เศคาริยาห์ 6:6 วิจารณ์

The two kingdoms of providence and grace are what we are all very nearly interested in, and therefore are concerned to acquaint ourselves with, all our temporal affairs being in a necessary subjection to divine Providence, and all our spiritual and eternal concerns in a necessary dependence upon divine grace; and these two are represented to us in this chapter - the former by a vision, the latter by a type. Here is, I. God, as King of nations, ruling the world by the ministry of angels, in the vision of the four chariots (Zac 6:1-8). II. God, as King of saints, ruling the church by the mediation of Christ, in the figure of Joshua the high priest crowned, the ceremony performed, and then explained concerning Christ (Zac 6:9-15).

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 6 This chapter contains a vision of four chariots, and the explanation of it; and an order to make crowns of gold and silver for certain uses mentioned; and a famous prophecy concerning the Messiah as the builder of the temple, the church. The chariots are described by their number, four; by the place, the mountains, from whence they came out; and by the different colour of the horses in each of them, Zac 6:1 upon the prophets inquiry what these were, an explanation is given of them; and they are said to be the four spirits of the heavens; and are described by their situation, standing before the Lord of the whole earth; by their mission from him; by each of the places to which they were sent; and by their success, or by the good effects produced, at least by some of them, Zac 6:4 then follows the order to make the crowns; and it is declared what they should be made of, gold and silver; from whom they were to be had, and who were to be concerned herein; and what was to be done with them; they were to be put upon the head of Joshua the high priest, Zac 6:9 who, being an eminent type of Christ, a prophecy concerning him is ordered to be delivered to him; who is described by his name, the man, the Branch; by the place he should grow up from; by the work he should do, building the temple of the Lord; by the glory he should have on account of it; and by the offices of King, Priest, and Prophet, he should execute, Zac 6:12 and after this was done, then the crowns were to be laid up in the temple of the Lord for a memorial, by the four men above mentioned, Zac 6:14 and though the Messiah is the chief builder of the temple, the church, yet it is suggested that others, and even Gentiles, should come and build in it; and which when done, it would be evident that the prophet had his mission to the Jews of the Lord; and the chapter is closed with a promise of the accomplishment of all this, should they diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord, Zac 6:15.

The black horses which are therein,.... Which were in the second chariot: no further mention is made of the red horses in the first chariot, because the kingdom of the Chaldeans was now extinct: these design the Medes and Persians: go forth into the north country: into the country of Babylon or Chaldea, which lay north of Judea; see Jer 1:13 and other places; these went to Babylon, took that, and seized on the empire, and delivered the Jews, who were captives there: and the white go forth after them; the Grecians under Alexander, who went after the Medes and Persians into the same country, and fought Darius the Persian, and conquered him: and the grisled go forth toward the south country; the Romans under Julius Caesar, Augustus, and others before them, who went into Egypt, which lay south of Judea, Dan 11:5 and conquered that, and other nations, and set up the fourth kingdom or monarchy.

The vision of the four chariots drawn by several sorts of horses, Zac 6:1-8. The other vision in thus chapter may refer in its primary sense to the establishment of the civil and religious polity of the Jews under Joshua and Zerubbabel; but relates in a fuller sense, to the Messiah, and to that spiritual kingdom of which he was to be both king and high priest. In him all these types and figures were verified; on him all the promises are yea and amen, Zac 6:9-15.

The black horses - This refers to the second chariot; of the first the angel makes no mention, because the empire designed by it had ceased to exist. This had red horses, to show the cruelty of the Chaldeans towards the Jews, and the carnage they committed in the land of Judea. The black - Cyrus, at the head of the Persians and Medes, bringing devastation and death among the Chaldeans, called the north in many parts of Scripture. The white - Alexander, who was splendid in his victories, and mild towards all that he conquered. The grisled - The Lagidae or Ptolemies, who founded an empire in Egypt; of these some were good, some bad, some despotic, some moderate, some cruel, and some mild, represented by the party-coloured horses.

EIGHTH VISION. THE FOUR CHARIOTS. (Zac 6:1-8) four chariots--symbolizing the various dispensations of Providence towards the Gentile nations which had been more or less brought into contact with Judea; especially in punishing Babylon. Compare Zac 6:8 ("the north country," that is, Babylon); Zac 1:15; Zac 2:6. The number "four" is specified not merely in reference to the four quarters of the horizon (implying universal judgments), but in allusion to the four world kingdoms of Daniel. from between two mountains--the valley of Jehoshaphat, between Moriah and Mount Olivet [MOORE]; or the valley between Zion and Moriah, where the Lord is (Zac 2:10), and whence He sends forth His ministers of judgment on the heathen [MAURER]. The temple on Mount Moriah is the symbol of the theocracy; hence the nearest spot accessible to chariots in the valley below is the most suitable for a vision affecting Judah in relation to the Gentile world powers. The chariot is the symbol of war, and so of judgments. of brass--the metal among the ancients representing hard solidity; so the immovable and resistless firmness of God's people (compare Jer 1:18). CALVIN explains the "two mountains" thus: The secret purpose of God from eternity does not come forth to view before the execution, but is hidden and kept back irresistibly till the fit time, as it were between lofty mountains; the chariots are the various changes wrought in nations, which, as swift heralds, announce to us what before we knew not. The "two" may thus correspond to the number of the "olive trees" (Zac 4:3); the allusion to the "two mountains" near the temple is not necessarily excluded in this view. HENDERSON explains them to be the Medo-Persian kingdom, represented by the "two horns" (Dan 8:3-4), now employed to execute God's purpose in punishing the nations; but the prophecy reaches far beyond those times.

north country--Babylon (see on Jer 1:14). The north is the quarter specified in particular whence Judah and Israel are hereafter to return to their own land (Zac 2:6; Jer 3:18). "The black horses" go to Babylon, primarily to represent the awful desolation with which Darius visited it in the fifth year of his reign (two years after this prophecy) for revolting [HENDERSON]. The "white" go after the "black" horses to the same country; two sets being sent to it because of its greater cruelty and guilt in respect to Judea. The white represent Darius triumphant subjugation of it [MOORE]. Rather, I think, the white are sent to victoriously subdue Medo-Persia, the second world kingdom, lying in the same quarter as Babylon, namely, north. grizzled . . . toward the south--that is, to Egypt, the other great foe of God's people. It, being a part of the GrÃ&brvbrco-Macedonian kingdom, stands for the whole of it, the third world kingdom.