mh_parser/vol_split/38 - Zechariah/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Zech.viii" n="viii" next="Zech.ix" prev="Zech.vii" progress="94.84%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Zech.viii-p0.1">Z E C H A R I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Zech.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Zech.viii-p1" shownumber="no">We have done with the visions, but not with the
revelations of this book; the prophet sees no more such signs as he
had seen, but still "the word of the Lord came to him." In this
chapter we have, I. A case of conscience proposed to the prophet by
the children of the captivity concerning fasting, whether they
should continue their solemn fasts which they had religiously
observed during the seventy years of their captivity, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.1-Zech.7.3" parsed="|Zech|7|1|7|3" passage="Zec 7:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. The answer to this
question, which is given in this and the next chapter; and this
answer was given not all at once, but by piece-meal, and, it should
seem, at several times, for here are four distinct discourses which
have all of them reference to this case, each of them prefaced with
"the word of the Lord came," <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.4.8 Bible:Zech.8.1 Bible:Zech.8.18" parsed="|Zech|4|8|0|0;|Zech|8|1|0|0;|Zech|8|18|0|0" passage="Zec 4:8,8:1,18">ver. 4-8 and ch. viii. 1, 18</scripRef>. The
method of them is very observable. In this chapter, 1. The prophet
sharply reproves them for the mismanagements of their fasts,
<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.4-Zech.7.7" parsed="|Zech|7|4|7|7" passage="Zec 7:4-7">ver. 4-7</scripRef>. 2. He exhorts
them to reform their lives, which would be the best way of fasting,
and to take heed of those sins which brought those judgments upon
them which they kept these fasts in memory of, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.8-Zech.7.14" parsed="|Zech|7|8|7|14" passage="Zec 7:8-14">ver. 8-14</scripRef>. And then in the next chapter,
having searched the wound, he binds it up, and heals it, with
gracious assurances of great mercy God had yet in store for them,
by which he would turn their fasts into feasts.</p>
<scripCom id="Zech.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7" parsed="|Zech|7|0|0|0" passage="Zec 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Zech.viii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.1-Zech.7.7" parsed="|Zech|7|1|7|7" passage="Zec 7:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zech.viii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Zech.viii-p1.8">An Enquiry Concerning Fasting; Hypocrisy
Reproved. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zech.viii-p2" shownumber="no">1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king
Darius, <i>that</i> the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p2.1">Lord</span> came unto Zechariah in the fourth
<i>day</i> of the ninth month, <i>even</i> in Chisleu;   2
When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech,
and their men, to pray before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p2.2">Lord</span>,   3 <i>And</i> to speak unto the
priests which <i>were</i> in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p2.3">Lord</span> of hosts, and to the prophets, saying,
Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done
these so many years?   4 Then came the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p2.4">Lord</span> of hosts unto me, saying,   5
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,
When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh <i>month,</i>
even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, <i>even</i>
to me?   6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not
ye eat <i>for yourselves,</i> and drink <i>for yourselves?</i>
  7 <i>Should ye</i> not <i>hear</i> the words which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p2.5">Lord</span> hath cried by the former prophets,
when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities
thereof round about her, when <i>men</i> inhabited the south and
the plain?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p3" shownumber="no">This occasional sermon, which the prophet
preached, and which is recorded in this and the next chapter, was
above two years after the former, in which he gave them an account
of his visions, as appears by comparing the date of this (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.1" parsed="|Zech|7|1|0|0" passage="Zec 7:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), in the <i>ninth
month</i> of the <i>fourth year</i> of Darius, with the date of
that (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.1" parsed="|Zech|1|1|0|0" passage="Zec 1:1"><i>ch.</i> i. 1</scripRef>), in
the eighth month of the second year of Darius; not that Zechariah
was idle all that while (it is expressly said that he and Haggai
continued <i>prophesying</i> till the temple was finished in the
sixth year of Darius; <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.6.14-Ezra.6.15" parsed="|Ezra|6|14|6|15" passage="Ezr 6:14,15">Ezra vi. 14,
15</scripRef>), but during that time he did not preach any sermon
that was afterwards published, and left upon record, as this is.
God may be honoured, his work done, and his interest served, by
word of mouth as well as by writing; and by inculcating and
pressing what has been taught, as well as by advancing something
new. Now here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p4" shownumber="no">I. A case proposed concerning fasting. Some
persons were sent to enquire of the priests and prophets whether
they should continue to observe their yearly fasts, particularly
that in the fifth month, as they had done. It is uncertain whether
the case was put by those that yet remained in Babylon, who, being
deprived of the benefit of the solemn feasts which God's ordinance
appointed them, made up the want by the solemn fasts which God's
providences called them to; or by those that had returned, but
lived in the country, as some rather incline to think, because they
are called the <i>people of the land,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5" parsed="|Zech|7|5|0|0" passage="Zec 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. But, as to that, the answer given
to the messengers of the captive Jews might be directed, not to
them only, but to <i>all the people.</i> Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p5" shownumber="no">1. Who they were that came with this
enquiry—<i>Sherezer</i> and <i>Regem-melech,</i> persons of some
rank and figure, for they came <i>with their men,</i> and did not
think it below them, or any disparagement to them, to be sent on
this errand, but rather an addition to their honour to be, (1.)
Attendants in God's house, there to do duty and receive orders. The
greatest of men are less than the least of the ordinances of Jesus
Christ. (2.) Agents for God's people, to negotiate their affairs.
Men of estates, having more leisure than men of business, ought to
employ their time in the service of the public, and by doing good
they make themselves truly great; the <i>messengers of the
churches</i> were the <i>glory of Christ,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.8.23" parsed="|2Cor|8|23|0|0" passage="2Co 8:23">2 Cor. viii. 23</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p6" shownumber="no">2. What the errand was upon which they
came. They were sent perhaps not with <i>gold and silver</i> (as
those, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.6.10-Zech.6.11" parsed="|Zech|6|10|6|11" passage="Zec 6:10,11"><i>ch.</i> vi. 10,
11</scripRef>), or, if they were, that is not mentioned, but upon
the two great errands which should bring us all to the house of
God, (1.) to intercede with God for his mercy. They were sent to
<i>pray before the Lord,</i> and, some think (according to the
usage then), to <i>offer sacrifice,</i> with which they offered up
their prayers. The Jews, in captivity, prayed towards the temple
(as appears <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.10" parsed="|Dan|6|10|0|0" passage="Da 6:10">Dan. vi. 10</scripRef>);
but now that it was in a fair way to be rebuilt they sent their
representatives to pray in it, remembering that God had said that
his house should be called <i>a house of prayer for all people,</i>
<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.56.7" parsed="|Isa|56|7|0|0" passage="Isa 56:7">Isa. lvi. 7</scripRef>. In prayer we
must set ourselves as <i>before the Lord,</i> must see his eye upon
us and have our eye up to him. (2.) To enquire of God concerning
his mind. Note, When we offer up our requests to God it must be
with a readiness to receive instructions from him; for, if we turn
away our ear from hearing his law, we cannot expect that our
prayers should be acceptable to him. We must therefore desire to
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life <i>that we
may enquire</i> there (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.27.4" parsed="|Ps|27|4|0|0" passage="Ps 27:4">Ps. xxvii.
4</scripRef>), asking, not only, Lord, what wilt thou do for me?
but, Lord <i>what wilt thou have me to do?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p7" shownumber="no">3. Whom they consulted. They spoke <i>to
the priests that were in the house of the Lord and to the
prophets;</i> the former were an oracle for ordinary cases, the
latter for extraordinary; they were blessed with both, and would
try if either could acquaint them with the mind of God in this
case. Note, God having given diversities of gifts to men, and all
to profit with, we should make use of all as there is occasion.
They were not so wedded to the priests, their stated ministers, as
to distrust the prophets, who appeared, by the gifts given them,
well qualified to serve the church; nor yet were they so much
enamoured with the prophets as to despise the priests, but they
spoke both to the priests and to the prophets, and, in consulting
both, gave glory to the God of Israel, and that one Spirit who
<i>works all in all.</i> God might speak to them either by
<i>urim</i> or <i>by prophets</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.28.6" parsed="|1Sam|28|6|0|0" passage="1Sa 28:6">1
Sam. xxviii. 6</scripRef>), and therefore they would not neglect
either. The priests and the prophets were not jealous one of
another, nor had any difference among themselves; let not the
people then make differences between them, but thank God they had
both. The prophets did indeed reprove what was amiss in the
priests, but at the same time told the people that the <i>priest's
lips</i> should <i>keep knowledge,</i> and they must <i>enquire the
law at his mouth,</i> for <i>he is the messenger of the Lord of
hosts,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.7" parsed="|Mal|2|7|0|0" passage="Mal 2:7">Mal. ii. 7</scripRef>. Note,
Those that would know God's mind should consult God's ministers,
and in doubtful cases ask advice of those whose special business it
is to <i>search the scriptures.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p8" shownumber="no">4. What the case was which they desired
satisfaction in (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.3" parsed="|Zech|7|3|0|0" passage="Zec 7:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>Should I weep in the fifth month, separating
myself, as I have done these so many years.</i> Observe, (1.) What
had been their past practice, not only during the seventy years of
the captivity but to this time, which was twenty years after the
liberty proclaimed them; they kept up solemn stated fasts for
humiliation and prayer, which they religiously observed, according
as their opportunities were, in their closets, families, or such
assemblies for worship as they had. In the case here, they mention
only one, that of the fifth month; but it appears, by <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.8.19" parsed="|Zech|8|19|0|0" passage="Zec 8:19"><i>ch.</i> viii. 19</scripRef>, that they
observed four anniversary fasts, one in the fourth month
(<i>June</i> 17), in remembrance of the breaking up of the wall of
Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.6" parsed="|Jer|52|6|0|0" passage="Jer 52:6">Jer. lii. 6</scripRef>),
another in the fifth month (<i>July</i> 4), in remembrance of the
burning of the temple (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.12-Jer.52.13" parsed="|Jer|52|12|52|13" passage="Jer 52:12,13">Jer. lii.
12, 13</scripRef>), another in the seventh month (<i>September</i>
3), in remembrance of the killing of Gedaliah, which completed
their dispersion, and another in the tenth month (<i>December</i>
10), in remembrance of the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem,
<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.25.1" parsed="|2Kgs|25|1|0|0" passage="2Ki 25:1">2 Kings xxv. 1</scripRef>. Now it was
very commendable in them to keep those fasts, thus to humble
themselves under those humbling providences, by which God called
them to weeping and mourning, thus to accommodate themselves to
their troubles, and prepare themselves for deliverance. It would
likewise be a means of possessing their children betimes with a due
sense of the hand of the Lord gone out against them. (2.) What was
their present doubt-whether they should continue these fasts or no.
The case is put as by a single person: <i>Should I weep?</i> But it
was the case of many, and the satisfaction of one would be a
satisfaction to the rest. Or perhaps many had left it off, but the
querist will not be determined by the practice of others; if God
will have him continue it, he will, whatever others do. His fasting
is described by his <i>weeping, separating himself.</i> A religious
fast must be solemnized, not only by abstinence, here called a
separating ourselves from the ordinary lawful comforts of life, but
by a godly sorrow for sin, here expressed by weeping. "Should I
still keep such <i>days to afflict the soul</i> as <i>I have done
these so many years?</i>" It is said (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5" parsed="|Zech|7|5|0|0" passage="Zec 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) to be seventy years, computed
from the last captivity, as before, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.12" parsed="|Zech|1|12|0|0" passage="Zec 1:12"><i>ch.</i> i. 12</scripRef>. The enquiry intimates a
readiness to continue it, if God so appoint, though it be a
mortification to the flesh. [1.] Something is to be said for the
continuance of these fasts. Fasting and praying are good work at
any time, and do good; we have always both cause enough and need
enough to humble ourselves before God. To throw off these fasts
would be an evidence of their being too secure, and a cause of
their being more so. They were still in distress, and under the
tokens of God's displeasure; and it is unwise for the patient to
break off his course of physic while he is sensible of such remains
of his distemper. But, [2.] There is something to be said for the
letting fall of these fasts. God had changed the method of his
providences concerning them, and returned in ways of mercy to them;
and ought not they then to change the method of their duties? Now
that the bridegroom has returned, why should the <i>children of the
bride-chamber fast?</i> Every thing is beautiful in its season. And
as to the fast of the fifth month (which is that they particularly
enquire about), that, being kept in remembrance of the burning of
the temple, might seem to be superseded rather than any of the
other, because the temple was now in a fair way to be rebuilt. But,
having long kept up this fast, they would not leave it off without
advice, and without asking and knowing God's mind in the case.
Note, A good method of religious services, which we have found
beneficial to ourselves and others, ought not to be altered without
good reason, and therefore not without mature deliberation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p9" shownumber="no">II. An answer given to this case. It should
seem that, though the question looked plausible enough, those who
proposed it were not conscientious in it, for they were more
concerned about the ceremony than about the substance; they seemed
to boast of their fasting, and to upbraid God Almighty with it,
that he had not sooner returned in mercy to them; "for we have done
it <i>these so many years.</i>" As those, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.3" parsed="|Isa|58|3|0|0" passage="Isa 58:3">Isa. lviii. 3</scripRef>, <i>Wherefore have we fasted,
and thou seest not?</i> And some think that unbelief, and distrust
of the promises of God, were at the bottom of their enquiry; for,
if they had given them the credit that was due to them, they needed
not to doubt but that their fasts ought to be laid aside, now that
the occasion of them was over. And therefore the first answer to
their enquiry is a very sharp reproof of their hypocrisy, directed,
not only to the <i>people of the land,</i> but to <i>the
priests,</i> who had set up these fasts, and perhaps some of them
were for keeping them up, to serve some purpose of their own. Let
them all take notice that, whereas they thought they had made God
very much their debtor by these fasts, they were much mistaken, for
they were not acceptable to him, unless they had been observed in a
better manner and to better purpose.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p10" shownumber="no">1. What they did that was good was not done
aright (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5" parsed="|Zech|7|5|0|0" passage="Zec 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>You
fasted and mourned.</i> They were not chargeable with the omission
or neglect of the duty, though it was displeasing to the body (thy
fasts were <i>continually before me,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.8" parsed="|Ps|50|8|0|0" passage="Ps 50:8">Ps. l. 8</scripRef>), but they had not managed them
aright. Note, Those that come to enquire of their duty must be
willing first to be told of their faults. And those that seem
zealous for the outside of a duty ought to examine themselves
faithfully whether they have the regard they ought to have to the
inside of it. (1.) They had not an eye to God in their fasting:
<i>Did you at all fast unto me, even to me?</i> He appeals to their
own consciences; they will witness against them that they had not
been sincere in it, much more will God, who is greater than the
heart and knows all things. You know very well that <i>you did not
at all fast to me; in fasting did you fast to me?</i> There was the
carcase and form of the duty, but none of the life, and soul, and
power of it. Was it <i>to me, even to me?</i> The repetition
intimates what a great deal of stress is laid upon this as the main
matter, in that and other holy exercises, that they be done to God,
even to him, with an eye to his word as our rule, and his glory as
our end, in them, seeking to please him and to obtain his favour,
and studious by the sincerity of our intention to approve ourselves
to him. When this was wanting every fast was but a jest. To fast,
and not fast to God, was to mock him and provoke him, and could not
be pleasing to him. Those that make fasting a cloak for sin, as
Jezebel's fast, or by it make their court to men for their
applause, as the Pharisees, or that rest in outward expressions of
humiliation while their hearts are unhumbled, as Ahab, do they
<i>fast to God, even to him? Is this the fast that God has
chosen?</i> <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.5" parsed="|Isa|58|5|0|0" passage="Isa 58:5">Isa. lviii. 5</scripRef>.
If the solemnities of our fasting, though frequent, long, and
severe, do not serve to put an edge upon devout affections, to
quicken prayer, to increase godly sorrow, and to alter the temper
of our minds and the course of our lives for the better, they do
not at all answer the intention, and God will not accept them as
performed to him, even to him. (2.) They had the same eye to
themselves in their fasting that they had in their eating and
drinking (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.6" parsed="|Zech|7|6|0|0" passage="Zec 7:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>):
"<i>When you did eat, and when you did drink,</i> on other days
(nay, perhaps on your fast-days, in the observation of which you
could, when you saw cause, dispense with yourselves, and take a
liberty to eat and drink), did you not <i>eat for yourselves and
drink for yourselves?</i> Have you not always done as you had a
mind yourselves? Why then do you now pretend a desire to know the
mind of God? In your religious feasts and thanksgivings you have
had no more an eye to God than in your fasts." Or, rather, it
refers to their common meals; they did no more design the honour of
God in their fasting and praying than they did in their eating and
drinking; but self was still the centre in which the lines of all
their actions, natural, civil, and religious, met. They needed not
be in such care about the continuance of their fasts, unless they
had kept them better. Note, We miss our end in eating and drinking
when we eat to ourselves and drink to ourselves, whereas we should
<i>eat and drink to the glory of God</i> (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.31" parsed="|1Cor|10|31|0|0" passage="1Co 10:31">1 Cor. x. 31</scripRef>), that our bodies may be fit to
serve our souls in his service.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p11" shownumber="no">2. The principal good thing they should
have done was left undone (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.7" parsed="|Zech|7|7|0|0" passage="Zec 7:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): "<i>Should you not hear the words which the Lord has
cried by the former prophets?</i> Yes, that you should have done on
your fast-days; it was not enough to <i>weep</i> and <i>separate
yourselves</i> on your fast-days, in token of your sorrow for the
judgments you were under, but you should have <i>searched the
scriptures</i> of the prophets, that you might have seen what was
the ground of God's controversy with your fathers, and might have
taken warning by their miseries not to tread in the steps of their
iniquities. You ask, Shall we do as we have done, in fasting? No,
you must do that which you have not yet done; you must repent of
your sins and reform you lives. This is what we now call you to,
and it is the same that the former prophets called your fathers
to." To affect them the more with the mischief that sin had done
them, that they might be brought to repent of it, he puts them in
mind of the former flourishing state of their country: Jerusalem
<i>was</i> then <i>inhabited and in prosperity,</i> that is now
desolate and in distress. The <i>cities round about,</i> that are
now in ruins, were then inhabited too and <i>in peace.</i> The
country likewise was very populous: <i>Men inhabited the south of
the plain,</i> which was not at all fortified, and yet they lived
safely, and which was fruitful, and so they lived plentifully. But
then God <i>by the prophets cried</i> to them, as one in earnest,
and importunate with them, to amend their ways and doings, or else
their prosperity would soon be at an end. "Now," says the prophet,
"you should have taken notice of that, and have inferred that what
was required of them for the preventing of the judgments, and which
they did not, is required of you for the removal of the judgments;
and, if you do it not, all your fasting and weeping signify
nothing." Note, The words of the later prophets agree with those of
the former; and, whether people are in prosperity or adversity,
they must be called upon to leave their sins and do their duty;
this must still be the burden of every song.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Zech.viii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.8-Zech.7.14" parsed="|Zech|7|8|7|14" passage="Zec 7:8-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zech.viii-p11.3">
<h4 id="Zech.viii-p11.4">Wilful Disobedience of Israel; Consequences
of Disobedience. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p11.5">b. c.</span> 520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zech.viii-p12" shownumber="no">8 And the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p12.1">Lord</span> came unto Zechariah, saying,   9 Thus
speaketh the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p12.2">Lord</span> of hosts, saying,
Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to
his brother:   10 And oppress not the widow, nor the
fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine
evil against his brother in your heart.   11 But they refused
to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears,
that they should not hear.   12 Yea, they made their hearts
<i>as</i> an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the
words which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p12.3">Lord</span> of hosts hath
sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great
wrath from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p12.4">Lord</span> of hosts.  
13 Therefore it is come to pass, <i>that</i> as he cried, and they
would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Zech.viii-p12.5">Lord</span> of hosts:   14 But I
scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they
knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed
through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p13" shownumber="no">What was said <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.7" parsed="|Zech|7|7|0|0" passage="Zec 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>, that they <i>should have heard
the words of the former prophets,</i> is here enlarged upon, for
warning to these hypocritical enquirers, who continued their sins
when they asked with great preciseness whether they should continue
their fasts. This prophet had before put them in mind of their
fathers' disobedience to the calls of the prophets, and what was
the consequence of it (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.4-Zech.1.6" parsed="|Zech|1|4|1|6" passage="Zec 1:4-6"><i>ch.</i> i.
4-6</scripRef>), and now here again; for others' harms should be
our warnings. God's judgments upon Israel of old for their sins
were written for admonition to us Christians (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.11" parsed="|1Cor|10|11|0|0" passage="1Co 10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</scripRef>), and the same use we should
make of similar providences in our own day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p14" shownumber="no">I. This prophet here repeats the heads of
the sermons which the former prophets preached to their fathers
(<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.9-Zech.7.10" parsed="|Zech|7|9|7|10" passage="Zec 7:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>),
because the very same things were required of them now. "Thus does
the <i>Lord of hosts speak</i> to you now, and thus he did speak to
your fathers, saying, <i>Execute true judgment.</i>" The duties
here required of them, which would have been the lengthening of the
tranquillity of their fathers and must be the restoring of their
tranquillity, are not keeping fasts and offering sacrifices, but
<i>doing justly</i> and <i>loving mercy,</i> duties which they were
bound to by the light and law of nature, though there had been no
prophets sent to insist upon them, duties which had a direct
tendency to the public welfare and peace, and which they themselves
would be the gainers by, and not God. 1. Magistrates must
administer justice impartially, according to the maxims of the law
and the merits of the cause, without respect of persons: "<i>Judge
judgment of truth,</i> and execute it when you have judged it." 2.
Neighbours must have a tender concern for one another, and must not
only do one another no wrong, but must be ready to do one another
all the good offices that lie in their power. They must <i>show
mercy and compassion every man to his brother,</i> as the case
called for it. The infirmities of others, as well as their
calamities, are to be looked upon with compassion. <i>Hanc veniam
petimusque damusque vicissim—This kindness we ask and
exercise.</i> 3. They must not bear hard upon those whom they have
advantage against, and who, they know, are not able to help
themselves. They must not, either in commerce or in course of law,
oppress <i>the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, and the
poor,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.10" parsed="|Zech|7|10|0|0" passage="Zec 7:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. The
weakest must not be thrust to the wall because they are weakest. No
thanks to men not to deny right to those who are in a capacity to
demand it and recover it; but we must, not only for wrath, but also
for conscience' sake, give those their own who have not power to
force it from us. Or it intimates that that which is but exactness
with others is exaction upon the widows and the fatherless; nay,
that not relieving and helping them as we ought is, in effect,
oppressing them. 4. They must not only not do wrong to any, but
they must not so much as desire it nor think of it: "<i>Let none of
you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.</i> Do not
project it; do not wish it; nay do not so much as please yourself
with the fancy of it." The law of God lays a restraint upon the
heart, and forbids the entertaining, forbids the admitting, of a
malicious, spiteful, ill-natured thought. <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.15.9" parsed="|Deut|15|9|0|0" passage="De 15:9">Deut. xv. 9</scripRef>, <i>Beware that there be not a
thought in thy Belial heart against thy brother.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p15" shownumber="no">II. He describes the wilfulness and
disobedience of their fathers, who persisted in all manner of
wickedness and injustice, notwithstanding these exhortations and
admonitions frequently given them in God's name; various
expressions to this purport are here heaped up (<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.11-Zech.7.12" parsed="|Zech|7|11|7|12" passage="Zec 7:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>), setting forth the
stubbornness of that carnal mind which is <i>enmity against God,
and is not in subjection to the law of God, neither indeed can
be.</i> They were obstinate and refractory, and persisted in their
transgressions of the law purely from a spirit of contradiction to
the law. 1. They would not, if they could help it, come within
hearing of the prophets, but kept at a distance; or, if they could
not avoid hearing what they said, yet they resolved they would not
heed it: <i>They refused to hearken,</i> and looked another way as
if they had not been spoken to. 2. If they did hear what was said
to them, and, as it seemed, inclined at first to comply with it,
yet they flew off when it came to the setting to, and, like a
bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, <i>they pulled away the
shoulder,</i> and would not submit to the <i>easy yoke and the
light burden</i> of God's commandments. <i>They gave a withdrawing
shoulder</i> (so the word is); they seemed to lay their shoulder to
the work, but they presently withdrew it again, as those <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.10-Jer.34.11" parsed="|Jer|34|10|34|11" passage="Jer 34:10,11">Jer. xxxiv. 10, 11</scripRef>. They were
like a deceitful bow, as that son that said, <i>I go, sir, but went
not.</i> 3. They filled their own minds with prejudices against the
word of God, and had some objection or other ready wherewith to
fortify themselves against every sermon they heard. <i>They stopped
their ears, that they should not hear,</i> as the deaf adder
(<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.58.4" parsed="|Ps|58|4|0|0" passage="Ps 58:4">Ps. lviii. 4</scripRef>), and none are
so deaf as those that will not hear, that <i>make their own ear
heavy,</i> as the word is. 4. They resolved that nothing which was
said to them, for the enforcing of these injunctions, should make
any impression upon them: <i>They made their hearts as an
adamant-stone,</i> as a <i>diamond,</i> the hardest of stones to be
wrought upon, or as a <i>flint,</i> which the mason cannot hew into
shape as he can other stone out of the quarry. Nothing is so hard,
so unmalleable, so inflexible, as the heart of a presumptuous
sinner; and those whose hearts are hard may thank themselves; they
are of their own hardening, and it is just with God to give them
over to a reprobate sense, to the hardness and impenitence of their
own hearts. These stubborn sinners hardened their hearts on purpose
<i>lest they should hear</i> what God said to them by the written
word, <i>by the law of Moses,</i> and by the <i>words of the
prophets</i> that preached to them; they had <i>Moses and the
prophets,</i> but resolved they would hear neither, nor would they
have been persuaded though one had been sent to them from the dead.
The <i>words of the prophet</i> were not regarded by them, though
they were words which the Lord of hosts sent and directed to them,
though he sent them immediately <i>by his Spirit</i> in the
prophets; so that in despising them they affronted God himself and
<i>resisted the Holy Ghost.</i> Note, The reason why men are not
good is because they will not be so; they will not consider, will
not comply; and therefore, <i>if thou scornest, thou alone shalt
bear it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Zech.viii-p16" shownumber="no">III. He shows the fatal consequences of it
to their fathers: <i>Therefore came great wrath from the Lord of
hosts.</i> God was highly displeased with them, and justly; he
required nothing of them but what was reasonable in itself and
beneficial to them; and yet they refused, and in a most insolent
manner too. What master could bear to be so abused by his own
servant? Such an implacable enmity to the gospel as this was to the
law and the prophets was that which brought <i>wrath to the
uttermost</i> upon the last generation of the Jewish church,
<scripRef id="Zech.viii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.2.16" parsed="|1Thess|2|16|0|0" passage="1Th 2:16">1 Thess. ii. 16</scripRef>. Great sins
against <i>the Lord of hosts,</i> whose authority is incontestable,
bring <i>great wrath from the Lord of hosts,</i> whose power is
irresistible. And the effect was, 1. As they had turned a deaf ear
to God's word, so God turned a deaf ear to their prayers, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.13" parsed="|Zech|7|13|0|0" passage="Zec 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. <i>As he cried</i> to
them in their prosperity to leave their sins, <i>and they would not
hear,</i> but persisted in their iniquities, so <i>they cried to
him</i> in the day of their trouble to remove his judgments, and he
would not hear, but lengthened out their calamities. Those that set
God at defiance, in the height of their pride, when pangs came upon
them cried unto him. <i>Lord, in trouble have they visited
thee.</i> But God has said it, and will abide by it, <i>He that
turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be
an abomination,</i> <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.9 Bible:Prov.1.24" parsed="|Prov|28|9|0|0;|Prov|1|24|0|0" passage="Pr 28:9,Pr 1:24">Prov.
xxviii. 9; i. 24</scripRef>, &amp;c. Iniquity, regarded in the
heart, will certainly spoil the success of prayer, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.66.18" parsed="|Ps|66|18|0|0" passage="Ps 66:18">Ps. lxvi. 18</scripRef>. 2. As they flew off
from their duty and allegiance to God, and were of desultory and
unsettled spirits, so God dissipated them and threw them about as
chaff before a whirlwind: <i>He scattered them among all the
nations whom they knew not,</i> and whom therefore they could not
expect to receive any kindness from, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.14" parsed="|Zech|7|14|0|0" passage="Zec 7:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. 3. As they violated all the
laws of their land, so God took away all the glories of it:
<i>Their land was desolate after them, and no man passed through or
returned.</i> All that country that was the kingdom of the two
tribes, after the dispersion of the remaining Jews, upon the
slaughter of Gedaliah, was left utterly uninhabited; there was not
man, woman, or child, in it, till the Jews returned at the end of
seventy years' captivity; nay, it should seem, the very roads that
lay through the country were deserted (none passed or repassed),
which, as it had an intimation of mercy in it (though they were
cast out of it, yet it was kept empty for their return), so for the
present it made the judgment appear much the more dismal; for what
a horrid wilderness must a land be that had been so many years
uninhabited! And they might thank themselves; it was they that by
their own wickedness laid <i>the pleasant land desolate.</i> It was
not so much the Chaldeans that did it. No; they did it themselves.
The desolations of a land are owing to the wickedness of its
inhabitants, <scripRef id="Zech.viii-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.34" parsed="|Ps|107|34|0|0" passage="Ps 107:34">Ps. cvii. 34</scripRef>.
This came of their wilful disobedience to the law of God. And the
present generation saw how desolate sin had made that pleasant
land, and yet would not take warning.</p>
</div></div2>