CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zechariah 1:5. Fathers] have perished; their fate should warn you. But you may object, the prophets also are dead, and apparently their words died with them.
Zechariah 1:6.] No; the threatenings take hold; overtake them as one flying from the foe. The words and statutes (decrees) of God uttered by the prophets reached them like arrows shot forth, and fulfilled threatened punishment (cf. Deuteronomy 28:15-45). Thought] Decreed to do (Lamentations 2:17).
Zechariah 1:7.] The general plan of the nine following visions (ch. Zechariah 1:8 to end of ch. 6) 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 [Fausset].
Zechariah 1:8-17.] Vision first. A man] i.e. an angel in the shape of a man (Zechariah 1:11-12). Riding] Swift in execution and help; leader of those who follow, and to whom they report. Red] Colour of blood; vengeance to be inflicted upon the foes of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 3:22; Isaiah 63:1-2; Revelation 6:4). Myrtle trees] Symbol of Israel; not a stately forest, but a low shrub, fragrant in smell and beautiful in leaf.
Zechariah 1:8. Behind] horses. Red, speckled (bay), and white] the symbol of victory. These are agencies employed by God, and the colour may indicate the nature of their mission [cf. Lange].
Zechariah 1:9. My lord] The one who answers the prophet, the angelus interpres, whose sole function was to enlighten the prophet, and cause him to understand the vision.
Zechariah 1:10.] The angel of Jehovah replies, and not the interpreting angel.
Zechariah 1:11.] The riders themselves then state the result of their mission. Walked] with unceasing activity (cf. Job 1:7) in God’s errands. Still] Hindrances to restoration removed. Persian wars had ceased, and at that time (Zechariah 1:1) universal peace reigned over the earth; tranquil (Judges 5:26). This statement of peace contrasts with the prostrate condition of Israel, and gives occasion for intercession.
Zechariah 1:12. How?] Intercession. 70 years] does not imply that the period predicted (Jeremiah 25:12) was just closing, for it had already expired in the first year of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1). But the people were in a sad state; though restored, the capital in ruins (Nehemiah 1:3) and the work hindered.
Zechariah 1:13.] Jehovah, the angel of Zechariah 1:12. Words] which promise good, i.e. salvation (cf. Joshua 23:14; Jeremiah 29:10). “In Zechariah 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” [Lange]. Jealous] for Jerusalem, which is wantonly injured. Displeased] with nations careless and secure, confident in their own strength and prosperity. To Israel anger was only a tittle; to the heathen it was fatal.
HOMILETICS
LESSONS FROM THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS.—Zechariah 1:5-6
The two questions in Zechariah 1:5 are meant as denials, and are intended to anticipate the objection which the people might have raised to the admonitions in Zechariah 1:4, to the effect, that not only the fathers, but also the earlier prophets, had died long ago; and therefore an allusion to things that had long since passed by could have no force at all for the present generation. Zechariah neutralizes this objection by saying: Your fathers have indeed been long dead, and even the prophets do not, or cannot, live for ever; but notwithstanding this, the words of the earlier prophets were fulfilled in the case of the fathers. The words and decrees of God uttered by the prophets reached them, and they were obliged to confess that God had really done to them what he threatened [Keil]. We have—
I. A motive to activity. Your fathers and the prophets who taught them are dead. No man lives for ever. Others have worked and lived where we dwell; but ministers, teachers, and parents are gone, and their hearers after them. Our course will be finished soon. Hence this is our day of service. It becomes us to redeem the time, to be active and diligent in serving God ourselves, and urging others to serve him.
II. A testimony to the truth of God’s word. Your fathers are not here, but we have their testimony. My words took hold upon them, and they confessed their power in twofold experience. “According to our ways and according to our doings.” If they rebelled they felt the threatening, and if they returned the promise was fulfilled. God’s providence ensures the accomplishment of his word, and compels the acknowledgment of that accomplishment from those who feel it. God is faithful and unchangeable in his purpose. “The word of the Lord endureth for ever.”
III. A warning against apostasy. The fate which overtook the fathers is pointed out as a warning to them.” “Where are they?” They are dead; but did they escape the punishment due to their sins? No; in mournful confessions we have acknowledgments of the fact. There may be delay, and the sinner may think that he will escape; but sooner or later the word will catch him, stick in his heart like an arrow from the Almighty. The transgressor will be made to confess, “Mine iniquities have overtaken me.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zechariah 1:6. I. The message of God proclaimed by his servants. Unchangeable in its nature. “My words and statutes,” i.e. decrees, given with Divine authority; “which I commanded.” II. Men trying to escape from this message. The words took hold, i.e. overtook them, when fleeing from them in hatred and rebellion. III. The humble confession of men when caught by the word. “Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us,” &c. They have to confess the truth of God, and expose their folly when it is too late. Men should be wise in time. “The Lord is righteous, for we have rebelled against his commandments.”
According to our ways. An acknowledgment—
1. Of the truth of God.
2. The desert of sin; and
3. The certainty of retribution. Sin sweet in taste, but bitter in fruits. Lessons:—
1. Consider the warnings of God.
2. Recognize the hand of God in the punishment of men. “ ‘Like as the Lord of hosts,’ whose power is irresistible, ‘thought’ (devised, determined with himself, and accordingly denonuced by the prophets) ‘to do unto us,’ who did not the words which he commanded us (Jeremiah 11:8), ‘according to our ways,’ which were always grievous (Psalms 10:5), ‘and according to our doings,’ that were not good (Ezekiel 36:31), ‘so hath he dealt with us;’ for he loves to retaliate, and to render to every transgression and disobedience a just recompence of reward (Hebrews 2:2).” [Trapp].
HOMILETICS
THE MAN AMONG THE MYRTLES, OR THE DIVINE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCH. Zechariah 1:8-13
The prophet received his visions not in a dream, but when spiritually conscious; at night, when most still and free from worldly cares, and most susceptible for Divine communications. In this first vision we have the protection of the Church of God in its weak and dangerous condition.
I. Jesus Christ is in her midst. “Behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom.” The presence of a great personage should give confidence. “Fear not, thou carriest Cæsar.” But “God is in the midst of” the Church; “she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.”
1. Standing to defend her. “He stood” as in his own residence (Psalms 132:14).
2. Riding to help her. Riding in speed, upon a red horse, to inflict vengeance upon her foes (cf. 2 Kings 3:22; Isaiah 63:1-2; Revelation 6:4).
3. Interceding on her behalf. “O Lord of hosts,” &c. (Zechariah 1:12). He was deeply touched with the report given, and with the contrast between the condition of the heathen at ease and that of the Church in desolation. Hence he prays (a.) for mercy. “Wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem?” (b.) For a full display of mercy. The work, long delayed, had only just begun. Much more remained to be done for the city, the country, and the people. As God had executed the threatening, so a fulfilment of the promise is desired.
II. Angels are employed on her behalf. “What are these?… These are they whom the Lord hath sent to and fro through the earth. We have a craving for the knowledge of creatures above ourselves. No system of religion separates the seen from the unseen world. Hence all the various doctrines and theories of angels. In Scripture alone is our natural longing satisfied. We learn that God is pleased to use the agency of supernatural beings; that these heavenly watchmen continually walk about Zion, or visit distant parts of the universe, to counteract the work of Satan (cf. Zechariah 2:11; Job 1:7), to guard his people, and minister to the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). Consider—
1. Their number;
2. Their work; and
3. Their obedience. Why despair, like the servant of Elisha? Angels are sent to help when God is pleased with us. “Behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about.”
“They fight for us, 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” [Spenser].
III. God’s providence defends her. Most commentators take the troop and the colour of these horses as symbolic of the dispensations of Divine providence. Observe—
1. The nature of Providence. “The peculiar nature of the dispensations is indicated by the colour of the horses, and the armour and appearance of the riders” [Hend.]. The red horse to-day in conflict and suffering; soon will the Divine Leader ride in triumph on the white horse.
2. The order of Providence. Red horses “first,” speckled and white follow. Without pressing the point too far, we see wars, famines, and pestilence end in victory. Most wonderfully did God prepare political events, in the restoration from Babylon and in the coming of Christ, for the special condition of his Church. Quietness may reign in all quarters except in the Church. Divine justice may seem to sleep; but it is only the calm before the storm. Amid sufferings and perplexing providences, believers may cry, “How long?” But the uncreated angel intercedes; “comfortable words” shall be heard, and the darkness of the night shall be forgotten in the glory of the day. “Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Zechariah 1:8. The myrtle trees in the bottom, from their fragrance and lowness, probably symbolize the Church, as at once yielding a sweet odour, and in a low estate or lowly. The natural habits of the myrtle make it the fitter emblem [Pusey]. The Church of God is hidden, secreted as unobserved in a valley. There is the idea of tranquil security; the myrtle grove in the valley is calm and still, while the storm sweeps over the mountain summits. In the metaphor we have perpetual growth. The myrtle is always green, sheds not her leaves. The Church has ever a verdure of grace, sometimes most verdure when winter is sharpest. Here we have the emblem of peace, and a significant token of victory (Spurgeon).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Zechariah 1:5. Your fathers. While we shrink with self-diffident dread from the thought of apostasy from Christ and from God, let us see to it that in our different conditions and relations in life—in the family, in the church, in general society—we be found filling up our fleeting day of life with increasingly active devotedness, “not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,” that so, when it shall, in our turn, come to be said of us, “Where are they?” the recollection of our lives by those who survive us may not be an entire blank [Wardlaw].
Zechariah 1:6. Overtake. Heathen reminiscence of God’s justice acknowledged. “Rarely hath punishment with limping tread part with the forerunning miscreant” (cf. Hor. Od. iii. 9) [Pusey].
Zechariah 1:8-11. Angels. Angels are men of a superior kind [Young]. They bear his will about to every part of the universe. This is their delight. They bless God, who vouchsafes thus to employ them. But when they have fulfilled God’s message, then they return back to him by whom they were sent forth, and stand before him, drinking in fresh streams of life and strength and purity and joy from his presence [Hare].
Zechariah 1:11. Their office was not a specific or passing duty, as when God sent his angels with some special commission, such as those recorded in Holy Scripture It was a continuous conversation with the affairs of men, a minute course of visiting, inspecting our human deeds and ways, and a part of the “wonderful order” in which God has “ordained and constituted the service of angels and men” [Pusey].
Zechariah 1:12-13. That same Christ, who is on earth in spirit on the red horse, is in heaven in person, pleading before the throne. He pleads—he pleads for mercy. Mercy that sent him to earth; mercy is his petition now. He pleads for present mercy. His cry is, “How long?” Eighteen hundred years is it since my blood was offered, and yet my kingdom has not come. Observe the objects of his intercession; he pleads for Jerusalem and Judah. “I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me.” And must he not prevail? Church of God, if thou canst be rejected, yet he cannot be. No! in the name of him who loves, and lives, and pleads before the eternal throne, let us set up our banner; for God has given the victory into our hands in answer to the pleadings of his Son [Spurgeon].