ZECHARIAH
CHAPTER 1
Zechariah calls upon Judah to repent—He is shown by visions that the cities of Judah and the temple will be rebuilt.
[Zechariah receives a series of 8 visiosn all in the same night.
Vision 1 Zech 1:7-17 The Outriders - who had been observing the conditions of the earth. Each rider found the earth in a state of peace which left Judah at fault for not building the temple in order for Zion to be established.
Vision 2 Zech 1:18-21 The end of gentile supremacy as the four horn represent the great power they had in scattering Israel
Vision 3 Zech 2:1-13 Foreshadowing of the future city.
VIsion 4 Zech 3: 1-10 The coming of the Priest-King mediator
Vision 5 Zech 4:1-14 Lamp stand and the Olive trees.
Vision 6 & 7 Zech 5:1-11 The flying scrolls and the barrel
Vision 8 Zech 6:1-15 Universal sovereignty of the Lord]
1 IN the eighth month, in the second year
of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah,
[means Jehovah remembers - living about 520 BC] the
son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.
6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
7 ¶ Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.
11 And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
12 ¶ Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
14 so the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; I
am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall
be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall
be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. [This was a
way of saying that the city would be measured and built accordingly (see
Jeremiah 31:38–40). Rel 302 Manual pg 342]
17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the
LORD shall
yet comfort Zion, and shall
yet choose Jerusalem.
[Jerusalem will be the capital city of Israel see
Zech 2:12; 8:3-5 ]
18 ¶ Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four
horns. [“The horn is a symbol of power [compare Amos 6:13]. The horns
therefore symbolize the powers of the world, which rise up in hostility
against Judah and hurt it. . . . The four horns which are seen simultaneously
[may] represent nations which succeeded one another. This is shown still more
clearly by the visions in [Daniel 2 and 7], in which not only the colossal
image seen in a dream by Nebuchadnezzar [Daniel 2], but also the four beasts
which are seen by Daniel to ascend simultaneously from the sea, symbolize the
four empires, which rose up in succession one after the other. It is to these
four empires that the four horns of our vision refer. . . . Zechariah sees
these in all the full development of their power, in which they have oppressed
and crushed the people of God, . . . and for which they are to be destroyed
themselves.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:2:238–39.) It is not clear
which four empires are meant in this prophecy. If the prophecy referred to
the empires of the past that engaged in the scattering, they would be Assyria,
Babylonia, Persia, and Media. But if Zechariah was also looking to the future,
as Daniel did, the four empires would be Assyria, Babylonia, Greece, and Rome.
Persia and Media would be omitted, since they were responsible for the return
of the exiles.]
19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
20 And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
[What Is the Purpose of the Carpenters? The
Lord told Zechariah that the builders would “fray” and “cast out” the four
horns. As Keil and Delitzsch noted: “The vision does not show what powers God
will use for this purpose. It is simply designed to show to the people of God,
that every hostile power of the world which has risen up against it, or shall
rise up, is to be judged and destroyed by the Lord.” (Commentary, 10:2:241.)]