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pillars of smoke (Joel 2:30,31), darkness (Isa. 13:10; Ezek. 32:7;
Matt. 24:29),
tidal waves (Isa. 28:2),
men taking refuge in rocky clefts of the mountains and in holes and
caves of the earth (Isa. 2:19 -21; Rev. 6:15,16),
cities deserted and shut up (Isa. 24:10 -12; Jer. 4:29),
people scattered (Isa. 24:1 -3),
tremendous death toll with few men left (Isa. 13:11,12; 24:13; Matt.
24:22),
dead unburied (Jer. 25:31 -33; Isa. 18:5,6),
desolation (Jer. 4:27,28; 25:37,38; Zeph. 1:14 -18) --
this clearly is a prophetic preview of the atomic age'.
ZECHARIAH
'No more the Canaanite'
Haggai opens his prophecy in the sixth month of the second year of
Darius, and two months later Zechariah uttered his opening prophecy as
recorded in Zechariah 1:1. Both prophets were prophets of the return from
captivity, Zechariah referring to the 'seventy years' (Zech. 7:5). The
burden of Zechariah has much in common with Haggai, both speak of the moral
condition of the people, and both speak of the laying of the foundation stone
of the Lord's house. The first six chapters are devoted to an exhortation to
the people, and a series of visions which set forth the prophetic future of
Israel. These visions lead up to two utterances concerning Christ, under the
title, 'The Branch'. Let us first of all see these visions as a whole, and
then consider them separately.
The Visions of Zechariah 1 to 6
A
a
1:7 -17.
Horses.
Red, speckled and white.
b 1:18 -21.
Horns and Carpenters.
c
2:1 -13.
Measuring line in the hand.
B
3:1 -10.
Joshua.
High Priest.
The Mitre.
My Servant the Branch.
A
c
4:1 -14.
Plummet in the hand.
b 5:1 -11.
Roll and Ephah.
a
6:1 -8.
Horses. Red, black, white and grisled.
B
6:9 -15.
Joshua.
High Priest.
The Crowns.
The Man Whose name is the Branch.
It will be noticed that this set of visions is a structural whole, and
no detailed examination will be of any value that fails to keep this well in
mind. We have horses that appear to symbolize spiritual agencies which walk
'to and fro', we have 'horns' that symbolize the Gentile powers that at
different times have scattered 'Israel, Judah and Jerusalem', and the
'carpenters' which represent those counter agencies which the Lord employs to
defeat and frustrate the overbearing power of the Gentile nations. The
measuring line (2:1 -13) and the plummet (4:1 -14) focus our attention on the
rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, while the twofold reference to Joshua
the high priest points us on to the only One Who can sit 'as a Priest upon
His throne' a King -Priest after the order of Melchisedec.