Zechariah sees a vision of a man who he soon knows to be an
angel, on a red horse in a forest of myrtle trees along with three others on
horses. What he finds is that they are
the angels who watch over the earth and they have completed their mission for
the day and are reporting back to the Lord concerning the state of the earth. What they have found is that the whole earth
is at rest this night. The prophet is
outraged at this situation. His anger is
based in the reality that for seventy years the people of God have not been at
rest, they are suffering and the yet the people of the remainder of the earth,
the people not of God, are at rest.
Where is the Lord in that situation?
How can this be good in the eyes of God that everyone but His people
rest and prosper and His city and the temple where He lived are now in
ruins? The Lord answers that the time
has come when He will reverse the situation.
He, too, is angry that the people of earth have delighted in the
misfortune of His people and in fact have made it worse. Now is the announcement that these seventy
years have ended and He will restore the city, the temple, and the people.
Jesus teaches on discipleship. Maybe you missed that but what He was saying
is that when the work of redemption or salvation is done, when a person
confesses Him as Lord and Savior, that which formerly was lord of that person's
life is driven out. Afterwards those
demonic lords roam like the angels that Zechariah saw looking for another place
to inhabit. Unless discipleship happens
and the convert's life is filled with the Word and the Spirit then all that is
done is that the former habitation is now prepared to be filled again. We do the same when we gain victory over some
sin in our life, we need to fill that empty space left behind with some new
practice, some discipline. Remarkably,
Jesus says of His own mother and family that those who are hungry for the Word
and the knowledge of God are more important than even blood ties. We, like Zechariah and Jesus, have to fully
identify with God's people in this way.
John, like Zechariah, is startled by a vision. He is "in the Spirit" on the Lord's
day on the island of Patmos where he, too, is in exile. He sees not a man on a horse (yet) among the
myrtle trees but one like a son of man among golden lampstands, a far more
glorious vision and setting. His
reaction to this one is less blasé than Zechariah's reaction to seeing the
angel, John falls to his knees in fear of this man. Try and conjure up the image in your mind and
heart that John describes in verses 12-16 and see if you think you could stand
in His presence. This is an important vision,
the Lord comes in person, not an angel, what comes next must be listened to and
obeyed. You can be sure John gave it his
complete attention.
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