Page:Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (Baron, David).djvu/514



498 VISIONS AND PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH

It is at this point, I believe, that the solemn events announced from the 4th verse of chap. xii. to the 2nd verse of chap. xiii. will transpire.

The first proof of the Lord s interposition on behalf of His people and land, will be His act of judgment on the besieging hosts. The pride of the glory of the marshalled armies will probably be in the mounted squadrons, which will no doubt include the finest horsemen of Europe and Arabia, and against them the Captain of the Lord s host shall first direct His hand : " In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness." a

Then the extended ranks of infantry shall be visited with the plague described in chap. xiv. 12, and a great tumult from the Lord shall ensue among the confederated hosts, as happened in the past, when Jehovah fought for Israel ; so that each man s hand shall be against his neighbour.

And not only by the direct act of God shall the enemy be destroyed, but, as already shown in my Notes oh chap, xii., with the shout of a king in their midst, and conscious that Almighty power is now on their side, the remnant of Judah, too, will do valiantly, and tread down their enemies under their feet : " 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"

But suddenly the noise of war and the shout of triumph is turned into wailing and lamentation as the spirit of grace and supplication takes possession of the heart of the remnant of Israel, and the eyes of the blind are opened, and they behold in the King of Glory, at whose presence the earth trembles and the mountains are cleft, and who has so marvellously delivered them in the hour of their greatest need, none other than the one whom they have pierced, and whom for so many centuries they have rejected and despised. This look of recognition, as we have seen in chap, xii., will break Israel s heart, and " they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and

1 Chap. xii. 4.