More Horses?!

Part 4
post 178
Zechariah 1:1-12

Cause:
Verses 1-6 deserves a careful look as it identifies the cause of cry made later in verse 12: “….how long wilt thou (God) not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these three score and ten years?”
(which we will eventually get to).

But first we see the sum of the reason for the trouble, is carried here in v.2-3;
“The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
Therefore… Thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts” Zechariah 1:2-3

The entire context of scripture can only be properly understood when we read it with the understanding that Israel is always the central focus. Of course we Gentile believers are able to apply the truth of it to ourselves, but not to the failure in understanding of this foundational concept. All the global events we read here is to be interpreted with this in mind.

But I leave the study of those beginning verses for another time in order to sooner arrive at the direct link with Zechariah 6:1-8, Daniel 7, and Revelation 17 which is our present study regarding the identity and timing of the last GDE (Global Dominate Empire).
* * *

"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." Zechariah 1:8

Spirits of what?
Zechariah 1:7-11 has frankly utterly stumped me for years, but with our recent study I now see how it makes very good sense, and provides one very significant validation to my interpretation of the fourth great beast having 3 parts;

To begin with we see a red horse.
We learned in Zechariah 6 that the chariots represent God's spirits of the heaven controlling the winds, and the horses further represented God's spirits over the Empires.
The red horses are specifically those over the Empire of Babylon.

But in this Zechariah 1 passage, there is no chariot (representing a high ranking spirit guiding the team of angels) instead we see a lone man *1 riding a single red horse. And behind him are other horses under his command (no riders declared).

To help us understand, lets call the red chariot (driver) a commander, and this lone red rider a sergeant and the riderless horses corporals.
The chariot driver had a specialized regiment of horses all for a specifically focused purpose of red, and this sergeant rider under his command has a squad of a few corporals from several diverse regiments with his own mission to accomplish, though he himself is directed by the red commander.
I hesitate to use military terms here which implies the purpose of conflict, no such implication is given in the passage. These are just scouts.

It is very easy to confuse the three elements of what we are learning by improperly mixing metaphors as it were *2.
These elements are:
1. The actual spirits of the four winds revealed as horses and chariots of various colors for the purpose of understanding the
2. actual four spirits of God over the empires, which are in turn revealed for the purpose of understanding the organization and nature of the
3. actual spiritual realm, and thus the identity of this small band of mixed horses.
4. We are also shown glimpses of the demonic spirits over the empires as beasts which strive with the horse spirits of God.

So while we use the real one to metaphorically explain the other real one, so that we can understand yet a third real one, enlightening our comprehension of another kind, we must be very careful not to incorrectly blend them by analogy in our attempt to understand them.

It must be noted that if the color was not important, scripture would not have included it. By their colors we are to make the connection between the two narratives of chapters 1 and 6.
Yet in this case the color is not representing the empire of Babylon anymore because this single red horse is now the focus, not the whole chariot of red horses we saw in chapter 6.
But because scripture does not add confusion of unequal representation we can be confident this lone red horse is under the authority of the red commanding chariot spirit of that empire. It will eventually come clear that this lone horse rider is God's spirit over the city of Babylon.
This understanding of different rolls under the "red" authority, will help us in later interpretation.


Where are they?
Now here we see this single red horse and rider as sergeant over his squad, standing in a valley among myrtle trees...

(Because the theme of this whole chapter revolves around "How Long?", my hypothesis is that this represents Israel at rest with shade giving myrtle trees grown up over time in a valley running with water. This has not yet happened, and cannot happen until 2048 at the earliest.*3)

...and behind him are more red horses, speckled horses, and white horses. The commas distinguish these are not mixed colored horses standing there, but horses of different colors standing together.
Now this is the first time we actually see a location for at least some of the red horses that represented God's spirits over Babylon, and we remember from chapter 6 that the white horses represented His spirits over Greece.
But where are the black horses over Persia, and what are these speckled horses?

Zechariah asks the question for us; “What are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.” Zechariah 1:9
We cheated and jumped ahead to chapter 6, so we have information Zechariah didn't have at this time.
But note that the angel did not say he would tell him, but show him. And so we learn who they are by watching the events unfold. In other words what comes after is for the purpose of showing us what these horses represent:

The man *1 riding the red horse (1:8) explains in verse 10, that the other horses behind him are “they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.”
Then just in case we don’t pick up on the catchphrase, the horses behind him answered his statement by saying; “We have walked to and fro through the earth…”
Now where have we heard such a line repeated so much before? The spirits of Zechariah 6:5 did the same thing, and a very big deal was made of it there too so that we would pay attention and make a positive connection.

We are then given a report of what they found by walking back and forth; “…and, behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest.” Zechariah 1:11b

At this point our understanding needs to branch into many areas simultaneously;
1. The now apparent larger group of various wandering horses.
2. The connection of the Red horses to those that wander.
3. Where are the Black horses?
4. What do the speckled horses represent?
5. The purpose and result of the wandering horses, (which we just read).
6. Retain the train of thought to continue the narrative: "How long?"

So before we just move on in the narrative, lets discuss:
* * *

Topic 1:
We have discovered that instead of only the Bay horse winds of the Hadley cell of the 4th chariot wandering to and fro, (chapter 6) Here we see; red, speckled, and white horses wandering to and fro through the earth under the authority of a single red horse...but the bay horses are not among them!
These various and specific colors tell us which ministering spirits are present at the time the declaration is made. This will prove to be significant in identifying "When".

Topic 2:
This band of various wanderers has a “sergeant” on a red horse standing in front of them.
We noted that the Red horses representing spirits over Babylon, was the Jetstream winds that have an overall affect on all the winds beneath it, i.e. the white horses of the Ferrel cell (Greece) and the grisled/bay horses of the Hadley cell (Rome).
Therefore this small squad of horses is a specialized selection under the same chain of command.

Topic 3:
God's black horses of the Polar cell over the realm of Persia, are on the otherside of the Ferrel cell and therefore not directly under the commanding jurisdiction of the red sergeant of the subtropical Jetstream wind (Zechariah 6:8) (Though because there is a polar Jetsream as well, added to the fact that the band of horses declared the entire world to be at rest, I conclude the red commander does have overall jurisdiction. Yet this is not shown in the narrative because it is not relative to the prophecy regarding the band of observers under the red Jetstream commander.)
What does that mean?
It means that for reasons we will later discover, God's spirit over the Empire of Persia is not present at the "When" of this passage.



Topic 4:
So this red commander has behind him; his own red horses (angels), some white horses, and some speckled ones. The speckled is a new breed.

Now today we interpret the word speckled to mean “spotted”, more like the original word grisled, and so our modern altered interpretation breeds confusion.
But the original word, and therefore intent, was that speckled means “obnoxious Bay”.
Here are the original words and their meanings from the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Hebrew Bible:

• Speckled 8320 saruq; from 8319; bright red (as piercing to the sight), ie. Bay
8319 sharaq; a primary root; properly to be shrill, i.e. to whistle or hiss (as a call or in scorn).

• Grisled 1261 barod; from 1258; spotted (as if with hail)
1258 barad; a primary root, to hail.

• Bay 554 amots; probably from 553; of a strong color, i.e. red (others fleet).

Scripturally Speckled and Grisled are clearly different: (Genesis 31:10)
But Speckled and Bay are very similar... but not the same.

So the question becomes; Why does Zechariah use two different words for the same color of horses; Bay and Speckled?

My interpretation is that the speckled are a further division of the Zechariah 6:7 bay horses, which both being bay, when combined are just half of the two colors; (bay and grisled) of the Zechariah 6:3 4th chariot, representing the two parts; Rome and the two-fold Islamic Caliphate we see in Revelation 17:10-11 as the 6th (Rome), 7th (Caliphate) and 8th (Caliphate two), which are all the three parts of the Daniel 2:40-43 final Iron Empire as: legs, feet, and toes of iron, all rolled into the 4th great diverse beast of Daniel 7:7-8.

Now go back and read the definition of the word speckled! It is bay... only magnified to make it a unique line of what is still just bay!
"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven..." Revelation 17:11

Topic 5:
But what does the red horse sergeant have to do with the wandering ones, besides helping us to cross-reference all these prophecies to find the ciphers for these secrets?

Before we answer this question we have to remember that the horse and chariot spirits we saw in Zechariah 6, are sent from God (Zech 1:10, Dan 7:2) to aid the nations, and are not the evil princes (spirits) of the nations sent from hell. (Dan 10:13,20)

So if the commander of the red horses represents the spirit as the Jetstream and its overall influence over the spirits of global powers of men, what does it have to do with the walking angels which we now know are more than just the wandering storm winds of the bay (1st Caliphate) horses, but is rather white and red, with a unique variation of the bay called speckled, though missing the original bay and grisled horses?
The answer is; the Jetstream is the chief of wandering winds, showing the red angel has more overall authority than all the others, including the 8th kingdom of Islamic Caliphate here called speckled, though this riding red sergeant only manages those under his more defined scope of angels who themselves are over the authorities of Greece, Babylon, and the yet to rise "more vigorous" Caliphate.
Because the black, grisled and bay are not among them, we can know that Persia, Rome and the first Caliphate play no part when the scouts make their report of peace.

The significant point is that according to a chronological timeline, the report is made while the 8th kingdom of Revelation 17:11 is in position, the city of Babylon has also risen, and Greece is established to play a significant part.
that narrows significantly the time we can expect to see the world rightly declared to be at rest!

Are you hearing this? Today we watch in fear as Islam is rising to attempt a global oppression. but after it is successfully the 8th and final Empire, the world will find a time of rest! How strange. But we will get to that later.
* * *

Rabbit trail:
Our global “general” weather trends are largely determined by where the Jetstream happens to travel on any given year.
Here in Alaska we are directly beneath a major collision of currents, and the northern Polar Jetstream location has “everything” to do with our season’s weather trend. Alaska Jet Stream article *4
This year the Polar Jetstream flows below Alaska on a direct horizontal course before dipping down to affect the lower 48. (That's Alaska speak for the rest of the U.S.A)



Polar Jetstream 2011 *4 (animated Jetstream well worth checking out, though a rabbit trail to our discussion. [pick 4 days, 6 hours, faster, then hit resume])

…In recent years it made a great “omega” right over the entire State of Alaska, bringing a lot of snow with moist warm air. This year it is cold and dry with less snow than I have ever seen.
But this is just the northern Polar Jetstream, not the more significant Subtropical one that our present passage is discussing.
I am sure that there is another red horse commander for this region, but this is not the topic at hand.

That rabbit trail was to show the wandering authority of the red horses of the Jetstreams, and therefore the chain of command authorizing the red captain to command the various horses of the wandering band.

I am confident that this red authority shows the spirit of Babylon remains a quiet but powerful influence over the nations of the earth even though her physical presence lies quietly abandon for the time being under the sands of Iraq, waiting for her time to rise again.
* * *

Return to Topic 5:
Since this sergeant is a single angel of the entire red regiment, it seems probable that not all of the red and white horses are with this wandering captain; only representations of their regiments are with him.
But the entire bay company, including the speckled half, is a part of the wandering Hadley regiment, Yet strangely we see no representing grisled horses (Rome) or bay horses (Caliphate 1) present.
This tells me that at the time this prophecy takes place, only the speckled 1/3 of this Hadley regiment will be present.

So because the red regiment is also a wandering regiment like the bay, the question is; What are the white representatives of Greece doing with this wandering squad, as they are of the only none wandering regiment there? Greece does not even fit into this chronological theory, its period of being the GDE is past.
The answer is two fold:
First, Greece is still Greece, just no longer the GDE. It remains, while Babylon and Islam have disappeared, with prophecies to return in modified forms.
I suggest this is why Greece is not represented as a wandering wind, but the others are.
Second, we should be startled to see prophecy of Greece rising to play a significant role, yet while the modern prophetic scholars are fruitlessly watching for Rome to revive, Greece is being ignored.

Therefore; Babylon, Greece and the return of the Caliphate will all have a significant role under the authority of the Babylonian spirit in the last days events at the time this squad of observers declare the world is at rest. (Daniel 8:22-23+) No Egypt, No Assyria, No Persia, No Rome, No Revived Roman Empire of European nations, and not the first try of the Islamic Caliphate.

Am I saying none of these nations will exist? No, just that they don't play any independent significant role in the last days events at that time...
Even Iran, which used to be Persia, is no longer under the spirit of silver but now wholly under the Islamic spirit of iron and therefore now under the authority of the 4th chariot commander. So although the geographic area remains in play, the spirit of the ancient Persian Empire is gone though he proved to be a tough cookie in his day. (Daniel 10:12-13,20)
This then allows the black horse of Persia to be absent while placing Iran under the speckled horse authority. This is the only possible explanation for the wandering horses to claim they have walked the whole while missing a black horse.
But this sounds a bit to convenient, almost like a manipulation of the prophecy to make it fit.
I submit a theory that between now and the declaration of rest, Iran will be utterly destroyed and therefore its absence will not be a prophetic manipulation. (this theory developed another time)
Rome too is still on the earth, but we don't see the grisled representation present. This is because Rome is no longer a power player, and also falls under the authority of the speckled horse as part of the iron empire.
So we see that all four of the diverse beasts of Daniel 7 are in a way, still among us in various and somewhat confusing ways, but the spirits in authority at the time of global rest, are those only of Babylon, Islam and Greece.

Topic 6:
Returning to the narrative;
In a defense of the Deity of Christ, Paul asked this question of what God only said to Jesus; “But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Hebrews 1:13-14
This confirmation that Jesus is no angel, (since he was told by God to sit on his right hand until God made all his enemies his footstool. Psalm 110:1) also tells us that ALL angels are ministering spirits sent out, not to minister TO, but to minister ON BEHALF of the saved.

So this special band of walking ministers does what?
Without going off on another long rabbit trail, lets have a look at another band that don't wander but “run to and fro through the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:10b These that run are the seven eyes of the Lord. Zechariah 3:9, 4:10a
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…” II Chronicles 16:9
which brings us to;
"(there)…stood a Lamb (Jesus) as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” Revelation 5:6b (Rev. 3:1)

So now we have made a full circle and know that the seven running Spirits are the eyes of God running to and fro looking for opportunities to show himself strong, not directly to, but in behalf of, his faithful children.
Therefore the 4 standing spirits (Zech. 6:5) are subordinate ministering spirits doing the bidding of the 7 directly from the Holy Spirit.
And the wandering company of spirits (Zech. 6:7) are yet subordinate to those standing, and still a select few of those regiments and companies are part of the specialist walking spirits scouting the earth. (Zech. 1:11)

This is not hard to see if you picture a military chain of command. All of them with the focus of ministering in behalf of the faithful.
With the evil spirits intent on thwarting them, they end up striving over humanity. with man involved too, the striving involves governments and nations and Empires.(Daniel 7:2, 9:22, 10:13-13,20-21, 11:37-38, 12:1) yet God remains ultimately in control to fulfill his will in his time; "Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Daniel 5:28
But we have been kept from this clear awareness until now;
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:..." Daniel 12:4
* * *

So why do the evil spirits always seem to dominate the empires of the earth?
That question will be answered in more detail in the next post, but simply put; It was answered back at the beginning of this chapter;

“The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
Therefore…Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.”… Zechariah 1:2-4

The spirits which are dominate are granted authority by God through the will of man, as the spirits (both good and evil) work through the actions and wills of men (both good and evil) on their good or evil behalf.
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:19
* * *

And now we have arrived at the beginning of the whole question today:

“…How long wilt thou (God) not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cites of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?” Zechariah 1:12

But that answer will have to wait until the next post.
(and lest you have forgotten, we are searching for the answer to the timing of when the last GDE that affects Israel will rise, and what it will look like.)
* * * * * * *

*1 Man 376 iysh; contrast from 582 [or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant]; a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation).

Therefore Zechariah was simply stating a rider that looked like a man.

*2 Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word for one idea or thing is used in place of another to suggest a likeness between them. - Merryman-Webster Electronic Dictionary.

*3 Myrtle Trees:
Grow like small bushes when dry but large bushy shade trees when there is plenty of moisture. It takes a well moistured myrtle tree 100-150 years to mature.
Since Israel became a nation and began to plant and irrigate myrtle trees in 1948, 2011 minus 1948 = 63 years of growth. 100 years minus 63 = 37 more years to reach earliest maturity. 2011 plus 37 more years = 2048 until this prophecy of a rider on a red horse standing in the bottom among myrtle trees proclaiming rest, can take place.
(remember, this is just a hypothesis at this time.)

*4 In case the links doesn't work:
Alaska Jetstream Article: http://www.adn.com/2010/08/14/1410264/shift-of-jet-stream-makes-for.html
Animated Jetsream: http://squall.sfsu.edu/scripts/nhemjetstream_model.html
*