Zechariah 10:12

Zec 10:12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

Ver. 12. And I will strengthen them in the Lord] That is, in Christ, the head of the Churches; "for by his own strength shall no man prevail," saith holy Hannah, 1Sa 2:9, and "without me ye can do nothing," saith Christ, the true vine, Joh 15:5, from whom we have both the bud of good desires, the blossom of good resolutions, and the fruit of good actions. Only we must fetch our strength by faith from Christ; and pray, as Isa 51:9 "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord."

And they shall walk in his name] i.e. In his strength and to his glory. See that sweet promise, Isa 40:29-31. {See Trapp on "Zec 10:6"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Zec_10:12

And I will strengthen them in the Lord

Further and continuing grace

This prophecy is closed with a promise concerning their way and carriage for whom the Lord doth all this, that they shall be encouraged and strengthened to be a holy people, and to persevere in faith and obedience, which is to be understood of the elect and truly godly among them, who yet at that time will be very many.

1. When the Lord hath done greatest things for Him people, it is yet a new gift to give them the use thereof, to encourage and strengthen them thereby, for it is a new promise. I will strengthen them.

2. I As God can easily encourage the most feeble and faint hearted, so their Sure grip of it is to have it laid up in God for them, and by faith and depend once draw it forth as there is need.

3. Encouragement in God is only well improven when it is made use of to strengthen unto holiness and perseverance, which is the only sweet fruit of all mercies, rendering them comfortable to the receiver, when he is led nearer God by them. They shall walk in their duty.

4. Holiness is then rightly set about, when we are constantly in it, when we adhere close to the rule, when by faith we drag furniture out of God, and aim at His glory, and give Him the glory of all our performances.

5. The Lord needs not be hindered to show Himself gracious, by the unworthiness and unholiness of His people, but when He is about to do them good, He can be surety to Himself, that the fruit thereof shall be forthcoming to His glory, and can make them He doth much for, to be such a people as His dealing toward them obliges them to be, therefore, after all the former promises, the Lord Himself undertakes to make them holy.

6. The sweet comfort and refreshment of the promises will only be felt by those who dwell much on the study of God the Promise Maker, and consider how all-sufficient He is, and how worthy to be credited for the performance of what He promiseth. Therefore doth He subscribe His name to all this prophecy. Saith Jehovah. (George Hutcheson.)

Strong in God

Speaking of Englands Forgotten Worthies of the sixteenth century, Mr. Froude says, Wherever we find them, they are still the same; whether in the courts of Japan or China, fighting Spaniards in the Pacific, or prisoners among the Algerines, founding colonies that were by and by to grow into enormous Transatlantic republics, or exploring in crazy pinnaces the fierce latitude of the Polar seas, they are the same indomitable, God-fearing men, whose life was one great liturgy. The ice was strong, but God was stronger, says one of Frobishers men after grinding a night and a day among the icebergs; not waiting for God to come sown and split the ice for them but toiling through the long hours, himself and the rest fending off the vessel with poles and planks, with death glaring at them out of the rocks. Icebergs were strong, Spaniards were strong, and storms, and corsairs, and rocks, and reefs, which no chart had then noted--they were all strong, but God was stronger, and that was all which they cared to know.

Walking in Gods name

The Rev. John McNeil says, I owe more than I can tell to my father. He had a habit of which he never spoke to us, nor we to him. He was a quarryman, and I used to hear him going downstairs in the dark mornings, and, standing on the threshold before passing out, he would say aloud, I go today in Gods name. Then, strong in that strength, would trudge off to the quarry, the blasting and risks of the work. I can never forget the impression this made upon me, and thankfully say today, My fathers God is mine. (Christian World Pulpit.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:12 This verse repeats the earlier promise that God would strengthen his people (10:6; see Isa 41:8-10; cp. Pss 18:1; 22:19; 28:8; 29:11).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I . . . strengthen them in . . . Lord-- (Hos 1:7). I, the Father, will strengthen them in the name, that is, the manifested power, of the Lord, Messiah, the Son of God.

walk . . . in his name--that is, live everywhere and continually under His protection, and according to His will (Gen 5:22; Psa 20:1, Psa 20:7; Mic 4:5).

Next: Zechariah Chapter 11

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. I will strengthen them in the Lord] I, the God of Israel, will strengthen them in the Lord-Jesus, the Messiah; and thus indeed the Chaldee: I will strengthen them, בימרא דיי bemeymre dayai, in or by the WORD of Jehovah, the same personal Word which we so often meet with in the Chaldee paraphrases or Targum.

They shall walk up and down in his name] In the name of the Messiah. Saith the Lord - GOD speaks here, not of himself, but concerning his Christ. The Jews shall have complete liberty; they shall appear everywhere as a part of the flock of Christ, and no difference be made between them and the converted Gentiles. They shall be all one fold under one Shepherd and Bishop of all souls.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Here at length he includes the substance of what we have noticed, that there would be sufficient help in God to raise up and support his people, and to render them victorious over all their enemies. He had already proved this by saying, that God had formerly sufficiently testified by many miracles how much superior he was to the whole world; but he briefly completes the whole of this proof, and shows, that the Jews, provided that they relied on God and expected from him what he had promised, would be sufficiently strong, though the whole power of the world were to rise up against them.

He also mentions the name of God, They shall walk, he says, in his name, that is, under his auspices. In short, there is here an implied contrast between the name of God and the wealth and the forces of their enemies, which might have filled the minds of the faithful with fear, and cast them down. Hence the Prophet bids the Jews to give the glory to God, and not to doubt but that they would be victorious, whatever hindrance the world might throw in their way. And by this word walk, he means a continued course of life, as though he had said, that the people indeed had returned from exile, that is, in part; but that more of them were to be expected, for the Lord had not only been a leader in their return, but that he would be also their perpetual guardian, and defend them to the end.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

12. walk up and down] i.e. pursue the course of their lives. Comp. Mic_4:5; Coloss. Zec_3:7.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I will strengthen them in the Lord,.... Not the Egyptians and Assyrians, but the Jews, as in Zac 10:5, the Targum is,

"I will strengthen them in the word of the Lord;''

in the Messiah, by his power, and in the grace that is in him; and their faith and hope in him, and love to him: or "by" (t) him; so that, through him strengthening them, they will be able to do all things; to exercise grace; perform duty; withstand temptation; oppose indwelling sin; bear the cross of Christ; endure afflictions; engage with all their spiritual enemies, and conquer them: for the words may be rendered, "I will cause them to prevail", or "overcome in the Lord" (u); all their enemies, temporal and spiritual; and even to be more than conquerors through him that has loved them:

and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord; walk in him, the way to the Father, to heaven and happiness; walk by faith on him, in his strength, and in imitation of him; walk according to his Gospel, calling on his name, professing and worshipping him; and walk in his church and ordinances, agreeably to his will; see Mic 4:5. Kimchi owns that this whole chapter belongs to the times of the Messiah, as well as the former. The words may be considered as a testimony to the doctrine of the Trinity; that I, Jehovah the Father, will strengthen them in Jehovah the Son; and they shall walk up and down in the name of the Son of God, saith Jehovah the Spirit. Moreover, as a promise of the saints' final perseverance, very peremptorily expressed; I "will" strengthen them, and they "shall" walk, &c.

(t) "per Jehovam", Piscator. (u) "et faciam illos ut vincant", Cocceius.

Next: Zechariah Chapter 11

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I will strengthen them in the Lord - As our Lord said to Paul, “My strength is made perfect in weakness,” and Paul said in turn, “When I am weak, then am I strong. And in His Name shall they walk up and down,” have their whole conversation (Dionysius), “in Him according to His will, and diligent in all things to speak and act in ills grace and divine hope.” Jerome: “Christians walk in the Name of Christ, and there is written on the new white stone given to them a “new name” Rev 2:17, and under the dignity of a name so great, they walk with God, as “Enoch walked and pleased God and was translated” Gen 5:24.

Saith the Lord - Dionysius: “Again the Lord God speaks of the Lord God, as of Another, hinting the plurality of Persons in the Godhead.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I will strengthen them: see Zec 10:6.

In the Lord, their God, in Christ, say some; and it is true enough, whether these words so mean or no, God and Christ are the strength of the church, and of all believers.

They shall walk up and down, shall manage all their affairs, civil and military, secular and ecclesiastical, in his name; by authority derived from him, by power received of him, by wisdom given from above, to the glory of our God and our Redeemer. Thus far the great things promised to the Jewish church, and which were to be fulfilled in the time from the rebuilding the temple and city to the coming of Christ, through some four hundred and ninety years; in which times if aught fell short of-promise, it was because the sins of the people provoked God-to alter the course of his providence toward them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I will strengthen them in the Lord. I will strengthen them with myself with my grace and power. They shall walk up and down in his Name. They shall live in obedience to, and dependence upon, the Lord. (Mic_4:5, where see note) The Septuagint reads, "They shall boast themselves." So God will work wonders to deliver his people from the captivity of the devil, destroying all enemies, visible and invisible, which array themselves against him. This is the final fulfilment of the prophecy. The complete restoration from the Captivity is the immediate subject of the prophet"s words; and between these two we may see a reference to the conversion of the Jews in the time of Christ and the apostles, which shall go on until the end.

Manliness.

Of the true man, we might ask, as Delilah did of Samson, "Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth?" The answer includes several things.

I SELF-MASTERY. Reason must rule, and not passion. The Spirit, not the flesh.

II DIVINE INVIGORATION. Need constant aid. The plant thrives by commerce with the sun, so the soul gains energy from God. The prayer of all true men is that favourite one of David, "Quicken thou me.

III DEVOTION TO THE RIGHT. Doing evil is dissipation of strength. Doing good brings its own recompense. The Sandwich Islanders believed that the souls of the braves slain in war pass into those who slay them, and that therefore the more a man kills the stronger he becomes. This is true spiritually. It was fabled of the giant Antares that when he touched the earth he renewed his strength; so when we touch right we are renewed after the image of God.

IV ASSOCIATION WITH THE NOBLEST. To be allied with the bad is not only criminal, but ruinous. Fellowship with the good elevates and ennobles.

V GROWING NOBLENESS OF CHARACTER, There is the consciousness of advance. Settled principles. Enlarged experience. Progress in faith and godliness. All this prophesies of victory. Peter was far stronger at Pentecost than when he made his great confession; when he wrote his Epistles than when Paul had to withstand him to the face for dissembling at Antioch.

VI HOPE OF IMMORTALITY. The strength won will never be lost. The life given by God in Christ is everlasting. Whene"er right feelings fire thy languid heart, Let them not smoulder out in sighs and songs, But flash them into living acts forthwith. Thus strength Divine shall nerve thy mortal frame, And light from upper worlds shall fall upon thy path. F.

The true life.

I HOLY CONSECRATION. "In the Name of the Lord." Sincere and thorough renewal of consecration essential to increase of faith and holiness.

II HARMONIOUS DEVELOPMENT. "Walking" implies health, freedom, activity. Necessary to the right development of the soul. Not in part, but in all its powers.

III SPIRITUAL USEFULNESS. Time, talent, opportunity, rightly employed. "Up and down" zeal and diligence in all good.

IV HAPPY ASSOCIATIONS. We are continually forming associations in life. Places and persons. The result may be good or evil, sad and painful or bright and exhilarating.

V DELIGHTFUL PROSPECTS. Not only memories to cheer, but the outlook of the future, bright with hope up to the very gates of heaven. F.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Walk up and down - Shall manage all their affairs. In his name - By power and wisdom given from above, to the glory of our God, and our Redeemer.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.