In the eighth vision Zechariah saw four chariots coming from between two mountains of bronze. There were different colored horses with each chariot. The first chariot had red horse, the second chariot had black horses, the third chariot had white horses, and the fourth chariot had dappled horses. In the style of the previous visions Zechariah asked the angel what the vision meant. The angel said these horses and chariots represented four spirits of God or four winds (ASV) of heaven. They were described as going forth over the earth. This is a picture of God's Judgment against the evil Gentile nations. An example of similar language being used to describe God's Judgment is in Jeremiah 49:36. "And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come." In Zechariah 1 men on different colored horses went forth to patrol the earth. Now the report is back and it is time for judgment.

            In Zechariah 6:9-15 crowns was made for the head of Joshua, the high priest. There is no indication that this is a vision. It seems to be an actual visual lesson for God's prophet and for the people. The crowns were made of silver and gold. This was a picture of future glory. God said, "Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." We had been introduced to the BRANCH in Zechariah 3:8-9 where we learned that he would remove the sins of the people. This is a powerful reference to the Messiah. The Messiah would grow up as a BRANCH. Isaiah wrote, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground..." (Isaiah 53:2) He would build the Temple of the Lord. This Temple is the church, God's spiritual Temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Ephesians 2:19-22) The Messiah would (1) Sit upon His throne, (2) Rule upon His throne, and (3) be a priest upon His throne. Jeremiah wrote, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." (Jeremiah 23:5) These were promises concerning the Messiah and they were fulfilled in the days of Jesus.

            The eight vision of Zechariah -- Zechariah 6:1-4: The first vision involved horses and now the eighth vision also involved horses and chariots. "Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong…” These represent God's servants that go forth to do His work. In this vision as in the others there was an angel or messenger that explained the vision. The chariots came between two bronze or brass mountains. Likely it was early morning and the mountains had that golden brown color. This is a vision of action as the idea of “come forth and go” was repeated several times. The activity of this vision had to do with God restoring His people to their home land and with the unfolding of the scheme of redemption through the BRANCH who would sit, rule and be a priest on his throne. The four chariots are sent forth to reclaim the obedient of the earth for God. Only when people obey God can there be peace.

      Interpretation of the vision of the chariots -- Zechariah 6:5-8: In reply to Zechariah's question as to the meaning of the vision the messenger said, "These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the LORD of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country." When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me, "Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country." Some translations use the term "the four spirits of the heavens" and others say "the four winds of heaven." God rules over all the creation and everyone should bow before Him in order to have peace. The message was that the divine purpose of God in bring salvation would be accomplished and man could not prevent it. God both executes His wrath upon the enemies of His people and shows His mercy upon His people. God said, "Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies." (Isaiah 1:24) God's spirit was at rest because He had brought His people to Jerusalem to rebuild His Temple. He had great leaders, Joshua and Zerubbabel to help with the work. God had made it clear that evil must be removed from Jerusalem and the He was ruler even over Babylon.

            The selection of the Priest -- Zechariah 6:9-11: The peace that resulted from the actions of vision eight made it possible for Joshua to wear the crowns as high priest and for the people to now focus on the coming of the man called, BRANCH. We are now made to see that the events that are transpiring are not only acts of restoration but even more they are acts of redemption. Zechariah repeated the fact that this was the word of the Lord. He wrote, "And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying..." (Zechariah 6:9) Four men along with Zechariah were to make crowns for Joshua the high priest. Once these crowns were completed, it would be clear to the Jews that God has sanctioned the Temple construction and endorsed the word of the prophet. This will cause people to come from distant places to help finish the work. The crowning of Joshua as high priest was a great time or glory, victory and hope. When Aaron and his sons were appointed as priest Moses placed a mitre on Aaron’s head. "And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD." (Exodus 28:36-38) The crowning of Joshua gave hope because it was a picture of the King-Priest (Messiah) who was to come.

            The importance of the Priest -- Zechariah 6:12-15: God gave a message through Zechariah specifically to Joshua. Joshua was not the BRANCH but God told him about the BRANCH. "Joshua cannot fulfill the Branch prophecies. He is of the Levitical family while the Branch according to Jeremiah 23:5 and Jeremiah 33:15 is of the house of David."  The BRANCH would sprout and build the Temple of the Lord. (Isaiah 53:2, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17) The BRANCH would be the one who would bring salvation. (Zechariah 3:9) The hope of recovering the glory of Israel was in the fact that the BRANCH or Messiah would descend from this people. From a low and humble beginning on earth Jesus would become the long awaited Redeemer, the BRANCH. The Messiah would build a spiritual Temple for the Lord. (Ephesians 2:19-22) The glorious Messiah would make a once for all sacrifice of Himself for the sins of the world. He would sit and rule on His throne. (Acts 2:30) Following His resurrection Jesus sat down on His throne and began to rule in His kingdom. He is also priest on His throne. Hebrews 5:5-10 shows that Christ was high priest after the order of Melchizedek. It was prophesied that those that are far off would come and help build the Temple of the Lord (church.) This is a reference to the Gentiles being part of our Lord's spiritual kingdom. Zechariah 6 closes with the prophet saying "ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you."