Thanks again for all the effort you put into this site. I have two questions regarding the first chapter of Zechariah. It referenced a red horse and several white horses behind it that had been sent out to patrol the earth. The reference in my Bible said that correlated with Revelation, however that doesn’t seem to mesh with what the red horse is in Revelation and the fact that there were several white horses doesn’t mesh with Revelation at all.
The best I can think of is that according to the Mahdi line of thinking as a candidate for Antichrist I know there have been several Muslim leaders, including Saddam, who possessed a white horse in case they should be raised up as Al Mahdi. I was just wondering if these horses are in fact one in the same. Also, I was wondering who are the four horns?
In the first of eight visions, all received the same night, Zechariah sees a man on a red horse. Around him are other horses, red, speckled, and white. They represent angels who have inspected the world and found it at peace, reporting such to The Angel of the Lord, who we know as Jesus. The timing of the vision is during the Great Persian Peace when all the world is at rest. (See Esther 1:1-8)
All except Jerusalem that is, where the Jews who’ve returned from Babylon (now part of Persia) to rebuild the city and the Temple following the 70-year Babylonian Captivity are being constantly harassed by their neighbors. (see Nehemiah 4-6) The Lord promises Zechariah that He’ll fix the problem and permit the city and temple to be rebuilt. (see Ezra 6) This confirms the promise Gabriel had earlier made in Daniel 9:25. The only similarity to Revelation 6 that I can see is that horses are involved in both. I don’t know what Saddam’s motives were for having a white horse.
The four horns in the next vision represent the four Gentile powers who had scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, namely Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, and Persia.
The four craftsmen who would reverse the actions of these powers are Cyrus the Persian who defeated Babylon and freed the Jews, Alexander the Great who defeated Persia and befriended Israel, Judas Maccabee who defeated Greek King Antiochus Epiphanes and restored Israel’s independence, and the Lord Jesus who will finally defeat the remnants of all the enemies of Israel forever.