Commentary on Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah and Malachi John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
in human nature, the Prophet supplies a seasonable remedy, --- that the faithful are to allow themselves to be ruled by God, and to follow the example of their father
Abraham, ``The Lord will provide:'' when he was in extremity and no escape was open he committed himself to God's providence. So also Zechariah says, that it would be entirely dependent on the will of God alone, now to cover the heavens with darkness, and then to restore the sun, and also to blend darkness with light; and nothing is better for men than to check themselves, and not to enquire more than what is right, nor take away anything from God's power, for whenever men murmur against God's judgments, it is the same thing as though they wished to penetrate into heaven, and concede nothing to him except what they themselves think right.
Then, in order to check this presumption, the Prophet says, that this day is known to Jehovah, so that the faithful might patiently wait until the ripened end should come, for our curiosity drives us here and there, so that we always wish to be certain about the end, ``How long is this to endure?'' and thus we complain against God; but when we are not able to subordinate our minds to his will, then we break forth as it were into a furious temper.
We hence see how useful a doctrine this clause contains, where the Prophet sets
God as the judge and the arbitrator of all events, so that he afflicts the Church as long as it pleases him, sets bounds to adversities, and regulates all things as it seemeth good to him; and he also covers the heavens with thick clouds, and takes away the sight of the sun. All this then is what the Prophet would have us to know is in God's power, and directed by his counsel. It now follows-
Zechariah 14:8
8. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
8. Et accidet die illo, Exibunt aquae vivae e Ierusalem; medium earum ad mare
Orientale, et medium earum ad mare novissimum, (vel, posterius,) aestate et hyeme erunt.
Here is subjoined a more cheering prophecy, --- that the grace of God would yet prevail. Whatever evils, and troubles, and dangers, and fears, and diseases awaited the faithful, he yet says that in such miseries they would still be made happy. And this ought to be carefully observed, for nothing can be more suitably found to alleviate our sorrows than to put in the balance God's benefits on one side, and on the other the punishments and chastisements which he brings on us; for as God's mercy and kindness always greatly preponderate, it cannot be but that we shall be able to say with holy Job, ``If good things have we received from the Lord's hand, why should we refuse evil things?'' (Job 2:10.)
This then is what Zechariah sets before us, --- that though the Church may be harassed by many cares, and subject to many fears, and terrified by many dangers, and be as it were in trepidation, yet the grace of God, if rightly viewed, is sufficient to administer invaluable comfort, for go forth shall living waters from Jerusalem 337
337"Living, that is, running waters. This passage refers to the wide effusion of divine knowl-
MINOR PROPHETS
This prophecy no doubt refers to the kingdom of Christ, and this may be sufficiently proved by other passages. The Prophet then has hitherto spoken of the many afflictions, which were nigh at hand, in order that the Jews might not faint or entirely fail; but he now directs their minds to the kingdom of Christ, from whence they were to look for not only a deliverance from all evils, but also the full restitution of the Church, and as it were the renovation of the world.
There is here no doubt an implied contrast between living waters and those which soon dry up: hence he says, that they would flow continually summer and winter. 338 Judea, we know, was subject to want of water, and there were no waters around
Jerusalem, except the spring of Siloam, which had waters in abundance, and supplied the wants of the citizens. But the Prophet promises living waters, which would not be like occasional streams, but flow continually. At the same time he seems to regard something higher. As by living waters he understands those which are spiritual, so he compares these waters with all those streams which are earthly; as though he had said, ``the fountain from which the two streams arise is inexhaustible, so that its exuberance shall never fail, but shall send forth streams from one sea to the opposite sea, and shall water the farthest regions of the earth.''
By the eastern sea many understand the Lake Asphaltes, but it seems to me more probable that the Prophet speaks of the Persian Sea; 339 for if he had said that the waters would go forth to that lake, the distance would be very short; but he meant on the contrary to show, that the copiousness of the waters would be so large and abundant that though they would pass through the whole earth, yet their flow would never cease. By the hinder sea he no doubt meant the Mediterranean. The import of the whole is, --- that thong the earth were previously dry, yet such would be the abundance of waters as to be sufficient for all, not only as in former times to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but also to all the Jews in whatever part of the country they might dwell.
Now, since the language is metaphorical, we must bear in mind what I have lately said, --- that here is set forth the spiritual grace of God; nor is it a new thing to apply the word waters to the Spirit of God: ``I will pour forth waters on the dry land and rivers on the thirsty land'' (Isaiah 44:3;) and again, ``I will give clean waters.'' (Ezekiel 36:25.)
There is a twofold reason why Scripture gives the name of waters to the Holy Spirit, --- because he performs the two offices of cleansing and of watering: for we are like barren and dry land, except the Lord by his Spirit from heaven gives us new vigor and conveys moisture to us. As then the earth derives moisture from heaven, that it edge from Jerusalem when restored." — Newcome. The Gospel blessings are often mentioned as waters. See Isaiah 55:1; Jeremiah 2:13; Ezekiel 47:1; John 4:10. "Perennial waters" is the rendering of Dathius. — Ed.
338"In those countries most springs failed during summer." — Newcome. 339Both Newcome and Henderson consider it to be the Lake Asphaltes or the Dead Sea. The land of Canaan is here throughout contemplated, and not the whole world, as Calvin and many others have thought. The land of Canaan was emblematic of the land of the Church, the whole world; hence what is promised to extend to the extremities of its borders is to be understood, when it appertains to Christ's kingdom, as extending to the utmost limits of the earth. — Ed.