In Zechariah, chapters 6 and 7, we have an account of two deputations sent to Jerusalem, one from Babylon and the other from Bethel. They stand in marked contrast to each other, not only in their respective objects but in the names of those sent.
It is not our purpose to enter into the details of the two accounts-this has been done by others-but will quote the passages:first that of chapter 6.
"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Take [gifts] of them of the captivity, of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah; then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest.. .and the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord" (vers. 9-14).
It was probably on the morning after that wondrous night of the visions of the prophet Zechariah eight in number (as described in the previous portion of the book), that the distinguished envoys of the Haggolah, "the captivity," arrived from distant Babylon. They came as representatives of their brethren still remaining in the land of their captivity, bearing gifts of gold and silver for the second temple then in building. They are doubtless types of those who shall yet come from the ends of the earth to the holy city, "and build in (or at) the temple of Jehovah" (ver. IS). But it is of the moral import only of this incident that I wish to speak. Like Daniel, Ezekiel, Mordecai, and many other godly Jews, doubtless, these deputies did not return to the land of their fathers when opportunity was given under the decree of Cyrus. There were good reasons for this, we may be sure.
We learn from the prophet Haggai (1:2-4) how lax and selfishly unconcerned those of Jerusalem had become as to the building of the temple:they were dwelling in their "ceiled houses" while the house of the Lord "lay waste." Here, on the other hand, we see the care manifested by some in the far off land of their exile for the interests of Jehovah and His sanctuary at this very time.
How their example must have shamed (and, we hope, encouraged) those dwelling in the land, to take fresh heart and sufficiently revive their interest to complete the work of building they had so culpably left off doing.
Zechariah is instructed to go to the house of Josiah, under whose hospitable roof these visitors were being lodged; he was there to take from their hands some of the silver and gold brought by them, and from this to make crowns to be placed on the head of the high priest Joshua -beautifully typical of the crowning of the Lord Jesus when "He shall sit and rule a priest upon His throne."
The names of these men are strikingly significant. Heldai means robust, or strong, suggestive of that vigorous faith by which souls are enabled to live for God and His interests here on earth. "Goodness of Jehovah" is the meaning given to Tobijah; just as it is the "goodness of God" (His goodness apprehended, we judge) that leadeth the sinner to repentance (Rom. 2:4); so also is it the "love of Christ" that constrains the believer to live not unto himself but unto Him that died for us (2 Cor. 5:14,15). One of the meanings attached to Jedaiah is praises of Jah; and it is the praiseful saint who is the willing servant of the Lord and of His people; and willingly, we may be sure, did Jedaiah undertake the wearisome and perilous journey from far off Babylonia, to bring to the temple treasury the pecuniary aid necessary for its completion and maintenance.
The names of this trio thus form a lovely combination, and give an intimation of those qualities which enable us for service in which God is glorified. Does the conduct of these devout deputies reflect in any measure our spirit and manner of life, beloved fellow-Christian? Let us search our hearts and ask ourselves if the conduct of these devoted men of a less privileged age than that in which we live, does not put us to shame, as they put to shame their compatriots at Jerusalem.
In connection with the visit of these Jews of the exile to Jerusalem, let us remember Josiah their host. He was not forgetful of the duty, and the grace, of hospitality. Thoughtfully and generously he opened his house to the representatives of his brethren in far off Babylonia. "Sustained by Jehovah," as a debt of gratitude he entertains the Lord's worthy servants. He was the "Gaius" of his time (3 John), and for his hospitality has his name recorded with "honorable mention" on the ever-enduring page of inspiration.
And he shares this honor with his guests; the crowns were laid up in the temple of the Lord for a memorial to the name of Helem, and of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, and of Hen-this last referring to Josiah (comp. vers. 10,14), even if, as some believe, it be not a proper name. "Hen" means grace, or kindness. It may be intended as a hint of that "new name" written on the overcoming believer in the day of manifestation, so touchingly spoken of by the Lord to the faithful at Philadelphia. He kept "open house" for the servants of his God, and "according to promise," in no wise loses his reward. The memorial of his devotion, with that of his companions, was laid up in the temple, reminding us of that promise to the Philadelphian in connection with another and a more enduring temple (Rev. 3:12).
Reluctantly we turn from this heart-gladdening scene to consider another, equally instructive, if less lovely.
"And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; when they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer & Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the Lord, and to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?" (ch. 7:1-3).
"Now they of Bethel had sent Sherezer," etc., is the "Revised" rendering of verse 2; "When Bethel had sent Sherezer," is the rendering of Darby's Translation. The circumstances were these:Two years had elapsed since the visit of the three "distinguished strangers" to Jerusalem. Every hindrance to the rebuilding of the temple had been removed by the decree of Darius (See Ezra 6), and the returned remnant were in peace. In view of these favorable conditions, those of Bethel sent a deputation to inquire if it was not permissible now to cease from the fast instituted, it is believed, in commemoration of the temple's destruction under Nebuchadnezzar.
One esteemed expositor, David Baron, supposes the deputies brought "gifts and offerings," as did those from Babylon. He says of the phrase, that it "primarily signifies to 'stroke the face,' hence to entreat favor, or to appease, or propitiate. It is used of entreating the favor of the rich with gifts (Job 11:19; Prov. 19:6; Psa. 45:12), and is often used in reference to God." If this be so, how selfish were their motives, in contrast to the spirit of those honored names of the previous chapter who had only the furtherance of Jehovah's cause at heart; these thought only of themselves; they sought some personal ease, hoping to purchase from the great Jehovah some favor in return for the offering they brought.
They were sent from Bethel, where the calf-worship was set up by Jeroboam, "who made Israel to sin," in opposition to Jehovah's worship at Jerusalem; and after the overthrow of the ten-tribes kingdom by the Assyrian, the conqueror sent an Israelitish priest to instruct the Gentile colony transplanted there "the manner of the God of the land," and "how they should fear Jehovah" (2 Kings 17:27,28). After this came the deportation of Judah and Benjamin by Nebuchadnezzar. Then, on the promulgation of the royal decree of Cyrus there were among those who returned to the land "men of Bethel" (Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32; 11:31). We know nothing concerning their moral character; but judging from the names of their representatives sent to Jerusalem on this occasion, we should not think very highly of them.
They are heathen, or half-heathen names. "As to the names of these men," the above-quoted writer says, "it is a rather striking fact that, while those who came as a deputation from Babylon with the offering to the house of the Lord, in chap. 6:9-15, bore names all expressive of some relationship to Jehovah, those who came from Bethel have foreign names which originally were associated with the false worship of their oppressors." The first, Sherezer (Sharetser), was borne by one of the sons of Sennacherib, who after murdering his father escaped to the land of Armenia (Isa. 37:38); it was the name also of one of the princes of the king of Babylon who assisted in the siege and capture of Jerusalem (Jer. 39:3,13). It originally bore as a prefix the name of the Assyrian god "Nergal," which was later dropped, and only the idolatrous prayer, Sharezer, retained.
The second, Regem, is an Israelitish proper name (1 Chron. 2:47), but Melech was of purely heathen origin -a compound of Canaanitish language and an appellative pertaining to idolatry. And the fact that they had not discarded them speaks poorly for the genuineness of the profession of these delegates.
These were the men chosen by those of Bethel to represent them before the Lord at Jerusalem. They ask if they cannot now cease from weeping and separating themselves (as the Nazarites); they had evidently become wearied with their long continued abstinence; it had become irksome to them, and they were eager to know if they could not now desist from it. Their "Lent" had been long, and they were anxious to be freed from its restrictions. "As I have done these so many years," they say, half self-commiserately and half self-righteously.
The word from the Lord through the prophet comes to them as a scathing rebuke:
"When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even these seventy years," he asks, "did ye at all fast unto Me, even to Me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?" (vers. 5-7).
Their fastings were hypocritical, as was also their question concerning them. They did not fast as unto the Lord (see Rom. 14:6); and the prophet reminds them of the fast of the seventh month, which was instituted, it is said, in remembrance of the murder of Gedaliah, which had resulted in the disobedient migration of the little remnant into Egypt, there to perish, as the prophet Jeremiah had faithfully warned them.
For some reason the delegation had made no mention of this fast. It may have been because of the fact that it was chiefly the men of Bethel's neighborhoods that were responsible for that disastrous assassination. (See Jer. 41.) They would mention the fast commemorating the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem in Judah; but the guilt of their own district they guilefully omit. And in view of their old sectional pride, "Ephraim envying Judah," it is no cause for wonder that Zechariah reminds them of the evil doings of their fathers, before Jerusalem's fall, as seems to be the meaning of verse seven. And in the verses which follow, a graphic resume is given of God's indictment of the ten tribes as detailed in 2 Kings, chapter 17.
And we need to watch against such a spirit and ways in ourselves. How often does the Lord, as also His apostles, warn against hypocrisy, self-seeking, will-worship, sectarianism, as between Jew and Gentile in the church. Party-spirit is the first thing the apostle deals with and reproves among that large and gifted assembly at Corinth. The flesh within us is incorrigible, and remains inseparably with us to the end. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us what "works" may be expected of it, even in the Christian, unless it is kept in check by the ungrieved Spirit of God, who also dwells within us. With attentive ear, we should often read Ephesians 4:20-32, for it is altogether likely that we are all far less familiar with it, and like portions of the Word, than we should be. And it is as much a part of "our glorious Christianity" as are chapters one, two and three of that same epistle.
May the lessons of these deputations remain with us. Let the first encourage us and stimulate our zeal for Christ, of whom the earthly temple was a type; and may the second warn us, and teach us to eschew with all our hearts the canting unreality of the others-for they seem set here in the Word together as two lights at the harbor entrance; one to show the way in to safety and the other to warn the voyagers off the rocks. May it be ours to experience the "abundant entrance " spoken of in 2 Pet. 1:11. C. Knapp