Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 3:7
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
7. judge my house ] This may mean “my people,” Num 12:7; Hos 8:1; the Jewish Church being spoken of, like the Christian, as the house of God, 1Ti 3:15. “Judgment, in the place of God, was part of the High Priest’s office.” (Pusey.) See Deu 17:8-13. But it may be used in its more obvious and restricted sense (comp. “my courts,” in the parallel clause) of the Temple with its priests and ministers.
places to walk ] a place of access, R. V. text; meaning presumably of access to God. Thou shalt be admitted to the immediate presence and throne of God. There is no need, however, to depart from the rendering of A. V. and R. V. margin. Comp. Eze 42:4 for the word, and see next note.
among these that stand by ] i.e. among the angels, who were still standing round the Angel of Jehovah, in attendance upon Him as He spoke, Zec 3:4. The courts and chambers of the material house, so the promise runs, shall be places where angels ever come and go. The obedient priest shall realise in his ministry their presence and their fellowship. The material and the sensible shall fade away as it were from his sight, lost in the higher glory of the spiritual and the heavenly. The promise directly refers to the ministry of Joshua and his fellows and successors on earth; even if it includes a pledge of a higher ministry after death: “In the resurrection of the dead I will raise thee to life, and give thee feet walking among these Seraphim.” Targum. To one priest, we know, who walked in the ways and kept the charge of the Lord (Luk 1:6), the promise was literally fulfilled by the appearance of an angel to him in the Temple (Luk 3:11); and the readiness with which the people surmised what had happened (Luk 3:22) might seem to shew that his was not an altogether singular and unheard of experience.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
If thou wilt walk in My ways and if thou wilt keep My charge – Both of these are expressions, dating from the Pentateuch, for holding on in the way of life, well-pleasing to God and keeping the charge given by God. It was the injunction of the dying David to Solomon, Keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes … 1Ki 2:3.
Then shalt thou also judge My house – Judgment, in the place of God, was part of the high priests office Deu 17:9-13; Deu 19:17; Mal 2:7. Yet these judgments also were given in the house of God. The cause was directed to be brought to God, and He through His priests judged it. Both then may be comprehended in the world, the oversight of the people itself and the judgment of all causes brought to it. Jonathan: Thou shalt judge those who minister in the house of My sanctuary.
And I will give thee place to walk among those who stand by – that is, among the ministering spirits, who were standing before the Angel of the Lord Zec 3:4. This can be fully only after death, when the saints shall be received among the several choirs of angels. Jonathan: In the resurrection of the dead I will revive thee and give thee feet walking among these Seraphim. Even in this this since our conversation is in heaven Phi 3:20, and the life of priests should be an angel-life, it may mean, that he should have free access to God, his soul in heaven, while his body was on this earth.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Zec 3:7
I will give thee places to walk among those that stand by.
The right of entry
The prophet has just been describing a vision of judgment in which the high priest, as representative of the nation, stood before the angel of the Lord as an unclean person. He is cleansed, and clothed, and a fair priestly garment, with Holiness to the Lord written on the front of it, put upon him. And then follow a series of promises, of which the climax is the one that I have read. I will give thee a place of access, says the Revised Version, instead of places to walk; I will give thee a place of access among those that stand by; the attendant angels are dimly seen surrounding their Lord. And so the promise of my text is that of free approach to God, of a life that is like that of the angels that stand before His face. So, then, the words suggest to us–
I. What a Christian life may be. There are two images blended together in the great words of my text: the one is that of a kings court, the other is that of a temple. With regard to the former, it is a privilege given to the highest nobles of a kingdom–or it was in old days–to have the right of entree, at all moments and in all circumstances, to the monarch. With regard to the latter the prerogative of the high priest, who is the recipient of this promise as to access to the Temple, was a very restricted one. Once a year, with the blood that prevented his annihilation by the brightness of the Presence into which he ventured, he passed within the veil, and stood before that mysterious Light that coruscated in the darkness of the Holy of Holies. But this High Priest is promised an access on all days and at all times; and that He may stand there, beside and like the seraphim. This Priest passes within the veil when He will. Or, to put away the two metaphors, and to come to the reality far greater than either of them, we can, whensoever we please, pass into the Presence before which the splendours of an earthly monarchs court shrink into vulgarity, and attain to a real reception of the light that irradiates the true Holy Place, before which that which shone in the earthly shrine dwindles and darkens into a shadow. Our lives may on the outside thus be largely amongst the things seen and temporal, and yet all the while penetrating through these, and laying hold with their true roots on the Eternal. Our Master is the great Example of this, of whom it is said, not only in reference to His mysterious and unique union of nature with the Father in His Divinity, but in reference to the humanity which He had in common with us all, yet without sin, that the Son of Man came down from heaven, and even in the act of coming, and when He had come was yet the Son of Man which is in heaven. Such a conversation in heaven, and such association with the bands of the blessed, is possible even for a life upon earth.
II. Let us consider this promise as a pattern for us of what Christian life should be, and, alas! so seldom is. There is no greater sin than living beneath the possibilities of our lives, in any region, whether religious or other it matters not. Sin is not only going contrary to the known law of God, but also a falling beneath a Divine ideal which is capable of realisation. And in regard to our Christian life, if God has flung open His temple gates and said to us, Come in, My child, and dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and abide there under the shadow of the Almighty, finding protection and communion and companionship in My worship, there can be nothing more insulting to Him, and nothing more fatally indicative of the alienation of our hearts from Him, than that we should refuse to obey the merciful invitation. What should we say of a son or a daughter, living in the same city with their parents, who never crossed the threshold of the fathers house, but that they had lost the spirit of the child, and that if there was no desire to be near there could be no love! So, if we will ask ourselves: How often do I use this possibility of communion with God, which might irradiate all my daily life?
III. Again, my text suggests to us what every Christian life will hereafter perfectly be. Some commentators take the words of my text to refer only to the communion of saints from the earth, with the glorified angels, in and after the resurrection. That is a poor interpretation, for heaven is here today. All that here has been imperfect, fragmentary, occasional, interrupted, and marred in our communion with God, shall one day be complete. And then, oh! then, who can tell what undreamed of depths and sweetnesses of renewed communion and of intercourses begun, for the first time then, between those that stand by, and have stood there for ages, will then be realised?
IV. Lastly, notice, not from my text, but from its context, how any life may become thus privileged. The promise is preceded by a condition: If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then . . . I will give thee access among those that stand by. If we are keeping His commandments, then, and only then, shall we have access with free hearts into His presence. But to lay down that condition seems the same thing as slamming the door in every mans face. But let us remember what went before my text, the experience of the Priest to whom it was spoken in the vision. His filthy garments were stripped off him, and the pure white robes worn on the great Day of Atonement, the sacerdotal dress, was put upon him. It is the cleansed man that has access among those that stand by, (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. If thou wilt walk in my ways] If ye, Israelites, priests and people, now restored to your own land, will walk in my ways, c., ye shall be a part of my family and have places-mansions-in eternal glory, with all them that are sanctified.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; the Father, whose will Christ reveals to us.
If thou Joshua, wilt walk in my ways; obey the precepts and holy commands of the law.
Wilt keep my charge; the special charge and office of the high priest.
Thou shalt also judge my house: be chief and ruler in the temple, and in the things that pertain to the worship of God there.
And shalt also keep my courts; not as a door-keeper or servant, but as the chief, on whom others may wait and give attendance; and at last shalt have place among glorious angels, Heb 12:22.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. God’s choice ofJerusalem (Zec 3:2) was unto itssanctification (Joh 15:16;Rom 8:29); hence the charge herewhich connects the promised blessing with obedience.
my chargetheordinances, ritual and moral (Num 3:28;Num 3:31; Num 3:32;Num 3:38; Jos 1:7-9;1Ki 2:3; Eze 44:16).
judge my houseThoushalt long preside over the temple ceremonial as high priest (Lev 10:10;Eze 44:23; Mal 2:7)[GROTIUS]. Or, rule overMy house, that is, My people [MAURER](Num 12:7; Hos 8:1).We know from De 17:9 that thepriest judged cases. He was not only to obey the Mosaic institutehimself, but to see that it was obeyed by others. God’s people aresimilarly to exercise judgment hereafter, as the reward of theirpresent faithfulness (Dan 7:18;Dan 7:22; Luk 19:17;1Co 6:2); by virtue of theirroyal priesthood (Re 1:6).
keep my courtsguard Myhouse from profanation.
places to walkfreeingress and egress (1Sa 18:16;1Ki 3:7; 1Ki 15:17),so that thou mayest go through these ministering angels who stand byJehovah (Zec 4:14; Zec 6:5;1Ki 22:19) into His presence,discharging thy priestly function. In Eze42:4 the same Hebrew word is used of a walk beforethe priests’ chambers in the future temple. Zechariah probably refershere to such a walk or way; Thou shalt not merely walkamong priests like thyself, as in the old temple walks, butamong the very angels as thine associates. HENGSTENBERGtranslates, “I will give thee guides (from) among these,”c. But there is no “from” in the Hebrew English Versionis therefore better. Priests are called angels or “messengers”(Mal 2:7); they are thereforethought worthy to be associated with heavenly angels. So these latterare present at the assemblies of true Christian worshippers (1Co11:10; compare Ecc 5:6;Eph 3:10; Rev 22:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,…. For this Angel was no other than the Lord of armies in heaven and in earth:
If thou wilt walk in my ways; prescribed in the word of God, moral, ceremonial, and evangelical; in Christ the grand way, and indeed the only way of salvation; and in the paths of faith, truth, righteousness, and holiness; in the ways of God’s commandments, which are pleasant, and attended with peace; such a walk and conversation, and such obedience, the grace of God teaches, and obliges to:
and if thou wilt keep my charge; the things he gave in charge, all his commands and ordinances, particularly such as belonged to the priestly office and Levitical service; see Nu 3:7 all which might be expected after so many favours granted:
then thou shall also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts: preside in the temple, be governor in it, and have the care of all the courts belonging to the people and the priests, and the advantages arising from thence. The meaning is, that whereas the office of the priesthood was in disuse through the captivity, and was become contemptible through the sins of the priests, it should now be restored to its former honour and glory: to have a place in the house of God, the church, is a great honour, and still more to be a governor and ruler in it:
and I will give thee places to walk among those that stand by; either among fellow priests, or fellow saints; or rather among the angels that stood before the Angel of the Lord, and ministered to him; signifying that he should enjoy their company, be like unto then, and join in service with them in heaven, in a future state: and “walking places” among them denote the pleasures of the heavenly state, as well, as the safety and glory of it; see Isa 57:2. The Targum very agreeably paraphrases the words thus,
“and in the resurrection or quickening of the dead, I will raise or quicken thee; and I will give thee feet walking among these seraphim.”
The allusion is to those walks that were in the temple, such as Christ walked in, Joh 10:23 and the pavement in Ezekiel’s temple,
Eze 40:17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Protest then did the angel of Jehovah to Joshua, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if my charge thou wilt observe, etc. The angel now briefly teaches us, that the priests do not excel, that they may exult at pleasure; but he interposes a condition, that they are to exercise faithfully their office, and to obey the call of God. We then see that those two things are united — the dignity of the priesthood, and the faithfulness which God’s ministers, who have been called to that office, are to exhibit. Hence they who seek to domineer without control, do thereby sufficiently show that they are not the lawful priests of God; for Joshua typified Christ, and yet we see how God bound him by a certain condition, lest relying on his honor and title he should take to himself more than what was lawful or right.
If Joshua, who was a type of Christ, together with his successors, was not to regard himself dignified, but in order to obey God, we hence see how foolish and even abominable is the arrogance of the Pope, who, being content with a naked title, seeks to reduce the whole world to himself, as if God had given up his own right.
But let us at the same time see what he means by ways and by charge. These two words ought, no doubt, to be confined to the office of the priest. God commands us all in common to follow where he leads us; and whatever he prescribes as to the way of leading a godly and righteous life may be called a charge; for the Lord suffers us not to wander and go astray, but anticipates errors and shows what we are to follow. There is then a general charge with regard to all the faithful; but the priestly charge, as I have already stated, is to be confined to that office. We yet know that men are not raised on high by God, that he may resign his own authority. He indeed commits to men their own offices, and they are rightly called the vicars of God, who purely and faithfully teach from his mouth: but the authority of God is not diminished when he makes use of the labors of men and employs them as his ministers. We hence see that the priestly charge is this — to rule the Church according to the pure Word of God.
He therefore adds, Thou also shalt govern my house. This condition then is ever to be observed, when the governors of the Church demand a hearing, even that they keep the charge of God. It is indeed true, that all the ministers of the Word are adorned with honorable titles; but, as I have said, their dignity is degraded if it obscures the glory of God. As then God would have men to be heard, so that nothing may be taken from him, this condition ought ever to be observed, “Thou shalt govern my house, if thou wilt walk in my ways.”
It may however be asked, can priests be rightly deprived instantly of their office when they depart from their duty? To this I answer, that the Church ought, as far as possible, to be reformed; but yet legitimate means ought to be used, so that the Church may reject all the ungodly, who respond not to their duty, nor exhibit due sincerity, nor discharge their office in obedience to God. All then who depart or turn aside from the right course ought rightly to be rejected, but by legitimate authority. But when the majority desire to have pastors, such as cannot but be deemed really wolves, they must be borne with, though unworthy of the honor, and yet so borne with that they be not allowed to oppress the Church with their tyranny, or to take to themselves what belongs to God alone, or to adulterate the worship of God or pure doctrine.
However this may be, none are lawful priests before God, except those who faithfully exercise their office and respond to the calling of God, as we shall hereafter see in the second chapter of Malachi Mal 2:1. But I am not disposed to enlarge; it is enough to adduce what an explanation of the passage may require. In short, pastors divinely appointed are so to rule over the Church as not to exercise their own power, but to govern the Church according to what God has prescribed, and in such a manner that God himself may always rule through the instrumentality of men.
What he adds, Thou shalt keep my courts, appears not to be an honor to the priest, for it was an humble service to wait in the courts of the temple. But taking a part for the whole, the Prophet includes the charge of the whole temple: and it was no common honor to have the charge of that sacred habitation of God. It is not then improperly added that Joshua would be the keeper of the temple, if he walked in the ways of the Lord. Nevertheless we see at this day how the masked rulers of the Church, under the Papacy, not only disregard the keeping of the temple, but wholly repudiate it, as it seems to be unworthy of their high dignity. I call the charge of the temple, not that which is the duty of overseers, but whatever belongs to the worship of God: but to feed the flock, to discharge the office of pastors, and to administer the sacraments, is to these a sordid employment. Hence the Pope, with all his adherents, can easily bear to be relieved from the charge of the temple; but yet he seeks to rule in a profane and tyrannical manner, and according to his own pleasure. But we here see that the charge of the temple is especially intrusted to the priest, as it was a special honor. We also see on what condition God allowed the priests to continue in their dignity, even on that of walking in his ways.
He afterwards adds, I will give thee passages (intercourses) among those who stand by, (40) that is, I will cause all the godly to admit and freely to receive thee. The angels who stood there, no doubt, represented the body of the Church; for they are mingled with the faithful whenever they meet together in the name of Christ, as Paul teaches us in 1Co 11:10. Angels alone then stood by; but it is the same as though God had said, “Thee will all the faithful acknowledge, so that a free passage will be open to thee among them, provided thou walkest in my ways.” And he puts passages in the plural number, for he speaks of continued homage and regard.
The meaning is, that the priest is ever worthy of regard and honor when he faithfully performs his office and obeys the call of God. We may, on the other hand, conclude that all masked pastors ought justly to be excluded, when they not only are apostates and perfidious against God, but seek also to destroy the Church; yea, when they are also voracious wolves and spiritual tyrants and slaughterers. All those who are such, the angel clearly intimates, are not only unworthy of being received, but ought also to be excluded and exterminated from the Church. We now then perceive what I have stated, that whatever excellency belongs to the pastors of the Church ought not to be separated from the honor due to God; for God does not resign his authority to mortals, nor diminish anything from his own right; but he only constitutes men as his ministers, that he may by them govern his Church alone, and be alone supreme. It hence follows, that they are unworthy of honor who perform not faithfully their office; and when they rob God of what belongs to him, they ought to be deprived of their very name; for it is nothing else but the mask of Satan, by which he seeks to deceive the simple. He afterwards adds —
(40) This is a difficult sentence. Kimchi, Marckius, Dathius, Newcome, Scott, and others, take the meaning given in our version, and regard [ מהלכים ] as a noun, signifying places to walk in, walkings. It is nowhere else found except in the singular number, [ מהלך ], a walk, or a journey: Jon 3:4; Eze 42:4 : but as a participle, signifying walking, we meet with it in Ecc 4:15, and in the singular number in Psa 104:3 Vatables, Pagninus, and Castalio render it “ incessus, vias, aditus,” words of similar import with “ transitus “ of Calvin and of Mede. The meaning is thus given by Drusius, “I will give thee the privilege of walking among these;” that is, the angels who stood there. Jerome’s version is, “ Et dabo tibi ambulantes de his qui nunc hic assistant — And I will give thee walkers of those who now stand here.” The same is given by Grotius, who explains “walkers” in the sense of protectors, and refers to Psa 91:11, and Mat 4:6. To the same purpose, as to the meaning, is the version of Henderson; only he renders [ מהלכים ], guides, conceiving it to be a hiphil of participle, “causing to walk,” a designation of leaders, guides, or contractors. According to this view, the promise made is, that angels would be the guardians and protectors of Joshua and his associates, and not according to the former view, that Joshua would have a place among angels in heaven, in which sense the Targum, as well as the Jewish Rabbins, understand the passage.
Blayney renders “walkers,” ministers, being persons ready to go and come when bidden: and by those who stood by, he understands the inferior priests, who are here promised to Joshua as his assistants, and are mentioned in the next verse as his “companions.” There is nothing in the verb [ עמד ], or [ ישב ], to prevent this meaning, as they do not necessarily denote a position but a presence.
May not “walkers,” or those who walk or perambulated, be the same as those mentioned in the first vision, Zec 1:10 ? If so, we may render the sentence thus —
And I will appoint for thee those who walk to and fro From among those who stand here.
Angels have different offices; and the most probable meaning of the passage is, that it contains the promise of angels as guardians. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Walk in my ways refers to personal holiness.
Keep my charge.To the due discharge of his official duties.
Then thou.The word thou is emphatic, and helps to mark the apodosis.
My house.On this passage Wright remarks: The words my house seem to have been chosen to correspond with my courts in the parallel clause. Though the two ideas are closely related, they are not identical in meaning. The expression my house is probably to be understood in a metaphorical sense for my people (comp. Num. 12:7; Hos. 8:1; Hos. 9:15, ; Heb. 3:6; 1Ti. 3:15), because the word judge takes an accusative after it of the person, and not of the thing, with the exception of an accusative of cognate meaning, as to judge judgment (Jer. 5:28; Jer. 30:13; Jer. 21:12). The word house may possibly have been chosen in preference to that of people to avoid giving offence, as the people were then under Persian rule (Schegg). If the word house be understood metaphorically, the sense is that the high priest was to direct the people in all things respecting the law of God, and especially to judge those who ministered in the sanctuary (Hitzig, Pressel, &c.). Others think that the Temple then in course of construction is referred to (Hengstenberg, Keil, Kliefoth, Pusey). In the latter case the meaning is not very different, namely, that the high priest was to rule and direct the services of the sanctuary and Holy of holies, and to keep away every kind of idolatry and ungodliness from its outer courts (Hengstenberg). Thus Joshua is confirmed in his office of high priest, which had been called in question by the accusation of Satan (has-Stn).
Places to walki.e., as in margin, walks, meaning paths. LXX., , living among vocalising the word differently. Ewald understands the word as meaning leaders, but if that were its signification it would be followed by from among, instead of among.
Among these that stand by.The angels of the heavenly court. Etymologically, assistants; but in legal phraseology, assessors. The whole scene is drawn on the model of an Oriental Darbr. He is promised free spiritual access to God among the holy angels. Observe the introverted parallelism of this versewilt walk, wilt keep; then shalt keep, places to walk. A gratuitous justification furnishes no excuse for inaction and sin, but leads to more entire obedience . . . Fidelity in Gods service shall be gloriously rewarded. (Moore.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Zec 3:7. And I will give thee places to walk And thou shalt have by me free access to those that stand by; namely the angels. See chap. Zec 4:10. The allusion is to those walks which were in the temple; such as Christ walked in, Joh 10:23 and the pavement in Ezekiel’s temple, Eze 40:17-18. Peters supposes that this is a promise made to Joshua, that if he discharged his office with fidelity God would hereafter give him a place in heaven, among the blessed angels, his attendants. See his Dissertation on Job, p. 292.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Zec 3:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
Ver. 7. If thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my charge ] That is, if thou wilt walk in all the commandments (moral) and ordinances (Levitical) blameless, as holy Zacharias did, Luk 1:6 , and so approve thyself righteous before God, by taking heed to thyself first, and then to all thy flock, which is thy charge, the Holy Ghost’s depositum, and the purchase of Christ’s own blood, Act 20:28 . Godliness is the highway to happiness; the good old way that hath been ever beaten by all those saints that now find rest to their souls. The very first steps in this way are repentance from dead works, and faith toward God in Christ Jesus. By these, men return to God from whom they have departed; are brought near to him, and set in the way of his steps, Psa 85:13 “We are his workmanship,” saith the apostle, “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” Eph 2:10 , not without good advice and due direction, Eph 5:15 . Walk circumspectly, walk by rule and by line, Gal 6:16 . Lift not up one foot till you find sure footing for the other, as those, Psa 35:6 . Christians (and especially ministers) are funambulones, saith Tertullian; if they tread but one step awry they are gone, and may draw many with them.
Then thou shalt judge mine house, and shalt also keep my courts
And I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Zechariah
A VISION OF JUDGEMENT AND CLEANSING
THE RIGHT OF ENTRY
Zec 3:7
A WORD or two of explanation will probably be necessary in order to see the full meaning of this great promise. The Prophet has just been describing a vision of judgment which he saw, in which the high priest, as representative of the nation, stood before the Angel of the Lord as an unclean person. He is cleansed and clothed, his foul raiment stripped off him, and a fair priestly garment, with ‘Holiness to the Lord’ written on the front of it, put upon him. And then follow a series of promises, of which the climax is the one that I have read. ‘I will give thee a place of access,’ says the Revised Version, instead of ‘places to walk’; ‘I will give thee a place of access among those that stand by’; the attendant angels are dimly seen surrounding their Lord. And so the promise of my text, in highly figurative fashion, is that of free and unrestrained approach to God, of a life that is like that of the angels that stand before His Face.
So, then, the words suggest to us, first, what a Christian life may be.
There are two images blended together in the great words of my text; the one is that of a king’s court, the other is that of a temple. With regard to the former it is a privilege given to the highest nobles of a kingdom-or it was so in old days-to have the right of entre , at all moments and in all circumstances, to the monarch. With regard to the latter, the prerogative of the high priest, who was the recipient of this promise, as to access to the Temple, was a very restricted one. Once a year, with the blood that prevented his annihilation by the brightness of the Presence into which he ventured, he passed within the veil, and stood before that mysterious Light that coruscated in the darkness of the Holy of Holies. But this High Priest is promised an access on all days and at all times; and that He may stand there, beside and like the seraphim, who with one pair of wings veiled their faces in token of the incapacity of the creature to behold the Creator; ‘with twain veiled their feet’ in token of the unworthiness of creatural activities to be set before Him, ‘and with twain did fly’ in token of their willingness to serve Him with all their energies. This Priest passes within the veil when He will. Or, to put away the two metaphors, and to come to the reality far greater than either of them, we can, whensoever we please, pass into the presence before which the splendours of an earthly monarch’s court shrink into vulgarity, and attain to a real reception of the light that irradiates the true Holy Place, before which that which shone in the earthly shrine dwindles and darkens into a shadow. We may live with God, and in Him, and wrap a veil and ‘privacy of glorious light’ about us, whilst we pilgrim upon earth, and may have hidden lives which, notwithstanding all their surface occupation with the distractions and duties and enjoyments of the present, deep down in their centres are knit to God. Our lives may on the outside thus be largely amongst the things seen and temporal, and yet all the while may penetrate through these, and lay hold with their true roots on the eternal. If we have any religious life at all, the measure in which we possess it is the measure in which we may ever more dwell in the house of the Lord, and have our hearts in the secret place of the Most High, amid the stillnesses and the sanctities of His immediate dwelling.
Our Master is the great Example of this, of whom it is said, not only in reference to His mysterious and unique union of nature with the Father in His divinity, but in reference to the humanity which He had in common with us all, yet without sin, that the Son of Man came down from heaven, and even in the act of coming, and when He had come, was yet the Son of Man ‘which is in heaven .’ Thus we, too, may have ‘a place of access among them that stand by,’ and not need to envy the angels and the spirits of the just made perfect, the closeness of their communion, and the vividness of their vision, for the same, in its degree, may be ours. We, too, can turn all our desires into petitions, and of every wish make a prayer. We, too can refer all our needs to His infinite supply. We, too may consciously connect all our doings with His will and His glory; and for us it is possible that there shall be, as if borne on those electric wires that go striding across pathless deserts, and carry their messages through unpeopled solitudes, between Him and us a communication unbroken and continuous, which, by a greater wonder than even that of the telegraph, shall carry two messages, going opposite ways simultaneously, bearing to Him the swift aspirations and supplications of our spirits, and bringing to us the abundant answer of His grace. Such a conversation in heaven, and such association with the bands of the blessed is possible even for a life upon earth.
Secondly, let us consider this promise as a pattern for us of what Christian life should be, and, alas! so seldom is.
All privilege is duty, and everything that is possible for any Christian man to become, it is imperative on him to aim at. There is no greater sin than living beneath the possibilities of our lives, in any region, whether religious or other it matters not. Sin is not only going contrary to the known law of God, but also a falling beneath a divine ideal which is capable of realisation. And in regard to our Christian life, if God has flung open His temple-gates and said to us, ‘Come in, My child, and dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and abide there under the shadow of the Almighty, finding protection and communion and companionship in My worship,’ there can be nothing more insulting to Him, and nothing more fatally indicative of the alienation of our hearts from Him, than that we should refuse to obey the merciful invitation.
What should we say of a subject who never presented himself in the court to which he had the right of free entr His absence would be a mark of disloyalty, and would be taken as a warning-bell in preparation for his rebellion. What should we say of a son or a daughter, living in the same city with their parents, who never crossed the threshold of the father’s house, but that they had lost the spirit of a child, and that if there was no desire to be near there could be no love?
So, if we will ask ourselves, ‘How often do I use this possibility of communion with God, which might irradiate all my daily life?’ I think we shall need little else, in the nature of evidence, that our piety and our religious experience are terribly stunted and dwarfed, in comparison with what they ought to be.
There is an old saying, ‘He that can tell how often he has thought of God in a day has thought of Him too seldom.’ I dare say many of us would have little difficulty in counting on the fingers of one hand, and perhaps not needing them all, the number of times in which, to-day, our thoughts have gone heavenwards. What we may be is what we ought to be, and not to use the prerogatives of our position is the worst of sins.
Again, my text suggests to us what every Christian life will hereafter perfectly be.
Some commentators take the words of my text to refer only to the communion of saints from the earth, with the glorified angels, in and after the Resurrection. That is a poor interpretation, for heaven is here to-day. But still there is a truth in the interpretation which we need not neglect. Only let us remember that nothing-so far as Scripture teaches us-begins yonder except the full reaping of the fruits of what has been sown here, and that if a man’s feet have not learned the path into the Temple when he was here upon earth, death will not be the guide for him into the Father’s presence. All that here has been imperfect, fragmentary, occasional, interrupted, and marred in our communion with God, shall one day be complete. And then, oh! then, who can tell what undreamed-of depths and sweetnesses of renewed communion and of intercourses begun, for the first time then, between ‘those that stand by,’ and have stood there for ages, will then be realised?
‘Ye are come’-even here on earth-’to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born,’ but for us all there may be the quiet hope that hereafter we shall ‘dwell in the house of the Lord for ever’; and ‘in solemn troops and sweet societies’ shall learn what fellowship, and brotherhood, and human love may be.
Lastly, notice, not from my text but from its context, how any life may become thus privileged.
The promise is preceded by a condition: ‘If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then . . . I will give thee access among those that stand by.’ That is to say, you cannot keep the consciousness of God’s presence, nor have any blessedness of communion with Him, if you are living in disobedience of His commandments or in neglect of manifest duty. A thin film of vapour in our sky tonight will hide the moon. Though the vapour itself may be invisible, it will be efficacious as a veil. And any sin, great or small, fleecy and thin, will suffice to shut me out from God. If we are keeping His commandments, then, and only then, shall we have access with free hearts into His presence.
But to lay down that condition seems the same thing as slamming the door in every man’s face. But let us remember what went before my text, the experience of the priest to whom it was spoken in the vision. His filthy garments were stripped off him, and the pure white robes worn on the great Day of Atonement, the sacerdotal dress, were put upon him. It is the cleansed man that has access among ‘those that stand by.’ And if you ask how the cleansing is to be effected, take the great words of the Epistle to the Hebrews as an all-sufficient answer, coinciding with, but transcending, what this vision taught Zechariah: ‘Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest of all, by the blood of Jesus, . . . and having a High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.’ Cleansed by Christ, and with Him for our Forerunner, we have boldness and ‘access with confidence by the faith of Him,’ who proclaims to the whole world, ‘No man cometh to the Father but by Me.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
the Lord of hosts. See note on Zec 1:3 and on 1Sa 1:3.
if thou wilt keep, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 8:35). App-92.
judge My house, &c. = govern My house. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 17:9). App-92.
places to walk = free access, or right of way.
these that stand by: i.e. the attendant angels of Psa 103:21. Compare 1Ki 22:19. 1Ti 5:21.
by: i.e. in My presence.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
if thou wilt keep: Gen 26:5, Lev 8:35, Lev 10:3, 1Ki 2:3, 1Ch 23:32, Eze 44:8, Eze 44:15, Eze 44:16, Eze 48:11, 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:14, 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:2
charge: or, ordinance
judge: Deu 17:8-13, 1Sa 2:28-30, Jer 15:19-21, Mal 2:5-7, Mat 19:28, Luk 22:30, 1Co 6:2, 1Co 6:3, Rev 3:21
I will: Zec 1:8-11, Zec 4:14, Zec 6:5, Luk 20:35, Luk 20:36, Joh 14:2, Heb 12:22, Heb 12:23, Rev 5:9-14
places: Heb. walks, Rev 3:4, Rev 3:5
Reciprocal: Exo 33:21 – place by Num 9:19 – kept the Num 9:23 – they kept Deu 11:1 – keep 1Ki 3:14 – if thou 1Ki 6:12 – if thou wilt 1Ki 9:4 – And if thou 1Ki 11:38 – if thou wilt 2Ch 7:17 – if thou wilt Eze 41:15 – galleries Dan 7:16 – one Dan 12:13 – rest Zec 3:4 – those Zec 6:15 – And this Mat 22:30 – as
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 3:7. The admonition was for the priest to walk in the ways of the Lord. On this condition he was given the promise that he would have the divine favor. Give thee places denotes that if the priest would walk consistently with his high office, then he would have a good standing among the people of the city and nation.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
3:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also {h} judge my house, and shalt also keep my {i} courts, and I will give thee places to walk among {k} these that stand by.
(h) That is, have rule and government in my Church, as your predecessors have had.
(i) By which he means to have the whole charge and ministry of the Church.
(k) That is, the angels, who represented the whole number of the faithful: signifying that all the godly would willingly receive him.