Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.

*

I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.

Then Tatnai, governor on his side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.

And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they Luilded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.

And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.

For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

COMMENT.-Darius Hystaspes, a just monarch, who held himself as the true follower of Cyrus, caused search to be made, recovered the proclamation in favour of the Jews, and sent strict commands to his satraps that the rebuilding of the Temple should be assisted, and no one allowed to molest it. In the fourth year afterwards the work was ready for dedication, and an offering was made, far from being like that of Solomon, but still a noble sacrifice for the scanty remnant, and duly commemorating the twelve tribes of Israel, numbers of whom no doubt had a share in the great consecration and ensuing passover.

At this passover some grand Psalms were added to the Psalter,

probably by Zerubbabel, Haggai, and Zechariah. They are those which reach from the 114th to the 118th, and were called the Greater Hallel, or Song of Praise. They were always sung over the Paschal Supper, and there is every reason to believe that they were the hymns sung by our Lord and His Apostles, when they rose from their first Holy Communion, before going out unto the Mount of Olives.

The 118th contains one specially memorable note of prophecy, founded, Jewish tradition says, on the fact that a large and beautiful stone, of the ruins of the old Temple, was continually tried and thrown aside by the workmen, until at last it was found to fit perfectly into the most important place in the new Temple. Zechariah's prophecy of the head stone being brought forth with cries of joy was fulfilled, and they sung:

The stone which the builders refused,
Is become the head stone of the corner.
This is the LORD's doing;

It is marvellous in our eyes.

This is the day which the LORD hath made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD,

I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD:
We have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

Christ Himself taught us that He was this very head stone. "Did ye never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes'?" (Matt. xxi. 42.) And St. Paul and St. Peter both took up the note, and made it fuller (Eph. ii. 20) :

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the LORD:

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

And again :

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.

Both thus show us how, if Christ is the Corner Stone of His Church, every Christian is a living stone, chosen and precious to fill his own peculiar place in the one glorious edifice to the praise of God.

Nor must we pass by the words, “Save now," in the 25th verse. They are in very truth “Hosanna,” the cry of the children, which welcomed our Lord when the true Sacrifice did indeed bind Himself with cords of love to the Altar of Sacrifice.

Several other distinct prophecies of the Messiah were given by Zechariah. They are in the course of visions too difficult to be here dwelt on, therefore they shall only here be quoted separately. Here is the triumphal entry into Jerusalem: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zech. ix. 9). And again, the very price paid to Judas, and the manner of its disposal fully foretold: “So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." (Zech. xi. 12.)

Again, the Crucifixion is referred to, in a verse repeated once more by St. John, as enhancing the agony and shame of sinners in the Last Day. “And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zech. xii. 11.)

And lastly, the prophet tells us of the cleansing stream that poured from that pierced side. “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” (Zech. xiii. 1.)

LESSON V.

AHASUERUS' FEAST

ESTHER i.

B.C. 485.-Zechariah had foretold to the ruined and depressed Jews that

Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem : and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

But for a long time the unwalled city remained insecure, and the generation who had returned from Babylon were passing away before aid was raised up in a marvellous and providential manner, by God overruling the passions of kings.

The uncouth name of Ahasuerus, son of Darius, is known to the Greeks as Xerxes, but to the Hebrews as Ahasuerus. He was that third king of whom Daniel must have written in his wonderful 11th chapter:

And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)

That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,

In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him :

When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.

And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the

people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;

Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.

And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one to another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,

To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.

But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned

in him.

Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment,)

What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.

For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.

Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.

If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.

And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.

And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan.

COMMENT.-Susa or Shushan, and Persepolis, the mighty palaces of the kings of ancient Persia, now lie in ruins, but sculptures and inscriptions still remain to attest their exceeding