iniquity, not wilfully serve wickedness, nor speak lies, becoming guilty of deliberate falsehood, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, particularly so far as false doctrine is concerned; for they shall feed, of the rich pasture offered by the Good Shepherd, and lie down, in calm satisfaction, and none shall make them afraid. Cp. Micah 7, 14; Ps. 23. V. 14. Sing, O daughter of Zion, the Church of the New Testament; shout, O Israel, namely, the spiritual Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem, for the communion of the saints is established in the Jerusalem which is above. Cp. Gal. 4, 26. V. 15. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, the sentences of condemnation which had rightly been spoken upon her on account of her sins; He hath cast out thine enemy, sweeping away the world-power which personified all the hostile forces of the world. The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee, namely, in the person of Messiah; thou shalt not see evil any more, His blessings removing everything that might bring evil. V. 16. In that day, in the great Messianic period, it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not, this being the fundamental note of the Gospelmessage, as both the Christmas- and the Easterstories show; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack, namely, in terror at the prospect of danger and affliction from without. V. 17. The Lord, thy God, in the midst of thee is mighty, not at a dim distance, but in the closest proximity, and powerful to help; He will save, He is the Savior; He will rejoice over thee with joy, in His delight over the renewal of the marriage covenant between

Himself and His Church; He will rest in His love, in quiet satisfaction; He will joy over thee, after His meditation has proved so satisfactory, with singing. Moreover, the Lord will let all humble and afflicted partake of His joy. V. 18. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, mourning far from the festive gathering when the Lord would make His salvation known, who are of thee, they were of the same family and descent, but were now far removed from the visible congregation of the Lord, to whom the reproach of it was a burden, who felt the weight of their captivity among the heathen nations. V. 19. Behold, at that time, in the Messianic period, I will undo all that afflict thee, dealing with the oppressors according to His justice; and I will save her that halteth, heal the limping, and gather her that was driven out, those who were dispersed; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame, so that the name of the Lord's people would be celebrated everywhere. V. 20. At that time will I bring you again, the calling of the Lord to join His Church being an act of His mercy, even in the time that I gather you, in His Church; for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. The fulfilment of this prophecy is clearly found in the gathering of the Christian Church, its members being called from the various nations of the earth, and the consummation and climax will be reached in the eventual complete deliverance from this present evil world as the Kingdom of Glory opens its portals.

Concerning the prophet Haggai ("festive") we have no more definite information than that given in the superscription of his book and supported by Ezra 5, 1, namely, that his activity is to be placed in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, which means that he prophesied from September to December of the year 520 B. C. To him, together with Zechariah, was entrusted the task of encouraging the returned exiles to continue the construction of the Temple, which, on account of the enmity of the Samaritans and the subsequent indolence of the people, had not progressed beyond the foundation and the erection of the altar of burnt offering. The activity of Haggai was successful.

A new zeal took hold of the people, and

they applied themselves to the task entrusted to them by the Lord with all diligence, so that the Temple was completed some four years later. Beyond these facts we know nothing about the person and the history of the prophet.

The Book of Haggai consists of four messages, each one of which is headed by a notice giving the date of the particular revelation of the Lord. After rebuking the Jews on account of their indifference in the building of the Temple, the prophet adds a message of encouragement on account of the inferiority, as to outward splendor, of the second Temple. In the next paragraph the fact that building operations had once more commenced leads theprophet to sound a warning regarding a mere.

outward observance of the forms of religion, and the fourth message is addressed to Zerubbabel, as the representative of the people. The four messages thus concern the building of the Temple and the worship in the Temple and were apparently written down soon after their first proclamation.

The style of Haggai is in agreement with his messages: pathetic in exhortation, vehement in

reproach, elevated in contemplation of the glorious future, particularly that of the Messianic period. Parts of the book are purely prose history; the rest is somewhat rhythmical, showing a fine poetic parallelism.1)

1) Cp. Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 92.93; Concordia Bible Class, June, 1919, 91. 92.

The Indifference of the People Rebuked. When the exiles, under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua, had returned to Jerusalem, they had begun the work of rebuilding the Temple with great eagerness. But when the Samaritans and others had placed various obstacles in their way, they had discontinued their efforts, making no determined effort to remove the difficulties. A few years after, when a certain measure of prosperity was found in Judea, they grew indifferent to the project, and so the situation continued for some sixteen years. It was then that the Lord selected Haggai as His messenger to rebuke the people. V. 1. In the second year of Darius, the king, the year 520 B. C., in the sixth month, that is, of the Jewish year, corresponding roughly to our September, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, who was therefore simply the medium through which the Lord communicated His message and in no way presented his own ideas, unto Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, cp. Ezra 3, 2, saying, v. 2. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the prophet employing this formula in order to bring out the importance of his message, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built, that being the lame excuse with which the people tried to cover their indifference, for they had reached a stage in which they were ready to let matters take their course, allow them to drift along. V. 3. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, saying, v. 4. Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, for yourselves to dwell in wainscoted houses, paneled in the most expensive manner, showing that they lived not only in comfort, but in luxury, and this house lie waste? since it had never gotten beyond the foundations, only the altar of burnt offerings standing on the top of Moriah. V. 5. Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways, literally, "Set your hearts upon your ways," contemplating the consequences of their late behavior and upon the manner in which the Lord had regarded it, as His treatment of

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them showed. V. 6. Ye have sown much, or have been sowing much, in the expectation of big crops, and bring in little, the harvest being small in spite of all their efforts; ye eat, but ye have not enough, they were not really satisfied in spite of the apparent abundance; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, seemingly having enough clothes, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes, that is, they found themselves unable to save anything. All this indicated that there could be no real prosperity without the blessing of the Lord, and that was evidently lacking, as it always is when people think only of themselves and not of Him. V. 7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways, think them over very carefully, for the matter was urgent, v. 8. Go up to the mountain, to the great forests of the country, and bring wood, timber for building, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, glad to regard it as the house where He might be worshiped, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord, receiving the honor which was due to Him, which had been withheld on account of their indifference to the state of His house. V. 9. Ye looked for much, expecting still greater crops and a corresponding prosperity, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, believing that at least the little which they had gotten was safe, I did blow upon it, thus dissipating and scattering it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. He Himself undertakes to explain this condition to the people in order to explain it to them more impressively. cause of Mine house that is waste, still unfinished and desolate, and ye run every man unto his own house, in a base selfishness, which regarded only their own interests. V. 10. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, withholding the moisture necessary to insure full crops, and the earth is stayed from her fruit, it does not yield even its ordinary harvest. V. 11. And I called for a drought upon the land, upon the cultivated fields, and upon the mountains, with their rich meadows, and upon the corn, the grain products, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, all the chief products of the

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country, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands, His blessing being withheld from all animate and inanimate beings. This earnest rebuke was heeded by the people. V. 12. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, all the rest of the returned exiles, obeyed the voice of the Lord, their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as the Lord, their God, had sent him, probably an additional discourse or a further explanation which was not recorded, and the people did fear before the Lord, with reverence and awe. V. 13. Then, when the people showed such obvious signs of repentance, spake Haggai, the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message unto the people, the fact that his mission was that of Jehovah

being brought out time and again, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord, He accepted their repentance as genuine and acted accordingly. V. 14. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and did work, they took steps to continue building operations, in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, v. 15. in the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, twenty-three days after the first message of Haggai, in the second year of Darius, the king. When people are filled with the spirit of repentance and of the fear of the Lord, it is an easy matter for them to take up any part of the work which the Lord has entrusted to them, and to bring it to a successful issue, with His blessing.

Further Addresses Concerning the Temple and Its Meaning.

A COMFORTING ASSURANCE. - V. 1. In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, not even a full month after the construction of the Temple had been resumed, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, v. 2. Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, the rest of those who had now returned from Babylon, saying, v. 3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? the Temple of Solomon with its almost unequaled rich ornamentation. And how do ye see it now? What impression did this second Temple make upon them as they observed it? Is it not in your eyes, in comparison of it, as nothing? Any kind of comparison was so much to the disadvantage of this second Temple that the older men had fallen to weeping even when they saw the foundation finished and the altar of burnt offering placed, Ezra 3, 10 ff. V. 4. Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord, filled with reassuring comfort; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, all filled with the same reassurance, and work, to complete the erection of the Temple; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts; v. 5. according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, when Israel was formally accepted as Jehovah's people in the great assembly at Mount Sinai, so My Spirit remaineth among you, to strengthen them for the successful conclusion of their work. Fear ye not! V. 6. For

thus saith the Lord of hosts, the same powerful God of the covenant who had entered into fellowship with them at Horeb, Yet once, it is a little while, but a short time as men reckon time, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, in a mighty commotion involving practically the entire known world, such as took place when the Roman emperors ordered their periodical censuses of the empire, v. 7. and I will shake all nations, all of them being drawn into this agitation, and the Desire of all nations, the long-expected Messiah, shall come; and I will fill this house, now so lowly and unpretentious, with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. V. 8. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, for which reason it would be a small matter for Him to fill any mere earthly house with ornamentation and treasures beyond the dreams of avarice. But that is not the Lord's chief concern. V. 9. The glory of this latter house, of the New Testament Church, of which this second Temple was but a feeble type and shadow, shall be greater than of the former, of the Jewish Church of the Old Testament, of which the Temple of Solomon was a type, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, namely, the peace of the redemption gained by the promised Messiah, saith the Lord of hosts. In this way the content of the New Testament Gospel-message was proclaimed even in the Old Testament, and the believers in both instances rest their faith on the same hope. Cp. Luke 2, 14; Eph. 2, 14.

A WARNING ADMONITION CONCERNING FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS. V. 10. In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, a little

more than two months later, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, again by direct inspiration, saying, v. 11. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Ask now the priests concerning the Law, saying, v. 12. If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, namely, the meat of sacrifices which had been offered, and with his skirt do touch bread or pottage, any of the holy food that was sodden, or wine or oil or any meat, such as was used in offering sacrifices or in connection with sacrificial meals, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. This was in agreement with the Law, Lev. 6, 20. 27; for though the garment itself was sanctified by such consecrated food, it could impart no holiness to one who, by neglecting the will of the Lord, had become unholy. V. 13. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body, by touching a corpse, touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean, again in perfect agreement with the Ceremonial Law of the Jews, Lev. 22, 4; Num. 5, 2. 9. 10. V. 14. Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before Me, saith the Lord, in His presence as Ruler and Judge; and so is every work of their hands, everything that they might undertake; and that which they offer there is unclean. The children of Israel were in disgrace because of their neglect to finish the house of the Lord, and though their land was holy land, consecrated to the Lord, yet its fruits found no favor in His eyes and could not serve to make the people clean by a mere outward service, as long as their hearts were not in the right relation to Him, so that they were constrained to give Him the worship which He desired. V. 15. And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, by applying their hearts to this problem, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the Temple of the Lord, before its reconstruction was resumed; v. 16. since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, a stack of sheaves which promised a yield of twenty bushels or pecks, there were but ten; when one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, thinking that the harvest should have brought that much, there were but twenty. V. 17. I smote you with blasting, with blight of the fruits and grains, and with mildew, from excessive moisture, and with hail in all the labors of your hands, the harvests over which they had worked so hard; yet ye turned not to Me, saith the Lord, all His punishments did not have the desired effect. V. 18. Consider now from this day and upward, applying their hearts to the consideration of that which pertained to their best interests, 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, for the entire period of time since the Jews, in accordance with the decree of Cyrus, had first laid the foundation till the day of the assembly at which these words were spoken, was a time during which the blessing of the Lord was not poured out in its fullest measure, because all their labor for the new Temple had been fitful. V. 19. Is the seed yet in the barn? They were still suffering as a consequence of the shortage. Yea, as yet the vine and the fig-tree and the pomegranate and the olive-tree hath not brought forth, the results of their former lack of zeal were still in evidence; from this day will I bless you. Times would now change, since they were showing evidence of the change which had come over their hearts. If men turn to the Lord in true repentance, He may turn to them in mercy and give them blessings of this life in rich

measure.

A SPECIAL PROMISE TO ZERUBBABEL.-V. 20. And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, this being a second revelation on the same day, saying, v. 21. Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, in a message of encouragement which was nevertheless intended for the entire assembly of returned exiles, I will shake the heavens and the earth, setting their machinery in motion in the interest of His plans for His people; v. 22. and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, all the world-powers opposed to His reign, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, all the forces of evil that are opposed to the Church of the Lord; and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them, the leaders of the hostile forces; and the horses and their riders shall come down, being overthrown and destroyed, every one by the sword of his brother; for that, in the end, is a condition which favors the Lord's kingdom, the fact that the enemies are often not at peace among themselves, but turn their weapons against one another. V. 23. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, Zerubbabel as a member of the family of David being a type of the coming Messiah, and will make thee as a signet, a very precious possession in the eyes of its Oriental possessor; for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts. The fulfilment of this prophecy is found in Jesus Christ, the son of David and descendant of Zerubbabel, for He established the kingdom of His father David in a most unique manner, as a spiritual rule and reign, which is to last throughout eternity. Cp. Luke 1, 32. 33.

The prophet Zechariah ("Jehovah remembers," "he whom Jehovah remembers") was a son of Berechiah and a grandson of Iddo, a member of a priestly family. Cp. Neh. 12, 4. As late as the time of the high priest Joiakim, Neh. 12, 12. 16, he was the chief of his generation or order. His prophetic activity followed immediately upon that of Haggai, as far as his writing is concerned, for he received his first recorded revelation in November of the year 520 B. C. Both Haggai and Zechariah were active in furthering the construction of the second Temple. Cp. Ezra 5, 1; 6, 14. He was still a comparatively young man when he began his work as prophet, and there is no record of the length of his activity. We may conclude from certain references in the Book of Nehemiah that he reached a ripe old age.

The Book of Zechariah may be divided into four or, more exactly, into three parts. After an exhortation admonishing the Jews to be obedient to the words of the Lord we have eight visions, in the manner of the prophet Ezekiel, all of which were vouchsafed the prophet in one night in February of the

year 519. The second part of the book, dated December, 518, contains a message with both admonition and promise. The third part contains a prophetic description of the future of God's people, which, again, is divided into two parts, both highly Messianic in character.1)

"The style of the prophet varies with his subject: at one time conversational, at another, poetical. His symbols are enigmatical and therefore accompanied by explanations. His prose is like that of Ezekiel, diffuse, uniform, and full of repetitions. The rhythm of his poetry is somewhat unequal, and the parallelisms are not altogether symmetrical. Still there is often found much of the elevation met with in the earlier prophets and a general congruity between the style and the subject. Graphic vividness is his peculiar merit. Chaldaisms occur occasionally. Another special characteristic of Zechariah is his introduction of spiritual beings into his prophetic scenes." (Fausset.)

1) Cp. Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 92-96.

The Introduction and the First Visions. A CALL TO REPENTANCE. V. 1. In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, that is, in the year 520 B. C., came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, v. 2. The Lord hath been sore displeased, with a vehement anger, with your fathers, as shown in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile in Babylon. V. 3. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the almighty Sovereign of the universe, Turn ye unto Me, saith the Lord of hosts, a most impressive call to the children of the former trespassers to repent, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. V. 4. Be ye not as your fathers, those before the exile, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye now from your evil ways and from your evil doings, this being the gist of many admonitions in the earlier prophets, cp. Is. 31, 6; Jer. 3, 12; 18, 11; Ezek. 18, 30; Hos. 14, 1; but they did not hear nor hearken unto Me, saith the Lord. Cp. 2 Kings 17. V. 5. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? The former members of Israel and Judah had perished, as God had threatened; and if the people should say that the prophets

also were dead, the Lord would remind them of the fact that His words, as spoken through these prophets, are not dead, but had been abundantly fulfilled. V. 6. But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants, the prophets, namely, that they should proclaim them, threatening the Lord's punishment in case of disobedience, did they not take hold of your fathers? the threatened punishments having overtaken them like swift messengers. And they, the fathers before the exile, returned and said, in acknowledging their afflictions as the result of their wickedness, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways and according to our doings, just as they had deserved it, so hath He dealt with us. This was the state of mind which the Lord wanted to find in the midst of His people in making known to them the wonderful facts contained in the visions of Zechariah. The proper attitude for hearing and learning the Word of God is that of a humble acknowledgment of one's sinfulness.

THE VISION OF THE HORSES AMONG THE MYRTLE-TREES. - V. 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, five months after the building of the Temple had been resumed, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son