Year 3. Day 265: Zechariah 6

The Vision of the Horses and Chariots

This vision brings us right back to where we started in this text.  Remember the first vision of Zechariah?  There were horses of various colors and scouts who were going about the land.  The horses and scouts were going to and fro and reporting back what they found.  These scouts went to and fro under the cover of the grove of myrtle trees.  At the end of the cycle of visions the horses go back out.  But they are no longer going out to scout.  These horses are teamed up and set before war chariots.  They go forth boldly setting out from between two strong and noticeable mountains.  These horses go out to make war in bringing judgment.

The colors of the horses are interesting, and no doubt when combined with the first vision are also the inspirations for John’s writing of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the New Testament book of Revelation (Apocalypse).  We are not told what the colors mean here in Zechariah, but their colors are still fairly universally accepted.  Red stands for war.  Black stands for death and famine.  White symbolizes triumph and victory.  Dapple (pale because of spotting, perhaps?) stands for plague and pestilence.

There is a reason that there are four.  The number four is often used to represent universality, especially with respect to the whole world.  After all, there are four points to the compass.  Thus, symbolically God is telling Zechariah that the judgment which is pouring out from heavens is universally applied to the whole earth.  Yes, it may be specifically applied to the north and south in this vision, but it is a measure of judgment to which the whole earth will be held accountable.  God sets the same bar for all of humanity.  Those of us who live in one area or another area are all still expected for be obedient to God’s ways.

In this particular vision, however, the horses and chariots are sent out specifically to the north and the south.  From the perspective of Israel, this would mean Babylon and Egypt no doubt.  Assyria had already been judged and now it was time for both Babylon and Egypt to pay for their part in the rebellion against God’s ways.

What is interesting is that after the horses go out we are told that the Spirit of God is at rest.  The Spirit of God is at peace.  Here’s the reason that this is particularly interesting.  Normally we think of God’s Spirit being at peace as a good thing where spirituality, joy, love, peace, and prosperity abound.  But in this text God’s Spirit is at peace immediately following the execution of justice.

This tells us about the righteousness of God’s character.  You see, peace is not only about the happy times for the righteous.  A righteous God cannot be at peace while sin is running rampant throughout the world.  A loving God cannot smite unrighteousness immediately without allowing for a time of potential repentance.  So God is always balancing His loving character with the building turmoil against the unrighteousness of the world.  Eventually God has enough and judgment must issue forth.  After judgment comes, God can once more be at peace.  It is odd and perhaps sometimes feels misleading to consider God as arriving at peace through the process of judgment.  But viewed from the right perspective it makes absolute sense.

The Crown atop Joshua’s Head

At first pass, this passage seems to be a confusion of facts.  After all, is it not Zerubbabel who builds the temple?  Sure, Joshua is there as the high priest no doubt supporting Zerubbabel’s work.  But the voice of scripture is uniform.  It is Zerubbabel who is God’s chosen instrument to rebuild the temple after the Babylonian exile.

So what is going on here?  I think God is trying to once more demonstrate where His focus truly resides.  Yes, God desired the physical temple to be built so that people could come and worship Him together.  But truthfully, God is more concerned about the temple built within each one of us.  He is more concerned about both the spirituality of the collective and the individual within the collective than He is concerned with the actual physical construction.  Just as God desires a broken spirit and a contrite heart more than He desires physical sacrifice – see Hosea 6:6 and Psalm 51:15-17, so God also desires the spiritual temple among men more than the physical temple.

Who is it that will bring about this spiritual temple?  The religious leaders!  Literally it is the work of the Branch – the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus.  But symbolically speaking, the ones sent among the people to bring them back to God are those who build the temple through the power of Christ.  Thus it is Joshua who receives the crown and is told that he will build the temple.

As an interesting aside, don’t forget that the Greek name of Jesus is actually Joshua in Aramaic and Hebrew.  So not only does Joshua receive the crown here in Zechariah 6 but we also realize a literal Joshua who is God’s Messiah and who is the cornerstone of the true spiritual temple!

We also hear that the “counsel of peace will be between them both.”  It is easy to wonder how we can be talking about one person – the Branch – and suddenly have “both.”  What God is saying here is that a priest shall sit upon the throne.  That is, God’s Messiah will be a spiritual leader and a kingly ruler.  The both does not refer to people; it refers to the office of priest and king.  In God’s day there will be unity between the spiritual and political leadership because one person will fill both roles.  Christ is both our spiritual authority as well as our political ruler.

<><