The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 159

and t.herefore, again, divided no more I No longer, when 11.t last in the Maeter'a presence, will they "dispute," 88 they once did "by the way" (Mark ix. 33, 34), Vere. 6---11.-..4. wonderful day. "Aud it shall come to pass in that day, t.hat the light shall not be clear, nor dark," eto. However obscure, in some respects, the opening verses of this p11698g8, the "day" they speak of is to be, very manifestly, a day by itself. How strange, e.g., the character of its light I Is it the li11:ht of" day"? or the darkness of" night"? How strange, also, its time--so t.hat it should be, apparently, at its brightest ja~t when the light of day is no more (end of ver. 7) I Altocrether, a kind of" day" only fully "known to the Lord" (see, though not in exactly the same connection, Matt. xxiv. 36). Correspcmding to this, in other respects also, shall be the character of that day. In particular, "Jerasa.lem" shall then, as never before, be (1) a centre of bl~ssing; (2) a centre of rule; and (3) a centre of strength. I. A CE!.'TRE oF BLESSING. This is represented to us under the figure of a flow of "living waters" tberefrom (see Joel iiL 18; Ezek. xlvii., passim, and especially ver. 9; also John iv. 10; vii. 38; What is remarkable in this case is that the flow of these waters shall be : 1. In most 'IJ,nusual directions. Some will flow, naturally enou~h, along the intervening descent to the "former," or ea.stern sea; but some also, altogether supernaturally according to the lie of the land, to the "latter," or western sea. Countries and races, that is to say, which at present are hardly sprinkled with gospel influences, and to which at present it seems almost impossible to send them, shall then be overflowed by them as by a flood. 2. At most unusual seasons. How sadly intermittent, 88 things are now, is the flow of Church work! Now in decBdence, now restored I Now frozen by indifference, now revived by warmth! Now exhausted by heat, now refreshed by rain (Ps. lxviii. 9) ! The flow of these- days is to be indepen- dent of seasone--rivers all the year through (comp. Rev. xxii. 2).· II. A CENTRE OF RULE. Very naturally does this head follow from that before. Influence of such a gracious character, so universally and constantly in operation, will subdue the whole world in due time. This is what seems foretold in ver. 9. In the present divided rule of the world-and, in some measure, of the Church ns well-it is difficnlt to give hearty subjection to this authority without rebelling against that. Not so when, in all the world, there shall be but one supreme Head. Not so, still more, when the possessor of that supreme authority shall only be known by one name. At present, in many cases, we have vast composite sovereignties, "united kingdoms," "dual empires," at best. The man obeyed here as Emperor of Anstria is only obeyed next door as King of Hungary. Not eo at all in" that day." '£he King of" Jeru- salem "--Christ in his Church-shall be the one title of that "only Potentate" (see Dan. vii. 13, 14, 27; Rev. xi. 15; xiL 16; Isa. x.xiv. 23; also Ps. ii. and ex., passim; and Luke i. 32, 33). HL A CENTRE OF STRENGTH. "Jerusalem" is to be strong then for three different reasons. '!'here shall be : 1. No facilities for attacking it. Beginning from the ancient fortress of Geba on the north (Pusey, in loc.), down along the whole mountain range to Rimmon in the south, instead of lofty hills sheltering the invaders and Jowinating the bill of Mount Zion, the" whole land shall be a plain." 2. Every facility for defendi11g it. What those other mountains lose, as it were, the hill of Zion sLe.ll iain. Remaining still "in her place," but" lifted up" (comp. Isa. ii; 2) far above her former elevation, the holy city shall look down then on the whole subject neighbourhood-every ancient wall and battlement being also reHtored and elevated together with it, and so made doubly effective as a means of defence. 3. Better still, the knowlerlge of the possession of these advantages shall prevent the very thouglit of attack. "Men shall dwell there "-shall choose to dwell there-knowing how secure it is from attack. What had been so often there shall be never again. "Jerusalem " now is a city which can never be touched. This shall be felt, this shall be actod oo, by all without, by all within. This glorioue prospect of that future day of blessing and peace, whether compara- tively near or far off, may con!IQle us greatly in the days that now are, whether in witnessing: 1. Their cruel d-issensions. What a scene of selfishness, greed, cumpeti- tion, strife, sUBpicion, diatrUBt, and violence is that now around us I Worso ·than a "struggle for existence," it is too often a struggle, even where existence is not imperilled, CU, XIV, 1-21,] THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 16,'3