V. 1. 2. Ask therefore of the Lord the rain of the sparrows, and the Lord shall make the floods, and give them rain enough for all the plants of the field. 2.
1 This is said of the spiritual rain, that is, of the teaching of the gospel, on the opinion: Since the gospel is promised to come in the previous chapter, send yourselves also to it, and do not wait for it alone, but also ask for it. For here is the time to ask for the right rain, lest you be hindered with the doctrines of men and the works of the law, and be found unready for this rain. Com-
2) In the Erlanger: "ihn"; in the Wittenberger: "jnen"; this seems to be the translation given by Luther instead of "euch" in our Bible and the other editions.
But it must be accepted and not despised, but desired and received with diligent attention. If you do this, you will have rain enough for all the growth of all the good fruits of the Spirit.
2 According to this text almost Christ himself speaks Matth. 9, 36-38: "But when he saw the people, he was grieved, because they were faint and scattered, like a flock without a shepherd, and said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest." These laborers are the preachers, whom here the prophet calls clouds, in Hebrew chosisim [XXXXX], which comes from chasa [XXX], that is, to look or see, because the clouds look down, and stand and be seen to rain. So also the apostles
were ready and able to give the right rain. And the rain is called the rain, which cometh when the corn is sprung up, and when the land is parched with heat, and when the consciences are heated and thirsty by the law, the gospel cometh.
V. 2 For the idols teach vain troubles, and the diviners see vain lies, and teach vain dreams, and their comfort is nothing.
3 Here we see that he said about the spiritual rain above [v. 1], because here he gives the cause of such admonition and sets the false teaching against the rain that comes from the Lord. As if he should say: Therefore I admonish you to ask for rain from the Lord, so that you do not ask or wait for it from men. For where the Lord does not rain and teach, it happens, as the text says here, that they teach vain troubles, lies and dreams, and give vain false comforts, yes, they hinder that one neither desires nor waits for the rain of the spar. Therefore he warns to beware of them, and exhorts to the rain of sparring.
004 And he setteth three kinds of teachers, and three kinds of doctrines. The first he calls Theraphim [XXXX], idols. By this he means the teachers of the law who worship with works. For Theraphim in Hebrew means idols or worship, especially that which is in outward show, as now is the worship of our ministers, as is evident from Hosea Cap. 3, 4. and Judges. 17, 5. So now he will say.Theraphim, that is the teachers of the law, who teach the people that they should become godly with many sacrifices and such outward services, have nothing more to do with hindering this spreading of the gospel than to teach trouble," that is, to demand many works, which do not result in a good conscience; And so they remain vain troubles, both outwardly in many and various deeds, and inwardly in an uncertain conscience, because they teach neither faith nor the right understanding of the law, as we see in the Gospel [Matth. 15:5] that the Pharisees taught much about sacrifice and nothing about faith.
5. the others who prophesy are the false prophets who prophesy with false promises.
and temptations seduce the people. Such were the Jewish people who cried, "Peace, peace, when there was no peace," as Jeremiah laments [Cap. 6, 14.]; that is, for the sake of their good works, which they invented and taught, they promised everything good from God, just as the Pharisees taught, saying: it would be better to give for sacrifice than to feed the parents [Matth. 15, 5], just as in our time the clergy have sold their masses and services as the best works, promising people God's grace and eternal life. This is called vain lies and dreams, as they are in truth. For they invent all this themselves according to their own conceit, and have no word of God on it. These are the teachings of men, vain lies and dreams.
The third are the comforters. These are the two of them, or all those who protect and defend such false teachings and dreams against the true teachers who punish the same dreams. For these same comforters exhort and keep up the poor people, that they should remain in their doctrine, and as they now say, in the old faith, always pardon and comfort the poor people with good words, and praise their doings to the highest, as if it were right and good etc. But all such comforting is nothing. Behold, such teachers and idols Christ found when he came, and finds them evermore when he comes. But what follows?
Therefore they are led away like a flock, and are miserable because there is no shepherd.
(7) This is what the poor people get from such teachers, that they are driven away and scattered, like a herd, into various superstitions and groups. In addition, they perish and languish, like the abandoned sheep without a shepherd, for whom no one waits with the divine, pure word. So also Isaiah Cap. 53, 6. says: "We were all scattered like sheep, every one to his own way" etc. In the same way, Christ, Matth. 9, 36. ff., also says this, as we have heard above [§ 2]. God then rightly perverts this, that they not only divide the flock into their groups, but also prevent them from desiring the rain of the spar; therefore it follows:
V. 3. My wrath is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goats.
8 He calls them shepherds, because they have the office of shepherds, and yet they are idol teachers and dreamers in deed. These were the Pharisees, and are all false teachers. The same are the goats, who violently push and rule among the sheep, which Christ also calls goats, which he will put on the left at the last day, Matth. 25, 33. He has afflicted such goats, because he has put them out of office and disturbed them.
For the Lord of hosts shall visit his host, even the house of Judah, and shall prepare them as a well-bred horse for war.
(9) That is, he shall deliver them from the goats, and be himself a shepherd, and shall visit them with grace. For in the Hebrew it is written that he will visit against the goats, and yet visit for his flock. So that two kinds of visitation are proclaimed here: one out of anger and wrath, against the goats; the other out of grace and mercy, for the flock. Item, not only will he graciously visit his army, his people, but he will also make well-equipped horses out of them, on which he will ride and fight, also to bring others under him, namely the Gentiles. Which he has done through the apostles and disciples chosen from among the Jewish people. But lest it be thought that it should be a bodily strife, it follows:
V. 4. Spikes, spears, bows, and all the stars are to be taken away from them.
(10) That is, it shall not be in the flesh; there shall be no captain of the host, no arrow, no spear, no bow, neither shall there be a captain of the field to drive them to battle. For there shall be no need of any of these things, but they shall be spiritual. Some, however, understand this text to mean that from among the people of Judah there will be spearheads, bows, spearmen and captains who will wage such spiritual warfare under the Duke of Christ. And it does not rhyme badly with what follows before and after. It is a good opinion; but I hold it with the first interpretation, will probably find enough who have desire to hold against me with the other.
V. 5 And shall be as the giants that tread the mire in the street of strife.
(11) And they shall be such warriors (saith he), that they shall be all great heroes and giants, not vile warriors, which only increase the multitude, and fetch blows; but they shall conquer and prevail, and be vain men of valor. For they shall be so mighty by word, that they shall not only give way to none, nor flee, but shall tread down all their enemies in battle, as one treadeth down dung in the street, that they shall lie there with all their shame, as follows:
And shall fight: for the Lord is with them, that the horsemen may be put to shame.
(12) Not by their power, but Christ is with them; therefore they also fight so that all the horsemen, and all that oppose them, are put to shame, and lie as dung in the street. Look at the histories. Are not now the Jews, philosophers, heretics, and all things that go against the gospel, trodden down like dung in the street? What are the Arians? Dung, trampled in the street. What are the Manichaeans, Pelagians, and so on? Koth in the alley. What are Muenzer and Pabst now? Koth in the alley. What do our Sacramenters want to become? Koth in the alley. Just as the 83rd Psalm, v. 11, also says: "They have become like dirt in the country"; and Ps. 18, 43: "I will make them as dung in the street." Yes, you say, but the Sacramentans do not mean it, but want to have the victory. To be sure, they do not mean it. The Jews, Arians, Münzer, Pabst did not mean it either; nevertheless it happened. That is why he speaks here: "They will dispute." It is a matter of quarreling, and it always seems as if they had won; but the Lord is here with us, that the horsemen, who think they have won, will be put to shame, just when they think we have been put to shame, and they have won. This is how it has always been, and how it will always be.
V. 6. And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and save the house of Joseph.
013 That is, in such strife I will be with them, that they may be the strongest,
And I will not only save the tribe of Judah, but I will also save Halls Joseph, the kingdom of Israel, that is, as it is written in the Hebrew, "They also shall prevail and prevail, as well as Judah. For as it is said above [Cap. 9, § 17], Judah and Israel shall both come together again under Christ, and have one grace and one spirit.
And wants to reinstate them, or bring them back.
14. not into the old kingdom, but into the spiritual, of which he speaks here, as follows:
For I have mercy on her.
The old kingdom was based on Israel's obedience. For it was promised to them so far off, that if they were righteous they should possess the land. Therefore it stood as on fur sleeves, and must perish. But this kingdom stands on God's mercy, without our piety or merit; therefore it is established forever, as he says here, that he will restore them, not that they deserve it, but that he will have mercy on them; yes, under his mercy, not on their righteousness, they shall stand.
And shall be as they were, since I had not cast them off.
16. such mercy, without its righteousness, makes everything bad and right, that they become as if he had never been angry with them, but as if they had been most obedient, and the promises were all new and fresh; all that they had done before is forgotten, and there is vain forgiveness of sins.
For I, the Lord, their God, will hear them.
017 That is, it shall be in mercy, because it is a kingdom of mercy. Before, when they called upon me in their kingdom of the flesh, I did not hear them, but made them perish with their righteousness, so that they were disturbed. But now I am near, and hear them when they call, because of my mercy. But such hearing shows that they call out much, and that
pray. Much praying and calling indicates that they have much distress and affliction; therefore this must be a kingdom of the cross, since there is a God of hearing, as the 50th Psalm, v. 15, says: "Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will help thee" etc. For the devil does not celebrate against such a kingdom.
V.7 And Ephraim shall be as a giant, and her heart shall be glad as of wine: and her children shall see it, and rejoice, and her heart shall be glad in the Lord.
(18) Having come to the house of Joseph to speak of it apart from the house of Judah, he performs the same speech from the house of Joseph to the end of the chapter, proclaiming that the kingdom of Israel (which was in the house of Joseph and in the tribe of Ephraim) should also come under Christ together with the house of Judah. Therefore, what he prophesies about Judah, he also prophesies about the house of Joseph, as fellow members of the same kingdom of Christ. First of all, that they also should be giants, that is, victorious men and heroes, not rabble or lost people, and should be joyful in spirit, like those who are joyful from wine. In the same way, let their children also rejoice when they see such victory of the giants, their fathers, that such rejoicing is not of temporal favor or honor, but of the Lord, who makes such victory and victors, not by their power, but by his mercy and granting. Summa, you hear here of giants, strife and victory, that it does not want to suffer from the kingdom of the flesh in temporal peace and peace, but shall always be of strife and not of peace, and yet only of victory.
V. 8 I will blow to them and gather them, for I will redeem them, and they shall multiply as they have multiplied before.
19 This is spoken in Hebrew: "I will blow to them", that is, I will stir them with my spirit, as Isaiah Cap. 7, 18. also uses it, when he speaks: "I will blow to the fly" etc. For spirit and wind are pronounced in the Hebrew language with One Word, Ruah [XXX]. And here we see that he speaks of the Ephraim who is scattered, because he wants to gather him by his blowing,
To the same faith with Judah, that they may multiply as before, that is, they may become many, but now spiritually, as follows:
V. 9 For I will sow them among the nations, and they shall remember me in far countries.
020 Thus shall the increase be, that they may be scattered among the nations, as seed that increaseth in the field. Therefore this must be a spiritual multiplication, because they are not to return home to the nations, but are to be sown there among the nations and thus multiply. All this happens so that they are sent by God as preachers among the Gentiles, and thus bring many people to themselves and through them to Christ. For they are to remember me in distant lands, that is, to preach and teach about me, so that they may multiply and convert many to me. It was not proper for the Jews to remember the Lord outside Jerusalem or to worship, as the 137th Psalm, v. 4, says: "How shall we sing of the Lord in a foreign land? Because he says here, "They shall remember the Lord sown and planted in foreign lands," it is clear enough that he is speaking of spiritual things, and that the spiritual Jerusalem should be as wide as the world. Otherwise he should sow and plant them in Jerusalem, and there let them multiply and remember the Lord, where he meant a physical kingdom.
And shall live with their children and come again.
(21) Of course, according to the previous text, they must be spiritual children, whom they beget by multiplying, which is done by sowing among the nations (as said above), so that both the seed that is sown among the nations and also the fruit that has grown and increased from this seed, as the converted Gentiles, should live, that is, be of good courage and have enough. For "life" in Scripture means to need and enjoy life as those who live without misfortune and driving. But he means that because the apostle and preacher's life is a controversy, as stated above, even in the midst of death and all dangers, and when there seems to be no life, they should still live, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:9: "We are like those who die.
And behold, we live" nevertheless. So also the coming again is, that Ephraim, who was scattered in all the world, should now come back rightly, where he remains forever, namely to Christendom.
V. 10 For I will bring them again out of the land of Egypt, and will gather them out of Assyria, and will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and there shall be no lack of one.
(22) All this must be understood spiritually according to the foregoing, otherwise the foregoing cannot stand. For it does not rhyme that he should gather them by his blowing, that he should sow them among the nations, and yet bring them bodily into the land of Judah, though it please the Jews so to do. Neither should he bring them into Gilead and Lebanon, but into Samaria, and into the midst of the land, where they were before. Therefore this is the opinion: then the right bringing again will happen once, when Christ will bring the children of Israel out of Egypt and Assyria to faith through the gospel, that is, ius right Gilead and Lebanon. For how should the ten tribes of Israel alone come into Gilead and Lebanon, since before there were scarcely two half tribes within, as Manasseh and Gad? Thus the former, old kingdom of Israel would have been more glorious than this, because at that time every tribe sat in its inheritance, and here all ten should dwell in two half tribes inheritance. How does it rhyme that Ephraim should dwell in the inheritance of the tribe of Gad, and Manasseh on the other side Jordan? which is all against Moses' and Joshua's order, that the tribes of Israel should not be mixed together. If this is against Moses, then Moses is also against Zechariah, so one must give way to the other. But it is good for Moses to depart, and let Zechariah speak of spiritual Gilead and Lebanon.
(23) Now Gilead [XXXX] is called a heap of testimonies, and Lebanon [XXX] is called clean or white; which is the holy scripture or Christianity, in which the testimonies are frequent, by which Christ is preached, and is in addition clean and white, of pure innocency and holiness. To such a multitude of testimonies and whiteness comes Ephraim, that is, to the word of God and to faith, by which the hearts become pure, white, and devout, Apost. 15, 9.
(24) "That there should not be a lack of one. In Hebrew it says: Et non invenietur eis, which some understand to mean: so many shall come that they will not find room enough for themselves to dwell. This would be true if the ten tribes of Israel alone were to come to Gilead in the flesh; but in Scripture and Christianity enough room would be found, or further made. Let each one do as he pleases.
V. 11. And tribulation shall come upon the sea, and he shall beat the waves in the sea.
(25) Some make this text from the Hebrew, He shall pass through the narrow sea, which is very pleasing to me. But there may be both, and the opinion is the same, namely, that he speaks of the spiritual passage, which happened through the Red Sea, when he led the people out of Egypt; as if he wanted to say: When God will redeem the tribes of Israel, in the new way, and bring them into the right Gilead and Lebanon, as is said, then also a right passage through the sea will begin, much greater than that was through the Red Sea. For this sea will be the whole world through which he will lead his people. It will resist and oppose them, and will not let them pass through, so that it will be a narrow sea for God's people, just as the Red Sea resisted and was narrow in the place where the children of Israel passed through. There shall be tribulation, not only upon the people of God, but also upon the sea. For their defense and barring will not help them; they will have to let the people pass through. For He will smite the waves of the sea, that is, He will punish with the gospel all that is great and mighty in the world, just as Moses smote the Red Sea with his rod [Ex. 14:16].
That all deep grounds will dry up in the water.
26. just as the red sea disappeared after it struck Moses, so when the world is struck by the gospel, it passes away, becomes humble, gives way, and locks up.
no longer against the apostles and preachers. That is, [that] all deep grounds in the water become dry through the Spirit of Christ, just as the Red Sea became dry through the east wind. Thus the spirit plays here with interpretation of the old histories of the future nature and change of the gospel.
Then the splendor of Assyria shall be abolished, and the scepter of Egypt shall cease.
(27) Then he himself tells what kind of sea he means, that is, the world with its power and splendor. And he mentions the two kingdoms in particular, Assyria and Egypt, because these two have done the most harm to the tribes of Israel. But because he himself says that all the deep waters etc., he undoubtedly also means the power and might of all the world. For they are all humbled by the gospel, and have had to cease, but the gospel remains. So we see here publicly that the prophet does not speak of the physical redemption of the Jewish people. For such a course and battle in the sea, which dried up Assyria and Egypt and all the grounds in waters, cannot lead to Gilead, but it must be a spiritual Gilead, which is in all the world, where the sea is smitten, that is, the kingdoms are humbled.
V. 12 For I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk in his name, saith the Lord.
28 That is, they shall prevail and prevail against all the waves of the sea, not by weapons or by the power of man, but by the power of God, in spirit and in faith. And so they walk not in their name, but in the name of JESUS CHRIST, for they live and build not on their works or righteousness, neither shall any man be saved but on his name. For it is not here Paul, Apollo, Cephas, but in Christ's grace and righteousness they walk, Gal. 2:16: "We are justified by faith in JEsum Christ, and not by the works of the law."