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Monday, February 10th, 2025
the Fifth Week after Epiphany

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Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 6

ZechariahZec 5 ZechariahZec ZechariahZec 7

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Verses 1-15

Intro:
1. Read before prayer: Nicholas Van Hoffman - "The Mush God has been known to appear to millionaires on golf courses. He appears to politicians at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and to clergymen speaking the invocation on national TV at either Democratic or Republican conventions. The Mush God's presence is felt during Brotherhood Week and when Rotarians come together. He is the lifeless deity President Carter was referring to when suggesting peace might come to the Middle East because the Egyptian president and Israeli prime minister both worshipped the Great Mushy One.
  
  "The Mush God has no theology to speak of, being a Cream of Wheat divinity. TheMush God has no particular credo, no tenets of faith, nothing that would make it difficult for believer and non-believer alike to lower one's head when the temporary chairman tells us the Reverend, Rabbi, Father, Mufti, or So-and-So will lead us in an innocuous, harmless prayer, for this god of public occasions is not a jealous god. You can even invoke him to start a hooker convention and he/she or it won't be offended."God of the Rotary, God of the Optimists' Club, Protector of the Buddy System, the Mush God is the Lord of secular ritual, of the necessary but hypocritical forms and formalities that hush the divisive and the derisive. The Mush God is a serviceable god whose laws are not chiseled on tablets but written on sand, open to amendment, qualification, and era-sure. This is a god that will compromise with you, make allowances and declare all wars holy, all peaces hallowed."
2. This will be the last of his 8 visions(ch.6) - Then ch.7 goes into 4 revelations, or 4 prophetic messages.
CHARIOTS & CROWNS! (Ch.6)
1. SPIRIT IS AT REST! {4 Chariots} Vision #8 (1-8)
2. What he saw! (1-3)
3. This reminds us of vision #1(1:1-11) w/the horses.
  1. There “the nations” were at rest(w/the worlds pseudo-peace).
  2. Here God’s Spirit is at rest.
  3. Q: Where else do we find horses used symbolically in scripture?
4. Many interpreters place the scene of this vision in the Kidron Valley.
  1. The 2 mountains being Zion & Olivet.
  2. Bronze is frequently figurative for judgment.
    1. The altar for sacrifice in the Tabernacle & Temple was made of bronze. And that’s where sin was judged when sacrifices were burned.
    2. The serpent that Moses put up on the pole was made of bronze.
    3. When our Lord appeared to John in Rev.1:15 His feet were compared to bronze.
    4. Thus, judgment will fall on the Gentile nations during the Tribulation.
5. What it was! (4-8)
6. The horses fan out into different directions.
  1. Black(north); White(either north, or west/NIV); dappled(south).
  2. East would be into the Mediterranean. The Red horse?
  3. Show Painted clay figurines of horsemen. Found in Phoenician tombs at Achzib, Israel, and dating to the 5th-6th century B.C.
  4. So here they are accomplishing God’s purposes rather than reporting on conditions in the Gentile world.
7. These are “4 spirits”(5) or 4 angels.
  1. Chariots suggests battle, & implies judgment.
  2. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, Even thousands of thousands.” Ps.68:17
  3. Is.66:15 “For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.”
8. What he meant!
  1. In the north country – possibly…since the Jews were mostly invaded from the north, God was keeping those nations at rest so the remnant could finish the temple.
    1. Also the implication was that if the North could be conquered, so too could all the other foreign nations.
  2. This again reminds us that the passage of human history is not a random process, but moves somehow towards the fulfillment of God’s purpose in the world. [Just like watching Fox News or CNN today!]
9. THE PRIEST/KING IS CROWNED! (9-15)
10. What he received! (9,10)
11. (10) 3 Jews from Babylon –
  1. All 3 bearing gifts – like the wise men who brought gifts from afar.
12. What he was to do! (11-13)
13. (11) Elaborate crown – KJV says “crowns”.
  1. “A composite crowns of circlets.”
  2. It reminds us of the hymn “Crown Him with Many Crowns.”
  3. A crowned priest? – Unheard of!
    1. No Jewish Priest had ever reigned as king, no King was permitted to serve as a priest.
    2. Q: What king tried? (Uzziah 2 chron.26:16-21)
14. (12,13) “Behold the man” – Reminds us of Pilates comment to Jesus in Jn.19:5.
15. Branch – An important Messianic title, signifying our Lord’s coming from the stock of David.
16. A priest on his throne –
  1. In the kingdom, there will be perfect peace & justice because all civil & religious authority will be harmonized in one person, Messiah, the King & Priest.
17. What it meant! (14,15)
18. (14) Joshua’s crown is replaced with his priestly miter.
19. Hen(nickname for Josiah) = “gracious one”.
20. All of this was a symbolic scene of coronation, of the coming Messiah, the King-priest.
  1. In 3:8 it said that Joshua was “symbolic of things to come”(NIV).
  2. 1^st it was impossible & illegal to do this.
  3. 2^nd we know it was symbolic because of where the crown went after the ceremony(in the Temple for a memorial).
  4. So this goes way beyond the “current crownee” to the greater Joshua.

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Verses 1-15

Intro:
1. Read before prayer: Nicholas Van Hoffman - "The Mush God has been known to appear to millionaires on golf courses. He appears to politicians at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and to clergymen speaking the invocation on national TV at either Democratic or Republican conventions. The Mush God's presence is felt during Brotherhood Week and when Rotarians come together. He is the lifeless deity President Carter was referring to when suggesting peace might come to the Middle East because the Egyptian president and Israeli prime minister both worshipped the Great Mushy One.
  
  "The Mush God has no theology to speak of, being a Cream of Wheat divinity. TheMush God has no particular credo, no tenets of faith, nothing that would make it difficult for believer and non-believer alike to lower one's head when the temporary chairman tells us the Reverend, Rabbi, Father, Mufti, or So-and-So will lead us in an innocuous, harmless prayer, for this god of public occasions is not a jealous god. You can even invoke him to start a hooker convention and he/she or it won't be offended."God of the Rotary, God of the Optimists' Club, Protector of the Buddy System, the Mush God is the Lord of secular ritual, of the necessary but hypocritical forms and formalities that hush the divisive and the derisive. The Mush God is a serviceable god whose laws are not chiseled on tablets but written on sand, open to amendment, qualification, and era-sure. This is a god that will compromise with you, make allowances and declare all wars holy, all peaces hallowed."
2. This will be the last of his 8 visions(ch.6) - Then ch.7 goes into 4 revelations, or 4 prophetic messages.
CHARIOTS & CROWNS! (Ch.6)
1. SPIRIT IS AT REST! {4 Chariots} Vision #8 (1-8)
2. What he saw! (1-3)
3. This reminds us of vision #1(1:1-11) w/the horses.
  1. There “the nations” were at rest(w/the worlds pseudo-peace).
  2. Here God’s Spirit is at rest.
  3. Q: Where else do we find horses used symbolically in scripture?
4. Many interpreters place the scene of this vision in the Kidron Valley.
  1. The 2 mountains being Zion & Olivet.
  2. Bronze is frequently figurative for judgment.
    1. The altar for sacrifice in the Tabernacle & Temple was made of bronze. And that’s where sin was judged when sacrifices were burned.
    2. The serpent that Moses put up on the pole was made of bronze.
    3. When our Lord appeared to John in Rev.1:15 His feet were compared to bronze.
    4. Thus, judgment will fall on the Gentile nations during the Tribulation.
5. What it was! (4-8)
6. The horses fan out into different directions.
  1. Black(north); White(either north, or west/NIV); dappled(south).
  2. East would be into the Mediterranean. The Red horse?
  3. Show Painted clay figurines of horsemen. Found in Phoenician tombs at Achzib, Israel, and dating to the 5th-6th century B.C.
  4. So here they are accomplishing God’s purposes rather than reporting on conditions in the Gentile world.
7. These are “4 spirits”(5) or 4 angels.
  1. Chariots suggests battle, & implies judgment.
  2. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, Even thousands of thousands.” Ps.68:17
  3. Is.66:15 “For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.”
8. What he meant!
  1. In the north country – possibly…since the Jews were mostly invaded from the north, God was keeping those nations at rest so the remnant could finish the temple.
    1. Also the implication was that if the North could be conquered, so too could all the other foreign nations.
  2. This again reminds us that the passage of human history is not a random process, but moves somehow towards the fulfillment of God’s purpose in the world. [Just like watching Fox News or CNN today!]
9. THE PRIEST/KING IS CROWNED! (9-15)
10. What he received! (9,10)
11. (10) 3 Jews from Babylon –
  1. All 3 bearing gifts – like the wise men who brought gifts from afar.
12. What he was to do! (11-13)
13. (11) Elaborate crown – KJV says “crowns”.
  1. “A composite crowns of circlets.”
  2. It reminds us of the hymn “Crown Him with Many Crowns.”
  3. A crowned priest? – Unheard of!
    1. No Jewish Priest had ever reigned as king, no King was permitted to serve as a priest.
    2. Q: What king tried? (Uzziah 2 chron.26:16-21)
14. (12,13) “Behold the man” – Reminds us of Pilates comment to Jesus in Jn.19:5.
15. Branch – An important Messianic title, signifying our Lord’s coming from the stock of David.
16. A priest on his throne –
  1. In the kingdom, there will be perfect peace & justice because all civil & religious authority will be harmonized in one person, Messiah, the King & Priest.
17. What it meant! (14,15)
18. (14) Joshua’s crown is replaced with his priestly miter.
19. Hen(nickname for Josiah) = “gracious one”.
20. All of this was a symbolic scene of coronation, of the coming Messiah, the King-priest.
  1. In 3:8 it said that Joshua was “symbolic of things to come”(NIV).
  2. 1^st it was impossible & illegal to do this.
  3. 2^nd we know it was symbolic because of where the crown went after the ceremony(in the Temple for a memorial).
  4. So this goes way beyond the “current crownee” to the greater Joshua.

return to 'Top of Page'

ZechariahZec 5 ZechariahZec ZechariahZec 7

Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Zechariah 6". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/zechariah-6.html. 2017.

Bible CommentariesZechariah 6

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-15

Verses 1-15

Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 6