The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 128

tb~nked God for the riches wliich they had won by their cruelty and Injustice. "Ille~~ed be the Lord; for I R.m rich." There R.re men who say this now, men who say," Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich," not thinking how the riches have come. The history of fortune-mR.king is too often the history of crime. CoNcLusroN. Let it be ours to "feed," by wholesome knowledge, those who are "slaughtered" by oppression-politica.l slaves and priest-ridden dupes.-D. T. Vers. 6, 7.-A terri)ile doom., and an inval,ua,ble privilege. "For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, 0 poor of the flock." These words contain two subjects. I. A TERRIBLE DOOM. "For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord : but, Jo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the band of his king : and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deli.er them." What is the doom? The abandonment of God. 1. This abandonment came after great kindness. For long centuries be bad manifested the greatest kind- ness to the Hebrew people. From their rescue from Egypt down to this hour he bad been merciful to them. He warned them, he threatened them, he besought them, he chastised them. Many a time they bad provoked him, but still he bore with them. But now be delivers them up. "My Spirit shall not always strive with ma.n." 2. This abandonment involved inexpressible ruin. They were given up to the heathen cruelty of one another and to the violence of foreigners. What more terrible fate can befall people tba.n this? If God abandons us, what are we? This will be the doom of the finally impenitent, "Depart from me." II. AN Th-VALUABLE PRIVILEGE. "I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, 0 poor of the flock." "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." In Christ, the great God acted thus in a most manifest and impressive way. He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. "When he saw the multitudes, be wa.s moved with compassion towards them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." "I am the good Shepherd," ea.id Obrist. CoKCLUSIOK. Thank God, we are not abandoned yet. God is with us as a Shepherd. He is seeking the Jost and feeding those who are in his fold. "What man of you, h:i.,ing an hundred sheep, if he Jose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he bath found it, be layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, be ea.Heth together his friends a.nd neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have fonnd my sheep which was lost."-D. T. Ver. 8.-A mutual dislike between God and man. "My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me." It would be idle to attempt to ascertain who are intended by the "three shepherds" that were "cut off in one month," and who a.re here represented as abhorring God and " loathed" by him. In running through the various conflicting explanations, u given by biblica.l critics, we feel such a task would be utterly hopeless and a ww;te of time. We take the words in order to illustrate a mutual dislike between God and man. That such a mutual dislike exists is proved by the moral history of the world the consciousness of individuals, and the testimony of the inspired Word. Between God a.nd man there is a mutual moral antagonism. We offer four general remarks on this subject. I. THI~ MUTUAL MORAL ANTAGONISM IS lli.NIFESTLY ABNORMAL. It is not conceivable that the all-wise and all-loving Maker of the universe woul.i create beings whom he would loathe a.nd who would abhor him. Such an idea. is opposed at once to our intuitions and our conclusions. The Bible assures us, in language most explicit and in utterances most frequent, that mutual love, similar to that which exists between the most affec- tionate parents a.nd their children, was that which existed in the pristine state of humanity. God loved man, and man loved God. JI. THIS MUTUAL MORAL ANTAGONISM IMPLIES WRONG ON MAN'S PABT. For Infinite Purity a.nd Righteousness to loathe the corrupt a.nd the wrong is not only right, but a neeessity of the Divine character. He abhorreth sin j it is the "abominable thing"  ·on. xr.1-17.J THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 131