Friday, January 17, 2014

Condition Of The Rest Of The World

Zechariah 6:1-15

“And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.  In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. 

 Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?” (Zechariah 6:1-4)

Still during the same vision as in previous chapters, Zechariah saw four chariots coming out from mountains of brass, mountains that would be nearly impregnable.  Each chariot was pulled by a different colored  matched team.  Zechariah asked what they meant.

“And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.  The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.  And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. 

Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.” (Zechariah 6:5-8)

The black horses go to the north and settle things down in the north country and are followed by the white horses.  The grisled or speckled or dapple horses go to the south.  The bays travel from area to area, and the red horses are not mentioned and apparently go everywhere.  Revelation 6:1-8 gives a similar picture that provides a clue as to the meaning of different horses of this prophecy.

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.  And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:1-2)

In this prophecy, the white horse represents a spirit of conquest and empire building.  Beginning with the Greek empire, the regions north of Israel have seen repeated efforts to build empires, even to the present day.

“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.  And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” (Revelation 6:3-4)

The red horse represents war, and it has never been limited to a single area of the world.

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

The black horse represents famine.  One of the main reasons for the various empires to gain power throughout Europe was famine in various countries creating dissatisfaction with the rulers at the moment.  When things got bad enough it relatively simple for the Romans, the Huns, the Holy Roman Empire or the third Reich to take over vast areas.  Their wars usually involved entire nations.

“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.  And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:7-8)

The pale horse of Revelation is light colored horse.  It represents death, as a result of murders and local conflicts, disease, starvation, and animal attacks.  In Zechariah, the grisled and bay horses seem to represent similar things.  The grisled horse going to the south portrays much of Africa’s history with famines and disease intermixed with various empires and tribal wars.  Most of Africa’s records were destroyed during the European colonial period, but we do know that while their were many great civilizations, they were seldom so clearly marked out either geographically or time wise as those in Europe or western Asia.

The bay horse going from region to region portrays the disease and starvation throughout the world.  None of these things were limited to one area, but tended to strike one area at a time.

Knowing this is what the world was going to face, the prophecy about God’s blessing of Judah and Israel presents an exciting contrast.

“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” (Zechariah 6:9- 13)

Joshua, the high priest had come from Babylon with Zerubbabel.  God told Zechariah to make crowns of silver and gold and put them on Joshua’s head to symbolize Christ, the messiah, who would build the temple and be seated on the throne at the right hand of God.

“And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.  And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Zechariah 6:14-15)

The other crowns were to be placed on the heads of those who had done the work symbolizing the crowns those who serve God will receive in heaven.  He makes it clear that those who were not Jews will also come in that day.  As he states, this will all happen if they would obey the Lord.

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