seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2 “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?
“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’”
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
8 During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?”
The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”
11 And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” 13 So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’
16 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
18 Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. 19 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?”
He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 I asked, “What are these coming to do?”
He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”[a]
a. Zechariah 1:21 In Hebrew texts 1:18-21 is numbered 2:1-4
OK... the commentaries are really chatty over Zechariah. I'm not going to be able to fit all the good information from these sites this morning. I have enjoyed reading them and I would encourage others to follow at least this first link and read.
These out takes are from the easy English site.
Zechariah started his prophecy in 520 B.C., probably in November or December. A prophecy is the words of a prophet. ‘The word’ that came to Zechariah is what God told him to say.
Most Bible students think that Zechariah saw these 8 visions on the same night. It was the 24th day of the 11th month of the second year that Darius was King of Persia. That means that it was about the middle of February, 519 B.C. Most Bible students think that the visions connect together somehow. Unfortunately, they do not all agree how they connect together!
In Babylon, the 11th month of the year was called Shebat. It is not an Hebrew word. The 24th day of Shebat is February 15th for us. The year was 519 B.C.
The rider on the red horse was probably an angel. He sat on the horse while the horse stood still. There were probably more angels on the other horses. Zechariah does not say how many horses he saw. Many Bible students think that Zechariah saw God (the LORD) and his chief angels in heaven. They were making plans. The angels were servants of God. Usually we cannot see angels, but Zechariah did see them in his vision. They were ‘among the myrtle bushes down in the valley’. Myrtle bushes have leaves that remain green all through the year. Their leaves have a pleasant smell when someone bruises them. They have white flowers in summer. Myrtle bushes often mean Judah and Israel in the Bible. The man among the myrtle bushes probably means that the LORD will help his people.
‘My *lord’ means ‘sir’. The word ‘lord’ means 3 things in the Bible. Two are names for God (LORD and Lord) and one (lord) is not a name for God. The word ‘lord’ (with a small letter l) means someone in authority that you respect. Here it is the angel that was with Zechariah. This was not one of the angels on the horses.
The angel of the LORD was an important angel. He was a leader of the angels. He was probably the man on the red horse in verse 8. ‘All the world’ includes the nations that destroyed Israel and Judah. They were quiet and peaceful. As verse 15 says, they had (feelings of) security.
Now the important angel speaks to the LORD God. Zechariah does not tell us whether he can see God. The angel tells God that his people have suffered for 70 years. Jeremiah had said that the exile would last for this length of time. ‘This is what the LORD says. “After you have been 70 years in Babylon I will come to you. I will do what I have promised. I will bring you back to this place (Judah)”.’ (Jeremiah 29:10)
There is an important word in this verse that Zechariah repeats in verse 17. It is the word ‘comfort’. It links with words that the prophet Isaiah wrote. ‘ “Comfort, comfort my people”, says the *LORD (to his prophets). “Speak to the people in Jerusalem. Say that they have received from the hand of the LORD double (punishment) for all their sins”.’ (from Isaiah 40:1-2) There is also something else that links verse 15 with Isaiah 40:2. God wanted to punish his people. He used Assyria and Babylon to do it. But these two nations punished God’s people too much. They hurt God’s people more than God intended. God’s people received ‘double punishment’, Isaiah 40:2. Bible students think that God (through Zechariah) is reminding his people of the words of Isaiah. This was because God was jealous for his people. He loved them and he did not want them to stay in Assyria and Babylon. We do not know how many Jews returned from Assyria. They were from the northern country of Israel. But many returned from Babylon to the southern country of Judah. Zion is the name of the hill in Jerusalem where they built the temple.
The Hebrew says ‘And I lifted my eyes’. This is an Hebrew idiom for (way to say), ‘I looked up’. Zechariah says, ‘Look!’ He wants us to see in our imaginations what he saw. A horn was a sign of strength. Horns grow on the heads of some animals, like cows, goats and sheep. A horn shows that an animal is strong and important.
The four horns mean strong countries on all four sides of Judah and Israel. Assyria destroyed Israel 200 years before this vision. Babylon destroyed Judah 70 years before. These, and other countries that helped them, are the four horns. The other countries include Egypt, Moab and Edom. They were all enemies of Judah and Israel.
The workmen cut off the horns from Assyria and Babylon. This meant that these countries would not be able to attack other countries. They would not be strong any more. If you cannot ‘lift up your head’ then you are humble and ashamed.
God chose the people from Israel and Judah. But they did the wrong things. God allowed other countries to punish them. Those countries are like the horns. But God still cares about his people. He showed Zechariah that he had a plan to destroy those countries. And he would save the people from Israel and Judah.
Personally.... I think the easy English site ran out of steam when it got to the horns. There were four horns and the commentary named a bunch of countries. This is from enduringword.com.There were four horns: In Biblical times horns spoke of strength and authority, because the power of a bull or an ox is expressed through its horns.
“Horns, the pride of a young bull, are an obvious choice symbol to represent invincible strength… As trophies of the hunt they represented conquest of strength.” (Baldwin)
These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem: Since Zechariah told us there were four horns we wonder which four nations Zechariah spoke of here. If he spoke of scattering in a broad prophetic sense – including scattering that had yet come to God’s people in his own day – then the likely four horns are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
I know.... I'm supposed to be reverent. I am.... really I trust God to get me through almost everything. I wait until I can't figure it out anymore though... and then I call on Him to straighten out the mess I made. I guess I should go to Him sooner so he can bring out the horses and the craftsmen.
This all took place 500 years before Christ was born. Heaven has no meaning for these descendants of Jacob [Israel]. All they look forward to is a safe and healthy life if they obeyed their contract that Abraham made with God. Moses gave them the rules. They didn't want to go by the rules so they did not feel safe or healthy anymore.
These are not the four horses of the apocalypse. These are angels on horseback.... in a time when people rode horses instead of driving fancy sports cars..... most of the population were poor and walked everywhere. Some soldiers rode in chariots behind the horses.... but some rode the horse.... So they were elite because they were on the horses.
Then there were the horns... Over and over and over again I have read that first Assyria and then Babylon overran Israel and then Judah. The prophets told about how the descendants of Jacob [Israel] and the ones they loved.... were murdered, raped, castrated, enslaved and herded. The Bible only describes the conquest of the Assyrians and the Babylonians so far.... but there are four horns.... there are still two more conquerors on the way..... Greece and Rome....
God told Zechariah the Assyrians and the Babylonians had gone a little too far.... they enjoyed it too much.... they had become bullies [in today's lingo] and God said He would punish them for enjoying it and becoming a bully..... and as it turned out [I think] the Greeks and the Romans did a number on the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
Sorry this is so late this morning. I was up a lot last night worrying about my daughter.... she works at a hospital.
God is sometimes called a bully..... right now... I'm sure there are a lot of pew warmers who are shaking their fist at Him..... but those of us who have read His book..... know that none of this is out of control. God will step in when it's time.
And as I always say.... "what's the worst that can happen?.... I wake up in Heaven.... I'm good with that."
