Zechariah Ch. 03

December 13, 2013


I will be adding verses and chapters as I have time.











Allah, Allah, all come free (of Allah!!) “Inside the Kaaba with David Wood a Message to all Muslims” on YouTube

December 8, 2013

Revelation 6:5-6

June 17, 2011

The Third Seal—the Rider on the Black Horse

In the first two verses of  Chapter 6, the first seal was broken by the Lamb, Yeshua, revealing the rider on the white horse—this represents the Roman Empire’s present-day (for John) high water mark, which crested in the 2nd Century with Emperors such as Hadrian, Pius and Commodus.  The second seal unveiled the red horse, representing war and bloodshed—beginning in 193 AD there was almost incessant civil war, with 32 different Emperors in a 90 year span.  The Empire was falling apart and losing territory.  By 222 AD, rampant inflation and its terrifying companion famine were becoming common.  This is the era of the black horse…


When He broke—each time Yeshua initiates the process; John is again invited by the living creature to see the result.

Third living creature—third of four, stationed around the throne of the Father.  These are described earlier in Revelation; check back for an upcoming commentary on Chapter 4.

A black horse—Black, the absence of life, joy, light; the “color” of hopelessness.  Job bemoans the day of his birth in Job 3:5: Let darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it.  Black speaks of terror, the unknown.

And he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand—The ancient form of measurement that compared objects of known mass with items to be weighed, by means of balancing them.  Balances were shown on Roman coins; this was a statement of fairness & equality.


Something like a voice—John finds it difficult to exactly describe God’s voice.

In the center of the four living creatures—the Being at the center was identified in Revelation Chapter 4 as “Creator God” (v11).

A quart of wheat for a denarius—The denarius, a small silver coin, was the main coin of the Roman Empire until about 250-275 AD, around the first years of Diocletian.  A quart of wheat is about the amount needed to sustain one person for a day; likewise “three quarts of barley” could also sustain a single person, but it is inferior in taste and nutrition.  This equation then begs the question “In what year was a quart of wheat worth one denarius?”  We know when that wasn’t—the 1st Century cost (time of Jesus/John) of one quart of wheat was 1/8 of a denarius, and a typical day’s wage was about a denarius.  So John is saying, at some point in the future, after 800% inflation, food will cost 8 times what it costs you now.  Basically it will take your entire day’s wage just to eat!

This “1 denarius” price of 1 quart of wheat or 3 quarts of barley occurred during Severus Alexander’s reign from 222-235, identifying this era as the time this Seal predicts.  The denarius, though historically still in use, has almost no value by the end of the Third Century.  People were suffering economically on a widespread basis; Pax Romana was long gone.  Taxes were levied on the food items mentioned—wheat, barley, oil and wine, the prices climbed higher and higher. Agriculture was failing in various districts. The Roman armies were feeding and preying on people.  Injustice and bribery was common.

Do not damage the oil and the wine—basically, don’t touch the good stuff, or probably more accurately, the economic bottom is going to drop out and very few are going to be able to enjoy the good life; it will be out of reach, “undamageable”.

While there was famine in the mid-3rd Century, the overall sense being communicated in these verses is one of decline in the standard of living and loss of buying power (inflation); these verses picture a waning empire that lacked the confidence of the “white horse” years. Three of the four horseman have ridden out; only one remains.

Revelation 6:3-4

June 6, 2011

The Second Seal—the Rider on the Red Horse

This post will discuss Revelation Chapter 6:3-4.  In the first two verses of the chapter, the first seal was broken by the Lamb, Yeshua, revealing the rider on the white horse representing the Roman Empire’s present-day (for John) high water mark, which soon began to wane and unravel.  Picking it up in the third verse we see that a pattern emerges, first found in verse 1 and is repeated in verses 5 and 7—Yeshua breaks a seal and then one of the four living creatures invite John to “Come”:


When He broke—each time Yeshua initiates the process; John is then invited by the living creature to see the result.

Second living creature—second of four, stationed around the throne of the Father.  To be covered in an upcoming commentary on Chapter 4.


A red horse—representing the next phase of the Roman Empire, the era of bloody conflict.  Red in the Bible represents struggle, warfare and murder.  The first occurrence of the word is used to describe Esau, a hunter, at his birth in Genesis 25.  The violence of shed blood shows up in Genesis 4 with the killing of Abel by Cain. 

It was granted to take peace from the earth—After the crest of its influence and territory in 116 A.D., the Empire began its slow decline.  In 180 A.D. the youthful Commodus succeeded his father Marcus during an era of unprecedented peace; there was no potential competitors to remove nor enemies to punish; he was elevated to the imperial throne at the acclamation of both the Senate and the Army. The barbarians had been granted an honorable peace, resulting in near universal joy.  This was all soon to end.

Men would slay one another—Emperor Commodus was assassinated in 193 A.D., beginning an era of almost incessant bloodshed and war lasting from 193-284 A.D.  During this period there were 32 Emperors, with constant civil war.

A great sword was given to him—the sword was the symbol of Imperial power and authority. Emperors would present swords to head of praetorian guards/governors (See Romans 13:4: “Governors bear swords not in vain”). There were power struggles that literally began tearing the Empire apart.

The four horseman are symbolic, not literal—these weren’t/aren’t four actual beings, angelic or demonic, riding white, red, black and green horses across the Earth.  They are representative of the slow motion collapse of the great power of John’s day—the Roman Empire.  Eventually this Empire will die, only to be insidiously reborn in an image of its former glory, this time in religious garb.

Zechariah 2:1-13

June 3, 2011

Yeshua’s Prophesied Return

Let’s examine this intriguing passage, which I believe is an “End Times” and a “Beginning of the Millennium” prophecy due to the presence of numerous clues…



Then I…–Zechariah

A man–actually an angel; see verse 3.

A measuring line–for purposes of evaluation–the size, proportions, maturity, development…of Jerusalem; see verse 2.


Without walls–the people who dwell therein will be safe and have no need of protection; see verse 5.

Multitude of men–an uncountable amount.  This is a description of the “New Jerusalem”, which is the ekklesia, the ‘called out ones’, translated “church” in English.

And cattle–this is symbolic of wealth and the lack of nothing.


I will be the glory in her midst–Yeshua will illuminate the city, His people.  This is similar to Rev 21:23:  And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it.

6 “Ho there! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heavens,” declares the LORD.

Flee from the land of the north–A command to national Israel. Its possible “the land of the north” refers to Russia/former Soviet Union, since about a million Jews in Israel emigrated from there.

For I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heavens–Besides “the north” giving up Jews, this verse explains that they’ve been scattered around the world–>four winds = every direction.  And notice God claims credit: “I have dispersed you.”


The daughter of Babylon–not actually the literal city of Babylon, but its descendant, both spiritually and geographically, the Arabs and Islam.  Many Jews have fled these nations in the last 60-80 years around the time of the re-formation of national Israel.


For thus says the LORD of hosts–this is preincarnate Yeshua speaking; He goes on to say He is sent by God, a problematic verse for a Unitarian Jew.

He has sent Me–this another example of “God sending God”, or the Trinitarian God in action.

After glory–i.e., after Yeshua has been resurrected and glorified, so this can’t be fulfilled in inter-testamental times.

He has sent me against the nations which plunder you–as seen in other passages such as Isaiah 63 and Zechariah 14, Yeshua comes to the rescue of His people Israel.


They will be plunder for their slaves–the tables will be turned on the oppressors of Israel; the surrounding nations, all currently dominated by Islam.

The LORD of hosts has sent Me–the Messiah, the Deliverer–Yeshua.   Another problematic “God being sent by God” verse, unless you believe in a Triune God.


I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD–this is not figurative; the only way for God to come literally is with a body, which the Father does not and will never have, but which Yeshua the Son currently has and will have for eternity.  Yeshua comes to literally, physically reign over Israel (and the world) from Jerusalem.


Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day–Here we have evidence that nations other than national Israel will “join themselves to the LORD (YHWH)”.

And will become My people–They literally become God’s “My people”.  This is a stunning revelation in the OT referring to the ekklesia.


The LORD will possess Judahchoose JerusalemYeshua will reign from Judah, His tribe, and Jerusalem, the City of God.


He is aroused from His Holy habitation–Yeshua leaving Heaven for Earth to initiate judgment and his reign.

Revelation 6:1-2

May 17, 2011

The First Seal—the Rider on the White Horse

This post will cover the first two verses of Revelation Chapter 6.

The Historicist approach to interpretation of Revelation, under which my eschatological view falls, tries to faithfully follow the dual instructions of first verse of Revelation, verse 1:1—it tells us that the book concerns “things which must soon take place” and that they were “signified” (KJV, NKJV) to John.  The word “signified” in Greek is Strong’s G4591 σημαίνω sēmainō, which generally means “to signify or indicate by means of a sign”, in other words John saysDon’t take this literally!’  So we have in the first verse of the book two very important instructions on how to interpret it:

1.  It will happen soon, not thousands of years in the future.  We’re not waiting for a future, 7 year Great Tribulation.  Contrast that with Daniel 12:4, where Daniel was told to “seal up the book until the end of time” and that “many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase”—this seems clearly to indicate the very end of the Age, which many (including me) believe we are approaching quickly.

2.  What is to occur will be described in signs or symbols, not literally.  So a ‘beast arising from the sea’, for instance, isn’t ‘Godzilla climbing out of Tokyo Bay.’  Most people get that one, but not many of the other symbols in the book—they want ‘stars’ to be literal stars, and so on.  So unless there is clear evidence that what is written is meant to be literal, it must be interpreted symbolically.

 So keeping John’s instructions in mind, let’s dive into one of the most exciting portions of the book that describes the unrolling of the Seals, the blowing of the Trumpets, and the Bowls being poured forth on the Earth.


The Lamb broke—remember it is Yeshua who is in complete control.  He is called the Lamb, not because he is literally a sheep (Ovis aries), but he was given by God to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

Seven seals—the first on an outer scroll, with another one inside, and a third inside of that; see comments on 5:1.

Four living creatures—to be covered in an upcoming commentary on Chapter 4.


I looked—we need to actively take part in what God is revealing to us; don’t wait for God to tap us on the shoulder!

A white horse—the first four seals reveal four horses of different colors.  Horses represent strength, and in the Bible are used in the context of battle and martial authority and power, appearing 150 times.   Job 39:19-25  includes the following description of a horse: “…he rejoices in his strength…is not frightened…smells the battle from afar.”  White—this color is used both positively and negatively in the Bible; while it can represent purity and holiness (Ecc 9:8), it can also be a color associated with leprosy and a land stripped bare by an enemy (Lev 13:3, Joel 1:7).  Since the rider “went out conquering” and his equipment includes a bow (a weapon of war), we should deduce a negative meaning here.

He who sat on it had a bow—an allusion to battle; a purely offensive weapon.  It is a tool of God’s judgment.  Job complains “His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity…” (Job 16:13)  The sword represents the word of God (Heb 4:12) whereas the bow is used mostly in a human context, and battle (2 Sam 22:35).  A Roman coin shows Aurelius the Emperor circa 170 AD riding a horse riding to battle.

A crown was given to him—the word “crown” is Strong’s G4735 στέφανος stephanos, meaning a wreath or encircling garland for the head; a crown or reward.  They were worn by, among others, Olympic game winners, the Spartans as they went into battle and the Roman Emperor, as seen engraved on coins of that day.  This seems further to identify this rider with the political and military scene.

He went out conquering and to conquer—again descriptive of the warring nature of this rider.  Since this is the first of the series of revelations given to John, and since they were to “soon take place”, it is reasonable to look at the current events of his day, or shortly thereafter, for a fulfillment of this prophecy.  In doing so it has usually gone one of two ways—interpreting this as symbolic of the early victories of the church and its exponential growth around the Empire or as the zenith of the Roman Empire’s success; I believe it is the latter, for several reasons:

  1. All the other horses (Red, Black and Pale Green), and for that matter the remainder of the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls, represent negative developments; it would be out of place to insert a positive interpretation for this one.
  2. The other ‘rider on a white horse’ in Revelation is clearly Jesus:  “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” (Rev 19:11).  The first white horse represents a false & temporary worldly victory, in contrast to what the last rider brings.
  3. The cavalry/crown/bow allusion is to physical battle and political victory, not to spiritual inroads being made. Jesus describes “wars & rumors of wars” in Matt 24:6, early in the chapter that goes on to predict the downfall of Jerusalem and the temple, but it is “not yet the end.”

Some have described the high point of the Roman Empire as the reign of Nerva and his selection of Trajan in the late 90’s, just after the completion of the writing of Revelation by John.  In 116 A.D., the Roman Empire was at its greatest territorial extent.  From that point on, it began slowly to lose territory and influence.  So John very accurately describes the Rider on the White horse in victorious terms.

–  –  –  –  –

What makes Historicism a particularly difficult interpretational framework is that it necessitates some understanding of long-gone battles, politics, peoples, systems, religions—it is not user friendly in our frame-a-second, flashing, visual world.  It requires significant research and reading, something that almost no one has time for nor the inclination to do.

Another aspect to the Historicist method that one soon encounters is that the symbols can be interpreted and attributed an almost infinite amount of ways.  It’s much simpler to envision a final, 3-1/2 or 7 year future conflagration of literal scorpions and stars falling into the water, making them bitter.  There are, however, some major events that many of the prophecies foresee; these common and relatively solid interpretations will be laid out in subsequent posts.

Revelation 5

May 12, 2011

Here begins the three series of divine judgments, each broken into seven “doses”, on humanity prior to the return of Yeshua. The judgments seem to increase in severity through time; apparently the judgments begin shortly after the writing of Revelation per the first verse of the book which states that it was given to show “the things which must soon take place.”


The right hand—representing strength and authority; the Father does not have a literal “right hand,” since He is a Spirit (John 4:24).

Him who sat on the throne—God the Father, the “first” person of the Trinity, first in role, not in importance.

A book…sealed up with seven seals—A small book or more likely a scroll (biblion), sealed inside a scroll, sealed inside a scroll…


Who is worthy—a rhetorical question to those in Heaven, since Yeshua had triumphed over the enemy on the cross, but quite impactful to John, who was observing the Heavenly proceedings (4:1)


Elders—24 in number, most likely angelic, although not specified (4:10)

The lion…from the tribe of Judah—Jesus was of the tribe of Judah; this phrase references Gen 49:8-10, where it is prophesied that the rule and the kingly scepter shall remain with Judah, resulting in obedience from all the peoples.

Root of David—Not only is Jesus the offspring of David, but also the root from which he springs! (See also 22:16)

Has overcome—by virtue of his victory over sin and death


Lamb standing—Yeshua, the Lamb of God; He was standing, since He is a now a man, forever.

Seven horns and seven eyes—Seven represents Divine perfection; horns represent authority and eyes the ability to see; so Yeshua has perfect authority (omnipotence) and perfect vision (omniscience).

Seven Spirits of God—see the previous explanation—Yeshua is all-knowing and all-present, but in Spirit form. The NASB capitalizes the word “Spirits”, although capitalization does not exist in Greek. The word “spirit” (pneuma) is used as a general designation, both for man’s spirit and God’s spirit. So the sense here is nothing escapes Yeshua, as Eternal God Himself.


And He came and took the bookYeshua took the book

Out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne—The Father “sits” on the throne


Fell down before the Lamb—The living creatures and elders deem Yeshua the Lamb worthy of worship, in Heaven; he is coequal with God

Each one holding a harp—a musical instrument, for worship

And golden bowls full of incense—the prayers of the saints. This verse is the basis of the harp & bowl style of prayer & worship, popularized by International House of Prayer, for one.


They sang a new song—even in Heaven “new” songs are being invented

Men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation—through all time, all continents, all “races”, though the Bible doens’t recognizes “races”, except for the human race.


They will reign upon the earth—the Ekklesia will function as representatives of the government of Yeshua when it is established on Earth in the coming Age.


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