Zechariah 1:7-10 - Sent to patrol the earth

1:7,8

This is now after Haggai’s prophecies (or, at least, the recorded ones).  Zechariah gets his full name and ancestry again. This time the message is given in the form of a vision. Receiving visions was common for prophets in the near east. Indeed, Muslims still receive visions and there are reports of Muslims receiving visions of Christ and being converted. Both in v1 and here the date is also related to Darius, the Persian leader. There has been much discussion of the significance of the colours of the various horses, though it may be that the colour has no deep significance. Myrtle trees were sometimes associated with palaces.

1:9,10

Zechariah is fully aware while he is receiving the vision and he communicates with the angel. The angel will act as a kind of interpreter of the various visions. Note that the angel has the form of a man, this is quite common in the Bible. Angels were not always terrifying, and they were definitely not effeminate! The horseman are “they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth”. Israel was nation of little significance in political terms, and was indeed at the mercy of other nations, Persia in particular. God is reminding Zechariah that actually it is the Lord who is the most powerful one (the Lord of Hosts) and He is fully aware of what is going on in the world, and He influences what goes on in the world.