Zechariah 1
January 22
Reading: Zechariah 1
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 "The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.' But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, 'As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.'"
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8 "I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, 'What are these, my lord?' The angel who talked with me said to me, 'I will show you what they are.' 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, 'These are they whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.' 11 And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, 'We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.'
12 Then the angel of the LORD said, 'O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?' 13 And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, 'Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.'"
18 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns!
19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these?"
And he said to me, "These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."
20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
21 And I said, "What are these coming to do?"
He said, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it."
Zechariah began his prophetic ministry in Jerusalem after the exile to Babylon only two months after Haggai began to prophesy. Zerubbabel was governor and Joshua (Jeshua) was high priest. Darius was king of the Persian Empire in far away Susa. It was 521BC.
You will see that it is important to have read Ezra and Nehemiah before reading Haggai and Zechariah.
The prophesy of Zechariah begins with a warning that serves as the introduction. (vss. 1-6) The warning is to those in Judah, so that they will not be disobedient like their forefathers who caused the nation to be handed over into exile. It is a warning that they be repentant.
Next follows three visions: the patrol of the earth (vss. 7-17), the four horns (vss. 18-19), and then the four craftsmen (vss. 20-21). As is the case with all visions in the Bible, the meaning is to be found not in modern imagination, but in Biblical revelation. The Bible interprets the visions for us. Thus, one must be familiar with the entire Bible.
Zechariah sees a man on a red horse among the myrtle trees. He is the leader of a band of horsemen. What are they doing? They have patrolled the entire earth, and all is peaceful. We might be tempted to think that this is a good report. But in verses 12-17 we learn that it is an indictment against all the nations of the earth. God is angry with them all because they are all content with Jerusalem in ruins and the cities of Judah a wasteland. Not only are they content, they are complicit.
In prophetic imagery, horns represent kings (Daniel 7-8); so in verses 18-19 we see the neighboring kings who have scattered Judah. In verses 20-21 we see the craftsmen who will terrify and cast down these kings. How will craftsman defeat kings? God will do it. As His prophesy is fulfilled, the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, the wall around the city restored, and the city of God, Zion, will be reconstructed by God’s people. It is this that will be the downfall of the surrounding kings. God will keep His promise to His people and judge the nations at the same time.