Lesson #07

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
ZECHARIAH 6:1-8
LESSON #07
JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS

• MEMORY VERSE: MAT 25:32

• VISION #8 IS RELATED TO VISION #1 AND VISION #2 IN LESSON #2.
• THE MESSAGE IN VISION #1 WAS THAT THE MESSIAH ON A RED HORSE IS IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE READY TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THEM FROM THEIR ENEMIES.
• IN THE FIRST VISION, THE HORSES ARE SENT THROUGHOUT THE EARTH TO REPORT ON THE CONDITION OF THE NATIONS..
• IN THE EIGHTH VISION, HAVING MADE THEIR REPORT, THE HORSES ARE NOW ON THE MOVE TO CARRY OUT JUDGMENT.
• THE MESSAGE IN VISION #2 WAS THAT GOD WOULD RAISE UP A SUBSEQUENT NATION TO DESTROY THE PRECEDING ONE BECAUSE OF THEIR PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS.
• THE FOUR NATIONS IDENTIFIED IN VISION 2 ARE THE ONES DANIEL PROPHESIED IN DAN 2 AND 7:
• THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
• THE MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE
• THE GRECIAN EMPIRE
• THE ROMAN EMPIRE
• BECAUSE THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS NEVER REALLY DESTROYED, AND IN MANY WAYS LINGERS WITH US IN WESTERN SOCIETY TODAY, IT WILL BE PRESENT WHEN THE ANTI-CHRIST RISES TO POWER.
• CHRIST WILL BE THE ONE WHO DESTROYS THIS EMPIRE AT THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• VISION #8 DEALS WITH THESE SAME 4 EMPIRES.

• READ ZEC 6:1-8 VISION #8 THE FOUR CHARIOTS
• IDENTIFICATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF VISION #8:
• FOUR CHARIOTS =
• REMEMBER THAT THE NUMBER 4 RELATES TO THE 4 CORNERS OF THE THE EARTH (ISA 11:12) OR THE 4 POINTS ON THE COMPASS. IN OTHER WORDS, THE WHOLE WORLD IS AFFECTED BY THE MESSAGE OF THIS VISION.
• CHARIOTS ARE RELATED TO WAR AND WAR IS RELATED TO JUDGMENT.
• GOD USES OTHER NATIONS TO CHASTISE HIS OWN PEOPLE, AND GOD USES ONE PAGAN NATION TO PUNISH ANOTHER PAGAN NATION.
• THE VISUAL CONCEPT OF THE CHARIOTS IS THAT THE MESSENGER CHARIOTS BRING THE JUDGMENT OF GOD TO THE EARTH.
• THESE FOUR CHARIOTS ARE CALLED “FOUR SPIRITS” OR “FOUR WINDS” IN VERSE 5. (DAN 7:2)
• THEY ARE ANGELIC BEINGS WHO CARRY OUT GOD’S JUDGMENT SWIFTLY AS THE WIND.
• TWO BRASS MOUNTAINS (BRASS IN THE BIBLE IS A SYMBOL OF JUDGMENT. REV 1:15-16) = THE MOUNTAINS ARE MOUNT ZION AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
• MOUNT ZION IS WHERE JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED AND REPRESENTS GOD’S JUDGMENT OF SIN.
• THE MOUNT OF OLIVES IS THE PLACE FROM WHERE JESUS ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN., AND THE PLACE TO WHICH HE WILL RETURN AT THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING. IT REPRESENTS A FUTURE HOPE.
• BETWEEN THE TWO MOUNTAINS IS A VALLEY CALLED THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT (THE KIDRON VALLEY). THE NAME JEHOSHAPHAT MEANS = JEHOVAH JUDGES. IT IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD WILL JUDGE THE NATIONS IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.
• THERE IS NO ACTUAL GEOGRAPHICALLY KNOWN LOCATION FOR THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. MOST BIBLE SCHOLARS FEEL IT REFERS SYMBOLICALLY TO THE KIDRON VALLEY WHERE THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WILL OCCUR. (JOE 3:2)
• RED HORSES = JUDGMENT, WAR, BLOOD, VENGEANCE
• BLACK HORSES = DEFEAT, DESPAIR, SORROW, FAMINE, DEATH
• WHITE HORSES = VICTORY, PEACE
• GRISLED (OR DAPPLED) STRONG HORSES = PARTLY DISASTER AND PARTLY PROSPERITY OR DEATH FROM VARIOUS CAUSES.
• IDENTIFICATION OF RELATED ACTIONS:
• THE DIRECTION OF THE HORSES:
• NONE OF THE HORSES GO EAST OR WEST.
• TO THE WEST OF ISRAEL IS THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. TO THE EAST OF ISRAEL IS A DESERT.
• NOTICE THAT THE INTERPRETATION OF THE ACTIONS BEGINS WITH THE BLACK HORSES AND NOT THE RED ONES THAT WERE FIRST MENTIONED.
• IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE THE FIRST GENTILE EMPIRE OF BABYLON HAD ALREADY BEEN JUDGED AT THE TIME OF ZECHARIAH’S VISION.
• THE BLACK HORSES, FOLLOWED BY THE WHITE HORSES, GO TO THE NORTH COUNTRY. (6)
• MANY OF ISRAEL’S ENEMIES FROM THE MESOPOTAMIAN FERTILE CRESCENT AND FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA ATTACKED ISRAEL FROM THE NORTH. (ASSYRIA, BABYLON, AND GREECE).
• THE GRISLED (DAPPLED) HORSES GO TO THE SOUTH. (6)
• EGYPT, TO THE SOUTH OF ISRAEL, WAS A CONSTANT, ANCIENT ENEMY OF ISRAEL THOUGH NEVER REALLY CONQUERED ISRAEL. ROME, HOWEVER, GAINED ACCESS TO ISRAEL THROUGH EGYPT.
• THESE HORSES (CALLED “BAY” IN VERSE 7) GO THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH BECAUSE THE ROMAN EMPIRE SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD OF THAT TIME.
• NOTICE THAT THE HORSES THAT GO TO THE NORTH COUNTRY (THE BLACK AND THE WHITE) HAVE QUIETED GOD’S SPIRIT.
• GOD’S JUDGMENT IS TAKEN TO THE NORTH TO RESIDE AND REST UPON THAT LAND PERMANENTLY.
• WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF VISION #8?
• THE FOUR GREAT GENTILE EMPIRES THAT HAD THEIR WAY WITH ISRAEL WILL BE JUDGED. THEY ARE THE FOUR THAT SCATTERED THE ISRAELITES. THESE FOUR ARE THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE, THE MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE, THE GRECIAN EMPIRE, AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
• SPECIFIC DETAILS OF THE MESSAGE:
• BEHIND THE SCENES OF PHYSICAL ACTIONS AND ACTIVITIES OF NATIONS, GOD IS WORKING OUT HIS ETERNAL PURPOSE AND POWER BY LIFTING UP AND PUTTING DOWN NATIONS.
• THESE ARE THE FOUR EMPIRES THAT MAKE UP THE PERIOD CALLED “THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES”.
• A PERIOD EXTENDING FROM DANIEL’S CAPTIVITY IN 606 BC IN THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY TO THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• THE PROPHETIC FULFILLMENT:
• THREE OF THE EMPIRES HAVE GONE. THE FOURTH EMPIRE, THAT OF ROME, HAS NEVER BEEN DESTROYED AND THEREFORE, HAS NEVER BEEN JUDGED.
• THE OLD ROMAN EMPIRE SLOWLY CRUMBLED OVER TIME AND FADED INTO HISTORY LEAVING VESTIGES OF ITS CULTURE IN WESTERN SOCIETY AND A ROMAN LEGAL SYSTEM.
• WE COULD SAY THAT THE FOURTH EMPIRE IS SLEEPING DORMANT UNTIL THE TIME WHEN THE ANTI-CHRIST TAKES HOLD OF IT AND USES IT TO GAIN WORLD POWER.
• JUST AS THE ROMAN EMPIRE EXISTED AT THE TIME OF THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST TO EARTH, IT WILL ALSO EXIST AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST TO EARTH.
• BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM ON EARTH IN THE MILLENNIUM, CHRIST WILL JUDGE ALL NATIONS AS TO THEIR TREATMENT OF ISRAEL AS A NATION AND THE JEWS AS A PEOPLE.
• READ MAT 25:31-46
• APPLICATION:
• AS BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST, WE MUST BE CAREFUL OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD ISRAEL AS A NATION.
• THEY ARE A SECULAR NATION TODAY, BUT THEY ARE STILL GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE IN POSSESSION OF GOD’S PRIME REAL ESTATE, THE PROMISED LAND.
• AS BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST, WE MUST BE CAREFUL OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE JEWS AS A PEOPLE.
• GOD’S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM IN GEN 12:3, THAT HE WILL BLESS THOSE THAT BLESS THE JEWS AND CURSE THOSE THAT CURSE THE JEWS, IS STILL VALID TODAY.

• HOMEWORK
  ZECHARIAH 6:9-15
  THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FOR CORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF ZEC 6:1-8
• WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD JEWISH PEOPLE?
• WHAT SHOULD BE YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD JEWISH PEOPLE?
• IF YOUR TWO PREVIOUS ANSWERS DO NOT MATCH, WHAT CAN YOU DO TODAY TO IMPROVE YOUR ATTITUDE?

• PREPARATION FOR ZEC 6:9-15
• READ ZEC 6:9-15 THE PROPHECY OF THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA
• WHAT DO THE THREE FROM BABYLON REPRESENT? (10)
• WHY ARE CROWNS PLACED ON THE HEAD OF THE HIGH PRIEST? (11)
• WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF “THE BRANCH”? (12)
• WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FOUR IN VERSE 14?

• MEMORY VERSE: REV 19:16