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That is to say, the victories of the restored Israelites, with Jehovah at their head, shall far exceed the victories of Greece, which the world had soon to witness; though Greece would be an instrument in the hand of the same God, to overthrow the nations of the then world.

And his arrows shall go forth as lightning,
And the Lord Jehovah shall sound the trumpet,
And shall march with the whirlwinds of the south.

15. Jehovah Sabaoth shall be a shield over them,

And they shall consume' with the sword,' and subdue with sling-stones;

And they shall drink' blood,' and shout as from wine.

And they shall be filled as the bowl,' and the corners of the

altar: "

16. And Jehovah their God will give them the victory, In that day shall they be as the flock of his people:

And crowned trophies' shall shine over their land; 17. Truly, how great is their prosperity! how great their beauty! Corn doth nourish their youth, and wine their virgins.

This seems to be the state of prosperity and happiness usually foretold in the prophecies, as awaiting Israel after the destruction of the last foe. What follows seems designed to expose the futility of the idolatrous and superstitious worship of that foe. That Israel's last enemy will be idolators, we have often heard from the sacred oracle.

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1. Ask ye

CHAPTER X.

of Jehovah rain at the season of the spring showers, Jehovah maketh the lightning and the rain,

-The plentiful rain-HE gives them,-to man, the grass of

the field.

2. Surely the images have spoken vanity,

And the diviners have seen a lie,

False dreams do they tell, that cannot comfort.

Therefore, are they gone away as a flock, they are brought low;

3. Because no one fed them, mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,

And the he-goats have I visited with punishment.

I conceive this refers to churches of the Gentiles, their rulers and great men become apostate to God, and destroying his flock by their neglect and misrule. As usual, we find Israel is the first object of the Redeemer's regard, and his instrument of good to the whole world.

Surely Jehovah Sabaoth will visit,

Even his flock, the house of Judah ;

And will make them as his stately horse in battle.

That is to say, Judah is the great instrument he will

make use of in the last victory.

"Salvation is of the

Jews," and from Judah, as it follows, every help is to be expected:

4. From him 'is' the corner stone, and from him the nail; From him is the battle bow,

From him goeth forth every ruler altogether:

5. And they shall be in the war, as men that tread the mire of

the streets;

And they shall fight, for Jehovah is among them,
And the rider on horses shall be confounded:

6. And I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And will render victorious the house of Joseph;
And I will restore them, for I have pitied them:
And they shall be as though I had not rejected them,
For I am Jehovah their God, and I will hear them;
7. And Ephraim shall become a mighty one.

And their heart shall be gladdened as by wine,
And they shall see their sons and be glad,

And their heart shall rejoice in Jehovah.

8. I will call them, and will gather them, for I have redeemed

them;

9. And they shall increase, as they did increase, for I will sow them among the nations;

And from distant places shall they remember me, and shall quicken' their children, and return.

10. I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,

And from Assyria will I gather them,

And to the land of Gilead and Lebanon will I bring them:

And place shall not be found for them.

11. And he shall pass through the sea with' distress 'unto it,'' And shall smite the waves in the sea:

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And all the depths of the river shall be dried up,

And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt depart;

And I will strengthen them in Jehovah, and in his name

shall they walk,

Hath Jehovah said.

Or,

"shall revive with."

shall invigorate," or,

Dr. Blaney has, "He shall pass over the sea" to Tyre.

? So Archbishop Newcombe.

SECTION III.

Remarks on the Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Chapters of Zechariah.

WHAT is foreboded in the opening of the eleventh chapter is, apparently, a most destructive invasion of the Holy Land.

CHAPTER XI.

1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon,

That a fire may consume thy cedars.

2. Bewail, O fir tree, because the cedar is fallen, Because the mighty' trees' have perished.

Bewail, O ye oaks of Bashan,

Because the lofty' forest is felled.

3. Let there be a voice of wailing among the shepherds,
Because their glory' is destroyed.

Let there be a voice of roaring among the lions,
Because the pride of Jordan is destroyed.

This is nothing more than a topographical description of the country invaded, and marks the extent of the ravages of the enemy. The invasion of the Romans, immediately after the first advent, is generally supposed to be intended. What follows, under the typical repre

1 Or, "far seen;" from, ex alto prospexit, couspicuus fuit. Their greatness, or their boast; that is, the best of their flocks, or

the best of their pastures.

The woods on its banks, frequented by lions.

sentation of the good Shepherd, mysteriously represented

as

"valued at thirty pieces of silver," and under the representation of the idol shepherd, will contrast the character of the Saviour in the days of his flesh with the apostate leaders of the Jewish church, whose debasement and miserable infatuation is strongly painted-whence the low absurdities of the rabbinical school: and the "idol shepherd" may stand, perhaps, as a further type of the apostate Christian priesthood.

This leads us to the last prophecy of Zechariah, entitled, "The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel," which we shall find to relate altogether to the times which precede the second advent,

1. -Jehovah hath spoken,

Who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth,
And formed the spirit of man within him :

2. Behold, I make Jerusalem

A cup of trembling to all the peoples around;

Ay, even for Judah shall it be,

In the siege against Jerusalem.

"A cup of trembling," or, "a cup causing delirium," denoting the overwhelming astonishment with which the surrounding nations should behold the wonderful issue of a certain predicted siege of Jerusalem; † in which, to their great surprise and amazement, Judah and Jerusalem should obtain deliverance, and be avenged on all their adversaries. This is further expressed under the metaphor of a stone, that the nations attempt to elevate, the weight of which overpowers them, and crushes them to pieces.

Chap. xii.

† Compare Isaiah, xxix. S, &c.; xlix. 24, &c.; l. 12, &c.

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