Zechariah’s First Vision

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

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Zechariah’s first vision (1:7-11)

In it we see a number of things unfold. We see a man sitting on a red horse. Zechariah saw one man on a horse leading others on horses behind him. While this reminds us of the four horsemen in Revelation 6:1-8, there are differences.

• The four riders in Revelation bring judgment – God’s wrath
• The riders here seem to be patrolling and observing
• “Just as Satan walks about the earth for evil (Job 1:7, 2:2; 1 Peter 5:8), so the Lord Jehovah has His representatives walking up and down in the earth to examine the affairs of men.” (Luck)

Zechariah saw the horses among myrtle trees, in a ravine (or hollow area). There were Red, sorrel and white horses. While we cannot know for certain, it’s possible differences in color represent different orders of angels (Clarke).

The man standing among myrtle trees turns out to be the Angel of the Lord (1:11). This is most likely a preincarnate appearance of Jesus.

This exploratory mission by the riders seems to be related to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and other cities in Judah. Their purpose was to examine the work of God’s people to see what they were doing. Interestingly enough, many monarchs used messengers on steeds to travel throughout their kingdoms and report back. God does the same…not that He needs to do this because He already knows all things, but it is a sign of His direct involvement in the affairs of Israel and the world.

As an aside, both Haggai and Zechariah called on Judah to finish rebuilding the Temple immediately. Completing the Temple was important to God’s future blessing. Zechariah’s message stirred that generation from their apathy, moving them to resume construction with zeal (Ezra 6:14).

Soon after this construction began, God gave Zechariah a series of 8 night visions (1:7 – 6:15) in one night. These covered God’s care for Judah’s present and future states.

This first vision applies to people of Judah – dispersed and scattered. It focuses on Jerusalem; trodden down by Gentiles.
The nations around Israel/Judah remained at “rest.” Those nations were quite unconcerned about the plight of the Jewish people. They simply did not care and this same mentality exists today, however, it goes further by creating a hatred for Jewish people and Israel itself, such that we’ve not seen since Hitler and his Nazis.

The Angel of the Lord intercedes for Judah/Jerusalem and God assures the Angel He is concerned for Jerusalem. God is angry at the careless attitude of the nations because they do not care for Israel at all.

Again, we are seeing this happening again today with the growth of anti-Semitism. In Zechariah’s day, all the earth was resting quietly – at peace but the wrong kind of peace – unconcern. While God’s people suffered, the world did not care.
The help they offered was riddled with evil motives in order to gain something from Israel.

When God says He is “zealous,” the Hebrew means:

• “to become intensely red”
• Flushed with deep emotion about something

God is truly and deeply concerned about His people (Israel and His Church) and His programs for each will be fulfilled. Roughly four years later, the temple was rebuilt, but ultimately, this refers to the full fulfillment of the Millennial Kingdom and the temple that will be built there under the direct supervision of Jesus Himself (Ezekiel 40-48).

Zechariah’s Second Vision: Four Horns (1:18-19)

This second vision highlights the four horns. “Horns” in Scripture always represents seats of power; empires. Zechariah was shown the four world powers that would come upon the scene (much like what Daniel saw). These powers would scatter Israel to the ends of the earth.

Though many powers existed, God was referring to the main “world” powers:

• The Babylonian Empire
• The Medo-Persian Empire
• The Grecian Empire
• The Roman Empire morphing into the Revived Roman Empire during the last days (our time and beyond)

It is interesting how often God repeats Himself in Scripture, sometimes highlighting the same information from a different perspective (as He did in Daniel, Amos and other books). We can never say that God has not warned or is somehow unclear. If we arrive to that conclusion, it is due to the fact that we do not diligently study His Word.

We will pick up next time with the four carpenters of Zechariah 1:20-21.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Source: https://studygrowknowblog.com/2024/09/23/zechariahs-first-vision/