Welcome back! This is our second post in our study of the prophet Zechariah’s second vision: The Four Horns and the Four Carpenters. In the last post, we talked about the symbolism of the horn, how it can be interpreted to mean strength or power. And how it also symbolizes kings in the end time prophecies of the book of Daniel and Revelation. We also learned the identity of the four horns, how they are the beasts in the prophet Daniel’s vision of the four beasts that rose out of the sea—Babylon, Medo/Persian, Greece, and the end time kingdom of Antichrist. In this post, we’ll talk about the carpenters. Let there be no delay! 

ZECHARIAH: Prophet to the Returned Exiles

Second in a Two-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

Who Are the Carpenters?

Now let’s go back to our text in Zechariah and look again at verses 20–21 and read about the carpenters: “And the Lord shewed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.”

The horns are the ones that have come to scatter Judah, “so that no man did lift up his head.” This denotes the Jewish people were defeated and humiliated; hence they could not lift their heads. Then we read about carpenters! The carpenters came to fray (to fight) and to cast out the horns, the Gentiles that lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. We know the horns are kings, but who are the carpenters? What is interesting is that the horns are also the carpenters! For instance, when Babylon invaded Judah, it was a horn. When the Medo/Persian Empire invaded Babylon and frayed it, Medo/Persia was a carpenter. Then Medo/Persia ruled over Judah and became a horn. When the Grecian Empire invaded and frayed the Medo/Persian Empire, Greece was a carpenter. But when the Grecian Empire ruled over Judah, it became a horn. So forth and so on. The carpenters became the next horn.

But why use the term “carpenter”? The Hebrew word translated as carpenter is charash, and it means “craftsman, artisan, or skillful warrior.”¹³ The Hebrew word translated as fray is charad, and it means “to tremble, quake, move about, be afraid, be startled, be terrified.”¹⁴ The carpenters (charash) were skilled at making war, and when they frayed (charad) their enemies, it resulted in them trembling, being afraid and terrified.

Let’s talk further about the word carpenter. Zechariah using the word “carpenter” to describe those that would fray the horns is unusual. However, when you examine Zechariah’s writings throughout these visions, you will notice his use of the word “carpenter” is but one word in a pattern of words he uses to create an image that reflects Jerusalem begin restored and rebuilt. In addition to the term carpenter, Zechariah uses terms like building, expansion, increase, and prosperity. Building and expanding Jerusalem is a major theme in these visions. In Zechariah 1:16–17, we see the first references to rebuilding Jerusalem and its subsequent prosperity. There are other terms like measuring line, cities spread out, increase, bringing forth the capstone, laying a foundation, a plumb line. Restoration, building, expansion, and increase—that is the hope God is offering the returned exiles at this point in their lives. It is, however, a conditional promise. They can have prosperity and increase if they return to Him in reverence and obedience.

Seeming Contradiction

Now let’s go back and look at the seeming contradiction in verse 16. If you remember, the Lord promised His cities would prosper and increase. Then right after that, Zechariah had a vision of four horns scattering Israel. They seem to be predicting an opposite outcome for Israel. First prosperity and increase and then scattered!

There is no contradiction. The time span of Zechariah’s prophesies covered Israel’s immediate future all the way to the end times. Zechariah didn’t know it, but he prophesied well over two thousand years into the future. There would be many things that happened to the Jewish people during that time, and not all of those things would be good. Yes, there would be increase and prosperity for the returned exiles. They would go on to rebuild Jerusalem, and their numbers would increase and they would experience prosperity. However, there would also be other Gentile nations that would invade and scatter them. Ultimately, there would come a time at the very end of the Times of the Gentiles when Messiah would come and rule the nations and God would dwell with His people once again. All these things would take place in the future.

None of these events are contradictions; they simply take place during different time periods. This sort of prophetic time projection was typical of all the prophetic words of the prophets. They would prophesy about Israel’s present situation and then begin prophesying about their situation thousands of years into the future.

But there is another thing that should be noted with regard to this vision: it is a continuation of the message of the angel speaking “good and comfortable words” (Zec. 1:13). So far, those good and comfortable words included the Lord having still chosen Jerusalem and that the city would be restored. Not only will Jerusalem be restored, but she will increase in size and prosper (v. 17). The good and comfortable words also included the Lord saying He is angry at the nations that “helped forward the affliction.” In that regard, the most important takeaway from this vision of the horns that scattered the children of Israel is that they will all come to their end. The Lord will deal with Israel’s enemies—once and for all!

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