Zechariah 1:17-21: a reflection

17“Proclaim further, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’” 18I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns. 19I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20The LORD showed me four craftsmen. 21Then I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

Zechariah receives a word of comfort for a discouraged, rebuilding people: the Lord of Armies says, my cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem. To a people who had felt scattered and forsaken, God promises restoration and renewed favor. He has not abandoned them; he will comfort and choose them again. Hope is spoken over a place that had known ruin.

Then Zechariah sees a vision that speaks to how God deals with those who oppressed his people. He sees four horns, symbols of the powers that had scattered Judah and Israel, and then four craftsmen coming to cast them down, to terrify and topple the horns that had lifted themselves against God's people. The very powers that had scattered and afflicted them would themselves be brought low. God raises up deliverance against the oppressors of his people; the horns that scattered would be scattered.

This vision holds together two comforts. First, God promises to comfort and restore his people, to overflow their cities with good again, to choose them anew. Whatever ruin or scattering you have known, God's heart is to comfort and restore. Second, the powers that have afflicted his people will not stand forever; God raises up deliverance to cast down the horns that lift themselves against him. When you feel scattered by forces too strong for you, take heart. God comforts his people, and he brings low the powers that oppress them. Restoration is his promise.

Lord, to your discouraged people you promised to comfort Zion, to overflow their cities with good, and to cast down the horns that had scattered them. When I feel scattered by forces too strong for me, remind me of these two comforts: your heart to restore your people, and your power to bring low every oppressor. Comfort me, restore me, and cast down what lifts itself against your people. My hope is in you. Amen.