Zechariah 1:12

1:7-17 The prophet saw a dark, shady grove, hidden by hills. This represented the low, melancholy condition of the Jewish church. A man like a warrior sat on a red horse, in the midst of this shady myrtle-grove. Though the church was in a low condition, Christ was present in the midst, ready to appear for the relief of his people. Behind him were angels ready to be employed by him, some in acts of judgment, others of mercy, others in mixed events. Would we know something of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, we must apply, not to angels, for they are themselves learners, but to Christ himself. He is ready to teach those humbly desirous to learn the things of God. The nations near Judea enjoyed peace at that time, but the state of the Jews was unsettled, which gave rise to the pleading that followed; but mercy must only be hoped for through Christ. His intercession for his church prevails. The Lord answered the Angel, this Angel of the covenant, with promises of mercy and deliverance. All the good words and comfortable words of the gospel we receive from Jesus Christ, as he received them from the Father, in answer to the prayer of his blood; and his ministers are to preach them to all the world. The earth sat still, and was at rest. It is not uncommon for the enemies of God to be at rest in sin, while his people are enduring correction, harassed by temptation, disquieted by fears of wrath, or groaning under oppression and persecution.

Then the {m} 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? (m) That is, Christ the mediator prayed for the salvation of his Church, which was now troubled, when all the countries about them were at rest.

Zechariah 1:12 . Then the angel of the Lord said — “Christ the mediator,” as Bishop Hall explains it, “prayed for the salvation of his church, which was now troubled, when all the countries around were at rest.” But, as we find by the next verse that God’s answer to this petition was given to the angel interpreter, or the angel who talked with the prophet, this seems to determine that the petition was made by that angel. How long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem — At this time Jerusalem lay without any walls or defence, and was not wholly rebuilt; and on the cities of Judah — These still lay wholly in ruins; against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years — There are three ways of computing the seventy years of the captivity, taken notice of in Scripture. The first is, beginning from the fourth year of Jehoiakim to the first of Cyrus: this is Jeremiah’s account, Jeremiah 25:1 ; Jeremiah 25:11 ; which Daniel follows, Daniel 9:2 . Another may be computed from the besieging of Jerusalem in the ninth year of Zedekiah, in the tenth month, for which a solemn fast was kept by the Jews: compare 2 Kings 25:1 , with Zechariah 8:19 . This computation ends with the second year of Darius, which is the reckoning Zechariah here follows.

Or lastly, if we compute the beginning of the seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem and the first temple, which came to pass in the eleventh year of the same reign, they will be accomplished in the fourth year of Darius, and this computation agrees with what is said Zechariah 7:1 ; Zechariah 7:5 . The last two ways of reckoning the seventy years may be reduced to one, only by supposing, that the prophet, in this verse, sets down a complete for an incomplete number, and calls that space of time seventy years, which wanted but little of it: a way of speaking of which several instances may be produced.

Then, when the surveying angels had made their report of the prosperity of the heathen, the angel of the Lord, the Angel, the Lord Christ, Mediator of the church, and Head of the church, answered and said; prays as one interceding. O Lord of hosts: Christ speaks to his Father, speaks as one much affected with the state of his afflicted church. How long wilt thou not have mercy? it is the expostulation that well befits a praying soul; it is not the inquiry of a discontented mind, but the request of one longing for mercy. So David, Psalm 13:1,2 ; and the souls under the altar, Revelation 6:10 . On Jerusalem, thy chosen mountain, heir of promises to be re-edified; and on Judah’s cities too, of whose rebuilding, peace, and prosperity thou hast, O Lord, spoken great things, Jeremiah 30 Jer 31 Jer 32 Jer 33 , and Ezekiel 36 Eze 37 , &c. Thou hast had indignation; they have felt thine anger and hot displeasure, it was just, and is so still; but it is not to be perpetual. Thine anger hath smoked against the sheep of thy pasture. These threescore and ten years; the term prefixed for the captivity is fully come, it is the seventieth year of their miserable captivity; now show mercy, build Zion, and glorify thyself in doing it, for the set time is come.

It is now seventy years since thy temple was burnt, and Jerusalem sacked; and full eighty years since Jeconiah with many of thy people were carried captive into Babylon, and somewhat more since many were carried with Jehoiakim, from which to the second of Darius are much about eighty-eight or nine years. Then, when the surveying angels had made their report of the prosperity of the heathen, the angel of the Lord, the Angel, the Lord Christ, Mediator of the church, and Head of the church, answered and said; prays as one interceding. O Lord of hosts: Christ speaks to his Father, speaks as one much affected with the state of his afflicted church. How long wilt thou not have mercy? it is the expostulation that well befits a praying soul; it is not the inquiry of a discontented mind, but the request of one longing for mercy. So David, Psalm 13:1,2 ; and the souls under the altar, Revelation 6:10 . On Jerusalem, thy chosen mountain, heir of promises to be re-edified; and on Judah’s cities too, of whose rebuilding, peace, and prosperity thou hast, O Lord, spoken great things, Jeremiah 30 Jer 31 Jer 32 Jer 33 , and Ezekiel 36 Eze 37 , &c. Thou hast had indignation; they have felt thine anger and hot displeasure, it was just, and is so still; but it is not to be perpetual. Thine anger hath smoked against the sheep of thy pasture.

12 . answered ] The word does not necessarily mean replied to a question, but has here, as elsewhere, the more general signification of speaking in a manner corresponding, or “answering” to the circumstances described and the feelings called forth by them (comp. Job 3:2 (margin); Daniel 2:26 ; Acts 5:8 ). Pitying Zechariah and his countrymen in the disappointment, which the answer of the horsemen ( Zechariah 1:11 ) could not fail to cause them, inasmuch as it told of rest and quiet, whereas the “shaking of all nations” was the predicted sign of returning favour to Zion ( Haggai 2:7 ; Haggai 2:21-22 ), the Angel proceeds to speak “answerably” to this feeling, in the intercession which he now offers on their behalf. His sympathy and intercession make it probable, as Calvin remarks (though he offers the alternative of its being any angel you please), that this Angel of the Lord was “Christ the Mediator.” these threescore and ten years ] Comp. Jeremiah 25:11 ; Ezra 1:1 . The meaning is: Why art Thou still angry with us, when the appointed time of our punishment, the seventy years of our captivity, has expired?

12. Not only does Messiah stand among His people (the "myrtles," Zec 1:8), but intercedes for them with the Father ("Lord," or "Jehovah of hosts") effectively (Zec 1:13; Heb 7:25). Compare Ps 102:13-20; Isa 62:6, 7, as to Judah's restoration in answer to prayer. answered and said—said in continuation of the discourse: proceeded to say. how long—Messiah's people pray similarly to their Head. Re 6:10, "How long," &c. Heretofore it was vain to pray, but now that the divinely appointed "threescore and ten years" (Jer 25:11; 29:10) are elapsed, it is time to pray to Thee for the fulfilment of Thy promise, seeing that Thy grace is not yet fully manifested, nor Thy promise fulfilled. God's promises are not to make us slothful, but to quicken our prayers. Henderson, dating the seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem (588 B.C.), supposes two years of the seventy had yet to run (520 B.C.).

Verse 12. - Answered . He answered the feeling in the prophet's mind, the unexpressed longing of his heart. O Lord of hosts. The angel is the intercessor for the people. So Christ prays to the Father ( John 17 .). How long wilt thou not have mercy, etc.? He prays that the weary waiting for deliverance may speedily come to an end, and Jerusalem be restored, and Judaea be again inhabited by a happy population. These three score and ten years. The predicted seventy years of captivity ( Jeremiah 25:11 ; Jeremiah 29:10 ) were past; it was time that the punishment should cease. There are two computations of this period. The first dates from the first capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 606 , when Judaea was made tributary to Babylon ( 2 Kings 24:1 : 2 Chronicles 36:6 ; Daniel 1:1 , etc.), unto the return of the company of exiles under Zerubbabel, B.C. 536 ; the second dates from the final destruction of Jerusalem, B.C. 588 , unto the second year of Darius, B.C. 519 , when Zechariah saw these visions. However reckoned, the dark period was now over; might they not now expect the commotion among the nations which was to precede their own restitution? Zechariah 1:12

And the Angel of the Lord answered - the implied longing, by intercession with God. As the angel-interpreter in Job had "the office of no mere created angel, but one, anticipative of His, who came at once to redeem and justify," so the Angel of the Lord, in whom God was, exercised at once a mediatorial office with God, typical of our Lord's high priest's prayer John 17 , and acted as God. These seventy years - The seventy years of the captivity, prophesied by Jeremiah Jer 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10, were on the eve of their conclusion at the time of Daniel's great prayer of intercession Daniel 9:2; they ended with the capture of Babylon, and the edict of Cyrus, permitting the Jews to return 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1. Yet there seems to have been a secondary fulfillment, from the destruction of the temple and city, in Zedekiah's eleventh year 2 Kings 25:2, 2 Kings 25:8-9, 588 b.c. to the second year of Darius, 519 b.c. Such double fulfillments of prophecy are not like alternative fulfillments. They are a more intricate and fuller, not an easier fulfillment of it. Yet "these 70 years" do not necessitate such a double fulfillment. It might express only a reverent wonder, that the 70 years being accomplished, the complete restoration was not yet brought to pass. Cyril: "God having fixed the time of the captivity to the 70th year, it was necessary to be silent, so long as the time was not yet come to an end, that he might not seem to oppose the Lord's will.