VISION #8 – GOD’S PROMISES SET FORTH

INTRODUCTION:

            Sixteen weeks ago, we began looking at the eight-night visions that Zechariah received in one night.  The first seven that we have already looked at communicated that the LORD remembered all His promises, and not only did He remember them, but would fulfill all that He had promised, they would be ultimately fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah.  The visions and what they portrayed were given to comfort the people of God that had returned from exile to a destroyed city and were wondering if Yahweh planned to keep His word that had been relayed to them from the former prophets.  This eighth and final vision was the perfect conclusion to all the prophet had already witnessed and it specifically revealed that Yahweh was ready to set His plan in motion.  Yahweh of hosts showed Zechariah that His heavenly hosts were prepared for action and that He would send them forth to set His plan in motion precisely as He had shown it to Zechariah.  This final vision confirmed that God will faithfully remember and fulfill all He has promised and determined to do.  Let’s pray and then get into this morning’s passage of Scripture.

--PRAY--

 

SCRIPTURE:

            Turn in your Bibles this morning to Zechariah 6:1-8.  Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.

     Zechariah 6:1-8,

            “Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains. With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot strong dappled horses. Then I spoke and said to the angel who was speaking with me, ‘What are these, my lord?’  The angel replied to me, ‘These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth, with one of which the black horses are going forth to the north country; and the white ones go forth after them, while the dappled ones go forth to the south country.  When the strong ones went out, they were eager to go to patrol the earth.  And He said, ‘Go, patrol the earth.’  So they patrolled the earth. Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, ‘See, those who are going to the land of the north have appeased My wrath in the land of the north.’ ” (Zechariah 6:1–8, NASB95)[1]

GOD’S PLAN SET IN MOTION (Zechariah 6:1-3)

            This eighth and final vision begins in the same way that many of Zechariah’s visions began.  The prophet stated, “Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold…” (Zechariah 6:1a, NASB95)[2]  This phrase almost always signaled the start of a new vision, although in the seventh vision it was used to signal a new feature coming into the vision.  Here in verse one of chapter six it again signals the beginning of a new vision, the final vision of Zechariah’s night of visions.  Zechariah begins to inform us what he saw and beheld as he lifted his eyes.  This vision parallels the first vision, and it does so by again employing horses of different colors.  These horses in this eighth vision were used to show how God was moving His plan forward.  One of the differences between the first and eighth visions is the first vision only featured three different colors of horses; this final vision features four colors.  The wording seems to indicate matched teams of the same color.  In this context, the number four symbolizes all of God’s creation, since the horses are sent to patrol the whole earth.  The number four is used this way in other passages to encompass the entire planet.  In Isaiah 11:17, the prophet speaks of the four corners of the earth and Daniel and Zechariah speak of the four winds of heaven, each of these phrases speak of something that is happening globally. In the second vision Zechariah saw four horns that symbolized the four major world empires of history.  In this eighth vision, God uses four teams of horses to illustrate His plan to accomplish His purposes globally.

            Not only did these two visions, the first and the eighth, differ in the number of horse colors, but they also differed in content.  The first vision only had horses, the eighth vision has horses and chariots demonstrating that God was ready to act.  In the first vision the horses and their riders were patrolling the earth and then bringing a report of what they found.  In this final vision, the presence of the chariots shows us that this is not a reconnaissance mission, but God is advancing His forces into battle.  This is seen in the fact that Zechariah reports that the horses and chariots were coming forth.  This is very much like the flying scroll, God’s curse, the angels and ephah in the previous chapter, all of which was described as “coming” or “going forth,” revealing to us that God’s plan was in motion.  In other words, God was actively moving to execute judgment.  The Lord of hosts was deploying the chariots of His heavenly host to accomplish that end times plan that would ultimately usher in the millennial kingdom and the righteous reign of the Messiah.

            Another difference between the first and eighth visions is in the first the horses were in a ravine but in the eighth vision the chariots and horses are coming out from between the two mountains.  By identifying them as the two mountains indicates for us that these two mountains were known by Zechariah and the people of Judah to whom he ministered.  Many Biblical scholars as far back as the 4th century believe that the two mountains refer to Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives.  This conclusion is reasonable since the ravine mentioned earlier was possibly the Kidron valley, the valley between Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives.  While the first vison referred to the valley between the two mountains, the eighth vision looked to the mountains on either side of the valley, the location where God’s triumph will take place.  That is why the prophet said that the mountains were bronze mountains, since bronze often symbolized strength and holiness, as Daniel described the arms and feet of the preincarnate Lord Jesus when He appeared to Daniel (Daniel 10:6).  The apostle John also said that Jesus’ feet were like burnished bronze when He appeared to him in Revelation (Revelation 1:15-16).  These mountains will display the infinite power and purity of God’s victory.  Remember that at the Lord’s return He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives and from there redeem His people.  These mountains will be the location of God’s victory over His enemies and the enemies of His people, and this vision highlights that God was committed to such triumph for His glory, and He will commission the host of heaven to bring it to pass.

            A fourth difference between the two parallel visions is in the color of the horses, the colors described are not all the same.  In the first vision the horses were red, sorrel, and white.  In the last vision Zechariah writes, “With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot strong dappled horses.” (Zechariah 6:2–3, NASB95)[3]  The NASB refers to the dappled horses as strong, I think the ESV has a more accurate translation that refers to all of the horses as mighty.  The ESV says, “The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.” (Zechariah 6:2–3, ESV)[4]  Each color is significant.  The red horses represented war, the black horses represent famine, the white horses represent victory, and the dappled horses symbolized death.  The dappled horse relates to the ashen horse from our Scripture reading this morning in Revelation 6:8, which is associated with death and Hades.  As the ESV states, all of the chariots and horses were mighty, the term translated horses is the Hebrew word for stallions.  These horses were powerful and able to overcome and destroy all opposition.  At the end of the age, the Lord will unleash His wrath upon the earth engaging in war, famine, victory, and death, for the purpose of confronting, cursing, conquering, and crushing those who have opposed and fought against Him.  He will use His infinite power to gain total victory and triumph completely and finally over His enemies.  The first vision portrayed the world at a seeming standstill, in this final vision, God revealed that one day His war chariots will fan out across the world to dramatically complete His purposes and to bring Him glory.

            These same-colored horses appear in Revelation 6, which was our Scripture reading this morning.  The apostle John saw red, black, white, and dappled or ashen horses, just like Zechariah saw.  In revealing the same-colored horses to John, the Lord was affirming that His plan had not changed.  God confirmed to John that He will use His heavenly hosts to judge the world and exalt His Son just as Zechariah saw in his eighth and final vision.  God remembered what He had revealed to Zechariah, and He will fulfill every detail of that promise.

 

ALL GOD’S PROMISES SET IN MOTION (Zechariah 6:4-8)

            In verse four as in some of the other visions Zechariah asked for further information, he wanted to know the significance of the four chariots and the horses.  As before he turned to the interpreting angel who has been with him during most of the visions, and asked him, “What are these, my lord?” (Zechariah 6:4b, NASB95)[5]  The angel speaking with him responded and said, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth…” (Zechariah 6:5b, NASB95)[6] In other words, the angel explained that these chariots will carry out all that God had revealed to Zechariah in the night visions.  The angel called these chariots the four spirits of heaven meaning that they represented angels who were to be God’s instruments of judgment.  The Hebrew word translated “spirits” can also be translated “wind.”  In calling His angels “spirits” or “winds” (as some translations do) God was revealing that He would use His angels to carry out what He had revealed to Zechariah in the other visions.  He would send these angels to help restore Israel from exile, and to assist God in carrying out His judgment on the nations.

            The angel speaking with the prophet also said that these angels were “going forth,” a phrase used repeatedly in the sixth and seventh visions.  Just as the scroll and ephah went forth, so these chariots went forth in keeping with God’s purposes.  Visions six and seven revealed truth about God’s impending judgment.  In this vision, the Lord sent forth these angels to ensure that His judgment was carried out.

            The angels were sent out to carrying out God’s judgment from their post of “standing before the Lord of all the earth…” (Zechariah 6:5c, NASB95)[7]  Angels are God’s servants, and they stand before Him, worshiping and waiting to do whatever He commands them to do.  It was Yahweh Himself who sent them out to carry out His purposes.  He is called here the Lord of all the earth, in other words, the ruler of all of His creation, both natural and supernatural.  This title of sovereignty was used in Zechariah’s fifth vision for the Messiah, the One who will possess all sovereignty and authority as the ultimate King and great High Priest of the whole world.  Given this connection it is clear that the Messiah is the One commanding the angels to carry out the purposes of God for which He sent them forth.  The Lord Jesus Christ commissioned these angels to execute judgment so that at His second coming, His glorious light would triumph as he exercised dominion over all the earth.

            Yahweh assigned these chariots to go forth in certain directions.  Starting with the black horses they were to go forth to the north country bringing famine and devastation.  For Israel’s enemies the most effective way to attack Israel was from the north, and many invading armies, such as Assyria and Babylon, and later on the Greeks and the Romans came from that direction.  In the context of this passage, the north country refers to Babylon and relates to the prophet’s seventh vision of judgment against the harlot of Babylon.  But to ensure total destruction of wicked Babylon the Lord did not only send the black horses’ chariot but also the chariot pulled by the white horses symbolizing victory.  They will go forth after the black horses of famine as the Lord crushes the enemies of the north in complete and utter destruction.

            This is not the only direction that the chariots went carry out God’s judgment.  The angel speaking with Zechariah said that the dappled horses will go forth to the south country.  This primarily refers to Egypt, which opposed Israel from the very beginning of the nation and throughout its history.  These dappled or ashen horses symbolize death and went out to curse this nation which had previously cursed Israel.  This vision predicted that Egypt will one day be broken in the end times judgment of God.

            By sending His chariots of judgment to the north and the south, God will ultimately bring judgment, death, and punishment to all of Israel’s enemies.  Neither the west nor the east are mentioned because attacks against Israel did not generally come from those directions.  Israel was protected by the Mediterranean Sea on the west and great deserts to the east.  The military threats they faced were mainly from the north and the south.  By sending angels in those two directions God would eliminate every enemy who had ever come against His people.  This final judgment of nations to the north and the south fulfills part of Zechariah’s second vision as well, which depicted nations destroying nations.

            The angel told where three of the four chariots were going, the black, the white, and the dappled horses.  What about the red horses?  Remember the red horses symbolize war and bloodshed, they remain in Israel, for there will be war throughout the entire nation with blood up to the horses’ bridles for a distance of two hundred miles according to Revelation 14:20.  As mentioned by Daniel and later on by Zechariah this final and epic battle will not only destroy Israel’s enemies but also purge unbelievers from the nation also, which Zechariah witnessed in the sixth vision, which prophesied that God’s covenant curse and judgment will fall on the rebellious among His own people.  This too will come about by the angels commissioned to carry out God’s judgment.

            In verse seven, the angel speaking with Zechariah revealed that God would accomplish what He had promised in the first vision.  The angel said, “When the strong ones went out, they were eager to go to patrol the earth. And He said, ‘Go, patrol the earth.’  So they patrolled the earth.” (Zechariah 6:7, NASB95)[8]  In the first vision the horsemen were on a reconnaissance mission, but the angels here are called the strong or mighty ones, able to carry out and overcome.  In the first vision, the angels came in, but in this vision, these chariots went forth.  In the first vision, the angels gave a report, but here they sought to go out and patrol the earth, to assess the situation and carry out divine judgment.  In the first vision, the Lord promises to comfort His people; in this final vision, He commissioned the carrying out of those promises.  He (Yahweh of hosts) said to these angels, “Go, patrol the earth” and in obedience, “they patrolled the earth,” carrying out God’s will.  The plan Yahweh revealed in the first vision, He began to carry out in the last.

            God demonstrated in this final vision that He will accomplish the promises found in the first, second, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh night visions that had been witnessed by Zechariah.  The Lord concludes this vision by showing the prophet that He will fulfill the revelation of the prophet’s fourth vision as well.  The prophet wrote, “Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, ‘See, those who are going to the land of the north have appeased My wrath in the land of the north.’ ” (Zechariah 6:8, NASB95)[9]  At the end of this vision Zechariah recorded that the Lord cried out to me and spoke to me, this cry is a cry of triumph and enthusiasm from what will result from His work.  Yahweh’s angelic forces will go forth to punish one of Israel’s worst and wickedest enemies, Babylon, in the land of the north.  Such judgment will cause God’s Spirit to have rest in the land of the north.  Unfortunately, the NASB uses the phrase, “have appeased my wrath” when the Hebrew literally says, “have caused My Spirit to have rest.”  This idea of rest connects with the fourth vision were God’s redeemed people are pictured sitting under their own vines and fig trees, experiencing the Eden-like rest of Christ’s coming kingdom.  At that time, the Lord will completely fulfill that millennial rest that he had promised, and not only in Israel but even in the land of the north, the land of Israel’s archenemies.

            That the Spirit of God will rest at a future time is a major deal.  The earlier visions already declared the role of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit was mentioned in the context of the lampstand as He communed with God’s people.  The Spirit also empowered Zerubbabel to complete the rebuilding of the temple, prefiguring His empowerment of the Messiah to build the millennial temple.  Seen in all the visions, the Holy Spirit is active in all divine efforts of communing, empowering, and governing.  So, when the Spirt of God rests, all that God has determined and revealed and promised in vision and prophecy will have been fulfilled.  Then there will be true rest.

            The Messiah’s kingdom will be so restful that not only will there be world peace, but God Himself will rest, as He did after creation.  The kingdom will be paradise recovered—the earth restored to the peace that will be the result of the reign of the Prince of Peace.  Listen to what Isaiah wrote concerning this coming kingdom, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6–7, NASB95)[10]  This is the fullest triumph, and in this final night vision, God commissioned His heavenly hosts to that end, to bring about true rest.

CONCLUSION:

            Zechariah’s eighth and final night vision is the sum total of all the other visions.  This vision with glaring clarity again demonstrates that God remembers His promises and His unchanging character and word guarantees their fulfillment.  Even though we cannot always see His invisible power, it is there, and God has reminded us that He rules every spiritual and material reality in existence.  He is the Creator of all and the Lord of all the earth.  In the future, Yahweh of hosts will send His angelic hosts throughout Israel and the world to execute judgment and to redeem His people endowing them with salvation just as He showed Zechariah on the twenty-fourth day of the month of Shebat in the second year of Darius.

            To all who still wonder as the mockers in 2nd Peter wondered, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:4a, NASB95)[11]  The answer was given more than twenty-five hundred years ago in God’s revelation to Zechariah, the grandson of Iddo.  For he heard Yahweh saying, “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 1:2–3, NASB95)[12]  With that, Zechariah was given visions to comfort God’s people of all generations, these visions revealed that one day Israel will turn to God in repentance and faith in their Messiah.  Then they will be given all the blessings of God’s covenant salvation, and those salvation blessings will extend to all who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus.  As Yahweh showed Zechariah, these promises are only fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son and the ultimate King and great High Priest of His people.  What a future we have to look forward to, to be in the presence of Jesus for all eternity.

 

[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[4]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2025. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.