul, Lange, Hengstenberg, Philippi, and Kahnis, the former by Hoffman, Delitzsch, Kurtz, Köhler, Pressel. That the angel of Jehovah is distinguished from the other angels, and in many places identified with Jehovah, is undeniable (Gen_16:7-10; Gen_31:11-13; Gen_32:25-31 comp. with Hos_12:4; Exo_3:2-4; Jdg_6:11-22; Zec_3:1-2). On the other hand, there are passages, where he seems to be discriminated from Jehovah (Exo_23:20-22; Exo_32:34). The simplest way of reconciling these two classes is to adopt the old view that this angel is the Second person of the Godhead, even at that early period appearing as the revealer of the Father. The mingled clearness and obscurity of the representation is quite analogous to the same features in the delineation of the Messiah in Psalms 2, 45, 72, 110, and in various prophecies before and after David’s time. In this vision he appears first as a man upon a red horse, then as the leader of the troop standing behind him, and when these have made their report, as the angel of Jehovah who presents the prayer of the pious before God. The answer which he receives from the troop is that all the earth sits still and is at rest,—a phrase upon which Wordsworth comments as denoting proud and licentious ease, because, as he says, the word for “at rest” is shaanân. This is a strange mistake, for it is another word, שֹׁסָטֶת, which rarely, if ever, has any moral significance, and means merely quiet, peaceful security, without reference to the way in which that state has been attained or is employed. Here the sense is that the nations at large were dwelling in a calm, serene repose, undisturbed by any foe. The reference seems to be to Haggai 2, where the Lord promised that in a little while He would shake the heavens and the earth and all nations, and in consequence his house would be filled with glory. The riders now report that having gone through the earth they find it not at all shaken but quiet and serene. This statement, furnishing such a vivid contrast to the prostrate and suffering condition of the people of God, gave occasion to the intercession recounted in the next verse.
Zec_1:12. How long wilt thou not pity Jerusalem, etc.? The language is that of intercessory expostulation. The reference to these seventy years does not imply that that period predicted by Jeremiah (Jer_25:12) was just drawing to a close, for it had already expired in the first year of Cyrus (Ezr_1:1). But although the people had been restored, they were still in a sad state,—the capital for the most part in ruins, its walls broken down, its gates burnt (Neh_1:3), the population small, the greater part of the land still a waste, and the rebuilding of the Temple embarrassed with difficulties. It might well seem as if the troubles of the exile would never end, and the more so, since there was no sign of that violent agitation of the heathen world which was to be the precursor of Israel’s exaltation. The intercession was effectual.
Zec_1:13. And Jehovah answered, etc. Here the answer is given to another person than the questioner. The best explanation is that of Hengstenberg, that “the angel of the Lord had asked the question not for his own sake, but simply in order that consolation and hope might be communicated through the angelus interpres to the Prophet, and through him to the nation at large.” Good words are words that promise good. Cf Jos_23:14 (Heb.); Jer_29:10. The contents of these good and comforting words follow in Zec_1:14-17, the first two of which assert Jehovah’s active affection for his people, and the latter two, his purpose to manifest that love in the restoration and enlargement of Jerusalem.
Zec_1:14. I am jealous, etc. קִיֵּא, lit., to burn, to glow, indicates a vehement emotion which may have its motive in jealousy (Num_5:14), or in envy (Gen_26:14), or in hatred (Gen_37:11), or in love (Num_25:11). The last expresses its force here, which is greatly strengthened by the addition of the cognate noun. Jehovah is inspired with a burning zeal for Jerusalem and for Zion, the holy hill which He has chosen for his habitation. He had already displayed this in part, and would soon develop it to the full.
Zec_1:15. Toward the heathen, on the contrary, Jehovah burned with great anger. This was partly because they were “at ease,” i. e., not merely tranquil, but in a state of carnal security, proudly confident in their power and prosperity, but mainly because, while He had been angry for a little, i. e., time (cf. Job_10:20), they, on the contrary, had helped forward the affliction, lit., had helped for evil, i. e., so that evil was the result. The Lord contemplated a moderate, limited chastisement in love, with a view to the purification and restoration of his people. The heathen, on the contrary, rioted in the sufferings of helpless Israel, and would willingly prolong them.
Zec_1:16. I have returned … Jerusalem. The emphatic therefore indicates the consequence of God’s love for Jerusalem. He has actually returned with purposes of mercy, and these shall be fully executed. All hindrances shall be removed, the Temple completed, and instead of scattered houses here and there, the whole city shall pass under the surveyor’s measuring line. But the blessing is not to be confined to the capital, as appears from what follows.
Zec_1:17. Cry also, i. e., in addition to the foregoing. The other cities of Judah shall overflow with prosperity, lit., be scattered, yet not by an invading foe, but by the inward pressure of abundant growth requiring them to diffuse themselves over a larger surface (cf. Zec_2:4, Zec_8:4, Zec_9:17, Zec_10:7). This overflow of blessing will assure the covenant people that Jehovah is still comforting Zion, and has by no means renounced the purpose in pursuance of which he had originally choseh Jerusalem. The same cheering reference to God’s electing love is found in Zec_2:12; Zec_3:2.
The object of this first vision was to satisfy the dispirited colony that although there was no present appearance of an approaching fulfillment of promised blessings, yet these blessings were sure. Jehovah had appointed the instruments of his righteous judgments, and by these would accomplish his purposes upon the ungodly nations, and thus secure the salvation of Zion. The fulfillment then is easily pointed out. The completion of the Temple, the restoration of the city under Ezra and Nehemiah, the increase of the population, all declared Jehovah’s fidelity to his engagements. But this was only the beginning. Zechariah, like his predecessors in office, looks down the whole vista of the future, and utters germinant predictions, as Bacon calls them, which do not exhaust themselves in any one period, but wrap up in pregnant sentences long cycles of historical development. The first vision presents the general theme of the whole series, each of which stands closely related to the others, so that there is an evident advance from the beginning to the end, as will appear in the course of the exposition.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. How near are the seen and unseen worlds! Nor are they without sympathy with each other. We have a craving for the knowledge of creatures higher than ourselves, and yet fellow servants with us of the same Creator. All the various forms of Polytheism show this natural longing of the race, but the Scripture satisfies it by revealing to us the existence, character, and function of the holy angels. This revelation is not made merely to gratify a curiosity, however intelligent and reasonable, but to furnish important aid in the conduct of life. It pleases God to employ the agency of these supernatural beings in establishing his kingdom in the world. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb_1:14.) In the book of Genesis, after the call of Abraham, we observe frequent instances of this blessed ministry, guiding, protecting, and upholding the patriarchs (18, 19, 24, 27, 32). Again, in the time of the Judges similar manifestations were made to Gideon and to Manoah. But at and after the Captivity, their interposition not only resumes its former frequency, but is manifested on a wider scale. To Daniel and Zechariah the angels are revealed, not only as watching over the covenant people, but as executing the counsels of Jehovah toward the heathen world. There does not seem to be the least necessity for attributing this circumstance to the influence of Chaldæan or Persian modes of thought upon the minds of these prophets. They follow in the line of the earlier traditions of the chosen people, with only that degree of variation and expansion which is natural under the altered circumstances of the case. It was a comforting thought to a feeble colony overshadowed by a colossal empire to be reminded of superhuman helpers whose mighty interposition was ever at hand. Of course even these celestial beings could prove efficient only by the power of God, but their intermediate agency rendered that power more directly conceivable. In the New Testament there is not the same prominence given to these “sons of God” (Job_38:7), but enough is stated of their ministrations at the Incarnation, in the wilderness, the garden, and the sepulchre, and of their sympathy with the joys and sorrows of God’s people, to make us feel that the shining stairway which rose over Jacob’s head to the clouds (Gen_28:12) still exists, and is traversed by the same holy beings. It is still true, as Spenser said, —
“They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant,
And all for love and nothing for reward;
Oh! why should heavenly God to man have such regard?”
2. The extraordinary position assigned to the angel of Jehovah in this vision and also in the one recorded in the third chapter, continues and completes the long chain of ancient testimonies beginning in Genesis, to the existence of self-distinctions in the Godhead. (See the summary of the argument in Lange’s Genesis, p. 386, or Keil On Pant., i. 184, and Hengstenberg’s Christology, i. 107 ff., iv. 285.) The view that this exalted personage was only a created angel through whom God issues and executes his commands, and who speaks and acts in God’s name, was favored by Origen, defended by Augustine, adopted by Jerome and, Gregory the Great, and has been maintained in our own day by some eminent critics; but it cannot displace what has been the almost universal doctrine of the early Church and of the great body of believers in all ages, namely, that this angel was the Old Testament form of the Logos of John, a being connected with the supreme God by unity of nature, but personally distinct from Him. The most frequent and plausible objection to the old view affirms that it unreasonably transfers the revelations of the later dispensation to the older, and introduces notions entirely foreign to Hebrew habits of thought. But the contrary is the case. The Old Testament records one stage in the progressive development of religious truth, and the New Testament another, and both correspond in the most striking manner to each other. Indeed, they present what is not found, is not claimed in any other book in the world,—a complete system of typical and antitypical institutions, events, and persons. This feature has been sometimes pressed to an extravagant extent, and applied where it has no real bearing. But its general correctness is admitted by all sober interpreters. This being so, if the triunity of the divine nature is plainly set forth in the New Testament, especially if the great revealer of the Father (Joh_1:18) is emphasized by evangelists and apostles, is it not to be expected that a foreshadowing of so important a truth will be found in the elder Scriptures? Guided by such an analogy, it was neither uncritical nor rash for the Church to conclude that the being called the Angel of Jehovah, the Angel of his Presence, the Angel of the Covenant, in whom Jehovah puts his name, who is identified with Jehovah, who performs the peculiar works of Jehovah, and yet is in some sense distinct from Him, is the same divine person who is represented in the New Testament as the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express type of his essence, the image of the invisible God; in whose face the glory of God shines, and in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
3. The intercession ascribed to our Lord in the Christian Scriptures was not only typified by a remarkable function of the high-priest on the great day of atonement, but was actually performed by the second person of the Godhead long before his incarnation. He was “the lamb slain before the foundation of the world,” and the merits of his priceless explation could as well be availed of antecedently as subsequently, and they were. In all the affliction of his people, he was afflicted, and his potential voice was habitually uttered for their relief. The returned exiles, who were laying again the groundwork of Judah’s prosperity, were discouraged, not only by their scanty numbers and impoverished resources, but by the consciousness of their own and their fathers’ sins. What claim had such as they upon the Holy One of Israel? The prophet draws aside the veil and discloses an Intercessor who had nothing to hinder Him from immediate access to the Most High, and the surest prospect of success. How long, O Lord, was the anxious refrain of many a distressed believer in former years; and ages afterward John heard the same importunate cry from the souls under the altar (Rev_6:10). Many a time since, solitary sufferers, unable to penetrate the dark mysteries of Providence, waiting and watching for relief from sore burdens, have had the same exclamation wrung from their lips. What with them is a burst of impatience or the utterance of exhausted nature, on the lips of the uncreated angel is the calm reminder of Jahovah’s gracious promise and eternal purpose. And his intercession being always “according to the will of God,” is therefore always successful. “Good words, comforting words,” soothe and cheer the tried believer, until those words are translated into deeds, and the weary length of the night is forgotten in the brightness of the dawn.
4. Forbearance is not forgiveness. To the outward observer in Zechariah’s day it looked as if prosperity was all on the side of the heathen world. Quiet reigned in all quarters, and divine justice seemed asleep. But it was only the calm before the storm. God is eternal, and therefore never in haste, and never slack as men count slackness. He can afford to wait. Kings and rulers take counsel together against Him and his Anointed; with malice and rage they help forward the affliction of Zion; but He that sitteth in the heavens laughs (Psa_2:4). “Who thought,” said Luther, “when Christ suffered and the Jews triumphed, that God was laughing all the time?” Since He knows that his enemies cannot escape He suffers them to proceed long with impunity. Often He uses them as instruments to chastise his own people, but when the chastisement has been inflicted, He breaks the rod and casts it into the fire. The quiet of the old Persian world was soon broken by a succession of strokes which scattered and destroyed all the persecutors of the Church. But Zion lived and grew and extended, until she became the most potent factor in all human society; and to-day is lengthening her cords and strengthening her stakes to fill the whole earth.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Pressel: The Church militant does not stand alone; there is always at its side the Church triumphant. (1.) It often appears to us as if it stood alone, and then we are misled either to despondency, as if our labor and hope were vain, or to self-confidence, as if the result depended upon our running or willing. (2.) But no, the Church triumphant stands at its side and watches while we sleep; and He who is its Head and ours, brings our prayers before the Father.
Moore: The hour of darkest desolation to the Church, and of haughtiest triumph to her enemies, is often the very hour when God begins his work of judgment on the one, and returning mercy on the other.
Calvin: When the servant of Elisha saw not the chariots in the air, he became almost lost in despair; but his despair was instantly removed when he saw so many angels ready at hand for help (2Ki_6:17); so whenever God declares that angels are ministers for our safety, He means to animate our faith. At the same time He does not send us to angels, but this one thing is enough, that when God is propitious all the angels have a care for our salvation.
Footnotes:
[7]Zec_1:7.—שְׁבָט, the month which extended from the new moon of February to the next new moon. The name is Chaldee, but of uncertain etymology.
[8]Zec_1:8.—הַלּיְלָה is not accusative of duration=by night, for which there is no other example, but the or that night, namely, that of the day mentioned in the preceding verse.
[9]Zec_1:8.—The myrtles. Ewald, following the LXX., supposes the true reading of הֲדַסִּים to be הֶהָיִים, as in Zec_6:1, and renders mountains; but there is no reason for departing from the Masoretic text, and the relation of the last vision to the first is one not of resemblance but contrast.
[10]Zec_1:9.—בּי has been translated in me, to me, through me, and with me. The last is more accordant with usage (Num_12:8) and the connection.
[11]Zec_1:10.—Henderson says that עָנָה signifies to commence or proceed to speak, as well as to answer, and cites ἀποκρίνομαι in the New Testament as used in the same way. But his remark is true neither of the one nor the other. The reference always is to a question preceding, either expressed or implied, or to the resumption of discourse by the same speaker after an interval, as Isa_21:9. Of. Vitringa’s remark quoted under Zec_3:4, infra.
[12] Zec_1:11.—Sits still is a far better rendering of ישֶׁבֶת than the bald and prosaic derived sense adopted by the LXX. and the Vulgate, κατοικεῖται, habitatur.
[13]Zec_1:12.—זֶה שִׁבּעִים שָׁבָה might be rendered now seventy years (cf. Zec_7:3). A similar combination of noun and pronoun in the singular with numeral adjective in the plural, is not rare. See Deu_8:2-4; Jos_14:10; Est_4:11. Nordheimer (§ 890) explains it as referring to the abstract idea of time; but it seems to me to be due rather to the conception of the various years as a single period or cycle, which like a collective noun would of course admit of a singular pronoun.
[14]Zec_1:13.—בִחֻמִּים. The Keri omits the dagesh in מ, but some codd. in Kennicott have the form בִחוּמִים, which grammatically is the more correct. It is not an adjective, but a noun in apposition.
[15]Zec_1:14.—This verse and the one before it exemplify one of the infelicities of the E. V., which renders the same original word, in Zec_1:13 talked, and in Zec_1:14 communed.
[16]Zec_1:14.—קִכּאֵתִי. The pret. means not merely, “I have become jealous,” but “I have been and am.” God’s jealousy had already begun to manifest itself.
[17]Zec_1:15.—Fürst, sub voce, with great plausibility, renders עָזְרוּ intransitively, “they exerted their power” with a view to destruction.
[18]Zec_1:16.—רַחֲמִים occurs only in the plural. To translate it so, therefore, as in A. V., while apparently more literal, is in reality less so.
[19]Zec_1:16.—The Kethib קוה, to be read קָיֶה, is an old form, found elsewhere only in 1Ki_7:23 and Jer_31:39, for which was substituted the contracted form קַו.
[20]Zec_1:17.—עוֹד, also here seems to express the sense better than the customary yet. The Prophet was to cry something more besides what he was told in Zec_1:14.
[21]Zec_1:17.—חְפוּצֶבָּה is simply a variant orthography of תְפוּצֶינֶה (Green H. G., § 158, 3).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The general plan of the nine following visions (Zec.…
The general plan of the nine following visions (Zec. 1:8-6:15) is first to present the symbol; then, on a question being put, to subjoin the interpretation. Though the visions are distinct, they form one grand whole, presented in one night to the prophet's mind, two or three months after the prophet's first commission (Zac 1:1).
Sebat--the eleventh month of the Jewish year, from the new moon in February to the new moon in March. The term is Chaldee, meaning a "shoot," namely, the month when trees begin to shoot or bud.
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 The first vision — the angelic horsemen, 7-17.
The first vision — the angelic horsemen, 7-17.
Zechariah beholds “a man riding upon a red horse” standing among myrtle trees (7, 8); he is accompanied by other horsemen who report that they have “walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest” (9-11). Since a “shaking” of the nations must precede the establishment of the kingdom of God (Hag_2:6-7; Hag_2:21-22), the report meant that there was no sign of the approach of the Messianic era. This is a disappointment to the angel who receives the report, and he inquires of Jehovah, “how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah?” (12). To which Jehovah replies that, though the shaking may be delayed, his cities “shall yet overflow with prosperity; and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem” (13-17).
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The vision, therefore, is a message of encouragement to the despondent people to retain faith in Jehovah, for he will surely fulfill the Messianic promises of the past.
Zec_1:7 gives the date of the vision.
Eleventh month — Called Shebat (see R.V.); it corresponds to the latter part of January and the first part of February. The rest of Zec_1:7 is identical with Zec_1:1 (see there).
THE EIGHT NIGHT VISIONS, Zec_1:7 to Zec_6:8.
About three months after Zechariah’s first utterance and five months after building operations on the temple were resumed (Hag_1:15) there came to Zechariah in one single night a series of symbolical visions. Their significance was made plain to him by a heavenly interpreter. The visions have one common purpose, “the encouragement of the Jews to continue the work of restoring the temple and rebuilding the city and the re-establishing of the theocratic government.”
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 7. the month Sebat] or Shebat, R.V. i.e. January,…
7. the month Sebat] or Shebat, R.V. i.e. January, or February. The identification of the Jewish months with our own cannot be effected with precision, on account of the variations that must inevitably exist between the lunar and the solar months. See Gen. Introd., Chap. II. p. 18.
the word of the Lord] The visions themselves might not improperly be called, “the word of the Lord,” inasmuch as they are the medium of communication between the Divine mind and the minds of the prophet and the people. But they are accompanied not only by the spoken explanation of the angel, but by frequent passages introduced by the expression, “thus saith the Lord” (Zec_1:14; Zec_1:16-17, Zec_2:5; Zec_2:8, &c.), so that the revelation as a whole may fitly be described as “the word of the Lord.”
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The First Vision. The horsemen among the myrtle-trees. Zec_1:8-17. In the night time, in prophetic trance or vision, Zechariah sees, in a shady valley full of myrtle trees, a man (who is also called an angel of Jehovah and, as it would seem, Jehovah Himself) seated on a red horse, and behind him a number of other horsemen on horses of three different colours, Zec_1:8. Wishing to know the meaning of what he sees, the prophet turns for information to an angel beside him, whose office it is to interpret to him the visions, and who remains by him for that purpose throughout the entire series, Zec_1:9. In answer to a sign made, or an enquiry addressed to him, by this interpreting angel, the man or angel on horseback among the myrtles explains what the mission of the band of horsemen had been, and gathers from them by sign or interrogation the result of that mission, Zec_1:10-11. Sympathising with the prophet and his people, in the disappointment which the report of the horsemen would produce—for it told that the promised tokens of returning favour to Zion were not yet apparent, the leading horseman, the Angel of Jehovah, intercedes with the Almighty on their behalf, Zec_1:12. And in the name of Jehovah he gives, as the fruit of his intercession, an answer of encouragement to the interpreting angel at the prophet’s side, Zec_1:13; who in turn puts into the mouth of Zechariah the message of Jehovah, which he bids him proclaim to the people, that despite the world-wide peace, which that stationary group in the still night amidst the secluded myrtle-grove at once symbolize and announce, He will speedily arise to take vengeance on their enemies, Zec_1:14; Zec_1:17, and that then the Temple shall be completed, Jerusalem rebuilt, and the land at large become inhabited and prosperous, Zec_1:16-17.
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 (7) Sebat.—The eleventh month. The names of the months,…
(7) Sebat.—The eleventh month. The names of the months, which occur in Zechariah, Esther, and Nehemiah, are of Assyrio-Babylonian origin; they are in use among the Jews to this day.
Came the word of the Lord . . . saying.—This expression is fitly used here of the nocturnal visions, because the substance of them was a Divine revelation, and because the means by which the signification of them was conveyed to the prophet was that of the angel’s speaking to him the word of the Lord.
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FIRST VISION.—THE HORSEMAN AMONG THE MYRTLES.
A SERIES OF SEVEN VISIONS.
Zec_1:7 to Zec_6:15. Between the commencement of Zechariah’s prophetic labours and the incidents recorded in Zec_1:7 to Zec_6:15, the Prophet Haggai received the revelation contained in Hag_2:10-23. On the four-and-twentieth day of the eleventh month, just five months after the re-building of the Temple was resumed, Zechariah sees a succession of seven visions in one night, followed by a symbolic action (Zec_6:9-15).
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 Vers. 7-17. The first vision: the horsemen in the…
Vers. 7-17. The first vision: the horsemen in the myrtle grove.
In a series of visions it is now shown what is the nature of the restored theocracy, and what shall befall it. Thus were the people comforted by bearing God"s purposes of mercy and the great future that awaited Israel. In this first vision it is revealed to Zechariah that the Gentile nations should be overthrown, and that whatever might be the present condition of the Jewish people, God"s purpose of mercy toward them was unshaken and would be fulfilled. The four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat. This month (called here by its Chaldean name) answered to parts of January and February. It was three months since Zechariah had been called to the prophetical office, and five since the building of the temple had been resumed at Haggai"s remonstrance. Meantime Haggai had concluded his mission by uttering his final prophecies two months ago, and now Zechariah carries on the revelation. A comparison of the months in the cuneiform inscriptions with the Hebrew will be found in Schrader, "Keilinschriften," 379, and in Dr. Wright"s note on this verse. The word of the Lord. Thee visions with their explanations are in effect the oracle (see note on ver. 1).
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Vers. 7-11. A vision of rest.
"Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet," etc. Several points in this vision, as in many others, cannot certainly be explained. The nature and significance of the colours of the horses is one of these points. Another is as to the identity or otherwise of the "angel" of ver. 9 with that of the "rider" of ver. 8, who seems undeniably to be the "man" of ver. 10 and the "angel of the Lord" of vers. 11, 12. The idea of identity is favoured by Pusey"s rendering, "talked in me," compared with Num_12:6-9 Hab_2:1 1Pe_1:11; also by the high probability of the person promising in ver. 9 being the same as the person performing in ver. 10; and by the similar probability that the person asking in ver. 12, and the person answered in ver. 13, should be one and the same. From these very uncertainties, however, we may, perhaps, learn an incidental truth of importance. We may learn, e.g., that the agents of God are not less manifold, nod not less mysterious to us, than his works. Also that whether the "angel of the Lord" speaks to us directly, or only by the instrumentality of one of his accredited servants, it comes to much the same in the end. In the rest of the vision we may notice
(1) the King himself;
(2) the King"s servants; and
(3) the King"s work.
I THE KING HIMSELF. Under this head we learn:
1. His condition. He appears as a Rider, i.e. as one who has left his home and is on a journey for a season.
2. His rank. He has many and various attendants, but all "behind him". (comp. Rev_19:14, where the rider probably appears on a white horse, because riding in triumph)
3. His place; amongst the myrtle trees in the hollow; representing, it is thought, the people of God, humble yet pleasing to him, in their then low estate. (see Isa_41:19 Isa_55:13)
4. His apparent purpose; viz. to "visit" and save his people. (Gen_1:24 Exo_3:16 Exo_4:31 Luk_1:68)
II THE KING"S SERVANTS. Of these we find that they are the objects:
1. Of special inquiry. Who the Leader is the prophet understands. Who these are that attend upon him he cannot tell, yet much wishes to know, probably because of something very special in their numbers and variety and general appearance of readiness and expectation. "What is it the King means to do with all these?
2. Of special explanation. Explanation very readily given. Your difficulty is natural. Your inquiry is legitimate. "I will show thee what these be." Explanation also very sufficiently given. Who are they? They are persons "sent;" they have a mission indeed to accomplish. Who sent them? The Lord himself. For what purpose? For that of special investigation. To investigate where? In all parts of the earth. This is why God has visited his people, viz. to learn, by means of these his servants, how things are with them in the world.
III THE KING"S WORK. The nature and completeness of this are shown to us by his servants" report. For example, we see:
1. Its great promptitude. The next thing we hear of this report is of its completion (ver. 11). No time, apparently, has been lost. While the prophet"s question has been put and acknowledged, their mission has been accomplished. (comp. Dan_9:21 Eze_1:14)
2. Its perfection. They have examined the whole earth. They have examined it all so thoroughly that they challenge any one ("behold") to do more.
3. Its purport and unanimity. This is how they all found the world, viz. "sitting still and at rest like a weary traveller (so the figure may mean) who has finished his long journey, and taken his seat, and only asks to sit still.
See, therefore, in conclusion, respecting this vision:
1. How specially encouraging it was at theft time. By the Jews, just then exhorted to recommence the restoration of their temple, two things only were specially required. The one was to know, as to God, that his eye was upon them for good. (see Ezr_5:5) The other was to know, as to men, that they would be let alone in their work. (Ezr_4:3) And these, we see, were just the two things of which this vision assures them. With everything to help them in heaven, and nothing to hinder them on earth, what more could they ask?
2. How instructive for all times. When any direct work for God, such as that of building his house or enlarging his Church, has to be done, this is how it often pleases him to order the world. So Solomon was raised up as a "man of rest" to build the original temple. So Christ was born, and the foundations of the Christian Church were laid, when all the world was at peace. So we read also in Act_9:31. Compare also the language of the Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity; and the connection between vers. 2 and 4 in 1Ti 2.
Vers. 7-17. The first vision: God"s government of the world.
"Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse," etc. About three months after the call of Zechariah to the prophetic office, he had no less than seven, or, as some count, eight visions in one night. And this night, we are told, was in the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, i.e. "the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius." Exactly five months before this night the rebuilding of the temple would be resumed. Amongst the various manners in which God revealed himself to men of old, visions were perhaps the most frequent and impressive. He sometimes employed articulate sounds, sometimes the Urim and Thummim, sometimes the apparitions of the dead, sometimes internal suggestion. In some direct way he touched the springs of thought. But here in one night he appears to the prophet in many distinct visions. The visions were marked by these four characteristics. They were:
1. Mental. Unlike all other creatures on the earth, so far as we know at present, man has an inner visual organ; he can see with his mind. This is seen in poets, such as Milton, Spenser, etc.; allegorists, such as Bunyan, etc.
2. Symbolic. Strange and grotesque objects were seen. These objects were all symbolic; they had a spiritual significance.
3. Divine. All men, unless they are utterly destitute of the poetic sentiment, have visions sometimes, not only sleeping but waking visions. But seldom, perhaps, are these visions Divine.
4. Prophetic. They point here to the future of God"s moral kingdom upon the earth. Men of lofty, sanctified genius often in their visions have a glance of "things that are to come." This vision seems to give us a look into God"s moral government of the world. It takes us behind the veil of phenomena, and shows us principles and agencies that move, fashion, and control all. Three facts are suggested in relation to God"s government in the world.
I IT CARRIED ON IN CONNECTION WITH MYSTERIOUS AGENCIES. What did the prophet see? "I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white." It is idle to attach special ideas to each of these objects; the grand idea is that God has ministers in his empire fully equipped for his work, and prompt to obey his behests. Who are these? Unfallen angels. These by millions stand near his throne, ready to do his bidding. In relation to these agents two thoughts are suggested.
1. That they are under the command of a transscendent mind. Most expositors regard the man on the red horse, and who stood among the myrtle trees, as no less a personage than the Angel of the covenant, the great Messiah. The subsequent verses sustain this idea. This same man appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, to Jacob before his meeting with Esau, to Moses at the burning bush, to Joshua at Jericho, with the sword drawn in his hand. Here he is on the "red horse," emblem of war. He is a great moral Chieftain.
2. That there are varied orders. "Behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white." This is the troop that followed the man. When the eyes of Elisha"s servant were opened, he beheld a "mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." Horses are emblems of force and fleetness. In Christ"s army there are hosts, mighty in power and swift in motion. "Are they not all ministering spirits?" How infinitely varied are God"s ministers varied in kind and measure of faculty, in experience, attainment, and aspect too thrones, principalities, powers, and dominions!
3. That the whole world is their sphere of action. "These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.
(1) They "go to and fro" through the earth. They are ever journeying; some are swift as lightning in their speed; some of them are "full of eyes," and see all things.
(2) They know the state of the world. "We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." "At rest," not in the rest of righteousness, not in the repose of goodness, but in carnal security and sin.
II THAT IT HAS NOT ONLY DIFFICULTIES, BUT AN INTERPRETER ALSO. "Then said I, O my lord, what are these?" Observe:
1. The difficulties of Gods government. What are these?" The prophet understood not these strange appearances; and in amazement he exclaims, "What are these?" What thoughtful man has not asked such a question as this concerning the Divine government over and over again? "What are these? What are these elements, forces, laws, existences, events? What are they? Are they messengers of mercy or of justice? O my lord, what are these?" We are all moving in mystery.
2. The interpreter of Gods government. Who answered the question? "The man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they." Some other creature, the angel that talked with him, was asked first; but the answer came not from him, but from the Man Christ Jesus. In Rev_5:2 "a strong angel" is represented as crying with a loud voice concerning the mysteries of God"s government, inquiring who was worthy to "loose the seals;" but no one was found in heaven, in earth, or under the earth, able to "open and read the book." There was only one found: "It was the Lamb in the midst of the throne." Christ is the only Interpreter of God. He is the Logos.
III THAT IT IS ESPECIALLY CONCERNED IN THE INTERESTS OF HIS PEOPLE. His people are supposed to be here represented by the "myrtle trees." The Jewish Church at this time was not like a forest of stately cedars, but a grove of myrtles, fragile and obscure.
1. These seem to be the centre of Divine operations on the earth. Now, in the myrtle trees is the man "riding upon a red horse." And in the myrtle trees were the "red horses, speckled, and white the whole troop was there. The "myrtle trees" seemed to be the centre of all the agents. From it they started on their mission, and to it they returned. The true Church is the temple, the residence of God himself.
2. The object of special intercession. "Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these three score and ten years?" The duration of their captivity in Babylon. Who is the angel that makes this appeal? It was he that "ever liveth to make intercession for us." "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
3. The subjects of the Divine communication. "The Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words." The prophet is here commissioned to proclaim:
(1) God"s zeal on behalf of Jerusalem. "Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts.
(2) His displeasure for the enemies of Jerusalem. "I am very sore displeased with the heathen." His merciful purpose was to bestow blessings on Jerusalem. "Therefore thus earth the Lord," etc.
CONCLUSION. Though we are far enough from presuming to have given a correct interpretation of the passage, or of maintaining that the thoughts we have suggested are contained in it, we conscientiously believe that the ideas are scriptural, and adapted for spiritual usefulness. The subject of God"s government in the world is one of the sublimest that can engage the human mind, and is beset with difficulties that often baffle the profoundest thinkers. It is our happiness to know that, small as is our planet in comparison with millions of other orbs that people immensity, and insignificant as are its human tenants, the infinite Father superintends it in wisdom and. in love. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain I saw by night
Zec_1:7-11
I saw by night
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The night vision
The anointed One of God and His kingdom are the centre and axis about which the fiery wheel of all Zechariahs revelations and imagery turns.
The vision in our text is both beautiful and consoling. Consider--
I. The time when it was seen.
1. The time. By night. Primarily he meant natural night, while men slept. At that season the Lord came to him, opening the prophets spiritual eyes, and causing to pass before him, like a pictured scene in bright and glowing colours, a sublime and cheering vision. The words by night may remind us of the circumstances of the time at which the vision was given. Apply the words, by way of accommodation, to the spiritual night of Christendom. For night in a spiritual sense is only dreadful when we are deprived of spiritual vision, when the eyes of the understanding are darkened. It is night, when with sufferings upon us, we do not recognise the hand that inflicts them. There is another kind of spiritual night more fearful still. David feared it when he said, Hide not Thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Yet even here there may be vision in the darkness, and this is a favour indeed.
II. What did the prophet behold? It was a precious vision. Afterwards he hears the explanation of it. The vision was fraught with consolation and promise. Zechariah beholds a man; that man is Christ, the Angel of the Covenant. The times of Zechariah needed a helper in the character of a man, and a man of war; for it was a season of war and tumults. Zechariah beholds Him upon a red horse. And Christ, like a man riding upon a horse, stands ready to fly with speed to the help and defence of His people. The prophet speaks of the myrtle trees. True believers are trees which Christ Himself has planted; trees of righteous ness, fast rooted in the ground of His merits, and thriving by the grace of His Holy Spirit. Such are all the children of God here on earth. The man among the myrtle trees stood; the Lord abides among His people. (F. W. Krumreacher, D. D.)
Behind Him were there red horses, speckled, and white--
Zechariahs vision of the horses
I. The name of this parabolic vision. The Word of the Lord. Thought is invisible, and must be clothed in some form of words. Gods greatest thought about men was revealed to us by His Son in human flesh.
II. The time when the prophet received this Word of the Lord. In the night. God has often chosen the night season to reveal His mind to His servants. At night men are more free from impressions from the outside world. The darkness and stillness of night throw the mind in upon itself.
III. The meaning of the symbolic Word.
1. The red horses symbolise coming war.
2. White horses symbolise victory.
3. Speckled horses set forth the variety of the Divine dealings, of that mingling of mercy and judgment which had been intended to lift them up to a high level among the nations of the world.
Lessons--
(1) The Church triumphant is intended to minister to the comfort of the Church militant.
(2) The child of light walking in darkness is under the guidance of the angels of light.
(3) Gods silence at sin is not Gods forgiveness of sin. (A London Minister.)
The vision of horses
I understand that all these horses had riders. There were, then, a troop of horsemen; but the prophet says that one appeared as the chief leader, who was accompanied by others. These horsemen had returned from an expedition; for they had been sent to review the whole world and its different parts. He therefore says that they had returned from their journey, and also that the whole earth was quiet, that men enjoyed peace and tranquillity everywhere. It seemed a very unbecoming and strange thing that the faithful alone should be oppressed with adversities, while others lived in peace and enjoyed their pleasures. There follows at length an answer from God. I regard this as the object--that horsemen were presented to the prophet that he might know that God does not remain shut up in heaven, and neglect the affairs of men, but that He has, as it were, swift horses, so that He knows what things are everywhere carried on. The prophet here ascribes to God the character of a chief sovereign, who inquires respecting all the affairs of men. It is, indeed, certain that all things were fully known to Him before He created angels, but God assumes the character of man in order that He may more familiarly instruct us As God did not intend to exhibit in full light what He afterwards in due time taught, the vision appeared in the night. And to the same purpose is what he says respecting the angels, that they were in a dark or deep place, and that they were among the myrtles. Some think that their being in a deep place and thick shade designates the state of the people, being that of sorrow and of joy; for though quietness in part was restored to the people, yet much darkness and much perplexity remained in their affairs. There was one angel more eminent than the rest, and in this there is nothing unusual, for when God sends forth a company of angels, He gives the lead to some one. If we regard this angel as Christ, the idea is consistent with the common usage of Scripture, for Christ, we know, is the head of the angels. With regard to the different colours, the prophet, no doubt, understood that they designated the offices allotted to angels, as some convey Gods benefits, and others come armed with scourges and swords. The design of the vision is not doubtful; it is, that the Jews might be assured that the distresses which they at present endured would not be perpetual, that there was a hope of the temple and the city being rebuilt, because God had returned into favour with the people. The prophet teaches at the same time that the building of the temple was not to be expected, but as an instance of Gods gratuitous favour, and this doctrine ought also to be extended to the state of the Church at all times, for whence comes it that the Church remains safe in the world except that God indulges us according to His infinite goodness? (John Calvin.)
The rider in the myrtle grove
By the myrtle grove is signified the covenant people, the nation of Israel, and by its being in a low place is indicated their then depressed and sad condition. In the Hebrew mind the idea of modest beauty and freshness was associated with the myrtle; and hence we find this introduced as symbolical of the Church under the reign of the Messiah, when instead of the briar,--the symbol of the world under the curse--shall come up the myrtle tree. The Jewish nation, though at that time in a state of depression and affliction, was fair in the sight of God, was destined to endure and flourish, and was ere long to be visited by Him in mercy and restored to prosperity. This is specially indicated here by the standing among the myrtle trees of the mounted rider. He is described as the Angel of Jehovah; no other than God manifest in human form; the same Being who, in the fulness of time, came to our world as the Angel of the Covenant. For the consolation and encouragement of the people, the prophet had to tell them that, depressed as was their condition, the Angel of the Lord, the Leader, the Protector, the Redeemer of Israel, was still in the midst of them. He was ready to ride forth in their defence, and to send judgment on their adversaries. This was indicated in the vision by His being mounted on a red horse, the symbol of war and bloodshed. The Angel of the Lord is with them also as their Intercessor with God. Hence He appears in this vision as making intercession for them, beseeching God to have pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; and now that the time of chastisement was at an end, that He would be gracious to them, and grant them full restoration and establishment in their own land. And through Him also came the comforting answer to the people, In this vision the Angel of Jehovah speaks directly and immediately to the invisible God; but to the prophet He speaks through the angel interpreter. God declares His zeal for His people, His indignation against their enemies, and His determination to do good unto His people, and enrich them with His bounty. He is not an indifferent spectator of what happens to them. He watches over them with a constant jealousy, solicitous for their well being, and ready to resent all attempts to injure them. His own He will never forsake. When the deepest abyss of calamity seems to be reached by them, when the darkest hour of their sorrow throws its shadows over them, the Angel of the Lord, He who ever encamps round them that fear Him, will suddenly appear on their side, and will deliver them from all their enemies. (W. L. Alexander, D. D.)
The man among the myrtles
As the Jewish people are usually regarded by the prophet in their theocratic character, as the form in which the Church then existed, the general doctrines of these visions are applicable to the Church in every form in which she exists. Some of the doctrines as set forth in this vision are--
1. The Church is externally an humble and lowly thing, neglected, often despised by the gay and wicked world, a grove of myrtles, rather than the cedars of Lebanon (Zec_1:8).
2. She has, however, an unseen glory that the world knows not of; for Christ dwells in her midst, full of love, invested with all power, sending His angel messengers to do His work, and preparing everything for her final triumph (Zec_1:8-9).
3. The hour of darkest desolation to the Church, and of haughtiest triumph to her enemies, is often the very hour when God begins His work of judgment on the one and returning mercy on the other (Zec_1:11).
4. Christ intercedes for His people when they need it most, and His intercession is always prevalent (Zec_1:12-13).
5. God will have all our hearts, for He is jealous of sharing His glory with another (Zec_1:14).
6. God often uses instruments to chastise His people, which, when He has done with them, He breaks and casts into the fire (Zec_1:15).
7. The Church of God shall yet triumph over every obstacle and vanquish every foe (Zec_1:16).
8. The promises and threatenings of God, though slow, are sure. They have eternity for the range of their fulfilment (Zec_1:17).
9. The head of the Church is at once human and Divine. He is called here a man (Zec_1:8), and the Angel of Jehovah (Zec_1:12). But the Angel of Jehovah is a Divine Person--even Gesenius admits this, and the Babylonish Talmud declares that this man is no other than the Holy One. But if Divine and human, He must be God and man in one person. (T. V. Moore, D. D.)
The second vision
The next vision was full of comfort. As the little group of returned exiles looked nervously out on the mighty world, empires, which surrounded and threatened them, they were filled with alarm. How could they cope with them? There were Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, of the nations whom Nebuchadnezzar had settled in Samaria; Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, so ready in their use of the pen to exert influence on the great kings beyond the river, to make the work of temple building cease; and the reactionary influences at work in the far distant court, always adverse to the resuscitation of a subdued nation, like the Jews, which had given such proofs of inveterate independence. Beneath the irresistible pressure of these hostile forces the work of temple building had already ceased for fifteen years, and there was every fear that the new resolve to arise and build would meet with similar opposition and a similar fate. There was singular appropriateness, therefore, in the prophets vision Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, four horns. In the language of a pastoral people like the Jews, the horn naturally represents the pride and power of the ravager and oppressor of the flock. The number four reminds us of the cardinal points of the compass, and indicates that, wherever the people turned, there were foes, which were sworn to resist their attempt to renew their national life. On the north, Chaldea, Assyria, and Samaria; on the south, Egypt and Arabia; on the west, Philistia; and on the east, Ammon and Moab. And it is probable that the Spirit of God looked beyond these to the four great Gentile monarchies, which have occupied, and still occupy, the Times of the Gentiles, and which were represented in the four metals of Daniels vision, or in the four great beasts, which one after another emerged from the sea. As yet Babylon and Medo-Persia alone had arisen; Greece and Rome, the latter including the kingdoms of modern Europe, were to come. We must not forget that God Himself gave these world-powers their authority. He says, in Isaiah, I was wroth with My people; I profaned Mine inheritance, and gave them into thine hand (Isa_47:6-7). And in Daniel He lifts the veil and shows that the world rulers represent not flesh and blood merely, but malign and mighty spirits that actuate and inspire them (Dan_10:13-20). As long as Gods people are perfect in their loyalty and obedience towards Him, they need fear the power of no adversary whatsoever; but when there is a break in the holy connection which binds Him and them in an inviolable safety, it seems as though all the forces of evil are set free to bear down on and ravage them, until their chastisement is completed, and they return to their first love. If we were asked to name the four horns which are ravaging the Church in the present day, we should not hesitate to say that they are priestcraft, worldliness, Christian science, and spiritualism. In every life there are similar experiences. Sometimes, when we lift up our eyes, we find ourselves begirt with opposition and threatened by hostile powers. Think of the martyr host who have witnessed for God in every age, and who could reiterate the words of the greatest Sufferer of all. Many bulls have compassed Me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset Me round about; they gape upon Me with their mouth as a ravening and a roaring lion. Ignatius, who complains that his custodians were like ten leopards, who only wax worse when they are kindly treated; Blandina, the girl slave; Germanicus, the noble youth; the Waldenses, whose wrongs roused Cromwells wrath and Miltons muse; the Netherlands, in their long conflict with Philip, when the leaders saw their homes covered again by the ocean from which their ancestors had redeemed them; Madame Guyon, beset by husband, mother-in-law, servants, and priests; Samuel Rutherford, and hundreds of his time, harried by the fiercest and most insatiable hate; William Tyndale, the celebrated translator of the English Bible; John G. Paton, beset with savages--these are specimens of a multitude, which no man can number, of every nation, and kindred, and people, who have seen the vision of the four horns. But there is something beyond; and surely it is not without significance that the prophet says, The Lord showed me four carpenters (or smiths, R.V.). We have no difficulty in descrying the sources of alarm for ourselves; but we need a Divine hand to reveal our assured deliverance. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray Thee open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. For Babylon, the carpenter was Cyrus; for Persia, Alexander; for Greece, the Roman; for Rome, the Gaul. Very different from each other, very ruthless and unsparing; but very well adapted for their work. Commenting on this passage, the late C.H. Spurgeon said: He who wants to open an oyster must not use a razor; for some works there needs less of daintiness and more of force; providence does not find clerks, or architects, or gentlemen, to cut off horns, but carpenters. The work needs a man who, when he has work to do, puts his whole strength into it, and beats away with his hammer, or cuts through the wood that lies before him with might and main. Let us not fear for the cause of God; when the horns become too troublesome, the carpenters will be forthcoming to fray them. Remember how in every age He has found His appropriate messenger. Athanasius frayed Arianism, and Augustine Manichaeism; Luther frayed the power of the pope in Germany, and rough Hugh Latimer in England; Wesley and Whitefield frayed the religious indifference of the last century. When Haldane went to Geneva, he frayed the scepticism which was destroying the Helvetian and Gallio Churches. The Lord knows where to find His servants, and when the pre destined hour strikes, there will stand the workman ready. Oh, child of God! there have been many horns engaged in scattering thee. Year after year they have wrought sad havoc in thy plans, and cost thee bitter tears. But thine Almighty Friend is greatly displeased that they have hurt thee more than His purposes of chastisement required, and He has resolved that they shall be frayed. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Gods government of the world
Amongst the various manners in which God revealed Himself to men of old, visions were perhaps the most frequent and impressive. He appears to the prophet in six distinct visions. The visions were marked by these four characteristics. They were
(1) Mental. Unlike all other creatures on the earth, man has an inner visual organ; he can see with his mind. This is seen in poets, such as Milton, Spenser, etc. Allegorists, such as Bunyan, etc. They were
(2) Symbolic. Strange and grotesque objects were seen. These objects were all symbolic; they had a spiritual significance. They were
(3) Divine. All men, unless they are utterly destitute of the poetic sentiment, have visions sometimes, not only sleeping but waking visions. But seldom, perhaps, are these visions Divine. They were
(4) Prophetic. They point here to the future of Gods moral kingdom upon the earth. Men of lofty, sanctified genius, often in their visions have a glance of things that are to come. This vision seems to give us a glance into Gods moral government of the world. It takes us behind the veil of phenomena, and shows us principles and agencies that move, fashion, and control all.
I. It is carried on in connection with mysterious agencies. What did the prophet see? I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and He stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom: and behind Him were there red horses, speckled, and white. Who are these? Unfallen angels and sainted men. These by millions stand near His throne, prompt to obey His behests. In relation to these agents two thoughts are suggested--
1. That they are under the command of a transcendent mind. Most expositors regard the man on the red horse, and who stood among the myrtle trees, as no less a personage than the Angel of the Covenant, the Great Messiah. This same man appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mature, to Jacob before his meeting with Esau, to Noses at the burning bush, to Joshua at Jericho, with the sword drawn in His hand. Here He is on the red horse, emblem of war. He is a great moral chieftain. Another thought suggested is--
(1) That there are varied orders. Behind Him were there red horses, speckled, and white. This is the troop that followed the man. When the eyes of Elishas servant were opened, he beheld a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. Horses are emblems of force and fleetness. In Christs army there are hosts, mighty in power and swift in motion. Are they not all ministering spirits? How infinitely varied are Gods ministers--varied in kind and measure of faculty, in experience, attainment, and aspect too--thrones, principalities, powers, and dominions. In relation to these agents it is suggested--
2. That the whole world is their sphere of action. These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.
(1) They go to and fro through the earth. They are ever journeying; some are swift as lightning in their speed; some of them are full of eyes, and see all things.
(2) They know the state of the world. We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. At rest, not in the rest of righteousness, not in the repose of goodness, but in carnal security and sin. Another fact suggested in relation to Gods government in the world is--
II. That it has not only difficulties, but an interpreter also. Then said I, O my lord, what are these?
1. The difficulties of Gods government. What are these? The prophet understood not these strange appearances; and in amazement he exclaims, What are these? What thoughtful man has not asked such a question as this concerning the Divine government over and over again? What are these? What are these elements, forces, laws, existences, events? What are they? Are they messengers of mercy or justice? O my lord, what are these? We are all moving in mystery.
2. The interpreter of Gods government. Who answered the question The man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they. Some other creature, the angel that talked with them, was asked first; but the answer came not from him, but from the man, Christ Jesus. In Rev_5:2, a strong angel is represented as crying with a loud voice concerning the mysteries of Gods government, inquiring who was able to loose the seals; but no one was found in heaven, in earth, or under the earth worthy to open and read the book. There was only One found. It was the Lamb in the midst of the throne. Christ is the only interpreter of God. He is the Logos.
III. That it is especially concerned in the interests of His people. His people are supposed to be here represented by the myrtle trees. The Jewish Church at this time was not like a forest of stately cedars, but a grove of myrtles, fragile and obscure.
1. These seem to be the centre of Divine operations on the earth. Now, in the myrtle trees is the man riding upon a red horse. And in the myrtle trees were the red horses, speckled, and white, the whole troop was there. The myrtle trees seemed to be the centre of all the agents. From it they started on their mission, and to it they returned. The true Church is the temple, the residence of God Himself.
2. The object of special intercession. Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? The duration of their captivity in Babylon. Who is the angel that makes this appeal? It was He that ever liveth to make intercession for us. If any man sin, he hath an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
3. The subjects of the Divine communication. The Lord answered the angel that talked with me, with good words and comfortable words. The prophet is here commissioned to proclaim--
(1) Gods zeal on behalf of Jerusalem. Cry thou saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts.
(2) His displeasure for the enemies of Jerusalem. I am sore displeased with the heathen. His merciful purpose was to bestow blessings on Jerusalem. Therefore thus saith the Lord, etc. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Zec_1:7 - Zechariah 6
THE VISIONS OF ZECHARIAH
Zec_1:7 - Zechariah 6
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THE Visions of Zechariah do not lack those large and simple views of religion which we have just seen to be the charm of his other prophecies. Indeed it is among the Visions that we find the most spiritual of all his utterances: "Not by might, and not by force, but by My Spirit, saith Jehovah of Hosts." The Visions express the need of the Divine forgiveness, emphasize the reality of sin, as a principle deeper than the civic crimes in which it is manifested, and declare the power of God to banish it from His people. The Visions also contain the remarkable prospect of Jerusalem as the City of Peace, her only wall the Lord Himself. The overthrow of the heathen empires is predicted by the Lords own hand, and from all the Visions there are absent both the turmoil and the glory of war.
We must also be struck by the absence of another element, which is a cause of complexity in the writings of many prophets-the polemic against idolatry. Zechariah nowhere mentions the idols. We have already seen what proof this silence bears for the fact that the community to which he spoke was not that half-heathen remnant of Israel which had remained in the land, but was composed of worshippers of Jehovah who at His word had returned from Babylon. Here we have only to do with the bearing of the fact upon Zechariahs style. That bewildering confusion of the heathen pantheon and its rites, which forms so much of our difficulty in interpreting some of the prophecies of Ezekiel and the closing chapters of the Book of Isaiah, is not to blame for any of the complexity of Zechariahs Visions.
Nor can we attribute the latter to the fact that the Visions are dreams, and therefore bound to be more involved and obscure than the words of Jehovah which came to Zechariah in the open daylight of his peoples public life. In Zec_1:7-8. we have not the narrative of actual dreams, but a series of conscious and artistic allegories-the deliberate translation into a carefully constructed symbolism of the Divine truths with which the prophet was entrusted by his God. Yet this only increases our problem-why a man with such gifts of direct speech, and such clear views of his peoples character and history, should choose to express the latter by an imagery so artificial and involved? In his orations Zechariah is very like the prophets whom we have known before the Exile, thoroughly ethical and intent upon the public conscience of his time. He appreciates what they were, feels himself standing in their succession, and is endowed both with their spirit and their style. But none of them constructs the elaborate allegories which he does, or insists upon the religious symbolism which he enforces as indispensable to the standing of Israel with God. Not only are their visions few and simple, but they look down upon the visionary temper as a rude stage of prophecy and inferior to their own, in which the Word of God is received by personal communion with Himself, and conveyed to His people by straight and plain words. Some of the earlier prophets even condemn all priesthood and ritual; none of them regards these as indispensable to Israels right relations with Jehovah; and none employs those superhuman mediators of the Divine truth by whom Zechariah is instructed in his Visions.
THE FIRST VISION: THE ANGEL-HORSEMEN
Zec_1:7-17
The seventy years which Jeremiah had fixed for the duration of the Babylonian servitude were drawing to a close. Four months had elapsed since Haggai promised that in a little while God would shake all nations. {Jer_25:12; Hag_2:7} But the world was not shaken: there was no political movement which promised to restore her glory to Jerusalem. A very natural disappointment must have been the result among the Jews. In this situation of affairs the Word came to Zechariah, and both situation and Word he expressed by his First Vision.
It was one of the myrtle-covered glens in the neighborhood of Jerusalem: Zechariah calls it the Glen or Valley-Bottom, either because it was known under that name to the Jews, or because he was himself wont to frequent it for prayer. He discovers in it what seems to be a rendezvous of Persian cavalry-scouts, the leader of the troop in front, and the rest behind him, having just come in with their reports. Soon, however, he is made aware that they are angels, and with that quick, dissolving change both of function and figure, which marks all angelic apparitions, they explain to him their mission. Now it is an angel-interpreter at his side who speaks, and now the angel on the front horse. They are scouts of God come in from their survey of the whole earth. The world lies quiet. Whereupon "the angel of Jehovah" asks Him how long His anger must rest on Jerusalem and nothing be done to restore her; and the prophet hears a kind and comforting answer. The nations have done more evil to Israel than God empowered them to do. Their aggravations have changed His wrath against her to pity, and in pity He is come back to her. She shall soon be rebuilt and overflow with prosperity.
The only perplexity in all this is the angels report that the whole earth lies quiet. How this could have been in 519 is difficult to understand. The great revolts against Darius were then in active progress, the result was uncertain, and he took at least three more years to put them all down. They were confined, it is true, to the east and northeast of the empire, but some of them threatened Babylon, and we can hardly ascribe the report of the angels to such a limitation of the Jews horizon at this time as shut out Mesopotamia or the lands to the north of her. There remain two alternatives. Either these far-away revolts made only more impressive the stagnancy of the tribes of the rest of the empire, and the helplessness of the Jews and their Syrian neighbors was convincingly shown by their inability to take advantage even of the desperate straits to which Darius was reduced; or else in that month of vision Darius had quelled one of the rebellions against him, and for the moment there was quiet in the world.
"By night I had a vision, and behold! a man riding a brown horse, and he was standing between the myrtles that are in the Glen; and behind him horses brown, bay and white. And I said, What are these, my lord? And the angel who talked with me said, I will show you what these are. And the man who was standing among the myrtles answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to go to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of Jehovah who stood among the myrtles, and said, We have gone up and down through the earth, and lo! the whole earth is still and at peace. {Isa_37:29; Jer_48:11; Zep_1:12} And the angel of Jehovah answered and said, Jehovah of Hosts, how long hast Thou no pity for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which, Thou hast been wroth these seventy years? And Jehovah answered the angel who talked with me, kind words and comforting. And the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim now as follows: Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion, with a great zeal; but with great wrath am I wroth against the arrogant Gentiles. For I was but a little angry with Israel, but they aggravated the evil. Therefore thus saith Jehovah, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house stall be built in her-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts-and the measuring line shall be drawn over Jerusalem. Proclaim yet again, saying: Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity, and Jehovah shall again comfort Zion, and again make choice of Jerusalem."
Two things are to be noted in this oracle. No political movement is indicated as the means of Jerusalems restoration: this is to be the effect of Gods free grace in returning to dwell in Jerusalem, which is the reward of the building of the Temple. And there is an interesting explanation of the motive for Gods new grace: in executing His sentence upon Israel, the heathen had far exceeded their commission, and now themselves deserved punishment. That is to say, the restoration of Jerusalem and the resumption of the worship are not enough for the future of Israel. The heathen must be chastised. But Zechariah does not predict any overthrow of the worlds power, either by earthly or by heavenly forces. This is entirely in harmony with the insistence upon peace which distinguishes him from other prophets.
THE ANGELS OF THE VISIONS
Zec_1:7 - Zec_6:8
AMONG the influences of the Exile which contributed the material of Zechariahs Visions we included a considerable development of Israels belief in Angels. The general subject is in itself so large, and the Angels play so many parts in the Visions, that it is necessary to devote to them a separate chapter.
From the earliest times the Hebrews had conceived their Divine King to be surrounded by a court of ministers, who besides celebrating His glory went forth from His presence to execute His will upon earth. In this latter capacity they were called Messengers, Maleakim, which the Greeks translated Angeloi, and so gave us our Angels. The origin of this conception is wrapped in obscurity. It may have been partly due to a belief, shared by all early peoples, in the existence of superhuman beings inferior to the gods, but even without this it must have sprung up in the natural tendency to provide the royal deity of a people with a court, an army and servants. In the pious minds of early Israel there must have been a kind of necessity to believe and develop this-a necessity imposed firstly by the belief in Jehovahs residence as confined to one spot, Sinai or Jerusalem, from which He Himself went forth only upon great occasions to the deliverance of His people as a whole; and secondly by the unwillingness to conceive of His personal appearance in missions of a menial nature, or to represent Him in the human form in which, according to primitive ideas, He could alone hold converse with men.
It can easily be understood how a religion, which was above all a religion of revelation, should accept such popular conceptions in its constant record of the appearance of God and His Word in human life. Accordingly, in the earliest documents of the Hebrews, we find angels who bring to Israel the blessings, curses, and commands of Jehovah. Apart from this duty and their human appearance, these beings are not conceived to be endowed either with character or, if we may judge by their namelessness with individuality. They are the Word of God personified. Acting as Gods mouthpiece, they are merged in Him, and so completely that they often speak of themselves by the Divine I. {Jdg_6:12 ff.}
"The function of an Angel so overshadows his personality that the Old Testament does not ask who or what this Angel is, but what he does. And the answer to the last question is that he represents God to man so directly and fully that when he speaks or acts God Himself is felt to speak or act." Besides the carriage of the Divine Word, angels bring back to their Lord report of all that happens: kings are said, in popular language, to be "as wise as the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all the things that are in the earth." {2Sa_14:20} They are also employed in the deliverance and discipline of His people. {Exo_14:19-20; Exo_12:23, etc.; Jos_5:13} By them come the pestilence, and the restraint of those who set themselves against Gods will.
Now the prophets before the Exile had so spiritual a conception of God, worked so immediately from His presence, and above all were so convinced of His personal and practical interest in the affairs of His people, that they felt no room for Angels between Him and their hearts, and they do not employ Angels, except when Isaiah in his inaugural vision penetrates to the heavenly palace and court of the Most High. {Zec_6:2-6} Even when Amos sees a plummet laid to the walls of Jerusalem, it is by the hands of Jehovah himself, and we have not encountered an Angel in the mediation of the Word to any of the prophets whom we have already studied. But Angels reappear, though not under the name, in the visions of Ezekiel, the first prophet of the Exile. They are in human form, and he calls them "Men." Some execute Gods wrath upon Jerusalem (Ezekiel 9), and one, whose appearance is as the appearance of brass, acts as the interpreter of Gods will to the prophet, and instructs him in the details of the building of City and Temple. {Eze_40:3 ff.} When the glory of Jehovah appears and Jehovah Himself speaks to the prophet out of the Temple, this "Man" stands by the prophet, {Eze_43:6} distinct from the Deity, and afterwards continues his work of explanation. "Therefore," as Dr. Davidson remarks, "it is not the sense of distance to which God is removed that causes Ezekiel to create these intermediaries." The necessity for them rather arises from the same natural feeling which we have suggested as giving rise to the earliest conceptions of Angels: the unwillingness, namely, to engage the Person of God Himself in the subordinate task of explaining the details of the Temple. Note, too, how the Divine Voice, which speaks to Ezekiel out of the Temple, blends and becomes one with the "Man" standing at his side. Ezekiels Angel-interpreter is simply one function of the Word of God.
Many of the features of Ezekiels Angels appear in those of Zechariah. "The four smiths" or smiters of the four horns recall the six executioners of the wicked in Jerusalem. {Zec_1:18 Eze_9:1 ff.} Like Ezekiels Interpreter, they are called "Men," and like him one appears as Zechariahs instructor and guide: "he who talked with me." But while Zechariah calls these beings "Men," he also gives them the ancient name, which Ezekiel had not used, of Maleakim, "messengers, angels." The Instructor is "the Angel who talked with me." In the First Vision, "the Man riding the brown horse, the Man that stood among the myrtles, is the Angel of Jehovah that stood among the myrtles." {Zec_1:8; Zec_1:10-11} The Interpreter is also called "the Angel of Jehovah," and if our text of the First Vision be correct, the two of them are curiously mingled, as if both were functions of the same Word of God, and in personality not to be distinguished from each other. The Reporting Angel among the myrtles takes up the duty of the Interpreting Angel and explains the Vision to the prophet. In the Fourth Vision this dissolving view is carried further, and the Angel of Jehovah is interchangeable with Jehovah Himself; just as in the Vision of Ezekiel the Divine Voice from the Glory and the Man standing beside the prophet are curiously mingled. Again in the Fourth Vision we hear of those "who stand in the presence of Jehovah," {Zec_3:6-7} and in the Eighth of executant angels coming out from His presence with commissions upon the whole earth. {Zec_6:5}
In the Visions of Zechariah, then, as in the earlier books, we see the Lord of all the earth, surrounded by a court of angels, whom He sends forth in human form to interpret His Word and execute His will, and in their doing of this there is the same indistinctness of individuality, the same predominance of function over personality. As with Ezekiel, one stands out more clearly than the rest, to be the prophets interpreter, whom, as in the earlier visions of angels, Zechariah calls "my lord," {Zec_1:9, etc.} but even he melts into the figures of the rest. These are the old and borrowed elements in Zechariahs doctrine of Angels. But he has added to them in several important particulars, which make his Visions an intermediate stage between the Book of Ezekiel and the very intricate angelology of later Judaism.
In the first place Zechariah is the earliest prophet who introduces orders and ranks among the angels. In his Fourth Vision the Angel of Jehovah is the Divine Judge "before whom" Joshua appears with the Adversary. He also has others standing "before him" to execute his sentences. In the Third Vision, again, the Interpreting Angel does dot communicate directly with Jehovah, but receives his words from another Angel who has come forth. {Zec_2:3-4} All these are symptoms, that even with a prophet, who so keenly felt as Zechariah did the ethical directness of Gods word and its pervasiveness through public life, there had yet begun to increase those feelings of Gods sublimity and awfulness, which in the later thought of Israel lifted Him to so far a distance from men, and created so complex a host of intermediaries, human and superhuman, between the worshipping heart and the Throne of Grace. We can best estimate the difference in this respect between Zechariah and the earlier prophets whom we have studied by remarking that his characteristic phrase "talked with me," literally "spake in" or "by me," which he uses of the Interpreting Angel, is used by Habakkuk of God Himself. {Hab_2:1; cf. also Num_12:6-9} To the same awful impressions of the Godhead is perhaps due the first appearance of the Angel as intercessor. Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah themselves directly interceded with God for the people; but with Zechariah it is the Interpreting Angel who intercedes, and who in return receives the Divine comfort. In this angelic function, the first of its kind in Scripture, we see the small and explicable beginnings of a belief destined to assume enormous dimensions in the development of the Churchs worship. The supplication of Angels, the faith in their intercession and in the prevailing prayers of the righteous dead, which has been so egregiously multiplied in certain sections of Christendom, may be traced to the same increasing sense of the distance and awfulness of God, but is to be corrected by the faith Christ has taught us of the nearness of our Father in Heaven, and of His immediate care of His every human child.
The intercession of the Angel in the First Vision is also a step towards that identification of special Angels with different peoples which we find in the Book of Daniel. This tells us of heavenly princes not only for Israel-"Michael, your prince, the great prince which standeth up for the children of thy people" {Dan_10:21; Dan_12:1} -but for the heathen nations, a conception the first beginnings of which we see in a prophecy that was perhaps not far from being contemporaneous with Zechariah. {Isa_24:21} Zechariahs Vision of a hierarchy among the angels was also destined to further development. The head of the patrol among the myrtles, and the Judge-Angel before whom Joshua appears, are the first Archangels. We know how these were further specialized, and had even personalities and names given them by both Jewish and Christian writers.
Among the Angels described in the Old Testament, we have seen some charged with powers of hindrance and destruction-"a troop of angels of evil." They too are the servants of God, who is the author of all evil as well as good, {Amo_3:6} and the instruments of His wrath. But the temptation of men is also part of His Providence. Where willful souls have to be misled, the spirit who does so, as in Ahabs case, comes from Jehovahs presence. {1Ki_22:20 ff.} All these spirits are just as devoid of character and personality as the rest of the angelic host. They work evil as mere instruments: neither malice nor falseness is attributed to themselves. They are not rebel nor fallen angels, but obedient to Jehovah. Nay, like Ezekiels and Zechariahs Angels of the Word, the Angel who tempts David to number the people is interchangeable with God Himself. Kindred to the duty of tempting men is that of discipline, in its forms both of restraining or accusing the guilty, and of vexing the righteous in order to test them. For both of these the same verb is used, "to satan," in the general sense of "withstanding," or antagonizing. The Angel of Jehovah stood in Balaams way "to satan him." {Num_22:22; Num_22:32} The noun, "the Satan," is used repeatedly of a human foe (1Sa_29:4; 2Sa_19:23 1Ki_5:18; 1Ki_11:14, etc.). But in two passages, of which Zechariahs Fourth Vision is one, and the other the Prologue to Job (Zec_3:1 ff., Job_1:6 ff.), the name is given to an Angel, one of "the sons of Elohim," or Divine powers who receive their commission from Jehovah. The noun is not yet, what it afterwards became, {1Ch_21:1} a proper name; but has the definite article, "the Adversary" or "Accuser"-that is, the Angel to whom that function was assigned. With Zechariah his business is the official one of prosecutor in the supreme court of Jehovah, and when his work is done he disappears. Yet, before he does so, we see for the first time in connection with any angel a gleam of character. This is revealed by the Lords rebuke of him. There is something blameworthy in the accusation of Joshua: not indeed false witness, for Israels guilt is patent in the foul garments of their High Priest, but hardness or malice, that would seek to prevent the Divine grace. In the Book of Job "the Satan" is also a function, even here not a fallen or rebel angel, but one of Gods court, {Job_1:6} the instrument of discipline or chastisement. Yet, in that he himself suggests his cruelties and is represented as forward and officious in their infliction, a character is imputed to him even more clearly than in Zechariahs Vision. But the Satan still shares that identification with his function which we have seen to characterize all the angels of the Old Testament, and therefore he disappears from the drama so, soon as his place in its high argument is over.
In this description of the development of Israels doctrine of Angels, and of Zechariahs contributions to it, we have not touched upon the question whether the development was assisted by Israels contact with the Persian religion and with the system of Angels which the latter contains. For several reasons the question is a difficult one. But so far as present evidence goes, it makes for a negative answer. Scholars, who are in no way prejudiced against the theory of a large Persian influence upon Israel declare that the religion of Persia affected the Jewish doctrine of Angels "only in secondary points," such as their "number and personality, and the existence of demons and evil spirits." Our own discussion has shown us that Zechariahs Angels, in spite of the new features they introduce, are in substance one with the Angels of pre-exilic Israel. Even the Satan is primarily a function, and one of the servants of God. If he has developed an immoral character, this cannot be attributed to the influence of Persian belief in a Spirit of evil opposed to the Spirit of good in the universe, but may be explained by the native, or selfish, resentment of Israel against their prosecutor before the bar of Jehovah. Nor can we fail to remark that this character of evil appears in the Satan, not, as in the Persian religion, in general opposition to goodness, but as thwarting that saving grace which was so peculiarly Jehovahs own. And Jehovah said to the Satan, "Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan, yea, Jehovah who hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee! Is not this a brand plucked from the burning?"
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Eleventh month i.e. February.
Sebat
Eleventh month i.e. February.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Vision of the Horses Among the Myrtle Trees
The Vision of the Horses Among the Myrtle Trees
v. 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which Is the month Sebat, five months after the building of the Temple had been resumed, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
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v. 8. I saw by night, in a night vision, some time between six o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, the color of war and bloodshed, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom, most likely a valley in the neighborhood of Jerusalem; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, or bay, the color of fire and flames and burning, and white, in this connection the color of victory.
v. 9. Then said I, anxious to know what the Lord intended to make known through this vision, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be, for the Lord wanted Zechariah to know the meaning of the vision in order that he might reveal it to others.
v. 10. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees, the first angel, answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth, to find out how matters stood everywhere.
v. 11. And they answered the Angel of the Lord, that peculiar Uncreated Angel, the Son of God as He revealed Himself to the believers of the Old Testament, that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest, the great commotion among the nations, of which the prophet Haggai had spoken, 2:7. 8, had not yet begun, that is, the time for the Messiah to appear in the flesh had not yet come, a statement which naturally had a most depressing effect upon the Jews. But the Lord has a word of comfort ready for them.
v. 12. Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, the second person of the Godhead Himself giving them a reassuring word of comfort, 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? so that the seventy years of the exile seemed extended, as though the affliction of the captivity would never end.
v. 13. And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words, words of salvation and blessing, which he, of course, was immediately to pass on to the congregation of the Lord.
v. 14. So the angel that communed with me, he who had first given an interpretation of the Lord’s intentions as expressed in the vision, said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, He whose exact message the prophet brought to Judah, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion, He was agitated with the zeal of his love for His congregation, with a great jealousy.
v. 15. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease, believing that they had been permanently victorious over the Lord’s people; for I was but a little displeased, as His punishment went out upon His people for seventy years, and they helped forward the affliction, they rioted in the sufferings of helpless Israel and were anxious to prolong them.
v. 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, for He had withheld them from His people for a time in order to punish them, but now He was once more ready to accept His repentant children; My house shall be built in it, namely, the Temple as the seat of the Lord’s merciful presence in the midst of His congregation, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem, in this case the builder’s line signifying the rebuilding of the city.
v. 17. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad, overflowing with the outward pressure of abundant growth as a stream overflows its banks; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, the Church of His love, and shall yet choose Jerusalem, the communion of His saints. Thus the Lord, who occasionally has punished His Church with heavy stripes, ever again lies turned to His children with the wealth of His blessings in the Gospel.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is…
the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat
"Shebat" is the eleventh month of the Hebrew calendar. The twenty-fourth day is near the middle of February on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers and How to Translate Names)
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in the second year of Darius' reign
"in the second year of the reign of Darius the king" or "in the second year since Darius became king." See how you translated this in Zechariah 1:1. (See: Ordinal Numbers)
the word of Yahweh came
This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated this in Zechariah 1:1. AT: "Yahweh gave a message" or "Yawheh spoke this message" (See: Idiom)
Berechiah ... Iddo
These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
look
The word "look" here shows that Zechariah was surprised by what he saw.
myrtle trees
a kind of small tree with colorful flowers (See: Translate Unknowns)
I said, "What are these things, Lord?" Then the angel who talked with me
Here Zechariah speaks to an unidentified angel. This is not the same as the "man" who was "riding on a red horse."
What are these things, Lord?
"What are these things, sir?" Here the word "Lord" is a form of polite address.
translationWords
day
year
Darius
reign
word of God
son
prophet
horse
lord
angel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:7–6:15 These eight visions addressed the Judeans’ fears that…
1:7–6:15 These eight visions addressed the Judeans’ fears that prevented them from responding in faith to God’s promises. These visions, which occurred two months after Haggai’s final two messages (Hag 2:10-19, 20-23), suggest that Haggai’s prophecies were being fulfilled.
1:7-17 Zechariah’s first vision depicts God’s concern for Jerusalem (1:7-15), followed by a response (1:16-17) that confirmed God’s intentions to rebuild his Temple and restore the city’s prosperity.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.