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Zechariah 1

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1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

2 `Jehovah was wroth against your fathers -- wrath!

3 And thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, turn back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And I turn back unto you, said Jehovah of Hosts.

4 Ye shall not be as your fathers, To whom the former prophets called, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Turn back I pray you, From your evil ways and from your evil doings, And they did not hearken, Nor attend to Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

5 Your fathers -- where [are] they? And the prophets -- to the age do they live?

6 Only, My words, and My statutes, That I commanded My servants the prophets, Have they not overtaken your fathers, And they turn back and say: As Jehovah of Hosts designed to do to us, According to our ways, and according to our doings, So He hath done to us?'

7 On the twenty and fourth day of the eleventh month, (it [is] the month of Sebat,) in the second year of Darius, hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

8 I have seen by night, and lo, one riding on a red horse, and he is standing between the myrtles that [are] in the shade, and behind him [are] horses, red, bay, and white.

9 And I say, `What [are] these, my lord?' And the messenger who is speaking with me saith unto me, `I -- I do shew thee what these [are].'

10 And the one who is standing between the myrtles doth answer and say, `These [are] they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk up and down in the land.'

11 And they answer the messenger of Jehovah who is standing between the myrtles, and say, `We have walked up and down in the land, and lo, all the land is sitting still, and at rest.'

12 And the messenger of Jehovah answereth and saith, `Jehovah of Hosts! till when dost Thou not pity Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, that Thou hast abhorred these seventy years?'

13 And Jehovah answereth the messenger, who is speaking with me, good words, comfortable words.

14 And the messenger who is speaking with me, saith unto me, `Call, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion [with] great zeal.

15 And [with] great wrath I am wroth against the nations who are at ease, For I was a little wroth, and they assisted -- for evil.

16 Therefore, thus said Jehovah: I have turned to Jerusalem with mercies, My house is built in it, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And a line is stretched over Jerusalem.

17 Again call, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Again do my cities overflow from good, And Jehovah hath again comforted Zion, And He hath fixed again on Jerusalem.'

18 And I lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, four horns.

19 And I say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, `What [are] these?' And he saith unto me, `These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.'

20 And Jehovah doth shew me four artizans.

21 And I say, `What [are] these coming in to do?' And He speaketh, saying: `These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, so that no one hath lifted up his head, and these come in to trouble them, to cast down the horns of the nations who are lifting up a horn against the land of Judah -- to scatter it.'

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Apocalypse Revealed # 305

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305. And another horse, fiery red, went out. (6:4) This symbolizes an understanding of the Word among them extinguished as to goodness and thus extinguished as regards their life.

A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298), and a fiery red color symbolizes good extinguished. To be shown that the color white is predicated of truths, because it takes its origin from the light of the sun in heaven, and that the color red is predicated of goods, because it takes its origin from the fire of the sun in heaven, see nos. 167, 231 above.

A fiery red, on the other hand, is predicated of good extinguished, because a fiery red means a hellish red, which takes its origin from hellfire, which is a love of evil. A fiery red, being a hellish red, is hideous and dreadful, because it has no spark of life in it, but is totally lifeless. So it is that a fiery red horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word extinguished as to goodness. This, too, can be seen from the description of its rider, that it was granted him "to take peace from the earth, so that people might kill one another," as said next.

Moreover, it was the second living creature, which was like a calf, symbolizing the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its affection (no. 242), that said, "Come and see," thus showing that the people described had no affection for good, thus no goodness, among them.

That redness is predicated of both a love of good and a love of evil, can be seen from the following passages:

Who... washed his garment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes, with eyes redder than wine, and teeth whiter than milk. (Genesis 49:11-12)

This is said in reference to the Lord.

Who is this who comes from Edom..., red as to apparel, and apparel like that of one who treads in the winepress? (Isaiah 63:1-2)

This, too, said in reference to the Lord.

Her Nazirites were whiter than snow and brighter white than milk. Redder were they in their bones than rubies... (Lamentations 4:7)

Redness in these places is predicated of a love of good. In the following places it is predicated of a love of evil:

The shield... is made reddish, and the... men are in crimson. The chariots come with flaming torches...; their appearance is like that of torches... (Nahum 2:3-4)

Though your sins have been like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they have been red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

This is also the symbolic meaning of the fiery red dragon in Revelation 12:3, and of the fiery red horse standing among the myrtle trees in Zechariah 1:8.

Similar meanings are predicated of colors that derive their hue from the color red, such as scarlet and crimson.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.