wheat. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth, his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He sheweth his word unto Jacob; his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of Jehovah: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word: mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: kings of the earth, and all people: princes, and all judges of the earth: both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: let them praise the name of Jehovah: for his name alone is excellent: his glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye Jehovah.* The temple being thus rebuilt, and the Jewish polity in a measure restored, the captives who remained in Babylon Ps. cxlvi. cxlvii. cxlviii. "In the Septuagint version these psalms are styled the Psalms of Haggai and Zechariah, as if they had been composed by them for this occasion; and this no doubt was from some ancient tradition." Prid. i. 239. doubted the propriety of continuing the observance of those fasts, which they had strictly kept during the last seventy years; and, therefore, sent Sherezer and Regemmelech, to pray before Jehovah, and consult the priests and prophets, whether they should weep in the fifth month, and separate themselves as they had done so many years.* To this inquiry, God saw fit by the prophet Zechariah, to vouchsafe the following answer; Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying; When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which Jehovah hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of Hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets; therefore, came a great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. Therefore, it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear; saith Jehovah of Hosts: but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. * Zech. vii. 1-3. still further to excite and alarm this torpid people, saying Jehovah hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore, say thou unto them; Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith Jehovah of Hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith Jehovah. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as Jehovah of Hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. Zerubbabel and his companions having shewn a spirit of submission to the admonition of the prophets, Jehovah authorized Haggai to give them the following condescending declaration, I am with you, saith Jehovah;† and having stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and of all the remnant of the people, they proceeded in the work of the house of Jehovah of Hosts, their God. And as a further encouragement to their diligence, the same prophet was ordered to deliver that magnificent prophecy of the Messiah, which modern Jews have ever found one of the most difficult passages in the Old Testament to contend with; Speak now to Zerubbabel, and to Jeshua, saying, Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Jeshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be * Zech. i. 2-6. + Hag. i. 13. strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work; for I am with you, saith Jehovah 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 Jehovah; 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 Jehovah of Hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of Hosts. The glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of Hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of Hosts. I smote you with blasting, and with mildew, and with hail, in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah. Consider now from this day and upwards, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was laid, consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, have not brought forth from this day will I bless you. And again the word of Jehovah came unto Haggai, in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens, and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses, and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith Jehovah, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith Jehovah of Hosts.† Hag. ii. 2-9. The excellent Bp. Hall has a sermon on this text, Vol. v. 193. The inveterate Samaritans, perceiving that the house of God was likely to be rebuilt notwithstanding all their machinations, and having excited the suspicions of Tatnai, the Persian governor of the province; that officer, with Shetharboznai, who was probably the prefect of Samaria under him,† and their companions, came to the Jews; and Tatnai inquiring who had commanded them to build that house, and to make up those walls; and also, the names of the elders,‡ they replied, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded, and set up. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of Heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. But in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Babylon, the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. And the vessels also of gold, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus, the king, take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; and said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem; and since that time, even until now, hath it been building, and yet it is not finished.§ The eye of their God being upon the elders of the Jews, so that their enemies could not cause them to cease,|| Tatnai impressed with the simple account they gave, and probably + Prid. i. 229. * Prid. i.229. Ezra, v. 3, 4. 9, 10. Ezra, v. 5. |