Zechariah 6

CHAPTER 6THEME: Vision of the four chariots; the symbolic crowning of JoshuaWe come now to the final vision of the ten which were given to Zechariah in one night. To get them before us as a background, let me enumerate them again: (1) The riders under the myrtle trees; (2) the four horns; (3) the four smiths; (4) the man with the measuring line; (5) Joshua and Satan; (6) the Branch and the Stone with seven eyes; (7) the lampstand and the two olive trees; (8) the flying scroll; and (9) the woman in the ephah; and now the tenth, the four chariots. Let me say again that some expositors find only eight visions in this series, but I believe that it is highly consistent to see the visions as ten.

Zechariah 6:1

VISION OF THE FOUR CHARIOTS"I …lifted up mine eyes, and looked" indicates again that his eyes were wide open; he saw these thingsthis was not a dream. “Two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.” The majority of the outstanding commentators agree that these two mountains are Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives, which would locate these four chariots down in the Kidron Valley. “There came four chariots"we assume that horses were hitched to the chariots and there were charioteers or drivers for each of them. As we read on, we will find that this is true. These chariots could be interpreted as representing the four great world empires that Daniel saw in his vision. All of them were gentile empires, and all of them have been judged of God. That part of Daniel’s vision has been literally fulfilled. These four chariots could represent that very easily. However, I am inclined to identify these four chariots with the vision which John saw in the Apocalypse, speaking of that which is yet future. In fact, Revelation 6 opens with John’s vision of the Great Tribulation period by presenting to us four horsemen, and there is a striking correspondence between them and Zechariah’s vision of the four chariots. We have seen in chapter 5 the visions of judgment primarily with reference to the people of Israel, but here in chapter 6 God’s judgment is upon the gentile nations which have oppressed God’s people. It reveals not only a past judgment but a future judgment which is to come during the Great Tribulation period. “And the mountains were mountains of brass.” These mountains were of brass, or literally of bronze. Bronze was known in the earth at a very early period. We can go back in history to the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age, back to the Neolithic and the Paleolithic periods. We find that bronze appears almost at the beginning of civilization. Symbolically, bronze is used in the Old Testament to represent judgment. It was one of the metals that was used in the tabernacle in the two articles of furniture which were used in the judgment of sin. The brazen altar was made of bronze as was the laver of brass. These both stood in the outer court of the tabernacle, and both had to do with the judgment of the sin of the people. Since the mountains in this vision are mountains of brass, it would indicate that these mountains speak of judgment. Judgment is going to come forth from God from the Kidron Valley. There are four judgments that go forth, and they are pictured here as four chariots.

Zechariah 6:2

The colors of these horses are significant. We have the same colors in the four horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6. I don’t think it is accidental that Zechariah had a vision of four chariots and John of four horsemen. They are probably referring to the same events. The red horse in John’s vision represents war. The black horse represents famine, and the pale horse is identified as picturing death. All of these picture judgments from almighty God. Now what does the first horse, the white horse of the Apocalypse, represent? There are white horses here in Zechariah’s vision also, which probably symbolize victory. In John’s vision, the white horse is immediately followed by the red horse of war. Therefore, I think that the first horseman represents Antichrist and that he will bring a false peace into the worldbecause after him rides the red horse of war, and war breaks out upon the earth. My friend, I don’t think that we have seen an actual world war yet; but in the end times the whole earth will be inflamed by war because man is a warlike creature as long as there is sin in his heart. And when that red horseman rides through the earthI say it reverentlyall hell will break loose.

It seems to me that no one today is emphasizing how frightful the Great Tribulation is going to be when it breaks upon this earth. Well, it is symbolized by the riding of that red horse of war. The “grisled and bay horses” of Zechariah’s vision are probably more accurately translated as dappled (lit., as if sprinkled with hail) and would correspond to the pale horse of the Apocalypse. This tenth vision was given to Zechariah for the encouragement of his people, knowing that God would judge the gentile nations as he would judge His own people.

Zechariah 6:4

“These are the four spirits of the heavens.” The “spirits” are obviously angels so that the four chariots are, as David Baron (The Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah, p. 175) puts it, …angelic beings, or heavenly powersthose invisible “messengers” of His “who excel in strength, and who ever stand in His presence, hearkening unto the voice of His word,” and then go forth in willing obedience, as swift as the “winds,” to carry out His behests (Ps. ciii. 20, 21, civ. 4). In other words, the angels are in charge of the judgments which will be coming upon the gentile nations, as we see also in the Book of Revelation. Now we get the interpretation

Zechariah 6:6

The black and white horses will go forth into the north country. The “grisled” or dappled and “bay” will go forth into the south country.

Zechariah 6:8

Notice that none of the horses go to the westthat would put them into the Mediterranean Sea, and none of these are sea horses! Neither do any of the horses go to the east because the great Arabian desert is out there. They go to the north and to the south, which is the way one would go from Israel to any other part of the world. The directions given simply mean that they go out from Israel throughout the whole earth. It says that the black and the white horses go up into the north country. I personally believe that the judgment of the Great Tribulation period begins with Russia coming down into the land of Israel, so that judgment will first go to the king of the north, to Gog and Magog in the north. Judgment will also go south toward Egypt. However, the riding of the horses is not the main issue here. In the Book of Revelation we are given the series of events in the Great Tribulation period, one event after another, one crisis after another. When the white horse rides forth, he will bring a victory that will set up a false peace upon the earth.

The world will think that it is entering the Millennium when actually it will be entering the Great Tribulation period. Immediately after the white horse there will come the red horse of warwar breaks out worldwidefollowed by the black horse of famine. Famine generally follows war as do plagues and death, which are symbolized by the fourth, the pale horse. In contrast to this, in the vision of the four chariots which was given to Zechariah, the order is not the important thing. Rather, the emphasis is upon the fact that God intends to judge all the nations of the earth, and the four chariots represent those judgments. All of them are to take place during the Tribulation period.

This concludes the ten visions given to Zechariah.

Zechariah 6:9

THE SYMBOLIC CROWNING OF JOSHUANow we come to an event which takes place during the days of Zechariah. Here we are given the names of three men who came from Babylon. They had not come with either of the two groups of the remnant that returned to the land of Israel, but they came on their own. The name Heldai means “robust”; Tobijah means “God’s goodness”; and Jedaiah means “God knows.” Linking these names together indicates that God knows that through His goodness He intends to put His King upon the throne, and He will do it in a robust and powerful manner. What will take place here is a symbolic crowning, but it pictures the coming of Christ to this earth to reign, which is, of course, yet future.

Zechariah 6:11

This seems like a strange thing to do. Why did they place the crown on the head of Joshua the high priest rather than on the head of Zerubbabel who was in the line of David? The reason they were not to crown Zerubbabel is that God was not going to restore the line of David to the throne at that time. The fact of the matter is that the next one who will wear the crown of David will be the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes to this earth to establish His Kingdom. But crowning the high priest was very unusual because God kept the offices of king and priest entirely separate. The explanation is found in the fact that Joshua, the high priest, in this passage is representative of the Lord Jesus Christ who is our great High Priest today. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us to consider our great High Priest. Christ, after His resurrection, ascended into heaven, and as our great High Priest He has passed within the veil. He is seated now at God’s right hand and is waiting for the time when His enemies will be made His footstool. He will come forth and establish His Kingdom here upon this earth. The chapter before us pictures His coronation. Notice the sequence that is followed in this little Book of Zechariah. After the visions that depicted the judgment of God upon His people and upon all the gentile nations of the world, we have this, the coming of Christ and His crowning as the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is interesting to see the threefold ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in time spans. The first time span is His ministry as God’s Prophet when he came to this earth over nineteen hundred years ago. He came down here to speak for God, and He Himself was the Word of God as He revealed God in human form. And He revealed the love of God by dying upon the Cross for your sins and my sins. He was God’s Prophet. In the day in which you and I live He is God’s Priest. When He ascended into heaven, He passed within the veil, and in the Holy of Holies He presented His own blood for our sins. Today He is there to make intercession for us. He intervenes for us when there is sin in our lives and we confess that sin to Him. He serves there as our High Priest. One day in the future He will be coming out again. The Book of Revelation makes it very clear that He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords. Prophet, Priest, and King is the threefold ministry of Christ. Now Christ is presented under another figure of speech

Zechariah 6:12

“The BRANCH” is not the name of Joshua. It is a prophetic name which is given to the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this earth over nineteen hundred years ago as the Branch, a root out of dry ground (see Isa_53:2). The very fact that He came to humanity and came to a people at a time when they were subject to Rome is the most amazing thing in the world. He was called a root out of Jesse, the peasant, because by the time the Lord Jesus was born, the royal line of David had sunk back into poverty and obscurity. He was indeed the root out of a dry ground. Suppose you were walking in a desert arealike the extremely desolate desert east of here in California. As you walk along you see no growing thing except a few cacti and a rattlesnake or two. Then suddenly you come upon a plant of iceberg lettuce growing there, luscious and green. You would be amazed. You would be unable to account for it. Well, the Lord Jesus was like thata root out of a dry ground. Jesus Christ is coming again as the Branch, and this time the Branch is going to rule the world. “He shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD.” You see, this is given as an encouragement to the remnant in their struggle to rebuild the temple. As we saw in the Book of Haggai, it looked small and insignificant to many of them, but in God’s eyes His temple was one house. Although there is a series of templesthe wilderness tabernacle, Solomon’s temple, Zerubbabel’s temple, Herod’s temple, the Great Tribulation temple, the millennial templeGod calls it one house. He didn’t view Zerubbabel’s temple as a separate house. Although it was considered unimportant by some of the people, God says that He is the one to judge its importance. And it is in His plan and purpose. Many letters come to me with the lament, “I can’t be very much for God.” Well, that was also the cry of the discouraged remnant in Zechariah’s day. The temple they were building seemed like nothing compared to the grandeur of Solomon’s temple. But God was assuring them that the temple they were building was in His will and that He was the one to determine the importance of it. Again let me say that I believe that some of the greatest pulpits we have in Southern California are not in churches; they happen to be sickbeds where some dear saint of God is confined. Recently I heard of a young man who listens to our Bible-teaching program. He is paralyzed from his neck down but is a radiant Christian and sends out Christian literature continually. I’m not sure but what his ministry for God is more important than mine or that of anyone which seems to be doing something great for God. We are to let God decide that. The important thing for you and me is to get into the will of God. That was the point that Haggai and Zechariah were trying to get over to these people. They were encouraging them. They were saying, “You are doing what God wants you to do. Sure it looks small, but it is in the plan and purpose of God. That makes it great and big. It is going to eventuate in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth to establish His Kingdom.” “Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH.” The word of God speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ as “The Branch” in a fourfold way. (1) He is called the Branch of David: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jer_23:5). Here Christ is presented as the King, the Branch of David. (2) He is spoken of as Jehovah’s Servant, the Branch; as we have already seen in chapter 3 verse Zec_3:8: “Here 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.” (3) And here in chapter 6 verse Zec_6:12 He is called “the man whose name is The BRANCH” (italics mine). (4) Finally, He is presented as the Branch of Jehovah: “In that day shall the branch of the LORD [Jehovah] be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel” (Isa_4:2). It is interesting that the Gospel records in the New Testament present the Lord Jesus in the same fourfold way. In the Gospel of Matthew He is the King, the Branch of David; in the Gospel of Mark He is Jehovah’s Servant, the Branch; in the Gospel of Luke He is presented as the perfect Man whose name is the Branch; and in the Gospel of John He is the Branch of Jehovah, God the Son. This is a marvelous portrait that we have of Jesus as He was when He walked on this earth as a member of the human family.

Zechariah 6:13

“Even he shall build the temple of the LORD.” “Even he” is the sprout, the Branch who grew out of poverty and obscurity. “He shall build the temple of the LORD,” refers to the millennial temple. Christ the Messiah, “shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne.” He shall be both King and Priest. The two offices will be combined in one person. “The crowns shall be …for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.” Joshua did not wear these crowns. They were placed upon his head only for the symbolic crowning. Then, according to Jewish tradition, they were placed as symbols in the top windows of the temple for a memorial, serving as a reminder that the Messiah would come and that He would be not only the King but He also would be the Priest.

Zechariah 6:15

“And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD.” Notice Merrill Unger’s comments on this verse (p. 115): The deputation from far away Babylon bringing an offering of silver and gold for the temple, which was then in the process of construction, was the occasion for Zechariah’s prediction of a future glorious temple to be established in Jerusalem as a House of Prayer for all nations, and to which even the Gentile peoples from afar shall flow, bringing their worship and their gifts. Isaiah also speaks of the coming of gentile nations to the temple in Jerusalem during the Millennium: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isa_2:2). Let me remind you that back in verses Zec_6:12 and Zec_6:13 of this chapter it says that Christ (the Branch) shall build the temple of the Lord. And in the verse before us it says that “they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord.” The nations shall build in the temple of the Lord in that they will bring their wealth into it. We need to make this distinction because only the Lord Jesus Himself will build the temple. Isaiah also says, “Also the sons of the stranger [Gentile], that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD…. Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people” (Isa_56:6-7). “And ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.” Apparently this means that Christ, the Messiah, will Himself establish the truth of God’s Word. “And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.” I do not understand this to mean that the fulfillment of the prophecy will depend upon their obedience, because the prophecy is in the eternal plan and purpose of God. Rather, their participation in it depends upon their faith and obedience. As we conclude the first major division of the Book of Zechariah, we need to locate it in the stream of history and prophecy. It is possible to lose our way through this section and, by so doing, miss one of the greatest lessons of Scripture and one of the greatest principles that God puts down in His Word. I urge those who attempt to teach prophecy to study this little book very carefully. It will deliver them from making some wild and weird interpretations. Because the visions of Zechariah are highly symbolic, we are apt to come to the conclusion that they are just haphazard dream-stuff of a prophet of long ago. Folk who consider them totally unrelated to each other feel free to interpret them in any way they choose. There is a danger of lifting out one of the visions from its context and giving it an absurd interpretation. We must remember that one of the great rules of interpreting prophecy is that no prophecy is of any private interpretationthat is, it must be fitted into its proper place in the whole body of prophecy. We need to keep in mind that all of the visions given to Zechariah are connected and related. They have meaning which is local and also they give an outline of history. They picture the whole future of the nation Israel, including the destruction of her enemies and her cleansing and restoration to her high priestly witness. The section finalizes with the coming of Christ to the earth as the great Priest-King to reign on the earth. All of this was given by God through Zechariah as an encouragement to the discouraged remnant in his day who were struggling to build the temple. Not only was the work moving slowly and with difficulty, but it seemed so small and inconsequential compared to Solomon’s temple and to the great heathen temples they had seen in Babylon and later in the Medo-Persian Empire. However, Israel was in a time of peace, and it was time for them to build. Now I would like to call your attention to the threefold meaning. There is what is known as (1) the contemporary meaning, (2) the continuing meaning, and (3) the consummation of all things. The contemporary meaning is that Zechariah was speaking into a local situation. He was addressing the people of his day regarding their problems. He was urging his own people not to be discouraged but to know that they are in the eternal plan and purpose of God. The little temple they were building would finally usher in the great millennial temple which the Messiah Himself would build. The continuing meaning is a message for our day. You see, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable …” (2Ti_3:16). All of it has a message for us although not all of it was written to us. For instance, God has not asked us to build a temple. A few years ago many Christians tried to get stone out of Indiana and move it over to Israel to help them build the temple. That was a ridiculous idea.

Our business is not to get the marble to Israel to help them build the temple; our business is to get to them the message of the One who is the Rock of Ages, the One who is the Stone cut out without hands (see Dan_2:45), who said of Himself, “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Mat_21:44). If we don’t fall upon Him, come in repentance to Him, in this age of grace, the day will come when we will have to bear His judgment. We have seen that God judges nationsthe Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Graeco-Macedonian Empires have come and gone. My friend, are you blind to the fact that God is moving today in the history of this world? Do you realize that God is judging our own nation? Vietnam was a place of shame and humiliation.

What did we actually accomplish over there? The billions of dollars spent on war costs should have been invested years earlier in Bibles and missionaries. Current events should certainly teach us how quickly God can raise up a nation and how quickly He can bring it down. America rose to be the strongest nation on the earth, but we stumbled along in our sin and in our arrogance. Fifty years ago absolutely no one would have believed that the United States would yield to the demands of a few desert sheiks who ruled over a few people and some mangy camels. No one would have seen the relationship between the camel and a Cadillac. Yet today we see the wealth of the world going into Arabian oil. They will bankrupt our nation; yet we close our eyes to what is going on. God can raise nations and bring down nations in whatever way He chooses. If you listen to the news media, you will become discouraged. Besides that, you’ll get brainwashed. If you look at Washington, D.C., you will feel like giving upor throwing up! I don’t know about you, but I am tired of hearing panel discussions by politicians, educators, the military, athletes, and the movie colony. I don’t think that any of them have a message for us right now. Perhaps you can hear the still small voice of God in the visions of Zechariah. His visions are not weird and wild, and no weird and wild interpretation is satisfactory. They teach us that God’s purpose will prevail and that God is moving in history to accomplish His purpose. The final of the threefold meanings is the consummation of all things. History is flowing in the channel of prophecy. Again let me repeat verse Zec_6:12: “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.” The Branch, as we have seen, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, a root out of dry ground, who died on a cross for us. But He is coming again to reign. “In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel” (Isa_4:2). He shall be the priest upon His throne. Knowing this should help us to keep things in perspective. There may be some little group of believers who meet on a back street, but they are meeting in the name of Christ and they are seeking to honor Him. They are studying His Word, and they really want to do His will. They sing with sincerity, My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, For Thee all the follies of sin I resign; My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now. William R. Featherstone That little group may be unknown to the world, but it is more important in the plan and program of God than the meetings held by heads of state in the capitals of the world. This is hard for many folk to believe because the world does not see things from God’s point of view. You see, that little group of believers will join in with a mighty chorus in heaven some day, singing to the Lamb: “…Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev_5:9-10). That is the goal toward which we are moving. The world may ignore these believers and multitudes simply pass them by; yet they are important in the plan and purpose of God. This section of Zechariah should help us see things from God’s perspective. This tremendous passage of Scripture still has a message for you and me today.