Zechariah 7 commentary

If we truly desire to know the will of God in doubtful matters, we must not only consult his word and ministers, but seek his direction by fervent prayer. Those who would know God's mind should consult God's ministers; and, in doubtful cases, ask advice of those whose special business it is to search the Scriptures. The Jews seemed to question whether they ought to continue their fasts, seeing that the city and temple were likely to be finished. The first answer to their inquiry is a sharp reproof of hypocrisy. These fasts were not acceptable to God, unless observed in a better manner, and to better purpose. There was the form of duty, but no life, or soul, or power in it. Holy exercises are to be done to God, looking to his word as our rule, and his glory as our end, seeking to please him and obtain his favour; but self was the centre of all their actions. And it was not enough to weep on fast days; they should have searched the Scriptures of the prophets, that they might have seen what was the ground of God's controversy with their fathers. Whether people are in prosperity or adversity, they must be called upon to leave their sins, and to do their duty.

God's judgements upon Israel of old for their sins, were written to warn Christians. The duties required are, not keeping fasts and offering sacrifices, but doing justly and loving mercy, which tend to the public welfare and peace. The law of God lays restraint upon the heart. But they filled their minds with prejudices against the word of God. Nothing is harder than the heart of a presumptuous sinner. See the fatal consequences of this to their fathers. Great sins against the Lord of hosts, bring great wrath from his power, which cannot be resisted. Sin, if regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the success of prayer. The Lord always hears the cry of the broken-hearted penitent; yet all who die impenitent and unbelieving, will find no remedy or refuge from miseries which while here they despised and defied, but which they then will not be able to bear.

Chapter 7

Lecture One Hundred and Forty-sixth

Zechariah 7:1-3

1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;

1. Et factus est (datus est,) anno quarto Darii regis, sermo Iehovae ad Zachariam, quarta die mensis noni Chisleu;

2. When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,

2. Nam miserat in domum Dei (hoc est, Templum) Sareezer et Regem-melech et viros ejus ad deprecandam faciem Iehovae (aut, Miserat in domum Dei Sareezer et Regem-melech, in nominativo casu, et viri ejus ad deprecandam faciem Iehovae:)

3. And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

3. Ad dicendum sacerdotibus qui erant in domo Iehovae exercituum, et Prophetis, dicendo, An flebo mense, quinto? Separabo me? quemadmodum feci his annis? (est turbata series verborum, quemadmodum solitus sum facere his annis?)

There is no vision here, but the answer which Zechariah was commanded to give to the messengers of the captives: for he says that some had been sent from Chaldea to offer sacrifices to God, and at the same time to inquire whether the fast, which they had appointed when the city was taken and destroyed, was to be observed. But there is some ambiguity in the words of the Prophet, for it is doubtful whether the two whom he names, even Sherezer and Regem-melech, together with the others, had sent the messengers of whom mention is made, or they themselves came and brought the message from the captives. But this is a matter of no great moment. As to the question itself, I am disposed to adopt their view, who think that these two came with their associates to Jerusalem, and in the name of them all inquired respecting the fast, as we shall hereafter see. Grotius, Newcome, and others adopt this view; but Blayney justly says that [בית-אל] is nowhere used in Scripture for the temple; and therefore he, in accordance with the Septuagint for the temple; and therefore it as the name of the city so called, and situated in the tribe of Benjamin. So Drusius, Henderson, and others. Then the true version of the whole passage, and the most literal, would be the following:—

2. When Bethel sent Sherezer and Regem-melech and its men to entreat the face of Jehovah, and to speak to the priests who were

3. over the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done

4. these so many years?” then came the word of Jehovah of hosts to

5. me, saying, “Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,”—

“When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh, even

6. these seventy years, fasting did ye fast to me, even to me? and when ye ate and when ye drank, were not ye yourselves the eaters

7. and ye yourselves the drinkers? Were not these the words which Jehovah proclaimed by the former Prophets, when Jehovah was inhabited and peacable, and her cities around her, and when the south and the plain were inhabited?”

“Bethel” here means the town; and therefore “its,” and not “his men,” is the proper version; and instead of “Shall I weep,” the most suitable rendering would be, “Shall we weep.” That the inhabitants of Judea are intended, and not messengers from Babylon, is quite evident from the fifth verse, “Speak to all the people of the land.” — Ed. The Jews think that these were Persian princes; but this opinion is frivolous. They are thus accustomed to draw whatever occurs to the glory of their own nation without any discretion or judgment, as though it had been an object much desired by the Jews, that two Persian should go up to the temple. But there is no need here of a long discussion; for if we regard the Prophet’s design, we may easily conclude that these were Jews who had been sent by the exiles, both to offer gifts and to inquire about the fast, as the Prophet tells us. The sum of the whole then is, that Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their companions, came to the temple, and that they also asked counsel of the priests and Prophets, whether the fast of the fifth month was still to be observed.

It must first be observed, that though all had not so much courage as to return to their own country as soon as leave was given them, they were not yet gross despisers of God, and wholly destitute of all religion. It was indeed no light fault to remain torpid among the Babylonians when a free return was allowed them; for it was an invaluable kindness on the part of God to stretch forth his hand to the wretched exiles, who had wholly despaired of a return. Since then God was prepared to bring them home, such a favor could not have been neglected without great ingratitude. But it was yet the Lord’s will that some sparks of grace should continue in the hearts of some, though their zeal was not so fervid as it ought to have been. The same sloth we see in the present day to be in many, who continue in the filth of Popery; and yet they groan there, and the Lord preserves them, so that they do not shake off every concern for religion, nor do they wholly fall away. All then are not to be condemned as unfaithful, who are slothful and want vigor; but they are to be stimulated. For they who indulge their torpor act very foolishly; but at the same time they ought to be pitied, when there is not in them that desirable alacrity in devoting themselves to God, which they ought to have. Such an instance then we see in the captives, who ought to have immediately prepared themselves for the journey, when a permission was given them by the edicts of Cyrus and Darius. They however remained in exile, but did not wholly renounce the worship of God; for they sent sacred offerings, by which they professed their faith; and they also inquired what they were to do, and showed deference to the priests and Prophets then at Jerusalem. It hence appears, that they were not satisfied with themselves, though they did not immediately amend what was wrong. There are many now, who, in order to exculpate themselves, or rather to wipe away (as they think) all disgrace, despise God’s word, and treat us with derision; nay, they devise crimes with which they charge us, with the view of vilifying the word of the Lord in the estimation of the simple. But the Prophet shows that the captives of whom he speaks, though not so courageous as they ought to have been were yet true servants of God; for they sent sacrifices to the temple, and also wished to hear and to learn what they were to do.

CHAPTER 7

Zec 7:1-14. II. Didactic Part, Seventh and Eighth chapters. Obedience, Rather than Fasting, Enjoined: Its Reward.

1. fourth year of ... Darius--two years after the previous prophecies (Zec 1:1, &c.).

Chisleu--meaning "torpidity," the state in which nature is in November, answering to this month.

2. they ... sent unto ... house of God--The Jews of the country sent to the house of God or congregation at Jerusalem. The altar was long since reared (Ezr 3:3), though the temple was not completed till two years afterwards (Ezr 6:15). The priests' duty was to give decision on points of the law (De 17:9; Mt 2:4). Beth-el is here used instead of Beth-Jehovah, because the religious authorities, rather than the house itself (designated "Beth-Jehovah" in Zec 7:3), are intended. The old Beth-el had long ceased to be the seat of idol-worship, so that the name had lost its opprobrious meaning. "The house of the Lord" is used for the congregation of worshippers headed by their priests (Zec 3:7; Ho 8:1). Maurer makes the "house of God" nominative to "sent." Henderson makes "Beth-el" so.

Sherezer--an Assyrian name meaning, "Prefect of the treasury."

Regemmelech--meaning, "The king's official." These names perhaps intimate the semi-heathen character of the inquirers, which may also be implied in the name "Beth-el" (Hebrew for "house of God"), so notorious once for its calf-worship. They sent to Jehovah's house as their forefathers sent to old Beth-el, not in the spirit of true obedience.

pray before the Lord--literally, "to entreat the face of," that is, to offer sacrifices, the accompaniment of prayers, to conciliate His favor (1Sa 13:12).

3. Should I weep in the fifth month--"I" represents here the people of God (compare Zec 8:21). This rather favors Maurer's view, taking "the house of God," the congregation, as nominative to "sent." Their hypocrisy appeared because they showed more concern about a ceremony of human institution (not improper in itself) than about moral obedience. If, too, they had trusted God's promise as to the restoration of Church and State, the fast would have now given place to joy, for which there was more cause than for grief [Pembellus].

to the prophets--Haggai and Zechariah especially. The tenth day of the fifth month was kept a fast, being the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem (Jr 52:12-14). They ask, Should the fast be continued, now that the temple and city are being restored?

separating myself--sanctifying myself by separation, not only from food, but from all defilements (compare Joe 2:16) as was usual in a solemn fast.

5. Speak unto all--The question had been asked in the name of the people in general by Sherezer and Regemmelech. The self-imposed fast they were tired of, not having observed it in the spirit of true religion.

seventh month--This fast was in memory of the murder of Gedaliah and those with him at Mizpah, issuing in the dispersion of the Jews (2Ki 25:25, 26; Jr 41:1-3).

did ye ... fast unto me?--No; it was to gratify yourselves in hypocritical will-worship. If it had been "unto Me," ye would have "separated yourselves" not only from food, but from your sins (Is 58:3-7). They falsely made the fast an end intrinsically meritorious in itself, not a means towards God's glory in their sanctification. The true principle of piety, reference to God, was wanting: hence the emphatic repetition of "unto Me." Before settling questions as to the outward forms of piety (however proper, as in this case), the great question was as to piety itself; that being once settled, all their outward observances become sanctified, being "unto the Lord" (Ro 14:6).

6. did not ye eat for yourselves?--literally, "Is it not ye who eat?" that is, it is not unto Me and My glory. It tends no more to My glory, your feasting than your fasting.

7. Should ye not hear the words--rather, "Should ye not do the words," as their question naturally was as to what they should do (Zec 7:3); "hearing" is not mentioned till Zec 7:12. The sense is, It is not fasts that Jehovah requires of you, but that ye should keep His precepts given to you at the time when Jerusalem was in its integrity. Had ye done so then, ye would have had no occasion to institute fasts to commemorate its destruction, for it would never have been destroyed (Zec 7:9-14) [Maurer]. Or, as the Margin, "Are not these the words" of the older prophets (Is 58:3; Jr 14:12) which threatened a curse for disobedience, which the event has so awfully confirmed. If ye follow them in sin, ye must follow them in suffering. English Version is good sense: Ye inquire anxiously about the fasts, whereas ye ought to be anxious about hearing the lesson taught by the former prophets and verified in the nation's punishment; penitence and obedience are required rather than fasts.

the plain--southwest of Jerusalem. They then inhabited securely the region most unguarded.

9. speaketh--implying that these precepts addressed to their ancestors were the requirements of Jehovah not merely then, but now. We must not only not hurt, but we must help our fellow men. God is pleased with such loving obedience, rather than with empty ceremonies.

10. imagine evil--that is, devise evil. The Septuagint takes it, Harbor not the desire of revenge (Le 19:18). "Devise evil against one another" is simpler (Psa 36:4; Mi 2:1).

11. pulled away the shoulder--literally, "presented a refractory shoulder"; an image from beasts refusing to bear the yoke (Ne 9:29, Margin).

stopped ... ears--(Is 6:10; Jr 7:26; Ac 7:57).

12. hearts ... adamant--(Eze 3:9; 11:19).

Lord ... sent in Spirit by ... prophets--that is, sent by the former prophets inspired with His Spirit.

therefore ... great wrath--(2Ch 36:16). As they pushed from them the yoke of obedience, God laid on them the yoke of oppression. As they made their heart hard as adamant, God brake their hard hearts with judgments. Hard hearts must expect hard treatment. The harder the stone, the harder the blow of the hammer to break it.

13. he cried--by His prophets.

they cried--in their calamities.

I ... not hear--retribution in kind (Pr 1:24-26; Is 1:15; Mi 3:4).

14. whirlwind--of wrath (Na 1:3).

nations whom they knew not--foreign and barbarous.

desolate after them--after their expulsion and exile. It was ordered remarkably by God's providence, that no occupants took possession of it, but that during the Jews' absence it was reserved for them against their return after seventy years.

they laid ... desolate--The Jews did so by their sins. The blame of their destruction lay with themselves, rather than with the Babylonians (2Ch 36:21).

pleasant land--Canaan. Literally, "the land of desire" (Jr 3:19).

The fourth year of Ring Darius - Two years after they began to rebuild the temple, see Zac 1:1, A.M. 3486.

The ninth month, even in Chisleu - This answers to a part of our November and December. The names of the month appear only under and after the captivity.

When they had sent - Sherezer and Regem-melech - To inquire whether the fasts should be continued, which they had hitherto observed on account of their ruined temple; and the reason why they inquired was, that they were rebuilding that temple, and were likely to bring it to a joyful issue.

When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth - month - This they did in the remembrance of the burning of the temple, on the tenth day of that month; and on the seventh month, on the third of which month they observed a fast for the murder of Gedaliah, and the dispersion of the remnant of the people which were with him. See Jer 41:1, and 2Kgs 25:25.

And when ye did eat - They had not observed those fasts as they should have done. They deplored the loss of their temple, and its riches, etc., but they did not humble themselves because of those iniquities which had brought the displeasure of God upon them, their temple, and their city.

The words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets - נביאים הראשנים nebiim harishonim, is the title which the Jews give to Joshua, Judges, the two books of Samuel, and the two books of Kings.

The latter prophets, נביאים אחרונים nebiim acharonim, are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets.

The hagiographa, כתובים kethubim, holy writings, are the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the two books of Chronicles. But the above words, the former prophets, seem to apply to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

The south and the plain? - From Eleutheropolis to the sea, Oba 1:19. The south was the wilderness and mountainous parts of Judea: and the plain, the plains of Jericho.

Execute true judgment - See Isa 58:6, Isa 58:7; JeremiahJer 7:23; Mic 6:8, chap. 8.

Evil against his brother in your heart - Do not indulge an unfavourable opinion of another: do not envy him; do not harbour an unbrotherly feeling towards him.

Pulled away the shoulder - From under the yoke of the law, like an unbroken or restive bullock in the plough.

Made their hearts as an adamant stone - שמיר shamir may mean the granite. This is the hardest stone with which the common people could be acquainted. Perhaps the corundum, of which emery is a species, may be intended. Bochart thinks it means a stone used in polishing others. The same name, in Hebrew, applies to different stones.

I scattered them with a whirlwind - This refers to the swift victories and cruel conduct of the Chaldeans towards the Jews; they came upon them like a whirlwind; they were tossed to and fro, and up and down, everywhere scattered and confounded.

When they - The captives who still continued in Babylon. The house of God - The temple, which now half built began to be frequented. Regem - melech - It appears not who these were, but no doubt they were eminent in dignity and piety. Their men - The train of friends that accompanied them. To pray - To intreat the Lord for pardon of what was past, acceptance of them at present, and an answer to their enquiry.

The prophets - Haggai and Zechariah. Weep - Fast, in remembrance of the burning of the temple on the tenth day of that month. Separating myself - From worldly cares and designs.

Unto all the people - By their messengers. And seventh - For the murder of Gedaliah, slain by Ishmael. Even to me - You pleased yourselves in it, not me; you wept more for the inconveniences of the thing than the sinfulness of it.

For yourselves - I was as little minded by you in your fasts, as in your feasts.

Hear the words - You needed not have thus enquired, had you heeded the written word. Prophets - Who have called for repentance, and sincere love to God, and man, and shewed how light, formal services are. Prosperity - Did such observances preserve Jerusalem in its prosperity? Were they sufficient to save the men that inhabited the south of the plain? Did they do no good when things were all safe and well? And do you imagine they can profit you, now all is in ruins?

Spake - To your fathers.

Imagine evil - Neither think ill of, or with ill to, nor plot evil against one another.

Pulled away - Withdrew their shoulder from the yoke of the law.

In his spirit - By his holy spirit.

They laid the land desolate - By their sins.

1 AND it came to pass , in the fourth year of king Darius , that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chis[illegible: 1 letter]en .

A most usual form of speech introductory to what shall afterwards be spoken,

When the Jews had now been two years in building the Temple, and probably 'twas in good forwardness.

Son of Hystaspis about An. Mundi 3487. as Arch-Bishop Vsher in his Annals.

Part of our November and December, when half the time of building the Temple was spent.

2 When they had sent unto the house of God , Sherezer and Regem-melech , and their men to pray before the LORD .

Either the Captives which still continued in Babylon, or the Jews returned out of captivity, but dwelt in the Countrey at distance from Ierusalem.

Temple, which now half built began to be frequented by Priests and People, and where Haggai and Zecharia[illegible: 1 letter] might be found true Prophets.

It appears not who these were, but no doubt they were eminent in dignity and piety.

Train either of Friends that accompanied them. Or, of Servants that waited on them.

In most solem[illegible: 1 letter] manner, and with Sacrifices no doubt, for the Altar was set up long ago. Now these come to intreat the face of the Lord by Prayer in the house of Prayer for pardon of what was past, and acceptance of them at present, and for answer to their enquiry.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

3 And to speak to the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets , saying, Should I weep in the fifth month , separating my self ; as I have done these so many years ?

To consult with.

They were to be the ordinary casuists, and ought to be able, and ready to answer all cases of Conscience, as Mal. 2.7.

Had their residence in, or about the Temple.

These were extraordinary casuists, who might be supposed able to satisfie the enquiry, if the Priests could not. These Prophets were Haggai and Zechariah.

i. e. Fast, of which weeping was a part, 1 Sam[illegible: 1 letter]el chapter 1. verse 7. and Matth. 9.15.

In sad remembrance of the burning of the Temple on the 10th. day of that month.

From worldly cares and designs, and afflicting my self.

This intimateth their former practice, and seems to include in it some little boasting of it.

It had been easie for them to have reckoned up the exact number of years, but they choose rather to express it thus, to greaten their performance.

4 ¶ Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,

When these men had proposed their case, and expected the Priests answer.

An answer from God which follows in the 7th. and 8th. chapters of this book at large.

5 Speak unto all the people of the land , and to the priests , saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth , and seventh moneths, even those seventy years , did ye at all fast unto me ? even to me ?

i. e. Either by their messengers who came in their name, or to all the Jews that were at Ierusalem.

By which it seems to be not the loiterers in Babylon, but the returned in Iudea, that sent.

Some of these perhaps doubted; and others might overvalue, and dote on these voluntary services, and needed as well as deserved, a reproof.

Who prescribed this your Fast? and since you needs would, (as it was at liberty you might fast, and mourn) who was better for it? or did you do it to please me, when you displeased me by other, your sinful courses?

See ver. 3. let. p.

For the murther of Gedalia[illegible: 1 letter], slain by Ihmael, Ier. 41.1.

So many they were since Gedaliah's death to this time of enquiry, which is made now as many years after the return as Gedaliah was slain after the beginning of the captivity.

What ever was in it. There was very little in it from me, no command, no honour, as you ordered it, you pleased your selves in it, not me; you wept more for the inconveniences of the thing, then the sinfulness of it. Had you fasted to me, you would have abstained more from sin, which I forbad, then from meats which I did not forbid.

As if God had said, I put it once more to you, did you indeed fast to me?

Marginal references: Isa. 5[illegible: 1 letter].5.; chap. 1.12.; See Rom. 14.

6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did ye not eat for your selves? and drink for your selves?

I was as little minded by you in your Fasts, as in your Feasts, and I was as little pleased with your Fasts, as Feasts, self was all in both, you lookt no higher. Such fasting commends none to God, you had not been the worse if you had forborn such Fasts, nor are you the better for such ill managed abstinence.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 letter]e [illegible: 1 letter]ot ye [illegible: 1 word] that, &c.

7 Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cryed by the former prophets , when Jerusalem was inhabited, and in prosperity , and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

You needed not have thus enquired had you heeded the word written, should you not remember? Or have you not read what Isa. 58.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, determins in this very case?

Openly and loudly spoken.

Who have given you the true value of obedience to the great, and momentous precepts of the Law, who have called for Repentance, and sincere love to God, and Man, and have on just ballance shewed how light, and under weight formal services have been.

Did such observances preserve Ierusalem in its prosperity? Did they prevent the desolation of the Cities round about her? Were they sufficient to save the men, the multitudes that inhabited the South of the plain? Did they, or could they do no good when things were all safe and well? And do you fondly imagine they can profit you now all is in ruins? Can they restore a fallen state that could not support it falling?

Marginal references: Or, are not [illegible: 1 word] the word[illegible: 1 letter].; Heb. by the [illegible: 1 word] of, &c.

8 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

Vid. verse 4. tot.

9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment , and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother .

Or did speak, i. e. to your Fathers, and thus he doth speak to you now.

God required former Judges, and he requireth present Judges, without hatred, prejudice, partiality, or bribery, to give true sentence.

Be kind and beneficent to such as need. Wrong none, if you could, do good to all you can,

with tenderest, and most abundant pity; with a heart that feels their miseries.

As this is every mans duty, let it be every ones practice.

i. e. to every one that needs you.

Marginal references: Mich. 6.3. Matth. 23.23.; Heb. judge judgment of truth.

10 And oppress not the widow , nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart .

Do not first misreport their persons, their actions, and their cases, and on that pretence do them wrong, and oppress them: 'tis double oppression, to oppress by false information, and then condemn, the first is an oppression of Righteousness, the next is oppression of the Righteous.

A Catalogue of helpless ones who are under the peculiar tutelage of God, Exod. 22.21, 22. Deut. 10.18. and 14.29. and 24.17, 19. Isa. 1.17, 23. &c.

Neither think ill of, or wish ill to, nor plot evil against, one another.

Marginal references: Jer. 5.28.; chap. 8.17.

11 But they refused to hearken , and pulled away the shoulder , and stopped their ears that they should not hear .

They willfully were ignorant would not consider nor understand.

Next they shift from doing their duty, withdraw their shoulder from the yoke of the Law, Neh. 9.29. Hos. 4.16.

And to make it highest contempt, they act the deaf man, stop their ears, and so turn their backs on God.

All this out of an obstinate resolution to be unacquainted with Gods will, and their own duty.

Marginal references: Heb. they ga[illegible: 2 letters] a backsliding shoulder.; Heb. made heavy.

12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law , and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets : therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts .

Though the heart of it self is far from taking impressions, and receiving kindly the Law of God, yet these desperate sinners think 'tis too pliable, they study how to harden it, and this was the fault of many of them.

The hardest of stones.

Which was peremptorily required of them, and they as peremptorily resolved against it.

Of God by Moses, of whom they boasted, whilst they despised his Law.

Counsels and Commands▪

Which the Lord of Hosts their God spake, nay though they knew he spake they would not hear.

By his Holy Spirit in clear evidences, piercing convictions, powerful operation, and dreadful threatnings; yet they opposed and resisted, and sinned against his Spirit.

All of them acted by the same Spirit, and pressing them to the same duties, and foretelling the same miseries, and promising the same blessings, but all would not prevail.

For this great obstinacy,

which consumed the whole Land, and burnt against them 70 years together in Babylon.

In all which the hand of the Lord was most evidently seen, dealing to them according to their ways. Such were your Fathers, such their ways, such their sufferings, all which is well known to you who start such queries, and mean while runaway from the great commands of the Law.

Marginal references: Heb. by the hand of.

13 Therefore it is come to pass that as he cried, and they would not hear: so they cried and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts.

This is the very cause, and 'tis just too.

My Spirit by the Prophets called, warned, intreated, and urged them to repent, obey, and live; but they would not;

by fasting and howling in their deep, but chosen distress, in the miseries they fell under after Gedaliahs death, yet I would not hear saith the Lord of hosts, is it not most just I should disregard their Tears for Gedaliah, when after his death they pretended to enquire that they might obey my word, Ier. 42.2, 3. with 5, 6? yet then they gave my Prophet the lye, and contemptuously resolved to do contrary to my word by him, Ier. 43.4. Thus you know my resentments of your Fas[illegible: 1 letter]s held on with your sins, saith the Lord.

Marginal references: Prov. 1.24, 28. Isa. 1.15. Jer. 11.11. & 14.12. Mich. 3.4.

14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they know not ; Thus the land was desolate after them , that no man passed through, or returned , for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

When they had so provoked me, I cast them out of their Habitations, pursued them with the Tempest of wrath th[illegible: 1 letter]t scattered them as I threatned.

Irresistibly, suddenly, and tearing all into pieces▪ as Whirlwinds do.

All the Heathen that hated them, and their wayes.

Where they could have no pity, nor any relief, nor common commerce; but as barbarous usage as fierce and unintelligible Enemies can give them.

Once flowing with Milk and Honey; once full of Cities, Men, and Cattel, now waste as a wilderness.

Either the Iewes cast out, or▪ the Chaldeans who cast them out.

'Twas not fit to make a Road through a Land so void of all necessaries, so full of wild, and ravenous Beasts, so unwholsome as to the Air, &c.

Sinful Iewes by their Sins, fierce Chaldeans by their Sword, and God by his just displeasure, laid the pleasant Land most desolate and waste.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]eb. land of desire.

Zec 7:1-3

Zec 7:1-3 describe the occasion for this instructive and consolatory “word of God,” which was addressed to Zechariah in the fourth year of Darius, i.e., two years after the building of the temple was resumed, and two years before its completion, and therefore at a time when the building must have been far advanced, and the temple itself was possibly already finished in the rough. Zec 7:1. “It came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah, on the fourth (day) of the ninth month, in Kislev.” In this definition of the time we are surprised first of all at the circumstance, that, according to the Masoretic accentuation, and the division of the verses, the statement of the time is torn into two halves, and the notice of the year is placed after ויהי, whilst that of the month does not follow till after התה דבר יי; and secondly, at the fact that the introduction of the occurrence which led to this word of God is appended with the imperfect c. Vav rel. (vayyishlach), which would then stand in the sense of the pluperfect in opposition to the rule. On these grounds we must give up the Masoretic division of the verses, and connect the notice of the month and day in Zec 7:1 with Zec 7:2, so that Zec 7:1 contains merely the general statement that in the fourth year of king Darius the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. What follows will then be appended thus: On the fourth day of the ninth month, in Kislev, Bethel sent, etc. Thus the more precise definition of the time is only given in connection with the following occurrence, because it was self-evident that the word of God which was addressed to the prophet in consequence of that event, could not have been addressed to him before it occurred. The rendering of the words in Zec 7:2 is also a disputed point. We adopt the following: Zec 7:2. “Then Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and his people, to entreat the face of Jehovah, (Zec 7:3) to speak to the priests who were at the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, thus: Shall I weep, abstaining in the fifth month as I have now done so many years?” As Bēth-ēl may either signify the house of God, or be the name of the town of Bethel, it may be taken either as accus. loci, or as the subject of the sentence. Against the first explanation, which is very widely spread, viz., “it sent to the house of God, or to Bethel, Sharezer,” etc., or “they sent to the house of God Sharezer,” etc., it may be argued not only that the prophet, in order to make himself intelligible, ought either to have written 'el Bēth-'ēl, or to have placed Bēth-'ēl after the object, but also that beeth-'eel cannot be shown to have been ever applied to the temple of Jehovah, and that it would have been altogether out of place to speak of sending to Bethel, because Jehovah could not be prayed to in Bethel after the captivity. We must therefore take bēth-'ēl as the subject, and understand it as denoting the population of Bethel, and not as a name given to the church of the Lord, since there are no conclusive passages to support any such use, as bēth Yehōvâh only is used for the church of God (see at Hos 8:1), and here there could be no inducement to employ so unusual an epithet to denote the nation. A considerable number of the earlier inhabitants of Bethel had already returned with Zerubbabel, according to Ezr 2:28 and Neh 7:32; and, according to Neh 11:31, the little town appears to have been soon rebuilt. The inhabitants of this city sent an embassy to Jerusalem, namely Sharezer and Rechem-Melech, and his men. The omission of the nota accus. את has indeed been adduced as an objection to this interpretation of the names as the object, and the names have been therefore taken as the subject, and regarded as in apposition to Bēth-ēl: “Bethel, namely Sharezer and Rechem, etc., sent;” that is to say, two men are mentioned in connection with Bethel, who are supposed to have acted as leaders of the embassy. But there is something so harsh and inflexible in the assumption of such an apposition as this, that in spite of the omission of the את we prefer to regard the names as accusatives. The name Sharezer is evidently Assyrian (cf. Isa 37:38; Jer 39:3, Jer 39:13), so that the man was probably born in Babylonia.

The object of sending these men is given first of all in general terms: viz., להלּות את־פּני יי, lit., to stroke the face of Jehovah, - an anthropomorphic expression for affectionate entreaty (see at Psa 119:58), and then defined more precisely in Zec 7:3, where it is stated that they were to inquire of the priests and prophets, i.e., through their mediation, to entreat an answer from the Lord, whether the mourning and fasting were to be still kept up in the fifth month. Through the clause אשׁר לבית יי the priests are described as belonging to the house of Jehovah, though not in the sense supposed by Kliefoth, namely, “because they were appointed to serve in His house along with the Levites, in the place of the first-born, who were the possession of Jehovah” (Num 3:41; Deu 10:8-9). There is no such allusion here; but the meaning is simply, “as the persons in the temple, who by virtue of their mediatorial service were able to obtain an answer from Jehovah to a question addressed to Him in prayer.” The connection with the prophets points to this. The question האבכּה is defined by the inf. absol. הנּזר, as consisting in weeping or lamentation connected with abstinence from food and drink, i.e., with fasting. On this use of the inf. abs., see Ewald, §280, a; הנּזר, to abstain (in this connection from meat and drink), is synonymous with צוּם in Zec 7:5. זה כּ מּה שׁנים: “these how many years,” for which we should say, “so many years.” Kammeh suggests the idea of an incalculably long duration. זה, in this and other similar combinations with numerical data, has acquired the force of an adverb: now, already (cf. Zec 1:12, and Ewald, §302, b). The subject to אבכּה is the population of Bethel, by which the men had been delegated. The question, however, had reference to a subject in which the whole community was interested, and hence the answer from God is addressed to all the people (Zec 7:5). So far as the circumstances themselves are concerned, we can see from Zec 7:5 and Zec 8:19, that during the captivity the Israelites had adopted the custom of commemorating the leading incidents in the Chaldaean catastrophe by keeping fast-days in the fifth, seventh, fourth, and tenth months. In the fifth month (Ab), on the tent day, because, according to Jer 52:12-13, that was the day on which the temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by fire in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, though the seventh day of that month is the date given in 2Ki 25:8-9 (see the comm. in loc.). In the seventh month, according to Jewish tradition, they fasted on the third day, on account of the murder of the governor Gedaliah, and the Judaeans who had been left in the land (2Ki 25:25-26; Jer 51:1.). In the fourth month Tammuz) they fasted on the ninth day, on account of the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the eleventh year of Zedekiah (Jer 39:2; Jer 52:6-7). And lastly, in the tenth month, a fast was kept on the tenth day on account of the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar on that day, in the ninth year of Zedekiah (2Ki 25:1 and Jer 39:1).The later Jews kept the 9th Ab as the day when both the first and second temples were destroyed by fire; and in Mishna Taanit iv. 6, five disasters are enumerated, which had fallen upon Israel on that day: viz., (1) the determination of God not to suffer the fathers to enter the promised land; (2 and 3) the destruction of the first and second temples; (4) the conquest of the city of Bether in the time of Bar-Cochba; (5) the destruction of the holy city, which Rashi explains from Mic 3:12 and Jer 26:18, but which others refer to the fact that Turnus Rufus (either Turannius Rufus or T. Annius Rufus: cf. Schöttgen, Horae hebr. et talm. ii. 953ff., and Jost, Gesch. des Judenthums, ii. 77) ploughed over the foundation of the temple. Also, on the seventeenth of the fourth month (Tammuz), according to Mishna Taan. iv. 6, five disasters are said to have befallen Israel: (1) the breaking of the tables of the law (Exodus 32); (2) the cessation of the daily sacrifice in the first temple from the want of sacrificial lambs (cf. Jer 52:6); (3) the breach made in the city walls; (4) the burning of the law by Apostemus; and (5) the setting up of the abomination, i.e., of an idol, in the temple (Dan 11:31; Dan 12:13). Vid., Lundius, Codex talm. de jejunio, Traf. ad Rhen. 1694, p. 55ff.; also in abstract in Mishna ed. Surenhus. ii. pp. 382-3.

The question put by the delegates referred simply to the fasting in the fifth month, in commemoration of the destruction of the temple. And now that the rebuilding of the temple was rapidly approaching completion, it appeared no longer in character to continue to keep this day, especially as the prophets had proclaimed on the part of God, that the restoration of the temple would be a sign that Jehovah had once more restored His favour to the remnant of His people. If this fast-day were given up, the others would probably be also relinquished. The question actually involved the prayer that the Lord would continue permanently to bestow upon His people the favour which He had restored to them, and not only bring to completion the restoration of the holy place, which was already begun, but accomplish generally the glorification of Israel predicted by the earlier prophets. The answer given by the Lord through Zechariah to the people refers to this, since the priests and prophets could give no information in the matter of their own accord.

The answer from the Lord divides itself into two parts, Zec 7:4-14 and ch. 8. In the first part He explains what it is that He requires of the people, and why He has been obliged to punish them with exile: in the second He promises them the restoration of His favour and the promised salvation. Each of these parts is divisible again into two sections, Zec 7:4-7 and Zec 7:8-14; Zechariah 8:1-17 and Zec 8:18-23; and each of these sections opens with the formula, “The word of Jehovah (of hosts) came to me (Zechariah), saying.”

Zec 7:4-7

The first of these four words of God contains an exposure of what might be unwarrantable in the question and its motives, and open to disapproval. Zec 7:4. “And the word of Jehovah of hosts came to me thus, Zec 7:5. Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh (month), and that for seventy years, did ye, when fasting, fast to me? Zec 7:6. And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who eat, and ye who drink? Zec 7:7. Does it not concern the words, which Jehovah has preached through the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and satisfied, and her towns round about her, and the south country and the low land were inhabited?” The thought of Zec 7:6 and Zec 7:7 is the following: It is a matter of indifference to God whether the people fast or not. The true fasting, which is well pleasing to God, consists not in a pharisaical abstinence from eating and drinking, but in the fact that men observe the word of God and live thereby, as the prophets before the captivity had already preached to the people. This overthrew the notion that men could acquire the favour of God by fasting, and left it to the people to decide whether they would any longer observe the previous fast-days; it also showed what God would require of them if they wished to obtain the promised blessings. For the inf. absol. see at Hag 1:6. The fasting in the seventh month was not the fast on the day of atonement which was prescribed in the law (Leviticus 23), but, as has been already observed, the fast in commemoration of the murder of Gedaliah. In the form צמתּני the suffix is not a substitute for the dative (Ges. §121, 4), but is to be taken as an accusative, expressive of the fact that the fasting related to God (Ewald, §315, b). The suffix is strengthened by אני for the sake of emphasis (Ges. §121, 3). In Zec 7:7 the form of the sentence is elliptical. The verb is omitted in the clause הלוא את־הדּברים, but not the subject, say זה, which many commentators supply, after the lxx, the Peshito, and the Vulgate (“Are these not the words which Jehovah announced?”), in which case את would have to be taken as nota nominativi. The sentence contains an aposiopesis, and is to be completed by supplying a verb, either “should ye not do or give heed to the words which,” etc.? or “do ye not know the words?” ישׁבת, as in Zec 1:11, in the sense of sitting or dwelling; not in a passive sense, “to be inhabited,” although it might be so expressed. שׁלוה is synonymous with שׁקטת in Zec 1:11. ישׁב, in the sense indicated at the close of the verse, is construed in the singular masculine, although it refers to a plurality of previous nouns (cf. Ges. §148, 2). In addition to Jerusalem, the following are mentioned as a periphrasis for the land of Judah: (1) her towns round about; these are the towns belonging to Jerusalem as the capital, towns of the mountains of Judah which were more or less dependent upon her: (2) the two rural districts, which also belonged to the kingdom of Judah, viz., the negeb, the south country (which Koehler erroneously identifies with the mountains of Judah; compare Jos 15:21 with Jos 15:48), and the shephēlâh, or lowland along the coast of the Mediterranean (see at Jos 15:33).

Zec 7:8-12

The second word of the Lord recals to the recollection of the people the disobedience of the fathers, and its consequences, viz., the judgment of exile, as a warning example. The introduction of the prophet’s name in the heading in Zec 7:8 does not warrant the strange opinion held by Schmieder and Schlier - namely, that our prophet is here reproducing the words of an earlier Zechariah who lived before the captivity - but is merely to be attributed to a variation in the form of expression. This divine word was as follows: Zec 7:9. “Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute judgment of truth, and show love and compassion one to another. Zec 7:10. And widows and orphans, strangers and destitute ones, oppress not; and meditate not in your heart the injury of every brother. Zec 7:11. But they refused to attend, and offered a rebellious shoulder, and hardened their ears that they might not hear. Zec 7:12. And they made their heart diamond, that they might not hear the law and the words which Jehovah of hosts sent through His Spirit by means of the former prophet, so that great wrath came from Jehovah of hosts.” כּה אמר is to be taken as a preterite here, referring to what Jehovah had caused to be proclaimed to the people before the captivity. The kernel of this announcement consisted in the appeal to the people, to keep the moral precepts of the law, to practise the true love of the neighbour in public life and private intercourse. Mishpat 'ĕmeth, judgment of truth (cf. Eze 18:8), is such an administration of justice as simply fixes the eye upon the real circumstances of any dispute, without any personal considerations whatever, and decides them in accordance with truth. For the fact itself, compare Exo 22:20, Exo 22:21; Exo 23:6-9; Lev 19:15-18; Deu 10:18-19; Deu 24:14; Isa 1:17; Jer 7:5-6; Jer 22:3; Eze 18:8; Hos 12:7, etc. רעת אישׁ אחיו, the injury of a man who is his brother (as in Gen 9:5); not “injury one towards another,” which would suppose a transposition of the אישׁ = אישׁ רעת אחיו. In Zec 7:11, Zec 7:12 the attitude of the people towards these admonitions of God is described. Nâthan kâthēph sōrereth: to give or offer a rebellious shoulder, as in Neh 9:29. The figure is borrowed from an ox, which will not allow a yoke to be placed upon its neck (cf. Hos 4:16). To make the ears heavy (hikhbı̄d), away from hearing, i.e., so that they do not hear (cf. Isa 6:10). To make the heart diamond (shâmı̄r), i.e., as hard as diamond. A stony heart is a heart not susceptible to impressions (cf. Eze 11:19). The relative אשׁר before shâlach refers to the two nouns named before, viz., tōrâh and debhârı̄m, though we need not on that account take tōrâh in the general sense of instruction. God also sent the law to the people through the prophets, i.e., caused them to preach it and impress it upon their hearts. The consequence of this obduracy of the people was, that “there arose great wrath from Jehovah” (cf. Zec 1:2; 2Ki 3:27).

Zec 7:13-14

This wrath is described in Zec 7:13, Zec 7:14. Zec 7:13. “It came to pass: as he cried and they did not hear, so will they cry and I shall not hear, said Jehovah of hosts. Zec 7:14. And I will scatter them with a whirlwind over all nations, who did not know them, and the land is laid waste behind them, so that no one passes to and fro. And thus they made the choice land a desert.” The form of the address changes in Zec 7:13. Whereas in the protasis the prophet is still speaking of Jehovah in the third person, in the apodosis he introduces Jehovah as speaking (so will they cry, and I, etc.) and announcing the punishment, which He will inflict upon the rebellious and has already inflicted in their captivity. This address of God is continued in Zec 7:14 as far as וּמשּׁב. The opinion, that the address terminates with לא ידעוּם, and that והארץ commences the account of the accomplishment of the purpose to punish, is not so much at variance with the circumstance, that in that case the last two clauses of Zec 7:14 would say essentially the same thing, as with the fact that והארץ וגו cannot, from its very form, be taken as an account of the accomplishment of the divine purpose. The perfect nâshammâh in this clause does not preclude our connecting it with the preceding one, but is used to set forth the devastation as a completed fact: the land will be (not become) waste. The infliction of the punishment is expressed in Zec 7:13 in the form of a divine talio. As they have not hearkened to the word of God, so will God, when they call upon Him, namely in distress (cf. Hos 5:15), also not hear (cf. Jer 11:11), but whirl them like a tempest over the nations. The form אסערם is the first pers. imperf. piel for אסערם or אסערם, and Aramaic (cf. Ges. §52, 2, Anm. 2). On the nations whom they do not know, and who will therefore have no pity and compassion upon them, compare Jer 22:28; Jer 16:13. מעבר וּמשּׁב (cf. Zec 9:8), that not one goes to and fro in the desolate land; lit., goes away from a place and returns again (cf. Exo 32:27). In the clause ויּשׂימוּ וגו the result of the stiff-necked obstinacy of the fathers is briefly stated: They have made the choice land a desert ('erets chemdâh, as in Jer 3:19 and Psa 106:24), so that they have brought upon the land all the calamity which is now bewailed upon the fast-days. Renewal and Completion of the Covenant of Grace - Zechariah 8

In this chapter we have the second half of the Lord’s answer to the question concerning the last-days, which promises to the people the restitution of the former relation of grace, and the future glorification of Israel, on the simple condition of their observing the moral precepts of the law. This double promise is contained in two words of God, each of which is divided into a number of separate sayings, containing the separate details of the salvation bestowed by the formula כּה אמר יי צ (thus saith Jehovah of hosts): the first into seven (Zec 8:2, Zec 8:3, Zec 8:4-5, Zec 8:6, Zec 8:7, Zec 8:9, Zec 8:14-17), the second into three (Zec 8:19, Zec 8:20-22, and Zec 8:23). Jerome observes, with reference to this: “By the separate words and sentences, in which Israel is promised not only prosperity, but things almost incredible in their magnitude, the prophet declares, 'Thus saith the Almighty God;' saying, in other words, Do not imagine that the things which I promise are my own, and so disbelieve me as only a man; they are the promises of God which I unfold.”

An Enquiry Concerning Fasting; Hypocrisy Reproved. (b. c. 520.)

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; 2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the Lord , 3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? 4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, 5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

This occasional sermon, which the prophet preached, and which is recorded in this and the next chapter, was above two years after the former, in which he gave them an account of his visions, as appears by comparing the date of this (v. 1), in the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius, with the date of that (ch. i. 1), in the eighth month of the second year of Darius; not that Zechariah was idle all that while (it is expressly said that he and Haggai continued prophesying till the temple was finished in the sixth year of Darius; Ezra vi. 14, 15), but during that time he did not preach any sermon that was afterwards published, and left upon record, as this is. God may be honoured, his work done, and his interest served, by word of mouth as well as by writing; and by inculcating and pressing what has been taught, as well as by advancing something new. Now here we have,

I. A case proposed concerning fasting. Some persons were sent to enquire of the priests and prophets whether they should continue to observe their yearly fasts, particularly that in the fifth month, as they had done. It is uncertain whether the case was put by those that yet remained in Babylon, who, being deprived of the benefit of the solemn feasts which God's ordinance appointed them, made up the want by the solemn fasts which God's providences called them to; or by those that had returned, but lived in the country, as some rather incline to think, because they are called the people of the land, v. 5. But, as to that, the answer given to the messengers of the captive Jews might be directed, not to them only, but to all the people. Observe,

1. Who they were that came with this enquiry—Sherezer and Regem-melech, persons of some rank and figure, for they came with their men, and did not think it below them, or any disparagement to them, to be sent on this errand, but rather an addition to their honour to be, (1.) Attendants in God's house, there to do duty and receive orders. The greatest of men are less than the least of the ordinances of Jesus Christ. (2.) Agents for God's people, to negotiate their affairs. Men of estates, having more leisure than men of business, ought to employ their time in the service of the public, and by doing good they make themselves truly great; the messengers of the churches were the glory of Christ, 2 Cor. viii. 23.

2. What the errand was upon which they came. They were sent perhaps not with gold and silver (as those, ch. vi. 10, 11), or, if they were, that is not mentioned, but upon the two great errands which should bring us all to the house of God, (1.) to intercede with God for his mercy. They were sent to pray before the Lord, and, some think (according to the usage then), to offer sacrifice, with which they offered up their prayers. The Jews, in captivity, prayed towards the temple (as appears Dan. vi. 10); but now that it was in a fair way to be rebuilt they sent their representatives to pray in it, remembering that God had said that his house should be called a house of prayer for all people, Isa. lvi. 7. In prayer we must set ourselves as before the Lord, must see his eye upon us and have our eye up to him. (2.) To enquire of God concerning his mind. Note, When we offer up our requests to God it must be with a readiness to receive instructions from him; for, if we turn away our ear from hearing his law, we cannot expect that our prayers should be acceptable to him. We must therefore desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life that we may enquire there (Ps. xxvii. 4), asking, not only, Lord, what wilt thou do for me? but, Lord what wilt thou have me to do?

3. Whom they consulted. They spoke to the priests that were in the house of the Lord and to the prophets; the former were an oracle for ordinary cases, the latter for extraordinary; they were blessed with both, and would try if either could acquaint them with the mind of God in this case. Note, God having given diversities of gifts to men, and all to profit with, we should make use of all as there is occasion. They were not so wedded to the priests, their stated ministers, as to distrust the prophets, who appeared, by the gifts given them, well qualified to serve the church; nor yet were they so much enamoured with the prophets as to despise the priests, but they spoke both to the priests and to the prophets, and, in consulting both, gave glory to the God of Israel, and that one Spirit who works all in all. God might speak to them either by urim or by prophets (1 Sam. xxviii. 6), and therefore they would not neglect either. The priests and the prophets were not jealous one of another, nor had any difference among themselves; let not the people then make differences between them, but thank God they had both. The prophets did indeed reprove what was amiss in the priests, but at the same time told the people that the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they must enquire the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts, Mal. ii. 7. Note, Those that would know God's mind should consult God's ministers, and in doubtful cases ask advice of those whose special business it is to search the scriptures.

4. What the case was which they desired satisfaction in (v. 3): Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years. Observe, (1.) What had been their past practice, not only during the seventy years of the captivity but to this time, which was twenty years after the liberty proclaimed them; they kept up solemn stated fasts for humiliation and prayer, which they religiously observed, according as their opportunities were, in their closets, families, or such assemblies for worship as they had. In the case here, they mention only one, that of the fifth month; but it appears, by ch. viii. 19, that they observed four anniversary fasts, one in the fourth month (June 17), in remembrance of the breaking up of the wall of Jerusalem (Jer. lii. 6), another in the fifth month (July 4), in remembrance of the burning of the temple (Jer. lii. 12, 13), another in the seventh month (September 3), in remembrance of the killing of Gedaliah, which completed their dispersion, and another in the tenth month (December 10), in remembrance of the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kings xxv. 1. Now it was very commendable in them to keep those fasts, thus to humble themselves under those humbling providences, by which God called them to weeping and mourning, thus to accommodate themselves to their troubles, and prepare themselves for deliverance. It would likewise be a means of possessing their children betimes with a due sense of the hand of the Lord gone out against them. (2.) What was their present doubt-whether they should continue these fasts or no. The case is put as by a single person: Should I weep? But it was the case of many, and the satisfaction of one would be a satisfaction to the rest. Or perhaps many had left it off, but the querist will not be determined by the practice of others; if God will have him continue it, he will, whatever others do. His fasting is described by his weeping, separating himself. A religious fast must be solemnized, not only by abstinence, here called a separating ourselves from the ordinary lawful comforts of life, but by a godly sorrow for sin, here expressed by weeping. "Should I still keep such days to afflict the soul as I have done these so many years?" It is said (v. 5) to be seventy years, computed from the last captivity, as before, ch. i. 12. The enquiry intimates a readiness to continue it, if God so appoint, though it be a mortification to the flesh. [1.] Something is to be said for the continuance of these fasts. Fasting and praying are good work at any time, and do good; we have always both cause enough and need enough to humble ourselves before God. To throw off these fasts would be an evidence of their being too secure, and a cause of their being more so. They were still in distress, and under the tokens of God's displeasure; and it is unwise for the patient to break off his course of physic while he is sensible of such remains of his distemper. But, [2.] There is something to be said for the letting fall of these fasts. God had changed the method of his providences concerning them, and returned in ways of mercy to them; and ought not they then to change the method of their duties? Now that the bridegroom has returned, why should the children of the bride-chamber fast? Every thing is beautiful in its season. And as to the fast of the fifth month (which is that they particularly enquire about), that, being kept in remembrance of the burning of the temple, might seem to be superseded rather than any of the other, because the temple was now in a fair way to be rebuilt. But, having long kept up this fast, they would not leave it off without advice, and without asking and knowing God's mind in the case. Note, A good method of religious services, which we have found beneficial to ourselves and others, ought not to be altered without good reason, and therefore not without mature deliberation.

II. An answer given to this case. It should seem that, though the question looked plausible enough, those who proposed it were not conscientious in it, for they were more concerned about the ceremony than about the substance; they seemed to boast of their fasting, and to upbraid God Almighty with it, that he had not sooner returned in mercy to them; "for we have done it these so many years." As those, Isa. lviii. 3, Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not? And some think that unbelief, and distrust of the promises of God, were at the bottom of their enquiry; for, if they had given them the credit that was due to them, they needed not to doubt but that their fasts ought to be laid aside, now that the occasion of them was over. And therefore the first answer to their enquiry is a very sharp reproof of their hypocrisy, directed, not only to the people of the land, but to the priests, who had set up these fasts, and perhaps some of them were for keeping them up, to serve some purpose of their own. Let them all take notice that, whereas they thought they had made God very much their debtor by these fasts, they were much mistaken, for they were not acceptable to him, unless they had been observed in a better manner and to better purpose.

1. What they did that was good was not done aright (v. 5): You fasted and mourned. They were not chargeable with the omission or neglect of the duty, though it was displeasing to the body (thy fasts were continually before me, Ps. l. 8), but they had not managed them aright. Note, Those that come to enquire of their duty must be willing first to be told of their faults. And those that seem zealous for the outside of a duty ought to examine themselves faithfully whether they have the regard they ought to have to the inside of it. (1.) They had not an eye to God in their fasting: Did you at all fast unto me, even to me? He appeals to their own consciences; they will witness against them that they had not been sincere in it, much more will God, who is greater than the heart and knows all things. You know very well that you did not at all fast to me; in fasting did you fast to me? There was the carcase and form of the duty, but none of the life, and soul, and power of it. Was it to me, even to me? The repetition intimates what a great deal of stress is laid upon this as the main matter, in that and other holy exercises, that they be done to God, even to him, with an eye to his word as our rule, and his glory as our end, in them, seeking to please him and to obtain his favour, and studious by the sincerity of our intention to approve ourselves to him. When this was wanting every fast was but a jest. To fast, and not fast to God, was to mock him and provoke him, and could not be pleasing to him. Those that make fasting a cloak for sin, as Jezebel's fast, or by it make their court to men for their applause, as the Pharisees, or that rest in outward expressions of humiliation while their hearts are unhumbled, as Ahab, do they fast to God, even to him? Is this the fast that God has chosen? Isa. lviii. 5. If the solemnities of our fasting, though frequent, long, and severe, do not serve to put an edge upon devout affections, to quicken prayer, to increase godly sorrow, and to alter the temper of our minds and the course of our lives for the better, they do not at all answer the intention, and God will not accept them as performed to him, even to him. (2.) They had the same eye to themselves in their fasting that they had in their eating and drinking (v. 6): "When you did eat, and when you did drink, on other days (nay, perhaps on your fast-days, in the observation of which you could, when you saw cause, dispense with yourselves, and take a liberty to eat and drink), did you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? Have you not always done as you had a mind yourselves? Why then do you now pretend a desire to know the mind of God? In your religious feasts and thanksgivings you have had no more an eye to God than in your fasts." Or, rather, it refers to their common meals; they did no more design the honour of God in their fasting and praying than they did in their eating and drinking; but self was still the centre in which the lines of all their actions, natural, civil, and religious, met. They needed not be in such care about the continuance of their fasts, unless they had kept them better. Note, We miss our end in eating and drinking when we eat to ourselves and drink to ourselves, whereas we should eat and drink to the glory of God (1 Cor. x. 31), that our bodies may be fit to serve our souls in his service.

2. The principal good thing they should have done was left undone (v. 7): "Should you not hear the words which the Lord has cried by the former prophets? Yes, that you should have done on your fast-days; it was not enough to weep and separate yourselves on your fast-days, in token of your sorrow for the judgments you were under, but you should have searched the scriptures of the prophets, that you might have seen what was the ground of God's controversy with your fathers, and might have taken warning by their miseries not to tread in the steps of their iniquities. You ask, Shall we do as we have done, in fasting? No, you must do that which you have not yet done; you must repent of your sins and reform you lives. This is what we now call you to, and it is the same that the former prophets called your fathers to." To affect them the more with the mischief that sin had done them, that they might be brought to repent of it, he puts them in mind of the former flourishing state of their country: Jerusalem was then inhabited and in prosperity, that is now desolate and in distress. The cities round about, that are now in ruins, were then inhabited too and in peace. The country likewise was very populous: Men inhabited the south of the plain, which was not at all fortified, and yet they lived safely, and which was fruitful, and so they lived plentifully. But then God by the prophets cried to them, as one in earnest, and importunate with them, to amend their ways and doings, or else their prosperity would soon be at an end. "Now," says the prophet, "you should have taken notice of that, and have inferred that what was required of them for the preventing of the judgments, and which they did not, is required of you for the removal of the judgments; and, if you do it not, all your fasting and weeping signify nothing." Note, The words of the later prophets agree with those of the former; and, whether people are in prosperity or adversity, they must be called upon to leave their sins and do their duty; this must still be the burden of every song.

Wilful Disobedience of Israel; Consequences of Disobedience. (b. c. 520.)

8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, 9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. 12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts: 14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

What was said v. 7, that they should have heard the words of the former prophets, is here enlarged upon, for warning to these hypocritical enquirers, who continued their sins when they asked with great preciseness whether they should continue their fasts. This prophet had before put them in mind of their fathers' disobedience to the calls of the prophets, and what was the consequence of it (ch. i. 4-6), and now here again; for others' harms should be our warnings. God's judgments upon Israel of old for their sins were written for admonition to us Christians (1 Cor. x. 11), and the same use we should make of similar providences in our own day.

I. This prophet here repeats the heads of the sermons which the former prophets preached to their fathers (v. 9, 10), because the very same things were required of them now. "Thus does the Lord of hosts speak to you now, and thus he did speak to your fathers, saying, Execute true judgment." The duties here required of them, which would have been the lengthening of the tranquillity of their fathers and must be the restoring of their tranquillity, are not keeping fasts and offering sacrifices, but doing justly and loving mercy, duties which they were bound to by the light and law of nature, though there had been no prophets sent to insist upon them, duties which had a direct tendency to the public welfare and peace, and which they themselves would be the gainers by, and not God. 1. Magistrates must administer justice impartially, according to the maxims of the law and the merits of the cause, without respect of persons: "Judge judgment of truth, and execute it when you have judged it." 2. Neighbours must have a tender concern for one another, and must not only do one another no wrong, but must be ready to do one another all the good offices that lie in their power. They must show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, as the case called for it. The infirmities of others, as well as their calamities, are to be looked upon with compassion. Hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim—This kindness we ask and exercise. 3. They must not bear hard upon those whom they have advantage against, and who, they know, are not able to help themselves. They must not, either in commerce or in course of law, oppress the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, and the poor, v. 10. The weakest must not be thrust to the wall because they are weakest. No thanks to men not to deny right to those who are in a capacity to demand it and recover it; but we must, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake, give those their own who have not power to force it from us. Or it intimates that that which is but exactness with others is exaction upon the widows and the fatherless; nay, that not relieving and helping them as we ought is, in effect, oppressing them. 4. They must not only not do wrong to any, but they must not so much as desire it nor think of it: "Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. Do not project it; do not wish it; nay do not so much as please yourself with the fancy of it." The law of God lays a restraint upon the heart, and forbids the entertaining, forbids the admitting, of a malicious, spiteful, ill-natured thought. Deut. xv. 9, Beware that there be not a thought in thy Belial heart against thy brother.

II. He describes the wilfulness and disobedience of their fathers, who persisted in all manner of wickedness and injustice, notwithstanding these exhortations and admonitions frequently given them in God's name; various expressions to this purport are here heaped up (v. 11, 12), setting forth the stubbornness of that carnal mind which is enmity against God, and is not in subjection to the law of God, neither indeed can be. They were obstinate and refractory, and persisted in their transgressions of the law purely from a spirit of contradiction to the law. 1. They would not, if they could help it, come within hearing of the prophets, but kept at a distance; or, if they could not avoid hearing what they said, yet they resolved they would not heed it: They refused to hearken, and looked another way as if they had not been spoken to. 2. If they did hear what was said to them, and, as it seemed, inclined at first to comply with it, yet they flew off when it came to the setting to, and, like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, they pulled away the shoulder, and would not submit to the easy yoke and the light burden of God's commandments. They gave a withdrawing shoulder (so the word is); they seemed to lay their shoulder to the work, but they presently withdrew it again, as those Jer. xxxiv. 10, 11. They were like a deceitful bow, as that son that said, I go, sir, but went not. 3. They filled their own minds with prejudices against the word of God, and had some objection or other ready wherewith to fortify themselves against every sermon they heard. They stopped their ears, that they should not hear, as the deaf adder (Ps. lviii. 4), and none are so deaf as those that will not hear, that make their own ear heavy, as the word is. 4. They resolved that nothing which was said to them, for the enforcing of these injunctions, should make any impression upon them: They made their hearts as an adamant-stone, as a diamond, the hardest of stones to be wrought upon, or as a flint, which the mason cannot hew into shape as he can other stone out of the quarry. Nothing is so hard, so unmalleable, so inflexible, as the heart of a presumptuous sinner; and those whose hearts are hard may thank themselves; they are of their own hardening, and it is just with God to give them over to a reprobate sense, to the hardness and impenitence of their own hearts. These stubborn sinners hardened their hearts on purpose lest they should hear what God said to them by the written word, by the law of Moses, and by the words of the prophets that preached to them; they had Moses and the prophets, but resolved they would hear neither, nor would they have been persuaded though one had been sent to them from the dead. The words of the prophet were not regarded by them, though they were words which the Lord of hosts sent and directed to them, though he sent them immediately by his Spirit in the prophets; so that in despising them they affronted God himself and resisted the Holy Ghost. Note, The reason why men are not good is because they will not be so; they will not consider, will not comply; and therefore, if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.

III. He shows the fatal consequences of it to their fathers: Therefore came great wrath from the Lord of hosts. God was highly displeased with them, and justly; he required nothing of them but what was reasonable in itself and beneficial to them; and yet they refused, and in a most insolent manner too. What master could bear to be so abused by his own servant? Such an implacable enmity to the gospel as this was to the law and the prophets was that which brought wrath to the uttermost upon the last generation of the Jewish church, 1 Thess. ii. 16. Great sins against the Lord of hosts, whose authority is incontestable, bring great wrath from the Lord of hosts, whose power is irresistible. And the effect was, 1. As they had turned a deaf ear to God's word, so God turned a deaf ear to their prayers, v. 13. As he cried to them in their prosperity to leave their sins, and they would not hear, but persisted in their iniquities, so they cried to him in the day of their trouble to remove his judgments, and he would not hear, but lengthened out their calamities. Those that set God at defiance, in the height of their pride, when pangs came upon them cried unto him. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee. But God has said it, and will abide by it, He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination, Prov. xxviii. 9; i. 24, &c. Iniquity, regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the success of prayer, Ps. lxvi. 18. 2. As they flew off from their duty and allegiance to God, and were of desultory and unsettled spirits, so God dissipated them and threw them about as chaff before a whirlwind: He scattered them among all the nations whom they knew not, and whom therefore they could not expect to receive any kindness from, v. 14. 3. As they violated all the laws of their land, so God took away all the glories of it: Their land was desolate after them, and no man passed through or returned. All that country that was the kingdom of the two tribes, after the dispersion of the remaining Jews, upon the slaughter of Gedaliah, was left utterly uninhabited; there was not man, woman, or child, in it, till the Jews returned at the end of seventy years' captivity; nay, it should seem, the very roads that lay through the country were deserted (none passed or repassed), which, as it had an intimation of mercy in it (though they were cast out of it, yet it was kept empty for their return), so for the present it made the judgment appear much the more dismal; for what a horrid wilderness must a land be that had been so many years uninhabited! And they might thank themselves; it was they that by their own wickedness laid the pleasant land desolate. It was not so much the Chaldeans that did it. No; they did it themselves. The desolations of a land are owing to the wickedness of its inhabitants, Ps. cvii. 34. This came of their wilful disobedience to the law of God. And the present generation saw how desolate sin had made that pleasant land, and yet would not take warning.

CHAP. VII.

Verſe. 1. IN the ſourth yeer of King Darit[illegible: 1 letter]s] Two yeers and a month after the former ſermon. The word of the Lord was precious in thoſe dayes: T[illegible: 2 letters] Lod gave the word: Pſal. 68.11. but it cannot be ſaid that great was the company of thoſe [illegible: 1 letter]hat pr[illegible: 1 letter]ach[illegible: 1 letter]a it; during the Captivity they complained that there was no more any Prophet; neither any among them that knew how long their mi[illegible: 1 letter]ery ſhould laſt. Soon after their return, God ſtined them up Haggie, and Zachary; and after that Malachy: and then there was Chathimath chazon, as the Jewes ph[illegible: 1 letter]afe it, a ſealing up or end of Propheſie. Onely they had Bath-gol as they calt it, a voice from heav[illegible: 1 letter]n ſometime, as Mat. 3.17. Ioh. 12.28. This and the pool of Betheida only were left them as extraordinary fignes of Gods love to that people. But for a puniſhment of their killing the Prophets (as they did this Zachary between the Porch and the Altar) and ſtoning thoſe that were ſent unto them (as they did the other Zachary the ſon of Jehojadah) they had no more Prophet[illegible: 1 letter],Mat. 23.37. till the Archprophet, and his forerunner the Baptiſt came. And now alſo by thi[illegible: 1 letter] long vacation of two yeers and a month, it appeareth that Preachers were rare, and that ſermons they had but ſeldome. Neither was it otherwiſe here in England at the firſt reiormation: for to many churches (for want of Preachers) Readers were ſent. Whence one of the Martyrs wiſhed that every able Miniſter might have ten Congregations committed to his charge, [illegible: 1 word] Cant. 180. till further proviſion could be made.

the word of the Lord came unto Zachariah The Lord is ſaid to come to Balaam, Abimelech, Laban &c. But he never concredited his word to theſe proſane perſons; as he did to the holy Prophets, of whom it is ſaid as here, The word of the Lord came unto them.

in the fourth day of the ninth month] which anſwereth to our November; why the preciſe time of the propheſies is ſet down, See the Note on Hag. 1.1.

Verſe 2. When they had ſent] They? who? Not the Pr[illegible: 1 letter]nces of Perſia that were now proſelyted, as the vainglorious Jewes (and after them Heymo and Hugo) would have it, for the honour of their nation. Nor the Samarinans (as ſome in Theodoret held) as ſeeming to Judaize in part, to joyne Jewiſh ceremonies with heatheniſh rites. But either the Iewes yet [illegible: 1 letter]emayning in Babylon, as Calvin conceiveth (blaming them [illegible: 1 word] their ſloth [illegible: 1 span] commenthing them for [illegible: 1 span] they [illegible: 1 span] vice) Of elſe the whole body or [illegible: 1 span] laſt[illegible: 2 letters] [illegible: 1 letter]ome particul[illegible: 1 letter] man not named [illegible: 1 span] I [illegible: 1 word] in the fifth moneth [illegible: 1 span] Enallage; the ſingular [illegible: 1 span] name of the whole [illegible: 1 span]

unto the houſe of God] Not to [illegible: 1 span] from Bethel (as the [illegible: 1 span] likely. But, to the houſe of God, [illegible: 1 span] to the [illegible: 1 span] nigh finiſhed: and that [illegible: 1 span] que[illegible: 1 letter]tion here [illegible: 1 word]

Sherezer, and Regemmeleeh, and their men] that is, their [illegible: 1 span] were men of rank and faſhion; as it was fit they ſhould be in [illegible: 1 span] polyment. And here the Sep[illegible: 1 letter]uagim, by their correct tranſlating of the [illegible: 1 span] have cauſed a ſtrange coyle among thoſe that ſtrive to defend them [illegible: 1 span] they tranſlated againſt their will: and thereſore what can we expect from them but ſlippery doing? It is moſt ſure, that the tranſlation of theirs which we now have, is full of errours: and that they pervert diverſe clear prop[illegible: 1 letter]eſit [illegible: 1 span] Jeſus Chriſt, and have occaſioned many miſtakes, being themſelves mnay times groſsly miſtaken as here: unleſſe they did it wilfully. Some [illegible: 1 span] men think that the Septuagint that we have now, is not theirs. It was burnt [illegible: 1 span] (as ſome hold) in the library of Alexandria, or (as others by [illegible: 1 span] when he burnt Serapion.

to pray before the Lord] Heb. to intreat the face of the Lord, [illegible: 1 span] prayers and ſacrifices in the moſt ſolemne ſort. The Hebrew properly [illegible: 1 span] Lord with prayers, to ſet upon him [illegible: 1 letter]ith utmoſt [illegible: 1 span] untill he yeeld, to urge him (as they did the Prophet 2 [illegible: 1 span] 17.) [illegible: 1 word] he be aſhamed to deny, till we put [illegible: 1 letter]m to the bſuſh, or leave a blot in his [illegible: 1 word] (as ſhe Luke 18.5. unleſſe we m[illegible: 3 letters]revaile. This muſt be done, eſpecially when we are to converſe with Pro[illegible: 1 letter]nets about ſoule-buſineſſes, caſes of conſcience &c.

Verſe 3. And to ſpeak unto the P[illegible: 3 letters] ] whoſe office is to [illegible: 1 span] knowledge[illegible: 1 letter] and preſent it too; to teach Jacob God judgement, and to [illegible: 1 span] before him Deut. 33.10. to ſelfoyle Mae. [illegible: 1 span] 9. to bring [illegible: 1 span] 8.22. to ſpeake as the Oracles of God, 1. Pet. [illegible: 1 span] ſand can skill of Iob 33.23.

and to the Prophets] who were extr[illegible: 1 letter]ordinarily raiſed up ſome ames by Gods, [illegible: 2 letters] aſſiſt the Prieſts in teaching the people, and to ſhame them for their back wardneſſe to ſuch buſineſſes. See the Note on ver. 1.

ſhould I weep] that is, faſt, which, was ever with [illegible: 1 span] 17. and affliction of the ſoule; which indeed is [illegible: 1 span] Levit. 16.31. and 23.37. the which, it is but as a braineleſſe he[illegible: 3 letters] or a life [illegible: 1 span] humble day (ſaith One) without an humble, [illegible: 1 span] but an high provocation, like Zimri [illegible: 1 word] when [illegible: 1 word] Congregation were weeping before the door of the Tabernacl[illegible: 1 letter]

in the fifth moneth] wherein the Temple was conſumed to [illegible: 1 span] In a ſad remembrance whereof the Jewes [illegible: 1 span] day of [illegible: 1 span] for a ſolemne faſt every yeer, till now

ſeparating my ſelf] Heb. Nazar[illegible: 4 letters] my ſelf, that is abridging my ſelf of meates, drinks and delights. Hence a faſting day is called a day of reſtraint I[illegible: 1 letter]el 2.15.Tſom. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Hence it hath its name both in Hebrew and Greek. Hence [illegible: 3 letters] it is ſpoken of as a foule fault Eſay 58.3. Beheld in the day of your faſt [illegible: 1 span] The Popiſh faſt is a meer mock faſt[illegible: 2 letters] for they ſeparate themſel[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 span] kind of meates only: it is not a to tall abſtinence. And here in [illegible: 1 span] ofTurk Hiſt. 777. the very Turks, who upon their faſting-dayes will [illegible: 3 letters] ſo much [illegible: 1 span] or waſh their mo[illegible: 1 letter]ths with water all the day long, before [illegible: 1 span] in the sky: and then they-make all the cheer and joy they can [illegible: 1 span] as the At ick Daines in their Theſmophoria (a feaſt of Ceres) prepare [illegible: 1 span] faſting, but after that laid the reines in the neck and ran riot.

as I have done theſe ſo many yeers] Seventy at leaſt. But they ſeem to reckon up upon ſo many as was ſcarce to be told and that therefore God was deep in their debt. Is it not time now to give over, ſith the Temple wa almoſt reedified? This was the great caſe [illegible: 1 word] ded by theſe Queſtioniſts. Hereunto an anſwer is made by the Prophet [illegible: 1 word] two following chapters, and this anſwer is partly Reprehenſory Chap. 7. partly Conſolatory Chap. 8. The Sun of righteouſneſſe loves not to ſet in a cloud: Verſe 4. Then came the word of the Lord of Hoſts] This is oft prefaced for amhority's Take: and to procure andience and reverence. The Lord God hath Spoken, who can but be affected? See that ye deſpiſe not him that ſpeaketh from heaven. The Angel Mat. 28.7. uſeth no other argument to aſſure[illegible: 1 letter] the women of the truth of what he had told them, but this, Lo I have told you.

Verſe 5. Speak unto all the people of the land] Not to the Embaſſadours onely: as the cauſe is common, ſo let the anſwer be publike: for they were all too well conceited of their external ſervices, bodily exerciſes, and made much adoe about a trifle, a practiſe of their own deviſing, neglecting the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith Mat. 23.23.

and to the prieſts] Who themſelves were to ſeek belike; And having been the authours and obſervers of theſe cuſtoms, were backward to aboliſh them, as thoſe that reſted in them without true repentance, faith and new obedience.

when ye faſted and mourned in the fifth and ſeventh moneth] ſc. For the ſlaughter of Gedaliah and the ſad conſequence thereof 2 Kings 25.22. and Jer. 41.1.

even thoſe ſeventy yeers] wherein ye have loſt full ſevenſcore faſts: and were not a button the better for them: becauſe they faſted rather to get off their chaines then their ſins: they reſted in their faſts, in the work done, neither regarding how, nor why they ſhould faſt. Now God weighes mens actions by their aymes. And with him, though a good ayme doth not make a bad action good (as we ſee in the caſe of Uzzah) yet a bad aym makes a good action bad, as in Jehu's reformation. He had a ſquint eye to his own ends in all (as the eagle hath an eye upon her prey when ſhe flies higheſt) and ſo conſulted ruine to his own houſe.

did ye at all faſt unto me, even to me?] Did you propound me to your ſelves? Or gat I any thing by the hand? Did you ſerve me? and not your ſelves rather upon me? was it not ſinful ſelf-love, and baſe ſelf-ſeeking that put you upon theſe practiſes? lookt you any higher therein, then onely to the ſatisfying of your own carnal humours? God was not in all your thoughts. This Daniel ſaw and acknowledged with grief and ſhame, Chap. 9.13. All this is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and underſtand thy truth: Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us &c. The Jews no doubt had prayed much and oft during that ſeventy yeers captivity: yet Daniel denies that they had prayed to any purpoſe: becauſe they had failed both quoad fontem & quoad finem, they had acted from evil principles, and had been carried on by ſelf-reſpects. They had not that true-heart ſpoken of by the Apoſtle Heb. 10.22. but that wicked minde mentioned by the Wiſe-man Prov. 21.27. The ſacrifice of the wicked is abominable: how much more when he brings it with a wicked minde: either as thinking to cozen the God of heaven,Hoſ. 10.1. Cant. 5.4. or at leaſt to ſtop his judgements, and ſtill the noiſe of his own conſcience by his external ſervices. Thus Ephraim bore fruit to himſelf, but proved an empty vine: when as the ſpouſe (that fruitful vine on Chriſts houſe-ſide) kept her fruit for her beloved: who therefore fed heartily upon it, and not upon her vine onely, but her milk too, not upon her honey onely, her finer and ſweeter ſervices, but upon her honey comb too, that had much wax in it, meaning her worſer and courſer performances. If the heart be upright all's well betwixt Chriſt and his people. O labour for that truth in the inward parts, that we may be with Appelles approved in Chriſt Rom. 16. that he may ſay of [illegible: 1 letter]s, as once he did of Nathaneel, Behold an Iſraelite indeed in whom is no guile, Great vertues [illegible: 1 letter]ot, ſweetned with ſincerity are no ornaments unto us. And Great infirmities, not ſowred with hypocriſie, are no great deformities. Thoſe God acknowledgeth not, theſe he imputeth not.

Verſe 6. And when ye did cat and when ye did drink] q. d. In all your actions natural, civil, recreative, religious, you ſhould have ſought, ſerved, and ſet up me, you ſhould have done all to the glory of God, as ſaith the Apoſtle: you ſhould have eat, drunk and ſlept eternall life, as it was faid of a certain Scotch Divine. The way of life is above to the wife Prov. 15.24. he goes a higher way then h[illegible: 2 letters] neighbour, who contents himſelf with a natural uſe of the creature, but he can extract a ſpiritual. Grace is called the divine nature, as that which Elixir-like by contaction turns all into the ſame property with it ſelf: meat makes us not acceptable to God 1 Cor. 8.8. The kingdom of God conſiſts not in meats and dr[illegible: 1 letter]nks, Rom. 14.17. Howbeit the Iſraelites were commanded, as to faſt, ſo to feaſt [illegible: 2 letters]. forethe Lord; that is, in faith and obedience: & to do every thing from the heart, as unto him. This theſe Jews did not; and are therefore worthily blamed. From their feeding themſelves without fear of God, is concluded their no reſpect to him in their faſts and holy ſervices: ſith true goodneſſe is ever like it ſelf, and carries an uniformity in all proceedings.

Verſe 7. Should ye not hear the words which the Lord ha[illegible: 1 letter]h cryed] q.d. Hath [illegible: 2 letters] not ſpoken loud enough, long enough? Hath he not ſufficiently declared his[illegible: 3 letters] concerning theſe external actions, and eſpecially concerning a faſt prophaned through wickedneſſe Iſai. 58.3, 4. Jer. 14.12. and eiſewhere. Sed ſurdo ſ[illegible: 1 letter]ul[illegible: 1 letter]m; All hath been but as a trumpet ſounded in a dead mans ear: you are altogether uncounſellable, untractable: and all that hath been ſpoken hath even been ſpilt upon you.

ſhould ye [illegible: 1 letter]ot the words] So the Original runs, by a conciſe and ſhort kinde of ſpeaking, well befitting a ſharp reproof. Should ye not hear them and heed them? which if you had done, you might have ſpared that labour of comming to us: and out of the former propheſies have reſolved your ſelves.

when Ieruſalem was inhib[illegible: 2 letters]ted, and in proſperity] But then their hearts were fat as [illegible: 2 letters]eaſe, and the proſperity of thoſe fools deſtroyed them: who,Frov. 1.3[illegible: 1 letter] 3[illegible: 1 letter] if they had hearkned to wiſdom, had dwelt ſaſely: and lived quite from the fear of evil. Surely as thoſe that lie on down pillows cannot well hear: ſo ſuch as be at caſe in Sion, cannot profit by good counſel. It is by correction that God openeth the eares of men, and fealeth their inſtruction. Job. 33.16.

when men inh thit the South of the pla[illegible: 1 letter]n] Heb. the South of the plain, that is, the bounds and borders, that part of the countrey that lieth moſt open to the inrodes of the enemy, and hath moſt of all felt the deſolations of war. See Jer. 1[illegible: 1 letter].26, and 32,44.

Verſe And the word] See the Note on Verſe 4.

Verſe 9. Ex[illegible: 2 letters]me true judgement] According to Deut. 1.17. See the Note there. The prophet having here to do with Hypocrites, who boaſt much of their piety with neglect of charity and ſeem to be ſtrickt in the ſervice of God, but make overbold with men, preſſeth them to duties of the ſecond table, which yet he would have exerciſed in the firſt table: for not onely the ſecond is included in the firſt, but in the very firſt commandment of the Law the obſervation of the reſt is commanded, as Luther well obſerveth.

and ſhew mercy] Or bountifulneſſe, kindneſſe, favourable dealing.

And compaſſions] Heb bowels q.d. Do it out of deep pitty fiom the heart-root.Eſay 57. Draw out, not your ſheafe onely, but your ſoul to the [illegible: 1 word] this way the pooreſt may exerciſe his Charity: though he cannot ſhew mercy, yet he may love it [illegible: 3 letters]6.8 he may wiſh well to it, as theſe poor wretches that were willing indeed but never (alaſſe) able to relieve the neceſſitous Mat 25.35. we uſually call ſuch poor men, poor ſouls: but in the bowels of compaſſions a poor ſoul may be a rich Chriſtian: and a rich man may have a poor ſoul.

Verſe 10. And oppreſſe not the widow nor the ſathe[illegible: 3 letters]ſe] Widows and Orphans are Gods clients, taken into his ſpecial protection.

the ſtranger] Whoſe right is ſo ſacred, ſaith one, that there was never ration ſo barbarous, that would violate the ſame.

nor the poor] whoſe miſery moves compaſſion without an Oratour. In the low countries they may not beg, but only look pittifully. To grinde the faces of ſuch is barbarous cruelty: to wrong them, or but wrangle with them, is called, man-eating, Pſal. 14.4.

and let none of you imagine evil againſt his brother in your heart.] For though you never act it, yet Fecit quiſque quantum voluit, ſaith Seneca It is ſaid, Joſh. 24.9. Balac aroſe and fought with Iſrael: And yet the ſtory ſaith nothing ſo. Sed fieri dicitur quod tentatur aut intenditur, ſaith Ribera upon Amos 9.5. Hec did not, becauſe he durſt not: yet he is ſaid to have done it, becauſe he had a mind to do it. A man may die of an inward bleeding: ſo of heart-ſinnes, which are majoris reatus, as we ſee in devils, though outward ſinnes are majoris infamiae, as the Schools well obſerve.

Verſe 11. But they refuſed to hearken] Being a nation void of counſell, Deut. 32.28. not willing to know what they ſhould do, leſt they ſhould do what they would not. Nay (ſaid they once, when they had nothing elſe to ſay) but we will have a king.

and pulled away the ſhoulder] As untamed heifers do from the yoke: or untoward Porters from the burthen. The Vulgar rendreth it, Averterunt ſcapulam recedentem, making it a Metaphor from thoſe that ſcornfully turn their backs upon their betters, when they like not their commands: as the Earl of Eſſex did once upon Queen Elizabeth; Camd. Eliz. Anno 1598. whereat ſhe waxing impatient, gave him a cuffe on the ear, bidding him be gone with a miſchief. Sides and ſhoulders ſhould be ſet to Gods work, Zeph. 3.9.

and ſtopped their ears] Heb. they made heavy their ears. See here, how they proceeded by degrees from bad to worſe (for Nemo repentè fit turpiſſimus) noted in the many Ands here uſed. There is a concatenation of Vices as well as of Graces: and he that is one ſtep down the ladder of hell, knoweth not where he ſhall ſtop, till he break his neck at the very bottom. Wherefore Principiis chſta. Meddle not with ſin: it is modeſt and maidenlike at firſt, but who knows what it may come to? We have heard of Virgins ſo modeſt at firſt, as to bluſh at the motions of an honeſt love, who being once corrupt and debauched, have grown boldly laſcivious, ſo as to ſollicite others, ſo as to proſtitute themſelves to all commers, &c. Keep thee therefore farre from an cvil matter, Exod. 23.7. have nothing to do with the unfruitfull works of darkneſſe, Epheſ. 5.11. Circa ſerpentis antrum poſitus non eris diu illaeſus. Iſidor. He that playes upon the hole of the aſp may be ſuddenly ſtung.

Verſe 12. Yea, they made their hearts as an Adamant] that hardeſt of ſtones, harder then the flint, Ezek. 3.9. then the nether-milſtone, Job 41.24. Pliny ſaith of it; Durities ejus eſt inenarrabilis, & ſimul ignium victrix natura &] nunquam incaleſcens. The hardneſſe of this ſtone is unſpeakable: the fire cannot burn it, nor ſo much as heat it thorow: the hammer cannot break it; and therefore the Greeks call it an Adamant from its untameableneſſe. Hircino tamen rumpitur ſanguine, ſaith the ſame Authour. Howbeit this hardeſt ſtone ſoaked for a while in goats-blood, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Apocal. 1 may be diſſolved and broken in pieces. So may the hardeſt heart by the blood of Chriſt (the true ſcape-goat) applied by faith. They ſhall look upon him whom they have pierced, and ſhall mourn: He ſhall look again upon them, and they ſhall melt much more. A ſtroke from guilt broke Judas his heart into deſpair: but a look from Chriſt broke Peters heart into tears. Now till the heart be thus graciouſly mollified, inſtructions glide off it, as rain falling upon a rock: Afflictions, Gods hammers do but beat upon an adamant, qui reſpuit ſcalptra & malleos, quin & ipſos diſrumpit, which will ſooner break them, then be broken by them. Ye ſtiffenecked and uncircumciſed in hearts and cars, ye do always reſiſt the Holy Ghoſt: as your fathers did, ſo do ye, Act. 7.51. How their fathers did, appears by this Text, and Neh. 9.29. They had not onely ſinews of iron, a naturall hereditary hardneſſe, (whereby all men are born averſe from, yea adverſe to the motions of the Spirit: That which is born of the fleſh is fleſh) but alſo browes of braſſe, Efay 48.4. an habituall, voluntary, adventitious, wilfull hardneſſe; refuſing to be reformed, hating to be healed: ſuch a deſperate hardneſſe as neither Miniſtery, nor miſery, nor miracle, nor mercy could poſſibly mollifie.

by the former Prophets] Heb.Manus enim eſt [non-Latin text not transcribed], Ariſt. by the hand of the former Prophets, that is, by their mouth and miniſtery: but to as little purpoſe, through their ſingular obſtinacy, as when Bede preached to an heap of ſtones.

Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of Hoſts] Which argues that they were great ſinners before the Lord, as Gen. 13.13. for he doth not uſe to kill flies upon mens browes with beetles.

Verſe 13. Therefore it is come [illegible: 1 letter]o paſſe] By a moſt juſt and equall retaliation. Diſtributive juſtice requireth that men ſhould be puniſhed according to the nature,Prov. 14.14 and kind of their offences. The back-ſlider in heart ſhall be filled with his own wayes: As he makes a match with miſchief, ſo he ſhall have his belly-full of it: he hath ſold himſelf to do wickedneſſe, and he ſhall be ſure to hav[illegible: 1 letter] his payment. With the froward God will ſhew himſelf froward, Pſal. 18.26. he will be as croſſe as they are, for the hearts of them. If they turn the deaf ear to to him, hee'll do as much for them another time. They ſhall call and cry for help till their hearts and ſides ake, but all in vain: hee'll not come at them. If they pull away the ſhoulder, he will pull away their ſupporters, and they ſhall be overthrown in ſtony places, Pſal. 141.6. If they harden their hearts, he will harden his hand, and haſten their deſtruction. This ſhall they have of Gods hand,Eſay 50. they ſhall lie down in ſorrow.

Verſe 14. But I ſcattered them with a whirl-wind] This is the ſecond part of their puniſhment. The firſt was no audience, or help from heaven at their greateſt need, verſe 13. This was the curſe of Saul, 1 Sam. 28.15. of Moah, Eſay 16.12. of Davids enemies, Pſal. 18.41. The next now is, they were diſjected and diſſipated, as the duſt of the mountains before a whirl-wind: caſt out of their native ſoil, and carried they knew not whither, with a great and fearfull diſperſion, and diſcerption of the ſame body and nation.

thus the land was deſolate after them] This is the third degree of their grievous puniſhment, their land laid utterly waſte and deſolate: according to that, God turneth a fruitfull land into barrenneſſe for the wickedneſſe of them that dwell therein, Pſal. 107.34. Here a learned Expoſitour obſerveth a wonderfull providence,M. Pemble in loc. that this pleaſant countrey, left thus deſtitute of inhabitants, and compaſſed about with warlike Nations, was not invaded, and replanted by forreiners for ſeventy yeers ſpace: but enjoyed her Sabbaths, reſting from tillage and all other employments.

for they laid the pleaſant land deſolate] They, by their ſinnes, rather then the Babylonians by their Armies, did all this ſpoil, as Daiel alſo confeſſeth, chap. 9.16. and Nehemiah, chap 1.8. Sin is the great make-bate, hell-hag, trouble-town that hurled confuſion over the world at firſt: and brings deſolation ſtill to pleaſant countreys. Paleſtins was very pleaſant, not more by the nature of the ſoil,Ezek. 20.[illegible: 1 letter] then by Gods ſpeciall bleſſing: a land that he had eſpied out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which was the glory of all lands: This land they had laid deſolate, or for an aſtoniſhment, as ſome render it: or for an In qua quid? as Montanus reads it, What's here? Nothing of its old pleaſantneſſe.