Vers. 11, 12.-Historical facts illustrations of spiritua.l realities. "As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope : even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee." In these verses we have three subjects which demand and will repay thought. I. HERE IS A STATE OF WRETCHEDNESS WHIOH REMINDS US OF MAN'S MISER.ABLE CON- DITION i..s A SINNER. "As for thee also "-that is, as for thee, daughter of Zion and Jerusalem-" by the blood of thy covenant"-that is, according to the covenant vouch- safed to thee on Mount Sinai, and ratified by the blood of sacrifices (Exod. xxiv. 8)- "I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." The Jewish peor 1e are here represented as having been prisoners in· a pit without water. "Dungeons were often pits without water, miry at the bottom, such as Jeremiah sank in when confined (Gen. xxxvii. 24; Jer. xxxviii. 6). This image is employed to represent the misery of the Jewish exiles in Egypt, Greece, etc., under the successors of .Alexander, especially under Antiochus Epiphanes, who robbed and profaned the temple, slew thousands, and enslaved more. In Zechariah's time, the time of the Persian rule, the practice was common to remove conquered peoples to distant lands, in order to prevent the liability to revolt in their own lands." Very fairly may this be taken as an illus- tration of that miserable moral condition in which all unregenerate men are found. They are in a "pit" of ignorance and depravity, shut out from the true light, and destitute of true liberty. It is a "pit" in which the soul is. A man's body may b~ in a "pit," and yet he may possess light and Hbert.y within. Men have sun:; in dungeons ere now. But when the soul is in "a pit," the man himself is ent.h.ralled in darkness and bondage. II. HERE 18 AN ADMONITION WHICH REMINDS US OF MAN'S DUTY AS A SINNER. "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope." The prisoners here undoubtedly signify the Jewish exiles who were in bondage in Egypt and Greece and other countries, and whose restoration is here promised. Though they were prisoners, they were "prisoners of hope." God was on their side, and had made to them the promise of redemption. 1. .All sinners are "prisoners of hope." Though bound by the chains of guilt anu corruption, there is "hope" for them; means of deliverance have been provided, and millions upon millions of prisoners have reached to the full enjoyment of that deliverance. There is hope; for- THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH.
"While the lamp holds out to blll'D, The vilest Binner may return." 2. _They are "pruoners of hope" for whom a "strong liold" has been p1·ovided. If these exiles would return to Jerusalem, they would be safe. Jehovah himself would be their Guard and Defence. Christ is the " Strong Hold" of sinners ; he is their "Refuge and Strength;" "Loo~ unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth;" " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world I" 3. They arc "prisoners of hope" who should flee to the "Strong Hold" at once. "Even to-day." ·when the prospect seems !Dost gloomy, when the cloud of despair ~ee.ms spreading over the heaven~ and thmgs are at the worst, "even to-day," Thts 1s the "accepted time," to-day 1s the "day of salvation." ' Ill. HEBE IS A P&OlllISE THAT GIVES ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE SINNER, "l will render double unto thee." .As if Jehovah had said to the daughter of Zion-Great as bas been thine adversity, thy prosperity shall be doubly greater'(Isa. lx.i. 7). "Turn you to the Strong Hold," a.nd you shall not only be saved, but more than saved. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, a.nd he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundai.tly pardon." "God's boundless mercy is to sinful man Like to the ever-wealthy ocean ; Which, though it sends forth thousand streams, 'tie ne'er Known, or else seen, to be the emptier : And though it takes all in, 'tis yet no more Full and filled full, than when full-filled before." (R. Herrick.) D.T. Vers. 13--17.-God works amongst the nations in the interests of his people. "When I have bent Judah for me," etc. "The double recompense which the Lord will make to hi! people will consist in the fact that he not only liberates them out of captivity and bo~dage, and makes them into an independent nation, but that he helps them to victory over the powers of the world, so that they will tread it down, i.e. com- pletely subdue it. The:- first thought is not explained more fully because it is contained impli,cite in the promise of return to a strong place, the' double ' only is more distinctly defined, namely, the victory over Ja.van. The expression, 'I stretch,' etc., implies that the Lord will subdue the enemies by Judah and Ephraim, and therefore Israel will carry on this conflict in the pow1>r of its God" (Keil). Referring our readers for minute criticisms on tb.ie passage tc such authors as Henderson, Hengstenberg, Pusey, and Keil, we note the great facts which it contains. . L THAT Gon WORK!! .ulONGS'l' THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH. God is here represented as raising up Zion against Greece. ".And raised up thy sons, 0 Zion, against thy sons, 0 ureece." The literal refe.-ence, it may be, is to the help which be would render the Maccabees, as the heroic leaders of the Jews, to overcome the successors of the Grecian .Alexander, .A.ntiochus Epipbanes, and the other Grecian oppressors of Judah. He works with the Jew an6. the Greek,or Gentile-the two great divisions of mankind. He is in their conflicts and their battles. Three remarks are suggested concerning his work amongst men. 1. Hr: works wniversally amongst men. He works with the "sons" of Zion and the "sons" of Greece. He operates with all, with the remote and the distant, with the little and the great, with the good and the bad; he is iu all human history. .All good he originates, all evil he overrules. 2. He works by hwrr,,a,n agency amwngst men. "When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim." jj;phraim and Judah, which here represent the whole Jewish people, are, by a strong figure of speech, spoken of as the bows and arrows of Jehovah, the military weapons which he would employ in crusbiog the Grecians under Antiochus Epiphanes. God carries out bis purposes with man by tbe agency of man; wicked kings are his tooL:i, obscure saints a.re his ministers of state. 3. He worlcs manifestly amongst men. ".And tbe Lord shall be seen over them;" or, as Keil renders it, "Jehovah will appear 11,bove tLem." What thought.ful student of human history bas not felt disposed to 0
011, X, 1-12,] 'l'HE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH.