Page:Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (Baron, David).djvu/329



THE PRINCE OF PEACE 313

description by the side of Christ s entry into Jerusalem can fail to recognise in the one the fulfilment of the other ? " l

From the Messiah s humiliation, the depths of which are reached in the words " poor," or " afflicted," and " riding upon an ass " (ver. 9), the prophet s vision is directed to the glory that should follow, and to the blessed results of the advent of this Redeemer-King, not only in relation to Zion and Israel, but to the whole earth :

" And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim? and the horse from Jerusalem, and tJie battle-bow shall be cut off ; and He shall speak peace unto the nations : and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth"

As the deliverance which Israel s Prince of Peace shall bring will not be by means of chariots and horses, or by the multitude of a host, so also shall His Kingdom not be founded on worldly might ; nor shall those subject to His rule have need to rely on any of these things. This is in keeping with what the Lord had already spoken through one of the earlier prophets : " / will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and I will save them by (or in ) Jehovah ttieir God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen" 3 In other words, Jehovah alone, in the Person of the Messiah, shall then be the hope and confidence of His people, for " He is their Help and their Shield " ; 4 or, as He had already said of restored Jerusalem, through Zechariah, in the third vision : " /, saith Jehovah, ivill be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her " 6 that is, her all-sufficient outward protection and inward illumination.

1 Edersheim.

2 The mention of Ephraim alongside of Jerusalem in this place is considered by some commentators as proof of the pre-exilic origin of the second half of Zechariah "when the kingdoms of Israel, on the one hand, and of Judah on the other, were independent nations." Von Orelli even sees in this passage a proof that Ephraim "at the time, apparently, rejoiced in considerable military strength." But, as I have shown in the "Introduction to the Second Part of Zechariah," the argument rests on a misconception, and has no real basis in fact.

3 Hos. i. 7. 4 Ps. cxv. 9. 5 Chap. ii. 5.