434 VISIONS AND PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH
though unwillingly, joined the foe in the siege, " will be>? found in a place more rebellious and more evil than that of:<: Jerusalem," but because of their weak and defenceless: condition (as indicated by the fact that they dwell ir.-i " tents ") as contrasted with those within the city walls. . Or, in the words of another, " The defenceless land will bf ^ delivered sooner than the well-defended capital, that tht ; latter may not lift itself up above the former, but that both i may humbly acknowledge (as Jerome expresses it) that th< 2 victory is the Lord s," and that both alike may magnifj / the grace of God in their deliverance. " The glory (or splendour, rnsarij tipheretJi) of the house of David " con sists in the fact that it is the God-appointed royal line in Israel, which was continued in Zerubbabel, the prince who was Zechariah s contemporary, and culminated in our Lord Jesus, the true Son and Heir of David ; and " the glory " or " splendour " of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may be regarded as consisting in the fact that they may consider themselves as especially privileged and exalted above th<2 rest of the people of the land as dwellers in the city which God has especially chosen as the seat of His earthly throne.
But the deliverance of the defenceless people of the land will be only the " first " act of God s interposition on. behalf of Israel in that day.
The heart of the great conflict will be in and around the walls of Jerusalem, for on it all the fury of the enemy i attack will be directed. But " in that day stiall Jehovah defend (lit., shield } the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he tha.t is feeble among them shall be as David ; and the house of\ David shall be as God, as the Angel of Jehovah before v them Not its walls or bulwarks will constitute the ; " defence " of the remnant of the people which shall be- left in Jerusalem in that solemn day. From chaps, xiii. 8, 9 \ and xiv. I 6, which, as we shall see, refer to the same ^ invasion of the 1" and siege of Jerusalem by the Gentile i ai hosts, we learn \ -.at the city, or a great part of it, will j e actually be "taken" and spoiled, and half of the city (thatj^ is, of the population) " go forth into captivity," and that
