Revelation Six - When The Four Horsemen Ride
Chapter 9 of Zechariah is a difficult one. It talks about the First Coming and the Millennium. About a new covenant that will be spread to the ends of the earth. It also seems to talk about the Redemption of Israel and Armageddon. Or, maybe not. And, I have found that I made a mistake in dividing the three parts of this chapter. Or, did I? I figured a couple things out writing this, so you might get something new from this too. ———————————— Keep this ministry alive with a donation. And, read my books and guides for free: https://revelationsix.com/books/ I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here: https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/ If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter. ———————————— Zechariah Part 9When I started Zechariah, I had the impression that I could move through it quite quickly. But, that false impression came from working with the last three chapters - 12, 13 and 14. And, as I look back on how long it took me to understand them, I now realize the Zechariah was never going to be an easy prophet to understand. And, people STILL don't understand him. There are two reasons for that. The first is that it is only now that these incomprehensible prophecies can begin to be understood. As God has promised in many placed in the Bible, He said that the last days were sealed until the time came to unseal them. But, there's a second more ominous reason. Isaiah said this:
God purposefully made the Bible hard to understand so that the wicked would not understand and be broken. And, I need to keep reminding myself of these two reasons when people are not able to understand what seems so simple. Oh, and a third way to NOT understand the Bible is to read commentaries written by people who DID NOT understand the Bible, which is mostly all of them. Zechariah 9 is broadly divided into three parts: Zechariah 9:1-8 Zechariah 9:9-11 Zechariah 9:12-17 Zechariah 9:1-8We run into our first challenge in verse one:
In the Hebrew, the words 'as of all' is just 'and all'. I don't know how the KJV got that wrong. It's actually a very simple Hebrew word וכל (veh-chole 'ch' as in Bach). Also, it's not 'eyes of man'. It's 'an eye of a man'. But, I might be nitpicking a bit here. Here's the question: When were the eyes of all the tribes of Israel toward the Lord? Has this every happened? Maybe there was a moment in time in which this was true. It's hard to say. They were only really independent 110 BC until 63 BC, when the Hasmoneans decided that killing each other in an uncivil war was a great idea. And, don't forget that Zechariah was murdered for his faith. The other possibility is that verse one will be in the same time frame as Isaiah 17, where God permanently destroys Damascus and rescues Israel. And, here's an interesting verse that sounds like what Zechariah said:
Is that a perfect match? It sounds like it, but 'sounds like it' isn't proof. Then, God speaks in verses two through six of all the other Gentiles in the area that will be destroyed. Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, Philistines. And then God says that a bastard will dwell in Ashdod. I had thought all of these people had been destroyed by the Babylonians and then the Persians. But, it could be that God was speaking about those places that had been rebuilt. After all, they would have been rebuilt. However, verse seven and eight are interesting:
I can see how, for a brief time, that those that remain in Israel were for God in the past. But, verse 8 says that God will protect Jerusalem and that no oppressor will go through Jerusalem again. Has that ever happened? And, that word 'again' isn't as strong as it looks in English. It just says עוד (ohd), which just means 'more' or 'again'. It's not as strong as the words that God uses to indicate 'forever' like dor v'dor or l'olam. But, I don't know that this makes much of a difference. But, just as Isaiah 28 said, God is not going to make this easy for us. However, the next prophecy will be easy to understand. Zechariah 9:9-11These next three verses are among the most important in the Bible:
What is verse nine talking about? Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And verse nine was completed. And, we know what verse 11 is talking about. That's the New Covenant created by the shed Blood of Jesus Christ. But, what about verse 10? We know that through the gospel, Jesus did speak peace unto the heathen. That's you and me. But, there's a phrase that gives us pause. It's this one: 'and his dominion' It's actually one Hebrew word, with a prefix 'and' and a suffix 'his': ומשלו (ew-mash-lo). The root word is משל (mo-shel). That is also the root word for government ממשלה (mem-shah-lah). This would seem to mean that Jesus is literally governing the world. Is this the Millennium? I think that there is a solid case to be made for that. But, you'll notice the confusing past, present and future in these three verses. This is by design. Those who demand that we believe that we are in the Millennium, will be caught by this verse because they will see what they want to see. So, don't get caught. We will get to the chapter that describes the Millennium, and it will not be like anything that the Amillennialists say. Zechariah 9:12-17This prophecy is where I made a mistake. I took verse 11 and put it with this group of verses. That was incorrect. Why? Because verse 11 speaks of the Blood of the Covenant of Christ. But, let's start with verse 12:
Hmmm... where have we heard the Lord refer to rendering double unto someone? Yeah, here:
So, God is saying that He will render double unto Israel, for her sins. But, then this next verse gets us all confused again:
Okay, that just threw a wrench into the machinery. I don't know who this Greece is. I can tell you what I think, but I'm not sure. Our first option is the Seleucids, that were Greek. Israel - for a brief time - carved out a vassal state from them. Eventually, Jerusalem would be sacked by Antiochus IV, and later the Hasmoneans gobble up a chunk of the Seleucid empire before descending into that uncivil war. Our second option is, well... I would think Gog and Magog. But Greece is not listed in that army. Go and read Ezekiel 38:1-6. You will not find Greece (Yavan) or any of her descendants in that list of who attacks Israel. So, what does that leave us with? Well, the Antichrist, who comes out of one of the four kingdoms of Alexander. And, we know from Daniel 11:21-45, that the Antichrist is the King of the North. And, we have this intriguing verse:
And, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Judah fighting in the Battle of Armageddon is beyond bizarre. But, it would explain the meaning of the next three verses:
That sounds like Armageddon. But, is this before they receive their glorified bodies, or after? Or, are we on the wrong track altogether? And yes, the exact timing of the Resurrection and the Rapture is deeply uncertain. Those who claim that they KNOW the exact moment in time, have not read all the passages about the Resurrection and the Rapture. Never make doctrine out of supposition, or a verse taken out of context. Now, we have one more verse. And, I want you to remember that the people who created the chapter divisions were not saved. Rabbi Nathan of AD 1488 was the one who divided the Hebrew Scriptures into chapters. But, there is no question that he was NOT SAVED. (Even though most of his work was mostly okay.) That's why I believe the last verse of this chapter actually belongs in chapter ten:
And, if you read ahead, you'll see how verse 17 fits better with Zechariah 10. But, I won't blame you, if you feel otherwise. ------ NOTE: Notice how I have made mistakes. I make them all the time. There isn't a single Christian who has ever lived who hasn't made lots of mistakes in interpretation. Now think about the commentaries on your shelf. Do you really want to trust what they say? And yes, I also mean that you should not trust what I say. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. ———————————— My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. ———————————— Keep this ministry alive with a donation. And, read my books and guides for free: https://revelationsix.com/books/ I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here: https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/ If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter. ————————————
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