other times soever it be concludently appliable, doth in special refer unto the calamities brought upon the nations by Alexander the Great, is apparent from Zeph. ii. 4, 5. But to return to the literal meaning of the prophecy now in handlingd: that, as I take it, is as if the prophet had spoken in more words to Jerusalem thus: "Thine eyes, in the generations following, shall behold the flourishing pride of sundry nations, each endeavouring to overtop others in height of glory and temporal state; each striving to keep others under by human policy and strength of war. And whilst the sight of their mutual conquests shall possess thy thoughts, thou wilt be ready in the pride of thy heart to say, Jerusalem and Judah one day shall have their turn, and in that day shall the sons of Jacob, the seed of Abraham and David, be like the monarchs of Greece and Persia, far exalted above the kings of other nations: every one (able to bear arms) glistering with his golden shield, and leading the princes of the heathen as prisoners bound in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron. The beauty and riches of their costly temples shall deck the chariots of my children, which their captives shall draw in triumph. But thou shouldest remember, that the promised Prince of peace, of benignity and justice, should not be sought amongst the tumultuous hosts of war. Or canst thou hope, that the desire of all nations should be thy leader or general to destroy themselves? It is glory and honour enough for thee, glory and honour greater than the greatest conqueror on earth could ever compass, that the King of kings and Lord of lords shall be anointed and proclaimed King upon the hill of Zion; that the inviolable decrees of everlasting peace shall be given to all the nations under heaven from thy courts. And d Zech. ix. 9. therefore, whilst horses and chariots, or other glorious preparations of war, shall present themselves to thy view, suffer them to pass as they come, and rest assured that thy King, of whose coming thou hast often been admonished by the prophets, is not amongst them. The manner of his coming unto thee, so thou wilt mark it, bodes far better tidings to thee, and all the nations besides, than can accompany the prosperous success of wars, or any victory which is stained with blood. What king of Judah or Israel did ever levy an army, though in just defence of their country and people, on so fair terms, that no poor amongst them were pinched with taxes for the supply? What victory did they ever obtain so good cheap, that many of their children were not enforced to sit down with loss, many wounded, others maimed, and some always slain? But lo, now I bring thee unusual matter of exultation and uncouth joy: for, behold, thy King cometh unto thee, (whensoever he cometh,) attended 846 with justice for his guide and salvation for his train. He shall execute judgment without oppression, he shall save thee (so thou wilt be saved) without destroying any; able and ready to make thy lame to go, to give life to the dead, without hazard either of life or limb, to any who rests within thy territories. Such shall be the manner of his coming, and such his presence, that the silliest wretch amongst thy children may think himself more happy than any king of Judah or Israel which was before him, so he will conform himself to his garb or demeanour: for he cometh unto thee poor and lowly, riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass, to wean thee from the vain hopes of the heathen, from which the prophets have so often dehorted thy forefathers. Some put their trust in horses, some in chariots; but thy confidence must be in the Lord thy God, who will always be thy King to defend thee, to protect thee, and strengthen thee, through his weakness: for by the weakness of his appearance he will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” Zech. ix. 10. The mark whereat the prophet Zechariah in this place aims is the very same with that which the prophet Haggai, his coeval, had set up a little before him; neither of them (as I take it) conscious of the other's predictions: Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts: according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you : fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. Haggai ii. 4-9. And the prophet Zechariah had touched (before) on the same string, chap. ii. 10, 11: Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee, &c. Every branch of these forecited prophecies were exactly fulfilled according to their plain literal sense in our Saviour's triumphant ingress into Jerusalem, and visitation of the second temple, which, by the bounty of Herod the Great, and of many other nations, was made (even to secular eyes) more beautiful and glorious than the temple of Solomon was. The extraordinary contributions of several nations and princes of the Roman empire for the beautifying of this second temple, and Herod's special care in the right employment of his own and others' expenses upon this glorious work, might have taught the Jews, had they not been blind, to expect that the desire of all nations, their promised King, was speedily to come unto it; yet not to come in such pomp, specially of war, as they expected, but in such humility and meekness of spirit as the prophet Zechariah in the ninth chapter and tenth verse hath expressed. 847 And so it had been foretold in the building of Zerubbabel's temple: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Zech.iv.6. 7. Some parts of the forecited prophecy there be which were not to be fulfilled in the exquisite literal, but especially in the mystical or spiritual, sense, until our Saviour's resurrection from the dead, or the accomplishment of his consecration to be King, Priest, and Temple to all the Israel of God. But of these, by God's assistance, in the article of his Resurrection. That which we are now to follow is the fulfilling of the ninth verse of the prophet Zechariah. e Vide Riberam in secundum Haggæi. CHAP. XVIII. The fulfilling of Zechariah's Prophecy, chap. ix. 9, recorded by all the Evangelists; but most fully and most punctually by St. Matthew. 1. THERE was not any sacred prediction, from the first promise of the woman's seed until this time, more capable of being counterfeited by subtle pretenders to the crown of David, than this particular was; and yet the fulfilling of it, so we would take all circumstances related by the evangelists into serious consideration, or scan the true grammatical sense of the prophet's words aright, is as concludently punctual as the accomplishing of any prophecy besides, any passage in Isaiah liii. or psalm xxii. not excepted. God, by his all-seeing providence, did prevent the reduction of that possibility, or facility rather, of imposture, whereunto this prophecy above others was exposed, into act. For from the day of our Saviour's triumphant coming into Jerusalem, neither city nor people had any just occasion of such joy or exultation as now they expressed; scarce any quiet hour from this neglect of that great salvation which now was proffered, until the destruction of the city and temple, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation throughout the world. Among many other circumstances related by the evangelists, all worthy of our serious consideration, this one, in my mind, is most remarkable, that the owners of the ass and of the colt, or the neighbourhood then present, should suffer them to be untied and carried away before they saw the disciples' warrant so to do, subscribed by their Master's hand. But warrant they had none, save only parol: And if any ask why you do so, say, The Lord hath need of them, &c. Matt. xxi. 3, and Mark xi. 3. Had not this Lord whose |