to the prophets--Haggai and Zechariah especially. The tenth day of the fifth month was kept a fast, being the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem ([Jr 52:12-14]). They ask, Should the fast be continued, now that the temple and city are being restored?
separating myself--sanctifying myself by separation, not only from food, but from all defilements (compare [Joe 2:16]) as was usual in a solemn fast.
5. Speak unto all--The question had been asked in the name of the people in general by Sherezer and Regemmelech. The self-imposed fast they were tired of, not having observed it in the spirit of true religion.
seventh month--This fast was in memory of the murder of Gedaliah and those with him at Mizpah, issuing in the dispersion of the Jews ([2Ki 25:25], ; [Jr 41:1-3]).
did ye ... fast unto me?--No; it was to gratify yourselves in hypocritical will-worship. If it had been "unto Me," ye would have "separated yourselves" not only from food, but from your sins ([Is 58:3-7]). They falsely made the fast an end intrinsically meritorious in itself, not a means towards God's glory in their sanctification. The true principle of piety, reference to God, was wanting: hence the emphatic repetition of "unto Me." Before settling questions as to the outward forms of piety (however proper, as in this case), the great question was as to piety itself; that being once settled, all their outward observances become sanctified, being "unto the Lord" ([Ro 14:6]).
6. did not ye eat for yourselves?--literally, "Is it not ye who eat?" that is, it is not unto Me and My glory. It tends no more to My glory, your feasting than your fasting.
7. Should ye not hear the words--rather, "Should ye not do the words," as their question naturally was as to what they should do ([Zec 7:3]); "hearing" is not mentioned till [Zec 7:12]. The sense is, It is not fasts that Jehovah requires of you, but that ye should keep His precepts given to you at the time when Jerusalem was in its integrity. Had ye done so then, ye would have had no occasion to institute fasts to commemorate its destruction, for it would never have been destroyed ([Zec 7:9-14]) [Maurer]. Or, as the Margin, "Are not these the words" of the older prophets ([Is 58:3]; [Jr 14:12]) which threatened a curse for disobedience, which the event has so awfully confirmed. If ye follow them in sin, ye must follow them in suffering. English Version is good sense: Ye inquire anxiously about the fasts, whereas ye ought to be anxious about hearing the lesson taught by the former prophets and verified in the nation's punishment; penitence and obedience are required rather than fasts.
the plain--southwest of Jerusalem. They then inhabited securely the region most unguarded.
9. speaketh--implying that these precepts addressed to their ancestors were the requirements of Jehovah not merely then, but now. We must not only not hurt, but we must help our fellow men. God is pleased with such loving obedience, rather than with empty ceremonies.
10. imagine evil--that is, devise evil. The Septuagint takes it, Harbor not the desire of revenge ([Le 19:18]). "Devise evil against one another" is simpler ([Psa 36:4]; [Mi 2:1]).
11. pulled away the shoulder--literally, "presented a refractory shoulder"; an image from beasts refusing to bear the yoke ([Ne 9:29], Margin).
stopped ... ears--([Is 6:10]; [Jr 7:26]; [Ac 7:57]).
12. hearts ... adamant--([Eze 3:9]; ).
Lord ... sent in Spirit by ... prophets--that is, sent by the former prophets inspired with His Spirit.
therefore ... great wrath--([2Ch 36:16]). As they pushed from them the yoke of obedience, God laid on them the yoke of oppression. As they made their heart hard as adamant, God brake their hard hearts with judgments. Hard hearts must expect hard treatment. The harder the stone, the harder the blow of the hammer to break it.
13. he cried--by His prophets.
they cried--in their calamities.
I ... not hear--retribution in kind ([Pr 1:24-26]; [Is 1:15]; [Mi 3:4]).
14. whirlwind--of wrath ([Na 1:3]).
nations whom they knew not--foreign and barbarous.
desolate after them--after their expulsion and exile. It was ordered remarkably by God's providence, that no occupants took possession of it, but that during the Jews' absence it was reserved for them against their return after seventy years.
they laid ... desolate--The Jews did so by their sins. The blame of their destruction lay with themselves, rather than with the Babylonians ([2Ch 36:21]).
pleasant land--Canaan. Literally, "the land of desire" ([Jr 3:19]).
Chapter 8
Zec 8:1-23. Continuation of the Subject in the Seventh Chapter. After urging them to obedience by the fate of their fathers, he urges them to it by promises of coming prosperity
2. jealous for Zion--([Zec 1:14]).
with great fury--against her oppressors.
3. I am returned--that is, I am determined to return. My decree to that effect is gone forth.
Jerusalem ... city of truth--that is, faithful to her God, who is the God of truth ([Is 1:21], ; [Joh 17:17]). Never yet fully fulfilled, therefore still to be so.
the mountain of the Lord--([Is 2:2], ).
holy mountain--([Jr 31:23]).
4. So tranquil and prosperous shall the nation be that wars shall no longer prematurely cut off the people: men and women shall reach advanced ages. The promise of long life was esteemed one of the greatest blessings in the Jewish theocracy with its temporal rewards of obedience ([Ex 20:12]; [De 4:40]). Hence this is a leading feature in millennial blessedness ([Is 65:20], ).
for very age--literally, "for multitude of days."
5. boys and girls playing--implying security and a numerous progeny, accounted a leading blessing among the Jews. Contrast [Jr 6:11]; .
6. However impossible these things just promised by Me seem to you, they are not so with God. The "remnant" that had returned from the captivity, beholding the city desolate and the walls and houses in ruins, could hardly believe what God promised. The expression "remnant" glances at their ingratitude in rating so low God's power, though they had experienced it so "marvellously" displayed in their restoration. A great source of unbelief is, men "limit" God's power by their own ([Psa 78:19], 20, 41).
these days--"of small things" ([Zec 4:10]), when such great things promised seemed incredible. Maurer, after Jerome, translates, "in those days"; that is, if the thing which I promised to do in those days, seems "marvellous," &c.
7. save my people from ... east ... west--that is, from every region (compare [Psa 50:1]; the "West" is literally, "the going down of the sun") to which they are scattered; they are now found especially in countries west of Jerusalem. The dispersion under Nebuchadnezzar was only to the east, namely, to Babylonia. The restoration, including a spiritual return to God ([Zec 8:8]), here foretold, must therefore be still future ([Is 11:11], ; , ; [Eze 37:21]; [Am 9:14], ; also [Zec 13:9]; [Jr 30:22]; , ).
8. in truth--in good faith, both on their side and Mine: God being faithful to His everlasting covenant and enabling them by His Spirit to be faithful to Him.
9-13. All adversities formerly attended them when neglecting to build the temple: but now God promises all blessings, as an encouragement to energy in the work.
hands ... strong--be of courageous mind ([2Sa 16:21]), not merely in building, but in general, as having such bright prospects ([Zec 8:13], &c.).
these days--the time that had elapsed between the prophet's having spoken "these words" and the time ([Zec 8:10]; compare [Hag 2:15-19]) when they set about in earnest restoring the temple.
the prophets--Haggai and Zechariah himself ([Ezr 5:1], ). The same prophets who promised prosperity at the foundation of the temple, now promised still greater blessings hereafter.
14. I thought--I determined.
you--that is, your fathers, with whom ye are one; the Jewish Church of all ages being regarded as an organic whole (compare [Hag 2:5]; [Mt 23:31], ).
repented not--I changed not My purpose, because they changed not their mind ([2Ch 36:16]). With the froward God shows Himself froward ([Psa 18:26]). If the threatened punishment has been so unchangeably inflicted, much more will God surely give the promised blessing, which is so much more consonant to His nature ([Jr 31:28]).