Zechariah- Visions (July 22, 29)
Zechariah
Visions
(July 22, 29)
The book of Zechariah is split into 2 distinct sections (and represents 2 distinct time periods and situations):
- Visions and encouragement for Jerusalem while the temple was being rebuilt (520-518 B.C.)
- Messages to remember after the temple was complete (480 B.C.),
especially leading up to the coming of the Messiah
We’ll spend the next 2 weeks looking at the visions God gave to Zechariah,
what they meant for God’s people then, and what they mean for God’s people now.
- Justice
Ref: Zechariah 1:8-17 (NIV)
“During the night I had a vision—and there before me was a man riding a red horse!
He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine.
Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
I asked, ‘What are these, my lord?’
The angel who was talking with me answered, ‘I will show you what they are.’
Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained,
‘They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth.’
And they reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees,
‘We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.’
Then the angel of the LORD said,
‘LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem
and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?’
So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
Then the angel who was speaking to me said,
‘Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure.
I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.”
‘Therefore, this is what the LORD says:
“I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt.
And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,”
declares the LORD Almighty.
‘Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“My towns will again overflow with prosperity,
and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.”"
The messengers report to God that Judah’s oppressors are living in careless and sinful ease.
God is answering the question we so often have, “Why is God allowing the wicked to prosper?”
1. God allowed Egypt, Edom, Moab, Philistia, Assyria, Babylon, and even Persia
to rule over Israel and Judah as an agent of punishment/consequence
for His people’s disobedience/sins.
Their prosperity was simply a side-effect of His plan for His people.
2. Many of these nations had moved into an attitude of destruction toward Israel
(rather than just ruling them). God was always going to bring about justice for any unfairness in their rule, but now (with their intent to destroy His people) His wrath was incurred.
Ref: Zechariah 1:15b (NIV)
“I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.”
If someone or some group “crosses the line” with God’s children, look out!
- Judgment (on a national level)
Ref: Zechariah 1:18-21 (NIV)
“Then I looked up – and there before me were four horns!
I asked the angel who was speaking to me, ‘What are these?’
He answered me, ‘These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.’
Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
I asked, ‘What are these coming to do?’
He answered, ‘These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head,
but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations
who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.’”
The four horns represent the four world powers that oppressed and scattered Judah and Israel:
- Egypt
- Assyria
- Babylon
- Persia
God will exercise His judgment. That is a certainty!
And when He does, it is thorough.
How many of these nations are still world powers? 0
How many of these nations still exist? 1
Are the descendants of these nations truly thriving today?
Outside of a few that are wealthy from oil, no.
They are among the most unsettled, peace-less people in the world.
- Restoration
Ref: Zechariah 2 (NIV)
“Then I looked up — and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand!
I asked, "Where are you going?"
He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is."
Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him
and said to him: "Run, tell that young man,
'Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it.
And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,' declares the LORD, 'and I will be its glory within.' "Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north," declares the LORD,
"for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven," declares the LORD.
"Come, O Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon!"
For this is what the LORD Almighty says:
"After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you —
for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye —
I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them.
Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.
"Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion.
For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD.
"Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people.
I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.
The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."”
Jerusalem will no longer be a city defined by its walls. It will be defined by God’s protection.
He will be His people’s protection (that includes us).
He will restore His people to glory defined by Him and limited only by Him.
- Sanctification
Ref: Zechariah 3 (NIV)
“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD,
and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.
The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan!
The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!
Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."
Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head."
So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by. The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: "This is what the LORD Almighty says:
'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements,
then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts,
and I will give you a place among these standing here.
"'Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you,
who are men symbolic of things to come:
I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.
See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua!
There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,'
says the LORD Almighty, 'and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
"'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the LORD Almighty."”
Joshua, the high priest, stands before God.
As the high priest he represents Jerusalem spiritually.
As such, he is in filthy rags (sound familiar?).
Joshua’s filthy garments are exchanged for clean clothes (sound familiar?)
Satan has accused Joshua, and God has rejected these accusations out of His holiness
(which Joshua is clothed with now).
Ref: 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
- Faithfulness
Ref: Zechariah 4 (NIV)
“Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
“What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.
“Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. (These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)”
Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I said.
So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.””
Lots of really deep imagery in this vision (very “Revelation-ish”).
Here’s some of the interpretations:
- Zechariah 4:2- The 7 lights are in alignment with the 7 churches in Revelation
(could be representative of the wide dispersion of the Jewish nation at this time) - Zechariah 4:3- 2 olive trees = priestly and royal offices
(Joshua and Zerubbabel, see Zechariah 4:11-14);
there is also a strong parallel with the 2 witnesses described in Revelation 11:3 - Zechariah 4:2-3- gold lampstand, bowl (on top of lampstand), 7 lights,
2 olive trees = God’s steady supply of power and might (olive oil was used as fuel for lamps at this time), which reminds His church that the light that eminates from us is not our own (see Zechariah 4:6);
this type of lampstand was in the old temple and would be placed in the rebuilt temple;
there is also some alignment with the description of the 7 bowls of God’s wrath in Revelation 16 - Zechariah 4:10- The new temple was going to be a smaller version of the original temple
(which obviously discouraged some).
God warns Zechariah against “despising” small things He’s ordained
(we’re making judgments based on our own view rather than His).
- Judgment (on a personal level)
Ref: Zechariah 5:1-4 (NIV)
“I looked again – and there before me was a flying scroll!
He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”
And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. The LORD Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones.’””
Just one image here… the flying scroll.
The direct interpretation is given to us in Zechariah 5:3-4 (it represents the curse of sin,
especially stealing and lying).
- Zechariah 5:2- This is a BIG scroll (30’ in length, 15’ in width), these are the same dimensions of the old Temple porch (see 1 Kings 6:3) where the Law was read and where reconciliation was to be made by personal sacrifice;
the large size also conveys the magnitude of the issue at hand (sin and judgment);
also a strong correlation to the Book of Life in Revelation 20-21 - Zechariah 5:3- This curse applies to “the whole land” (to everyone),
obvious foreshadowing of the Gospel’s reach beyond merely the Jewish nation
- Banishment
Ref: Zechariah 5:5-11 (NIV)
“Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me,
“Look up and see what this is that is appearing.”
I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “It is a measuring basket.”
And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”
Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!
He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed the lead cover down over its mouth.
Then I looked up – and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings!
They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it.
When it is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.””
Lots of different kinds of banishment described here.
- Zechariah 5:8- Wickedness is bound up (with a heavy lead casing on top of it);
very reminiscent of Satan’s binding in Revelation 20:1-3 - Zechariah 5:11- Wickedness is removed to Babylonia
(which had by this time become a symbol of wickedness and idolatry);
alignment with woman of Babylon described in Revelation 17-18, from which wickedness comes
- Sovereignty
Ref: Zechariah 6:1-8 (NIV)
“I looked up again – and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains – mountains of bronze!
The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled – all of them powerful.
I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”
The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”
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.
Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north.””
Here are the four horses again. This imagery seems to be conveying something related, but different.
- Zechariah 6:2a- The red horses symbolize war; there will be times of calamity and destruction in our lives, and there were certainly times of calamity in the life of the Jews at this time
- Zechariah 6:2b – The black horses follow the red horses and symbolize the melancholy consequences of war (unrest, mourning, rebuilding the mess); we all face this time of clean-up
- Zechariah 6:3a- The white horses follow the black and symbolize comfort, peace, prosperity, and, above all, hope; God always pours out His compassion and blessing on those after their season of grief
- Zechariah 6:3b- The dappled/grizzled & bay/speckled/spotted/ash-coloured horses represent the times of minor “ups-and-downs” (where we live most of our lives)
Ref: Zechariah 6:5 (NIV)
“The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.””
Conclusion
What’s the pattern of these visions, and what do they teach us when put together?
- God will not allow the wicked to continue to prosper, even on this earth
(He is just, despite how we may feel today) - God is thorough and everlasting in His justice (there’s nothing half-hearted or ineffective about it)…
this should bring us both great joy and great fear/awe\ - God desires to restore ALL (not just some), so that they are spared His wrath
- God will clean us up (sanctify us) if we come to Him
- God will faithfully sustain us and will not abandon us once we’ve become His
- God will ultimately judge the sins of each one of us
- God will banish and eventually destroy sin for eternity
- God is sovereign over any circumstance in our lives and has paid the price to cover over ALL
Sounds an awful lot like a Gospel presentation to me!
