The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 18

Ver. 5.-The tr=sitoriness of life. I. COMPARED WITH THE PERMANENCE OF THE EARTH, Objects of nature remain. There are changes, but they are not so great within the limit of our brief lives as to attract much notice. "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever" (Eccles. i. 4). II. COMPARED WITH THE CONTINUITY OF THE RACE. The individual Withers; families disappear; kingdoms decay and fall; but the race of man remains. Our life is as a tale that is told, but the story of the generations of the past reaches back beyond our ken. III. COMPARED WITH THE IMMENSE LABOUR BESTOWED ON MEN. What a preparation going before I What long and arduous toils there have been to fit us for our place and our work I and then how short the time we have for accomplishing anything! How often enrly promise fails, and the dear hopes cherished are disappointed I IV. COMPARED WITH THE EXPECTATIONS FORMED. What plans, schemings, enter- prises I What high ambitions! And yet how little is achieved I Man's promise is always better than his performance. Once, perhaps, we took a forward place; our names were on the lips of many-looked to win great fame. But the end is "vanity." V. COMPARED WITH THE IMMORTALITY OF GoD'S WORD. Fathers and prophets alike pass away. They cannot continue by reason of death. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away : but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Pet. i. 24, 25).-F. Ver. 6.-God's Word taking hold~ I. THE FLIGHT. Men strive to get away from God. Some try one device, some another (cf. Adam, Gen. iii. 10; Jonah i. 3 ; Paul, Acts xxvi. 9). Such conduct is unnatural, wicked, and vain (Ps. cx..x.xix. 7). II. 'l'HE PURSUIT. The sinner followed. He feels that God knows all, and that the day of reckoning will come. Memory, conscience, Law, Scripture, prophecy ofjudgment. The officer of justice is on the sinner's track. Any moment he may feel his hand on his shoulder, and hear the awful words, "You are my prisoner." III. .'l'HE OVERTAKING. Certain, for good or for evil. In the day of conviction, of true penitence, or of righteous retribution-amidst the songs of rejoicing angels or the weeping and wailing of lost souls. What has been our experience? God's W urd "takes hold," as truth of the intellect, as righteousness of the conscience, as love of the heart. Mark Augustine .n the garden at Milan (Rom. xiii. 13, 14); Luther painfully climbing the church steps at Rome (Rom. i.17). Study Bunyan's 'Grace Abounding.' So of all the redeemed. Happy are we when we recognize that God's Word comes, not as a foe, but as a friend; not to compel by force, but to constrain by love; not to drag us with fear and trembling before the Judge, but to draw us gently to the cross and the Saviour.-F. Vcrs. 8-13.-Tlie Church and Christ. The vision may suggest- !. 'l'HE HIDDEN RICHES OF THE CHURCH. "Myrtle in the bottom" symbolizes the Church in a low condition. Obscure, despised by the world; but fresh, fragrant, and beautiful in the sight of God. The object of increasing ea.re. Grand future. II. 'l'HE GLORY oF THE CHURCH'S HEAD. Christ supreme. All forces are under his control. The resources of heaven and earth are at his disposal. He is ever on the watch. He sco.ns the horizon with clear, far-seeing eye. He is always quick to do what he deems best for the defence and good of his people. Here is comfort for times of depression and fear. We hnve our personal troubles. We are distressed because of tho state of the Church, and the slow progress of religion in the world. But let us take courage. Christ is Ilea-a over all things for the Church. In the darkest hour, when we pray, the heavens are opened. We behold Christ on the throne, and cry with the holy angels, ".Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (cf. Eph. i. 16-23).-F. 12 'l'HE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH, [OH, I, 1-21,