THE MAN AMONG THE MYRTLES

Chapter 1:7-17

Three months have elapsed since the prophet's first call to repentance, and in the interval no response has been made to the urgency of his appeal. Probably the leaders of the people felt that as there was no sign of the promised political upheaval (Hag. ii. 21-23) they had no encouragement to go on with the work, and no pledge that the rebuilding of the walls would be crowned with anything like success. In these circumstances repentance might be an indispensable requirement; but in view of the fact that the impoverishment of the exile was still lying upon them, and that the Messianic crisis was still an unrealised hope, what could the community do but follow the safe policy of waiting, or cry, like the man among the myrtles, "O Lord of Hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem . . . against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?" Zechariah himself was prepared to re-echo that cry. He was a priest no less than a prophet. He would identify himself with the people in all their aspirations and problems; and, therefore, gathering into his own bosom the perplexities that weighed upon them, he resolved to go in before Jehovah, and among the myrtle-trees of a divine contemplation think out the whole mysterious providence for himself.

1. Zechariah among the Myrtle-Trees.

Following the imagery of chap. vi. 1, the Septuagint reads "mountains" instead of "myrtles" in ver. 8, though the two passages, in character and diction, are not by any means identical. The term is, no doubt, a late one, not being found earlier than Deutero-Isaiah, but it is sufficiently attested by Isa. xli. 19, etc., and by the Arabic word hadas, which is still found in the modern dialect of Yemen. A similar interest attaches to the term metsulah (ver. 8), which may be rendered "a valley bottom," or "a shady place," according as it is derived from the root tsul or tsalal — the Septuagint being in favour of the latter rendering.

Somewhere in the vicinity of Jerusalem, perhaps in the deep ravine of the Kedron, the prophet found a grove of myrtle-trees where he could retire for silent meditation and prayer. And here, for three months, sometimes by day and oft-times by night, he had burdened himself with the people's anxieties, and waited for a divine answer to their cry. Lite Jesus among the olive trees of the same Kedron valley, Zechariah wrestled and waited for the unveiling of the divine purpose. And when it came, draped in the alluring symbolism of the night, it was simply the solicitude of his waking hours that erected and peopled the stage of his nocturnal vision. We are reminded of Savonarola in his efforts to arouse the magnates of Florence. He had read and re-read the prophets of Israel in preparation for his great sermons; and, as his biographer so justly remarks, it was not surprising that in this state of mind he should have beheld visions. The night before his last Advent sermon he saw in the middle of the sky a hand bearing a sword, upon which these words were inscribed, Gladius Domini super terram cito et velociter. Suddenly the sword was turned towards the earth; the sky darkened; arrows and flames rained down; terrible thunderclaps were heard; and all the world was a prey to war, famine and pestilence. The vision ended with a command to Savonarola to make these things known to his hearers, to inspire them with the fear of God, and to beseech the Lord to send good shepherds to His church, so that the lost sheep might be saved.1

The real point of interest is that in both instances the vision came as the result of long-continued preparation. It is of no vital significance whether the message came in the plastic form of a dream, and during the hours of sleep (cf. Ps. cxxvii. 2, R.V. margin); or in the more graphic delineation of a midnight vision beheld among the myrtle-trees themselves; or, what is not at all unlikely, that it came in the normal way of spiritual intuition, as the revealing spirit suggested to the brooding prophet the nature of the divine message, and allowed him to convey it to the leaders of the people in the metaphorical language of the poets.2 In either case, the laws of language, as of psychology, are fully recognised in its depiction, and a period of preparation is divinely crowned by a definite communication of truth. Was it not so even on the hill of transfiguration? "As He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering." Ah, child of the Kingdom, go and kneel beside thy Saviour! Thou art never so great nor so strong as when thou kneelest beside Him. That is the way to feed thy better nature and to feel thy kinship with the skies. The blessed light of transfiguration falls upon every Zechariah who prays.

2. The Man among the Myrtles.

Wellhausen's remark that the original text has been corrupted by a later writer, "who confused the man among the myrtles, i.e., Jehovah Himself, with the angel interpreter," is one that raises the whole question as to the number of dramatis persona introduced by Zechariah into his vision. Probably, as a first step, it is enough to postulate two personal factors — the divine and the human. On the one side we have the approach of a divine personality seeking intercourse with the human; and, on the other, a spiritually prepared instrument, responsive like an Æolian harp to the felt breath of the Eternal. These two correlated factors enter into personal communion, and a divinely-inspired message is the result. In the filling in of this outline, however, the sacred artist has gone far beyond the requirements of so simple a dualism. Alike on its divine and human sides, he has elaborated his sketch into a finished canvas, which is not only indebted to the teaching of the past, but is charged also with the inspiring prospect of a coming Messianic ideal. It is a marvellous creation this theophany among the myrtle-trees; and it is not to be wondered at if the prophetic limner, in filling in the details, has wavered between the angel and the man. There can be no doubt that the man among the myrtles and the angel of the Lord (vers, 11, 12) are practically identical, and are well fitted in their union to express Zechariah's conception of the Divine. On its human side, too, a similar elaboration of the picture is not difficult to trace. The waiting prophet is represented as assisted and instructed by a heavenly exegete, who is not unlike the interpreting angel of Job xxxiii. 23. In this, again, we have a distinct reminiscence of the past, but with an equally profound anticipation of the future. In the last resort, the heavenly exegete points us forward to that great instructor of the human conscience, the divine spirit of revelation, who would ultimately dwell in the human heart and guide God's people into all the truth. In fine, in the completed picture of what took place in the grove of myrtles we have at once a definite foreshadowing of the Incarnation and a clear anticipation of Pentecost.

Not indeed that the prophet himself knew, or could know, that this was the necessary outcome of his symbolism; but if Socrates in the Symposium, or Phaedrus on the banks of the Ilissus, could convey glimpses of the future, which could hardly have been understood at the time when they were uttered,3 why might not the seer on the banks of the Kedron receive and convey glimpses of a coming Messianic ideal that are no less suggestive in their imagery? Hebrew prophecy is not less than Grecian philosophy; and if Zechariah sought to portray his communion with the Divine in terms that are eloquent of the future, we may interpret the entire vision in the light of that fact, and paraphrase it as follows: —

At the hour of night he beheld a man (not a rider4) standing among the myrtle-trees that were in the valley bottom, and behind him, on horses red, sorrel, and white, a company of apocalyptical riders, who were awaiting his commands. Greatly astonished at the sight of these mounted scouts, the prophet could only ejaculate, "What are these, my lord?" although, as he asked the question, he was intuitively assured (ver. 9b ) that a divine answer would speedily be forthcoming. Whereupon the man among the myrtles answered and said, "These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth; and even now they have arrived from their commission to report what they have seen and heard." And they, recognising the signal to draw near, said to the man among the myrtles, "We have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold there is no sign of any impending change — all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." This was sad news! for all these months the prophet had been waiting for some sign of the coming political ferment which was to be the token of their promised Messianic deliverance. Yet even while he lingered, the man among the myrtles lifted his eyes to heaven, and said, "O Lord of Hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem... against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?"

It was enough! The Church of God had at last found a champion. The cause of Israel had been espoused by a divine kinsman or goel, and even though he did not stand with a drawn sword in his hand, like the Captain of the Lord's host in Josh, v. 14, he held and wielded a weapon diviner far — what Bunyan would have called the weapon of "all prayer." He had gathered into his bosom the perplexities that weighed upon the nation, and among the myrtle-trees of a divine agony and appeal had spread out the whole mysterious providence before Jehovah. And the answer given was designed for the Church.

3. The Church among the Myrtles.

Like Savonarola at the close of his vision, Zechariah is commissioned to make these things known to the people, that they might be inspired with the fear of God, and dedicate themselves without reserve to the working out of a divine purpose. Hence in verses 13, 14 the answer comes, not so much to the man among the myrtles, as to Zechariah himself, who is enjoined by the angel who talked with him to proclaim the divine message to Israel. Let Israel come and stand where he stood, in the same grove of myrtles, and the great spiritual lessons that had thrilled and comforted him would also inspire and comfort her.

Let her learn first the truth suggested by the mounted servants of Jehovah. Human life is not so defenceless as many a harassed soul believes. Divine agencies are at work throughout the entire human family, and not only in death, but chiefly in life, the human spirit is attended by those apocalyptical riders. It may be so in death.

"Born 'neath the curse of the comet,

     Bred on the desert sand;

I have roamed since my birth in the wastes of the earth,

     And die in an alien land,

Where humming-birds flash in the sunlight.

     And the dazzling orchids nod;

And a Rider waits on a high, pale horse To carry a soul to God.

 

The howl of the hungry jackal

     Wails o'er the moonlit plain;

And I hear the song and the rhythmic gong

      Of an Indian marriage train.

Then the vision fades; but the Rider waits

      In the moonlight by my side.

And gladly I clutch at his outstretched hand

      And mount for my long last ride."

It is a beautiful fancy; but how much deeper is the thought of Zechariah that Israel, through all the vicissitudes of life, is attended by those far-travelled horsemen. The returned exiles were not to imagine that Jehovah had left them to their own resources, or that no one was so interested in their national well-being as to espouse or vindicate their cause. No one who had caught a glimpse of the mounted servants of Jehovah in the Kedron valley would ever weaken or disquiet his spirit with the fear that he had been left alone in the battle. The human wrestler is not alone. He is guarded by divine agents who are ever on the alert. And no greater boon could be conferred on any distressed soul than to have its eyes opened, as the eyes of Elisha's servant were opened, to behold the horses and chariots of fire that were round about Elisha (2 Kings vi. 17). Well may the prayer of each Zechariah be: — "O Lord of Hosts, illumine the eyes of Israel Thy servant, that among the myrtle-trees of a divine contemplation she may behold the mounted scouts of the Lord."

On the other hand, there was the other significant lesson of Jehovah's silence. His mercy had been withdrawn from Jerusalem these threescore and ten years. That silence, however, was not to be interpreted as apathy or impotence. There might be no sign as yet of the coming political upheaval, but the very security in which the nations were resting was the calm of a ripening judgment. Just as a clear heat by day, or a cloud of dew by night, helps to fill out and ripen the grain until the day of ingathering has come, so Jehovah was resting and brooding over the affairs of the nations until the cup of their iniquity was full (cf. Isa. xviii. 4). Hence the voice said, "Cry, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem with a great jealousy. And I am sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction." As in the time of Nahum, the great world-powers had exceeded their commission. They had carried the chastisement of Israel far beyond the divine intention. In the ruthlessness of their conquest they had violated every instinct of humanity, and therefore the violence with which they had subjugated the conquered states would recoil on their own heads, and they would perish in the flames of their own kindling.

For this reason, and as a concluding lesson, let Israel forthwith begin the work of restoration. Her warrant for so doing was found in the intervention of her covenant God. The verbal form "I am returned" at the beginning of ver. 16 is not to be regarded as a prophetic perfect, announcing the certainty of a coming event, like the future "I will return" of the Septuagint. It is a simple present perfect, indicating the reality of a past action, but one continued into the present — a past action which was Israel's sufficient warrant for addressing herself to the work. "Thus saith the Lord: I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, My house shall be built in it... (yea) My cities through prosperity shall be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet have mercy upon (LXX) Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." In fact, He who had chosen Israel at the first as His Kingdom of priests, His Jeshurun, had again returned to the object of His choice, and comforted her with the fulness of His love. No higher instruction could be given and no worthier service could be engaged in. Israel was invited to stand among the myrtle-trees of a deep, spiritual communion, that the election of love might be responded to by the obedience of law. That is the sum of the whole matter. Jehovah had returned to Jerusalem with covenant love; therefore Israel must arise and build.

1 Villari, p. 154.

2 Cf. the phrase "talked with" or "in me," ver. 9.

3 Jewett's translation, vol. ii. p. 3.

4 Cf. Kittel's footnotes.