Zechariah 6:1-8
Zechariah 6:1
And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and,
behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the
mountains were mountains of brass.
Vision number eight begins with Zechariah looking behind
him and seeing four chariots.
Chariots in ancient times were primarily used for the military allowing them to
advance their armies quickly like shock troops.
The mountains are symbolic and no specific names are given.
These particular mountains are mountains of brass.
Brass in the Scriptures refers to the fire of judgment.
And his feet like unto fine brass,
as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
(Revelation 1:15) When
John described the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven, he likened his feet to those
that were burned in a furnace which would be the judgment he faced on Calvary
dying for the sins of the elect.
The two mountains may also refer to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the
Southern Kingdom of Judah. The
mountains in Scripture carry with it the reference of being kingdoms and
representative of the strength of God.
Thy righteousness is like the
great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and
beast. (Psalm 36:6)
The great deep would be a valley between the mountains.
Zechariah 6:2
In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second
chariot black horses;
In the first vision there were multi-colored horses but
here the horses are attached to chariots which means they are ready either for
defense or offense if the LORD directs them as such.
Zechariah 6:3
And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth
chariot grisled and bay horses.
Then Zechariah sees the other two horses which were white
and grisled. Grisled would be those
that are spotted and the description of bay would be more of a reference to
their strength rather than their color.
Zechariah 6:4
Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with
me, What are these, my lord?
Then Zechariah asks the angel that spoke with him the
meaning of the four horses and the chariots.
Zechariah 6:5
And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the
four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all
the earth.
The key to understanding this verse is found in the last
phrase “the Lord of all the earth” which implies that what is in view is God’s
total command of all the events upon the earth and he has the power to direct
the four spirits of the heavens, which means they would be angels ready to be
dispatched to the earth from their position of standing before the Lord.
A fiery stream issued and came
forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten
thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the
books were opened. (Daniel 7:10)
Notice the word “heavens” is plural because that would mean it indicates
both the Third Heaven where God’s abode is and the second heaven which surrounds
the earth that we can visibly see.
Zechariah 6:6
The black horses which are therein go forth into the
north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth
toward the south country.
Then we see which direction they were dispatched from the
central location which would be Jerusalem where the temple was located.
The black horses may represent the disaster which overtook Judah by
Babylon and then the white horses go after them which would represent the fact
that victory had come to Judah in being released from captivity.
Then the grisled horses go to the south country which would be Egypt.
God showed his superiority over the earthly strength of Egypt by
defeating it allowing the Israelites to be freed from bondage.
Zechariah 6:7
And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might
walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro
through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.
The bay horses were dispatched to the entire earth, no
specific destination is given and they were to walk to and fro throughout all
the earth.
And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence
comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in
the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
(Job 1:7) Satan answered
God in the book of Job that he was walking to and fro in the earth which means
that his kingdom was throughout the entire world and likewise God’s kingdom is
throughout the entire world but only one difference, that is, the kingdom of God
rules the kingdom of Satan and he has to get God’s permission to enact any of
his schemes. God had dispatched the
bay horse to walk to and fro all over the earth.
Zechariah 6:8
Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold,
these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north
country.