Chapter 27

 

“Mountains of Brass”

 

“And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.” Zec 6:1-8

 

When trouble comes, where do you look for comfort? When everything seems uncertain, what keeps you going? When there are no billboards advertising what you can expect around the next curve, where do you turn? What do you trust? When everything seems confusing, where do you turn to find stability? When your life is turned upside down and everything seems to be utter chaos, what do you have to fall back on for comfort and peace?

 

            God’s prophet Zechariah and the faithful in Israel were in what must have been to them a time of terrible confusion. They had been sent back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and reestablish the worship of God in Jerusalem. But the task appeared impossible. Their hearts were overwhelmed by the difficulties facing them. It appeared that the work would never be accomplished. So the Lord appeared to Zechariah in a series of visions to encourage him and the children of Israel to go on with the work for which the Lord had sent them back to Jerusalem, assuring them of the success of their labors.

 

            First (1:7-11), Zechariah saw a Man riding a red horse, standing in a grove of myrtle trees. The grove of myrtle trees represents God’s Church. It is found in a piece of bottom land, surrounded by oppressing mountains. But all is well, because that Man riding the red horse is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is always standing in our midst, riding forth, conquering and to conquer.

 

            Zechariah’s second vision (1:18-22) was a vision of four horns and four carpenters. The four horns represented the powers of the world (political and ecclesiastical) constantly opposing God’s people. But all is well, because the four carpenters are gospel preachers, by whom the horns are frayed.

 

            Then (2:1-5) the prophet saw Christ as a man with a measuring line in his hand, who measures and determines the dimensions of his holy city, Jerusalem (the Church), proclaiming that she shall be complete, fully inhabited by a great multitude. In a word, all is well! Christ shall build his house. Then he heard the Lord God declare, “I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her” (v. 5). — And the Lord Jesus declared in verse 8, — “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”

 

            In chapter three (vv. 1-15) the Lord showed Zechariah a vivid picture of the redemption and grace that is ours in and by Christ in the cleansing of Joshua the high priest, with the Foundation Stone (Christ) laid before him. In that vision we are assured again that all is well. God is saving his own.

 

            In his fifth vision (4:1-14) Zechariah saw the Church of God portrayed as a candlestick, constantly supplied with the oil of grace by God the Holy Spirit, who is constantly given to us by Christ our Savior, assuring us that all is well, because God’s grace is unceasing. Our mighty Zerubbabel, the Lord Jesus Christ, will complete his house (vv. 6-10).

 

“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”

 

            Zechariah’s sixth vision (5:1-4) was a huge roll, flying over the earth, pronouncing God’s curse upon guilty sinners scattered over all the earth. But all is well, because the curse and the judgment following it are according to the justice and righteousness of God.

 

            In his seventh vision (5:5-11) God showed Zechariah a woman sitting in a basket, representing the wickedness of the whole world (false religion), and telling us that the wickedness is always under our Savior’s absolute control and shall be brought to everlasting destruction at God’s appointed time. All is well, for even the wrath of man is under the dominion of our great King.

 

            Remember, throughout these visions, our Lord’s purpose is to assure us that all is well, no matter how bad things may appear. Now, we come to Zechariah’s eighth vision (6:1-8). When everything appears to be out of control, when our hearts are heavy, when our soul’s are distressed, when our mind’s are confused, our Lord here tells us to fall back to the comfortable, stabilizing mountains of brass. Zechariah wrote, And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.”

 

            The prophet was continually anxious to learn the things of God. May God give us such anxiety. Let us never imagine that we know all things perfectly. May God the Holy Spirit constantly cause our hearts to soar to heaven, that we might know more of Christ by the revelation of his grace! Zechariah said, “I turned,” as if to tell us that Christ is to be seen everywhere. First he saw him on one side, then another.

 

Four Chariots

 

And, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.” — [1]We do not have to guess what these chariots and the horses pulling them represent. The Scriptures tell us plainly. These four chariots are the angels of God, God’s warriors, by whom he executes his wise decrees (2 Kings 2:11; 6:17; Hab. 3:8; Ps. 68:17). — “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.”

 

            The angels of God are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to and for God’s elect, those who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14). Habakkuk said, “Thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation.” Readily and speedily, with joy and delight, they serve Christ and his people day and night, throughout the earth.

 

            While we must never fail to recognize and give thanks to our God for those mighty angels he created to be our constant protectors, I am certain that the angels of God most commonly refer to gospel preachers. In this gospel age gospel preachers are sent forth by Christ into all the world to gather the tares and bind them in bundles for judgment, and to gather his wheat into his barn by the preaching of the gospel (Matt. 13:30, 41-42). They are God’s messengers to his people, the angels of the churches (Rev. 1:20-3:22).

 

            Gospel preachers are men who have their commission from Christ. They are sent forth into all the world by him, carrying his name and his gospel to the four corners of the earth. By the labors of such faithful men, the Lord Jesus gathers his elect out of the nations, giving them life and faith by his almighty Spirit through the preaching of the gospel (Rom. 10:17; 1 Pet. 1:23-25). Like chariots of war, they go forth, being set for the defense of the gospel and the Kingdom of God our Savior. Fighting the good fight of faith, they are always made triumphant by Christ and are more than conquerors through him.

 

            It is by the angels of God (both those heavenly creatures that encamped around Elisha and his servant, and those men who are God’s appointed messengers to his people) that our great God and Savior constantly ministers to, directs, and protects his elect in this world, accomplishing his sovereign, eternal purpose, which he purposed in himself.

 

Mountains of Brass

 

The chariots came out from between two mountains of brass. There are two of them. They are described as “mountains of brass.” And the work of these chariots, the angels of God, runs in a valley between the two mountains. What are these mountains? What are these things intended of God to represent? What does he teach us by them?

 

            Mountains represent that which is immense, high, solid, and immoveable. Brass represents that which is hard and enduring. I cannot imagine these mountains representing anything, except the purpose of God and the providence of God. The valley between them represents all the ages of time in this world of woe.

 

            On one side Zechariah saw a mountain of brass representing God’s sovereign, eternal purpose of grace in predestination (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:3-12). The decrees and purposes of God, like a “mountain,” are ancient, more ancient than the everlasting hills. They are both high and deep. That is to say, they are dark, obscure, and hidden until they are performed. And they are firm, solid, and immovable, lasting and durable, like “brass.” That simply means God’s purpose, his decree, can never be broken, revoked, or made null and void. It stands upon his unalterable will, upon the basis of his infallible wisdom, and is supported by uncontrollable power. God’s sovereign purpose of grace in predestination can never be disannulled, or set aside by men on earth and devils in hell combined.

 

God’s Providence

 

Surrounded by the wickedness and the curse of the earth, enduring with his brethren the trials and troubles of God’s saints in this world, facing all those who constantly make war with the saints, Zechariah saw on one side the brass mountain of God’s sure and steadfast purpose. On the other side he beheld another mountain of brass that looked exactly like the other. This other mountain of brass represents the providence of God. It is an exact copy of the purpose of God. It is according to God’s eternally fixed and immutable decree that all things come to pass in time (Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11).

 

            It is as though the Lord God had said to his prophet and to us his people, “There is no cause for alarm or fear. Everything you have seen and experienced, everything you now see and experience, and everything you shall see and experience, the good and the bad, is exactly according to my eternal purpose of grace toward you. “It shall be well with the righteous!’” These mountains of brass are our security and comfort (Isa. 40:10, 21-23, 26-29; 45:11-13, 17, 19; 46:8-10; Ps. 36:6-10). God’s purpose is immutable. His decree is unalterable. His providence is sure. We are assured of this sweet, soul-comforting, God honoring fact by many things revealed in Scripture.

 

            Predestination is the unchangeable decree of the unchangeable God. What God desires, he does. No creature can prevent, or even hinder, the desire or the doing of our God (Num. 23:19; Job 23:13; Ps. 3311; Pro. 19:21; Mal. 3:6; James 1:17).

 

            God’s decree of election stands upon the unchangeable Foundation laid in Zion before the world began, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Rock of ages. — “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb 13:8). God has blessed us in him, and we shall be blessed. He has chosen us in him, pardoned us in him, sealed us in him, built us up and completed us in him, “according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9), “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7), “in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed” (Eph. 1:13), “rooted and built up in him” (Col 2:7). And we are “complete in him” (Col 2:10). Indeed, Christ himself “verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20). And, because the Foundation is sure, the building is sure.

 

            God’s purpose is sure and unchangeable, because it is written in heaven, above the reach of angry men and enraged devils. — “The Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Tim. 2:19). Our names were inscribed by the pen of sovereign grace in the Lamb’s book of life before the worlds were made. That book is a vast registry of God’s elect. Their number can never be increased nor diminished. Our Savior says, “Rejoice because your names are in heaven” (Luke 10:20), in that book from which they can never be blotted out or erased. “I know”, wrote Solomon, “that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it” (Ecc. 3:14).

 

            All the events of time come forth from between those mountains of brass, the unalterable purpose and providence of God. If so much as one purpose should fail to be accomplished, all might fail. If even one name could be blotted out of the Lamb’s book of life, all might be blotted out of it. Take away the absolute certainty of God’s providence mirroring and fulfilling his purpose, and faith in God is an absolute impossibility. The Word of God and its countless promises could not be trusted. It would become as useless as wastepaper! But, blessed be his name, that cannot be, because God’s purpose and his providence are one unbreakable chain of grace, mountains of brass!

 

            The two are bound together, as links in a great chain. Break one link, and the whole chain becomes useless. God’s providence, by which all things work together for good to them that love God, is but the outworking of his purpose, according to which we are called. According to that purpose, all whose names were written in the Lamb’s book of life were predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. All who were predestinated are justified. All who are justified are called. And all who are called shall be glorified (Rom. 8:30). Therefore the purpose of God according to election must stand (Rom. 9:11).

 

            Yet, God does not decree the end without the means, nor the means without the end. Both are fixed together in his eternal purpose. In predestination the means of our salvation was no less absolutely decreed than salvation itself. — “As many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). If that were not the case, the foundation of God could not stand sure. If God did not absolutely decree to give and bestow faith and perseverance to his elect, no one would ever enter into heaven’s everlasting glory. But our God declared from eternity, “I will be your God, and ye shall be my people”; that is to say, “I will make you be my people” (Ps. 65:4; 110:3).

 

Four Horses

 

Pulling the four chariots Zechariah saw four horses. — In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses(vv. 2-3). Again, we are not left to guess what these horses represent. The Lord, the Angel who showed his servant this vision, told him plainly what the horses represent (vv. 4-7).

 

“Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.”

 

            Zechariah asked, “What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.” The four chariots are the angels of God, by which he accomplishes his purpose. But the chariots do not accomplish anything. Chariots might be pretty and impressive to look at, but they are utterly useless until horses are harnessed in them. So it is with the angels of God and the preachers of the gospel. The power, the horses, by which the chariots of God are pulled through the valley of time, accomplishing his purpose, are “the four spirits of heaven.” They represent God the Holy Spirit, here called “four spirits,” because he performs God’s purpose everywhere, all the time, throughout all the earth, North, South, East, and West (Isa. 43:5-7).

 

            By the power of God the Holy Spirit, his angels are made instruments of judgment upon the reprobate, binding up the tares for the burning. And by the power of the Spirit, they are made instruments of mercy, gathering his wheat into his garner. Sometimes God sends his angels as red horses, proclaiming grace and salvation by the blood of Christ. Sometimes he sends them as black horses of judgment. Sometimes he sends them as speckled horses, “grisled and bay,” executing both judgment and mercy. But, he always sends them forth as white horses of triumph (2 Cor. 2:14-16; Isa. 66:20).

 

Christ’s Satisfaction

 

In verse eight our great Savior, the Angel who spoke to Zechariah, declares that when all the purpose of God has been accomplished by the providence of God, “he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.” — “Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.” He shall be quieted in his spirit forever, completely content, thoroughly satisfied and glorified, when he has, at last, made the restitution of all things, and reconciled all things to God. — “And his rest shall be glorious” (Isa. 11:10; Zeph. 3:17).



[1] “Some have concluded, that those four chariots with different colored horses, represent the four monarchies, which were to succeed one another, until Christ should come. But, however ingenious this may seem, I am inclined rather to believe the vision hath a full respect to the Church. Indeed, I do not hesitate to consider all monarchies, and all empires, together with their rise, progress, and fall, as designed for no other purpose, but to minister to the Church of Jesus.” (Robert Hawker).