The four horns of Zechariah’s second night vision (1:18) are likely horns of an altar, an altar of false worship that scatters Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. Four craftsmen, horns of power in their own right, appear on the scene to thrown down the threatening horns.
The word for “craftsman” is variously translated as engraver, jeweler, carpenter, or more generically as “craftsman.” And in that sense, Zechariah is saying that the Lord will throw down Israel’s enemies through labor. In Zechariah’s setting, though, the word has a more specific connotation. It is used frequently to refer to the laborers who built the tabernacle and temple (Exodus 35:34-35; 38:23; 1 Kings 7:13-14; Ezra 3:6-7). Zechariah is not merely talking about laborers in general but encouraging the people to keep re-building the temple. The altars of false gods will be cast down, but the flip side is that the Lord’s house must be built if Israel is going to be delivered from her oppressors.
No doubt this kind of prophecy was in the minds of Jewish zealots who challenged Rome in the first century A.D.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
