Today Zechariah sees a new vision, one which symbolizes the power of God and the armies of heaven that are waiting for the word to execute God's judgment upon the earth.
"I looked up again, and there before me were two chariots coming out from between two mountains---mountains of bronze." (Zechariah 6:1) The significance of the mountains of bronze is not clear. The opinion of some scholars is that these symbolize the two bronze pillars that stood in Solomon's temple: one being named Jakin (He establishes) and the other being named Boaz (in Him is strength). Since Zechariah's visions up til now have all been connected with the temple in some way, this explanation makes as much sense as any other, and more than some. A great deal of bronze was used in both Solomon's temple and in the wilderness sanctuary. Other Bible scholars feel that these mountains of bronze represent Mount Zion and Mount Moriah or Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. Most of all, though, bronze in the Bible appears to stand for power and strength. We find references to bronze walls, to bronze pillars, to bronze shields, to bronze tools, to bronze shackles, to bronze altars, to bronze kingdoms, to bronze statues, and to a King whose feet glow like bronze (Revelation 1:15,2:18) symbolizing His authority and power and His right to judge the world.
"The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled---all of them powerful." (Zechariah 6:2-3) Scholars in earlier centuries equated these four chariots and their horses with ancient kingdoms that correspond to those in Daniel's prophetic visions: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Others, in more modern times, connect them with the four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation and their tasks of bringing warfare, famine, pestilence, and death. Still others believe these represent the armies of God being sent out to the four corners of the world to judge the world of its wickedness, or to punish the nations that are enemies of Israel. Zechariah is going to ask the angel who these chariots and horses represent, and the angel's answer doesn't completely clear the matter up for us, but I tend to agree with the opinion that these chariots and their horses are the armies of heaven who are waiting for God to send them out into the world.
"I asked the angel who was speaking to me, 'What are these, my lord?' The angel answered me, 'These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south." (Zechariah 6:5-6) The word translated here as "spirits" is the Hebrew "ruah" which can mean the life or being of a person or animal, or it can mean breath or wind. We don't know for certain whether these chariots and their horses symbolize literal nations or armies, but we can be certain they are sent by God. They are on a mission for Him. We get the sense of Him breathing on them and fanning them out in all directions. There is also an element of swiftness involved, like a rushing wind. The Bible tells us that God is patient and kind and longsuffering, but when judgment comes it is depicted as coming swiftly. We are not told where the chariot with the red horses goes, but since the other chariots went toward the north, west, and south, we can conclude that it must have gone east. Some commentaries offer the opinion that part of the text has been lost in antiquity.
These war horses are chomping at the bit, ready to go and perform the Lord's will. "When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, 'Go throughout the earth!' So they went throughout the earth." (Zechariah 6:7) The hosts of heaven stand poised at all times to execute God's judgment upon the earth. It is only His grace and mercy that holds them back until the proper time. As James Coffman points out in Coffman's Commentaries On The Bible, "The eagerness of the angelic host to execute the judgments of God upon powers hostile to His will appears here, indicating that God restrains the powers ever poised to pour out His wrath upon the ungodly. At the proper moment, God will give orders to "loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates" (Revelation 9:14) That same principle of God's restraining powers that would destroy men is apparent here. In this connection, it should be remembered that the human race was sentenced to death in Eden, that the sentence was never repealed, and that, in time, it will be summarily executed. God, however, will not suffer the frustration of His purpose of redeeming the full harvest of the saved from this earth; and, therefore, the great destructive forces that are always ready to execute men are by the Father's gracious love and longsuffering restrained."
The Apostle Peter explains the judgment that is waiting to break out, and the Lord's patience and longsuffering, by comparing them to the judgment that fell in the days of Noah. The Lord destroyed the sinful world at that time by water, but a final dispensation of judgment will occur in the last days when "the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:7-9) As an eternal being, God has the time to be patient. He has existed since eternity past and will exist through eternity future. If He did not hold back the forces of holy judgment, we would all have already been consumed, but it's His desire to be patient and kind toward us. He would far rather welcome us back into His arms as repentant prodigal children than to have to destroy us by the brightness of His holiness. As the prophet Jeremiah gratefully pointed out, it is only by "the Lord's great love that we are not consumed". (Lamentations 3:22)
Zechariah's eighth vision concludes with this, "Then he called to me, 'Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north.'" (Zechariah 6:8) Nations to the north were Assyria (conquered by Babylon) and Babylon (conquered by the Medes and Persians). By Zechariah's day the Lord had already executed judgment upon two great nations that oppressed His people. He tells Zechariah that His spirit is at rest in the land of the north because His anger has been spent there. His wrath has been satisfied there. Literal Babylon is no more, but we spoke earlier in the week of a spiritual Babylon that remains to be judged: the spirit that lives in opposition to God in the hearts of the ungodly, and the Babylon of greed and covetousness that is the world system of the last days. There also remain other nations to be judged, such as Gog and Magog (perhaps representing a future coalition of Iran and Russia) who will come against Israel in the last days but who will be defeated by the Lord as described in Ezekiel 38 and 39. God's spirit will be at rest in the north when He overthrows the armies who come against Israel in the last days. God's spirit will someday be at rest, and the whole earth will be at rest, when He has put down all rebellion against His authority and when the King of kings sits on the throne of David to rule the world. We must always keep in mind that, although the main goal of the people of Zechariah's day was to rebuild the temple, Zechariah is continually looking forward in time to the coming of the King and the arrival of His kingdom.
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