TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IN BIBLE PROPHECY
Lesson 31: Zechariah's description of the first manned space
flight around the earth.
SETTING: Over 600 years before John described the mark of the
beast and how it will be used to establish a centrally
controlled, computerized international financial
system, Zechariah spelled out how modern space
technology will be used to enforce the coming world
government's global financial system.
I What are these things?
8 I saw by night, and behold a man was riding upon a red
horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the
bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and
white (Zech. 1:8).
A The way this prophecy begins, you could only conclude
that Zechariah was writing about some horses and a rider
he saw.
B But notice the question Zechariah asked next.
9 And I said, What are these, my Lord? And the angel that
spoke with me said to me, I will shew thee what these
things are (Zech. 1:9, TSVGE).
A How do we know the horses Zechariah saw were not living
horses?
1 From Zechariah's question: "What are these, my Lord?"
2 From the angel's answer: "I will shew thee what these
things are."
3 Note that both Zechariah and the angel were in
agreement--the things they were looking at were
not living horses.
B From the information given here, where would we expect
to find out what the things Zechariah called horses
really were?
- In what the angel "shows" us next.
10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered
and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to
and fro through the earth (Zech. 1:10).
A The typical reaction here is how does this answer
clarify what Zechariah was observing?
1 The good news is that it does.
2 To see this consider the language, "sent to walk to
and fro through the earth," in the context of the
times--1611--when the King James version of the Bible
was translated into English.
a In 1611, if a man was walking to and fro, he was
walking back and forth, or pacing around and
around, on a circular course.
b The expression, "through the earth," is equivalent
to saying, John passed "through" London on his way
to the coast.
c In other words John traveled completely through
the town, from one end to the other.
d "Through the earth," therefore, conveys the idea
of traveling from one end of the earth to the
other, while "to and fro" conveys the idea of
traveling around and around the earth, repetitively.
B Sir Lancelot Brenton's English translation of the Greek
Septuagint Version of the Bible (published in 1844)
sharpened the form and substance of the matter.
10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees
answered, 'These are they whom the LORD has sent forth
to go round the earth' (Zech. 1:10, RSV, TSVGE).
1 Sir Brenton's replacement of the archaic expression
"to walk to and fro through the earth" with "to go
round the earth" provided the stepping stone that
made it possible for today's generation to understand
the prophecy.
2 At this point in the prophecy why would a spaceship be a
possible candidate for what Zechariah saw?
a Spaceships, like horses, carry men.
b Spaceships go "round the earth."
C Some may wonder, if Zechariah was viewing spaceships,
why did he call them horses?
1 It was a natural comparison for a man in ancient
times to make.
- If a man was riding, instead of walking, then the
"thing" being ridden had to be something akin to a
horse.
2 In more recent times, early American settlers called
the first puffer-belly steam engines the "Iron Horse."
3 American Indians also called steam engines Iron
Horses when they first appeared on the western plains.
4 Thus, a horse apparently was the logical thing that
came to mind when people saw one of modern man's
mechanized vehicles for the first time.
D What does Zechariah's plainly stated question: "What are
these, my Lord?" tell us about the "myrtle trees" that
the "horse stood among?"
1 Since Zechariah compared the horselike spaceship to a
horse, it follows that the "horse" was not standing
among living "myrtle trees," but rather some
structure that was similar in appearance.
2 The steel beamed, service tower gantry, which is
built on the side of a rocket-ship's launch pad, is
the structure Zechariah actually saw in his vision.
E Why did Zechariah select the myrtle tree instead of a
tower, to describe the appearance of the gantry?
1 Zechariah did not compare the gantry to a tower since
towers were enclosed in his day--they were not rough
framed structures with open gaps between the beams.
2 Thus as Zechariah cast about for something to compare
the service tower to, he settled on the evergreen
called a myrtle tree, since it grew to a height of 30
feet and had a lot of air-space between its branches,
like the gantry he was observing.
3 Note also that the gantry the Russians used to launch the
first manned spaceship around the earth on April 12,
1961, was painted green.
F At this point, the word "bottom" in the statement that
"he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the
bottom," can be brought into sharper focus.
1 The word "bottom" denotes the lowest part of
anything, as distinguished from the top.
2 Zechariah used the word "bottom" here for lack of a
better analogous word to describe the massive
concrete and steel launch pad upon which the space-
ship "stood," while being prepared for flight.
G When the spaceships returned from making their flights
round the earth, they submitted the following report to
the angel of the Lord.
II The spaceships returned with a good report.
11 So they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing
among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have patrolled the
earth, and behold, all the earth is peaceful and quiet"
(Zech. 1:11, NASB).
A It should be noted here that the Septuagint version
renders "We have patrolled the earth" as "We have gone
round all the earth."
B Note that both translations reveal "what these things
are" since today's manned military spaceships are often
"sent forth to go round the earth" with explicit orders
to "patrol the earth" below.
C When Soviet cosmonaut, Yury A. Gagarin, successfully
circled the globe in the spaceship, Vostok 1, on April
12, 1961, the world's major powers were not engaged in
any serious armed conflicts.
D Thus, the historical record confirms that "all the earth
was peaceful and quiet" when the world witnessed the
first manned space flight "round the earth."
E After reading Zechariah's report on the first manned
space flight "round the earth" a question logically
comes to mind: What is the prophecy's significance?
Where would you expect to find the first clue to the
answer to this question?
- In the next statement immediately following this text.
III The prophetic significance of the first manned space flight
explained.
SETTING: Zechariah wrote this prophecy at a time when a few
of the Jews who had been living as captives in
Babylon, were allowed to return to Jerusalem to
rebuild the temple and city.
12 Then the angel of the LORD said, 'O LORD of hosts, how
long wilt thou have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of
Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these
seventy years?' (Zech. 1:12, RSV).
A How does the angel's question "How long will it be
before Jerusalem and the cities of Judah are rebuilt?"
define the main objective of the first manned space
flight prophecy?
1 Seventy years earlier Jerusalem and the kingdom of
Judah had been completely destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
2 The fall of Jerusalem marked the fall of the capital
city of God's true religion on the earth.
3 The question, therefore, asking when Jerusalem would
be rebuilt, immediately after the first manned space
flight prophecy, defines the reconstruction of God's
earthly church (symbolically represented by
Jerusalem) as the main subject of the greater
prophecy.
B Since the reestablishment of God's true religion began
in Zechariah's day with the reconstruction of God's holy
city, Jerusalem, we can expect the rebuilding of God's
earthly Church to be completed during the days following
the fulfillment of Zechariah's first manned space flight
around the earth prophecy.
13 And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to
the angel who talked with me.
14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, 'Cry out,
Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for
Jerusalem and Zion.
15 And I am very angry with the nations that are at ease;
for while I was angry but a little they furthered the
disaster.
16 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.'" (Zech. 1:13-16, RSV).
A The Lord replied that He was jealous for Jerusalem and
Zion and declared that He had already returned to
Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple and
the city.
B Both of these prophecies were fulfilled long ago.
1 The temple was completed during the sixth year of
Darius (Ezra 6:15), (which already had its foundation
laid at the time Zechariah was recording this
prophecy [Hag. 2:18]).
2 The rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls was completed
eighty years after Zechariah recorded his prophecy.
C The first return of the Jewish nation from the
Babylonian captivity marked the prophetic fulfillment
of the first repossession of Jerusalem.
D This prophecy is followed immediately by a second
prophecy foretelling a second return of the Jewish
nation to the cities of Judah and Jerusalem.
17 Cry again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall
again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again
comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.'" (Zech. 1:17, RSV).
A The command, "Cry again," is issued here to announce a
second prophecy about the cities of Judah and Jerusalem
concerning a second return of the Jewish nation to their
original homeland that would take place in the future.
B This is the correct interpretation since "I have
returned to Jerusalem," in verse 16, is in the past
tense while "the Lord will again choose Jerusalem," in
verse 17, is in the future tense.
C Insertion of a reference to the second return announces
the first important event to look for following the
Soviet's first successful manned space flight "round the
earth"--Israel's repossession of the ancient holy city
of Jerusalem.
D This prophecy was fulfilled in June of 1967 during the
Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, six years after the Soviet's
first manned space flight "round the earth."
E Hence, the word "again" is used four times here to
positively identify the text in verse 17 as a reference
to the Jews second repossession of Jerusalem at the time
of the end.
F Again, the prophetic fulfillment of the first manned
space flight "round the earth" followed by the Jews
second return to Jerusalem, signals God's hand in
building a mighty body of believers during the final
days of the nuclear age.
G The Soviets proclaimed on April 12, 1961 that "creation from
a communist point of view, is under new management."