T

XXXIV.

ZECHARIAH.

HE mission of Zechariah was more especially to encourage his countrymen on their return from captivity, to restore Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. We select him, as one of our succession of Scripture characters, in order to possess an unbroken history of the Jewish people, and of their political, civil and religious condition at various periods. From the time of the captivity to the close of the Jewish nationality, a new phase in the prophetical writings becomes manifestthe prophets cease to denounce the idolatry of the Jews. Indeed, the captivity appears to have cured them of this enormous crime, as from that period, however prone they were to backsliding, still they set up no idolatrous worship in preference to the service of Jehovah. Other nations are still condemned and denounced, and so are the people of Israel, for their indifference; but now we have heart-searching appeals, blessed promises, a careful enunciation of religious privileges, constant reference to the coming of Messiah, and painful indications of the dispersion of the Israelites because of their rejection of the Saviour. The only exceptions that we can make among the Jews, from the above observations, were a few who fell into idolatry during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, spoken of in the Book of the Maccabees.

Zechariah was one of those who returned to Jerusalem at the close of the captivity. When he commenced his prophetical

labors, he appears to have been a young man. In the year B. C. 520 we find him, with the prophet Haggai, assisting Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest in animating the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the great work of rebuilding the temple. To this all his writings are directed. His book divides itself into two parts -the first containing the first eight chapters; and the second, the remaining six, which from their style and subjects seem to have been written near the end of his life, when his mind was more mature, and when the state of things in Jerusalem was greatly altered. How long Zechariah lived, or when he died, is not known. He is generally supposed to have ended his days at Jerusalem; and in the valley of Jehoshaphat there is still pointed out to travelers a tomb which is called "the tomb of Zechariah the prophet." So similar in style is he to Jeremiah that the Jews considered that the spirit of that prophet had passed into Zechariah; and so highly were his predictions esteemed that he was called "the sun among the lesser prophets." There is much vigor in the predictions of this prophet. His visions demand a careful perusal.

In the work of restoring the house of God the Samaritans interposed, desiring that they might be permitted to share in the undertaking. Being a mixed race, the descendants of the Israelites who remained in the northern kingdom after the captivity of the ten tribes, intermarrying with the Gentile colonists from Assyria, Zerubbabel and the other Jewish rulers negatived their request. This led to a long controversy, to inveterate hostility and to much bloodshed. The feelings of men are more intensely awakened by their religion than by anything else, and hence the heat of religious dissension. Never was this more fully shown than at this period in the history of the Jews. For a long time the Samaritans prevented the Jews from restoring the temple; and even when the latter were allowed to build, they were compelled to do so with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other. Hence the hatred which existed for centuries between

the Jews and the Samaritans, kept alive by the latter raising a temple for themselves on Mount Gerizim. It was Darius, the son of Hystaspes, twenty years after the edict of Cyrus, who by decree allowed the Jews to erect their second temple. During the second year of the reign of this king, Zechariah delivered the first series of his predictions.

He reminds his countrymen of the sins of their fathers and of the sore displeasure of the Lord against them. He appeals to them to return from every wicked way, to serve the living God, and promises that he would return to them and abundantly bless them. He brings to their recollection the certainty of God's word as spoken by his prophets and his faithfulness in its fulfillment, and by a series of striking illustrations endeavors to arouse the Jews to diligence in the work of restoring both the city of Jerusalem and the house of God, and heartily to engage in his worship and service. The first vision is that of "a man riding upon a red horse, and behind him there were red horses, speckled, and white." "The red horse," in prophetical language, is the emblem of war; the man upon it is said to be "the angel of the Lord," by Jewish writers referred to the angel Michael, and by Lowth, Gill and others applied-and we think properly to the Angel of the Covenant, the Son of Man, the Messiah. He is here represented as a man of war; and truly against the principalities and powers of darkness-against all wickedness—he wages a deadly conflict. Nor is he alone: others are with him, with horses of different colors-horses which indicate strength and swiftness to obey his will, however varied may be their work; whilst their being under the shade of the myrtle trees in the valley shows that they have been busily engaged in executing the divine purpose-are resting, but resting so as instantly to be ready to do the bidding of the Lord.

Age has its own advantages. It gives maturity to the judgment, ripeness to the experience, vividness and strength to faith, consolidation to the character, and nearness and power to eter

nity and eternal realities. It clothes with a peculiar relish Christian hope, and encircles everything connected with Christ and his kingdom with the radiant atmosphere of a holy satisfaction. The very compositions of age differ from those of youth. There is a solidity about them which seems to say, "Life is retreating; we have much to do, and a limited season in which to accomplish it." They may lack many of the graces of earlier productions, and much of their fire, but they possess far more of the ringing metal of right thought and compact logic. Every word has weight, every sentence wisdom. Men learn, as they advance in years, that life is not sustained by flowers, but nourished by fruit, and that barley-meal is better than blossoms. Age tames the imagination and tones down the fancy, but gives insight to character, a knowledge of the world, and leads to perfect confidence alone in God.

It has been thought—and, we imagine, correctly—that the later prophecies of Zechariah are the productions of age. There is an elevation about them, a reference to the future, and a desire for the highest order of prosperity for his country, which betoken the spiritualizing influence of an approaching eternity. Circumstances, too, had altered in Jerusalem in the course of years. The temple had been finished, but the priesthood had become depraved. Events, also, of great interest were occurring in the history of other countries-their sins were being visited with punishment; and the prophet could not be silent about the state of his own people, and dared not be otherwise than faithful in warning and instructing them. To prepare his way, he begins by declaring "the burden of the Lord" on the land of Hadrach and Damascus, portions of Syria; on Hamath, Tyre and Sidonespecially against Tyre, with all her wealth and strength. And so terrible is this judgment to be that "Ashkelon is to see it, and fear; Gaza, and to be very sorrowful; and also Ekron;" and these cities of the Philistines are to be ruled by foreigners and peopled by strangers; but amidst all these convulsions Jerusalem

is to dwell safely and her temple to flourish. Nay; on the heels of this good news still better treads. A king is promised to Zion, "lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass," who is to destroy the battle-bow in Israel, to speak peace to the heathen, and whose dominion is to reach from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Well may the prophet, in the name of the Lord, address the oppressed and say, “Turn ye to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even. to-day will I render double unto you." And congratulating Messiah, well may he add, "As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water."

Zechariah, early after the captivity, feared for the people, because he discovered the ungodliness of the priests. He exhorts, therefore, in the tenth chapter, that they look to the Lord for their mercies, consult him alone, and disregard all other gods besides him. On the supposition of their doing so, victory is promised to the Jews over their enemies and, which was actually accorded to them in the days of the Maccabees, over the princes of the Grecian monarchy. But this, we think, was only a typical triumph, and the completion of this prophecy yet remains to be realized in the restoration of the Jews. Whether they are to return to their own land in these last days, or are only to be restored by being brought to a saving knowledge of the true Messiah, is a question which has been much disputed.

The eleventh chapter is a most solemn prophecy. It is full of threatening-foretells the ruin of the temple and city of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the dispersion of the Jews, by the rejection of Jesus Christ the Saviour. Even their distinguished men are to perish: "Howl, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen." The city is to become a heap and the temple a ruin; the towns and cities are to become desolate, and the fields to remain uncultivated. The people are to be scattered over the surface of the earth, for the greatness of their sin; even their Saviour is to be sold