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End Times

THE FOUR CRAFTSMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE
apocalypse

Zechariah 1:20 “Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.”

 

In the second vision that God revealed to Zechariah we are given a unique insight into the realm of spiritual warfare from an Old Testament perspective. It is my belief that all six of Zechariah’s visions are intricately connected to the prophecy in the book of Revelation about the four horseman of the Apocalypse that God had appointed to be revealed to those of us who are alive during the end of this age.

Zechariah 1:8 “I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red

horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses: red, sorrel, and white.”

 

In his first vision Zechariah sees horses of four different colors that the Lord sent to walk to and from throughout the earth. These different color horses are symbolic of the watchers that keep watch over the affairs of men and their relationship with God’s people here on the earth.

 

Isaiah 62:6-7 “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

 

If we understand the underpinning of Zechariah’s first vision we will be able to make better sense, not only of Zechariah’s second vision as it pertains to spiritual warfare, but about the spiritual warfare that is going on right now, for we are presently living in the days of the unveiling of the four horseman of the book of Revelation.

 

Zechariah 1:11 “So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have walked to and from throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly.’”

 

The first thing that we need to recognize in order to make sense of the visions is that they revolved around the city of Jerusalem. For seventy years the Lord had removed the Jewish people from the land of Judah and from the city of Jerusalem, to give the land the Sabbath day of rest that they owed the land.

 

When Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he instructed them that when they entered into the land that the Lord was giving them, that they were suppose to give the land a year of rest every seven years. No sowing and no reaping, they had to trust the Lord to provide for them a double harvest during the six years that would last them for the whole seventh year that they were not supposed to be tilling the land.

 

They violated the law of the Sabbath rest for the land, for four hundred and ninety years consecutively, so that they owed the land seventy years of rest: 490 / 7 = 70 years. When the time for God’s judgment fell upon them, God used the nations of the earth to remove them from the land and to keep them out of the land for the seventy years that they owed.

 

Zechariah 1:12 “Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?’”

 

Zechariah, in his first vision is privy to an event that is taking place in the spiritual realm; he sees horses and asked what they mean. After he is told that they are the watchers that watch over the affairs of men, the Angel of the Lord speaks to God in front of Zechariah, reminding God that the seventy years are now over. God answers the Angel of the Lord with good and comforting words in verse thirteen.

 

Then the reason is revealed as to why the Lord had given Zechariah a ringside seat, if you will, to what was going on in the spiritual realm, after he is told that he is to prophesy, within the context of all that he had witnessed, to the Jews that were in exile.

 

Zechariah 1:14-15 “So the angel who spoke with me said to me, "proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped—but with evil intent.’”

 

The Lord reveals that He is angry with the nations that He used to remove the Jews from Jerusalem and from the land of Judah, because of their evil intent while He was using them against His own people. As always the Lord’s judgments against the nations of the earth have to do with how they treated or mistreated His own people. Remember what God told Abraham when He entered into a covenant with him? I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.

 

Then Zechariah proceeded to proclaim to the Jews of his day that God was restoring them back into the land from where they had been exiled for seventy years, and that God would again choose Jerusalem as its capitol.

 

Which leads us right into the second vision that deals with how the Lord removes the demonic strongholds that Satan placed over the nation of Israel, when he took advantage of them, while they were in exile for their disobedience to the commandments that God gave them through Moses.

 

Zechariah 1:18 “Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns.”

 

Zechariah’s first vision began at night, which is symbolic of the spiritual darkness that was all around the nation of Israel at that time. In the second vision the Lord is revealing to Zechariah the source of the spiritual darkness that is all around him.

 

Zechariah 1:19 “And I said to the angel who talked with me, ‘What are these?’ So he answered me, ‘These are the horns (powers) that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.’”

 

When God’s hand of blessing is over a people, there is absolutely nothing that the devil can do against them, for our God is Almighty. The enemy knows that, as long as God’s protection is over His people, he is powerless against them, so he is always at work to temp those who belong to God into rebelling against God. Obedience to God always brings enlightenment, and disobedience to God always brings darkness.

 

Zechariah 1:2-3 “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return to Me,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘And I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

 

The Lord was very angry with the fathers because of their disobedience to the commandment of God in regards to their obligation to give the land a year of rest every seventh year. Now that their debt is paid in full, for they have been out of the land for seventy years, they can be restored back to their land if they return to the Lord first, and acknowledge that without God in their midst they are in darkness.

 

Zechariah 1:20-21 “Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. And I said, ‘What are these coming to do?’ So he said, ‘These are the (four) horns (powers) that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.’” 

 

In warfare whoever controls the high ground has the advantage over their adversary; because of their disobedience to the Word of God Israel was put at a disadvantage where they could not lift up their heads and have a clear picture of their spiritual condition.

 

Now that they are returning to God, the Lord sends them four craftsmen or carpenters to dismantle the demonic infrastructure that prevents them from regaining the upper hand, the lifting up of their heads. Notice the language that the angel uses that describes how these demonic hordes will be terrified by these four craftsmen before they are cast out.

 

What are these four craftsmen symbolic of?

 

2 Corinthians 12:12 “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.”

 

The four craftsmen are symbolic of the apostolic anointing!

 

The apostolic anointing is the force that God brings about to dismantle the four horns or powers that keep God’s children in darkness.

 

What are the four horns symbolic of?

 

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (which is light, and those who practice those things are still in darkness).”

 

The four horns are symbolic of the works of the flesh!

 

PERVERSION: Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness and Lewdness.

 

DIVISION: Hatred, Contentions, Envy and Jealousies.

 

FALSE RELIGION: Idolatry, Sorcery, Dissensions and Heresies.

 

MALFUNCTION: Outbursts of Wrath, Murder, Drunkenness and Revelries.

 

At the center ofcourse is Selfish Ambition the soul motivator before we became born-again.

 

For more information on the above read my book, The Liberation of the Human Soul, chapter titled; Understanding the Demonic infrastructure within the Soul, in the books section of houseoffaithministries.org

 

There are seventeen works of the flesh listed by Paul to the Galatians. I took the liberty of dividing them into four categories that revolve around the self motivated soul. The number seventeen is the seventh prime number. Zechariah’s first vision is recorded in chapter one, beginning in verse seven to verse seventeen. A clear double emphasis that the Holy Spirit reveals to us to show us how important to our present day Zechariah’s visions are.

 

Also, all of us have sixteen great-great-grandparents in our family tree, and if you form a pyramid with self sitting on top of it, with two parents directly below, four grandparents below them, eight great-grandparents below them and sixteen great-great-grandparents as the foundation of the pyramid, it shows how our soul is affected by the iniquity of the fathers which is with whom the Lord was angry in Zechariah 1:2.

 

                            0 =         1 Self

                         0-0 =            2 Parents

                     0-0-0-0 =             4 Grandparents

              0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 =           8 Great-grandparents

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 = 16 Great-great-grandparents.

 

Exodus 20:5-6 “You shall not bow down to them nor serve (worship) them (idols). For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me (idolatry is seen by God as hatred towards Him), but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

 

We are living in the age of grace, and the church has been established on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with our Lord Jesus Christ as the Chief Cornerstone. The time for our redemption is now, for our sin debt that we owed God has been fully paid for by our Savior on the cross.

 

As the Lord spoke during Zechariah’s day, that if we return to Him He will return to us. We are living in the days right now when those that call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. But remember also that with our salvation comes deliverance from the forces of darkness that kept us bound. It is the apostolic anointing that terrifies the devil, for through its revelation we become empowered. Remember the words of Jesus, You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free!

 

Yes, we are living in the days of the white horse, the antichrist, for there are many out there striving to deceive those of us who are the children of light. Yes, we are living in the days of the red horse, the days of war and terror as our Lord predicted. Yes there is a global economy being forged right now that is paving the way for a one world government, the black horse that will control all commerce and all of its financial transactions.

 

The pale horse whose rider is death, followed closely by Hades, soon will be given power to bring war over one fourth of the earth. This is the conflict that will usher in the rapture of the church; let’s be ready for it.

 

Zechariah 2:10/13 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst...Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!”

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