Zechariah 6
Zechariah's vision of four chariots
1 I looked up again and I saw four chariots. They came out from between two mountains that were made of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses to pull it. The second chariot had black horses. 3 The third chariot had white horses. The fourth chariot had grey horses. All the horses were strong. 4 Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, ‘What are these chariots, sir?’
5 The angel answered me, ‘These are the four spirits of heaven. They have come from the Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses is going towards the north country. The chariot with the white horses is going after them. The chariot with the grey horses is going towards the south country.’
7 When these strong horses came out, they were in a hurry to leave. They wanted to travel everywhere on the earth. The Lord had told them, ‘Go and look everywhere in the whole earth.’ So that is what the horses did.
8 Then the Lord called to me. He said, ‘Look! The horses that have gone to the north country have caused my Spirit to have peace. I am no longer angry about the north country.’
A crown for Joshua
9 The Lord gave this message to me:
10 ‘Three men have come back from Babylon, where they were prisoners. Their names are Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah. Take the gifts that they have brought with them. Then go immediately to the house of Zephaniah's son, Josiah.
11 Use some of the gold and silver to make a royal crown. Then put it on the head of Jehozadak's son, Joshua, the leader of the priests. 12 Say to Joshua, “The Lord Almighty says, ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch. He will grow and become great in this place. He will build the Lord's temple.
6:12‘The Branch’ is a name for God's Messiah. See Zechariah 3:8. Zerubbabel was leading the work to build the temple in Jerusalem. He was a sign of a future ruler and King, Jesus Christ. 13 Yes, he is the one who will build the Lord's temple. He will wear royal clothes. He will sit on his throne and he will rule his people as their king. There will be a priest with him on his throne. They will both completely agree with each other as they work together.’ ”
6:13Joshua was the priest who worked with Zerubbabel in Jerusalem. In the future, Jesus would rule his people as both a priest and a king. See Hebrews 5:1-10; 7:11-25. 14 They will put the crown in the Lord's temple. It will cause people to give honour to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Zephaniah's son Josiah.
15 People will come to Jerusalem from places that are far away. They will help to build the Lord's temple. When this happens, you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. It will happen if you remember to obey the commands of the Lord your God.’
