Zechariah 1:12

"Then the LORD’s angel replied, “O LORD of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?”"

Key Reflection

The angel’s question to the LORD of Armies in Zechariah 1:12 reflects a deep-seated concern for Jerusalem and Judah, which had been under divine judgment for seventy years since the Babylonian exile began in 605 BCE. The original audience would have understood this as a plea for restoration after a long period of suffering, highlighting God's enduring commitment to his people despite their prolonged exile.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

And the Angel of the Lord answered -the implied longing, by intercession with God. As the angel-interpreter in Job had “the office of no mere created angel, but one, anticipative of His, who came at once to redeem and justify,” so the Angel of the Lord, in whom God was, exercised at once a mediatorial office with God, typical of our Lord’s high priest’s prayerJohn 17:0, and acted as God.

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