Zechariah 4:10

Zechariah 4:10 . For who hath despised The sense would be plainer if the particle for were omitted, as it is in most other versions; namely, thus: Who hath despised the day of small things? they shall rejoice, &c. That is, who, or where are they, who despised the small beginnings of my temple, when the foundations of it were laid again in order to rebuild it? They shall be made glad, or they shall now have occasion to break out into joyful acclamations; instead of sorrowing, as many of them did, Ezra 3:12, on account of what seemed contemptible in their eyes. In the work of God, the day of small things is not to be despised. God often chooses weak instruments to bring about mighty things: and though the beginnings be small, he can make the latter end greatly to increase. Though many of the Jews undervalued the mean and unpromising appearance of the second temple when it began to be built, yet, it is here foretold, that when finished they should rejoice in it. “By the day of small things,” says Blayney, “I suppose to be meant the time when the resources of the Jewish nation appeared in the eyes of many, even well wishers, so small and inadequate to the building of the temple, against a powerful opposition, that they despaired of seeing it carried into effect. Such persons would, of course, rejoice, when the event turned out so contrary to their expectations.” Shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel The perpendicular line with which he should try the finished work; with these seven In subordination to the divine providence, expressed by the seven eyes which were on that stone. And those that have the plummet in their hand must look up to these eyes of the Lord, must have a constant regard to the divine providence, and act in dependance upon its conduct, and in submission to its disposals. But both the LXX. and the Vulgate render this clause more agreeably to the Hebrew, dividing it into two distinct sentences, thus: They shall rejoice, and see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. Those seven [namely, eyes] are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth; that is, his wise and watchful providence is always attentive to the concerns of his church, and is continually superintending and ordering all events for its benefit. It must be observed, however, that here again, as in chap. Zechariah 3:9, (where see the note,) Blayney reads fountains instead of eyes, observing, “The lamps, considered as part of the furniture belonging to the candlestick, that is, the church, can represent no other than the ministers and dispensers of evangelical light and knowledge: in which sense our Saviour says of them, Ye are the light of the world, Matthew 5:14. These, taken in conjunction with their pipes, may not improperly be represented as fountains, or conduits, for conveying and communicating to others the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, with which they are replenished themselves. And as fountains they are said to run to and fro through the whole earth, which was, in an eminent degree, seen in the apostles and first preachers of the gospel; whose sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world, Romans 10:18.”