Zechariah 1:7-17

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo; and Zechariah said, 8 In the night I saw a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, "What are these, my lord?" The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they are." 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, "They are those whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth." 11 Then they spoke to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace." 12 Then the angel of the LORD said, "O LORD of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?" 13 Then the LORD replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim this message: Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse. 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Proclaim further: Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem. (Zechariah 1:;7-17, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from December 12, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two):

The Book of Zechariah begins by identifying him as “the prophet (nāvî’) Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo” (Zech. 1:1b). He was active as a contemporary of Haggai, as indicated by the dates given. The book opens by dating the coming of the “word of the LORD” to him “in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius” (v. 1a), which Gregory Mobley explains as “mid-October to mid-November 520 BCE” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Zech. 1:1). The opening date in Haggai is about two months earlier, “in the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month” (Hag. 1:1), which Mobley says means “August 29, 520 BCE” by our calendar (on Hag. 1:1). Apart from the time of his prophetic work and the character of his prophecies we know little else about him as a person (cf. Mobley, Ibid., in the Introduction to Zechariah).

Scholars have analyzed Zechariah in two parts, and have suggested that the second part comes from another prophet than the Zechariah of the first part. After calling the Book of Zechariah “the longest and most obscure of the Minor Prophets,” Mobley adds:

Formally, it divides into two parts. The first, chs. 1-8, consists of a series of vision reports. Often referred to as ‘First Zechariah,’ it is closely tied to the preceding book of Haggai by the date formulas in 1:1; 1:7; and 7:1 (cf. Hag. 1:1; 2:1) and the references to Joshua, the high priest in Jerusalem, and Zerubbabel, its governor.

The second section, chs. 9-14, is a collection of sayings organized in two parts under the title ‘An Oracle’ (9:1; 12:1). ‘Second Zechariah,’ as it is sometimes called, is similar in form to the subsequent book, Malachi, which itself begins with the same title (Mal. 1:1). These oracles cite neither specific dates nor contemporary persons. Their concerns are for ‘that day,’ the Day of the LORD (e.g., 9:16; 12:3; 13:1; 14:1), and for unnamed persons such as a king who enters Jerusalem on a donkey (9:9) and a ‘shepherd’ stricken by a divine sword (13:7). (NOAB, 3^rd ed., Introduction to Zechariah; cf. W. Sibley Towner, HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, Introduction to Zechariah).

Ehud Ben Zvi takes note of the view that the Book of Zechariah is the work of two authors, “the first eight chs . . . written before the rest–chs 9-14 are usually dated to either the late Persian or the Hellenistic period–and each part . . . written by a different author. This may well be the case, but the book of Zechariah in its present form does not ask its readers to approach it with this information in mind. To the contrary, the book associates all its texts with the prophet Zechariah mentioned in 1:1” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, Introduction to Zechariah).

Be that as it may, probably for reasons of content rather than theories of authorship, the Daily Office Lectionary presents readings from Zechariah in two series, one in Advent and another in the last week of Year Two (see the readings and comments in the Archives for Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2006). Today’s reading is the the first of seven in consecutive week-days (omitting next Sunday) from the Book of Zechariah (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent through Monday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, except for Sunday). Also, Zechariah 12:9-11,13:1,7-9 is one of the readings for Palm Sunday (e.g. Apr. 9, 2006 [Year Two], and Apr. 1, 2007 [Year One]) because of the quotations related to Jesus’ Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (e.g. Mt. 21:4-5, citing Isa. 62:11 and Zech. 9:9, and Jn. 12:15, citing Zeph. 3:16; Zech 9:9).

The date for this passage, the twenty-fourth day of Shebat (mid-January to mid-February) in the second year of Darius, would come in early February of 519 B.C., thus about two months later than the latest of the five dates in Haggai (noted in comments last Saturday, Dec. 15). The earlier date in Zechariah, “in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius” (mid-October to mid-November, 520 B.C.) (Zech. 1:1) would include Haggai’s third date among its beginning days. (Later in Zechariah, another date appears: 4^th yr. of Darius, 4^th day, 9^th mo., Chislev = mid-Nov. to mid-Dec., 518 B.C.) Haggai focused on rebuilding the temple and restoring its worship; Zechariah is concerned about the rebuilding of the temple as well. “Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem” (Zech. 1:16). But he proclaims restoration and prosperity (tôv) for the cities as well (v. 17).

Today’s reading from Zechariah presents the first of eight visions of Zechariah (Zech. 1:6-6:15). Gregory Mobley notes a pattern in the presentation of these visions: “(a) vision, (b) question about its meaning, (c) angelic interpretation” (Gregory Mobley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Zech. 1:6-6:15). “In the night,” says Zechariah, “I saw (rā’îthî )a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses” (1:8). In this series of eight vision reports, one form of the word hxr (rā’āh, “to see”) or another is used to introduce each (1:8, 18 [Heb. 2:1]; 2:1 [Heb. 2:5]; 3:1; 4:2; 5:1, 5; 6:1). The term “vision” (chizzāyôn) occurs only once, later in the book (13:4). Some of these visions are introduced by the phrase, “I lifted up my eyes and saw” (wā’eśśā’ ’eth-‘ênay wā’ēre’, 1:18 [Heb. 2:1]; 2:1 [Heb 2:5]) or a slight variation (5:1; 6:1).

The first vision is of a”a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses” (Zech. 1:8). As the report continues, the prophet asks, “What are these, my lord?” and is answered by “the angel who talked with me,” who says, “I will show you what they are” (v. 9). According to Ben Zvi, the term “angel [mal’āk] here and elsewhere in the book (e.g. vv. 11, 12; 4:1; 5:10) may be translated as ‘messenger,’ in the sense of a divine messenger” (op. cit., on v. 9). Because there is reference to a man on horseback “standing among the myrtle trees” (v. 8, cf. v. 10), and the angel “who was standing among the myrtle trees,” who says “We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace” (v. 11), one can as whether the reference is to one person or two. Ben Zvi asks, “Is this messenger [or angel] the same man mentioned in these verses, as Ibn Ezra and others think? Or are these two beings, one a ‘man’ and the other a ‘messenger’? The text itself leaves the question open” (Ibid.).

As for the phrase, the whole earth remains at peace,” Mobley explains, “the nations have not yet received their judgment (cf. 1:15; Hag. 2:6). Ben Zvi, following the New Jewish Publication Society translation (NJPS), says, “Tranquility [šōqāteth, ‘peace’ NRSV] carries here a negative connotation, because it is associated with a status quo in which Judah and Jerusalem have not been restored. The implicit connotation is that their (full) restoration necessitates much turmoil and probably judgment against the nations (see v. 15 and cf. ch. 14).” He adds that “Some scholars associate this tranquility with the imperi8al peace achieved by Darius I in his second year, though the point is not made in the text. Darius plays no active role whatsoever in the book of Zechariah” (on v. 11). We are told that “the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?’ ” Mobley explains the words , “Seventy years,” by saying, “the length of time since the destruction of Jerusalem was slightly less (586-519), but seventy years was a conventional term of punishment (Isa. 23:15-17, Jer. 25;11-12; 29:10)” (on v. 12). According to Ben Zvi, “Seventy years is a clear reference to Jer. 25:11 (cf. 229:10), another clear indication that prophetic works were being studied at this period” (on v. 12).

The prophet reports that “the LORD replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me” (v. 13), and the angel and turn says to him, “Proclaim this message: Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse” (vv. 14-15). This word sounds hopeful, and the angel’s message continues. “Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem” (v. 16). Mobley interprets “the measuring line” as one of “the first signs of new construction; see 2:1-5; Jer. 32:38-39” (on v. 16). “Proclaim further,” says the angel: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem” (v. 17). Mobley says, “Compare with 8:3; Isa. 44:26; contrast with 2 Kings 23:27).

Revelation 3:7-13

The Message to Philadelphia

7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of the holy one, the true one,

who has the key of David,

who opens and no one will shut,

who shuts and no one opens:

8 "I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying--I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. (Revelation 3:7-13, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from December 12, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two):

The sixth of the Lord’s seven messages through John to churches is addressed “to the angel of the church in Philadelphia” (Rev. 3:7a). Philadelphia was “an ancient city (modern Alashehir, Turkey) in the region of Lydia in western Asia Minor,” which, “because of its strategic location . . . served as a vital link in communication and trade between Sardis and Pergamum to the west and Laodicea and Hierapolis to the east. It was a center of agriculture, leather production, and textile industry” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1985, s.v. Philadelphia).

Christ is identified as “the holy one, the true one, / who has the key of David, / who opens and no one will shut, / who shuts and no one opens” (v. 7b). The “key of David” is “a symbol of authority” (Jean Pierre Ruiz, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on v. 7; cf. Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on v. 7). This key allows him to open and shut doors. Next we learn that Christ has set before the Philadelphian church “an open door”: “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut (v. 8a). According to David E. Aune, “Open door [is] a widely used Christian metaphor for opportunity to evangelize (Acts 14:27; 1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12) and for access to salvation (Lk. 13:24). The church is commended for obedience and loyalty. “I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name” (v. 8b). The opponents of the faithful believers in Philadelphia are called “those of the synagogue of Satan,” a phrase which Ruiz says “reflects the tension between Jews and Jewish Christians” (as noted in comments last Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007, on Rev. 2:9), But these are opponents, and for the church of Philadelphia itself there is no criticism, only praise. “Because you have kept my word of patient endurance,” says Christ, “I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth" (v. 10).

“I am coming soon,” says the Lord, and he exhorts the church of Philadelphia to “hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown” (v. 11; Ruiz compares 22:7, 12, 20). The Lord offers a conditional promise. “If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name” (v. 12). “The name of my God,” says Ruiz, marks “the one inscribed as God’s possession and as specially dedicated to God,” and he adds, “the name of the city of my God [signifies] citizenship in the new Jerusalem; see 21:2, 10” (on v. 12). And with the customary formula all are invited to meet the conditions and receive these blessings. “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (v. 13).

Matthew 24:15-31 (NRSV) (the left-hand column)

On July 14, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two), comments were combined with revision from July 9, 2004, in an email sent July 8, 2004, for July 8-9, and from December 12, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two).

For recent comments on Mark’s version, see the Archive for August 27, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 24, Year One). For recent comments on Luke’s version, see the Archive for June 23, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 15, Year One).

We are presented with more of “the sign of your coming and of the end of the age” (Mt. 24:3). The “desolating sacrilege” (Mt. 24:15; Mk. 13:14 NRSV; “abomination of desolation” KJV; cf. the “abomination that desolates,” Dan. 9:27), has it’s prototype in the desecration of the Jerusalem temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 B.C.: “Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-fifth year [167 B.C.], they erected a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering” (1 Maccabees 1:54, cf. vv. 41-64). After a Jewish war led by the family of Judas Maccabeus against the Hellenistic Syrian overlords, the temple was cleansed and rededicated (1 Macc. 4:36-61)–an event still celebrated as Hanukkah. In Jesus’ time, the very presence of the Roman army standards in Jerusalem and Judea must have been provocative. One “near miss,” we might call it, was Emperor Caligula’s (Caius’) attempt to erect statues in the temple in Jerusalem. Lambert Dolphin tells this story (http://www.templemount.org/destruct2.html#anchor596423, accessed again Dec. 16, 2007; you may need to copy and paste the URL):

Shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the mad Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus - nicknamed Caligula ("little boots") - attempted to desecrate the Temple. Everywhere else in the Roman empire subjugated peoples had been forced to conform to the cult of Rome and acknowledge not only Caesar as Lord but also fall into line by adopting the Roman pantheon of gods. The Jews had been left alone and it was time they began to conform. Caligula gave an order to set up his statue in the Holy of Holies in the Temple:

Now Caius Caesar did so grossly abuse the fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to be a god, and to desire to be so called also, and to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of his country. He also extended his impiety as far as the Jews. Accordingly he sent Petronius with an army to Jerusalem to place his statues in the temple, and commanded him that, in case the Jews would not admit of them, he should slay those that opposed it, and carry all the rest into captivity. (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 15, 403 ff.)

The Roman writer Tacitus adds that Caius commanded the Jews to place his effigies in the Temple. Josephus records that the Jews pleaded with Petronius not to do this. The Jews in their stubborn monotheism were willing to sacrifice their whole nation before they would allow the Temple to be defiled. Petronius marveled at their courage and ceased with the process so confrontation was temporarily averted. An enraged Caligula commanded that Petronius be put to death. Josephus records that Caligula himself died soon thereafter and due to bad weather at sea, the letter ordering Petronius' death arrived three weeks after the news arrived of Caligula's death. Petronius was not executed and the Temple was spared this particular abomination.

As Josephus tells the story (Antiquities 19/261-309):

Hereupon Caius, taking it very heinously that he should be thus despised by the Jews alone, sent Petronius to be president of Syria, and successor in the government to Vitellius, and gave him order to make an invasion into Judea, with a great body of troops; and if they would admit of his statue willingly, to erect it in the temple of God; but if they were obstinate, to conquer them by war, and then to do it. (Antiquities, 261, at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146&layout=&loc=18.261, accessed again Dec. 16, 2007; you may need to copy and paste the URL)

Petronius at first attempted to carry out Caesar’s order, but he met with serious objections by the Jews. So he procrastinated, and after several further exchanges, though Caligula (Caius) sent a further inquiry, he was prevented by the death of the Emperor from the necessity of following the order.

This was the epistle which Caius wrote to. Petronius; but Petronius did not receive it while Caius was alive, that ship which carried it sailing so slow, that other letters came to Petronius before this, by which he understood that Caius was dead; for God would not forget the dangers Petronius had undertaken on account of the Jews, and of his own honor. But when he had taken Caius away, out of his indignation of what he had so insolently attempted in assuming to himself divine worship, both Rome and all that dominion conspired with Petronius, especially those that were of the senatorian order, to give Caius his due reward, because he had been unmercifully severe to them; for he died not long after he had written to Petronius that epistle which threatened him with death. (Ibid., 305)

The Roman writer Tacitus adds that Caius commanded the Jews to place his effigies in the Temple. Josephus records that the Jews pleaded with Petronius not to do this. The Jews in their stubborn monotheism were willing to sacrifice their whole nation before they would allow the Temple to be defiled. Petronius marveled at their courage and ceased with the process so confrontation was temporarily averted. An enraged Caligula commanded that Petronius be put to death. Josephus records that Caligula himself died soon thereafter and due to bad weather at sea, the letter ordering Petronius’ death arrived three weeks after the news arrived of Caligula’s death. Petronius was not executed and the Temple was spared this particular abomination.

Philo also tells this story, and both he and Josephus say that it was fortunate that Caligula died before the order was carried out.

We are warned again of false Messiahs (Mt. 24:23), but also promised that “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (v. 30). Every day, it seems, the news comes of abominable atrocities, but we “wait for the promise of his coming” (2 Pet. 3:4). As for false Messiahs and false prophets among the Jews of Jesus’ day, several are described by Josephus. Some of these stories are retold by Richard Horsley in Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs (1988). In a general sense there have been numerous desolating sacrileges throughout history and in our own time. But the main point remains that we do not know the time of the Son of Man’s coming (Mt. 24:36; Mk. 13:32), and we are well advised to be ready at all times. Matthew describes the Parousia in graphic detail:

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Mt. 24:30-31, NRSV)

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net