A continuing series
“I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.’ And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’” (Zech 1:8-17)
First of all, don't get hung up on the horse colors. They are not rainbow colors, but ordinary horse colors. Just as we might call a dog a "yellow lab" when he really isn't canary yellow, we can call a horse "red" when the actual designation might be roan. The thing that matters here is the number—four, as in "the four corners of the earth." And the point is not that God sent actual horses out to patrol the whole earth and report back to him—though that is exactly what the vision pictures—but that God knows what is happening everywhere.
Do not worry, Zechariah tells the people, God is aware of your problems. In fact, he knows that your enemies are "at ease" and that their ease has worsened your problems. He is angry with them, even more than He was before this, and He will take care of His people.
Does He tell them when? No. Does He tell them how? No. At some point, they have to show some faith, some trust, and just keep on serving,
allowing God to take care of the things they cannot in His own time.
That vision is just as applicable to us today as it was 2500 years ago. God knows what we are going through. He is constantly "on patrol." He sees our struggles and our pain, and He will not forget who has caused it all—Satan and his angels. Sin has polluted our world. As Christians, we are no longer its captives (Rom 6:18), but we still live in a world that is under its control. We must continue to trust God, to believe in His ultimate promises, and prove our faith by our service.
"The Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem" Zech 1:17. Maybe it will help to understand that God's people today, the church, the kingdom of his Son, is called Mt Zion and the new Jerusalem in Heb 12:22-29. God will choose us. Do we know when? No. Do we know how? Yes!
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1Thess 4:16-18)
Let this night vision encourage you, too.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Ps 34:15-18)
Dene Ward
“I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.’ And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’” (Zech 1:8-17)
First of all, don't get hung up on the horse colors. They are not rainbow colors, but ordinary horse colors. Just as we might call a dog a "yellow lab" when he really isn't canary yellow, we can call a horse "red" when the actual designation might be roan. The thing that matters here is the number—four, as in "the four corners of the earth." And the point is not that God sent actual horses out to patrol the whole earth and report back to him—though that is exactly what the vision pictures—but that God knows what is happening everywhere.
Do not worry, Zechariah tells the people, God is aware of your problems. In fact, he knows that your enemies are "at ease" and that their ease has worsened your problems. He is angry with them, even more than He was before this, and He will take care of His people.
Does He tell them when? No. Does He tell them how? No. At some point, they have to show some faith, some trust, and just keep on serving,
allowing God to take care of the things they cannot in His own time.
That vision is just as applicable to us today as it was 2500 years ago. God knows what we are going through. He is constantly "on patrol." He sees our struggles and our pain, and He will not forget who has caused it all—Satan and his angels. Sin has polluted our world. As Christians, we are no longer its captives (Rom 6:18), but we still live in a world that is under its control. We must continue to trust God, to believe in His ultimate promises, and prove our faith by our service.
"The Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem" Zech 1:17. Maybe it will help to understand that God's people today, the church, the kingdom of his Son, is called Mt Zion and the new Jerusalem in Heb 12:22-29. God will choose us. Do we know when? No. Do we know how? Yes!
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1Thess 4:16-18)
Let this night vision encourage you, too.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Ps 34:15-18)
Dene Ward
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