formerly, yet I will take pleasure in it, and account myself glorified in and by it, saith the Lord. I. 9. I did blow upon it. I crossed your hopes and designs in it. II. 3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? If there be any yet alive amongst you, that saw this Temple in her first glory, as it was built by Solomon, ere it was ruined by Nebuchadnezzar, and sees it now in the present homely estate, wherein it is; will he not think meanly of it, as a thing not worthy to be regarded? II. 4. Yet. now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest ; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: Yet now, be of good courage, O Zerubbabel, &c. and be strong, and go forward cheerfully with the work, O ye people of the land; for I do both graciously accept, and will mercifully bless your endeavours herein : II. 5. According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. According to the word of my covenant with you, when ye came out of Egypt, that ye should be my people, and I would be your God; so will I perform my protection, and the presence of my Spirit with you: fear ye not. II. 6, 7. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Once, I did, in great terror, deliver my Law; and now, ere any long time, I will once more work a great change in my Church, by the bringing in of my Gospel; before, and in the exhibiting whereof, as I did formerly, in the delivery of the Law, I will do wondrous things, both in heaven and earth, to the astonishing of the inhabitants thereof: And, besides the prodigies in heaven and earth, wherewith men shall be moved to amazement, I will cause great commotions of wars amongst all nations, who shall be grievously embroiled; and then, immediately, peace being restored to the world, the promised and desired Messiah, the Saviour of the World, shall come; and I will fill this house with the glory of his presence in it; for he shall come under the roof thereof. II. 8, 9. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace saith the LORD of hosts. Think not that I stand upon matter of cost or price of metals: all the silver and gold, which is hid in the bowels of the earth, is mine; and how easy were it for me, thus to adorn my house! but I would have you to know, that the glory of this house of mine doth not consist in these outward things: no; the glory of this latter house, though meaner in structure, shall be greater, than of the former, saith the Lord; in that my Son, the Saviour of the World, being clothed in flesh, shall come personally and visibly under the roof of it; and that from thence shall the Gospel go forth to all the world, even that Gospel of Peace, which shall work a true and blessed tranquillity to every believer. II. 12, 13, 14. If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. As a man, that toucheth or carrieth about him a sanctified thing, is not thereby made clean and holy, neither doth thereby sanctify or make holy those other things which he toucheth; so, ye Jews, though ye have a holy altar, and there be holy sacrifices offered thereon, yet this holiness of your altar cannot sanctify you: but as, contrarily, if a man, that is unclean through any occasion of legal impurity, touch bread or flesh or any such thing, that very thing, which he toucheth, is by that touch made unclean; so, ye Jews, being morally polluted and unclean, do, by your sinful impurity, pollute my altars and offerings, and all the services that ye go about. II. 15. And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD. And now I pray you, consider, and look back from this day, unto the time that the first stone was laid in the foundation, which is above one hundred years, since when there hath not been a stone laid upon it. II. 16. Since those days were, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: &c. In all that time of your slackness and neglect, I did so sensibly cross you, that you might well find it, in your corn, and oil, and wine; in all which, your hopes failed you notably: where one made account to have gathered twenty measures, he found but ten: &c. II. 18. Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider it. And now, that ye may see God's blessing upon you, for setting your hands to the building of his Temple, consider his dealings with you ever since the four and twentieth day of November, when ye began to renew the work of this building, consider. II. 19. Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you. As yet the seed is so far from yielding a harvest-increase to the barn, that it is scarce sprouted up; as yet there is no proof of your other fruits, the vines, pomegranates, olives; but mark how plentifully, from this very day, God will bless you in all these. II. 21, 22. I will shake the heavens and the earth; And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. I will make a sensible and wonderful alteration in the world; For I will overthrow the thrones of divers kingdoms, and will cause the opposite kingdoms of the heathen to subdue one another; and, besides the broils of foreign wars, I will cause the power of great kingdoms to be impaired and overturned by civil divisions. II. 23. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. But as for thee, O Zerubbabel, my faithful servant, which hast been zealous to advance my service and to build my Temple, I will take thee and thy posterity into my dearest respects and special care; for I have made choice of thee, as the man, from whose loins, in the fulness of time, I will take that flesh,, wherewith I shall be clothed, saith the Lord of Hosts. ZECHARIAH. I. 5. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever? Your fathers are dead: It is true, you say; and so are the prophets too: both of them were men; it was not for them to live here, for ever. I. 6. But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? And they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. But though my prophets died, yet the words, both of counsels and menaces, which they delivered to your fathers, live still; and were acknowledged by those your fathers, to be justly verified in and upon them; while they freely confessed to God's glory, and to their own shame: Right so as God threatened to deal with us according to our doings, even so hath he done; we are sinful and miserable, and he is just. I. 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, &c. In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which was the month of our January, &c. I. 8. I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled and white. I had a vision by night: Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, represented himself to me as a man riding upon a red horse; by that fiery colour implying his readiness to be revenged on the enemies of his Church: and he stood among the myrtle trees, that were in the valley; to signify the low and depressed condition of the Jews, in their Babylonish captivity; and behind him were several angels, that were ready to attend his commands, furnished with great power for that purpose.. I. 9. Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. Then said I to the angel, which shewed me this vision; O my lord, what are these? And the same angel answered me, I will shew thee what these be.. I. 10. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And the great angel of the Covenant, Christ Jesus, who stood among the myrtle trees, as taking the answer out of the mouth of that angel who spake to me, answered, and said; These are ministering spirits, whom the Lord hath sent to take view of all the parts of the world, and to give an account of the estate of earthly affairs. I. 11. And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. And those ministering spirits accordingly gave answer unto Christ, the Son of God; We have, according to our charge and commission, passed to and fro, through the world: and, behold, all the earth is now free from wars and open hostilities; for the Babylonian, having tyrannically spoiled thy people and his neighbours, is now at rest, and finds no opposition. I. 12. Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? Then Christ, the Mediator of his Church, answered, and said; O Lord of hosts, how long will it be, ere thou shew mercy to thy chosen people, to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; whom thou hast now, these seventy years, afflicted with a miserable captivity? I. 14. I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. I am much affected with the miseries of Jerusalem and of Zion; and conceive great and just indignation against the enemies thereof. I. 15. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. I am highly offended with these Chaldees, which are now at ease, and take their pleasure: for, I was indeed displeased with the sins of my people, and intended to chastise them for their offences; but these Chaldees prosecuted their own malice and ambition, and aggravated their afflictions to their utmost. I. 16. And a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. And Jerusalem shall be built again, after so long ruin and desolation. I. 18, 19. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And, behold, four horns of iron were represented unto me. Then said I to the angel, who shewed me this vision, What be these, or what do they signify? And he answered me, These are the enemies of my Church, which, from all the four coasts of heaven, have set upon and spoiled Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. I. 20, 21. And the LORD shewed me four carpenters. Then said I, What came these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. As those horns represented the enemies of the Church, which should push down all the cities of Judah and Israel; so |