“And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord. And you shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
- Zechariah 6:15
We have made it to the last vision/dream of Zechariah and now the start of the Lord’s words to Zechariah concerning the current events. While the whole book concerns the exiles of Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Chapter 6 helps to bridge the return and the rebuild as we will see with the last vision and the first words…
The vision of Four Chariots:
Back in Zechariah’s dream world, the angel shows him two bronze mountains. Out from between them come 4 chariots pulled by different horses. One set is red, another black, some more are white, and the lasts are dappled. Because of the prevalence of the end times in our culture, we hear about 4 horses, and we picture the four horsemen. While there could be potential parallels in the importance of horses in visions, these appear to be vastly different and serve different purposes.
These horses are strong, energetic, and impatient. They are ready to get to work patrolling the world and reporting back to God. We may try to imagine these horses as controlled, orderly, and well-mannered, but instead, we see their impatience and readiness to run. God seeing this sends them off. The black and the white horses are off to the north (the assumption is they are departing from Jerusalem) and the dappled ones to the south. What exactly do the red horses do, it makes no mention, but that may be in part because it would miss the key point of the whole dream.
“Then he cried to me, ‘Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.’”
- Zechariah 6:8
Remember Babylon, a.k.a. the land where God’s people have been held captive as exiles for 70 years, lies to the north. As these horses patrol the earth and made their way by they were able to make a report that put God’s Spirit to rest. This brings echoes back to the seventh day when God rested after creating the universe. In doing so it also echoes the importance of the sabbath.
The point is, God has been at work to release His people from exile. He’s been working to redeem them and preserve them. The details of the report are not stated but the inference is that the people are responding to their call to return. Think back to chapter 1, the people received a call to return to Jerusalem, and we see a God who is jealous for His people, jealous for the restoration of Jerusalem. Chapter 6, with the vision of the four chariots, brings God’s Spirit to rest, the people are responding, and restoration will come. God’s work and rest for now. And that’s the last vision…
The First words:
This leads us to the first words to Zechariah from the Lord to proclaim before the people:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from this place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.’”
- Zechariah 6:12-13
Before we jump and conclude this is about Christ who sits on the throne as our high priest, we must also remember this was to a specific people in a specific time. In particular, these words are toward Joshua the high priest at the time. We encountered him back in chapter 3 if you want to go back and read that!
The temple had a special seat for the high priest, and these words are about the reestablishment of his authority and ruling over the religious practices of Israel, which also had some political power as well. Thus there is a crown for the high priest that will remain in the temple, as a sign that a Branch will come forth from them.
While the exiles would rebuild a temple, you can read Ezra and Nehemiah for the rebuilding, I do believe these words have deeper meaning toward Christ. Christ would not only rule God’s people in some kind of political sense but will be Lord of their lives. He rebuilds a new temple, one not of stone, for even he declared not a stone of the temple would remain, but rather the temple is His people.
While there are the exiles who will come and rebuild the old temple, Jesus invites people all over the world to be part of the Church. It’s through the many faces and tribes coming together under one man that we know it was truly God the Father who sent the Son to save us.
There is but one request stated in this chapter… obey.
Final Blessing:
Local churches have been shaken, and perhaps our faith tested. Sometimes we doubt and question. Sometimes we may think we lack faith. I would encourage you, even as I seek the Lord in my difficulties to continue to obey the Lord. Even as you lack faith, where there are areas of unbelief, rebuilding starts with obedience. As we obey, we may see how the Lord has been with us the whole time. Persisting in obedience brings us to faithfulness, and taking practical actions coupled with faith brings about the pleasing and pure religion that God wants in His people. Whether we are returning to faith or rebuilding it, let us obey.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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