Zechariah 1:7

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat,.... Called Sabat in the Septuagint version, and in the Apocrypha: "Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the

Sebat, which answers to part of our January. Darius. see ,15. Came the word of the Lord, & c. see . The first sermon Zechariah preached was three months before this, and that sermon was reproof, which probably had good effect, as .

Zechariah 1:7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which [is] the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,Ver. 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month] The third month after the former prophecy, when the Jews probably had practised the doctrine of repentance, so earnestly pressed upon them; and had humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God, who was now ready to lift them up by this and the seven following most comfortable visions touching the restoration and reformation of the Church and State. The devil and his imps love to bring men into the briars, and there to leave them, as familiars forsake their witches when they have brought them once into fetters; as the priests left Judas the traitor, to look to himself, Matthew 27:4; and as the Papists cast off Cranmer, after that, by subscribing their articles, he had cast himself into such a wretched condition, that there was neither hope of a better nor place for a worse; ut iam nec honeste mori nec vivere inhoneste liceret (Melch. Ad. in Vita). But such is not God’ s manner of dealing with those that tremble at his word, and humble at his feet. Deiecit ut relevet, premit ut solatia praestet. He comforteth those that are cast down, 2 Corinthians 7:6, commandeth others to comfort the feebleminded, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, and noteth those that do not with a black-coal, Job 6:14, Nigro carbone notari. See the workings of his bowels, the rollings of his compassions, kindled into repentance toward his penitentiaries, Jeremiah 31:20 Hosea 11:8 Isaiah 40:1-2. See how he comforts them with cordials according to the time wherein he had afflicted them, Psalms 90:15, and in the very thing wherein he had abased them; as he once dealt with their head, Philippians 2:7-8.

Verse 7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month] This revelation was given about three months after the former, and two months after they had recommenced the building of the temple. Sebat] Answers to a part of our February. See Haggai 2:18.

7. the month Sebat] or Shebat, R.V. i.e. January, or February. The identification of the Jewish months with our own cannot be effected with precision, on account of the variations that must inevitably exist between the lunar and the solar months. See Gen. Introd., Chap. II. p. 18. the word of the Lord] The visions themselves might not improperly be called, “the word of the Lord,” inasmuch as they are the medium of communication between the Divine mind and the minds of the prophet and the people. But they are accompanied not only by the spoken explanation of the angel, but by frequent passages introduced by the expression, “thus saith the Lord” (Zechariah 1:14; Zechariah 1:16-17, Zechariah 2:5; Zechariah 2:8, &c.), so that the revelation as a whole may fitly be described as “the word of the Lord.” The First Vision. The horsemen among the myrtle-trees. Zechariah 1:8-17. In the night time, in prophetic trance or vision, Zechariah sees, in a shady valley full of myrtle trees, a man (who is also called an angel of Jehovah and, as it would seem, Jehovah Himself) seated on a red horse, and behind him a number of other horsemen on horses of three different colours, Zechariah 1:8. Wishing to know the meaning of what he sees, the prophet turns for information to an angel beside him, whose office it is to interpret to him the visions, and who remains by him for that purpose throughout the entire series, Zechariah 1:9. In answer to a sign made, or an enquiry addressed to him, by this interpreting angel, the man or angel on horseback among the myrtles explains what the mission of the band of horsemen had been, and gathers from them by sign or interrogation the result of that mission, Zechariah 1:10-11. Sympathising with the prophet and his people, in the disappointment which the report of the horsemen would produce—for it told that the promised tokens of returning favour to Zion were not yet apparent, the leading horseman, the Angel of Jehovah, intercedes with the Almighty on their behalf, Zechariah 1:12. And in the name of Jehovah he gives, as the fruit of his intercession, an answer of encouragement to the interpreting angel at the prophet’s side, Zechariah 1:13; who in turn puts into the mouth of Zechariah the message of Jehovah, which he bids him proclaim to the people, that despite the world-wide peace, which that stationary group in the still night amidst the secluded myrtle-grove at once symbolize and announce, He will speedily arise to take vengeance on their enemies, Zechariah 1:14; Zechariah 1:17, and that then the Temple shall be completed, Jerusalem rebuilt, and the land at large become inhabited and prosperous, Zechariah 1:16-17.

On the twenty-fourth day - Exactly five months after the building of the temple was resumed Haggai 2:15, and two months after Haggai’s last prophecy Haggai 2:20.