In this second chapter, the prophet himself does what a preacher is wont to do, and turns history into a prophecy with a spiritual interpretation (prophetiam allegoricam). For as he said above of the present state of Jerusalem, so he will say here of the future, that everything in the spirit signifies the future grace through Christ, which is to be revealed in the whole world. And here it will be revealed why he was so pleased with the fourfold number.
By all this, what he has said above about the highest peace and the outward rest, about the rebuilding of Jerusalem etc., he indicates that everything happens because of the future grace, which is to be revealed through Christ. Therefore he adds here in this chapter the spiritual kingdom of Christ.
and declares even the horses and the horns that scatter, and makes all things spiritual, and now comes, as I have said, the cause why he used the number four. For the gospel was to be spread and propagated to the ends of the earth, to all nations, as is evident from the Psalm [Ps. 72, 8.], "He shall reign from sea to sea" etc. And Christ says [Matth. 24, 31]: "They will gather His elect from the four winds" etc. Likewise Isa. 60, 4. "Thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall be brought up by the way." In these and all similar passages the spiritual interpretation is hidden in the words of comforting, ruling, just as here also the enlargement of Jerusalem is to be understood spiritually, for this cannot fit upon
the fleshly Jerusalem, as we shall see in order. The spiritual interpretation of the second and the first chapter is this:
The angels with the horses are the kingdoms of the whole world. They are under the myrtles, that is, they are in peace and quiet. The physical peace was necessary in the people of Judah, so that the city of Jerusalem and other cities could be rebuilt. This was the meaning of history, but the spiritual interpretation is this: By this outward peace is signified the spiritual happiness and security of the church, that is, of the godly who believe in Christ. Their consciences are pacified and secure, so that there is nothing that could tear them away from the love of God, no matter how much external struggles and hatred there may be. For as Christ says [John 16:33], "In the world ye fear; in me ye shall have peace." For the world does not cease from raging and persecuting the members of Christ, "the lords counseling with one another against the Lord and his anointed," as it is said in the second Psalm [v. 2]. And yet in all this the Christians are not defeated; so great is the peace of Christ, which is higher than all understanding, as Paul says [Phil. 4:7], that is, it is a peace of heart, that in all tribulations so much is lacking in it, that we are overcome by terror, that we even boast, as Paul says Rom. 5:3. Nevertheless, the Lord, not by taking away the evils and the enemies, but by sending us into them, makes us sure that we will always be joyful, that we will not be overcome by any misfortune, no matter how much the whole world gnashes its teeth against us. The pope may rage, the emperor and his princes may threaten us with evil, yet we will sit in beautiful peace, even though they throw us into prison if they are allowed to indulge their anger. If they finally kill us, we will rejoice no less than if we were invited to a wedding, which is also what St. Agnes answered the tyrant by whom she was to be killed etc. The blacksmiths are the preachers of the Gospel as well as the angels who ride; because they are ministers of the Word, they do not fight with violence but with the Word. This is according to the appearance a ge
ringer fight and exceedingly weak weapons, but nevertheless, by this very word, which seems to the world to be a ridiculous fündlein, they direct that they make the highest and mightiest kingdoms flee from us, and we let our enemies rather lament than fear them. And we suffer that they so uselessly waste their anger and displeasure by setting themselves against us with damage to Gnt, body and soul, but in vain, because we always have the horses among the myrtles. Namely, this is how our enemies must succumb to us, since they can overcome nothing less in us than the courage that always stands firm and undaunted like a brazen wall, and despises both their threats and their violence. This is what most vexes Satan, who, when he attacks our bodies, intends to overcome the soul; otherwise he considers it nothing that the body is injured. And all this the prophet teaches in this second chapter, which I call the spiritual interpretation of the previous one. For it cannot be the fleshly Jerusalem' which the prophet sees here, as the context itself proves.
V. i. And behold, a man had a measuring cord in his hand.
This man is Christ, who has received the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father, who measures his church in the most certain way, that is, by the very certain gifts of the Spirit he makes either small or great, for he gives to each one as much as he wills, as also the apostle says in the Epistle to the Ephesians [Cap. 4, 7.]: "According to the measure of the gift of Christ." Thus the Church extends no further than the Spirit of Christ, see 1 Cor. 12, 1. ff. And this is what the measuring cord indicates, namely the Holy Spirit with His gifts.
V. 3. 1) And another angel came out to meet him, and said to him.
I pass over what Jerome dreams in this passage: that the angels did not know the mystery of the Incarnation, and what Dionysius dreams of the celestial order (hierarchia): that some angels
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
to be taught by others that some are the lowest, others the highest, and, I don't know what else, which he writes so impudently as if he had witnessed it himself. Christ says [Matth. 18, 10.]: "The angels see the face of the Father." Therefore, it is God who enlightens the angels, who uses their service; therefore, they are not enlightened by each other. But because all this happens for the comfort of the afflicted and frightened people, this play had to be performed.
V. 4. Run and tell this boy.
That is, say to Zechariah.
Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls.
In Nehemiah and Ezra, the command was given to rebuild Jerusalem, as well as the walls around the city. Therefore it is clear that this passage cannot be understood of the fleshly Jerusalem, but of the Jerusalem whose border is the end of the world. As if he wanted to say: No city will be able to be so wide and large that it could contain the Christians. So great will be their multitude, since they dwell in the whole world. I do not dislike the opinion of those who lay out men from the strong in faith, but cattle from the weak. For Christ's body has flesh and bones, that is. Strong and weak. But because it is a kingdom of love, therefore one bears the infirmity of another with patience, as Paul says [Rom. 15:II.
V. 5. I will be a fiery wall around.
This spiritual Jerusalem will be without a physical wall, but instead of the stone wall it will have a fiery wall, which the Lord himself will be, as he promises. This is an exceedingly rich consolation, but since it is such an exceedingly rich consolation as nothing before, no one believes it, unless he is enlightened by the Spirit in his heart. Here we have such eyes of need as Elisha had [2 Kings 6:16 f.], when he saw fiery chariots and horses round about, and said to the servant, "There are more of them that are with us than of them that are with them." It is an exceedingly
clear passage in the Psalm [Ps. 125, 2.]: "Around Jerusalem are mountains, and the Lord is around his people", if only we believed it; God does not lie. He is a fiery wall for His faithful, that is, a terrible wall, since it makes all adversaries utterly nothing. For what power, what might could be so great that it could stand against this wall, which is voracious and consumes everything on which it falls! Here Satan and all the enemies of the Word must give way. For who can overcome the Lord, the divine majesty, who scatters all the adversaries of his 1) church and makes them nothing but dust. But this is spoken in the spirit, in the spirit it is also understood. For this faith is necessary, for the flesh has before it the contradiction, when we are attacked by the enemies, when they take us captive and rage against us according to their will, and finally also kill us. But the Lord says that he is a fiery wall, as if to say: Be of good cheer, however much they may rage against you, they will not overcome me, they will not escape my vengeance, for in a short time it will happen that they are nothing, that hardly their name is left, but they will be destroyed and annihilated from the bottom up. He has shown this very well in the terrible condemnation of the Jews, since they are scattered all over the world and hardly some remnants are left, and they are very miserable. He showed the same 2) in the destruction of the Roman Empire, which was certainly the most powerful and prosperous, and for a time raged against the holy martyrs of Christ. At last this fiery wall has so scattered and devastated it that now the city [Rome] itself does not have the appearance of a city, so great is the accumulation of impurity and so great the disorder; so much is lacking in it that one could even see the image of so exceedingly brilliant an empire 3). Now I would like to have reminded our princes, who nowadays try to do evil to nns, who race against us as if they wanted to flay nns alive: but they might race, they
1) Instead of 8uo8 we have assumed 8uae.
3) Instead of Item we have assumed Idem.
3) Instead of videre, videri will be read; this offers the Erlanger.
They may let their impotent authority and rage loose, in a short time afterwards it will happen that they are nothing, that people hardly remember their name anymore, may it be the Margrave or the Duke George. God has not spared the despisers of his word from the beginning, so he will not spare them now. He will be a fiery wall for them; if they run against it, they will be ashes and nothing etc.
And I want to be inside, and I want to be glorious inside.
He takes away all the glory of the flesh, so that whoever boasts may boast in the Lord, so that we may boast in our Lord Christ alone. The fleshly Jerusalem prospered in glory, in people, in arms, in valor, in prosperity, in righteousness, in the law. Of all these things she boasted. But the only glory of the Christians is in Christ, in whom they believe and trust.
V. 6. Hui! flee from the land of midnight.
After the prophet has presented the promise and the consolation, he adds an exhortation so that the Jews would not despise the so great grace, the unspeakable mercy of God. The prophet saw that this would happen, namely that almost all of Israel would despise Christ and the grace promised in Christ; therefore it should be rejected so that hardly any remnants would remain. And this one thing is most grievous to all good evangelists, that they see that the world not only despises the gospel of the glory of the great God, but also persecutes it, which may serve as proof that the world is not only foolish and ignorant of God, but that it is full of devils, by which it is driven etc. This passage torments Lyra, rather he torments himself, why the Lord calls his people back only from midnight, since they were scattered over the whole earth, to all four winds. I leave all secret interpretations and hold for the fact that this is the one
It is a common opinion that the return from Babylon happened only recently. Of course, also under this captivity and under the Assyrian captivity the children of Israel were scattered all over the world, as I also said above. For they were so scattered by the king of the Chaldeans and the Assyrians, and some of them sought salvation for themselves by flight. Therefore the greater part of the captives was in Babylon. That is why he called them back from Babylon alone, because there were the greater multitude and those who had been led away. As if he wanted to say: Great things are at the door. Soon Christ will come, your King and Savior. Do not stay with the Babylonians. If you do not come to the physical Jerusalem, come to the spiritual one. For this was promised, that the law should go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem.
V. 8. He sent me after the glory to the Gentiles.
This is a confirmation and magnification of the promise of the new and wonderfully great Jerusalem, which is to be built in the whole world. But it describes the master and the duke or the head of this new Jerusalem, since this cannot be understood of the earthly Jerusalem, since it is certain that they never subdued the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Egyptians. Therefore it must be understood by a spiritual submission. But it is God, the Lord of hosts, who speaks here, not Zechariah, who was sent only to the Jews as a prophet to strengthen them, not to the Chaldeans and Assyrians. Therefore, the grammatical sense also proves here that Christ is true God and man, because the true Lord of hosts sends the true Lord of hosts. But he is sent to the Gentiles, not in his own person, but through his gospel and through his Spirit, as it says in the letter to the Ephesians [Eph. 2, 17.]. But he comes "after glory," as he says here; at this point our commentators agonize extraordinarily. But I think that it should simply be understood that Christ says that he will come "after the glory," that is, after the synagogue and the church have been rebuilt.
the kingdom has been restored and brought back from Babylon, as if to say: I have promised that both the priesthood and the kingdom of this people shall be restored, that the Jewish cities shall be rebuilt, that the people shall enjoy theirs in peace etc. When this will have happened, and they will gradually falter again, I will be there immediately, not in honor, but "after honor", in lowliness and contempt. Therefore, you will expect me in vain as one who is glorious with royal splendor and splendor; only do not deceive yourselves if you desire arms and desire power and royal splendor in me.
It agrees with this opinion of ours also Isaiah, since he says [Cap. 11, II: "There shall come up a rod from the root (or trunk) of Jesse, and a branch upon his root shall bring forth fruit." For Christ came into the flesh at the time when the tribe of David lay down quite unheeded and had almost ceased. There was no longer a king sitting on the throne of David, who was born from his loins, but now the chief priests and the priests had followed, who fought against the tribe of Judah for supremacy, which is evident from the history of the Maccabees and from Philo. But the priests were victorious, so that there was no hope for the tribe of Judah to regain the royal dignity, because the godless Gentiles prevailed. So Christ came, when the affairs of the tribe of Judah stood distressed and sorrowful, to take the kingdom again upon Himself, as had been promised. And this is what Isaiah calls a rod coming up and bearing fruit from a dead tribe. Here also belonged the prophecy of Jacob [Gen. 49, 10.]: "The scepter shall not be taken from Judah, nor a master from his feet, until the coming of the hero" etc., that is, Christ would come when the supremacy and the royal dignity ceased to be in the tribe of Judah. And to this disgrace and lowly nature of the tribe of Judah he looks here, since he says he will come "after the glory," that is, since the people were again abased, and chiefly the royal tribe of Judah etc.
He who touches you touches his eyeball.
I, he says, am sent to the Gentiles, as it were to avenge you, because they have robbed you, they have subdued you. I null subdue them again, but this will be a wonderful subjugation, namely in that they will plague you, make an attack on you. But nevertheless, however much they afflict you, however much they injure you, they will afflict me, injure me; for this he calls "afflicting," as it is also in the Psalm [Ps. 105:15.], "Touch not mine anointed." It is therefore quite spiritual to understand this passage, as if he meant to say, Put out of sight all ostentation, all shining and royal splendor. For you will be kings, but strange ones, for you will be touched, that is, you will be afflicted, you will be forced to carry the cross, the Gentiles will threaten you with adversities etc., but nevertheless you will be subject to all this and thus be equal to great adversity; but the Gentiles, who confidently believe that they are victors, will succumb. Thus there is a marvelous contrast, which goes entirely against all judgment of reason, that he who is defeated overcomes; he who is defeated is defeated. For when Christians are defeated according to the judgment of the world, weighed down by adversities, they are victorious by the power of the Spirit of God. Here again we see an exceedingly rich promise; if we had our hearts fortified by the same, what adversity, what power of the world or of Satan could be so great that we would be overcome by it? We would not only be equal to it, but far superior, since the Lord esteems us so great, cares for us so exceedingly, and loves us so much, that he says the apple of his eye is touched when we are touched, that is, when we are afflicted and distressed. There is nothing more delicate than the apple of the eye, therefore the Lord says that he who touches the Christians touches the apple of his eye. It is therefore the summa of the saying: I love and keep you no less than my eyes. But this demands faith; it will not and cannot be grasped by reason. For reason is the opposite of general. Since he says that he cares for us as much as he cares for you.
he carries for the apple of his eye, meanwhile he throws us into prison, lets us be chased away with loss of our goods, children, yes, even lets us be killed. 1) Thus he let his very dear friend, John the Baptist, perish by an exceedingly shameful and quite disgraceful death, that the head of the most holy man was given as a reward for the shameless gestures of an insolent whore. This is, according to the judgment of reason, an excellent care of God for His saints, that is, of course, to love as the apple of His eye. But, as I said, faith believes this and feels it when man is in tribulation, when he learns this new way of war and the new way of victory, namely through the cross. And if we believed this, we would never cease to weep for the miserable blindness and godlessness of our enemies when they persecute us, knowing that they are touching the apple of the Lord's eye, which is an appalling sin, "nor will God give it to them" etc.
V. 9 For behold, I will weave my hand over them.
That is, I am mighty, I will exercise my power against those who have robbed you, namely, I will defeat them through your weakness. For in this way, through that which is weak in the sight of the world, he also conquers that which is strongest, by setting the wretched little worm, the weak little man, a thinner vessel, against the brazen mountains, against the exceedingly strong and mighty spirit, Satan, who is bent on it with all his strength and pursues one thing, that he may break this weak vessel and make it nothing. And Satan would accomplish what he wants without any effort, if God did not cover himself in our weakness and thus overcome Satan through us, against whose power and rage we are otherwise nothing but dust and very light ashes. This is what happened in the beginning, when the church came into being; the number of believers grew through much death and wounds, and no violence and tyranny could be so great as to deter the Christians; rather, they became more and more courageous and their number increased.
1) Here the original has oeoiäsrS instead of oeoiäi.
just as the heads of Hercules were reborn from the Lernaean serpent's blood etc.
That ye may know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.
That is, when you will be in tribulation, when you will be attacked by enemies, then, taught by experience itself, you will realize and understand that I am arranging all this.
V. 10. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion.
This is a congratulation for the knowledge and possession of such a great glory under the cross and ignominy. For this joy, so loud, is incredible when we feel that through our weakness we overcome the immense power of Satan. Here is nothing of tribulations, nothing of adversities that could take away this joy from the hearts.
For behold, I come, and will dwell with thee.
God dwells with us, that is, in our hearts, through faith, as it says in the letter to the Ephesians, and John says [1 Ep. 4, 4]: He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Therefore, to have God dwell in us is to have a heart full of trust in Christ, who will have mercy on us, to be a kind father, and to protect us in all adversity.
V. 11: And in that day many nations shall be brought unto the Lord.
It is the same as what he said above about making Jerusalem great over the whole earth, namely, that through the word and faith the Gentiles should be converted, that they should believe in Christ, that they should be implanted, and become inhabitants of this Jerusalem. But here is an excellent passage about the conversion of the Gentiles to the Gospel.
V. 12: And the Lord shall inherit Judah for his portion in the holy land.
He explicitly distinguishes one country from the other, as if to say: The Lord will no longer abandon Judah, but will inherit it and will take it again as his own property and his portion, and this will be
happen in the holy land, that is, which is not polluted, nor can be defiled and desecrated, as Isaiah says: The ungodly people shall no more pass through you. This cannot at all be understood of the land of Judah, in which many ungodly dwelt, but he speaks of the true church, which is sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, for "whom the Spirit of God impels, they are the children of God" [Rom. 8:14.], as the apostle says.
V. 13. Let all flesh be still before the Lord.
This is an address to all nations, as if he wanted to say: Because such a kingdom in the whole
world will come, such a great sanctification, therefore be still, you nations, the kingdom of Christ is coming. For it is coming and running, for the word is sent and preached among all nations. "Be still," that is, soften, give place, cease from your presumption and presumption, let him reign.
For he has set out from his holy place.
That is, he brought forth the gospel, and now began to rule through his gospel.