Zechariah 1:1-20 NIV
A Call to Return to the Lord
1In the
eighth month of the second year of Darius, the Word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of
Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2“The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3Therefore
tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty
says: ‘Return to Me,’
declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.4Do not
be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what
the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil
ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to Me,
declares the Lord. 5Where
are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6But did
not My words and My decrees, which I commanded My servants the prophets,
overtake your ancestors?
“Then they repented and said,
‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and
practices deserve, just as He determined to do.’ ”
The Man Among the Myrtle Trees
7On the
twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second
year of Darius, the Word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of
Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
8 During
the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse.
He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown
and white horses.
9I
asked, “What are these, my lord?”
The angel who was talking with
me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
10Then
the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”
11And
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.”
12Then
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?” 13So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the
angel who talked with me.
14Then
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, 15and I
am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but
they went too far with the punishment.’
16“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.
17“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.’ ”
Four Horns and Four Craftsmen
18Then I
looked up, and there before me were four horns. 19I asked
the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?”
He answered me, “These are the
horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
He answered, “These are the
horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their 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 date joins on
Zechariah's prophecy to those of Haggai. Two months before, "in the sixth
month" Haggai 1:1, had Haggai, conjointly with Zechariah Ezra
5:1-2, exhorted Zerubbabel and the people to resume the intermitted building of
the temple.
These had used such
diligence, notwithstanding the partial discouragement of the Persian
Government, that God gave them "in the seventh month" Ezra 5:3-5, the magnificent promise of the later Glory of
the temple through the Coming of Christ Haggai 2:1-9.
Still, as Haggai
too warned them, the conversion was not complete. So Zechariah in the eighth,
as Haggai in the ninth Haggai 2:10-14 month, urges upon them the necessity
of thorough and inward repentance, as the condition of partaking of those
promises.
1:1-6 God's Almighty power and Sovereign dominion, should engage
and encourage sinners to repent and turn to Him. It is very desirable to have
the Lord of hosts for our friend, and very dreadful to have Him for our enemy.
Review what is
past, and observe the message God sent by His servants, the prophets, to your
fathers. Turn now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings. Be persuaded
to leave your sins, as the only way to prevent approaching ruin. What is become
of our fathers, and of the prophets that preached to them? They are all dead
and gone. But where are they? When they died, there was not an end of them;
they are in eternity, in the world of spirits, the unchangeable world to which
we hasten quickly. Where are they? Those of them who lived and died in sin, are
in torment. Those who lived and died in Christ, are in heaven; and if we live
and die as they did, we shall be with them shortly and eternally.
The prophets are
gone. Christ is a Prophet Who lives forever, therefore in another world, both
we and our prophets shall live forever: to prepare for that world ought to be
our great care in this life. The preachers died, and the hearers died, but the Word
of God does not die; not one jot or title of it fell to the ground; for He is
Eternal One.
1:7-17 The prophet saw a dark, shady grove, hidden by hills. This
represented the low, melancholy condition of the Jewish nation.
A Man like a warrior sat on a red horse, in the midst of this shady myrtle-grove is the Pre-incarnate Christ. Though the church was in a low condition, Christ was present in the midst, ready to appear for the relief of His people. Behind him were angels ready to be employed by Him, some in acts of judgment, others of mercy, others in mixed events. Would we know something of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, we must apply, not to angels, for they are themselves learners, but to Christ Himself. He is ready to teach those humbly desirous to learn the things of God.
A Man like a warrior sat on a red horse, in the midst of this shady myrtle-grove is the Pre-incarnate Christ. Though the church was in a low condition, Christ was present in the midst, ready to appear for the relief of His people. Behind him were angels ready to be employed by Him, some in acts of judgment, others of mercy, others in mixed events. Would we know something of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, we must apply, not to angels, for they are themselves learners, but to Christ Himself. He is ready to teach those humbly desirous to learn the things of God.
The nations near
Judea enjoyed peace at that time, but the state of the Jews was unsettled,
which gave rise to the pleading that followed; but mercy must only be hoped for
through Christ. His intercession for His church prevails. The Lord answered the
Angel, this Angel of the Covenant, with promises of mercy and deliverance. All
the good words and comfortable words of the Gospel we receive from Jesus
Christ, as He received them from the Father, in answer to the prayer of His
Blood; and His ministers are to preach them to all the world.
The earth sat
still, and was at rest. It is not uncommon for the enemies of God to be at rest
in sin, while His people are enduring correction, harassed by temptation,
disquieted by fears of wrath, or groaning under oppression and persecution.
Here are predictions which had reference to the revival of the Jews after the
captivity, but those events were shadows of what shall take place in the
church, after the oppression of the New Testament Babylon is ended.
1:18-21 The enemies of the church threaten to cut off the name of
Israel. They are horns, emblems of power, strength, and violence. The prophet
saw them so formidable that he began to despair of the safety of every good
man, and the success of every good work; but the Lord showed him four workmen
empowered to cut off these horns.
With an eye of
sense we see the power of the enemies of the church; but it is only with an eye
of faith that we see it safe. The Lord shows us that. When God has work to do,
He will raise up some to do it, and others to defend it, and to protect those
employed in doing it.
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