A Man Riding a Red Horse - Zechariah 1:8

In the book of Zechariah, Zechariah said, “Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, ...”, and in chapter one and verse eight of Zechariah, Zechariah said, “I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse” where we read,

I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.

The verse reads, “I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom;” Zechariah began with the words, “I saw by night” or “I, Zechariah, observed, noticed, discovered and discerned during the dark and nighttime hours”, “and behold a man” which means “and lo, look and consider a male being” “riding upon a red horse” or “mounted on the back of a horse colored ruddy or rosy red”, “and he stood among the myrtle trees” which means “and he, the man on the red horse, was standing, present, continuing and abiding in the midst of the trees known as myrtles” “that were in the bottom” or “which existed within the ravine, basin and hollow or shade”. Zechariah began to share a nighttime vision given to him by Jehovah God, and within the vision he observed a “man” mounted upon a horse colored red, and the man was situated in the midst of the “myrtle” trees that were in the hallow which was apparently near Jerusalem. 

The verse goes on to say, “and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.” Zechariah continued with the words, “and behind him” or “and following after and in the hinder part of the man” “were there red horses” which means “there existed other horses that were colored ruddy or rosy red”, “speckled” or “tawny, bay and sorrel”, “and white”which means “and with the color white”. Zechariah shared how he observed other horses which followed the “man riding the red horse” which were a tawny or sorrel colored red with white speckles. 

When we meditate upon Zechariah's words in this verse, we discover the beginning of a vision given to him by Jehovah God which included a “man – more than likely a spiritual being” mounted upon a “horse” which was colored “red”, and following behind the man were other horses which were “speckled” with a tawny red color and white. We shall see how Zechariah will question what this man and the horses meant in our next verse, but for now, let us be aware that there is a spiritual world which is unable to be seen with physical eyes. Zechariah is given the ability to see in the spiritual realm where God and other spiritual beings dwell. (See 2 Kings 6:17) God dwells in the eternal spiritual world, and because He loves us, He knows we need a “Savior” to take away our sins so we can live in that world with Him eternally. He sent His Son Jesus to the earth to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when we believe and trust in Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and allow us entrance into His “spiritual eternal world” where we shall forever live with Him. 

Next time Zechariah asked, “O my lord, what are these?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".