The Night Vision

Zechariah i. 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-The prophecies of Zechariah contain some of the most deeply interesting and cheering revelations that ever were disclosed under the Old Testament dispensation. This prophet much resembles Ezekiel in his fervour, and Isaiah in his sublime imagery and mysterious visions. Like the latter, he may truly be styled an evangelical prophet. The Anointed One of God and his kingdom, are the centre and axis about which the fiery wheel of all his revelations and imagery turns. The vision in our text is both beautiful and consoling. Let us consider,

I. The time when it was seen. II. The vision itself, with its spiritual

IMPORT.

‘^^■^ I. The time when the vision was seen is expressed in the words of the text. ‘• I saw,” saith the prophet, “by night.” Primarily he meant natural night, while men slept. At that season the Lord came to him, opening the prophet’s spiritual eyes, and causing to pass before him, like a pictured scene in bright and glowing colours, a sublime and cheering vision. For it seemed good unto the Holy Ghost to attest that important truth, that “the Keeper of Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth,” on this occasion, by a proof of fact, to render it the more impressive; for which purpose he comes to the prophet in the darkness of the night. Nearly all the saints of the Old and New Testament have had some experience of such nightly visits of God; and the wise Elihu thus speaks of them to Job as a thing very common in his time: “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man,” Job xxxiii. 15 — 17. Many have experienced the truth of this, and, like Nicodemus, have become acquainted with Jesus by night. At that season, when the body is at rest, when the senses are shut up by darkness and silence, and withdrawn from the turmoil of day-light distractions, then is the soul’s hearing more acute; the thoughts proceed with less restraint, and unimpeded meditation dives deeper into the truth of things. Then does the trumpet of the Divine word peal with redoubled force in the ear of conscience; the thunder of its maledictions is appalling; and the alarms raised by the inward accuser are more awakening and terrible. And when the clear vision of our sins, of our vain and erring life, of our broken vows and resolutions, of our impurity and hypocrisy; the clear prospect of death that awaits us, with the certainty of a judgment to come, to which we are every day drawing nearer and nearer; the clear view of the sufferings of that Saviour whom we have betrayed and crucified afresh: when visions such as these break in upon our retirement, haunt us in our beds, and fix themselves before the eyes of our minds — then do we feel strong discipline applied to us, and a powerful kind of instruction sealed to us by the Almighty. And whither at such seasons can we flee to escape it? Into the company of mirthful friends and acquaintance 7 They, too, are in their beds, and fast asleep. Into the avocations and bustle of business? Its doors are closed for the night. Into the streets or market-place, among the throng of the neighbourhood? The streets are void, and the market-place is silent. It is night; and there is nothing at hand wherewith to deafen the ear, veil the mental eye, and drive away serious thought. Then is the soul troubled; it is tossed like a vessel on the stormy waves; its anchor is cast this way and that way, but finds no hold. The troubled sinner looks out for a haven, but every thing like it is tempestuous as the open sea; and he seems rocked over an abyss. He would gladly charm away the storm within him; he endeavors to rally his day-light thoughts, and to reason with himself, saying, Whyshould I be troubled? there is no real dan2:er. But it is all to no purpose. Consolation has no place within him; his uneasiness only increases the more; till he finds HimYlo can say, “Peace, be still!” and who spreadeth forth his hands in the midst of us, Isa. XXV. 11. Numberless Christians have at one time or another experienced those awful and terrible, but salutary and beneficial night scenes; and can say after the manner of Eliphaz the Temanite,” In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones to shake,” Job iv. 13, 14. O ye who in the day-time, amidst the noise of this world, neglect to hear the voice of God, may you in such nightly visitations of the Almighty soon be favoured to hear him speaking to you more forcibly and intelligibly! Let this night, rather than that of to-morrow, be preferred for serious meditation; “If thou save not thy life to night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain,” 1 Sam. xix. 11. Lay such a thought to heart, when you again lay down to rest.

“I saw by nightj’’ saith the prophet; and these words may remind us of the circumstances of the time at which the vision was given.

Zechariah prophesied about five hundred years before the birth of Christ. He had Uved with his parents in the captivity of Babylon; but after the friendly edict of Cyrus, king of Persia, he returned with the first company under Zerubbabel to the country of his fathers, and assisted at the rebuilding of the holy city and its temple. Then was a time of great joy and jubilant expectation. God, who remembered his covenant with their fathers, had again decidedly appeared for his people Israel; and all seemed raised by the cheering hope of golden days at hand. Then was it not night, but bright day in Israel; nevertheless, the glory was of short duration, for the men of Samaria brought a dark cloud upon it. Hardly had the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple with gladness and great zeal .commenced, when these strangers, who were rather heathens than Jews, but who wished to share an equal right to the common worship of the temple, offered to assist them in the work. This offer was necessarily refused; and the refusal stirred up ill blood. The men of Samaria sent an address to the court of Persia, bitterly calumniating the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as a disloyal and seditious race; and gained credit to their misrepresentations. Hence ensued a royal edict, prohibiting the building of the city and temple, and licensing the intruders of Samaria to obstruct the work with fire and sword; so that it was a time of trouble and tumult, a time of sore distress and dejection. God seemed again to have forsaken his people, for their fairest prospects were suddenly darkened, as if the loveliest morning had been overcast with midnight gloom. Here then is “the night” wherein Zechariah saw the vision. The gloom of that night encompassed him, and had entered his very soul; for every thfng at present tended to fill the minds of God’s people with doubt and despondency. They could no longer discern Him near to them, as Israel’s protector.

“I saw by night, and behold!” saith Zechariah. Let us apply these words, by way of accommodation, to the spiritual night of Christians. For night in a spiritual sense is only dreadful, when we are deprived of spiritual vision, when the eyes of the understanding are darkened. It is night, when with sufferings upon us, we do not recognise the Hand that inflicts them. It is night, when we find ourselves in a wilderness of perplexity, where we can discern no way out in any direction. It is night, when a curse seems to destroy our temporal prosperity, and we cannot perceive, whence proceeds that which is depriving us of our honour and credit, our welfare and family peace; whether it is from heaven above, or from hell beneath, or from incidental circumstances around us. It is night, when from the world calumniating and mistaken us, we appeal to God, but there is “neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regardeth.” It is night, when, having sunk into the depths of distress, we cry out of pain and anguish, but imagine that our cry is lost in the air, and that our prayer is altogether ineffectual, because no help seems ready at hand, no footsteps of relief are audible, no prospect dawns, no opening is given; but our way through the dark valley remains to us an inexplicable mystery, with regard to which we cannot guess what end is to be answered, or what will be its issue. In such cases, night may be said to have overtaken us; for the great Light which makes and rules the day, is gone down out of sight, and we are in the situation described by Job, who speaks of himself as “the man whose way is hid, and God hath hedged him in,” Job iii. 23. Nevertheless, “unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness,” Psa. cxii. 4. This was the case with Job himself; for in due time the meaning and salutary “end of the Lord” were shown to him, James v. 11. This was the case with Hagar; for the angel surprised her by a well of water in the wilderness, and opened her eyes to behold it. Gen xxi. 17, 19. Likewise with Abraham; for the Angel Jehovah “called unto him out of heaven, and said. Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him,” Gen. xxii. 11, 12, and his great trial was immediately at an end. Likewise with Jacob; for the Lord blessed him in that night of severe conflict, and gave him the name of Israel, a prince with God, saying, “As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed,” Gen. xxxiii. 28. Similar is the experience of Christians at present, and 1 may say, of many amongst us. For have you not been surprised with help and deliverance, as with the suddenness of lightning? Has not a blessing often entered the house like an unexpected guest? Has not gloom often disappeared as fast as vapour that just now girded the hills j and has not light poured in upon you quickly, and shown you why God led you thus?

And yet, my brethren, this is not properly a seeing by night; for we here imply the return of sunshine, or at least the breaking of dawn into the cave Adullam; we here imply that God has again permitted himself to be spiritually seen and felt, so that the soul cannot but cry out, “Thou hast turned my darkness into day.” But when our heaven still abides clothed in blackness, and God’s paths are untraceable in the deep waters; when the poor soul is obliged to cling blindly to that rock on which it is written, “All his works are faithful,” and rests with implicit faith on that word, “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter;” when believing against belief, and hoping against hope, it stays itself upon Him, because he saith, “Cast all thy care on me, for I care for thee;” “when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee: for 1 am the Lord thy God; the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; fear not, for I am with thee,” Isa. xliii. 2,5; — when we lay hold of such promises as these, and make them our rampart, setting before our inward eye the same Lord who said to Manoah, “Why askest thou after my name, seeing it is ‘^yJb, Wonderful /” Judg. xiii. 18, and from this one attribute derive milk and honey in the desert; or when, without seeing, tasting, or feeling, we comfort ourselves with the remembrance that we are under the care of the same God, who delivered Daniel from the mouths of the lions; the same God who could preserve his three servants in the midst of the burning fiery furnace; who commanded a fish to serve as an ark to Jonah in the depths of the sea, and commissioned the ravens to feed Elijah morning and evening in the wilderness; then, with whatever lack of light and comfort, we can trust and stay ourselves on such a God as this: — then have we learnt the blessed art of seeing in darkness, and of discovering the sun itself behind the thick cloud; then may we take up the prophet’s parable, and say, “I saw by night, and behold!”

But there is another kind of spiritual night

more fearful still. David feared it when he said,

“Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto

them that go down into the pit,” Psa. cxliii. 7.

Yet even here there may be vision in the midst of darkness, and this is a favour indeed. When the adversary assails me with unholy suggestions, or with unbelieving doubts and fears, and no deliverance is felt, then indeed it is night about me, and the sun is far below my horizon. Yet, lo. there occurs to me the thought of Him in whom is fulfilled the prediction, “O death, 1 will be thy pestilence; O hades, I will be thine utter destruction,” Hos. xiii. 14; and there is brought home to me that other mighty truth, that in Him I have already “overcome the wicked one,” 1 John ii. 14, so that he cannot essentially injure me. Thus it is given me as trusting all to the care of Him who is my triumphant Head, to “glorify God in the fires,” to be quiet in the midst of unquietness; and what else is this but bright vision in the midst of darkness 7 “I saw by night, and behold!”

When from a grievous falling away, my soul awakes in terror; when despair is almost looking me in the face, and suggesting to me, as to Cain, that “my iniquity is too great to be forf given,”* Gen. iv. 1; then truly ami sitting in darkness, and on me is no light shining. But all at once I remember the everlasting Father, who drew Solomon out of the deepest mire, and thus still verified the name he had freely given

* This is the Lutheran rendering of iiiz3S>3 I3i:sp ^1^5 and seems to be the best. — Translator.

him in his cradle, the name “Jedidiah * because of the Lord,” 2 Sam. xii. 24, 2.5; and more than this, there is brought to my remembrance the Good Shepherd, who left the ninety and nine in the wilderness, that he might go and seek the one sheep which had gone astray; and when he had found it, he bore it home on his shoulders rejoicing. These blessed recollections at such a season are greteful indeed; and though I cannot yet feel that the Lord is with me, neither can shout with joy that I “have obtained mercy,” but my soul still waits with trembling; nevertheless, some encouragement of hope has returned to me: “I saw by night, and behold! behold 1”

When the blessed belief, that “God dwelleth in MS J and lue in God is not realized; when what is His seems gone from me, and what is mine and sinful, only remains; when the activity of my spiritual life seems suddenly at an end, and I can no longer behold within me the evidences of grace; when the faith that heretofore could shout for joy, is shrunk into one poor and forced sigh, “Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure;” when love is cold, and the unhappy soul cries out with David, “I am like unto them that lie in the grave,” and can no longer think of having a portion in Judah; when, by and by, sin can be

* (T^T^T^ “Beloved of the Lord,’’^ committed without tears of sorrow; and stumbling, without real contrition; when reading the Scriptures brings no enjoymentj and praying has no fervency in it, — oh, this is a night of darkness! Still, even in such night there is seeing by faith, which will not be thwarted by our poverty of feeling, neither owes its life to taste and relish. He who is -^ The Amen,” has in such a time of deadness visited us in the glory of his faithfulness and truth, so that in spirit we could hear him say, “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee,” Isa. liv. 10. Thus we obtain more than a glimpse of “Him who justifieth the ungodly,” and who calls only for empty vessels, that he may fill them with his glory. Thus is opened to us the mystery of that justification which comes not from any thing in us, but by the love, prayers, and intercession of Jesus; and though I seem to feel, taste, and see nothing, and my heart within me is desolate, yet I am permitted to cast myself in simple faith upon the Lord, who hath said, “My grace is sufficient for thee!” And thus is the night overpowered; not so indeed, as that the sun itself has peered down upon me through the dark cloud, and thrown its beams sensibly into my soul; but that my faith nevertheless has stretched itself forth, and found its WSLY through the dark veil, so as to commune with the sun behind the cloud. When such visions in darkness have been vouchsafed to the servants of the Lord, they can exultingly say, “I saw by night, and behold! behold!”

II. But what did the prophet Zecha-RIAH behold?

It was a precious vision. It stood still, immovable before the eyes of his delighted mind, like a picture in wonderful freshness of colouring. Afterwards he hears the explanation of it; though the vision spoke for itself — “good words and comfortable words.” The vision was frauarht with consolation and promise; and as it is suited to our condition also, let us consider it more attentively. Zechariah beholds “a man;” and it clearly appears in the sequel, that the man is Christ, the Angel of the covenant. The Lord makes himself known in a variety of characters, and becomes to his children whatever their particular circumstances require him to be. Are we weak and faint-hearted? He discovers to us his tender love, as more than that of a mother, saying, ‘’ Can a woman forget her sucking child? As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort thee.” Have we missed the direct path 1 He meets us as the Good Shepherd with his pastoral staff, saying, “I will bring back that which is gone astray.” Is any sick? He manifests himself with his seasonable oil and wine, saying, ^’ I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Is any dispirited and terrified? He immediately stands over ao:ainst him with his sword drawn in his hand, saying, “Nay, but as Captain of the Lord’s host am I now come.” Does any one feel the wrath of God in his soul! The King of kings and Lord of lords manifests himself to us as red in his apparel, saying, “I tread the winepress ALONE,” Isa. 3, “the winepress of the fierceness and WRATH of Almighty God,” Rev. xix. 15. Are we in bondage and captivity? He appears to us as the breaker of all bonds and bars, saying, “I have the keys of hades and of death.”

Now the times or Zechariah needed a helper in the character of a man, and a “man of war,” Exod. XV. 3, for it was a season of war and tumults; and lo, the Keeper of Israel manifests himself in this character; “I saw by night, and behold a man!” Christ, a man! This very word is full of comfort. Therefore let the prophet by this word remind us, that our God is also man: that the Lord of lords is our Brother. Christ, a man! Let it remind us that He is the Husband of the spiritual church, whereof we are members. “Thy Maker is thine Husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel,” Isa. liv. 5. And as the wife receives and bears the name of her husband, so do we receive and bear that “new name” of Christ our Saviour. Having lost our own name for ever, we bear his name, and wear his marriage ring. Luke xv. 22, with his seal, to remind us that “he abideth faithful,” and that as “he cannot deny himself,” so he will not deny or disown us. Christ, a man! He is therefore “the Desire of all nations.” For it is as man that we are so interested to behold him; as man he lives in our thoughts; as man he stands before us when we pray to him; and hereby we pray with confidence. What truth can be more consoling, than that ^’he was loounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; that the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed?” Isa. liii. 5. In this respect he is to us the Rose of Sharon, from which all our spiritual sweetness is drawn. He is the Fountain of the water of life, from which flow our rivers of peace. The wounds he received for our healing, will never be forgotten in the heavenly world; neither let us forget them, day or night. But the Deity received them not; it was the man. Cheering then is our vision, when in any night of affliction we can “behold” this “man!”

Zechariah beholds him upon a red horse. Christ governs and guides his spiritual church, and thus makes them “as his goodly horse in the batde,” Zech. x. 3. And the true members of his church are guided by his Spirit as with a bridle; they are curbed and governed by his word, and b them he goeth forth, conquering and to conquer. Many of them have once panted under the yoke of the law. “Judah shall plough, and Jacob shall break his clods,” Hos. x. 11. But this has been only to subdue the stubbornness of their corrupt nature, and to make them the more sensible of his gentle government.

Christ, also, like the man riding upon a horse, stands ready to fly with speed to the help and defence of his people. In the days of his flesh, when he walked in humiliation upon our earth, one person had to wait till another had been assisted by him; and then was the complaint affectingly uttered, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died,” John xi. 21. But now the case is altered. After his resurrection, it might be said of him, “Behold, my Beloved Cometh, like a roe or a young hart, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh through the windows, glistening through the lattice,” Sol. Song ii. 9. Wherever he has been wanted, there has he appeared, by day or by night; and even though the doors were shut for fear of the enemy, he has stood in the midst, saying, “Peace be unto you.” How often have we experienced this, temporally as well as spirtually! When we have been apt to think him farthest from us, he has knocked at our door, his light has sprung up in our tabernacle, and we have been unexpectedly constrained to glory in tribulations; so that we might well say with Habakkuk, iii. 8, “Thou didst ride upon thine horses, and thy chariots of salvation.” In this manner can Christ at one and the same moment be with all his people; and return to all the thousands of Israel, however widely they may be scattered abroad; for He rideth upon the heavens as upon a horse, and ready indeed is his help, for it is omnipresent. As the horse whereon the man sat was red, so the Lord himself is “red in his apparel;” that is, he has bled for the transgressors, and therefore may well be regarded as always mindful of his redeemed. Hosanna to Him that sitteth upon the red horse, and is red in his apparel!

The prophet further speaks of the myrtle trees. True believers are trees which Christ himself hath planted; trees of righteousness, fast rooted in the ground of his merits, and thriving by the grace of his Holy Spirit. Such are all the children of God here on earth. As branches of myrtle were anciently distributed to guests as an invitation to joy and gladness of heart, so are these spiritual myrtles committed to the angels of God, for the increase of their ‘’joy in heaven.” As, at the marriage festivals of the Israelites, green myrtles were carried before the bridegroom, accompanied with cheerful pious songs, so does our heavenly Bridegroom rejoice over his myrtle trees, or people, on earth, and names his church Hephzibah, ‘■’- My delight is hi her f and her land Beulah, the “married bride;” for the Lord delighteth in her, and her land is “God’s husbandry,” Isa. lxii. 4; 1 Cor.

iii. 9. And where grew the myrtle trees which Zechariah saw? The man “stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom,” that is, in low ground, where they always thrive best. The lower their situation, the greener is their leaf, the more full of sap is their stem, and the more grateful their fragrance. Most true is this of all the elect people of God. His trees would wither on hills; on those hills which stand in contrast to humility and poverty of spirit. The members of his true church thrive only in self-abasement and self-renunciation.

The man among the myrtle trees ^- stoocl,’’^ saith the prophet. The Lord abides among his people; as it is written, “I dwell with him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word,” Isa. lxvi. 2. “The Lord thy God is in the 7?iidst of thee, the Mighty One, who will save; he hath exceeding great joy in thee; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing,” Zeph. iii. 17. Next, we notice behind him a motley squadron of red, speckled, and white horses. What are these? Are they the” Mahanaim,^^ those mighty ones that excel in strength, who are sent forth to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation? Or, are they the manifold perfections of God, which come forth to serve us; His grace. His truth, His mercy, His omnipotence? Or, are they the sure promises which carry us as upon horses, through depths and over mountains, and speed us without fear through the darkest and saddest nights? Wherever the heavenly Rider is, let us remember that there also is a squadron about him; there a whole host of pleasing strangers and welcome guests exult behind him: but our house and heart are too narrow for them all.

Such is the vision which was shown to Zechariah by night, for his comfort concerning Jerusalem. Brethren, the vision is true. For thus He stations himself and abides in the midst of us, as a man upon a red horse, among the myrtle trees in the bottom; and behind him, red, speckled, and white horses. Think, brethren, then, upon this mighty and holy One of God, when you rest by night upon your beds j when cares or fears steal upon you; when Satan ejects his darts: think upon him in the day time, whenever your outward way is dark and gloomy, or whenever it is dark xvithin you. When you have lost the sight and relish of every thing, open the eyes of your faith, for certainly in these days when many of Christ’s children amongst us are troubled, and filled with anxieties, he will be neither slumbering nor indifferent, but will come to their help swiftly. Be, therefore, of good cheer, and perhaps before evening, the eyes of many a distressed soul may be opened, like those of Elisha’s servant, to behold the mountain covered with horses and chariots of fire, and to be constrained to cry with that prophet himself, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!” 2 Kings ii. 12. And even should it not be so, but should all continue dark for a time about us, still let us believe and triumph in the God of all grace.