Page:Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (Baron, David).djvu/441



FINAL CONFLICT AND DELIVERANCE 425

sustaining power is made in Isa. xlii. 5, and with the same purpose, namely, to remove all doubt as to the realisation of the great and mighty things which the prophet there predicts: "Thus saith God, Jehovah, He that createth the heavens and stretcheth them forth ; He that spread abroad the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth breath ( ni ?F?&gt; nesJiamah soul) unto the people upon it ; and spirit (nn, ruacJi) to them that walk therein."

The participial verbs in our passage in Zech. xii. nob, np, itf noteh, yosed, yotzer " stretcheth," " layeth " (literally, foundetli], and " formeth " are intended to remind us of God s omnipotence and the continuous active display of His power and wisdom in the universe which He has created.

Jehovah is altogether a different being from the god of the deist. He not only once for all " in the beginning " created the heavens and the earth, and appointed certain " laws " to regulate their motions, without troubling Himself further about them, or about man, who is admittedly the goal and climax of His creative work on earth. No. " My Father worketh hitherto," said our Lord Jesus, " and I work " ; 1 and this is equally true in the sphere of creation, providence, and redemption. According to the Biblical view, as a Bible scholar well observes, " God stretches out the heavens every day afresh, and every day He lays the foundation of the earth, which, if His power did not uphold it, would move from its orbit and fall into ruin." 2 In like manner, when it is said that " He formeth the spirit of man within him," it does not refer merely " to the creation of the spirits or souls of men once for all, but denotes the continuous creative formation and guidance of the human spirit by the Spirit of God." 3

Now let us hear what Jehovah, the Author of all being and all life, the Creator of heaven and earth, proceeds to say, and be assured, without any shadow of doubt, that what He hath spoken He will in His appointed time bring to pass : " Behold, I (which is very emphatic) will make

1 John v. 17. 2 Hengstenberg. 3 Keil.