Welcome back to our study on the book of Zechariah! In our last post, we talked about how the opening verses of Zechariah chapter 1 reads like a Father sitting down His children after their punishment and asking them if they’re ready to repent and start over in their relationship with Him. And, yes, they were ready to renew their relationship with Him. In this post, we’re going to look at the first of eight visions that Zechariah experienced. This first vision is of a Man sitting on a horse among Myrtle trees. Let’s see what it’s about!

ZECHARIAH
Prophet to the Returned Exiles
His End Time Prophecies

Second in a Three-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

Zechariah’s First Vision: The Man on a Horse Among the Myrtle Trees

Next in the book of Zechariah, the prophet describes to us eight visions he experienced. The visions express encouragement and comfort about God returning to His people, His promise to deal with their enemies, the hope of a glorious future where the nations of the world would worship the same God they worshiped, the coming of the promised Messiah, and finally, dealing with the collective sin problem among the returned exiles.

The Lord’s promise to them was that He would return to them if they returned to Him. The promise was conditional upon their purification through repentance, ridding themselves from all wickedness and uncleanness. Essentially, it was up to them as to what kind of relationship they would have with God. It was their decision collectively.

The Man on the Red Horse Asks God for Mercy for Jerusalem

Zec. 1:9 Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. 12 Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? 13 And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. 14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

As Zechariah was gazing at the vision of the Man standing among the myrtle trees, he asked a question of the angel that was next to him. This angel is at Zechariah’s side throughout all eight visions, helping him to understand what he was seeing. He is Zechariah’s interpreting angel.

Zechariah asked the interpreting angel, “O my Lord, what are these,” referring to the horses and their riders standing among the myrtle trees. The interpreting angel said to Zechariah, “I will show you what these are.” Even though the interpreting angel said he would show him, it was the Man on the red horse that answered. The Man on the horse in the myrtle trees answered Zechariah and said, “These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.” God sent them to go forth throughout the earth, which means they were scouting the earth checking out the nations. They were a sort of patrol detail.

As soon as the Man on the red horse (referred to in verse 11 as the Angel of the Lord) said to Zechariah that their mission was to scout the earth, the men on the horses then gave their scouting report to the Angel of the Lord: “We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest” (v. 11). First of all, this confirms that the horses that we read about in verse eight had riders. These men on the horses reported to the Man on the red horse that the earth was still and at rest, meaning the nations of the earth were at peace, not engaged in war or in turmoil.

The 70-Year Judgment Is Over

Then in verse 12, the Angel of the Lord (the Man on the red horse) prayed to God saying, “O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?” He asked the Lord how long would He withhold His mercy toward “Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah.” Notice he was pleading not only for Jerusalem, but for the cities in the entire region of Judah (present-day Israel) as well. This reflects an interesting fact. When the exiles returned to the area of Judah, most of them were living in the cities outside Jerusalem. Only a small percentage of them were actually living in Jerusalem. In fact, Jerusalem was so sparsely inhabited that they eventually asked for volunteers to live in the city. (Neh. 11:1)

The angel said God had withheld His mercy for “threescore and ten years.” The word “score” is a Middle English word that means “twenty,” so threescore would be 60; plus 10 would make it 70. The Angel of the Lord was referring to the 70-year judgment God sentenced on the Jewish people to be exiled from their land. This comment about 70 years is a reference to the prophet Jeremiah’s prophetic warning to the disobedient Jews. Jeremiah warned their forefathers to repent, and if they didn’t, God would judge them. Jeremiah prophesied saying, “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations” (Jer. 25:11–12).

Sadly, their forefathers did not repent, and God judged them by sending the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to invade Jerusalem. As Jeremiah prophesied, their exile would last for 70 years. The 70-year judgment had come and gone, and the Lord did, indeed, keep His promise and brought the exiled Jews back to Jerusalem. But they were not prospering and, instead, were struggling just to stay alive. So now the Man on the red horse is asking the Lord God how long He would withhold His mercy from the returned exiles.

In verse 13, the Lord responded to the entreaty by speaking to the angel that talked with Zechariah and said “good and comfortable words.” The message of good and comfortable words would be a message of encouragement. It was conveyed in the following visions that reassure the Jewish people that His relationship with them hadn’t changed, that He remembered them and would, once again, dwell with them. In addition, Jerusalem would not only be rebuilt but would increase and prosper, and He would deal with their enemies.

The Lord Is Jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion

The interpreting angel relayed the first of the good and comfortable words to Zechariah saying, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy” (v. 14). How interesting. The Lord Himself says He is jealous for Jerusalem with a great jealousy. This is not the first or only time God says He is jealous. We read in Deuteronomy 4:24, “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”

Most people associate jealousy with something negative, an emotion that a holy God would not have. But we get a better understanding of what is meant when God describes Himself as being jealous when we read other passages. For instance, Exodus 34:14 says, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God…” And Deuteronomy 5:8–9 says, “Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God…” When the Lord describes Himself as being jealous, it simply means He expects an exclusive relationship with His people. They must not worship other gods. After all, He devotes Himself to His people, and He expects the same devotion in return.

Several times in Scripture, God makes the statement, “They will be my people, and I will be their God.” That speaks of exclusivity. Out of all the nations, God chose Israel to enter into a special relationship with Him. This is reflected in 1^st Chronicles 17:22: “For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Lord, becamest their God.” In a number of places, God speaks of Israel as “mine inheritance.”

This relationship between God and His people is compared to a marriage between a man and a woman. In fact, the entire chapter of Ezekiel 16 talks about Jerusalem as being the Lord’s wife—albeit an unfaithful wife. The chapter starts out speaking of Jerusalem as a baby fresh out of the womb. It speaks of Jerusalem growing and developing into a young woman. When she was of the right age, God entered into a covenant with her: “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine” (Eze. 16:8).

The expression “I spread my skirt over thee” is an idiom that means a man’s intention to marry a woman. We see this expression used in the book of Ruth when Ruth said to Boaz, “I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman: (Ruth 3:9). When Ruth said to Boaz, “spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid,” she was asking Boaz to marry her. To the contrary, to raise a woman’s skirt was an insult as indicated in Jeremiah 13:22 and Nahum 3:5. To cover a woman with a garment was symbolism for wanting to marry her, to protect her, but lifting a woman’s skirt was an insult.

Notice the last part of verse eight the Lord says, “Thou becamest mine.” The Lord is unwilling to share the devotion of His people with another god. Sadly, the children of Israel always had difficulty being faithful to God and worshiping Him exclusively. Throughout their history, the Israelites had been enticed and attracted to the false gods of their neighboring nations. In addition to worshiping God, Jerusalem began to worship other gods as well. The Lord sent His prophets to warn Jerusalem about her unfaithfulness, but she refused to listen. This disobedience led God to allow the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to invade Jerusalem and take the people captive. The Jewish people would be exiled from their land for 70 years. When the 70 years was over, God brought them back to their own land. Now He’s looking to reestablish a relationship with them again, an exclusive relationship.

The Difference Between Jerusalem and Zion

Let’s go back and look at another aspect of verse 14: “…Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.” It says God is jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. At first glance, it seems redundant to say Jerusalem and Zion; after all, aren’t they one in the same? What is the difference between them? Is there a difference?

Very often, the names Zion and Jerusalem are interpreted to mean the same thing. But they don’t exactly mean the same thing. The origin of these names goes back to when all the tribes of Israel first made David their king. With David as their king, the tribes went up against the Jebusites and subdued their city called Jebus. The city of Jebus had within it a defensive fort called Zion. (In 1^st Chronicles 11:5, Fort Zion is also referred to as a castle.) Once the city of Jebus and Fort Zion were under David’s control, he decided to make Fort Zion his personal home. Fort Zion came to be known as the “City of David” (2 Sam. 5:9). He changed the city’s name of Jebus to Jerusalem and began to expand it. Essentially, David created a walled city within a walled city. The inner city was Zion and the outer city was Jerusalem.⁷

Eventually, Zion came to symbolize the Israelites’ inner spiritual relationship with God, and Jerusalem came to symbolize its outward role as a spiritual influence on the nations of the world.⁸ These two divisions of their society, the inward and the outward, had two different systems of government. Zion symbolized their spiritual lives and was governed by the priestly line from the tribe of Levi. Jerusalem symbolized their civic lives and was governed by the kingly line from the tribe of Judah.

At the time of the returned exiles, Jerusalem was no longer ruled by kings; the Persian King Cyrus set up governors to rule the city. At the time of Zechariah’s writing, the office of governor was held by Zerubbabel, who happened to be a descendant of King David from the tribe of Judah.⁹ The office of high priest was held by Joshua, a descendant from the tribe of Levi.

There’s one more thing to be said about these two offices. The prophet Isaiah is most usually known as the Messianic prophet, but Zechariah’s prophecies have a strong Messianic emphasis as well, specifically Messiah’s calling to stand in the offices of both priest and king. If you study the book of Zechariah carefully, you’ll notice a specific emphasis placed on these two offices. It’s a thread that has been woven throughout the book from beginning to end. This thread is a fascinating feature in the book of Zechariah.

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