in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house of the Lord of hosts *.

COMMENTARY.

From this concluding and very minute prophecy of Zechariah, we learn several most interesting particulars respecting the period of the restoration of Judah. A great confederacy of many nations

is

Every pot-no more a trafficker.] "The meaning of this passage seems to be, that every thing in Judah and Jerusalem "should be accounted so holy and acceptable to God, that "the common utensils in their houses might be used for the "purpose of sacrificing without offence; so that those who

came to sacrifice might take and use them indiscriminately; "which would effectually supersede that traffic, which was "carried on in the temple for the supply of such things as were wanting on those occasions. Our Saviour speaks of "the traffickers in the temple in his days, whom he drove out "and forbad to make his father's house a house of merchandise." Dr. Blayney in loc.

+ "It is not difficult to perceive," says Dr. Blayney," that "the prophecies in this and the two following chapters (Zech. แ xij. xiii. xiv.) relate to future times - But, without pretending to determine precisely concerning the invaders, the "substance of the prophecy in this (Chap. xii.),, and on to the "seventh verse of the next, chapter will be found to amount "to this; that Jerusalem will be besieged by a multitude of "hostile nations, to the great terror of the people in its vi"cinity, as well as of Judah itself; but that the attempts of

" those

is to invade Palestine and to besiege Jerusalem. This confederacy, when we consider the era to which it is assigned, can only be the same as that of Daniel's wilful king in other words, it is the confederacy predicted by St. John, of which Antichrist, then become the last head of the Roman beast, is destined to be the leader. To the armies then of Antichrist, God declares, that he will make Jerusalemi a cup of trembling and a stone of burden; and that he will smite every horse with astonishment and blindness, and his rider with madness. Afterwards however we learn, that, notwithstanding the final preservation and victory of Judah, Antichrist with his congregated nations shall first succeed in making himself master of Jerusalem; where he will conduct himself with his

"

"those nations will be frustrated through the special inter"position of the Deity, and will terminate in their total discomfiture and ruin, and in the permanent peace and prosperity of the victorious Jews. After which the Jews will be brought at length to see and lament the sin of their fore"fathers in putting their Messiah to death; and thereupon "will have the means of purification and atonement afforded "them; and, being thus cleansed from past guilt, will re

46

nounce all their former offensive practices, and carefully ab"stain from a future repetition of them" (Dr. Blayney in loc.). Dr. Blayney thinks it probable, that the combination against Judah, here predicted, is the same as that of Gog and Magog, foretold by Ezekiel. I differ from him for the reasons which I have already abundantly assigned when treating of that remarkable prophecy. It clearly appears to me, that the subject of the present prediction is the overthrow of Antichrist.

in

wonted cruelty and profligacy. Half of the inhabitants he will upon this occasion make his captives, but the rest of them shall not be cut off from the city. And now, while elate with victory and breathing vengeance against his remaining enemies he is leading his host to the valley of Megiddo, appear suddenly the glory of the Shechinah will the midst of Jerusalem, and the Lord himself will go forth to fight against the nations, as when he fighteth in the day of battle. Mount Olivet will own its present God †, and cleave asunder beneath him. An earthquake will announce the descent of the triumphant Messiah; and the king of saints will go forth to war in behalf of his ancient people. Then will he suddenly smite with a horrible plague all the peoples that have fought against Jerusalem, and cause them madly to unsheath every man his sword against his neighbour. Judah likewise shall fight against them: for in that day the Lord will make the governors of Judah

Zechar. ii. 5, 8.

+ "The glory of the Lord, that is the Shechinah or symbol "of God's presence, when it departed from the city and tem"ple, settled itself upon the mount of Olives (Ezek. xi. 23.). "So, when God shall return to Jerusalem, and make it the "seat of his presence again, it shall return by the same way "it departed (See Ezek. xliii. 2.). We may add, that, when Lord ascended from the mount of Olives, the angels told "his disciples, he should come again in like manner, that is," in a "visible and glorious appearance at the same place." Mr. Lowth in loc.

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like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left.

Nearly about the same time, and most probably immediately before the sacking of Jerusalem and the subsequent destruction of the nations, such of the Jews as had been restored by Antichrist, and placed in the capital of Palestine, will be converted to the faith. They will look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn for him as one that mourneth for an only son. This conversion to protestant Christianity, and consequent dereliction of the cause of Antichrist, is in fact the only reason that can be assigned for his turning his arms against his late allies. We may collect from Daniel, that, after he had settled them in Jerusalem, and while he was engaged in the conquest of Egypt, suddenly he hears from the east (as he would do, supposing him to be then in Egypt) the unpleasant tidings of the landing of the great maritime power with the converted Jews, and of the penitence and defection of those whom he had himself restored in an unconverted state*. Enraged at the intelligence, he goes forth menacing utter destruction to all his opponents: and, as Zechariah similarly predicts, he plants the curtains of his tents be

* My conjecture respecting the tidings from the north I have already stated.

tween the seas in the glorious holy mountain; or, in other words, he besieges and takes Jerusalem *. Then, and not till then, he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Here it must be observed, that Zechariah very remarkably divides the restored of Judah into two parts; styling the one the tents of Judah, and the other the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and he asserts, that the Lord shall save the tents of Judah first t. Afterwards he proceeds to describe the conversion of the house of David and Jerusalem, as taking place subsequently to their restoration. Judah in tents then is placed in contradistinction to Judah in Jerusalem; Judah the first saved by the Lord, to Judah not brought to salvation till afterwards. This exactly accords with the opinion, which I have more than once had occasion to advance: that part of the Jews will bẹ restored,, in a converted state, by the great maritime power; and part, in an unconverted state, by Antichrist. The converted Jews are described as being in tents; because they are attached to the

* Compare Dan. xi. 41-45, where the route of Antichrist is very minutely described.

"The meaning here is, that God would save the tents of "Judah first, or previously to any other; and for this the "reason immediately follows, that the house of David and the ❝ inhabitants of Jerusalem might not be tempted to value them"selves too highly on the preference given to them (supposing "that had been the case) above the rest of Judah." Dr. BlayRey in loc.

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