This one, along with his host, uh was ready to fight for the little band of Jewish refugees who had returned to Jerusalem.

The myrtle trees in the bottom.

The rider of the red horse is located among the myrtle trees.

These trees, rarely more than 8 feet high, are quite common in Israel.

They flourish best in low-lying, well-watered areas.

They have glossy, shiny leaves and produce a star-shaped white flower.

Though a lowly tree, when the leaves are crushed, they emit a very sweet fragrance.

The myrtle tree is a picture of Israel.

Beautiful in God’s sight.

And when crushed or persecuted, giving forth a rich fragrance.

The myrtle trees were in a bottom or glen, obviously a low place.

On the east, west, and south of the ancient city of Jerusalem, there are three valleys.

To the east and running south is Kidron.

To the west running south is the Tyropoeon Valley.

Now both of these valleys empty into the Valley of Hinnom, sometimes called Gehenna.

The point at which the valleys of Kidron and Hinnom meet was called, in the ancient world, the bottom.

It was often referred to as the hollow or the king’s garden.

2 Kings 25:4.

Catch the picture of the disappointed and disillusioned Jewish people of Zechariah’s day.

Their desire to build their temple had again been destroyed.

Discouragement was their lot.

They were now huddled in that bottom.

From this low point, they were looking up at the temple mount, wondering what their end would be.

Through the prophet Zechariah, the Lord gave them their first word of encouragement in 18 years.

They were not alone in that valley.

There was a superhuman being riding a red horse who was ready to do battle for them.

So who is the rider? In verse 8, he is called a man.

Then, in verse 10, the prophet speaks about the other horses and horsemen who are behind him.

They are angelic beings who have been brought to the valley to give a brief on worldwide conditions.

“All is at rest.

” they reported.

But to whom did these riders reply? According to verse 11, they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees.

The man riding the red horse is now described as the angel of the Lord, verse 12.

And in verse 13, he is called the Lord.

The rider on the red horse is God in the flesh.

He is Israel’s Messiah in preexistent form, ready to do battle for these Jewish people who had almost given up.

The Lord had not forgotten them.

He was there to accomplish his will and purpose among them.

Uh the promises to Israel.

Zechariah was given good words and comforting words, verse 13, concerning the Jew and Jerusalem.

The Lord is jealous for Jerusalem, verse 14.

Zechariah was told to cry out his message from the hilltops.

“I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

” The original Hebrew word for jealous comes from an Arabic word meaning to be red or black.

The idea behind the word is that of a person being so angry and furious that he turns red in the face.

Further, the Hebrew word has the connotation of love and hatred linked together.

How can this be? The best explanation concerns the family.

I love my wife and family so much that I would hate anything or anyone who tried to do them harm.

Through the prophet Zechariah, the Lord is letting his discouraged people of that day know he stands behind them or as well as with them.

He is not yet finished with them.

His purposes for them will be accomplished.

He is furious with the enemies of Israel.

The Lord is displeased with the Gentile nations, verse 15.

Nearly 70 years prior to the appearance of Zechariah, Israel had been steeped in heathen idolatry.

The former prophets had promised she would go into captivity because of this.

God used the heathen or Gentile nations to bring this about.

However, these nations had now overstepped their bounds.

They had not only brought about the captivity, but had massacred and plundered the Jewish people far beyond the limits God had set.

Furthermore, they were smug and complacent about it.

It is clear from the first vision that the Lord had put his Messiah Jesus in preexistent form among the Jews, and he was ready to fight for them.

And God was jealous for Jerusalem and was displeased with the Gentile nations.

This alone would have been a tremendous encouragement to this disappointed, disillusioned, and discouraged remnant.

But God was still not finished with his first message.

“The Lord is returned to Jerusalem with mercies.

” Verse 16.

To a struggling remnant harassed by their enemies on every side, this promise must have been a great encouragement.

God had now returned to Jerusalem with mercies.

They could see the Lord’s presence with them through the rider on the red horse.

God had returned to Jerusalem and would pour out his mercies upon them.

Discouragement was dispelled.

Disillusionment was gone.

God had not forgotten them.

“The Lord’s house shall be built in it.

” Verse 16.

The temple would be rebuilt.

Within 4 years of the prophecy of Zechariah, uh the people rallied to his challenge.

Zerubbabel completed his temple upon the very stones of the foundation laid 18 years before.

However, this would only be a partial fulfillment of the prophecy.

The final fulfillment will not be realized until the construction of the temple which Ezekiel saw and which is portrayed in Ezekiel 40 to 42.

The prophet Isaiah also saw the same thing in chapter 2 of the book bearing his name.

“The Lord shall stretch a line upon Jerusalem.

” Verse 16b.

Whenever a builder prepares to construct something, he always uses a tape measure to lay out the job.

Only after he has completed the measurements can he begin the work.

In this verse, God is promising that the boundaries of the city of Jerusalem will be measured so it can be rebuilt.

Within 80 years, Nehemiah would be raised up to fulfill this promise.

And he would complete the building of the walls, and the city would be built up again within them.

Imagine the exultation of that discouraged Jewish remnant in Jerusalem as the prophet told them what the Holy Spirit had revealed to him.

The visions came at night, but joy would come in the morning as the people heard the news from the lips of the sleepless prophet.

Hope was not gone.

They were not to give up.

They would see the restoration of their beloved city.

The Lord’s cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad.

Verse 17.

God promised prosperity, blessing, and growth to the Jewish people of Zechariah’s day.

However, the rebuilding of the walls and the temple, and the overflowing of the prosperity that came with it, would be short-lived.

In a few hundred years, it would all be gone again.

This prophecy has a dual fulfillment.

And it also speaks of a day yet future, when there would be another temple, a millennial one.

Ezekiel 40 to 48.

With God dwelling in the midst of it.

The future of Jerusalem is secured in the promises of God.

That which the people of Zechariah’s day saw is nothing in comparison to what a future generation shall yet see.

The Lord shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.

Verse 17b.

Comfort is coming.

The meaning of comfort is to treat with the most tender affection.

The 70-year captivity was over, and God would now bless his people.

Yet, even this will not compare with the way God’s love for Israel will go into action when they are finally converted.

Zechariah 12:10.

Jerusalem will be the city of his choice.

His Messiah king, Jesus, of the line of David, will rule.

And it will be the Lord’s city, and will truly be what her name proclaims.

The city of peace.

Conclusion.

To the Jewish remnant of Zechariah’s day, God had given comfort in this first of eight visions.

He had not He had provided the Messiah to fight for them.

There would be deliverance.

They would return to Jerusalem, and the temple would be rebuilt.

Yet, beyond all these temporary blessings, there was and is a great future for the believing Jew and the city of Jerusalem.

 

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