Ver. 16. I will raise up a shepherd, &c. Judah has likewise to lament to this day having been governed by foolish shepherds during both the first and second temple, who did neither remember the missed, nor heal the broken, and instead of feeding them that stood still, they fed upon them, and tore their hoofs asunder. Yet as the survivors stand to this day a living monument of the literal accomplishment of this prophecy from verse 15, it serves them as a sure pledge of the fulfilment of that which follows.
Zechariah On The Messiah's Kingdom. Interpretation: Chapter XII.
Of the occurrences which succeeded the crucifixion of Christ, one of the first in order, as well as importance, was the destruction of Jerusalem; an event which materially changed the condition of the Jewish nation, both as regarded their polity and their religion; to the full exercise of which the existence of their temple was indispensable. It was therefore to be expected that the prediction of this event would be eagerly sought for by Christian commentators, in a prophecy relating to the establishment of the Messiah's [pg 134] kingdom, especially by those who chiefly look to political affairs for its fulfilment.
And accordingly this chapter appears to afford distinct intimation of such an event, as it opens with the express mention of the siege of Jerusalem. Yet is it mentioned in a way not a little embarrassing to the political exposition; for, instead of the destruction, the prophecy declares the triumph of Jerusalem; and, with the exception of one or two ambiguous expressions at the commencement, this triumph forms the whole subject of the chapter. But Jerusalem really was taken and destroyed, nor have the Jews since been able to rebuild either their city or their temple, nor has any thing approaching to a triumph, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, occurred to them from that time to the present. How then shall we explain the victory and triumph foretold in the prophecy?
The solution appears to be this; that the event here foretold is no political, but a spiritual siege; namely, the warfare of worldly feelings against true religion, for this is the spiritual Jerusalem. The abrogation of [pg 135] the law, and the promulgation of the Gospel, are foreshewn under the types of the Old and the New Jerusalem; which symbolically signify the Old and New Covenant, or Judaism and Christianity, the one abolished and the other established, in reality at the coming of Christ, but ostensibly at the destruction of the city and temple, which is probably on this account employed symbolically, to represent the spiritual change.
The prophecy, however, does not declare the destruction of the old Jerusalem, but merely the repeopling of it, in verse 6; and in the spiritual sense it was not destroyed, though merged in the superior splendour and greatness of the New City; for Christianity is built on the foundation of Judaism. The new Jerusalem here spoken of, is then, the new Covenant, or Christianity, the spiritual City, the building of which began at this time, whatever may be the period required for its completion.
In the spiritual sense also must be understood the triumph of Judah, which was the triumph of the Gospel; and her salvation, spoken of in verse 7, which was eternal salvation. [pg 136] Her victory was the victory over the world, which every true Christian has to gain, but which was first gained by Judah, for the first Christians were Jews; although the Gentiles were subsequently admitted into the Church of Christ, and became the principal inhabitants of the spiritual Jerusalem, when deserted, for the most part at least, by its former inhabitants the Jews. The Gentiles from this time became Israelites by adoption, and the distinction between Jew and Gentile converts, or lineal and adopted Israelites, is marked in the prophecy, as might be expected.
But the time of Israel's spiritual restoration requires some explanation, being adverted to in this and the following chapter ten times at least, with the definite expression of “in that day:” an expression which seems as little to accord with the time required for a whole nation or people to change their faith, as with that which would be requisite for their literal return from all parts of the world to be reunited in one city, as the Jews understand the prophecy. A literal day cannot therefore be understood; nor yet would the difficulty [pg 137] be removed by supposing it to mean a prophetic day, or a Jewish year of twelve months, being three hundred and sixty days; for this period would be alike inadequate to the event in question.