“Three months later, on February 15, the Lord sent another message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo. In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley. Behind him were riders on red, brown, and white horses. I asked the angel who was talking with me, “My Lord, what do these horses mean?” “I will show you,” the angel replied. The rider standing among the myrtle trees then explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent out to patrol the earth.” Then the other riders reported to the angel of the Lord, who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been patrolling the earth, and the whole earth is at peace.” Upon hearing this, the angel of the Lord prayed this prayer: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, for seventy years now you have been angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. How long until you again show mercy to them?” And the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. Then the angel said to me, “Shout this message for all to hear: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong. But I am very angry with the other nations that are now enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions. “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and measurements will be taken for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.’ “Say this also: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The towns of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem as his own.’” Then I looked up and saw four animal horns. “What are these?” I asked the angel who was talking with me. He replied, “These horns represent the nations that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. “What are these men coming to do?” I asked. The angel replied, “These four horns—these nations—scattered and humbled Judah. Now these blacksmiths have come to terrify those nations and throw them down and destroy them.””
Zechariah 1:7-21 NLT
The Angel of the Lord intercedes on behalf of the people of Israel. No one who reads this should be surprised. This particular Angel frequently intervenes on behalf of Israel, as he does for believers everywhere. It is no wonder that his incarnate form, in Christ is said to be interceding for us even now, at God’s right hand. And as God’s right hand, Jesus consistently gave the same message. Whereas the Father handles the more judicious aspects of the godhead, Jesus always argued on our behalf for God to remember his character. He advocates for mercy with the justice and grace with the discipline. As we go through the difficulties in our lives and we come across our frequent failures, we need to remember that God, himself, advocates for us in Jesus. He reminds us that God’s love always tempers his anger when not justice for all. We are blessed to have such a clear example of this in Christ, who gave his life to demonstrate God’s providential love for us. Let us never forget this.
JOSH McGARY. COM 