Hidden Among the Myrtle Trees

The prophet Zechariah appears on the scene in the year 519 before Christ, approximately – and in the nick of time. Twenty years earlier, the people of Israel had returned from a long captivity in Babylon, full of vision, enthusiasm and a deep sense of purpose. They were a missionary people, called to a missionary role in the world: to rebuild the Temple of God as a house of prayer for the nations. But in the course of twenty years, the people of Israel had lost their way. They had lost the story line. They had become “pages torn out of a book” – out of contact, somehow, with the drama of God unfolding all around them.

Enter Zechariah – with a series of eight powerful, missionary visions.

Zechariah’s visions are arranged in an ancient sort of way. They do not flow consecutively – one through eight – like a PowerPoint® presentation. They flow in a circular pattern. Visions one and eight are “paired,” as are visions two and seven, three and six, and four and five. Visions one and eight are bookends for the rest. They wrap the entire series into a context. They give it an important spiritual perspective.

It is a perspective that begins “among the myrtle trees in the glen” (1:7-17). Zechariah sees the shadowy form of four horsemen. “Then they spoke…, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold the whole earth remains at peace'” (vv. 11).

What is going on here? The four horsemen, it seems, represent the sovereign design of God for “the whole earth.” They are sent to “patrol” the four corners of the planet, to ensure that God’s good design for all peoples and places is reaching its fulfillment. In a sense, they represent the story line – the larger story of God’s purposes for all of the world and all of its peoples. The horsemen, as it were, are moving the story along. They ensure that God’s design is fulfilled.

Yet Zechariah does not observe the horsemen clearly or easily. He sees them “among the myrtle trees” in a shadowy glen. Myrtle trees, I am told, are a particularly dense and bushy sort of tree found in the ancient Middle East. A glen full of them would have been almost impenetrable. Were there indeed four horsemen there, back from their patrol throughout the earth? The angel said so. But you would have to take it by faith.

As Zechariah squinted into the glen, the people of Israel must have “squinted” to see the drama of God’s activity in the world and their own role within it. There was so very much clouding their view. They were not, perhaps, against rebuilding the Temple of God. This was their calling, after all. But they were busy building their own homes and businesses, too (cf. Haggai 1:4, 9). Some were unsure about timing: maybe the conditions for building would be better at a later date (cf. Haggai 1:2). Others were discouraged with the mediocre effort mounted so far (cf. Haggai 2:3, Zechariah 4:10). Others may have been afraid (cf. repeated admonitions in Zechariah eight). Maybe they doubted that God would come through for them, if they answered the call and undertook his mission in the world (cf. Zechariah 8:6).

The design of God’s wonderful story can seem pretty shadowy sometimes. Sometimes we can barely see the outline at all. But it is there. Vision eight – the other bookend – portrays the horsemen again, this time in the clear light of morning (6:1-8). What began in the shadows is now completed in the brisk dawn. God is indeed unfolding his story! And we are indeed a part of it!

These two visions – with horsemen and chariots patrolling the earth – are the context and bookends of Zechariah’s missionary message. Whatever the “myrtle trees” that cloud your own vision, you can be quite sure of this: God is in control. And what is more: he will give you a place in the story of his love for the world, if you let him. Squint a little – believe a little – and you will see.