A meditation to Zechariah 6:1-8.
DRIVING out over the face of the land, four horse-driven chariots are
ridden out from between two mountains shimmering like bronze. This is a vision
of the pervasive sweep of God’s Spirit from out of the four corners of heaven onto
the earth and out into the four corners of the earth.
These four winds of heaven are symbolic of God’s quiet though
compelling activity over the whole earth.
The horses that convey the chariots are red, black, white, and
dappled — each set of horses representing God’s divine nature. They drive out
with intention over the land, bringing God’s judgment, his message, his grace,
and finally, his Presence.
Where the four winds (spirits) go, there, evil can no longer
remain. God is a purging Presence, a compelling message, a foreboding grace; a
final judgment. Like with the number seven, there is a sense of completion in
the number of four chariots; because they are driven to the four corners of the
earth.
***
God does not do things by half. And
there is nothing unintentional about God’s activity, by his Spirit, over the
earth. When God moves he brings the fullness of his divine intent and plan to
being. We would be fools to ignore or trivialise this.
How this applies to us is easy to
see.
The Lord
will reign. Even as he does reign in heaven, and even as he superintends all
creation, God is in control. Nothing that happens on earth is irredeemable.
Nothing is wasted. And nothing is without purpose.
The four winds blow silently and
inevitably into the fabric of our lives: judgment, the message, his grace, and
his Presence. These four spirits emanate from mountainous strength; the
solidity of bronze. They blow into our lives at conversion and they never stop
impelling us toward the heavenly prize — God’s will on earth as it is in
heaven.
We are admonished by God’s Spirit
of judgment because he loves us so much to correct our wrongdoing — justice. We
are edified by the Spirit of God’s message because he loves us so much to teach
us — righteousness. We are encouraged by God’s Spirit of grace — favour.
Finally, we are strengthened by the assurance of God’s Spiritual Presence — confidence.
Kerbed by justice, grown in
righteousness, furnished with favour, gifted confidence.
Four gifts God gives, by his
Spirit: a sense for justice, humility to live right, the Lord’s favour, and confidence from his
Presence.
© 2015 Steve Wickham.
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