The eight night visions of Zechariah

NIGHT VISIONS
Another type of vision

DEFINITION OF VISION,
BAKERS EVANGELICAL DICTIONARY.
 Visions occur frequently in the Bible as
instruments of supernatural revelation.
 They are audiovisual means of
communication between a heavenly being
and an earthly recipient.

 The terms used to designate visions in both
Testaments have to do with seeing or
perceiving.
 The Old Testament terms for vision (the
Hebrew verbs raa and haza and their several
noun derivatives) mean simply to look at or
to see.

In the New
Testament, horao [oJravw] is one of
the Greek verbs for see, observe, or
perceive, but its related noun
(horama [o&rama]) is the common
term for "vision."

Revelatory visions portray
scenery or dramatic
circumstances to the human
recipient while the human is
awake.

The distinction between a vision
and a dream has to do with whether
the human is awake or asleep; the
result is the same.

 The prophetic use of dreams and visions is
summarized in the Lord's dramatic defense
of Moses in the face of Aaron and Miriam's
revolt:
 "When a prophet of the Lord is among
you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I
speak to him in dreams" ( Num 12:6 ).

Dreams and visions are part of
the prophetic of vehicles that the
Lord uses to communicate His
revelation to a person that
receives the revelation.

JOB 33:14-15 (NKJV)
14 For God may speak in one way,
or in another, Yet man does not
perceive it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the
night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds,

NIGHT VISIONS
Night visions are visions that
occur during night time.
As people prepare to sleep at
night they can receive visions.
They can not immediately sleep
because the Lord is showing
them different things in visions

NIGHT VISIONS
 These can be open visions or inner
visions.
 The difference here is that the visions
occur while you are trying to sleep or
awakening of your sleep.
 Some people can wake up, have a vision
then continue to sleep.
 These visions can be in series or can be
interrupted, they can continue after prayer
or meditation.

EXAMPLES IN THE BIBLE:
 Genesis 46:1-4 (NKJV) Jacob’s Journey to Egypt
 46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had,
and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to
the God of his father Isaac. 2 Then God spoke to
Israel in the visions of the night, and said,
“Jacob, Jacob!”
 And he said, “Here I am.”
 3 So He said, “I am God, the God of your father;
do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of
you a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you
to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you
up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your
eyes.”

DANIEL 7:7 (NKJV)
 7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and
behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge
iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in
pieces, and trampling the residue with its
feet. It was different from all the beasts
that were before it, and it had ten horns.

DANIEL 7:13-14 (NKJV)
 13 “I was watching in the night visions, And
behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming
with the clouds of heaven! He came to the
Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near
before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory
and a kingdom, That all
peoples, nations, and languages should
serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one Which shall not be
destroyed.

NOTE:
So, just as a reminder, all the
physicals are functioning in a
vision, the intellect is working and
the person having the vision can
see, hear, speak, move, interact
with the characters of the vision and
become an active part of the vision

THE NIGHT VISIONS OF ZECHARIAH
Lets do a quick study about the
eight night visions of the Prophet
Zechariah.
This were visions during the
night.
Lets pay attention to the
symbols, and
Lets pay attention to their

VISION #1:
THE MAN AMONG THE MYRTLE TREE

ZECHARIAH 1:7-17
 MEANING: God’s anger with the nations,
restoration and blessing upon Israel.
 The report of the scout horses angers God as
everything apparently is in peace and order while
His people Israel is in captivity for some 70 years.
 The Lord proclaims his returning to Jerusalem
with mercy,
 So His house will be built,
 prosperity will come again upon Israel,
 He will comfort Zion, and
 He will choose again Jerusalem.

SYMBOLS IN VISION #1
 Main character: The man in the red
horse, points out to Jesus.
 He has returned doing his work of
redeeming and restoring mankind to God.
 His red horse represents the ransom
sacrifice.
 Jesus’ blood that satisfies God’s justice
and releases man from death.

 Hollow, meadow, valley surrounded by God‘s
mountains of the everlasting Kingdom of
God.
 Horses:
 Red, sinful condition.
 Sorrel, spotted, sinful patterns conditions still
to be removed.
 White. Perfect, holy condition.

 The myrtle trees point out to holy children
of God.
 The white flowers of the trees signify the
righteousness of those who have made
his walk in the path of holiness.
 Note that the rider of the red horse and
the red, sorrel, and white horses are
returning from the earth.
 They bring a report of what they have
seeing

VISION #2: THE FOUR HORNS AND THE
FOUR CRAFTSMEN.

ZECHARIAH 1:18-21
 Meaning: Gods judgment to the nations that
afflict Israel.
 What are these?
 ―The horns that have scattered Judah, Israel
and Jerusalem.‖
 What are these coming to do?
 ―The craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to
cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up
their horns against the land of Judah to scatter
it.‖

 Horns symbolize power, dominion.
 These four empires point out to the gentile
dominion of the empires of:
Babylon, Medo–Persia, Greece, and Rome.
 God gave them dominion over the nation of
Israel and the whole world.

 The four craftsmen, carpenters:
 These are avengers of God.
 They point to the four attributes of God:
Wisdom, justice, love, and power.
 God dealt with them one by one casting them
out.

RASHI, A JEWISH RABBI AND BIBLE
COMMENTATOR EXPLAINS THAT THEY ARE:
 Messiah, son of David, and Messiah, the son
of Joseph because they will rebuild the
Temple; Elijah, because he was a
stoneworker, having built the altar on Mt.
Carmel; and Melchizedek (Shem, son of
Noah), as he is known as a craftsman in
Isaiah 41:7, because he helped build the ark.
According to the Rabbis, this verse belongs
to a future Messianic time. Today, rabbis in
Israel say we are now entering that era.

VISION #3:
THE MAN WITH THE MEASURING LINE.

ZECHARIAH 2:1-12
 Meaning: God’s future blessing on restored
Israel.
 ―Where are you going?‖
 ―To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width
and what is its length.‖
 ―Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without
walls, because of the multitude of men and
livestock in it.‖
 ―For I,‘ says the Lord, ‗will be a wall of fire all
around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.‘‖

 The surveyor
 It could be that this surveyor is the pre-
incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, who
appeared as the “man riding upon a red
horse” in Zechariah’s first vision (1:8).
 In the first vision, He is identified as the
“angel of the Lord that stood among the
myrtle trees” (1:11).

SYMBOLS AND PROMISES
 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,‘
declares the LORD, ‗and I will be its
glory within.‘
 8For this is what the LORD Almighty says:
―After the Glorious One has sent me against
the nations that have plundered you—for
whoever touches you touches the apple of
his eye—

VISION #4: THE HIGH PRIEST JOSHUA
CLEANSED AND CROWNED.

ZECHARIAH 3
 Meaning: Israel’s future cleansing from and
reinstitution as a Priestly Nation.
 Now God turns and focuses in the internal state
of Israel, which is in need of cleansing from sin
and reinstatement as a Priestly Nation and a
Light to the world.
 "The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who
has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!"
 "Take off his filthy clothes See, I have taken
away your sin, and I will put rich garments on
you Put a clean turban on his head"

CHARACTERS IN VISION #4
 Joshua, represents the Jewish people
before the Lord.
 Although the people are unclean and
unworthy to worship the Lord, as a sovereign
act of confirming His election He will make
His people clean and bless them.
 Joshua is a shadow of Jesus the High
Priest,
Jesus is our High Priest.

 Satan de accuser.
 He always stands to accuse, and to resist us.
 Joshua was guilty of charge.
 The Lord rebukes Satan twice, he cannot bring
charges against Israel. God has chosen Israel.
 In the same way, Satan is unable to bring
charges against us.
 Romans 8:33 (NKJV)
 33 Who shall bring a charge against God‘s
elect? It is God who justifies.

 The Angel of the Lord.
 Is the pre-incarnated Christ.
 Here there are three Messianic titles for the
Lord.
 ―My servant, the Branch‖ (3:8b)
 ―The stone‖ (3:9)

 Companions: the other priests that learn from
Joshua.
 The Branch points out to Jesus.
 The stone with the seven eyes reminiscent of
Daniel's stone that smashed the kingdoms –
Dan 2, and Ezekiel‘s visions of God in His
glory -Ezekiel 1, point out to The Messiah.

 The Stone pictures the Lord Jesus, the
Cornerstone.
 The seven eyes on the stone picture the
divine wisdom of Jesus and his church in the
kingdom as the chief cornerstone,

THE NUMBER SEVEN,
 The seven eyes, may be used here because
seven is the number of completeness.
 It may be a reference to the sevenfold
fullness of the one Spirit of Yahweh given to
Messiah (Isa. 11:2): the spirit of the
LORD, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of
understanding, the spirit of counsel, the
spirit of might, the spirit of
knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the
LORD.

JESUS THE BRANCH.
 (1) The Branch as Royal King.
"I will raise to David a Branch of
righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:5)
"Behold your King―, the Messiah in
Matthew.
 (2) The Branch as Servant.
"My Servant the BRANCH" (Zech. 3:8);
"Behold My Servant―, the Messiah in Mark.

JESUS THE BRANCH.
 (3) The Branch as Fully Man.
"The Man whose name is the BRANCH"
(Zech. 6:12)
"Behold the Man―, the Messiah in Luke.
 (4) The Branch as Fully God.
"The Branch of the LORD" (Isa. 4:2);
"Behold the Son of God―, the Messiah in
John).

VISION #5:
THE LAMPSTAND AND THE TWO OLIVE
TREES.

ZECHARIAH 4
 Meaning: Israel as a light to the Nations
under Messiah as the King-Priest.
 "These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which
range throughout the earth" (v.10b).
 "These are the two who are anointed to
serve the Lord of all the earth― (v.14).
 "Not by might, nor by power, but by My
Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty" (v.6).

KEYS
 The fifth vision, focuses on the completion
of the temple.
 The temple would not be completed by
human wisdom or strength, but by the Spirit
of God.
 The lampstand occupies the central place in
this vision, as it use to be in the “Holy
Place” in the Tabernacle.

TEACHINGS OF THE VISION:
 (1). God's Work Will Be Accomplished by
God's Spirit 4:1-6
 (2). God's Work Must Not Be Despised for
Its Small Beginnings 4:7-10
 (3). God's Work Values People More than
Institutions 4:11-14

ZECHARIAH 5:1-4
 Meaning: The Divine Judgment on sin of
Israel.
 Zechariah saw a flying scroll, 30 feet long and
15 feet wide, these dimensions are the exact
dimensions of the Holy Place in the tabernacle.
 ―I will send out the curse,‖ says the Lord of
hosts; ―It shall enter the house of the thief And
the house of the one who swears falsely by My
name. It shall remain in the midst of his house
And consume it, with its timber and stones.‖ (v.
4).

KEYS
 The scroll probably represents the law which
was contained in the Ark on two stone
tablets.
 The angel explained that this scroll was a
curse against two groups of people: those
who steal, and those who swear falsely.
 The curse was going to go forth and enter
the houses of the thieves and those who
swore falsely. It was going to spend the
night and consume the house.

SYMBOLS
 In this vision the house points out to our
hearts and the characters we build.
 If we have the spirit of God‘s law abiding in
our hearts and controlling our
thoughts, words, and deeds, then we build
with gold, silver, and precious gems, won‘t be
consumed and our work will stand.
 If we build with wood, hay and stubble, our
work will crumble and be consumed.

KEYS: THE SCROLL IS WRITTEN ON BOTH SIDES.
 There are three other similar mentions in Scripture:
 Exod. 32:15. When Moses received the tablets on
which God wrote the Ten Commandments, they
were written on both sides.
 Ezek. 2:9-10. A scroll that Ezekiel was shown also
was written on the front and back; and written on it
were lamentations, mourning and woe.
 Rev. 5:1. And I saw in the right hand of Him who
sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the
back, sealed with seven seals.

VISION #7: THE WOMAN IN A BASKET.

ZECHARIAH 5: 5-11
 Meaning: The removal of national Israel’s sin
or rebellion against God.
 So I asked, ―What is it?‖ And he said, ―It is a
basket that is going forth.‖ (v. 6)
 The basket represented "the iniquity of the
people throughout the land." (v. 6).
 The angel said that the woman represented
wickedness, ―Then he said, “This is
Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the
basket, and threw the lead cover over its
mouth.‖ (v.8).

SYMBOLS:
 Some versions call the basket an
―ephah‖, which was a dry measure for things
like flour, grain, and barley.
 But this one is extremely large to call the
attention!
 The woman inside. The angel describes her
as "Wickedness."

SYMBOLS:
 Lead is a kind of counterfeit gold; it is similar
in weight but without the characteristics of
beauty and incorruptibility of gold.
 Gold in the Scriptures is a symbol of things
divine, particularly divine truth.
 Thus the lead cover points out to counterfeit
practices that have a righteous appearance.
 Zechariah saw two women with the wind in their
wings like a stork, and they lifted the basket up
into the air between heaven and earth.

SYMBOLS:
 The stork is shown as an unclean bird in the OT.
 These two women could represent the Assyrians
and Babylonians, in the deportation of Israel.
 To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it
is prepared, she will be set there in her own place.―
 Shinar is the place where the Tower on Babel was
built up, in Babylon
 Babylon is the place of ancient and future idolatry
and rebellion against God, an apt location for the
removal of idolatry from Israel.

VISION # 8: FOUR CHARIOTS COMING FROM
BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS.

ZECHARIAH 6:1-8
 Meaning: Divine Judgment on gentile
nations.
 ―What are these, my lord?‖ (v.4).
 ―These are four spirits of heaven, who go out
from their station before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The one with the black horses is going to the
north country, the white are going after
them, and the dappled are going toward the
south country.‖ (v. 5b-6).
 ―Go, walk to and fro throughout the earth.‖ (v.
7).

KEYS:
 These are obviously war chariots, pointing
to the intention to dispense judgment.
 "two mountains, . . . mountains of bronze―
There is not a solid interpretation for this.
 Those going toward the north country have
given my Spirit rest.
 (6) The one with the black horses is going to
the north country, the white are going after
them,

KEYS:
 The dappled are going toward the south
country.
 The red horses are staying, they don‘t go
anywhere.
 This visions end with the crowning of Joshua.
 Joshua is not crowned as king, this is a
strong prophetic declaration that someone
else will be crowned as King and Priest, the
man named Branch!

CONCLUSION:
 The eight visions surely indicate that God was
going to do more than complete the building of
the temple.
 Messiah, the unifier of the priestly and kingly
offices, would remove the guilt of iniquity in
one day, restore the nation of Israel back to her
land, subdue all the nations that had for so long
harassed Israel, and sit on His throne over the
whole world as undisputed king of all the
nations.

COMPARING REVELATORY EXPERIENCES
Vision:
Person awake.
Full physical awareness.

Night Vision:
Half asleep / half awake
(twilight)
Some physical awareness.

Dream:
Asleep, deep sleep.
No physical awareness.

Trance:
Awake and placed into a
sleep-like state.
No physical awareness.

The eight night visions of Zechariah

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The eight night visions of Zechariah