Who's the guy sitting on the red horse?

Here's a short outtake from a study in Zechariah 1 and will have a new article tomorrow for sure:

"It isn't smooth sailing for Israel when they go back into the land. There's still the opposition, the danger, the seduction to try and go back and worship in the idolatrous system that got them into captivity to start with.

"In the midst of all that danger Zechariah sees these visions. The nighttime is a picture of the fifth course of judgment, the time of Jacob's trouble, but in the midst of all that darkness there's still the light of God's Word, because the word of God comes to Zechariah. It came to Haggai. So even in the midst of the darkness they have the communication of God's Word still.

"The sun goes out and the darkness doesn't go away til the sun comes back. In Malachi 2, when it describes the Second Coming of Christ, Malachi says it's like the s-u-n of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. In the Bible, a day is first the evening and then the morning. As Psalm 30 says, 'Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.'

"Christ is still on exile and we literally are spiritually in a world of darkness. Paul calls it 'this present evil age.' We live in darkness, but we still have the light of God's Word and that's a great encouragement.

"So Zechariah sees a guy riding a red horse. He's standing among the myrtle trees and then there's these red horses speckled in white. He does exactly what you and I do; he says, 'I got no idea what that is.'

"You might say that a lot when you study Zechariah. There's a lot of scratch-your-head kind of stuff in this book where you go, 'I'd sure like to know what that's all about.'

"Zechariah had a humble heart; that's one of the things you learn about him. He confesses his ignorance and says, 'What is it?'

"The angel says, 'Okay, I'll show you.' Now, if you want to see an understatement, look at verse 10: [10] And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

"You read that and say, 'Huh? How did that answer all that?' Well, the answer is this is what they're doing.

"It's fascinating to notice how he says 'the man that stood among the myrtle trees.' So the guy back in verse 8 . . . [8] 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.

[9] Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.

"The man on the horse standing among the myrtle trees in verse 11 is the angel of the Lord: [11] And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

"The angel of the Lord, more often than not in the Old Testament, is really the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, His pre-incarnate appearance.

"The word 'angel' in the Bible really means 'an appearance.' I know most of the time you're told it means 'a messenger.' That's because the Greek word 'angelos' is the word 'angel' in English and it means message.

"But in Scripture it's more 'the presence.' Here's the presence of the Lord, and so we're dealing with the Lord here as the guy sitting on the red horse.

"He's going to be communicating to them and when He does, the other riders on the horses answer Him. That term 'walking to and fro through the earth,' is a very special kind of concept in the Bible that has a specific meaning to it."