Page:Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (Baron, David).djvu/44

 Rev. vi. 2), which shall be to God's people after their great champion rides forth " conquering and to conquer," and executing vengeance on their enemies.

And the vision of the legions of angels mounted and ready to obey the command of their great Captain was doubtless intended to convey to the prophet the message which he was to impress on the people, that " the chariots of God are twenty thousand, even myriads of angels "; that with Him was all the requisite power and resources for the deliverance of His people, and the destruction of their foes. It was not because His hand had become shortened and His ear heavy, or that there was a lack either of might or willingness to save on His part, that they had become subject to the power of the Gentiles; but because their sins had for a time separated them from their God, and their iniquities had caused His protecting and guiding power to be withdrawn from them.

But we proceed to the 9th verse.

" Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be"

Now, here we are introduced for the first time to this malakh haddobher bi the angel that talked with me, or, literally, " in me " and the question to decide is whether this angel who interprets is the same as the Malakh Yehovah the Angel of Jehovah whom the prophet saw standing among the myrtles, as some contend, or is he another being, simply angelic? The arguments advanced for the identity of the two are these:

(i) In the verse under our examination the prophet addresses this angel as " my lord " (adoni}, and as no other person has been previously mentioned it would appear that it was the Angel of Jehovah he was speaking to. But this is by no means conclusive, for in the prophecies, and especially in the visions, on account of their dramatic character, persons are frequently introduced either as speaking, or as being addressed by others, without having been previously mentioned. Note the striking fact that the