A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen. Zechariah 1:18-21
and
A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line. Zechariah 2:1-13
INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH
The prophet Zechariah lived at the same time as Haggai and was interested in the same effort to induce the Jews to carry on the rebuilding of their neglected Temple. The prophecies are dated a few years later than those of Haggai. In contrast to the direct and simple language of Haggai, Zechariah employs many figures and symbols to enforce his message. He especially wished to give encouragement and help to the leader and governor of the people, Zerubbabel, and the priest Joshua.
In the latter part of the book there are many pictures of the glorious and happy future, which God had in store for His people and of the Deliverer, who was to come to rule over them. There will come a great day “when the Lord shall be King over all the earth.”
The Oracle of the Lord of Hosts
INTRODUCTION, Zec_1:1-6
EIGHT VISIONS CONCERNING ISRAEL, JUDAH, AND JERUSALEM, Zechariah 1:7-6:15
2. The Four Horns and Four Smiths, Zec_1:18-21
3. The Man with a Measuring Line, Zec_2:1-13
A VISION OF HORNS AND CRAFTSMEN
Then I looked up, and saw four horns (powers)!
So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns [the powerful Gentile nations] that have scattered Judah (the Southern Kingdom), Israel (the Northern Kingdom), and Jerusalem (capital city of Judah).”
Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
I asked, “What are these [horns and craftsmen] coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns (powers) that have scattered Judah so that no man raised up his head [because of the suffering inflicted by the Gentile nations]. But these craftsmen have come to terrify them and make them panic, and throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”
A VISION OF A MAN WITH A MEASURING LINE
And I looked up, and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.”
And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him,
and he said to the second angel, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited [like villages] without walls [spreading out into the open country] because of the great number of people and livestock in it.
‘For I,’ declares the LORD, ‘will be a wall of fire around her [protecting her from enemies], and I will be the glory in her midst.'”
“Hear this! Flee from [Babylon] the land of the north [which shall come under judgment],” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of the heavens,” declares the LORD.
“Hear, Zion (Jerusalem)! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon!”
For thus says the LORD of hosts, “After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you–for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.
Behold, I will wave my hand over them and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you shall know (recognize, understand fully) that the LORD of hosts has sent Me.
Sing for joy and rejoice, O Daughter of Zion; for behold, I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day and shall be My people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know (recognize, understand fully) that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. [Isa_2:3; Mic_4:2]
The LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.
“Be still before the LORD, all mankind; for He is roused (raised up) from His holy habitation [in response to His persecuted people].” [Hab_2:20; Zep_1:7]
F. B.Meyer
on
Zechariah 1:18-21 and Zechariah 2:1-13
THE REDEMPTION OF JERUSALEM
The work of Temple-building had ceased for fifteen years and the new resolve to arise and build might meet with a similar fate. But the four horns met with four carpenters. For Babylon the carpenter was Cyrus; for Persia, Alexander the Great; for Greece, the Roman; for Rome, the Gaul. No weapon that is formed to thwart God’s purposes can prosper. The young man with the measuring line embodied the new spirit animating the returned exiles. But God was intending to give more prosperity and increase than could be contained in walls.
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