|
Part
2 of 3
Vision Number Eight...
This
vision begins with the prophet seeing two
mountains of brass, which indicates that they
are not natural mountains, but mountains of
great endurance or something invincible. Next we
see four chariots with teams of horses coming
out in various colors; bay, black, white and
speckled. This is not the first time we have
seen four horses. We have seen four horses in
Revelation as well as other places in the Bible.
The number four is the number that relates to
the earth. The bay horses may indicate there is
war and bloodshed to follow. The black horses
suggest mourning and sorrow and possible famine.
The white horses are associated with victory and
conquest and joy ahead. The specked horses of
mottled color are not so easy to determine, but
they may mean the coming of various things to
take place. It is significant that at this point
the winds are introduced, and they go to the
four corners of the earth. This follows the
preceding vision where the winds are first
introduced, but here we see the influence of the
Holy Spirit in all the world. This may be
connected with the description of the forth team
of horses that are shown to be very strong and
also very swift, typical of the rapid spread of
Christianity during the first years after
Christ. It should be noted that one of the
angels remarked that all the world was quiet.
This was the condition of the world when Christ
came. This world has not known many periods of
peace. War was prevalent in all the world before
Christ came until Rome ruled supreme and they
gave the world one hundred years of peace. This
was known in history as the Pax Romanum, or
Roman world. This is all encompassed in the
story of the death of Christ and of His
resurrection after which the Holy Spirit was
given which enabled His followers to witness
wherever they went. During this period the world
was quiet.
Chapter 4
The Testimony of Haggai
and Malachi...
Perhaps it would be
prudent at this juncture to introduce the
contemporary prophets of Zechariah, namely
Haggai and Malachi. The name, Haggai, means
festive, or festival. It is possible that he was
born on a feast day. Haggai only contributes two
chapters in the entire Bible, but they are
focused on the Messiah. In view of the fact that
Rev. 19:10 says, “The testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy, so all the prophets
emphasized this testimony of Jesus in a
remarkable way. Both Haggai and Malachi were
what we call post-exilic prophets, that is, they
prophesied after the captivity in Babylon.
Malachi, meaning messenger of Jehovah prophesied
later than Haggai, who was a contemporary of
Zechariah. When the Jews returned from Babylon,
the work of rebuilding the city and the temple
seemed insurmountable. Haggai came to the scene
at this time of discouragement and he pointed
out that the people had their own ceiled houses,
while the temple lay in ruins. He stirred up the
people, urging them to return to the task of
rebuilding the temple, and the events that
followed demonstrated his success in a signal
manner.
Some
elderly people were present when the temple was
completed and they cried when they remembered
what the temple of Solomon looked like, and by
comparison they regarded this temple as
insignificant. To answer this, Haggai made one
of his outstanding prophecies concerning the
coming Messiah. In Haggai 2:6,7, we read, “For
thus saith the Lord of hosts; yet once more, it
is a little while, I will shake the heavens, and
the earth, and the sea and the dry land: and I
will shake all nations, and the Desire of all
nations shall come; and I will fill this house
with glory saith the Lord of hosts.” This
shaking of earth and heaven and sea and all the
cosmic elements indicated the difference by
comparison of the giving of the Covenant at
Mount Sinai, which at that time was accompanied
with celestial and terrestrial manifestations of
the presence of God. Now Haggai is prophesying
that God will shake heaven and earth once more
and at that time the Desire of all nations shall
come. This of course, is a prophecy of the
Messiah Who should come and would terminate the
Old Covenant and introduce the New and
Everlasting Covenant.
It
is pointed out in connection with this, that God
would fill this temple with His glory and with
His presence. This was done when Jesus came into
the temple and claimed it as His own, Matt.
21:12,13. As Haggai 2:9 says, “The glory of this
house shall be greater than the former, saith
the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give
peace, saith the Lord of hosts.” Thus we have
the assurance that the God of Peace would come
to this place, which outwardly was not nearly as
grand or as inspiring as the temple of Solomon,
yet the presence of the Messiah in this temple
made it of greater glory than the former.
It
is interesting how the prophets nearest to
Christ portrayed His advent as vividly and
effectively as each one gave utterance to the
excellence and majesty of the coming Messiah.
A BRIEF REFERENCE TO
MALACHI...
We
turn briefly to Malachi and read Mal. 3:1 which
says, “Behold I will send my messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord,
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come in his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye
delight in; behold he shall come, saith the Lord
of hosts.” This is a very direct reference to
John the Baptist who preceded Christ and who
prepared the way for Him, by calling all Israel
to repentance. Christ did come, as prophesied,
to His temple. In Mal. 3:3 it says, “And he
shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge
them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”
This is taken from the practice of refining
silver and gold. The ore to be refined was put
into a crucible and intensely heated until the
dross would rise to the top and the refiner
would skim off the dross. When he could see his
reflection clearly in the molten silver or gold,
it was pure, and was ready for market use. The
lesson we learn from this is that when Christ
did come, He called people to repentance and to
holiness and righteousness. He wanted to see His
image stamped upon each of His followers. We
must remember that Adam was created in the image
and likeness of God, but when he fell into sin
he lost that image. This is told very vividly in
Gen. 5:1-3. “This is the book of the generation
of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the
likeness of God made He him; male and female
created He them; and blessed them, and called
their name Adam, in the day when they were
created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty
years, and he begat a son in his own likeness,
after his image; and he called his name Seth.”
Man
is the only being on earth that is born without
natural clothing. Birds have feathers, fish have
scales, animals have fur and reptiles have a
natural skin, but man has to be clothed. The
Bible frequently speaks of man being naked. In
this connection we would read 2 Cor. 5:2-4, “For
in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from
heaven; if so be that being clothed we shall not
be found naked. For we that ate in this
tabernacle do groan, not for that we should be
unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life.” A further bit of
enlightenment on this subject is found in Rev.
19:8, “And to her was granted that she should be
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the
fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.”
Before Adam sinned he was clothed in God’s glory
and light, but after he sinned he was naked. He
tried to sew fig leaves together for covering,
but God provided him with skins. When we are
redeemed and pass over to the glory world we are
provided with a covering, which is said to be
the righteousness of the saints.
The
clothing, which makes us acceptable in God’s
sight; is provided by Christ. We are righteous
in Him, not in our own merits or our own works.
His righteousness covers our nakedness and fits
us for His presence. In like manner we receive
His image that Adam lost. We no longer belong to
the generation of Adam, in which all die, but we
belong to the generation of Jesus Christ, wherin
we are made alive. 1 Cor. 15:22, “for as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ all shall be made
alive.” We read also in Rom. 8:29, “For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that he might
be the firstborn among many brethren.” Paul
continues this important information by saying,
“For as we have borne the image of the earthy,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” 1
Cor. 15:49.
In
Mal. 4:2, it says, “But unto you that fear my
name shall the son of righteousness arise with
healing in his wings; and he shall go forth and
grow up as the calves of the stall.” I read once
about the walls of Jerusalem being built in such
a way that when the sun rose on the twenty-first
day of March, which was the day the sun crossed
the equator, and also the day of Atonement, the
rays of the rising sun would go through the east
gate of the walls of Jerusalem. The temple was
so constructed that the same rays of the sun
would go through the east gate of the temple and
continue through the opening to the Holy of
Holies. Thus the Holy of Holies was illuminated
by the rays of the rising sun, which converged
through the gates of Jerusalem with meticulous
precision through the temple and the Holy of
Holies. The prophet Malachi seized on this event
to give a voice of exultation that the Messiah
would perform the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Just as the rising sun illuminated the Holy of
Holies, so the Messiah revealed the true God to
us so that we can appreciate the full measure of
the enlightenment of God through Christ.
Now
the last two verses in Malachi, say, “Behold I
will send you Elias the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers
to the children, and the heart of the children
to their fathers, lest I come and smite the
earth with a curse.” Here we have once again, a
direct reference to John the Baptist. In Matt.
11:14,15, we read, “And if ye will receive it,
this was Elias which was for to come. He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Thus we have a
full confirmation from the lips of Jesus Christ
that Elias (Elijah) had already come and that
John the Baptist was the forerunner who was to
come in the likeness of and with the message of
Elias. He is the one who pointed out Jesus,
saying, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. John 1:29.
Chapter 5
REFERENCES TO THE
MESSIAH...
First of all we would draw
attention to Zechariah’s reliance of the Word of
the Lord coming to him, and giving him a
specific message to convey to the people. We
will give a few examples. In Zech. 9:9 it says,
“Rejoice, O daughter of Zion: shout, O daughter
of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee:
He is Just, and having salvation; lowly, and
riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of
an ass.” This Scripture is fulfilled in Matt.
21:4, “All this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold the
King cometh unto thee, and sitting upon an ass,
and a colt, the foal of an ass.” This was in
fulfillment of Zech. 9:9. The customary way for
a king or a conqueror to celebrate victory over
a city was to ride upon a horse. Jesus came
riding upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Jesus
did not come with all the pomp and power of a
conqueror, but He came offering salvation, which
was man’s greatest need. Let us return once
again to Zech. 9:9 and again notice that Christ
came in meekness and lowliness offering
salvation and justice. The prophecy of Zechariah
was written about four hundred years before
Christ came but it was fulfilled in every detail
according to Matt. 21:5.
In
passing we should call attention to Zech. 11:7,
which says, “And I will feed the flock of
slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I
took unto me two staves; the one I called
Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed
the flock.” Verse 10 says, “And I took my staff,
even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might
break my Covenant that I had made with all the
people.” We know that both Israel and Judah were
under the Old Covenant brought into effect under
the leadership of Moses at Sinai. This Covenant
was known as the Law, but in verse 10 it says,
“I took my staff, even Beauty and cut it
asunder, that I might break my Covenant which I
had made with all the people.” This signifies
the end of the Old Covenant and the inauguration
of a New and better Covenant. The Scriptural
proof of this transition is found in many places
but we will just quote Hebrews 8:7-13, “For if
that first Covenant had been faultless, then
should no place have been sought for the second.
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold
the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make
a new Covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah; not according to the
Covenant I made with their fathers in the day I
took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt; because they continued not in my
covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the
Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,
and write them in their hearts; and I will be to
them a God, and they shall be to me a people and
they shall teach every man his neighbor, and
every man his brother saying, Know the Lord, for
all shall know me from the least to the
greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new
covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that
which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish
away.”
This
is a long quotation but it’s all very important.
Many times the Old Testament tells of the
weakness of the Old Covenant and its eventual
replacement with a New and Everlasting Covenant.
The passage in Hebrews 8 tells of the
transition, how the Old Covenant was about to
pass away, since it was old and therefore
obsolete and discarded, being replaced by a new
and better Covenant. See also Jer. 31:31-34.
Chapter 6
FURTHER PROPHECIES MADE BY
ZECHARIAH FULFILLED IN CHRIST...
Next
we read in Zech. 11:12, “And I said unto them,
if ye think good, give me my price, and if not
forbear. So they weighed out for my price thirty
pieces of silver.” Verse 13 says, “And the Lord
said unto me, Cast it unto the potter; a goodly
price that I was prised at of them. And I took
the thirty pieces of silver and did cast them to
the potter in the house of the Lord.” This is
perhaps one of the saddest events in the life of
Christ. It is the prophecy that Judas would
betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver and
futhermore that Judas took this sum of money
back to the chief priests and cast it at them,
and they in turn took the money and bought the
Potter’s Field.
Again we remind you that
Zechariah’s prophecy was four hundred years
before Christ. Yet we read in Matt. 26:14-16,
“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot,
went unto the chief priests, and said unto them,
what will ye give me, and I will deliver him
unto you? And they covenanted with him for
thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he
sought opportunity to betray him.” To show how
infinitely carefully prophecy was fulfilled in
history, or in the events which followed, let us
turn to Matt. 27:3-10, “Then Judas which had
betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned,
repented himself, and brought again the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priests and
elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have
betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What
is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast
down the pieces of silver, in the temple and
departed and went and hanged himself. And the
chief priests took the silver pieces, and said,
It is not lawful for to put them into the
treasure, because it is the price of blood. And
they took counsel, and bought with them the
Potter’s Field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore
that field was called, The Field of Blood, unto
this day. Then was fulfilled that which was
spoken by Jeremy the Prophet, saying, “And they
took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of
Him that was valued, whom they of the children
of Israel did value; and gave them for the
Potter’s Field, as the Lord appointed me.”
It
is perhaps not necessary to point out that it
was Zechariah, rather than Jeremy that Prophet,
who made this prophecy. It may have happened by
a copyist. What is pertinent is the thirty
pieces of silver was the price of a slave. The
fact that the chief priests offered this sum
showed their contempt for Christ, their Messiah.
They acted with authority and in a
representative capacity for all Israel. To offer
such a paltry sum indicated their contempt and
ingratitude for all they know Christ to be after
hearing His words and seeing His miracles for
more then three years. For this to be called a
goodly price is said in shame and derision. This
shows how God leaves every person to his own
choice. Judas may have wondered whether Christ
would perform some miracle and still bring about
His kingdom. He repented, but it was more
remorse than a plea for forgiveness. While we
condemn Judas for his treacherous deed, we must
be careful that we do not betray Christ in other
ways.
There are frequent
references in Zechariah to a phrase, in that
day. Invariably this refers to the time of
Christ the Messiah. We read in Zech. 12:10 as
follows, “And I will pour upon the house of
David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications; an
they shall look on me who they have pierced, and
they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for
him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn.” This is fulfilled in John
19:33,34,37, “But when they came to Jesus, and
saw that he was already dead, they brake not his
bones: but one of the soldiers with a spear
pierced his side and forthwith came there out
blood and water…And again another Scripture
saith, They shall look on him whom they have
pierced.” This is further stressed in Rev.1:7,
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye
shall see him, and they also which pierced Him…”
Not only was the piercing of Jesus’ side
verified in prophecy and history, but the
casting of lots for His vesture was also
foretold. In Psa 22:18, we read, “They part my
garments among them, and cast lots upon my
vesture.” In John 19:23,24 we read, “Then the
soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took
his garments, and made four parts, to every
soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat
was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
They said, therefore, among themselves, Let us
not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it
shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
which saith, They parted my raiment among them,
and for my vesture did cast lost. These things
therefore the soldiers did.” It is amazing how
the prophecies concerning Christ were fulfilled
in detail by events in His life and death.
A
further word should be mentioned regarding the
Potter’s Field. Ordinarily this place was
reserved for the stonger or the poorest of
people and for those guilty of crimes, but after
Jesus died, Joseph of Arimathea asked for the
body and laid it in his own private tomb. In
doing so, he fulfilled Isa 53:9, And he made his
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; because he hath done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth.” Christ’s
humiliation lasted only until His vicarious
death on Calvary, and from then His exaltation
began. Normally He would have been buried in the
Potter’s Field, a place reserved for people who
died in poverty and shame, but prophecy said His
grave would be with the rich in death. The
exaltation of Christ began with His burial. From
there according to Acts 1:3, we have the many
infallible proofs of His resurrection and many
appearances during forty days preceding His
ascension into heaven. Peter recognized Him.
“Therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted…” [ Continued...link below
]
|
