The Angel of the Lord Appears
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Important messages
An expository
study of Zechariah 1:7-21
The first vision
For your own profit and
better understanding, may I suggest that you read our text first, then go on to
peruse my comments with the open Bible handy. In this way, you will see exactly
to what I am referring. This is the way that a Bible study works and the idea
is to perceive what the Author, the Holy Spirit, wanted to share with His
prophet, Zechariah, so that he would write His thoughts, first of all, for the
benefit of the people of his day. Then, as He knew perfectly well, these words
would be transferred through the millenniums until they found the people, who
would experience personally their final fulfillment.
The angelic patrol
Three months after the Word
of God came to Zechariah, which would be in the month of February, the 11th
month of the same year, 520 B.C., of the reign of Darius, the prophet had his
first vision (v.7). Although these visions occurred in the night, they were
true visions and not dreams. Zechariah mentions various times that he
consciously ‘lifted his eyes’ (v.18; 2:1; 5:1; 6:1). In 4:1, the angel awakened
him from sleep, so that he could see a vision and in 5:5, he commanded him to
lift his eyes. Zechariah writes of eight visions.
In order to know the
significance of the visions, he asks ten questions. Blessed is he that asks
questions, for he will receive answers. The mysteries of the Kingdom of God are
made known to such people (Mt.4:10-12). There are many, who are interested in
having experiences, but to Zechariah, the experience was not as important as
the significance. He wanted to understand what God was doing in his day,
knowing that it also had future significance. We have a prophet in Zechariah,
who marked the coming of the Messiah in a distant future. He asked and we
benefit, because he not only shared the things that he saw, but joined them to
the answer given him.
In this vision, a Man comes
riding on a red horse having a mission to fulfill (v.8). It is a very important
Person and His mission is important; He is to carry out the most important plan
in the world… the plan of God. Red is the symbol of judgment, blood and war. He
is among the myrtles, trees that only grow to a height of about ten feet and in
the vision they are in a low-lying area. The myrtle trees symbolize the people
of God, Israel, in a state of humiliation, just being freed from captivity. A
little later the Man is revealed as the Angel of the Lord and seems in a
similar position, as Joshua saw Him, when He called Himself the Captain of the
hosts of the Lord (Jos.5:13-15). This is the Word of God, the eternal Son of
God.
After Him come other horses
(of course, having riders) of various colors… red, sorrel and White. The colors
mentioned certainly symbolized something and as the numbers in the Bible, they
are consistent in their symbolism from beginning to end. That is because it is
the work of the same Author, the Holy Spirit, who knows perfectly how to
communicate with human beings. After Pentecost, He proceeded from the Father,
sent from the Son, to teach Christians from His textbook, the Bible. The colors
depict the ministry of the angels… judgment, victory and a combination of both.
Zechariah is a young man, who
know how to ask questions, as we have already said, and in this verse (v.9), he
asks his first question. A heavenly messenger is with him throughout this time
to inform him. Heaven is willing to answer question and his question concerns
these horses. We now enter the spiritual world and we have come to learn about
angels that are led by the Angel of the Lord.
The Man remains among the
myrtles and He is the one who answers the question (v.10). By His answer, we
learn something, not only about these angels, but about the mission of angels
in general. He says that they are sent from the Lord on a reconnaissance mission.
They are a spiritual patrol that enter into the business of men. We should know
that the world of spirits is very real, more real and older then the material
world that we see, and truthfully, is controlled by spirits, good and bad (see
Job 1:7; 2:2).
The Angel of the Lord intercedes
For the first time, the Man
is called the Angel of the Lord (v.11). He is among the myrtles that symbolize
the people of Israel, as we have already mentioned, and in the same way, we see
Him among the seven candlesticks in the book of Revelation, which symbolize
seven churches. The Lord, the good Shepherd, is always among His people, be
they Jews or Gentiles. The angels report to Him and their information concerns
the political situation, which for the moment is tranquil. The reign of the
Persians, who have defeated the Babylonians, has been established and there is peace.
It may be somewhat surprising
that the tranquil situation in the world does not please the Angel of the Lord
(v.12). Many times, the things that cause the world to rejoice, saddens heaven.
The Son of God always has been an intercessor and he prays to His Father, not
for the world, but for His people (Jn.17:9). In the days of His flesh, He said,
“I have not come to the world to bring peace”, therefore His mission is not to
better its condition, but to bring to pass that which is of benefit to His
people. He has entered with a red horse and with forces that will upset the
present tranquility. He prays to the Lord of Hosts, which is His name and the manner
in which God manifests Himself throughout this book, demonstrating his
sovereignty over the situation on earth. He asks that God would do a work that
would upset this condition and would favor Israel, now that the 70 years of
anger against them, have passed. With what mercy he desires that the Father
should pity them! The years of anger were necessary, and not a day less, to try
them and break their rebellion, but because of His mercy, he did not let one
day more than necessary pass. God’s discipline is under total control.
Now the Lord responds with
gracious, consoling words to the angel who is instructing Zechariah (v.13). He
is “The Father of mercies, the God of all comfort” (2 Co.1:3). Luther said, “If
you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary mercy, but the true
mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary
sin… Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong; but let your trust in Christ be
stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the
world… Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a
meager sacrifice for our sins?” The wrath is past and it is time to confide in
His mercy.
These things were said in the
hearing of Zechariah, so that he could proclaim, not wrath, but God’s jealousy
for His people, abused by their enemies (v.14). The zeal of the Lord for
Jerusalem, for Mt. Zion and for His house, was demonstrated by Jesus, when He
saw the spiritual state of Jerusalem in His day and when He enter the temple
before Passover. He wept over Jerusalem and entered the temple, casting out all
the businessmen, because ‘the zeal of Your house has consumed me” (Ps.69:9).
The unfolding of an eternal plan
The Lord’s discipline,
executed upon Israel, was occasion for their enemies to aggravate their
suffering and profit from it, rejoicing in their calamity. They had no right to
do this. However, the profit that they were looking to gain was not the cause,
but the result of something else that motivated them. What was the motivation
and the reason, precisely, that angered the Lord? It was the fact that they
were at ease in self-confidence (v.15), in the same state of which Habakkuk
writes in 2:4: “As for the proud one, his soul is not right within him.” God
demands that all the world deposit their confidence in Him, because “the just
shall live by faith”.
Those who do not trust God
become His enemies, intending to profit from His people in the time of their
weakness. Without the defending hand of God upon them, the enemies think that
this is the time to destroy them with their own power and astuteness. Seventy
years is a brief time to discipline His people. Enemies of God and His people,
watch out for eternal wrath! God requires that all people abandon their
self-confidence and be reconciled to Him, trusting in His; and if they refuse,
the Lord of Hosts will battle against them.
The people who left the land,
because of God’s anger, now return with His great mercy that exceeds the
previous wrath. The Lord of Hosts will work, so that His house may be rebuilt,
because He longs to cohabitate with His people again. The work will extend over
all the city of Jerusalem and the measuring line signifies this reconstruction
(v.16).
The Lord of Hosts continues
His work, even beyond Jerusalem, extending it to other cities of Israel, which
will prosper again after the captivity. When the Bible speaks of Zion it is
pointing to the spiritual center, that is, the heart of Israel… the people who
are concerned for the spiritual wellbeing of the nation. What God unfolds will
be a motive of consolation for Zion, and Jerusalem will become the capital city
again, as God determined from the beginning (v.17). As early as the book of
Genesis, it is evident that the Lord had chosen Jerusalem, because there is a
meeting between the patriarch, Abraham, with the priest, Melchizedek, king of
Salem (afterwards called Jeru-salem).
The Lord of Hosts continues
His work, even beyond Jerusalem, extending it to other cities of Israel, which
will prosper again after the captivity. When the Bible speaks of Zion it is
pointing to the spiritual center, that is, the heart of Israel… the people who
are concerned for the spiritual wellbeing of the nation. What God unfolds will
be a motive of consolation for Zion, and Jerusalem will become the capital city
again, as God determined from the beginning (v.17). As early as the book of
Genesis, it is evident that the Lord had chosen Jerusalem, because there is a
meeting between the patriarch, Abraham, with the priest, Melchizedek, king of
Salem (afterwards called Jeru-salem).
Although a revival occurs in
the time of Zechariah, in this prophesy
we see a perfection that has not yet taken place in all of history, nor will it
take place until God deals with the enemies of Israel once and for all. The
perfect fulfillment will not occur until the Lord Jesus Christ reigns over the
earth from Jerusalem in the Millennium. Therefore the complete vision ought to
interest us, if we expect to be with Him in that reign.
The second
vision
The four horns and the four craftsmen
In the prophetic Word, horns
symbolize powers (Dn.7:7-8, 20, 24; 8:3, 6-7, 20; Rev. 12:3; 13:1, 11; 17:3, 7,
12, 16). As animals use their horns to push at, dominate and gain preeminence,
in the same way human powers push one against another until the strongest one
prevails. The four horns in the vision are four powers (v.18). In Amos 6:13,
this principle is well illustrated, where horns is a proper translation. It
speaks of Israel exalting itself and thinking that it has won horns because of
its own strength and the Lord is letting them know that their boasting is in vain.
Zechariah wants to know the
significance of the vision of the four horns and asks his second question. The
answer is that they were those that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem (19).
Because we are dealing with prophecy, this statement does not only speak of
what exists in that day, but things that will come to be in the future. Probably
these four are the world powers of Daniel 2:1-49 and 7:1-28. The verb is the
key to the interpretation… scatter. Since Egypt, world powers have always been
involved with Israel and Israel has had people of influence among them to
preserve the people.
In this period of Jewish
history, the four kingdoms are very significant. Babylon has executed its power
over the world, pursuing and carrying the Jews into captivity and the Media-Persians
took their place. Zechariah and the Jews had lived under their dominion, and
before the Messiah would come, the Greeks and the Romans would hold power. It’s
no wonder that in the time of Jesus, under Rome the fourth empire, that the
Jews were awaiting their Messiah to liberate them from the four horns
(Dan.2:40-44; 7:7-14). Those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah wanted to
make Him king by force. We read much in the Gospels about entering into His
kingdom, but for that, we must wait for His second coming. His kingdom now has
come without observation and His throne is set in the heart of His people.
Apparently, the four craftsmen enter into the second
visión, because no commentator considers this vision separately (v.21). The craftsmen
are raised up by God as opponents against the horns. They enter to smash the
nations that have oppressed Israel. We need not fear the oppressors. For each
horn, God has a craftsman. Beforehand, God has determined their end and already
has at hand the means to throw them down. He terrorizes them.
It makes me think of Isaiah 7
and a time when two confederate nations came against Judah. The heart of Judah
and its king “shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind”. The word
of God came through His prophet, Isaiah, “Take care and be calm, have no fear
and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebands”.
A few verses later, he continues, “It shall not stand nor shall it come to
pass.” Then God shows them the future of their enemies: “The land whose two
kings you dread will be forsaken.” The remedy, to which Isaiah points, is the
same divine remedy as always for each human dilemma: “A virgin will be with
child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” We run to Jesus and
there we find gracious words of comfort and victory. Nothing that the enemy has
formed against you will prosper.
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