The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 77

were sent "to pray before the Lord," or, as in the margin, "to entreat the face of the Lord." Tbat men can obtain by prayer to the Supreme Being what they could not obtain without it is one of the fundamental and distinctive faiths of humanity. 11 s•ead of being against the law of nature, it is one of the most uniform and settled laws of the moral world. Hence all men pray in some form or other. Prayer springs out of the ~ense of man's dependence upon his Creator; and that sense is built upon a fact beyond dispute or doubt. 2. The intercession of saints. These men were sent to pray before the Lord, not merely for themselvos, but for others. Those who sent tbem pr,)'<'ed thereby their faith in the power of man to intercede with God on behalf of his fellow. Tbe intercession of saints is not a doctrine merely of the Roman Church; it is an instinctive belief in the human soul. Men not only implore tbe Deity for those whom tbey love, but others implore them to pray for them. How natural it is for a father to 11ray for his son! how natural, too, for a son to ask the father to pray for him, and 11iend to ask friend the same ! Intercessory prayer is also a law of nature. 3. The special ability of some men to solve the religwus questions of others. This Sherezer and Regem- melech appea.led unto the "priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to tbe prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done tbese so many years? " They wanted a certain religious question answered, and they appealed to a certain class of religious men who they believed had the power to do so. The question they asked was one of a selfish character, "Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?" From this it would seem that for seventy years during the period of their captivity they had, ou certain days, wept, fasted, and humbled themselves before the Lord. .r-iow that many had returned to their own land, and others were returning, they wanted to know· whether all this fasting and humiliation would still be required. Would that which was done in Babylon be required in Jerusalem? Would not they in their own land be exonerated from such humiliations of soul? This was the question, and this question they addressed to the priests and the prophets. And they did it because tbey believed they had the special qnalification to solve such problems. This also is an instinctive belief. .All communities of men in all times and lands have had a certain class amongst them whom they regarded as qualified more than all others to answer the religious ques- tion~ of the soul. Hence the existence of priesthoods. It may be that Heaven has never left in any age or country, any race, tribe, or community without such men amongst them, men gifted above their fellows, with a broad moral vjsion, far-reaching intellect, and even prophetic genius. God teaches man by man. • IL RELIGIOUS SERVICES THAT ARE WRONG. The Jews had performed religious services; they had" fasted," they had "mourned in the filth and seventh month, even those seventy years." This was right enough so far as the form is concerned ; but in spirit the service was wrong, hence here is the reproof: " Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, 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? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves 1" 1. Their services were selfish. Mark the reproof: "Did ye at all fast unto me?" Was it not from selfish motives that ye did all this? Was it not with a view of obtaining release and securing my favour for yourselves? It is not because you have done the wrong thing against me. "It was not to me, even to me." Tbe wrong you had done me was not thouo-ht of. Your outrages on morality, on the harmony of the universe, were not thought of at all. How much of the popular religion is of this type? The .Almighty might well say to the conventional Churches of Christendom-You r_ear temples, you contribute property, you preach sermons, you offer prayers, you srng hymns ; but it "is not UDto me," it is not to me, it is all self. Whether you fast or feast in your religious services, it is all for "yourselves; it is not for me, not for me." Religious services that are wrong, where are they not? 2. Selfish motives the Alrr;ighty had always denounced. " Should ye not hear tbe words which the Lord bath cned by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inha.bited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?" Always has the Lord .Almighty denounced a selfish religion (see Isa. !xvi. 1-3; J er. xxv. 3-7 i ,A.mos v. 21, 27, etc.).-D. '1'. on, vm. 1-23.] 'l'HE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 75