490 VISIONS AND PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH
" the Church," and " Israel " no longer the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but " the people of God," by which, as is seen in the quotation given above, is meant " Christendom."
But that is not really a spiritual way of interpreting Scripture, which robs it of its simple and obvious sense.
Kliefoth, Keil, etc., speak of the views expressed by Koehler and Hoffmann in their works on Zechariah, that this chapter refers to a yet future siege of Jerusalem after the return of the Jews in a condition of unbelief, and of their deliverance by the appearing of Christ, as " Jewish Chiliasm," but Jewish Chiliasm was not all wrong. There is a Messianic Kingdom a literal reign of peace and righteousness on the earth, with Israel as its centre ; but where Jewish Chiliasm erred was that it overlooked, or explained away, the sufferings of the Messiah which precede the glory. The question is if these allegorising commentators are not as much in the dark in relation to the Second Coming and the glory that should follow, as the Jews were in relation to His First Advent and His atoning suffering and death.
In the words of a true master in Israel : " The literal fulfilment of many prophecies has already taken place. It belongs to history. But the Christian has no more diffi culty in believing the future fulfilment of prophecy than in crediting the record of history. He believes because God has spoken, because it is written. To believe that the Jews are scattered among all nations, that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, that of the Temple not one stone was left upon another, requires no spiritual faith it requires only common information. But to believe that Israel will be restored, Jerusalem rebuilt, and that all nations shall come up against the beloved city and besiege it, and that the Lord Jehovah shall appear and stand on the Mount of Olives, requires faith, for it is as yet only written in the Bible. But what difference does it make to the child of God whether the prophecy is fulfilled or not ? Can he for a moment doubt it ?
