these carpenters represent the friends and favourers of my Church, which come to repair that which the despiteful heathen have demolished, and to redress all that mischief which those four horns have done.

II. 4. And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:

And said unto him, Make haste, speak thus to Zechariah, saying, Jerusalem shall not only be re-inhabited, but shall so abound with people, as that the walls thereof shall not be able to contain the multitude of them, which shall dwell there:

II. 5. For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.

For I, saith the Lord, will be a sure protection unto her, against her enemies; and with my presence will encompass her, as with a wall of fire, which none dare approach: and, as I will be her safety without, so I will be her glory within; for I will be known to be her God, and manifest my presence there.

II. 6. Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.

Say then to the Jews; Ho, all ye my people, come away out of that land of your captivity, saith the Lord; for now I have enlarged you, and blessed you both with liberty, and such increase, that ye shall spread yourselves abroad all the world

over.

II. 7. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

Make haste therefore, O ye the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem, which dwell as yet in Babylon, and come out of that your exile and servitude.

II. 8. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

For thus saith the Lord of Hosts: after the restoring of glory to thee, O Jerusalem, I will not rest there; but will call unto reckoning, by him who is the Mediator and King of my Church, those nations, which have spoiled you; and I will let the world know, how tenderly I am affected to you; and they shall find, that he, that toucheth you, doth, as it were, touch the apple of mine eye.

II. 9. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants.

For, behold, I will but give a sign to those nations, by shaking my hand to them, that I have given way to the destruction of these your enemies; and they shall immediately

become a spoil to those which lately were their tributaries and

servants.

II. 13. Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

O all ye sons of men, be ye awfully affected to this great and just God; whom ye have thus seen to manifest his power from heaven, for the deliverance and preservation of his Church.

III. 1. And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right

hand to resist him.

And he shewed me, in vision, Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, bearing the type of the son of God who is the everlasting High Priest of his Church, standing before the Lord, to intercede for his people; and Satan, the adversary of God's Church, standing ready to resist him.

III. 2. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

Then Christ the Lord, who was here resembled and represented in both his natures, in his humanity by Joshua, in his deity by the Angel, said unto Satan; God, even the Eternal Father, rebuke thee, O Satan: the Lord, who hath chosen Jerusalem for the place of his worship, rebuke thee, for that malicious opposition, which thou makest to his Church, and to this faithful high priest thereof; whom yet thou shalt in vain strive to resist; for is not he as a brand plucked out of the furnace of Babylon? Dost thou not see God's good purpose to him, and to his Church, in his delivery?

III. 3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments.

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, as the rags of his captivity; representing the High Priest of the New Testament, who took upon him our sins and infirmities.

III. 4. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

And he said to those ministering spirits, that stood before him, Take away from him these filthy garments, the base and loathsome weeds of servitude and sorrow. And to Joshua himself he said, Behold, I have determined to restore thee to the glory, which pertains to thy great function; in token whereof, I have caused these rags, the monuments of that thy bondage, and of those sins which thou undertakest to expiate, to be put away from thee; and I will clothe thee gloriously, instead of these nasty garments.

III. 5. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments.

And, accordingly, I command you to set a fair mitre upon his head let him be endowed, with all those graces and abilities, that may be fit for the discharge of his office, and for his own ornament and glory.

III. 7. Then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.

Then shalt thou, and thy sons after thee, rule over my house, as chief priest; and have the prime oversight and command of my courts: and, at last, I will give thee a place in everlasting glory; so, as thou shalt walk gloriously in white, amongst these blessed angels.

III. 8. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

And now, O Joshua the high priest, hearken thou, and those thy assistants in thy sacred function, that sit before thee: they are, by their places, men, whose persons do portend future things to the Church; being made the signs of things to come, and therefore fit to know and foreshew this great mystery: for, behold, I will exhibit unto the world Christ the Saviour; whom I have ordained to work that great business of mediation for my Church; whose visible presence shall grace that Temple, which ye are now to build.

III. 9. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

In signification of which Saviour, I have laid before Joshua a stone, to resemble him who is the chief corner stone of his Church, whereon it shall be firmly built: behold, he shall be a stone of note; all eyes of angels and men shall be upon him ; all the graces of my Spirit shall be poured on him, and he shall be polished and set forth with all the gifts thereof, above measure; and I will, for his sake, do away all the iniquity of my people, at once, so as it shall no more be imputed to them. III. 10. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree. In that day shall my servants enjoy a true spiritual peace, and a happy communion with each other, in the favours and blessings of God.

IV. 2. And behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which were upon the top thereof.

And behold a candlestick all of gold, resembling the Church of God; with a bowl upon the top thereof, whence the several lamps were deduced, resembling Christ, the Author of all the

Spiritual Lights of his Church: seven lamps were thereon; resembling the teachers and governors of the Church: seven pipes appertained to those seven lamps; resembling those means and conveyances of grace, by which God enableth his servants to give light to his Church."

IV. 3. And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

And two olive trees stood by it; resembling the plentiful graces of God's Spirit, and ever-flourishing doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles, which are always ready at hand, to furnish those holy lamps with sufficient abilities and matter of instruction to his Church.

IV. 6. This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, who is now in hand to build the Temple; Think not, that by thy might and power thou art able to compass this great work, that this candlestick is furnished with these shining lamps, and that these lamps are furnished with a supply of oil, and that these olives live to yield that supply; it is not from man, but from the power of my Holy Spirit, who worketh all things for the good of my Church.

IV. 7. Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel? thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Who are ye, O ye professed opposites to my people, Sanballat, Tobiah, Rehum, Shimshai, and the rest of that wicked combination, which set yourselves against this work of mine; were ye as some huge mountain, yet before Zerubbabel ve should be as a low and level plain: in despite of you, he shall bring forth the headstone of the roof of my Temple, even the last stone that shall make up the battlements thereof; and shall lay it upon the finished walls, with the shouting and joyful acclamation of all my people; who shall praise God for his mercy, and pray to him for a happy blessing upon his Temple. So also verse 9.

IV. 10. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Why did ye, Oye faithless Jews, look so discontentedly upon the mean foundations of this Temple, and weep to think of that goodly structure of Solomon's, compared with this? There shall be no cause of this disparagement: ye shall rather find reason to rejoice in this noble work, which ye see Zerubbabel in hand to finish; while, besides the glory of this work, ye shall acknowledge the abundant graces of God's Spirit poured out

upon men, under this Temple; and the infinite protection and providence of God, which, as it diffuseth itself to all the corners of the world, so especially hath magnified itself in the care of this Temple and Jerusalem.

IV. 11. What are these two olive trees, &c.? See verse 3. IV. 14. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Those two olive branches resemble the special graces, which God hath bestowed upon these two anointed servants of his, that stand before him, Zerubbabel and Joshua; by whose means, it pleaseth God to convey many favours and blessings to his Church.

V. 2. And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

And I said, I see a roll of paper flying in the air, of very great extent; for it is twenty cubits in length, and ten in breadth; so as it contains great store of writing therein.

V. 3. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

Then said he unto me, In this large roll is written that curse, which pertains to all wicked sinners, over the face of the whole earth; for every one that stealeth shall be punished and cut off, according to the judgment set down in that roll; and, on the other side, every one that sweareth shall be cut off, according to the judgment specified therein.

V. 6. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

And he said, This is an ephah, that is now represented unto thee, as passing forth before thee, to signify the measure of the iniquity of my people, made fully up. And he said, This ephah is the resemblance of the great measure of all the sins of Israel, heaped up together against me by them, all the world

over.

V. 7, 8. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

And, behold, there was also represented unto me a leaden weight; and withal, a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. That woman, which he cast into the midst of the ephah, resembled the person of those wicked Jews, which he meant to cast out of his Church; of whom he said, These are so wicked,

VOL. IV.

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