A regenerate world.
"And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem," etc. A regenerate man is not a man without disposition to sin, but a man in whose case that disposition is habitually overcome. In that regenerate world partially described in the previous verses, something very similar is to hold good. All the elements of evil are not then altogether to cease; but there shall be in operation then a new principle of action, which shall prevent them from raising their heads. How exceedingly different a condition of things the full establishment of such a rule will result in seems to be taught us, in these concluding verses, in three different ways; viz. in regard
I. THOSE WHO HATE IT. For such persons there will be, even at that time, as at all previous times, in existence. There will even be some in existence—at any rate, at the very beginning of "that day"—who shall be bold enough to declare war against it. How will it be with such then? Not at all as it is with them now, when they seem so often and so mysteriously to have the "upper hand" (Psalms 9:19, Prayer book Version) against God. On the contrary, partly
II. THOSE WHO DESPISE IT. Besides that hostility which is open and active, there is that which is passive and half-concealed. Some men do not so much oppose religion as ignore its injunctions. Men disposed to act thus will not be lacking, even in that glorious "day." This illustrated here by a reference to that well known ancient "Feast of Tabernacles," in which the settled Israelites commemorated the fact of their having been wanderers once in the wilderness (Le 23:41-43). Something so far corresponding to this, at any rate, as to be fitly described by the same appellation, will be of universal obligation in the final settlement of that great sabbatical "day" (comp. Hebrews 4:1-9). How will things be with those who despise it and neglect to "come up" (Ecclesiastes 8:17) ? Not as now (see Matthew 5:45); but rather as it was in those days when Goshen was distinguished for Israel's sake, as by a special command from Heaven, from all the rest of the land. Every such contemptuous nation or "family," whatever the peculiarity of their circumstances and ordinary climate, shall be made to feel then the open displeasure of him who commandeth the clouds. How widely different in those days the language of Heaven! How widely different the conduct, may we not expect, therefore, of the most callous of men!
III. THOSE WHO INHABIT IT. These men shall find Jerusalem then "the holy city" indeed. Speaking here of the future, in language drawn from the usages of his own time; or possibly, as some have supposed, speaking so because there will be a certain measure of return to those usages in the future;—there are three great changes which the prophet bids us expect in the "Jerusalem" of" that day." Its inhabitants will see:
1. The previously "common" become "holy." The very bells of the horses being outwardly marked for God's service, like the high priest's mitre was in ancient times (Exodus 28:36-38; see also Isaiah 23:17, Isaiah 23:18).
2. The previously holy made holier still, The ordinary temple "pits," only used of old days for "dressing the victims" (Pusey), being now regarded as like the sacrificial "bowls before the altar," containing the atoning blood itself; and even those vessels outside the "house," which were only so far holy before that they were found in "Jerusalem" (the holy city), or belonged to "Judah" (the holy people), shall now be regarded as tilt for employment in the temple worship itself.
3. The irreclaimably profane forever shut out. "The Canaanite," i.e; as representing those who, though not truly the children of promise, yet "would live" amongst them ( 1:35) through all the ages, being never seen there again (comp. Isaiah 35:8; Joel 3:17; Ephesians 5:27; Revelation 21:27; Revelation 22:15).
"Not yet! not yet! The faultless flock,
The field without a tare,
Come last of all the blessing sought
By centuries of prayer!"
How fitting a close of the whole is this thought! How rightly does this chief prophet of the post-Captivity Jerusalem tell us thus, in conclusion, of that far more glorious Jerusalem which is some day to shine forth! It is much the same that the Prophet Daniel does at the end of his prophecy. It is the same also that "St. John the divine" does at the end of his song. They bring their message to an end when they have given us a glimpse of the end which God has in store. It is for us to take care that we are truly numbered with those for whom that "end" is prepared.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH