seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Zechariah 6:1 I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second black, 3 the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. 4 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits[a] of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. 6 The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,[b] and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”
7 When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.
8 Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit[c] rest in the land of the north.”
9 The word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak.[d] 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he[e] will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ 14 The crown will be given to Heldai,[f] Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen[g] son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 15 Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.”
a. Zechariah 6:5 Or winds
b. Zechariah 6:6 Or horses after them
c. Zechariah 6:8 Or spirit
d. Zechariah 6:11 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak
e. Zechariah 6:13 Or there
f. Zechariah 6:14 Syriac; Hebrew Helem
g. Zechariah 6:14 Or and the gracious one, the
These horses are not the ones in Revelation. These horses are a different color and they are dragging chariots. Chariots.... however.... were used by warriors.... and these horses are strong.... and they are going all over the place.
This is from the easy English site.
This vision means that God’s Spirit will go through the whole world. God will overcome the evil rulers of the nations. And God will bring peace.
We could translate ‘spirits’ as ‘winds’. Whether winds or spirits, this means God’s ministers (servants). Psalm 104:4 says, ‘He (God) makes his angels into spirits/winds. (He makes) his ministers like a burning fire.’ God sends these spirits or winds out. Previously they were standing in front of him in heaven.
This verse seems to mean that God is ruling in the ‘country in the north’, that is, Babylon. This vision completes the series. God has:
taken his people back to Jerusalem from Babylon
encouraged them to build again his temple in Jerusalem
made Joshua his chief priest
made Zerubbabel the political leader
removed evil things from the country of Judah
made clear that he (God) is ruler in Babylon
Zechariah refers to the Branch twice: in 3:8 and 6:12. A branch grows on a tree. Zerubbabel is a Babylonian name. It means ‘Branch of Babylon’. So ‘the Branch’ was probably how Zechariah referred to Zerubbabel. But in verse 13, Zechariah says that Zerubbabel will agree with the priest, Joshua. Prince and priest rule together. But after Zerubbabel, we do not know of any princes in Jerusalem. The chief priest alone seems to have ruled the people.
But 500 years later, there were kings in Jerusalem. There were several kings called Herod. But the Herods were not priests. Jesus also lived at that time. Hebrews 5:10 says that God appointed Jesus to be like Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a king and a priest (Hebrews 7:1). And we say that Jesus is both our king and our priest. For this reason, Bible students think that The Branch meant more than Zerubbabel, even to Zechariah. It was a name for a future king who would be a priest also.
One of the reasons my family left Ireland was religious freedom. The church shut down our store. The Atheys were merchants and we couldn't do business because we didn't belong to the church. It was during the crusades. My great great great whatever grandfather indentured himself to Sir William Dent and made the trek to America. That was a really really long time ago.... but things haven't changed all that much.It's a Theocracy.... when the four chariots are done knocking down the governments all over the world..... God will set up His Theocracy again.
That's what I see....
