Zechariah 1 · The Lantern

A Call to Repentance

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying:

The LORD was wrathful against your fathers with wrath.

And you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD of hosts: Return to me — the utterance of the LORD of hosts — and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.

But not all who see are equally enlightened by Christ, but each is enlightened according to that measure by which he is able to receive the force of the light.

Free will and God's grace are simultaneously commended. When God says, "Turn to me, and I will turn to you," one of these clauses—that which invites our return to God—evidently belongs to our will; while the other, which promises his return to us, belongs to his grace.

If we are entirely devoted to God and humbly implore his mercy, through the mercy of God we may deserve to be healed of all our infirmities, rescued from all our sins, set free from the frequent flooding of waters. We ought to believe for certain, dearest brothers, that if our sins cease, the divine mercy will immediately remove the punishments that were due to us.

Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets called, saying: Thus says the LORD of hosts: Return now from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen and did not attend to me — the utterance of the LORD.

Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets — do they live forever?

But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? And they returned and said: As the LORD of hosts purposed to do to us, according to our ways and according to our deeds, so he has done with us.

The Vision of the Horses

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month — that is the month Shebat — in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying:

I saw in the night, and see — a man riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtles that were in the deep; and behind him were red, sorrel and white horses.

(Verse 8 and following) I saw during the night: and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the ravine, and behind him there were red, sorrel, and white horses.

It is quite clear that all the things shown to the prophet were tokens of certain realities, just as Joseph saw sheaves, sun, moon and stars, each of which carried a clue to some coming event, and the Pharaoh saw ears of corn and oxen, some fat and some skinny, and by these as well other events were signified from what was shown.

It is clear that those who were seen are invisible powers, "sent for service," according to the divine apostle, "for the sake of those who are due to inherit salvation." Their natures are not seen, however, being incorporeal: he who is Lord of them and of everyone else renders them discernible according to need in each case.

And I said, What are these, my lord? And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, I will show you what these are.

And the man standing among the myrtles answered and said, These are the ones the LORD has sent to walk about in the earth.

And they answered the angel of the LORD standing among the myrtles and said, We have walked about in the earth, and see — all the earth sits still and is quiet.

And the angel of the LORD answered and said, LORD of hosts, how long will you not have compassion on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, with which you have been indignant these seventy years?

And the LORD answered the angel who was speaking with me — good words, comforting words.

And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, Call out, saying: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

And with great wrath I am wrathful against the nations at ease; for I was a little wrathful, and they helped for evil.

Therefore thus says the LORD: I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house will be built in it — the utterance of the LORD of hosts — and a line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.

Call out yet, saying: Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities will yet spread abroad with good, and the LORD will yet comfort Zion and will yet choose Jerusalem.

The Vision of the Horns and the Craftsmen

And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and see — four horns.

And I said to the angel who was speaking with me, What are these? And he said to me, These are the horns that dispersed Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.

And the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

And I said, What are these coming to do? And he said, saying: These are the horns that dispersed Judah, so that no man lifted his head; and these have come to frighten them, to cast down the horns of the nations that lifted a horn against the land of Judah to disperse it.

Zechariah1

A Call to Repentance

The Vision of the Horses

The Vision of the Horns and the Craftsmen