Zechariah 14:13 Komentář

Divers things were foretold, in the two foregoing chapters, which should come to pass "in that day;" this chapter speaks of a "day of the Lord that cometh," a day of his judgment, and ten times in the foregoing chapters, and seven times in this, it is repeated, "in that day;" but what that day is that is here meant is uncertain, and perhaps will be so (as the Jews speak) till Elias comes; whether it refer to the whole period of time from the prophet's days to the days of the Messiah, or to some particular events in that time, or to Christ's coming, and the setting up of his kingdom upon the ruins of the Jewish polity, we cannot determine, but divers passages here seem to look as far forward as gospel-times. Now the "day of the Lord" brings with it both judgment and mercy, mercy to his church, judgment to her enemies and persecutors. I. The gates of hell are here threatening the church (Zac 14:1, Zac 14:2) and yet not prevailing. II. The power of Heaven appears here for the church and against the enemies of it (Zac 14:3, Zac 14:5). III. The events concerning the church are here represented as mixed (Zac 14:6, Zac 14:7), but issuing well at last. IV. The spreading of the means of knowledge is here foretold, and the setting up of the gospel-kingdom in the world (Zac 14:8, Zac 14:9), which shall be the enlargement and establishment of another Jerusalem (Zac 14:10, Zac 14:11). V. Those shall be reckoned with that fought against Jerusalem (Zac 14:12-15) and those that neglect his worship there (Zac 14:17-19). VI. It is promised that there shall be great resort to the church, and great purity and piety in it (Zac 14:16, Zac 14:20, Zac 14:21).

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 14 This chapter treats of the coming of Christ with all his saints, and his personal appearance among them; and of the signs of the times before that; and of what shall befall the enemies of the church, both open and secret; and of the happy state and condition of the church itself. First there will be a time of great affliction to the people of God, Zac 14:1, when the Lord will appear and fight for them, and will appear to them, and with them, Zac 14:3 but before this time it will be an uncommon season, neither day nor night; at the close of which, light will break forth, Zac 14:6 the Gospel will be spread far and near, attended with the Spirit and grace of God in great plenty, Zac 14:8 which will bring on the spiritual reign of Christ over all the earth, Zac 14:9 particularly the land of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem, shall be inhabited by men with safety, Zac 14:10 and all those that oppose and fight against the Lord's people shall be destroyed, partly by an immediate plague from the Lord upon them, and partly by the hands of one another, and also by the saints of the most High; and the plague shall not only be upon their persons, but upon their cattle likewise, Zac 14:12 and as for those that profess the Christian name, and yet neglect or refuse to worship the Lord in a spiritual and evangelical manner, there shall be no rain upon them, Zac 14:17 and as for the church and people of God, there shall be universal holiness among them, and not a single Canaanite to be found in the midst of them, Zac 14:20.

And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When the vials are pouring out: that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; the Targum renders it, a great tumult, or noise of killing; and the Septuagint, an ecstasy: it refers to the earthquake, and the slaughter of seven thousand men of name, and the fright upon that, Rev 11:13 and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbour, and shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour; there will be a revolution, upon this tumult, in several of the antichristian states; and the kings of them shall hate the whore, make her desolate, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, Rev 17:16 or, "his hand shall be cut off by the hand of his neighbour" (u); see Zac 11:17, the power of antichrist shall be destroyed by neighbouring Christian princes. (u) "et succidetur manus ejus super manum amici sui", Pagninus. So Aben Ezra, and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 43. 1.

On that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of a neighbor, and the hand of the one will be fastened to the hand of the other. After peace was restored to the Jews, their Greek enemies and those Jews who had abandoned the religion of their fathers fell into a great distress and panic. And therefore it happened that, as is the habit of those who are confounded, they took each other’s hand and were not able to let their hold go because of their fear.

In that day there will be a great tumult of the Lord among them: and a man will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be placed upon the hand of his neighbor. But Judah will fight against Jerusalem, and the riches of all the nations will be gathered around: gold, silver, and many garments. LXX: And in that day there will be a great astonishment of the Lord upon them: and each one will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will cling to the hand of his neighbor: and Judah will be prepared in Jerusalem, and the strength of all the peoples will be gathered around: gold, silver, and many exceedingly garments. When these wonders have been completed, such as the flesh of the enemies flowing away, the eyes withering away, and the tongue in the mouth of blasphemers decaying: then there will be a great tumult, or astonishment in them; for this signifies the ecstasy which the LXX translated: And each one will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be compared with the hand of another, because of fear, and the weight of evils which will come upon them. Judas will also fight against the metropolis, of which we spoke above (Chapter XII), and will receive victory granted by the Lord: the wealth of all nations that have fought against Jerusalem will be gathered, gold and silver, and a multitude of clothing, which are most precious in things. This unfortunate Judas promises to himself, hoping to receive gold which he valued the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. But we, following the established order, let us refer all these things to the blessedness of the Church, so that all who are in it may admire the subjection of the enemies and their own happiness, and each one may take hold of the hand of his neighbor, so that they may join right hands and be connected by mutual faith and kinship. And what we read in Hebrew, 'And Judas will fight against Jerusalem'; for this, the Septuagint translators rendered it as, 'And Judas will be prepared in Jerusalem'; let us accept it in both ways, that Judas, who once confessed the Lord's name, and being forced by persecutions, persecuted the people of Christ, may himself turn to joy. Certainly, Judas, being entirely repentant and faithful, should not fight against Jerusalem, but should prepare himself in Jerusalem to fight against the adversaries. And Judas himself will gather the riches of all nations around, gold, and silver, and very many garments. We have often said that gold and silver are understood in a metaphorical sense, and so too should we understand the garments, with which the Church of Christ is adorned, of which it is written: 'The queen stood at your right hand in golden robes, adorned with variety' (Psalm 45:10). The crowd of believers rejoices at seeing her dressed in these garments and says: I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and covered me with the robe of righteousness (Isa. LXI, according to the LXX). For the Lord Himself has said to her: I clothed you with embroidered work and gave you sandals of badger skin (Ezek. XVI). Let us accept these garments made of embroidered work, which are so beautiful and delicate that they appear to be like hair. The Church gathers these garments so that she may have something to clothe her people with, to whom the true preacher has said: Let your garments always be white (Eccl. IX, 8).

The commencement of this chapter relates to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and to the calamities consequent on that event. From this great Jewish tragedy the prophet immediately passes to the utter extermination of the enemies of Christianity in the latter days. God will display his power in behalf of his people in a manner so astonishing and miraculous, that even they themselves, and much more their enemies, shall be struck with terror, Zac 14:4, Zac 14:5. The national prosperity of the Jews shall then be permanent and unmixed, Zac 14:6, Zac 14:7; and these people shall be made the instruments of converting many to the faith of the Messiah, Zac 14:8, Zac 14:9. The great increase and prosperity of the Christian Church, the New Jerusalem, is then described in terms accommodated to Jewish ideas; and the most signal vengeance denounced against all her enemies, Zac 14:10-19. From that happy period God's name will be honored in every thing, and his worship every where most reverently observe, Zac 14:20, Zac 14:21.

A great tumult from the Lord - Among those enemies of his Church, who shall engage and destroy each other.

LAST STRUGGLE WITH THE HOSTILE WORLD POWERS: MESSIAH-JEHOVAH SAVES JERUSALEM AND DESTROYS THE FOE, OF WHOM THE REMNANT TURNS TO THE LORD REIGNING AT JERUSALEM. (Zec. 14:1-21) day of the Lord--in which He shall vindicate His justice by punishing the wicked and then saving His elect people (Joe 2:31; Joe 3:14; Mal 4:1, Mal 4:5). thy spoil . . . divided in the midst of thee--by the foe; secure of victory, they shall not divide the spoil taken from thee in their camp outside, but "in the midst" of the city itself.

tumult--consternation (Zac 12:4; Sa1 14:15, Sa1 14:20). lay hold . . . on . . . hand of . . . neighbour--instinctively grasping it, as if thereby to be safer, but in vain [MENOCHIUS]. Rather, in order to assail "his neighbor" [CALVIN], (Eze 38:21). Sin is the cause of all quarrels on earth. It will cause endless quarrels in hell (Jam 3:15-16).