Page:Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (Baron, David).djvu/61



HIS second short vision is in a sense a continuation of the comforting message contained in the first, for it shows how the Gentile nations against whom Jehovah is " very sore displeased," because they have each in turn " helped forward the affliction " by scattering Israel and treading down Jerusalem, shall themselves be broken and dissipated. The prophet had probably been absorbed in thought and meditation en what he saw and heard in the first vision; but being directed, perhaps, by the interpreting angel to look up again, he beheld not only with the outer eye, but with the eyes of his soul and whole inner being, which had been prepared for the reception of these Divine revelations "four horns" and on his appealing to his angelic teacher, who stood by his side, for the meaning of these, the brief answer is given: " These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

The "Horns"

Let us briefly ponder over the symbolism of these two verses before proceeding to the second part of the vision.

" Horns " are used in Scripture as emblematic of power and pride of conscious strength (Amos vi. 13; Ps. Ixxv. 4, 5, xcii. 10), and are sometimes explained by the sacred writers themselves as representing the ruling powers of the world (Dan. viii.; Rev. xvii. 312).

The number " four " may also, but in a secondary sense, stand, as some contend, for the four directions of heaven, or the four " corners " of the earth, and be designed to indicate the universality of the enmity which is directed against