Page:Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (Baron, David).djvu/154

 Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not" (Hag. ii. 4, 5), which again (as is characteristic of all the notable utterances of the post-exilic prophets) is based on a great word of Jehovah through one of the former prophets, namely, Isa. lix. 21:" As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saithJeJiovak: My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever

Relying only on God's Spirit, " the great mountain "whether we understand it as a figurative expression for " the colossal difficulties, which rose up mountain high," and of the hindrances which were then in the way before the building could be completed; or, with the Jewish Targum and Kimchi, and some eminent Christian interpreters, as the symbol of Gentile world-power, which is the real obstacle to the restoration of the theocratic kingdom, before Zerubbabel, as the instrument of God's Almighty Spirit shall be turned into " a plain "; and he, who some fifteen years before was permitted amid great demonstra tions of joy, not unmixed with sobs and tears, to lay the foundation (Ezra iii. 8, I 3), shall yet bring forth the " head stone," accompanied by shoutings of joy and admiration, " Grace, grace (is) unto it! "

In vers. 8 10 we have, so to say, a corroborative message from the mouth of the Malakh Yehovah, of the explanation given to the prophet by the angelic interpreter:

" Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it "; which, so far as the Temple which they were then building was concerned, was, as we know, fulfilled about four years after the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah, namely, " on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king" (Ezra vi. 14, 15); but the words, "And thou shalt know that Jehovah of Ts bhaoth hath sent me unto you " (which, as appears clear from a comparison with chap. ii. 9, must be ascribed, not to the angelus interpres,