Zechariah 6:1-8

1 And again lifting up my eyes I saw four war-carriages coming out from between the two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

2 In the first war-carriage were red horses; and in the second, black horses;

3 And in the third, white horses; and in the fourth, horses of mixed colour.

4 And I made answer and said to the angel who was talking to me, What are these, my lord?

5 And the angel, answering, said to me, These go out to the four winds of heaven from their place before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The carriage in which are the black horses goes in the direction of the north country; the white go to the west; and those of mixed colour go in the direction of the south country.

7 And the red ones go to the east; and they made request that they might go up and down through the earth: and he said, Go up and down through the earth. So they went up and down through the earth.

8 Then crying out to me, he said, See, those who are going to the north country have given rest to the spirit of the Lord in the north country.

Zechariah 6:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

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, Zec 6:1-3 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, Zec 6:4-8 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, Zec 6:9-11 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, Zec 6:12,13 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, Zec 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, Zec 6:15.