Exegetical Studies in Zechariah -- By: Charles Lee Feinberg

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 103:410 (Apr 1946)
Article: Exegetical Studies in Zechariah
Author: Charles Lee Feinberg


Exegetical Studies in Zechariah

Charles Lee Feinberg

(Concluded from the January-March Number, 1946)

IV. The Future of The World Power, Israel
and the Kingdom of Messiah, 9-14

B. The Second Burden, 12-14 .

4. The Great Consummation: Israel’s Deliverance and God’s Earthly Kingdom, 14:1-21 .

The last three verses of chapter 13 are amplified in this chapter. The beginning of the chapter takes us back to the time indicated in the first part of chapter 12. It is customary with the prophets to give a general statement and then expand the theme later by the addition of details. From other Scriptures we know that before the events outlined in this passage take place, the nation Israel is regathered to the land in unbelief and has made a covenant with the false Messiah, the foolish shepherd of 11:15–17. Few chapters, if any, in the Scriptures are of greater eschatological significance than the chapter before us, and few passages reveal more clearly the vast difference between the literal interpretation of prophecy and the figurative or spiritualizing. Lowe is prepared to confess: “We almost agree with De Wette that this chapter defies all historical explanation…. We are compelled therefore to interpret the chapter wholly in a figurative and Messianic sense.”1 Hengstenberg, interpreting the chapter by the same method, refers its events not “exclusively to the termination of the Church’s history, but to the whole of the Messianic era from its commencement till its close.”2 Wright (in loco) understands the chapter to be an ideal description of the last things, that is, of the Jewish

dispensation. When the passage is interpreted in the literal sense, it harmonizes with all that Zechariah has revealed thus far and with the prophecies concerning the consummation for Israel found throughout the Scriptures.

The first five verses outline the confederated attack upon Jerusalem by the nations, the spoiling of the city, and the interposition of the Lord for the deliverance of the remnant. The prophet commands our attention thus: “Behold, a day comes for Jehovah, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee” (v. 1). The day spoken of here is one in which He will manifest His power and glory, in which the Lord will vindicate His honor and His name in wrath upon His adversaries, and in which He will bring to a speedy climax His purposes of grace for...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()