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Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 6

Zechariah 1:17 says,

¹⁷ Again, proclaim, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”

The big question that needs to be answered is this: Will God “again choose” the earthly Jerusalem, or will He choose the heavenly city? This word could be read either way. The only way to know for sure is to study the New Testament, which clarifies the Old Testament by means of the Pentecostal anointing. What is the end of the story? The end is found in Revelation 21:1, 2,

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

This was also prophesied centuries earlier in Isaiah 65:17, 18,

¹⁷ For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth [eretz]; and the former things [i.e., the first heaven and the first earth (land)] will not be remembered or come to mind. ¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness.

New heavens do not imply a different moon or a new set of stars or constellations. It is a new order that aligns with the will of God. A new earth (eretz) does not imply a new planet but a new type of land, something different from the original land of Canaan. The Hebrew word eretz is rendered “land” 1,543 times and “earth” only 712 times.

Our Land Inheritance

The new earth is, in fact, the glorified body inheritance that was lost because of Adam’s sin. Adam was formed from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7) and was named Adam (from adamah, “earthy,” defined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:47).

Paul tells us in Romans 8:23 that we are “waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Hebrews 11:14-16 also makes it clear that men of faith seek “a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Verse 15 says that this better country is NOT the one from which they were exiled in the days of the prophet Isaiah, for if it were the old country, “they would have had opportunity to return.”

But returning to the old country does not give anyone the true inheritance of the sons of God. Hebrews 11:10 says also about Abraham,

¹⁰ for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Those who are of the Old Covenant do not believe this interpretation, of course. But those who claim to be New Covenant believers have little excuse for supporting Zionism. If God gives them an inheritance in accordance with their beliefs, the best that they could hope for would be a piece of property on which to live. But what is that in comparison to the glorified body?

Isaiah 65:18 speaks of “Jerusalem” within the context of the new heavens and the new earth. This is one of the new things that God is creating. Therefore, it is not the earthly city but the heavenly city, whose Architect is God Himself. Recall that none of the Old Testament prophets distinguish between the two Jerusalems (Yerushalayim). Nonetheless, here Isaiah comes very close to distinguishing the two cities. Revelation 21:2 puts the finishing touches on this.

Zechariah also tells us that God will “again choose Jerusalem.” Which city is “chosen?” Paul answers this clearly in Galatians 4:25, 26, discussing the allegory of Abraham’s two wives:

²⁵ Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

Is “Hagar” the chosen one who will bring forth the sons of God? Are the children of the flesh chosen? Those who are attached to the Old Covenant believe so. But those who are of the New Covenant say with Paul, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son” (Galatians 4:30). Neither the first heavens, the first earth, the earthly Jerusalem, or the children of the flesh are “chosen.”

It remains for each of us to decide which covenant defines our relationship with God and which mother we claim as our own. This will also determine how we understand Zechariah. Which land, city, and mother will God “remember?” Which will He prosper? Which will He comfort?

The Four Horns

Zechariah 1:18, 19 says,

¹⁸ Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns. ¹⁹ So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

Horns are the weapons of certain beasts such as bulls, by which they might aggressively chase away other animals. A prophetic horn thus represents the power of a beast nation, and this is seen more fully in Daniel 7, which describes the empires which were to come. Babylon was a winged lion (Daniel 7:4), Persia was a bear (Daniel 7:5), Greece was a leopard (Daniel 7:6), and Rome was a nameless beast with iron hoofs and iron teeth (Daniel 7:7).

These are the main empires involved in the scattering of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. Zechariah sees them in terms of their “horns.”

The Four Craftsmen

Zechariah 1:20, 21 says,

²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen [haras]. ²¹ I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”

The craftsmen (haras) are skilled carpenters and engravers who work with wood or metal. When the time of the four “horns” is completed (in our time), God will raise up skilled laborers “to throw down the horns of the (beast) nations.” Since the beast nations covered many centuries of history, the craftsmen are finally raised up at the end of the age to overthrow those empires. The craftsmen are the equivalent of the “saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:27 KJV), who are given authority after the final phase of the little horn has run its course.

Zechariah’s revelation is quite limited, but we can ascertain many details in the other prophets, especially in Daniel 7.