Where is God and why it matters (Zech 6:1-8)

Friedrich Nietzche, the nineteenth century German philosopher, is best known for his statement ‘God is dead’. His point is that Enlightenment thought (especially the development of science) made God irrelevant and unnecessary as an explanation for the world. The removal of God, however, also removes the foundation for Christian morality, meaning and purpose in life, because these are rooted in God.[1] Nietzsche hails this as a courageous step towards freedom, but what he describes is the frightening reality of our age with all its relativism, uncertainty and confusion.

The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. “Whither is God?” he cried; “I will tell you. We have killed him – you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning?[2]

While many will resist a God today who calls them to account and clearly defines what is right and wrong, when tragedy strikes, most ask, ‘Where is God?’. We yearn for the certainty of a sovereign being who is just and who cares.

Judgement on evil

The returned Jews, too, asked where God was when they were taken into exile. It mattered because their faith was shaken in God’s power and love and they wanted to see Him act in a sovereign way. This last vision echoes the first with its patrolling horses (Zech 1:7-17), but the chariots here suggest war rather than reconnaissance. The colours of the horses (Zech 6:2-3) differentiate the chariots, while the number four, like the points of the compass, indicate totality and hence God’s sovereignty over all the earth (Zech 6:5). God is here to bring justice with special focus on Babylon (the north; Zech 6:8), hence two chariots going that way.[3] Cyrus, the king of Persia, took over the Babylonian empire peacefully (cf. Zech 1:11, 15), but the Babylonians rebelled against Persian rule at the onset of Darius’ reign and were crushed in his first two years, in Zechariah’s time (Zech 1:7). Thus, God’s wrath was appeased (Zech 6:8).[4]

Heavenly and earthly temple

The chariots pass through a pair of bronze mountains as they come out of God’s presence (Zech 6:1), which are reminiscent of the two bronze pillars at the entrance of the earthly house of God called Jachin (‘he shall establish’) and Boaz (‘in him is strength’; 1 King 7:15, 21).[5] Since the temple reflects something of the heavenly reality we see here (cf. Heb 8:5), we are reminded that His kingdom is stable and powerful. No matter how chaotic and absent of God the world looks, He is working through His heavenly army in His time and His way. The vision represents this spiritual reality behind historic events. In a small way, the allusion to the earthly temple also points the exiles back to its importance because through it a reflection of God’s rule may be seen.

Hope and destiny

Our passage teaches us that God is involved in the world and holds its fate in His hands with justice. While for some it may seem a terrifying prospect, for Christians who live in a world that is increasingly adrift morally and spiritually, it is a firm anchor and a great hope. There is still order in the world and we can know our worth and identity because they are rooted in our relationship with God. We do not have to live with the emptiness and confusion that so many experience. We are also reminded that in a small and imperfect way, God’s Church is the microcosm of His Kingdom, where His perspective and rules apply. May we be people who reflect God’s light and shine in a darkened world.

For interest – a summary graphic for the eight visions

Since we have finished the eight visions that Zechariah saw, I include here a helpful graphic from Webb that summarises the message and shows how the first three visions have a counterpart in the last three with a focus on Joshua and Zerubbabel in the centre. My only minor emendation would be that if vision five (about the two olive trees) is a reference to the prophets (Haggai and Zechariah), then in the centre are the high priest, the Davidic descendant, and the prophets. This does not disturb the essential symmetry of the series and it corresponds to the key characters in the postexilic period.

Source: Barry Webb, The Message of Zechariah, BST (Nottingham: IVP, 2003), 106.

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[1] For instance, we understand what is right and wrong because God reveals it in Scripture and demonstrates true goodness, love and justice in His own character. We know as humans that we have value and worth as God’s creation because we were made in His image. Our purpose according to the Bible is to love and serve the Lord. If there is no God and we are the random product of matter, then we are a cosmic accident without worth; nothing is right or wrong unless we decide it is, and we can do whatever we like and be whatever we want to make ourselves to be.

[2] Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, trans. Walter Kaufmann (New York: Vintage, 1974), 181.

[3] Some commentators amend the text, so that the horses go in the four directions of the compass, but this is not necessary. Israel is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the desert to the east, so the north-south direction is plausible. Historically, Israel’s enemies came from the north (Aram/Syria, Assyria, Babylon) and the south (Egypt) for centuries. Thus, if two chariots went north, then this underlines its importance, which is further reinforced by the comment on the result of this visit. Duguid suggests that the chestnut horses may have been kept in reserve (and not sent out), a common military strategy. I.M. Duguid, A Study Commentary on Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (Darlington: Evangelical Press, 2010), 123, cited in Anthony R. Petterson, Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi, AOTC 25 (Nottingham: Apollos, 2015), 178.

[4] The Hebrew literally says that the visit ‘caused God’s Spirit to rest on/in the land of the north’, which is an unusual phrase. Given the military context of the passage (chariots), it is likely that God’s Spirit is at rest because justice has been done or it is God’s Spirit resting on the nation that indicates judgement. Facing a holy and just God spells judgement for the guilty. Elsewhere, it is God’s wrath that rests or is caused to rest on someone in judgement (e.g. Ps 88:7; Ezek 21:17, Heb v.22; Ezek 24:13). The advantage of the phrase in Zech 6:8 is that it creates a link with the first vision where the nations were at ease, i.e. at rest (Zech 1:11, 15), whereas here God rests. The nations thought they could escape judgment, but God has brought it about.

[5] E.g. Petterson, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 176; Barry Webb, The Message of Zechariah, BST (Nottingham: IVP, 2003), 103.

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