Are Supernatural Beings Patrolling the Earth?
A Study of Zechariah 1:7-17
Background
This is the third episode in our studies into the book of the Old Testament prophet Zechariah. His book is next-to-the-last in the Old Testament. It comes right before Malachi, which comes right before the Gospel of Matthew.
Let me summarize the background. After the Babylonian invasion and the fall of Judah and Jerusalem in 587 BC, the Jewish survivors were deported to Babylon. Their capital city and temple had been destroyed, and they had lost their nation. But some seventy years later, the emperor of the new Persian Empire encouraged a remnant of Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. All of this unfolds in the book of Ezra.
About 50,000 Jews returned and they began reestablishing worship, repopulating their homes and rebuilding the temple. But the local Palestinians there opposed them; the military and political picture changed, and the rebuilding of the temple was stopped for nearly 20 years. Then a new king named Darius assumed the throne and the situation relaxed. Two prophets—Haggai and Zechariah—showed up to encourage the remnant to resume the rebuilding of the temple. Zechariah was apparently the younger of the two, and his book is a record of the visions he had and the sermons he preached.
The book of Zechariah has been called the “Apocalypse of the Old Testament.” His strange visions and specific prophecies tell us a great deal about the End Times and about things still coming on the earth.
In the last two episodes I gave you a fuller explanation of the background and we looked at his introductory remarks in Zechariah 1:1-6. Now in this episode I want to move on to verse 7, which opens us to a series of visions unlike any others in the Bible. Not even the book of Revelation has such strange visions as we’re going to read in chapters 1 through 6.
This series of eight nocturnal visions came, one after another, during one single evening, which we can actually date—February 15, 519 B.C. I want to repeat that because we don’t have anything else like this in all the Bible. The young prophet Zechariah received a series of eight visions, one after another, during the night of February 15, 519 B.C. This was five months after the temple work had resumed.
So with that background, let’s read the passage in Zechariah 1, beginning with verse 7.
Scripture
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
8 During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?”
The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”
11 And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” 13 So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’
16 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.’”
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
1. Let’s Study This Passage
Let’s work our way through this glorious scene. Verse 7 says:
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
This was five months after the resumption of the rebuilding effort on the temple and three months after Zechariah’s opening message in the first part of the chapter. This is one of the most intense series of visions in the Bible. As I said, Zechariah received a series of eight nocturnal visions that came one during the course of a single evening, and the first vision begins in verse 8.
During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine.
From what I can gather, these myrtle trees of ancient times were related to our crape myrtles, though they perhaps didn’t grow as tall as some of our modern ones. I have two pink crape myrtle trees in my yard and they’ve grown to be forty feet tall. They’re filled with beautiful pink flowers most of the summer. I also have some dwarf crape myrtles in my patio garden, including one that grows year round in a pot.
In the Bible, myrtle trees were popular during the Feast of Tabernacles when the Jewish people made outdoor booths to live in during the course of the festival. The Feast of Tabernacles was great fun, especially for children. Everyone moved outdoors and camped in little booths to remind them of the wilderness wanderings of their ancestors. There seemed to be an association between myrtle trees as God’s blessings and guidance on Israel.
So a valley full of myrtle trees would be a pleasant picture, one tinged with grace. There among the trees was a red horse with a man sitting on it on it. Most commentators picture this as a roan colored or reddish-brown horse. I’ve tried to draw this scene using stick figures and you’ll find my crude drawing on the blog that accompanies this podcast. When you find strange visions in the Bible, it sometimes helps to sketch them out on your notepad.
Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
These horses, too, presumably have riders. So follow the visualization. The prophet found himself in a valley filled with Myrtle Trees and there was some kind of military patrol there. In Bible times horses were almost exclusively a military machine. People rode mules or donkeys in civilian life, but horses were almost always associated with armies and military endeavors. So the riders on the horses represented a military squadron of some sort. The horses are of different colors, but there’s no indication that the different colors had significance.
If you know the book of Revelation very well, you know that four horses and horsemen appear there too—the four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation 6. The apostle John perhaps got his imagery from Zechariah, but these are not the same horses and horsemen. This vision stands on its own. Zechariah saw a reconnaissance patrol gathered among myrtle trees in a moonlit valley.
Now let’s go on to verse 9: I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
Trying to keep track of the angels in this vision can get a little complicated. But it seems to me that there was an angel standing beside Zechariah like a tour guide. On my sketch I call him by this designation here—the angel who was talking to me. Zechariah wanted to know about this angelic patrol and the angelic tour guide said, in essence, “You’re about to find out.”
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”
Now Zechariah sees another person in his vision—a man who is standing in front of the myrtle trees. He isn’t on a horse. He is standing as an authoritative figure. Apparently the man on the red horse who led the squadron reported to him. So he looked over to Zechariah and Zechariah’s angel and explained, “These are the ones the Lord—Yahweh—has sent to go throughout the earth.
The English Standard Version and the New Living Translation and several others say, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”
So this military contingent was not a Jewish patrol squad or a Persian squadron. This was a group of supernatural beings whom the Lord sent out to patrol the earth. This is an angelic patrol. And the implications of this are very great. This passage implies to us that there is an angelic grid around the world and that angelic forces are constantly patrolling the earth.
I’ve often wondered if that doesn’t explain some of the unidentified flying objects that our military pilots have spotted. We’ve all heard there is a secret division in the Pentagon studying these unexplained arial phenomenon. This is pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if some of the UFOs aren’t angelic reconnaissance squadrons that are constantly patrolling the earth. That’s nothing but hypothesis; just a curious thought of mine. But the fact that angels are patrolling the earth is biblical, and we see it here more clearly than anywhere else in the Bible.
We do have other interesting cross references. In Job 1, the sons of God—the divine counsel—came to present themselves before the Lord and the adversary came with them. The Lord asked him where he had been, and he said, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth in it” (Job 1:6-7). The same Hebrew language appears here as in Zechariah 1.
In Matthew 26:53, Jesus said He could have called twelve legions of angels to deliver him from the Romans.
And Hebrews 1:14 (ESV) says about angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.”
In Daniel 10, Daniel prayed about something for three weeks, then an angel appeared to him and told him God has issued an answer to his prayer on the first day, but there was some kind of spiritual conflict in the heavenly places that delayed the answer. Listen to this intriguing passage in Daniel 10:12-14 (NLT): The angel said to Daniel: “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here….”
And don’t forget that God is called the Lord of Hosts, that is, the God of the Armies of Heaven.
Ephesians 6 talks about “evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and…evil spirits in the heavenly places” (verse 12 NLT).
Clearly there is a lot going on all around us in the unseen atmosphere of earth, with both good and evil angelic forces patrolling the world and apparently sometimes engaging in combat.
I’m certain this is just as true today as it was in the days of Zechariah. There are unseen angelic patrols going throughout the earth today, in and out of the rooms of the White House, monitoring what’s happening in the Kremlin, watching the events in Ukraine and Israel and points beyond. They have no trouble sneaking into North Korean airspace or onto China military bases. An unseen realm exists that is parallel to the visible realm.
Who was this commanding angel standing among the Myrtle Trees to whom the squadron was reporting? In the next verse He is called the Angel of the Lord.
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”
11 And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”
This I take to be the preincarnate Son of God. We frequently seen Him in the Old Testament as the Angel or the Messenger of the Lord. The word “angel” means “messenger.” In the Old Testament, the Messenger of the Lord sometimes speaks for God and He sometimes speaks as God Himself. Theologians call this a Christophany. It is an appearance of God the Son prior to His birth in Bethlehem. Jesus Christ is, was, and always will be God Himself—the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the Person within the Trinity who represents the invisible God in visible form.
John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known.”
Dr. H. C. Leupold, in his commentary on Zechariah, wrote, “The Angel of the Lord had not been appearing to men for a long time. In the days of the patriarchs, in the Exodus, and the days of the wilderness wanderings, in the time of the judges, even until David’s time and Hezekiah’s, He had gloriously manifested His presence. Now after 200 years He appears again.”
Dr. Leupold calls Him, “The Second Person of the Trinity appearing in angelic form.”
In essence, then, this angelic patrol has circled the earth and are reported to the Angel of the Lord what they have found. Verse 11 says:
And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”
You would think this would be a good thing, wouldn’t you? But it left Israel in a bad place. Israel was still under the thumb of the Persian Empire, and most of the Jews were still scattered around in Babylon and elsewhere. The nation of Israel was still dispersed among the nations, and the small remnant of Jews who had returned to Jerusalem were being harassed by the local Palestinians who lived there. The existing world order had the Jews in a very bad state. So the Angel of the Lord—God the Son—is going to ask God the Father about this. Look at verse 12:
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”
13 So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
God the Father has some encouraging things to say. And you and I find the same is true. When we come to the Lord with our distresses He speaks kind and comforting words to us. I’ll say more about that a bit later.
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word:
The angel who was standing beside Zechariah heard what the angel of the Lord said and he turned to Zechariah and told him, “This is the message you’re to pass on to the remnant as they continue building the Second Temple.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’
Let me interpret that for you. The Lord was saying, “The nations of Israel and Judah descended into such wickedness that I let surrounding empires discipline them. But Babylon went too far. I am committed to the survival and flourishing of the nation of Israel. It’s my plan for world history. The nation of Israel is going to play a pivotal role in the first and second comings of the Savior into the world.”
16 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
In other words, I am promising you that you will be successful in what you are doing. My temple will be finished and my city of Jerusalem will be established. The temple will be built, and surveyors will enlarge the city limits. Verse 17 adds:
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
The Jewish remnant had been working themselves to exhaustion trying to rebuild the temple and repopulate the land, even though they no longer controlled the land. It was occupied by the Persians and surrounded by hostile actors. But their presence was crucial for the continuity of the nation of Israel, and the work they were doing would lead to a glorious victory for Israel in which the nation would be restored, the towns would overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will dwell once again in Jerusalem.
These promises will be fully realized in the future, after the Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon, when the Lord Jesus establish His Millennial Kingdom. I’ll talk more about that in the next episode. The continuity of the Jewish story was vital, and these workers would be blessed for their efforts; and their efforts would be blessed with ultimate success. Though they didn’t realize it fully, their temple was being built for the Messiah who was, even now in this vision, standing before them in angelic form.
Conclusion
There are three takeaways from this vision that are very relevant to us in our own time.
First, God Has a Pivotal Role for the Nation of Israel as it relates to the history of the world and to the future. The parallels between ancient times and our own are stunning. Israel is back in their land, harassed by their neighbors, viewed negatively by much of the world, fighting for her survival, and many there want to build the temple—which we call the Third Temple, the one that will be present during the tribulation. The times of Zechariah reflect our own. We’ll talk more about this as the series unfolds.
Second, God Also Has Angelic Squadrons Patrolling the Earth. When this remnant of workers realized they had an angelic patrol on their side, it must have rallied their spirits like never before. As Charles Spurgeon said, “I do not know how to explain it; I cannot tell how it is; but I believe angels have a great deal to do with the business of this world.”
And not just angels! Angels are one kind of supernatural being; they are messengers. But there seems to be more species or kinds of supernatural beings. Psalm 82 (ESV) says, “God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the Elohim (or supernatural beings) he holds judgment.” God seems to have created a supernatural group of divine or supernatural beings to rule over the world. In Psalm 82, the Lord was unhappy with the way they had handled themselves.
In Genesis and Revelation we have a group of supernatural beings called Cherubim. In Isaiah 6 we see the Seraphim. In the Gospels we encounter a group of supernatural beings called demons. The apostle Paul talked about rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
There is a supernatural grid around this planet and supernatural forces that travel around the world and throughout the universe. One day the invisible will become visible to us, but for now we need to remember that God has patrols of good and powerful angelic forces protecting us. This should be very comforting to us as believers. Psalm 91:11 says, “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
Third, God Has Kind and Comforting Words for Us. Verse 13 says that He spoke kind and comforting words to His people, and He still does. We need to feel His kindness and to receive His comfort in the kind of world we have. And whenever we open the Bible, we find His kind and comforting words.
Just last night I read an article by Chaplain Timothy Bohr, a major in the U. S. Army Reserve. In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq and assigned to the Blackhawk helicopter battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division. One day they got a call that a Chinook helicopter had been shot down, and Chaplain Bohr’s battalion was sent out as a first response team to secure the crash site and provide medical aid. They came back with wounded and traumatized soldiers.
Late in the day one of the medics pulled Chaplain Bohr aside. This medic had saved the lives of a dozen soldiers that day, but he was shaken. The two men went outside into the cool desert air and leaned against a Humvee ambulance.
“Chaplain, I saw some things today that I haven’t told anyone about. But I need to talk to someone. Would you be willing to listen.” The man began to describe the condition of the bodies he had worked on, the smell of the burning crash site, the suffering of the victims.”
The two men wept together, their arms around each other, and Chaplain Bohr spoke these words into the man’s life: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Kind and comforting words to a man in great need. And then Major Bohr went to his own quarters and recalled the words of Psalm 139: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7-10).
Kind and comforting words, just when we need them—that’s one of God’s greatest gifts to us. Let’s drink in His Word daily and always listen closely to what He wants to say to us every morning and every evening in the war zone of this earth.