Zechariah 2:13

"Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah; for he is waked up out of his holy habitation."

This is an idiomatic expression. We may not suppose that any prophet of God ever believed that God would go to sleep and neglect his people while taking a nap. "He slumbereth not, nor sleeps" was basic information about the Almighty God. The words here mean that a period of apparent indifference on the part of God would be followed by a period of mighty actions supporting and blessing his people. As Deane explained it:

"He had seemed to be asleep when he let his people be trodden down by the heathen; but now, as it were, he waketh and cometh from heaven, his holy habitation, to inflict the threatened judgment upon the nations, and to succour his own people."[32]

"Be silent, all flesh ..." There are two tremendous suggestions here. One is, "Let all the earth worship Jehovah," as in Habakkuk's beloved call to worship (Habakkuk 2:20): "Let all the earth keep silence before him!" The other pertains to the ultimate fate of all flesh to rest eternally in the silent dust. We refer to the universal, deafening silence so dramatically prophesied in Revelation 18. (See the comment on this in my commentary on Revelation, pp. 432-435). In that passage from Revelation, the remarkable litany of silence is a constantly recurring note, "shall be heard no more at all in thee, shall be heard no more at all in thee, etc." God is continually saying to all flesh, "BE SILENT."