The next two visions (ch. iii, iv) are occupied with
ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF
1070 ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF
the Temple, and with the two principal persons on whom the hopes of the returned exiles rested.
(3.) The permission granted for the rebiiildins; of the Temple had, no doul)t, stirred afresh the malice and the animosity of the enemies of the Jews. Joshua the high-priest had been singled out, it would seem, as the especial oltject of attack, and perhaps formal accusations had already been laid against him before the Persian court. The prophet, in vision, sees him summoned be- fore a higher tribunal, and solennily acquitted, despite the charges of the Satan or Adversary. This is done with the forms still usual in an Eastern court. The filthy garments in wliicli tiie accused is expected to stand are taken away, and the caftan or robe of honor is put upon him in token that his innocence has been estab- lished. Acquitted at that bar, he need not fear, it is implied, any earthly accuser. He shall be protected, he sliall carry on the building of the Temple, he shall so prepare the way for the coming of the iMcssiah, and upon the foinidalioii-stone laid before him shall the seven eyes of God, the token of his cver-watcbful prov- idence, rest.
(4.) The succeeding vision (ch. iv) supposes that all opposition to the building of the Temple shall be re- moved. This sees the completion of the work. It has evidently a peculiarly impressive character; for the prophet, though his dream still continues, seems to him- self to be awakened out of it by the angel who speaks to him. The candlestick (or, more properly, chandelier) with seven lights (borrowed from the candlestick of the Mosaic tabernacle, Exod. xxv, 31 sq.) supposes that the Temple is already linished. The seven pipes which sup- ply each lamp answer to the seven eyes of Jehovah in the preceding vision (iii, 9), and this sevenfold supply of oil denotes the presence and operation of the Divine Spirit, through whose aid Zerubbabel will overcome all obstacles: so that as his hands had laid the foundation of the house, his hands should also finish it (iv, 9). The two olive-branches of the vision, belonging to the olive-tree standing by the candlestick, are Zerubbabel himself and Joshua.
The next two visions (v, 1-11) signify that the land, in which the sanctuary has just been erected, shall be purged of all its pollutions.
(5.) First, the curse is recorded against wickedness in the whole land (not in the whole earth, as in the A. V.), V, 3; that due solemnity may be given to it, it is in- scribed upon a roll, and the roll is represented as flying, in order to denote the speed with which the curse will execute itself.
(C.) Next, the unclean thing, whether in the form of idolatry or any other abomination, shall be utterly re- moved. Caught and shut up as it were in a cage, like some savage beast, and pressed down with a weight as of lead upon it so that it cannot escape, it shall be car- ried into that land where all evil things have long made their dwelling (Isa. xxxiv, 13), the land of Babylon (Slii- nar, Zech. v, 11), from which Israel had been redeemed. (7.) The night is now waning fast, and the morning is about to dawn (vi, 1-8). Chariots and horses appear, issuing from between two brazen mountains, the horses like those in the first vision; and these receive their several commands and are sent forth to execute the will of Jehovah in the four quarters of the earth. The four chariots arc images of the four winds, which, ac- cording to Psa. civ, \, as servants of (iod. fullil bis be- hests; and of the one that goes to the north it is par- ticularly said that it shall let the Spirit of Jehovah rest there: is it a spirit of anger against the nations, As- syria, Babylon, Persia, or is it a spirit of hope and de- sire of return in the hearts of those of the exiles who still lingered in the land of their captivity? Stfihelin, Maurer, and others adopt the former view, which seems to be in accordance with the preceding vision; Ewald gives the latter interpretation, and thinks it is support- ed by what follows.
Thus the cycle of visions is comiileted. Scene after
scene is unrolled till the whole glowing picture is pre- sented to the eve. All enemies crushed; the land re- |)eopled, and Jerusalem girt as with a wall of fire; the Temple rebuilt, more truly splenditl than of old, because more abinidantl)' filled with a Divine Presence; the leaders of the people assured in the most signal manner of the Divine protection; all wickedness solemnly sen- tenced, and the land forever purged of it: such is the magniticent panorama of hope which the pro|>het dis- plays to his countrymen. Very consolatory must such a prospect have seemed to the weak and disheartened colony in Jerusalem. For the times were dark and troublous. According to recent interpretations of new- ly discovered inscriptions, it would appear that Darius I found it no easy task to hold his vast dominions. Province after province had revolted both in the east and in the north, whither, according to the prophet (vi, 8), the winds had carried the wrath of God : and if the reading Mudraja, i. e. Egypt, is correct (Lassen gives Kurdistan), Egypt must have revolted before the out- break mentioned in Herod, ^-ii, 1, and have again been reduced to subjection. To such revolt there may pos- sibly be an allusion in the reference to " the land of the south" (ver. 6). It would seem that Zechariah antici- pated, as a consequence of these perpetual insurrections, the weakening and overthrow of the Persian monarchy and the setting-up of the kingdom of God, for which Judah, in faith and obedience, was to wait (ver. 9-15).