Bible Commentaries

The Glory of the House of the Lord

v. 1. But in the last days, in the great Messianic period, it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord, of old typical of the Church of the true God, shall be established in the top of the mountains, the ideal Zion being elevated above all else in the world, Cf Isa 2:17; 2Co 10:5, and it shall be exalted above the hills, visible before the eyes of all men; and people shall flow unto it, members of all the nations of the world being added to the communion of saints.

v. 2. And many nations shall come, namely, in the representatives whom the Lord would choose and call, and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, the place where salvation is proclaimed, and to the house of the God of Jacob, the Church of the Messiah; and He will teach us of His ways, the one way of deliverance and sanctification, and we will walk in His paths, in agreement with the revealed truth concerning the sanctification of the Lord's people; for the Law, as the revelation of the holy and righteous will of God, shall go forth of Zion and the Word of the Lord, particularly in the revelation of the way of salvation, from Jerusalem, the proclamation of the Word, in speaking of sin and grace, being in the hands of the Church.

v. 3. And He, the God of the covenant, shall judge among many people, teaching them true justice in accordance with His will, and rebuke strong nations afar off, to make them cease their enmity against Him; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, not in an earthly, temporal, millennial peace of which men are dreaming from time to time, but in the spiritual peace in Him who is our Peace, Eph 2:14, in whom there is truly peace on earth; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more, this being said of the inner peace and harmony of the Church of Christ. Cf Joh 17:21.

v. 4. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, in the enjoyment of the rich blessings of the New Testament; and none shall make them afraid, all the enemies of mankind having been overcome by the power of the Messiah; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it, His solemn declaration being the consolation of all believers until the end of time.

v. 5. For all people, all those concerned in this prophecy, will walk every one in the name of his God, in the power of the one true God in whom he believes, whose essence is thus made known, and we will walk in the name of the Lord, our God, forever and ever, with a full trust in His supporting strength and powerful protection, which turns aside all the efforts of the enemies to disturb the inner peace of the Church.

v. 6. In that day, in the great Messianic period, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, all those who are in distress, suffering with the misery of this world, and I will gather her that is driven out, those who are dispersed among the nations, and her that I have afflicted, whom He has punished for their sins;

v. 7. and I will make her that halted a remnant, the nucleus of His Church, and her that was cast far off a strong nation, those gathered from spiritual exile; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion, in His Church, from henceforth even forever, throughout all eternity. Thus this sketch, composed of bold figures taken from the general aspects of Judah's history, sets forth the glory of the Church of the New Testament, beginning here in time, and continuing through all eternity, as the Church Triumphant.

Zion Established Throughout the Earth

v. 8. And thou, O tower of the flock, the term being applied to a tower of refuge for flocks in time of danger, here as a fort from which the great King and Shepherd, the Messiah Himself, observes and guards His flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, the impregnable palace of the Church of Christ, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion, the glory of the New Testament Church being compared with that of the kingdom of Israel under its mightiest king; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Since the earthly Jerusalem is always at the foundation of the type, the vicissitudes and afflictions of the Jewish capital are made typical of the experiences of the Lord's people.

v. 9. Now, why dost thou cry out aloud? at the approach of the Chaldean invasion. Is there no king in thee? no visible representative of the Messianic promises?. Is thy counselor perished? this name also being applied to the reigning member of the house of David?. For pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail, the true believers in Israel feeling the deepest grief and sorrow over the desolation of the kingdom.

v. 10. Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail, the catastrophe of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the exile of the people being imminent; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, after it had been taken by the enemies, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon, being dragged into captivity; there shalt thou be delivered, namely, when Cyrus issued the decree setting the Jews free and thus laid the foundation upon which later arose the New Testament Church; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies, so that the people of the covenant would be restored to the Land of Promise, the land where the Messiah was to appear.

v. 11. Now also, namely, at the time of Judah's deepest humiliation before and at the time of her exile, many nations are gathered against thee, in bold hostility, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion, namely, in malicious joy over her downfall.

v. 12. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, the object which He has in mind in thus dealing with His people, neither understand they His counsel, which intended to lead His people to repentance and to lay the foundation for a renewed Church in which the believing Jews were to be the nucleus; for He shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor, the enemies being heaped up for destruction in the Lord's judgment.

v. 13. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, according to the Oriental custom of having the sheaves threshed out on the open threshing-floor with the aid of oxen; for I will make thine horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brass, giving to His people a new and unconquerable strength; and thou shall beat in pieces many people, not by victories of the flesh, but by those of the spirit; and I will consecrate their gain, what the enemies had gotten by robbery and plunder, unto the Lord, as devoted to Him, and their substance, all their possessions, unto the Lord of the whole earth, whom the heathen would eventually have to acknowledge as the one Ruler, even if they consistently refused to accept Him as the God of their salvation. Cf Php 2:11.