mh_parser/vol_split/38 - Zechariah/Chapter 12.xml

<div2 id="Zech.xiii" n="xiii" next="Zech.xiv" prev="Zech.xii" progress="96.73%" title="Chapter XII">
<h2 id="Zech.xiii-p0.1">Z E C H A R I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Zech.xiii-p0.2">CHAP. XII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Zech.xiii-p1" shownumber="no">The apostle (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.25-Gal.4.26" parsed="|Gal|4|25|4|26" passage="Ga 4:25,26">Gal.
iv. 25, 26</scripRef>) distinguishes between "Jerusalem which now
is, and is in bondage with her children"—the remaining carcase of
the Jewish church that rejected Christ, and "Jerusalem that is from
above, that is free, and is the mother of us all"—the Christian
church, the spiritual Jerusalem, which God has chosen to put his
name there; in the foregoing chapter we read the doom of the
former, and left that carcase to be a prey to the eagles that
should be gathered to it. Now, in this chapter, we have the
blessings of the latter, many precious promises made to the
gospel-Jerusalem by him who (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.1" parsed="|Zech|12|1|0|0" passage="Zec 12:1">ver.
1</scripRef>) declares his power to make them good. It is promised,
I. That the attempts of the church's enemies against her shall be
to their own ruin, and they shall find that it is at their peril if
they do her any hurt, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.2-Zech.12.4 Bible:Zech.12.6" parsed="|Zech|12|2|12|4;|Zech|12|6|0|0" passage="Zec 12:2-4,6">ver. 2-4,
6</scripRef>. II. That the endeavours of the church's friends and
patrons for her good shall be pious, regular, and successful,
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.5" parsed="|Zech|12|5|0|0" passage="Zec 12:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. III. That God will
protect and strengthen the meanest and weakest that belong to his
church, and work salvation for them, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.7-Zech.12.8" parsed="|Zech|12|7|12|8" passage="Zec 12:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>. IV. That as a preparative for
all this mercy, and a pledge of it, he will pour upon them a spirit
of prayer and repentance, the effect of which shall be universal
and very particular, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.9-Zech.12.14" parsed="|Zech|12|9|12|14" passage="Zec 12:9-14">ver.
9-14</scripRef>. These promises were of use then to the pious Jews
that lived in the troublous times under Antiochus, and other
persecutors and oppressors; and they are still to be improved in
every age for the directing of our prayers and the encouraging of
our hopes with reference to the gospel-church.</p>
<scripCom id="Zech.xiii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12" parsed="|Zech|12|0|0|0" passage="Zec 12" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Zech.xiii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.1-Zech.12.8" parsed="|Zech|12|1|12|8" passage="Zec 12:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zech.xiii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Zech.xiii-p1.10">The Security of the Church; Punishment of
the Church's Enemies; Promises to Judah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p1.11">b.
c.</span> 500.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zech.xiii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The burden of the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p2.1">Lord</span> for Israel, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p2.2">Lord</span>, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and
layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man
within him.   2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of
trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in
the siege both against Judah <i>and</i> against Jerusalem.   3
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all
people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces,
though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
  4 In that day, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p2.3">Lord</span>, I will smite every horse with
astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes
upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people
with blindness.   5 And the governors of Judah shall say in
their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem <i>shall be</i> my
strength in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p2.4">Lord</span> of hosts their
God.   6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a
hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf;
and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand
and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own
place, <i>even</i> in Jerusalem.   7 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p2.5">Lord</span> also shall save the tents of Judah first,
that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify <i>themselves</i> against
Judah.   8 In that day shall the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p2.6">Lord</span> defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he
that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the
house of David <i>shall be</i> as God, as the angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p2.7">Lord</span> before them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The title of this charter of
promises made to God's Israel; it is the <i>burden of the word of
the Lord,</i> a divine prediction; it is of weight in the delivery
of it; it is to be pressed upon people, and will be very pressing
in the accomplishment of it; it is a <i>burden,</i> a heavy burden,
to all the church's enemies, like that <i>talent of lead,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.5.7-Zech.5.8" parsed="|Zech|5|7|5|8" passage="Zec 5:7,8"><i>ch.</i> v. 7, 8</scripRef>. But it
is <i>for Israel;</i> it is for their comfort and benefit. As even
the <i>fiery law</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.33.2" parsed="|Deut|33|2|0|0" passage="De 33:2">Deut. xxxiii.
2</scripRef>), so the fiery prophecies and fiery providences that
come from God's right hand, come for them; the word that speaks
terror to their enemies speaks peace to them, as the pillar of
cloud and fire, which turned a bright side towards the Israelites,
to direct and encourage them, but a black side towards the
Egyptians, to terrify and dispirit them. Happy are those that have
even the burdens of God's word for them, as well as the blessings
of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p4" shownumber="no">II. The title of him that grants this
charter, which is prefixed to it to show that he has both authority
to make these promises and ability to make them good, for he is the
Creator of the world and our Creator, and therefore has an
incontestable irresistible dominion. 1. He <i>stretches out the
heavens;</i> not only he did so at the first, when he said, <i>Let
there be a firmament,</i> and he <i>made the firmament,</i> but he
does so still; he keeps them stretched out <i>like a curtain,</i>
keeps them from running in, and will do so till the end come, when
<i>the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.</i> No bounds
can be set to his power who stretches out the heavens, nor can any
thing be too hard for him. 2. He <i>lays the foundation of the
earth,</i> and keeps it firm and fixed on its own basis, or rather
on its own axis, though it is <i>founded on the seas</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.24.1" parsed="|Ps|24|1|0|0" passage="Ps 24:1">Ps. xxiv. 1, 2</scripRef>), nay, though it is
<i>hung upon nothing,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.7" parsed="|Job|26|7|0|0" passage="Job 26:7">Job xxvi.
7</scripRef>. The founder of this earth is no doubt the ruler of
it, and judges in it, and those deceive themselves who say, <i>The
Lord has forsaken the earth,</i> for, if he had, it would have
sunk, since it is he that not only did lay its foundations at
first, but does still lay them, still uphold them. 3. He <i>forms
the spirit of man within him.</i> He <i>made us these souls,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.16" parsed="|Jer|38|16|0|0" passage="Jer 38:16">Jer. xxxviii. 16</scripRef>. He not
only breathed into the first man, but still breathes into every man
the breath of life; the body is derived from the <i>fathers of our
flesh,</i> but the soul is infused by the <i>Father of spirits,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.9" parsed="|Heb|12|9|0|0" passage="Heb 12:9">Heb. xii. 9</scripRef>. He <i>fashions
men's hearts;</i> they are <i>in his hand,</i> and he turns them
<i>as the rivers of water,</i> and casts them into what mould he
pleases, so as to serve his own purposes with them; and he can
therefore save his church by inspiriting his friends and
dispiriting his enemies, and will eternally save all his chosen by
forming their spirits anew.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p5" shownumber="no">III. The promises themselves that are here
made them, by which the church shall be secured, and in which all
its friends may enjoy a holy security.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p6" shownumber="no">1. It is promised that, whatever attacks
the enemies of the church may make upon her purity or peace, they
will certainly issue in their own confusion. The enemies of God and
of his kingdom bear a great deal of malice and ill-will to
Jerusalem, and form designs for its destruction; but it will prove,
at last, that they are but preparing ruin for themselves; Jerusalem
is in safety, and those are in all the danger who fight against it.
This is here illustrated by three comparisons:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p7" shownumber="no">(1.) <i>Jerusalem</i> shall be <i>a cup of
trembling</i> to all that lay siege to it, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.2" parsed="|Zech|12|2|0|0" passage="Zec 12:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. They promise themselves that it
shall be to them a cup of wine, which they shall easily and with
pleasure drink off, and they thirst for its spoils, nay, they
thirst for its blood, as for such a cup; but it shall prove a
<i>cup of slumber,</i> nay, a <i>cup of poison,</i> to them, which,
when they take it into their hands, and think it is all their own,
they shall not be able to drink off: the fumes of it shall give
them enough. When <i>the kings were assembled</i> against her, and
saw how <i>God was known in her palaces for a refuge,</i> they
<i>trembled and hasted away; fear took hold upon them,</i> as we
find, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.48.3-Ps.48.6" parsed="|Ps|48|3|48|6" passage="Ps 48:3-6">Ps. xlviii. 3-6</scripRef>.
Thus Alexander the Great was struck with amazement when he met
Jaddus the high priest, and was deterred thereby from offering any
violence to Jerusalem. When Sennacherib laid siege <i>against
Judah</i> and <i>Jerusalem</i> he found them such a cup of
stupifying wine as laid all his mighty men asleep, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.5-Ps.76.6" parsed="|Ps|76|5|76|6" passage="Ps 76:5,6">Ps. lxxvi. 5, 6</scripRef>. Some read it, <i>I
will make Jerusalem a post of contrition</i> or <i>breaking.</i>
Those that make any attempts upon Jerusalem do but run their heads
against a post, which they cannot move, but are sure to hurt
themselves. The <i>blast of the terrible ones</i> is <i>as a storm
against the wall</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.4" parsed="|Isa|25|4|0|0" passage="Isa 25:4">Isa. xxv.
4</scripRef>), broken by it, but not shaking it. God's church is a
cup of consolation to all her friends (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.66.11" parsed="|Isa|66|11|0|0" passage="Isa 66:11">Isa. lxvi. 11</scripRef>), but a cup of trembling to
all that would either debauch her by errors and corruptions or
destroy her by wars and persecutions. See <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.22-Isa.51.23" parsed="|Isa|51|22|51|23" passage="Isa 51:22,23">Isa. li. 22, 23</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p8" shownumber="no">(2.) <i>Jerusalem</i> shall be <i>a
burdensome stone</i> to all that attempt to remove it or carry it
away, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.3" parsed="|Zech|12|3|0|0" passage="Zec 12:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. All
<i>the people of the earth</i> are here supposed to be <i>gathered
together against it,</i> some one time and some another; there has
been a succession of enemies, from age to age, making war upon the
church. But though they were all at once in a confederacy against
it, and had formed a resolution to <i>cut off the name of Israel,
that it should be no more in remembrance</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.4" parsed="|Ps|83|4|0|0" passage="Ps 83:4">Ps. lxxxiii. 4</scripRef>), they will find it a task too
hard for them. Those that are for keeping up and advancing the
kingdom of sin in the world look upon Jerusalem, even the church of
God, as the great obstacle to their designs, and they must have it
out of the way; but they will find it heavier than they think it
is; so that, [1.] They cannot remove it. God will have a church in
the world, in spite of them; it is <i>built upon a rock,</i> and is
as <i>Mount Zion, that abides for ever,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.125.1" parsed="|Ps|125|1|0|0" passage="Ps 125:1">Ps. cxxv. 1</scripRef>. This <i>stone, cut out of the
mountain without hands,</i> will not only keep its ground, but fill
the earth, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.2.35" parsed="|Dan|2|35|0|0" passage="Da 2:35">Dan. ii. 35</scripRef>. Nay,
[2.] It will <i>break in pieces all that burden themselves</i> with
it, as that stone <i>smote the image,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.2.45" parsed="|Dan|2|45|0|0" passage="Da 2:45">Dan. ii. 45</scripRef>. All that think themselves a match
for it shall be <i>cut in pieces</i> by it. Some think it is an
allusion to a sport which Jerome, upon this place, says was in use
among the Jews, as among us: young men tried their strength, and
strove for mastery, by heaving up great stones, which, if they
proved too heavy for them, fell upon them, and bruised them. Those
that make a jest of religion, and banter sacred things, will find
them a burdensome stone, that it is ill-jesting with edged-tools,
and though they make light of it (saying, <i>Am not I in
sport?</i>) they bring upon themselves an insupportable sinking
load of guilt. Our Saviour seems to allude to these words when he
speaks of himself as a burdensome stone to those that will not have
him for their foundation-stone, which shall <i>fall upon them and
grind them to powder,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.44" parsed="|Matt|21|44|0|0" passage="Mt 21:44">Matt. xxi.
44</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p9" shownumber="no">(3.) The governors of Judah shall be among
their enemies like <i>a hearth of fire among the wood, and a torch
of fire in a sheaf,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.6" parsed="|Zech|12|6|0|0" passage="Zec 12:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. Not that their own passions shall make them
incendiaries and firebrands to all about them; no; Zion's King is
<i>meek and lowly,</i> and all subordinate governors must be like
him; but God's justice will make them avengers of his cause, and
theirs, upon their enemies. Those that contend with them will find
it is like an opposition given by briers and thorns to a consuming
fire, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.4" parsed="|Isa|27|4|0|0" passage="Isa 27:4">Isa. xxvii. 4</scripRef>. It
will go through them, and burn them together. It is God's wrath,
and not theirs, that is the fire which devours the adversaries.
God's fire is said to be <i>in Zion,</i> and <i>his furnace in
Jerusalem.</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.31.9" parsed="|Isa|31|9|0|0" passage="Isa 31:9">Isa. xxxi.
9</scripRef>. The enemies thought to be as water to this fire, to
extinguish it and put it quite out; but God will make them as wood,
nay, as a sheaf of corn (which is more combustible), to this fire,
not only to be consumed by it, but to be made thereby to burn the
more strongly. When God would make Abimelech and the men of Shechem
one another's destroyers fire is said to <i>come out from the one
to devour the other,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.20" parsed="|Judg|9|20|0|0" passage="Jdg 9:20">Judg. ix.
20</scripRef>. So here, Fire shall come out from the <i>governors
of Judah</i> to <i>devour all the people round about,</i> as from
the mouth of God's witnesses to consume those who offer to hurt
them, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.11.5" parsed="|Rev|11|5|0|0" passage="Re 11:5">Rev. xi. 5</scripRef>. The
persecutors of the primitive church found this fulfilled in it,
witness Lactantius's history of God's judgments upon the primitive
persecutors, and the confession of Julian the apostate at last.
<i>Thou hast overcome me, O thou Galilean!</i> The church's motto
may be, <i>Nemo me impune lacesset—He that assails me does it at
his peril. If you are weary of your life, persecute the
Christians,</i> was once a proverb.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p10" shownumber="no">2. It is promised that God will infatuate
the counsels and enfeeble the courage of the church's enemies
(<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.4" parsed="|Zech|12|4|0|0" passage="Zec 12:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>In that
day,</i> when the people of the earth are gathered together against
Jerusalem, <i>I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his
rider with madness;</i>" and again, "<i>I will smite every horse of
the people with blindness,</i> so that they shall be no way
serviceable to them; blinding the horses will be as bad as houghing
them." The horses and their horsemen shall both forget the military
exercise to which they were trained, and, instead of keeping ranks
and observing the rules of their discipline, they shall both grow
mad, and ruin themselves. The church's infantry shall be too hard
for the enemy's cavalry; and those who were upbraided with trusting
in horses shall be baffled by those who were forbidden to multiply
horses.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p11" shownumber="no">3. It is promised that Jerusalem shall be
re-peopled and replenished (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.6" parsed="|Zech|12|6|0|0" passage="Zec 12:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own
place, even in Jerusalem.</i> The natives of Jerusalem shall not
incorporate in a colony in some other country, and build a city
there, and call that <i>Jerusalem,</i> and see the promises
fulfilled in that, as those in New England called their towns by
the names of towns in Old England. No; they shall have a new
Jerusalem upon the same foundation, the same spot of ground, with
the old one. They had so after their return out of captivity, but
this was to have its full accomplishment in the gospel-church,
which is a Jerusalem inhabited <i>in its own place;</i> for, the
gospel being to be preached to all the world, it may call every
place its own.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p12" shownumber="no">4. It is promised that the inhabitants of
Jerusalem shall be enabled to defend themselves, and yet shall be
taken under the divine protection, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.8" parsed="|Zech|12|8|0|0" passage="Zec 12:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. See here in what method God
preserves his church, and those that are his, from the gates of
hell to and through the gates of heaven. (1.) He does himself
secure them: <i>In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants
of Jerusalem,</i> not only Jerusalem itself from being taken and
destroyed, but every inhabitant of it from being any way damaged.
God will not only be a <i>wall of fire</i> about the city, to
fortify that, but he will encompass particular persons with his
favour <i>as with a shield,</i> so that no dart of the besiegers
shall touch them. (2.) He does it by giving them strength and
courage to help themselves. What God works in his people by his
grace contributes more to their preservation and defence than what
he works for them by his providence. <i>The God of Israel gives
strength and power to his people,</i> that they may do their part,
and then he will not be wanting to do his. It is the glory of God
to strengthen the weak, that most need his help, that see and own
their need of it, and will be the most thankful for it. [1.] In
that day the feeblest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem <i>shall be
as David,</i> shall be men of war, as bold and brave, as skilful
and strong, as David himself, shall attempt and accomplish great
things, as David did, and become as serviceable to Jerusalem in
guarding it as David himself was in founding it, and as formidable
as he was to the enemies of it. See what divine grace does; it
makes children not only men, but champions, makes weak saints to be
not only good soldiers, but great soldiers, like David. And see how
God often does his own work as easily and effectually, and more to
his own glory, by weak and obscure instruments than by the most
illustrious. [2.] <i>The house of David shall be as God,</i> that
is, <i>as the angel of the Lord, before them.</i> Zerubbabel was
now the top-branch of the house of David; he shall be endued with
wisdom and grace for the service to which he is called, and shall
go before the people as an angel, as that angel (so some think)
which went before the people of Israel through the wilderness,
which was God himself, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.20" parsed="|Exod|23|20|0|0" passage="Ex 23:20">Exod. xxiii.
20</scripRef>. God will increase the gifts and abilities both of
the people and princes, in proportion to the respective services
for which they are designed. It was said of David that he was <i>as
an angel of God, to discern good and bad,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.17" parsed="|2Sam|14|17|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:17">2 Sam. xiv. 17</scripRef>. Such shall the house of
David now be. The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be as strong and
fit for action as nature made David, and their magistrates as wise
and fit for counsel as grace made him. But this was to have its
full accomplishment in Christ; now the house of David looked little
and mean, and its glory was eclipsed, but in Christ the house of
David shone more brightly than ever, and its countenance was as
that of an angel; in him it became more blessed, and more a
blessing, than ever it had been.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p13" shownumber="no">5. It is promised that there shall be a
very good understanding between the city and the country, and that
the balance shall be kept even between them; there shall be no
mutual envies or jealousies between them; they shall not keep up
any separate interests, but shall heartily unite in their counsels,
and act in concert for the common good; and this happy agreement
between the city and the country, the head and the body, is very
necessary to the health, welfare, and safety of any nation. (1.)
<i>The governors of Judah,</i> the magistrates and gentry of the
country, shall think honourably of the citizens, <i>the inhabitants
of Jerusalem,</i> the merchants and tradesmen; they shall not run
them down, and contrive how to keep them under, but they <i>shall
say in their hearts,</i> not in compliment but in sincerity, <i>The
inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength,</i> the strength of
my country, of my family, <i>in the Lord of hosts their God,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.5" parsed="|Zech|12|5|0|0" passage="Zec 12:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. They will
therefore, upon all occasions, pay respect and deference to
Jerusalem, as the mother-city, the ruling-city, and the city that
is to be first served, because they look upon it to be the bulwark
of the nation and its strongest fortification in times of public
danger and distress, which therefore they would all come in to the
assistance of and come under the protection of, and this not so
much because it was a rich city, and money is the sinews of war,
nor because it was a populous city and could bring the greatest
numbers into the field, nor because its inhabitants were generally
the most ingenious active men, the best soldiers and the best
commanders (<i>of Zion it shall be said, This and that</i> brave
<i>man were born there</i>), but because it was a <i>holy city,</i>
where God's house and household, the temple and the priests, were,
where his worship was kept up and his feasts were observed, and
because it should now be more than ever a praying city, for <i>upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem</i> God will <i>pour a spirit of
supplication</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.10" parsed="|Zech|12|10|0|0" passage="Zec 12:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>); therefore the governors of Judah shall say,
<i>These are my strength;</i> they are so upon the account of their
relation to, their interest in, and their communion with, <i>the
Lord of hosts, their God.</i> Because <i>the Lord of hosts</i> is
in a particular manner <i>their God</i> (for <i>in Salem is his
tabernacle and his dwelling-place in Zion</i>), therefore <i>they
shall be my strength.</i> Note, It is well with a kingdom when its
great men know how to value its good men, when its governors look
upon religion and religious people to be their strength, and
consider it their interest to support them, and learn to call godly
praying people, and skilful faithful ministers, <i>the chariots and
horsemen of Israel,</i> as Joash called Elisha, and not the
troublers of the land, as Ahab called Elijah. (2.) The court and
the city shall not despise, nor look with contempt upon, the
inhabitants of the country; no, not the meanest of them, much less
upon the governors of Judah; for God will put signal honour upon
Judah, and so save them from the contempt of their brethren. As
Jerusalem was dignified by special ordinances, so Judah shall be
dignified with special providences. God says (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.4" parsed="|Zech|12|4|0|0" passage="Zec 12:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), <i>I will open my eyes upon the
house of Judah,</i> upon the poor country people. Proud men
scornfully overlook them, but the great God will graciously look
upon them and look after them. Nay, (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.7" parsed="|Zech|12|7|0|0" passage="Zec 12:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), <i>the Lord shall save the
tents of Judah first.</i> Those that dwell in tents lie most
exposed; but God will remarkably protect and deliver them before
those that dwell in Jerusalem. He will appear glorious in what he
does for the <i>inhabitants of his villages in Israel,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.5.11" parsed="|Judg|5|11|0|0" passage="Jdg 5:11">Judg. v. 11</scripRef>. Thus, in the
mystical body, God <i>gives more abundant honour to that part which
lacked, that there may be no schism in the body</i> (see <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.12.22-1Cor.12.25" parsed="|1Cor|12|22|12|25" passage="1Co 12:22-25">1 Cor. xii. 22-25</scripRef>), which is the
reason here given why <i>the glory of the house of David,</i> which
has great power, and <i>the glory of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem,</i> who have great wealth, and both which live in great
pomp and pleasure, <i>may not magnify themselves against Judah</i>
and the <i>tents of Judah,</i> the dwellers in which work hard, and
fare hard, and perhaps are not so well bred. Note, Courtiers and
citizens ought not to despise country people, nor look with disdain
upon those whom God <i>opens his eyes upon</i> and who are <i>first
saved,</i> while it is so hard for the rich and great to <i>enter
the kingdom of God.</i> If God by his grace has magnified the
dwellers in the tents of Judah, having chosen the weak and foolish
things of the world and chosen to employ them, we affront him if we
vilify them, or magnify ourselves against them, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.5-Jas.2.6" parsed="|Jas|2|5|2|6" passage="Jam 2:5,6">Jam. ii. 5, 6</scripRef>. This promise has a further
reference to the gospel-church, in which no difference shall be
made between high and low, rich and poor, bond and free,
circumcision and uncircumcision, but all shall be alike welcome to
Christ, and partake of his benefits, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Col.3.11" parsed="|Col|3|11|0|0" passage="Col 3:11">Col. iii. 11</scripRef>. Jerusalem shall not then be
thought, as it had been, more holy than other parts of the land of
Israel.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Zech.xiii-p13.9" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.9-Zech.12.14" parsed="|Zech|12|9|12|14" passage="Zec 12:9-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zech.xiii-p13.10">
<h4 id="Zech.xiii-p13.11">Promises to Judah; Evangelical
Predictions. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.xiii-p13.12">b. c.</span> 500.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zech.xiii-p14" shownumber="no">9 And it shall come to pass in that day,
<i>that</i> I will seek to destroy all the nations that come
against Jerusalem.   10 And I will pour upon the house of
David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for
<i>his</i> only <i>son,</i> and shall be in bitterness for him, as
one that is in bitterness for <i>his</i> firstborn.   11 In
that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.   12 And
the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house
of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of
Nathan apart, and their wives apart;   13 The family of the
house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei
apart, and their wives apart;   14 All the families that
remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p15" shownumber="no">The <i>day</i> here spoken of is the day of
Jerusalem's defence and deliverance, that glorious day when God
will appear for the salvation of his people, which, if it do refer
to the successes which the Jews had against their enemies in the
time of the Maccabees, yet certainly looks further, to the
<i>gospel-day,</i> to Christ's victories over the powers of
darkness and the great salvation he has wrought for his chosen. Now
we have here an account of two remarkable works designed <i>in that
day.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p16" shownumber="no">I. A glorious work of God to be wrought for
his people: "<i>I will seek to destroy all the nations that come
against Jerusalem,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.9" parsed="|Zech|12|9|0|0" passage="Zec 12:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. Nations come against Jerusalem, many and mighty
nations; but they shall all be destroyed, their power shall be
broken, and their attempts baffled; the mischief they intend shall
return upon their own head." God will seek to destroy them, not as
if he were at a loss for ways and means to bring it about (Infinite
Wisdom was never nonplussed), but his seeking to do it intimates
that he is very earnest and intent upon it (he is jealous for Zion
with great jealousy, and has the <i>day of vengeance</i> in his
heart) and that he overrules means and instruments, and all the
motions and operations of second causes, in order to it. He is
<i>framing evil</i> against them; when he seems to be setting them
up he is seeking to destroy them. In Christ's first coming, he
<i>sought to destroy him that had the power of death,</i> and did
destroy him, bruised the serpent's head, and broke all the
<i>powers of darkness</i> that fought against God's kingdom among
men and against the faithful friends and subjects of that kingdom;
he <i>spoiled</i> them, and <i>made a show of them openly.</i> In
his second coming, he will complete their destruction, when he
shall <i>put down all</i> opposing <i>rule, principality, and
power,</i> and <i>death</i> itself shall be <i>swallowed up in</i>
that <i>victory. The last enemy shall be destroyed</i> of all that
<i>fought against Jerusalem.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p17" shownumber="no">II. A gracious work of God to be wrought in
his people, in order to the work that is to be wrought for them.
When he seeks to destroy their enemies he will <i>pour upon them
the Spirit of grace and supplication.</i> Note, When God intends
great mercy for his people the first thing he does is to set them a
praying; thus he seeks to destroy their enemies by stirring them up
to seek to him that he would do it for them; because, though he has
proposed it and promised it, and it is for his own glory to do it,
yet he will <i>for this be enquired of by the house of Israel,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.37" parsed="|Ezek|36|37|0|0" passage="Eze 36:37">Ezek. xxxvi. 37</scripRef>. <i>Ask,
and it shall be given.</i> This honour will he have to himself, and
this honour will he put upon prayer and upon praying people. And it
is a happy presage to the distressed church of deliverance
approaching, and is, as it were, the dawning of its day, when his
people are stirred up to cry mightily to him for it. But this
promise has reference to, and is performed in, the graces of the
Spirit given to all believers, as that <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.44.3" parsed="|Isa|44|3|0|0" passage="Isa 44:3">Isa. xliv. 3</scripRef>, <i>I will pour my Spirit upon
thy seed,</i> which was fulfilled when <i>Jesus was glorified,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:John.7.39" parsed="|John|7|39|0|0" passage="Joh 7:39">John vii. 39</scripRef>. It is a
promise of the Spirit, and with him of all <i>spiritual blessings
in heavenly things by Christ.</i> Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p18" shownumber="no">1. On whom these blessings are poured out.
(1.) <i>On the house of David,</i> on the great men; for they are
no more, and no better, than the grace of God makes them. It was
promised (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.8" parsed="|Zech|12|8|0|0" passage="Zec 12:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>) that
<i>the house of David</i> should be <i>as the angel of the
Lord.</i> Now, in order to that, the Spirit of grace is poured upon
them; for the more the saints have of the Spirit of grace the more
like they are to the holy angels. When God was about to appear for
the land, he poured his Spirit of grace upon the house of David,
the leading men of the land. It bodes well to a people when princes
and great men go before the rest in that which is good, as
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.5" parsed="|2Chr|20|5|0|0" passage="2Ch 20:5">2 Chron. xx. 5</scripRef>. The house
of David is all summed up in Jesus Christ, <i>the Son of David;</i>
and upon him, as the head, the Spirit of grace is poured out, from
him to be diffused to all his members; <i>from his fulness we
receive, and grace for grace. (2.) On the inhabitants of
Jerusalem,</i> the common people; for the operations of the Spirit
are the same upon the mean and weak Christians that they are upon
the strong and more grown. The inhabitants of Jerusalem cannot
influence public affairs by their powers and policies, as the great
men of the house of David may, yet they may do good service by
their prayers, and therefore upon them the Spirit shall be poured
out. The church is Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem; all true
believers, that have their conversation in the heaven, are
inhabitants of this Jerusalem, and to them this promise belongs.
God will <i>pour his Spirit upon them.</i> This is the earnest
which all that <i>believe in Christ shall receive;</i> thus they
are sanctified; thus they are sealed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p19" shownumber="no">2. What these blessings are: <i>I will pour
upon them the Spirit.</i> That includes all good things, as it
qualifies us for the favour of God, and all his other gifts. He
will pour out the Spirit, (1.) As a <i>Spirit of grace,</i> to
sanctify us and to make us gracious. (2.) As a <i>Spirit of
supplications,</i> inclining us to, instructing and assisting us
in, the duty of prayer. Note, Wherever the Spirit is given as a
Spirit of grace, he is given as a Spirit of sanctification.
Wherever he is a Spirit of adoption, he <i>teaches to cry, Abba,
Father.</i> As soon as ever Paul was converted, <i>Behold, he
prays,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.9.11" parsed="|Acts|9|11|0|0" passage="Ac 9:11">Acts ix. 11</scripRef>. You
may as soon find a living man without breath as a living saint
without prayer. There is a more plentiful effusion of the Spirit of
prayer now under the gospel than was under the law; and the further
the work of sanctification is carried in us the better is the work
of supplication carried on by us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p20" shownumber="no">3. What the effect of them will be: <i>I
will pour upon them the Spirit of grace.</i> One would think that
it should follow, "And they shall look on him whom they have
believed, and shall rejoice" (and it is true that that is one of
the fruits of the pouring out of the Spirit, whence we read of
<i>the joy of the Holy ghost</i>), but it follows, <i>They shall
mourn;</i> for there is a holy mourning, that is the effect of the
pouring out of the Spirit, a mourning for sin, which is of use to
quicken faith in Christ and qualify for joy in God. It is here made
the matter of a promise that they shall mourn, for there is a
mourning that will end in rejoicing and has a blessing entailed
upon it. This mourning is a fruit of the Spirit of grace, an
evidence of a work of grace in the soul, and a companion of the
Spirit of supplication, as it expresses lively affections working
in prayer; hence prayers and tears are often put together,
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.20.5" parsed="|2Kgs|20|5|0|0" passage="2Ki 20:5">2 Kings xx. 5</scripRef>. Jacob, that
wrestler with God, <i>wept and made supplication.</i> But here it
is a mourning for sin that is the effect of the pouring out of the
Spirit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p21" shownumber="no">(1.) It is a mourning grounded upon a sight
of Christ: <i>They shall look on me whom they have pierced, and
shall mourn for him.</i> Here, [1.] It is foretold that Christ
should be pierced, and this scripture is quoted as that which was
fulfilled when Christ's side was pierced upon the cross; see
<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:John.19.37" parsed="|John|19|37|0|0" passage="Joh 19:37">John xix. 37</scripRef>. [2.] He is
spoken of as one whom we have pierced; it is spoken primarily of
the Jews, who persecuted him to death (and we find that <i>those
who pierced him</i> are distinguished from the other <i>kindreds of
the earth</i> that shall <i>wail because of him,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.7" parsed="|Rev|1|7|0|0" passage="Re 1:7">Rev. i. 7</scripRef>); yet it is true of us all as
sinners, we have pierced Christ, inasmuch as our sins were the
cause of his death, for he was <i>wounded for our
transgressions,</i> and they are the <i>grief of his soul;</i> he
is <i>broken with the whorish heart</i> of sinners, who
<i>therefore</i> are said to <i>crucify him afresh</i> and put him
to open shame. [3.] Those that truly repent of sin look upon Christ
as one whom they have pierced, who was pierced for their sins and
is pierced by them; and this engages them to <i>look unto him,</i>
as those that are deeply concerned for him. [4.] This is the effect
of their looking to Christ; it makes them mourn. This was
particularly fulfilled in those to whom Peter preached Christ
crucified; when they heard it those who had had a hand in piercing
him were <i>pricked to the heart,</i> and cried out, <i>What shall
we do?</i> It is fulfilled in all those who sorrow for sin after a
godly sort; they look to Christ, and <i>mourn for him,</i> not so
much for his sufferings as for their own sins that procured them.
Note, The genuine sorrows of a penitent soul flow from the
believing sight of a pierced Saviour. Looking by faith upon the
cross of Christ will set us a mourning for sin after a godly
sort.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p22" shownumber="no">(2.) It is a great mourning. [1.] it is
like the mourning of a parent for the death of a beloved child.
They shall mourn for sin <i>as one mourns for an only son,</i> in
whose grave the hopes of his family are buried, and shall be
inwardly <i>in bitterness as one that is in bitterness for his
first-born,</i> as the Egyptians were when there was a cry
throughout all their land for the death of their first-born. The
sorrow of children for the death of their parents is sometimes
counterfeited, is often small, and soon wears off and is forgotten;
but the sorrow of parents for a child, for a son, for an only son,
for a first-born, is natural, sincere, unforced, and unaffected, it
is secret and lasting; such are the sorrows of a true penitent,
flowing purely from love to Christ above any other. [2.] It is like
the mourning of a people for the death of a wise and good prince.
It shall be <i>like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of
Megiddon,</i> where good king Josiah was slain, for whom there was
a general lamentation (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.11" parsed="|Zech|12|11|0|0" passage="Zec 12:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), and perhaps the greater because they were told that
it was their sin that provoked God to deprive them of so great a
blessing; therefore they cried out, <i>The crown has fallen from
our head. Woe unto us, for we have sinned!</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.5.16" parsed="|Lam|5|16|0|0" passage="La 5:16">Lam. v. 16</scripRef>. Christ is our King; our sins were
his death, and, for that reason, ought to be our grief.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p23" shownumber="no">(3.) It is a general universal mourning
(<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.12" parsed="|Zech|12|12|0|0" passage="Zec 12:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>The
land shall mourn.</i> The land itself put on mourning at the death
of Christ, for there was then <i>darkness over all the land,</i>
and the earth trembled; but this is a promise that, in
consideration of the death of Christ, multitudes shall be
effectually brought to sorrow for sin and turn to God; it shall be
such a universal gracious mourning as was when <i>all the house of
Israel lamented after the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.7.2" parsed="|1Sam|7|2|0|0" passage="1Sa 7:2">1
Sam. vii. 2</scripRef>. Some think this is yet to have its complete
accomplishment in the general conversion of the Jewish nation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.xiii-p24" shownumber="no">(4.) It is also a private particular
mourning. There shall be not only a mourning of <i>the land,</i> by
its representatives in a general assembly (as <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.5" parsed="|Judg|2|5|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:5">Judg. ii. 5</scripRef>, when the place was called
<i>Bochim—A place of weepers</i>), but it shall spread itself into
all corners of the land: <i>Every family apart</i> shall mourn
(<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.12" parsed="|Zech|12|12|0|0" passage="Zec 12:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), <i>all the
families that remain,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.14" parsed="|Zech|12|14|0|0" passage="Zec 12:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. All have contributed to the guilt, and therefore all
shall share in the grief. Note, The exercises of devotion should be
performed by private families among themselves, besides their
joining in public assemblies for religious worship. National fasts
must be observed, not only in our synagogues, but in our houses. In
the mourning here foretold the wives mourn apart by themselves, in
their own apartment, as Esther and her maids. And some think it
intimates their denying themselves the use even of lawful delights
in a time of general humiliation <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.5" parsed="|1Cor|7|5|0|0" passage="1Co 7:5">1 Cor.
vii. 5</scripRef>. Four several families are here specified as
examples to others in this mourning:—[1.] Two of them are royal
families: the <i>house of David,</i> in Solomon, and the <i>house
of Nathan,</i> another son of David, brother to Solomon, from whom
Zerubbabel descended, as appears by Christ's genealogy, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.3.27-Luke.3.31" parsed="|Luke|3|27|3|31" passage="Lu 3:27-31">Luke iii. 27-31</scripRef>. The house of
David, particularly that of Nathan, which is now the chief branch
of that house, shall go before in this good work. The greatest
princes must not think themselves exempted from the law of
repentance, but rather obliged most solemnly to express it, for the
exciting of others, as Hezekiah humbled himself (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.6" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.32.26" parsed="|2Chr|32|26|0|0" passage="2Ch 32:26">2 Chron. xxxii. 26</scripRef>), the princes and the
king (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.7" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.12.6" parsed="|2Chr|12|6|0|0" passage="2Ch 12:6">2 Chron. xii. 6</scripRef>), and
the king of Nineveh, <scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.8" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.3.6" parsed="|Jonah|3|6|0|0" passage="Jon 3:6">Jonah iii.
6</scripRef>. [2.] Two of them are sacred families (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.9" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.13" parsed="|Zech|12|13|0|0" passage="Zec 12:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), <i>the family of the
house of Levi,</i> which was God's tribe, and in it particularly
the family of Shimei, which was a branch of the tribe of Levi
(<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.10" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.6.17" parsed="|1Chr|6|17|0|0" passage="1Ch 6:17">1 Chron. vi. 17</scripRef>), and
probably some of the descendants of that family were now of note
for preachers to the people or ministers to the altar. As the
princes must mourn for the sins of the magistracy, so must the
priests for the <i>iniquity of the holy things.</i> In times of
general tribulation and humiliation the Lord's ministers are
concerned to <i>weep between the porch and the altar</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.xiii-p24.11" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.17" parsed="|Joel|2|17|0|0" passage="Joe 2:17">Joel ii. 17</scripRef>), and not only there, but
in their houses apart; for in what families should godliness, both
in the form and in the power of it, be found, if not in ministers'
families?</p>
</div></div2>