Zechariah 1:8; 6:1-8 – The Four Horsemen

BIBLE TEXT

Zechariah 1:8; 6:1-8

SUMMARY

The four “winds” or “spirits” of heaven descend to earth on chariots, each with different colored horses.

ANALYSIS

The four horsemen of chapter 1, each on a horse of a different color, reappear riding chariots in chapter 6. They are reminiscent of the “four living creatures” in Ezekiel 1:5-12 (see also Ezekiel 14:21). The four creatures and the four horsemen appear together in Revelation 4:6b-8; 6:1-8, where each of the four living creatures summons one of the “four horsemen of the apocalypse,” as we know them from numerous depictions in art and literature. As in Zechariah, the horses have different colors, but whereas in Zechariah their role is to “patrol” the four corners of the earth, the horsemen in Revelation bring judgment–capture, slaughter, economic hardship, and death.