Of the occurrences which succeeded the crucifixion of Christ, one of the
first in order, as well as importance, was the destruction of Jerusalem;
an event which materially changed the condition of the Jewish nation, both
as regarded their polity and their religion; to the full exercise of which
the existence of their temple was indispensable. It was therefore to be
expected that the prediction of this event would be eagerly sought for by
Christian commentators, in a prophecy relating to the establishment of the
Messiah’s kingdom, especially by those who chiefly look to political
affairs for its fulfilment.
And accordingly this chapter appears to afford distinct intimation of such
an event, as it opens with the express mention of the siege of Jerusalem.
Yet is it mentioned in a way not a little embarrassing to the political
exposition; for, instead of the destruction, the prophecy declares the
triumph of Jerusalem; and, with the exception of one or two ambiguous
expressions at the commencement, this triumph forms the whole subject of
the chapter. But Jerusalem really was taken and destroyed, nor have the
Jews since been able to rebuild either their city or their temple, nor has
any thing approaching to a triumph, in the ordinary acceptation of the
term, occurred to them from that time to the present. How then shall we
explain the victory and triumph foretold in the prophecy?
The solution appears to be this; that the event here foretold is no
political, but a spiritual siege; namely, the warfare of worldly feelings
against true religion, for this is the spiritual Jerusalem. The abrogation
of the law, and the promulgation of the Gospel, are foreshewn under the
types of the Old and the New Jerusalem; which symbolically signify the Old
and New Covenant, or Judaism and Christianity, the one abolished and the
other established, in reality at the coming of Christ, but ostensibly at
the destruction of the city and temple, which is probably on this account
employed symbolically, to represent the spiritual change.
The prophecy, however, does not declare the destruction of the old
Jerusalem, but merely the repeopling of it, in verse 6; and in the
spiritual sense it was not destroyed, though merged in the superior
splendour and greatness of the New City; for Christianity is built on the
foundation of Judaism. The new Jerusalem here spoken of, is then, the new
Covenant, or Christianity, the spiritual City, the building of which began
at this time, whatever may be the period required for its completion.
In the spiritual sense also must be understood the triumph of Judah, which
was the triumph of the Gospel; and her salvation, spoken of in verse 7,
which was eternal salvation. Her victory was the victory over the world,
which every true Christian has to gain, but which was first gained by
Judah, for the first Christians were Jews; although the Gentiles were
subsequently admitted into the Church of Christ, and became the principal
inhabitants of the spiritual Jerusalem, when deserted, for the most part
at least, by its former inhabitants the Jews. The Gentiles from this time
became Israelites by adoption, and the distinction between Jew and Gentile
converts, or lineal and adopted Israelites, is marked in the prophecy, as
might be expected.
But the time of Israel’s spiritual restoration requires some explanation,
being adverted to in this and the following chapter ten times at least,
with the definite expression of “_in that day_:” an expression which seems
as little to accord with the time required for a whole nation or people to
change their faith, as with that which would be requisite for their
literal return from all parts of the world to be reunited in one city, as
the Jews understand the prophecy. A literal day cannot therefore be
understood; nor yet would the difficulty be removed by supposing it to
mean a prophetic day, or a Jewish year of twelve months, being three
hundred and sixty days; for this period would be alike inadequate to the
event in question.
How shall we then understand the expression, “_that day_,” so often
recurring in the prophecy? The answer appears to be simply this, that it
means _one_ day to _each individual_, but not _the same day_ to _all
collectively_. As the earlier Christians did not all embrace Christianity
on one day, so neither have we reason to expect that the later Christians
will do so. History declares to the contrary, that some of the house of
Israel have been continually flowing into the Church of Christ in every
succeeding century, from the Apostolic age to the present time. And as
some understand the Day of Judgment to be to each individual the day of
his death, so to each will the day of his “_Redemption_,” in Scriptural
language, be the day of his receiving Christ. St. Paul in the 2 Corinth.
vi. 2, says “_Behold now is the accepted time, now is the day of
Salvation_,” and in the same light must it be viewed in the passages
before us; that is, as one day to each individually, not as the same day
to all collectively.
The opening of this chapter closely resembles that of the 9th, and may
help to throw light on those parts of it which appeared obscure. Both
begin by declaring God’s superintendance and control over human affairs,
and both assert his right to the disposal of events on similar grounds:
there it was alleged, because all creatures belong to him, _for the Lord’s
is the eye of man, and all the tribes of Israel_; and here, because he
created all things.
_The burden of the word of the Lord upon Israel, saith the Lord, which
stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and
formeth the spirit of man within him._
There, the burden of the prophecy was laid on the Gentiles, but the
admonition meant for the benefit of Israel, to whom it was addressed;
here, the burden is upon Israel, but the admonition expressly intended for
all nations, “_all the people round about_;” and of such was the new
Jerusalem, which is the subject of this chapter, chiefly composed after
the overthrow of their idolatry and their conversion to Christianity. This
appears to be the spiritual warfare here intended, namely, the successful
progress of the Gospel against Paganism.
_Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the nations
round about, and upon Judah it shall be in the siege against Jerusalem._
Upon Judah is the burden of the prophecy chiefly imposed, for to Judah was
first committed the task of promulgating the Gospel. The Apostles, and
also the disciples of our Lord were all Jews, they were the founders of
this city. “_A cup of trembling_,” must not be here understood to signify
an example by punishment inflicted, but as the Jew renders it, “_a cup of
astonishment_,” or confusion to all nations; or, as it is next termed, “_a
burden-stone_,” to crush its enemies; and such has been the Gospel of
Christ, as the prophecy declares.
_In that day, will I make Jerusalem a burden-stone for all people; all
that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the
people of the earth be gathered together against it._
The people, here spiritually signifies their false religion, which was to
be abolished; and Jerusalem is here understood to mean Christianity, or
true religion, which was triumphant. Confusion is then denounced against
its enemies, while Divine protection and support are promised to the house
of Judah, who received Christ.
_In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment,
and his rider with madness, but I will open mine eyes upon the house of
Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness._
The blind rage of the heathen and the infatuated frenzy with which they
strove to extinguish the light of the Gospel, are here clearly foreshewn;
but the spiritual Jerusalem resisted all their efforts. And when the
lineal Israelites abandoned their city, its gates were thrown open to the
Gentiles, who entered and repeopled it, and became thenceforward
“Israelites by adoption.” The new Jerusalem being Christianity, its
inhabitants must mean the Christians; and who were they, after the Jews
rejected Christianity, but the Gentile converts? Accordingly, they are so
styled in the next verse, as contradistinguished from the first Jewish
converts, who are called the governors of Judah, being the founders and
builders of the spiritual city.
_And the governors of Judah shall say in their hearts, The inhabitants of
Jerusalem shall be my strength, in the Lord of hosts their God._
The fitness of the expression, _Inhabitants of Jerusalem_, to symbolize
the Gentile converts, further appears in the fact, that the original
inhabitants of the city, who were never expelled, were Gentiles. _The
governors of Judah_ can signify no other than the apostles and disciples
of our Lord, the first teachers of Christianity, or the founders of the
new City. These, when the Jews were no longer willing to hear them, turned
their attention to the Gentiles, and directed all their efforts to effect
their conversion. As the strength of a city lies in its inhabitants, so
the hope of strengthening theirs, from that time, rested in gaining over
the Gentiles: “_The Governors of Judah say in their hearts, The
inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their
God._” Does not this mean in the Lord of hosts _becoming_ their God? That
is, in his becoming the God of the Gentiles by their conversion to
Christianity?
The extraordinary success of the apostles and disciples, in converting the
Gentiles and repeopling the city, is foreshewn in the next verse.
_In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire
among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf, and they shall devour
all the nations round about on the right hand and on the left, and
Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem._
If the spiritual Jerusalem be Christianity, it was certainly the Gentiles
who repeopled this city, when the Jews deserted it. But still it was not
deserted by all the Jews, for the first Christians were Jews, as
emphatically expressed in the next verse.
_The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house
of David, and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify
themselves against Judah._
The salvation of Judah here spoken of must be salvation through Christ;
but if Judah signify the first Jewish converts to Christianity, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem mean those from the gentile nations, who are _the
house of David_, here spoken of, and classed with the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, as receiving their salvation subsequently to that of Judah? The
house of David must surely mean those of the Hebrew nations, who did not
at first receive Christ along with the house of Judah, but subsequently;
or, the prophecy being still prospective, those who shall hereafter
embrace Christianity must be also included. To this the Jew may probably
answer: How can a Christian believe that the house of David, the very
house from which Christ came, still remains unredeemed? I answer, that we
are nowhere assured that all of his own family believed in him; still less
the whole house of David, of which they were only a branch. To the fact,
whether any of that family be still left among the unredeemed of Israel,
let the Jew answer. If not, then where is their expected Messiah to come
from? But if there be such, then have these not yet received the salvation
which is through Christ; and as far as they are concerned, the words of
the prophecy yet remain to be fulfilled, however it may have received its
fulfilment in regard to others. When it shall please God to remove the
veil which is before their eyes, and to restore the spiritual strength
which they have lost, then will the following words be accomplished in
them also, as it was to Judah in the apostolic age.
_In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he
that is feeble among them, at that day shall be as David, and the house of
David shall be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them._
The esteem and veneration with which the primitive Christians, and
particularly the apostles, would be regarded for their purity and
holiness, and for their spiritual strength, notwithstanding that they were
designedly chosen from the lowest and most illiterate class of men, is
here emphatically foretold. Their consequent success in preaching the
gospel is next declared; the nations being destroyed, figuratively
signifies their false religion being overthrown.
_And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will seek
to destroy all the nations that come up against Jerusalem._
The next verse, which foretels _the pouring out of the Spirit_, so closely
resembles the prophecy of Joel, of which St. Peter gave the interpretation
on the memorable day of Pentecost; and at the same time, coupled the
application with a reproach to the Jews for having crucified Christ (Acts
ii.), that the Christian can hardly fail to see that they refer to the
same event, though not here restricted to that particular day, as appears
from “_the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem_” being
mentioned; nor was the gift of the Spirit confined to the day of
Pentecost, but continued to all on whom the apostles laid their hands.
_And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look to
me for him whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth
for his only son; and be in bitterness for him as one that is in
bitterness for his firstborn._
The most solemn fast almost universally observed throughout Christendom,
in commemoration of Christ’s crucifixion, is manifestly the event which
was here foretold, at least four centuries before its fulfilment. The
prospect of its receiving a more evident accomplishment at any future
period, seems to be rendered hopeless by the enumeration of the different
families that follows, all such distinctions being now lost among the
present race of Jews.
_And in that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon;_
_And the land shall mourn every family apart, the family of the house of
David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan
apart, and their wives apart;_
_The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family
of the house of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;_
_All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart._
If any thing more be intended by this emphatical repetition of the
families mourning apart, beyond the strong expression of the depth of
their grief, and the sincerity of their repentance, may it not be to
convince the unbelieving Jews of the hopelessness of a more literal
fulfilment after the loss of their genealogies?