Zachariah

Zechariah Chapter 6

• Zechariah 6:1 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.

Four chariots represent the four spirits of the heavens which go into all the earth and stand before God with their report of what they did or what is taking place upon the earth as described in verse 5.

The Mountains could also be symbolic of nations or empires. In the book of Daniel the king of Babylon was the head of gold, Silver arms were the Medes and the Persians, the kingdom of brass was the Grecian Empire, and iron was Rome.

If these chariots are merely symbolic of angels or messengers from the Lord, I can understand why the Lord would use chariots. In our day, it might be automobiles but if God would have used the symbols of transportation in our day, many who have read it over the years would not have understood it. We in modern times do understand what a chariot is but they would not have understood airplanes, helicopters or cars. God has to write so that all can understand if they study and seek to understand.

The word of God is only a mystery to the unbelievers or those who have no desire to understand. The minute we start to seek God for understanding, we will begin to understand little by little. It will probably not be all at once because I believe God wants us to continue to seek and not expect to instantly have all understanding of all mysteries.

This vision is similar to what we see in chapter 1 of Zechariah:

• Zechariah 1:8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
• 9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
• 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

Also in Revelation chapter 6 is a similar vision:

• Revelation 6:1 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.
• 2 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.
• 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
• 4 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.
• 5 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.
• 6 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.
• 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
• 8 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.

Now back to the description of the horses that pulled the chariots in Zechariah 6.

• Zechariah 6:2 In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;

The red horse in the book of Revelation is a horse representing a spiritual being which stirred up strife and took peace from the earth causing war. This comes from God's wrath and judgment upon those the persecute and kill his people.

Here we see God's judgment against Babylon for their treatment of the Jewish people. Although God allowed that judgment because of Judah's sin, many overstepped the bounds God sets and show cruelty. We saw this in the book of Daniel. The black horse in Revelation had to do with commerce. Perhaps famine and death from famine was indicated.

• Zechariah 6:3 And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grizzled and bay horses.

Grizzled and bay seems to indicate a mixture of some kind, some kind of gray. In Revelation many assume the white horse represents Christ but since that is before the wrath of God is poured out, it may have represented the Anti Christ instead.

Many times we see judgment first against Israel for forsaking the true God and then for the nations that persecuted Israel and the Jewish people.

• Zechariah 6:4 Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
• 5 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.
• 6 The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grizzled go forth toward the south country.

The Black and white horses or spirits went to do the will of God in the North Country. In Jeremiah chapter 1 we see that evil comes from the north mainly the territory of Babylon. Perhaps these are bringing deliverance instead of judgment. I get this from verse 8.

In Zechariah 1:10 we see something similar to verse 7.

• Zechariah 1:10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

Resuming our main text:

• Zechariah 6:7 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.

We see that they couldn't go forth without God's permission. This shows us the sovereignty of God and His power over all things.

• Zechariah 6:8 Then cried he upon me, and spoke unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
• 9 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
• 10 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;
• 11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

The crowns show us that God has not forsaken his people, Israel or the Jews. Judah was to be the tribe chosen by God to be the rulers. Judah was to have a king and a high priest. Christ being from the tribe of Judah is also a king and a high priest after first interceding for sins. We must never forget this part. Jesus came first to save us from sin and put within us who receive this, power to overcome sin. We become new creatures in Christ. 

In Exodus 29:6 we see Aaron as priest similar to Joshua in Zechariah. Christ will be both a priest and a king.

• Exodus 29:6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.

We are coming now to a double prophecy. First in the days that Babylon was overthrown and the Medes and Persians took over, the temple was to be rebuilt and the Jews would return to their homeland. This temple was only temporary. This return to their homeland was to be done to prepare the first coming of the Messiah or Branch spoken of in the next few verses. This temple would later be destroyed by the Roman empire because of the rejection by the majority of Israel of the Messiah, namely Jesus Christ the Son of God.

• Zechariah 6:12 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:

John speaks of Him:

• John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Zecharaiah chapter 3 speaks of Him:

• Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
• 9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

The Book of Hebrews speaks of Him:

• Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
• 2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
• 3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.

After the rejection of the first coming of Christ, Jesus will come a second time to build the final temple of the Lord. There will be another temporary temple built either just before or at the same time as the appearance of the antichrist. This will temporarily fool the world into thinking he is the one or the Christ but He is the man of perdition and the wicked imitator of Christ who will defile the temple of the Lord similar to what a certain Greek leader did once before during the Greek rule.

Whether Israel really accepts this one as Christ, is debatable but they do make a covenant with him. It is ironic that before the first coming of Christ, there was one that defiled the temple called Antiochus Epiphanies a forerunner of the future antichrist and the future antichrist will come just before the second coming of Jesus Christ. He also will defile the temple and exalt himself to be god. That is why a future temporary temple will be rebuilt at some future date. 

After the coming of Christ the temporary temple will be destroyed and Christ will build the final one that is set up during His 1000 year Millennial reign. When the final end comes see in the the book of Revelation, there will no longer be a need for a temple.

• Zechariah 6:13 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.
• 14 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.
• 15 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.

We see from this prophecy that the earthly temple was built after the fall of Babylon and Israel returns to their land. Joshua the high priest was anointed for service. Verse 13 indicate a future restoration in the latter days when Jesus Christ returns to be king of kings and lord of lords. The final temple will be rebuilt again as indicated in verse 15.

Prophecy is easier to understand if we understand that during the spread of the gospel and the time of the Gentiles, the rule of Israel and the priesthood of Levi were removed. Israel ceased to be a nation for around 2000 years until 1948. Since the nation of Israel has been revived, we will see the final tribulation and judgment coming and the time of the Gentiles comes to a close the gospel returns to the Jewish people who will finally wake up after the deception of antichrist during the tribulation period or also called the time of Jacob's trouble.

There have been many temporary temples. The one Solomon built was destroyed by Babylon. The one built after the captivity was destroyed by the Roman army in 70 AD. There are two more to come, the last one built by the Lord Jesus Christ. At this present time believers in Jesus Christ; we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We now worship in spirit and in truth not depending on a temple. Until the church or congregation is taken away to be with Jesus, there probably will not be any temple built in Jerusalem but that is my own speculation. We are His temple at this time if the Holy Spirit dwells within us. 

There is no greater time in history for the church or believers in Jesus Christ to pray and seek God with all their might so that we do not become part of the apostate false religion or false church in the latter days that come against Israel. The true church will not persecute Israel. The true Church will not forsake the word of God neither will they be anti-Semitic.

Why? Because the proper study of the word shows us that God has not forsaken Israel, His promise to Abraham in "I will bless those that bless thee and curse those that curses thee" is still in effect. The true church will understand this, the false church or other false religions will not understand this. Israel has been cut off only temporarily. They will be grafted back into their own vine.

Even as I write there is Messianic congregations springing up all over the world. Many Jews have already found Yeshua their Messiah which is Jesus. The true church will rejoice in this. The false church will scoff at this. 

DC

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