Look at All the Pretty Ponies

 Devotions for November 16, 2020

Prayer

God of truth and consequence, you are the hope of all your people. We turn to you in wonder and awe. God, here is another day that you have gifted us with. Grant us the courage, we pray, to more firmly establish your teachings in this world. Use us to bring about your true justice and actual peace. Bind up the wounded and heal those who are sick... Give rest to those who are tired and work to those who are bored... Bring comfort to the grieving and a tempered focus to those who are zealously impatient...Guide us all to see your path in your new Day. In Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Zechariah 1:7-17

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo; and Zechariah said, In the night I saw a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.” So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.” Then they spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace.” Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?” Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim this message: Thus says the Lord of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse. Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Proclaim further: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.

Reflection

The horse described in the text is literally "bay," but the Hebrew word could also read "red." So, the picture to the right is a "red bay" horse. It is possible that the dream vision horse may be imagined as a "fire engine" red. It also may be that the colors of the horses reflect the typical diversity of colors in the Middle East. The horses seem to be agents of Creation who are surveying the status of the lands. Who is the singular rider? He is possibly the angel who reports the worldwide situation. The image also describes an unknown number of horses of the same colors behind them. Horses evoke a  natural feeling of power, movement and might. Standing under the myrtle trees by the glen/deep gives a Eden-like lushness to the image. Myrtles were an image of the restored Israel. 

So, putting it all together in my mind, this first vision of Zechariah brings a prophecy of hope and restoration. The other peoples and nations are living in their own version of peace. God wills to bring real peace and authentic justice to all of creation. Take a moment today to consider the majesty of Creation and how it reports back to God. Imagine the what the horses would say about you and your little "patch."