The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 89

to any community; the obedient are evermore a blessing. "No man liveth to himself." We must either bless or curse our race. 3. Divine fa;u01Jl1'. "For thus saith the Lord or hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not." Where there was Divine displeasure there would be Divine favour. CoNOLUSION, On these two grounds men may always be urged to duty. Duty neglected bringA misery on a people; duty resumed and faithfully prosecuted will utterly reverse the experience, turn the distressing into the joyous, the destitution into abundance, the discordant into the harmonious, the pernicious into the beneficent. Listen, then, to the voice of Heaven I " Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong," etc.-D. T. Vers. 16-23.-.A wniversal revival of genuine religion. "These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour," etc. The whole of this paragraph may be taken as setting forth a universal revival of genuine religion; and, looking at it in this light, we have here two things : the essential prerequisites; and the signal manifestations of a universal revival of genuine religion. I. THE ESSENTIAL PBEBEQUISITEB. We discover in these verses four prerequisites or preparatories for a universal revival of genuine religion. 1. There must be truth- fulness in speech. "These are the things which ye shall do ; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour." Truthful speech is somewhat rare in all social circles, and in all departments of life. Fallacious statements a.bound in markets, senates, courts, and even families. Men are constantly deceiving one another by words. It is not so easy a matter to speak truthfully as one might think. To speak is easy enough; but to speak truthfully is often very difficult. Truthful speaking involves two things. (1) Sincerity. To speak a true thing insincerely is not to speak truthfully. A man must conscientiously believe that what he speaks is true, before he can be credited with veracity. There is more truthful speaking in the man who is telling a falsehood sincerely than there is in the man who is telling the truth in insincerity. (2) .Accuracy. A man may speak with sincerity, and yet, from ignorance or mistake, may not speak according to fact; and unless he speaks according to fact, he can scarcely be said to speak truthfully. His speech unintentionally conveys falsehood. Hence, truthful speaking requires a strong sense of right,-and an ailequa.te acquaintance with the sub- jects of the speech. Considerable effort is herein demanded-effort to discipline the conscience and to enlighten the judgment. But difficult as truth-speaking is, it is incumbent. "Every man should be swirt to hear, but slow to speak." 2. There must be rectitude in condv,ct, "Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gatts." In the East the courts of justice were held at the gates of the city; and perhaps the primary reference here is to the pronouncing of judgment on cases that were righteous and tended to peace. But rectitude of life is even more important and urgent than rectitude in judgment, In fact, scarcely can a man be morally qualified to sit as a judge in a court of justice who is not righteous in all his life and conduct; and yet, alas! it is not uncommon, even here in England, to have men of the lowest morality enthroned on the bench of justice. The great law of social life is, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," 3. There must be benevo- lence in feeling. "Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour." We must not only keep our hands from evil, but we must watch over our hearts that they imagine not any evil against our neighbour. Mischief roust be crushed in the embryo. "Charity thinketh no evil," and this charity must be cultivated. 4. There must be abho'l"l'ence of falsehood. "Love no false oath." If the oath is false, whether sworn by others or yourself, do not bind yourself to it, recoil from it with horror and abomination. Don't espouse a falsehood because it is sworn to; nay, repudiate it the more resolutely and indignantly. A strong reason is here assigned for a practical respect to all these injunctions; it is this-God abhors the opposites. "For all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord" (see Prov. vi. 19). Whatever God hates, we should hate. II. 'l'HE SIGNAL MANIFESTATIONS, It is suggested that where these prerequisites are fuuml, i.e. whore a revival takes place, three things are manifest. 1. An increased 88 THE BOOK OF ZEOHARIAH. [011. vm. 1-28.