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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,'1-');">Zec 1</a> - The First Two Visions</h2>
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<p>A. Introduction.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,1);">1</a>) The prophet and his times.</p>
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<p class="c2">In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">In the eighth month of the second year of Darius</span></b>: Zechariah served the <span class="c6">Lord</span> in the years after the remnant returned from the 70-year Babylonian exile. His prophetic career is marked by the reign of <b><span class="c3">Darius</span></b>, the ruler of the Medes and Persians. His career is not marked by the reign of a king over Israel or Judah, because there was no king of Israel or Judah in this period after the exile.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The timing of Zechariah's prophecy sets it two months after Haggai's first prophecy (<a onclick="return mV('Hag',1,1);">Hag 1:1</a>) and within a month after another prophecy of Haggai (<a onclick="return mV('Hag',2,1);">Hag 2:1</a>). This was between October and November of 520 <span class="c6">b.c.</span></p>
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<p class="c5">ii. "Like Haggai, Zechariah's message is one of encouragement. But he was aware that not all the returned remnant were fully sincere in their desires to serve God, and he therefore counseled them to repent of sin and return to God will all their hearts and minds." (Boice)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. If all we had was Haggai to go by, we might conclude that all God was really interested in was the temple. Zechariah gives the rest of the story, and shows how God is interested in lives, not only buildings.</p>
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<p class="c5">iv. The Prophecy of Zechariah is noted for its rich use of visions, pictures, and symbols. In this way it is much like the Book of Revelation or Daniel which also have significant visions. "Haggai lays down the mind of God to the people more plainly in direct and downright terms; Zechariah flies a higher pitch, abounding with types and visions; and is therefore worthily reckoned among the abstrusest and profoundest penmen of Holy Scripture...We pass from dark prophecies to that which is much more dark." (Trapp)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The word of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> came to Zechariah</span></b>: We know little about this prophet, though "Zechariah" is a common name in the Old Testament (at least 27 different Zechariahs are mentioned in the Bible). The only details we have about this <b><span class="c3">Zec</span></b> come from <a onclick="return mV('Ezr',5,'1-');">Ezr 5</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Ezr',6,'1-');">6</a>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <i><span>Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them.</span></i><span> (<a onclick="return mV('Ezr',5,'1-2');">Ezr 5:1-2</a>)</span></p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <i><span>So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.</span></i><span> (<a onclick="return mV('Ezr',6,14);">Ezr 6:14</a>)</span></p>
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<p class="c5"><span>iii. The name <b><span class="c3">Zec</span></b></span> means "The <span class="c6">Lord</span> Remembers," and is a fitting name for a prophet of restoration. This prophet was called to encourage and mobilize God's people to accomplish a task that they began yet lost momentum in completing. He encourages them indirectly by telling them about God's care for them and by keeping the presence of the Messiah very much in their minds. He worked with others, notably Haggai, Zerubbabel, and Ezra. He warned them of the consequences of neglecting God's work and he emphasized that God wants to do a work through His people.</p>
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<p class="c5">iv. Jesus mentioned the ministry and martyrdom of Zechariah in <a onclick="return mV('Mat',23,35);">Mat 23:35</a>: <i>That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.</i></p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,'2-6');">2-6</a>) God pleads with His people: "<b><span class="c3">Return to Me</span></b>."</p>
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<p class="c2">"The <span class="c6">Lord</span> has been very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts: "Return to Me," says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts, "and I will return to you," says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts. "Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, 'Thus says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts: "Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds." ' But they did not hear nor heed Me," says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. "Your fathers, where <i>are </i>they? And the prophets, do they live forever? Yet surely My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? "So they returned and said: 'Just as the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our deeds, so He has dealt with us.' " ' "</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The <span class="c6">Lord</span> has been very angry with your fathers</span></b>: Zechariah begins his prophecy with a call to repentance, and a call that remembers the poor spiritual heritage of Israel and Judah. The sin of their fathers doomed the nation to exile, and Zechariah warns the people to remember the same could happen to them.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. We should remember that these weren't "bad people" - they were the remnant that returned from Babylon. Hundreds of thousands of people went into the Babylonian captivity and only about 50,000 returned. Those who did were the most committed to the <span class="c6">Lord</span> and to the restoration of Jerusalem. Yet even they, some 18 years after returning to the Promised Land, needed to hear and heed the warning of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Return to Me...and I will return to you</span></b>: Adverse circumstances discouraged God's people, and they wondered why God seemed so far away.</p><ul class="c6"><li>The land was still desolate after 70 years of neglect</li><li>The work was hard to rebuild and restore</li><li>They didn't have a lot of money (<a onclick="return mV('Hag',1,6);">Hag 1:6</a>) or manpower</li><li>They suffered crop failures and drought (<a onclick="return mV('Hag',1,'10-11');">Hag 1:10-11</a>)</li><li>Hostile enemies resisted the work (<a onclick="return mV('Ezr',4,'1-5');">Ezr 4:1-5</a>)</li><li>They remembered easier times in Babylon</li></ul>
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<p class="c5">i. Each of these circumstances made them feel that God was far away; through Zechariah God assures them that He is <i>not</i> distant. They would <b><span class="c3">return</span></b> to Him, He would <b><span class="c3">return</span></b> to them.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <b><span class="c3">Return to Me</span></b>: Sometimes we wish God would <i>make</i> us return to Him, instead of <i>wooing</i> us to return out of our own choice. Nevertheless, God wants our freely given love, so He prompts us to choose Him and <b><span class="c3">return to</span></b> Him.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. Zechariah's words remind us of <a onclick="return mV('Jam',4,8);">Jam 4:8</a>: <i>Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.</i> God promises to meet us running when we return to Him. We are also reminded that if we are far from God, He hasn't distanced Himself from us. We have distanced ourselves from Him. An elderly couple drove down the road in their car with a front bench seat. As they drove, the wife noticed that in many of the other cars with couples in the front seat, the woman sat close to the man as he drove. She asked her husband, "Why is it that we don't sit that close anymore?" He simply answered, "It wasn't me who moved." If we are far from God, He hasn't moved.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Yet surely My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers?</span></b> God's promises outlived and outlasted all the previous prophets and ancestors. Zechariah charges God's people to not only rebuild the temple (the emphasis of his contemporary prophet Haggai), but to rebuild their relationship with Him and learn from the lessons of their fathers.</p>
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<p>B. The vision of the four horses among the myrtle trees.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,'7-10');">7-10</a>) Zechariah's vision of the four horses and their riders.</p>
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<p class="c2">On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him <i>were </i>horses: red, sorrel, and white. Then I said, "My lord, what <i>are </i>these?" So the angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they <i>are.</i>" And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, "These <i>are the ones </i>whom the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Behold, a man riding on a red horse</span></b>: Zechariah's vision is simple enough in what he saw - one man on horseback leading other horses and their riders, "patrolling" <b><span class="c3">to and fro throughout the earth</span></b>. Zechariah sees them among <b><span class="c3">myrtle trees</span></b>, in a ravine (<b><span class="c3">in the hollow</span></b>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Specifically, this reconnaissance mission examines the progress of rebuilding Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. It is here to examine the work of God's people.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. "The troop of horsemen were emissaries of the Lord sent on world mission. Like the Persian monarchs who used messengers on swift steeds to keep them informed on all matters concerning their empire, so the Lord knew all about the countries of the earth." (Baldwin)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. "Just as Satan walks about the earth for evil (<a onclick="return mV('Job',1,7);">Job 1:7</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Job',2,2);">2:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',5,8);">1Pe 5:8</a>), so the Lord Jehovah has His representatives walking up and down in the earth to examine the affairs of men." (Luck)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Red, sorrel, and white</span></b>: Different commentators hotly debate the meaning of these colors. Connected them with the four horsemen of <a onclick="return mV('Rev',6,'1-8');">Rev 6:1-8</a> doesn't seem to work, because these seem to be observers and not messengers of judgment as in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',6,'1-');">Rev 6</a>. Some suggest that the different colors mean different angelic offices.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">Sorrel</span></b> is sort of a dirty yellow or a spotted, brownish orange.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. "Probably pointing out the <i>different orders</i> of angels in the heavenly host, which are employed by Christ in the defence of his Church. The different <i>colours</i> may point out the <i>gradations</i> in power, authority, and excellence, of the angelic natures which are employed between Christ and men." (Clarke)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">The man who stood among the myrtle trees</span></b>: The myrtle tree is a laurel, which is evergreen and possibly a symbol of the people of Israel. This <b><span class="c3">man</span></b> is the <i>Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></i> (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,11);">Zec 1:11</a>), and is no doubt an Old Testament appearance of Jesus before His incarnation in Bethlehem.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. There are many examples in the Old Testament of an encounter with a heavenly man known as the <i>Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></i> who is revealed to be God Himself (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',16,'7-13');">Gen 16:7-13</a>, <a onclick="return mV('Gen',22,'11-18');">Gen 22:11-18</a>, <a onclick="return mV('Exd',2,'3-9');">Exd 2:3-9</a>, <a onclick="return mV('Jdg',2,'1-4');">Jdg 2:1-4</a>, and many other places). Because of <a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,11);">Zec 1:11</a>, we know this <b><span class="c3">man</span></b> is the <i>Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></i>, and that He is God.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. We can assume that this was God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, appearing to Abraham before His incarnation and birth at Bethlehem, because of God the Father it is said, <i>No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',1,18);">Jhn 1:18</a>), and no man has ever seen God in the Person of the Father (<a onclick="return mV('1Ti',6,16);">1Ti 6:16</a>). Therefore, if God appears to someone in human appearance in the Old Testament, and no one has seen God the Father, it makes sense the appearing is of the eternal Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, before His incarnation in Bethlehem.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. <b><span class="c3">Myrtle trees</span></b>: "Israel is not likened to a cedar of Lebanon, which is majestic, or an oak tree, which is strong. Having blossoms that emit a sweet fragrance when crushed, the myrtle illustrates the strange grace of Israel in affliction." (Boice)</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,'11-17');">11-17</a>) The angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> intercedes for Jerusalem and Judah.</p>
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<p class="c2">So they answered the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly." Then the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> answered and said, "O <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?" And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> answered the angel who talked to me, <i>with </i>good <i>and </i>comforting words. So the angel who spoke with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts: "I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped; <i>but </i>with evil <i>intent.</i>" 'Therefore thus says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>: "I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it," says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts, "And a <i>surveyor's </i>line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem." ' "Again proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts: "My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; the <span class="c6">Lord</span> will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem." ' "</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">All the earth is resting quietly</span></b>: The patrol has found that the world is at peace, but it is not the right kind of peace (<b><span class="c3">I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease</span></b>). God is angry with the nations of the world because they are at ease while God's people suffer. In God's thinking if the earth is at rest at the expense of his people, there is no rest at all.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">And they helped; but with evil intent</span></b>: The nations of the world offered some help to the returning exiles, but even their help was polluted by evil motives.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal</span></b>: The <b><span class="c3">Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b> shows his heart of compassion for Israel and Jerusalem. God relented and allowed Israel back after 70 years of exile yet the effects of exile were still painfully evident.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The word for <b><span class="c3">zealous</span></b> in ancient Hebrew comes from the idea "to become intensely red" and it has the thought of a face becoming flushed with deep emotion. God is genuinely and deeply concerned about the state of His people.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">My cities shall again spread out through prosperity</span></b>: God solemnly promises to restore Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. This was an especially comforting promises considering the lowly condition of the cities of the Promised Land in Zechariah's day.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. About four years from the time of this prophecy Zion was comforted and Jerusalem was specially chosen - the temple was rebuilt four years after Zechariah gave this prophecy.</p>
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<p>C. The vision of the four horns and four craftsmen.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,'18-19');">18-19</a>) Four horns represent the nations that scattered God's people.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there <i>were </i>four horns. And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What <i>are </i>these?" So he answered me, "These <i>are </i>the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">There were four horns</span></b>: In Biblical times <b><span class="c3">horns</span></b> spoke of the strength and authority, because the power of a bull or an ox is expressed through its <b><span class="c3">horns</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "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)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem</span></b>: Since Zechariah told us there were <b><span class="c3">four</span></b> horns we wonder which four nations Zechariah speaks of here. If he speaks of scattering in a broad prophetic sense - including scattering that had not yet come to God's people in his own day - then the likely <b><span class="c3">four horns</span></b> are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',1,'20-21');">20-21</a>) God announces judgment against the nations that scatter His people.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then the <span class="c6">Lord</span> showed me four craftsmen. And I said, "What are these coming to do?" So he said, "These <i>are </i>the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up <i>their </i>horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The craftsmen are coming to terrify them</span></b>: God raised up other nations to judge the nations that scattered His people. From of old, God promised to curse those who cursed Israel (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',12,3);">Gen 12:3</a>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "<span>And then he finds the right men; not four gentlemen with pens to write; not four architects to draw plans, but four mechanics to do rough work. He who wants to open an oyster, must not use a razor: there needs less of daintiness, and more of force, for some works: providence does not find gentlemen to cut off the horns, but carpenters. The work needs a man who, when he has his work to do, puts his whole strength into it, and beats away with his hammer, or cuts through the wood that lays before him with might and main. Rest assured, you who tremble for the ark of God, that when the horns grow troublesome, the carpenters will be found." (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">To cast out the horns of the nations that lifted their horn against the land of Judah</span></b>: God promises to break the power of those who use their power against God's people. An ancient proverb puts it well: "The church of God is an anvil that has worn out many hammers."</p>
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