What Come These to Do? - Zechariah 1:21

In the book of Zechariah, Zechariah said, “then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the LORD showed me four carpenters.”, and in chapter one and verse twenty-one of Zechariah, Zechariah asked, “what come these to do?” where we read,

Then said I, What come these to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

The verse reads, “Then said I, What come these to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, ...” Zechariah began with the words, “then said I” or “at that time I, Zechariah, uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked”, “what come these to do” which means “whatsoever are the four horns and four carpenters in this place to perform and produce”? “And he spoke, saying” or “and he, Jehovah God, uttered, declared and proclaim, uttering, declaring and proclaiming”, “these are the horns” which means “the four horns or powers which were shown to Zechariah exist as the ones before him” “which have scattered Judah” or “who winnowed, spread out and dispersed Judah whose name means praised and was the kingdom comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin which occupied the southern part of Canaan after the nation split upon the death of Solomon”. Zechariah shared how he asked what the “four horns and carpenters” entered to perform, and Jehovah God first referred to the “four horns or powers” who dispersed the people of “Judah”.

The verse goes on to say, “... so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, ...” Zechariah added the words, “so that no man” or “which caused that not any person whether male or female” “did lift up his head” which means “exalted and raised his, the person's, summit, upper part, top or head of the body” “but these are come to fray them” or “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover the four carpenters come in, enter, arise and appear to make them, the four horns or powers previously seen, tremble, quake, be afraid, startled and terrified”, “to cast out the horns” which means “to throw down or away the appendages or powers” “of the Gentiles” or “belonging to the heathen, non-Hebrew nations and people groups”. Zechariah shared how Jehovah God referred to the overwhelming destruction performed by the “four horns or powers” against “Israel, Judah and Jerusalem” which was so devastating that not one person exalted his own “head”, and how the “four carpenters” were dispatched to cause the first “four powers” to tremble and be thrown away because they were the powers of the heathen nations and people. 

Finally the verse says, “which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.” Zechariah concluded this verse with the words, “which lifted up their horn” which means “who exalted and raised their appendage or power” “over the land of Judah” or “toward and in the direction of the country, territory, district and region the belonging to Judah whose name means praise and was the kingdom comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin which occupied the southern part of Canaan after the nation split upon the death of Solomon” “to scatter it” which means “to winnow, spread out and disperse the land of Judah”. Zechariah ended this verse with the reference to the way the “four horns or powers” exalted their might and position toward “Judah” so they could make the people within “Judah” to disperse. 

When we think through Zechariah's words in this verse, we learn how Zechariah questioned what the “four horns and four carpenters” were dispatched to perform, and he was answered by Jehovah God who referred to the first “four horns or powers” which caused Israel, Judah and Jerusalem to be dispersed. These “four artisans” were employed to restore what the first four took away, and God would be with Israel again. God loves Israel because they are His chosen people through whom all the other nations of the world are to be blessed (See Genesis 18:18; Galatians 3:8), and because God decided that His Son Jesus would be born, live, die on the cross and be raised from the dead within the nation of Israel, everyone has the opportunity to receive Him as their “Savior and Lord”. When we believe and trust in Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us an appreciation and love for Israel and God's preservation and blessing of them. 

Next time we begin a new chapter and see Zechariah say, “I lifted up my eyes again”, 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".