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.

 

Since the enemies of Israel and Judah would attack from the north which were represented by the black horse, the white horse would have represented the deliverance by God of his people back to the land.  Since there were no more enemies that would attack from the north, the anger of God had been appeased or quieted.  It could also have an allusion to the fact that the northern kingdom stirred up God’s spirit by departing from him and he had to judge them according to their sins but now they are no longer in that area and it was now quiet.

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