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Scripture Reading: Zech. 1:7-21
In this message we will consider the two visions of consolation and encouragement in 1:7-21. Both of these visions are strong consolations with sweet promises of expectation to the suffering Israel.
Verse 8a says, "I saw during the night, and behold, a man was riding upon a red horse." This Man is Christ in His humanity. To Daniel, this Man was excellent; to Zechariah, He was very sympathetic.
The Man here is the Angel of Jehovah (v. 11a). The Angel of Jehovah is Jehovah Himself as the Triune God (Exo. 3:2a, 4-6, 13-15). The Angel of Jehovah is also Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9) and as the sent One of God (John 5:36-38; 6:38-39). The Angel of Jehovah is also the Angel of God who escorted and protected Israel on their way from Egypt to the promised land (Exo. 23:20; 32:34; Judg. 6:19-24; Isa. 63:9).
The Man in this vision is riding on a red horse (Zech. 1:8a). In Revelation 6 the red horse signifies war, which always involves bloodshed, but here the red horse signifies Christ's swift move in His redemption by the shedding of His blood.
Verse 8b says, "He was standing among the myrtle trees that were in the bottoms." These myrtle trees signify the humiliated people of Israel in their captivity.
As Christ was riding on a red horse, He was standing among the myrtle trees that were in the bottoms of the valley. This means that He remained strongly among the captured Israel in the lowest part of the valley in their humiliation. Captured Israel was in the lowest part of the valley, and Christ was ready to do anything for them swiftly. Christ, the One on the red horse, was their patron taking care of them in their captivity.
"Behind Him there were red, reddish-brown, and white horses" (v. 8c). Christ was riding on a red horse, and following Him were horses of three different colors. This indicates that Christ's redemption (the red horse) leads the repentant Israel (the reddish-brown horses) to be justified and accepted by God swiftly (the white horses). Although they were the redeemed people of God (the red horses), as the reddish-brown horses indicate, they were not that pure but were a mixture. The word reddish indicates redemption, and the word brown indicates a mixture. Eventually, as signified by the white horses, when the redeemed people of God come to God and are dealt with, they will be justified.
This vision of the horses portrays the situation of Israel in their captivity. In the eyes of God, Christ the Redeemer was with them taking the lead, and they, God's redeemed people, were following Him. Because they were God's redeemed people, they appear at first sight as red horses. But because they were not pure, they are signified also by the reddish-brown horses. They need to contact God and to be dealt with by Him in order to gain God and be justified by Him and thus become those signified by the white horses. Once they repent, they will swiftly be accepted by God and justified by Him.
"Then I said, What are these, sir? And the angel who spoke with me said to me, I will show you what these are. And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are those whom Jehovah has sent to go to and fro on the earth. And they answered the Angel of Jehovah who was standing among the myrtle trees, and they said, We have gone to and fro on the earth, and behold, all the earth sits still and is quiet" (vv. 9-11). Here we see that the red, reddish- brown, and white horses, signifying those among Israel who were to be redeemed and brought back to God for His justification and acceptance, had been sent by Jehovah to go to and fro on the earth; and they answered the Angel of Jehovah standing among the myrtle trees that they had gone to and fro on the earth and had seen that all the earth sat still and was quiet.
These verses reveal that in addition to Christ, who had been sent as the Redeemer to take care of Israel in their captivity, others had been sent by God to go through the earth to see the situation of the nations. As indicated by the movement of the horses, God's captured people were unsettled and were without peace, rest, and the enjoyment of life. The nations, on the contrary, were sitting still and quiet. This indicates that, in the eyes of God, all the nations around Israel at that time were sitting there enjoying their life in peace and quietness while God's elect were suffering.
In verse 12 we see that the Angel of Jehovah interceded for Israel. "Then the Angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long will You not have compassion on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant for these seventy years?"
In verses 13 through 17 we have Jehovah's answer to Christ's intercession for Israel. Jehovah answered the angel who spoke to Zechariah with good words, with comforting words, and the angel said to him, "Cry out, saying, Thus says Jehovah of hosts: I am greatly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion" (v. 14). Because the nations were sitting peacefully while Jerusalem was in trouble, Jehovah was very jealous for Jerusalem. He was extremely angry with the nations, who were at ease, sitting still and quiet (v. 15a). He was only a little angry with Israel, but the nations dealt with Israel excessively (v. 15b).
Verse 16 goes on to say, "Therefore thus says Jehovah, I return to Jerusalem with compassions; My house will be built in it, declares Jehovah of hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem." To measure is to possess. For Jehovah to cause a measuring line to be stretched over Jerusalem means that He will possess that city. For seventy years Jerusalem was given up by God. Now He was coming back to repossess the city, so He sent someone to measure it. In verse 17 Jehovah went on to say, "My cities will again overflow with good, and Jehovah will again comfort Zion and will again choose Jerusalem." This is the way Christ's prayer for Israel was answered by God.
In verses 18 through 21 we have the vision of the four horns and the four craftsmen.
This vision was the answer to Christ's intercession for Zion and Jerusalem (vv. 12-17).
"Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, there were four horns. And I said to the angel who spoke with me, What are these? And he said to me, These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem" (vv. 18-19). These four horns are the four kingdoms with their kings — Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire — signified by the great human image in Daniel 2 and by the four beasts in Daniel 7:3-8, which damaged and destroyed the chosen people of God.
"Then Jehovah showed me four craftsmen. And I said, What do these come to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns that have so scattered Judah that no man lifts up his head, but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who have lifted up the horn against the land of Judah to scatter it" (vv. 20-21). These four craftsmen are the skills, including the stone not hewn by man's hands, used by God to destroy the four kingdoms, with their kings, that destroyed the nation of Israel. Christ is the One among the craftsmen who will come as the stone cut out without hands to smash the great image.
Each of the first three kingdoms — Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece — was taken over in a skillful way by the kingdom which followed it. Babylon was defeated in one night when Darius the Mede came and defeated Belshazzar. How skillful was Darius! Then, as Daniel 8 reveals, the goat from Macedonia (the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great) came to trample the ram of Persia. History tells us that Alexander the Great was very skillful. He was one of the craftsmen that dealt with the four horns. Later the Roman Empire came in to deal with Greece. These four empires are the central factors of human history. Eventually, the restored Roman Empire will be smashed into powder by Christ as the top Craftsman.
All four empires devastated and destroyed Israel. But they all have been or, in the case of the restored Roman Empire, will be destroyed by the four craftsmen raised up by God. This is a comforting and encouraging word of promise.
