The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 114

Vere. 6-12.-Victory, 'll/Tl,ification, <11T1,d blessedness for the good. "And they shall be as mighty men," etc. This paragraph is a continuation of the preceding portions of the chapter. The various statements bring nnder our notice subjects which, if we give them a spiritual application, are of groot and permanent interest, viz. the subjects of victory, unification, and blessedness. I. VICTORY. "And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets iu the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on the horses shall be confounded." Or, as Hengstenberg renders it, "And they will be like heroes, treading street-mire in the battle: and will fight, for Jehovah is with them, and the riders upon horses are put to shame." "Though the Jews were forbidden by the Law to multiply horses in battle (Deut. xvii. 16), they themselves figuratively are made Jehovah's war-horses (Ps. xx. 7), and so on foot tread down the foe, with all his cavalry (Ezek. xxxviii. 4; Dan. xi. 40). Cavalry was the chief strength of the Syro-Grecian army." This victory was: 1. Complete. The enemies were trodden down as "mire in the streets," and were utterlv discomfited. 2. Divine. "Because the Lord is with them." They became victorious through him. 3. Reinvigorating. "I will strengthen the house of Jndah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them." They would be strengthened by their victory, not only in wealth and security, but in courage. 4. Extensive. "And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord." "The prophet had," says Hengstenberg, "occupied himself first of all with Judah, the centre of the people of God. In ver. 6 he proceeds to speak of Juda:h and Ephraim together. In this verse, and those which follow, he fixes his attention peculiarly upon Ephraim, which looked in the prophet's day like a withered. branch that had been severed from the vine. He first promises that descendants of the citizens of the former kingdom of the ten tribes will also take part in the glorious conflict, and then announces the return of the ten tribes from their exile, which was to be the condition of their participating in the battle. Now, all these facts connected with this victory apply to that victory the grandest of all-the victory of all true souls over error and wrong. That victory will be complete. " The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." That victory will be Divine. It is the Almighty himself that bruises Satan under their feet. That victory will be rein·uigorating. Some savages have the belief that the strength of the creature they destroy passes into themselves, and gives new vigour to their frames. Every victory we achieve in morals adds new energy to our souls. This victory will be extensive. Millions in heaven have achieved it; millions on earth a.re achieving it now; the moral conquerors will at last be more numerous than the stare of heaven, or perhaps the sands that gird old ocean's shores. II. UNIFICATION. "I will hiss for them, and gather them," etc. There is no snfli- cient reason for regarding this regathering, re-collecting of the world-scattered Hebrews as pointing to that far-distant period which some believe in, viz. the universal restora- tion of the Jews to their own country. Observe: 1. The ease with which the regathering will be effected. "I will hiss [or, 'whistle'] for them." 'l'he word is understood as referring to a particular whistle used by the shepherd for calling his scattered flock together, or by those who have the care of bees, to bring them into the hive. "As sheep flock together at the well-known call of the shepherd, as bees follow in swarms the shrill note of the bee-master, so should the Lord, by his own means, gather his scattered people from their dispersions, how widely soever distant, and bring them to himself and to their heritage." With what ease God does his work-a mere look, a breath, a word I "He looketh ou the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and they smoke." 2. The regions to which the regathering will extend. "And I will sow them among the people [or, as some render it, • Though I have scattered them among the nations']: and they shall remember me in far countries [distant regions]; and they sh:ill livo with their children, and turn again." They had been scattered, not o.nly  llG THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. [OH, X, 1-12,