BIG IDEA:
THE DAY IS COMING WHEN THE LORD WILL OVERTHROW THE GENTILE NATIONS WHICH HAVE SCATTERED AND OPPRESSED THE JEWISH PEOPLE
INTRODUCTION:
The “time of the Gentiles” will not last forever. In their pride and false sense of security, they judge themselves to be impenetrable. They have spread terror among God’s people in scattering and oppressing them and obliterating all hope of deliverance. But God will terrorize them and ultimately overthrow their sovereignty to establish His own righteous reign.
I. (:18-19) THE FOUR HORNS
A. The Vision
“Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns”
Mackay: There seems to be no break from the first vision as Zechariah proceeds.
B. The Question
“So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, ‘What are these?’”
Lindsey: A horn when used symbolically indicates invincible strength (cf. Micah 4:13) or often a Gentile king who represents his kingdom (Dan. 7:24; Rev. 17:12). Here the four horns symbolize proud Gentile powers. . .
Mackay: How this arose can easily be seen, in that the horn is used by the animal to defend itself and also to attack. It is the horn that is displayed as a trophy when the hunter has captured a wild beast.
C. The Answer Given by the Interpreting Angel
“And he answered me, ‘These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.’”
Mackay: The unusual order in which Judah, Israel and Jerusalem are mentioned has given rise to much speculation. One might have expected Israel to be mentioned before Judah in that the Northern Kingdom with its capital at Samaria was overthrown earlier in 722 B.C.
Laetsch: Judah is the tribal name, Israel, the honorable name of the nation chosen by the Lord (Gen. 32:24-30); and Jerusalem, the seat of God’s dwelling; a climax indicating the wickedness of the enemy who opposed and sought to destroy not merely a sister nation, but God’s people, Jehovah’s own city, a blasphemous crime.
II. (:20-21) THE FOUR CRAFTSMEN
A. The Vision
“Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen”
B. The Question
“I said ‘What are these coming to do?’”
C. The Answer Given by the Interpreting Angel
1. The Culpability of the Gentile Nations — Review of the Vision of the Horns
“These are the horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head”
Mackay: The picture of being unable to raise the head is one of utter conquest and subjugation (Judg. 8:28).
2. The Sovereign Conquest of the Gentile Nations
“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.”