Zechariah 1:7-17
Riders Among the Myrtle Trees
7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo.
8I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
9“What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
10Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”
11And the riders answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.”
12Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
13So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.
14Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
15but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
16Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’
17Proclaim further that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
Berean Standard Bible
Months after the first message, Zechariah sees into the night. A man rides a red horse and stands among myrtle trees in a hollow. Behind him are red, sorrel, and white horses. Zechariah asks what they are, and the angel speaking with him says he will show him.
The man among the myrtles explains that the riders are those the LORD has sent to patrol the earth. They report that the whole earth is at rest and tranquil. That calm is not automatically good news. Jerusalem and Judah have endured seventy years of anger, and the nations that helped bring calamity are now at ease.
The angel of the LORD asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. The question is important because it is spoken in heaven and because it asks for mercy rather than pretending that the exile has not happened. Zechariah is shown that the heavenly messenger is not indifferent to the suffering of the people.
The LORD answers with kind and comforting words. He is jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. They added to the calamity beyond what the LORD intended in His discipline. The passage does not tell us that every nation is innocent while Judah is guilty. It tells us that a tool of judgment is still accountable for cruelty.
The LORD will return to Jerusalem with mercy. His house will be rebuilt, a measuring line will stretch over the city, and the cities will overflow with prosperity. He will comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem again. The vision moves from a quiet earth and a waiting question to a promise that God's attention has not left His people.
Questions
1 What does Zechariah see among the myrtle trees?
AnswerHe sees a man riding a red horse, with red, sorrel, and white horses behind him in the hollow.
2 What are the riders doing?
AnswerThey are the ones the LORD sent to patrol the earth, and they report that the earth is at rest and tranquil.
3 What does the angel ask the LORD?
AnswerHe asks how long the LORD will withhold mercy from Jerusalem and Judah after the seventy years of anger.
4 What does the LORD promise about Jerusalem?
AnswerHe promises to return with mercy, rebuild His house, stretch a measuring line over Jerusalem, comfort Zion, and choose the city again.
What This Means for Us
A quiet world can still contain an unanswered injustice. The vision gives suffering a voice before it gives the city a promise. Waiting for God is not the same as pretending that the wait has been harmless.
When someone asks how long a wrong will continue, do not answer with a slogan. Listen, name what needs to change, and pursue help that protects the person who has been left carrying the cost.
Prayer
God of mercy, hear the questions that rise from long suffering. Comfort those who wait, judge cruelty fairly, and teach us to notice injustice even when our own surroundings are quiet. Amen.