Zechariah 1:11

"And they answered the angel of Jehovah that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest."

The entire horse-company, apparently ridden by angels, are here represented as reporting to the "angel of Jehovah," indicating that everything represented by them was under his control. He is the one who appeared in Zechariah 1:8 "riding a red horse." Some have supposed it is inappropriate for Christ (with whom we identify the angel of the Covenant) to be represented as riding a red horse; but, on the other hand it perfectly fits him who traveled in the greatness of his strength with the garments dyed red, who came from treading the wine-press alone, and whose lifeblood was sprinkled upon his garments (Isaiah 63:1-3). We do not hesitate to identify him as "none other than the Angel of the Presence (Exodus 23:23), Jehovah himself, the Messiah in his pre-incarnate glory."[25]

We have walked to and fro through the earth ..." This is the only function of the great company of horsemen which is mentioned; but, in all probability there were many others that are kept out of view. The four horsemen of the apocalypse in their missions of judgment against rebellious humanity (Revelation 6) could very well be a part of the vast reality glimpsed in this passage.

All the earth sitteth still, and is at rest ..." This should not be interpreted to mean that all was well in the earth, for it was not. What this worldwide patrol signified to Zechariah was that the kind of universal upheaval the Jews at that time were confidently expecting to take place was not happening in any sense. Only a few weeks previously, Haggai had prophesied that, "God would shake ... the heavens and the earth ... and all ... the nations" (Haggai 2:6); and the tiny nation of returnees, discouraged, enfeebled, and depressed were expecting some mighty, cataclysmic revolution that would destroy the Gentile nations and enthrone Israel as rulers of the world. The widespread disorders, rebellions, and defections that threatened the beginning of the reign of Darius the Great, only a few months prior to this prophecy, were viewed by the Jews as the actual beginning of what they expected. Instead, Darius quickly put down all opposition to his authority; and, as events concerned him and his throne, the earth was indeed at rest.

But there is more than this. That very uneasy peace in which Darius the Great controlled the known world of that era was exactly the reason that there were at that time no further impediments to the Jews going ahead and rebuilding their temple. God's people, the old Israel, as they so frequently did, were still thinking of God's kingdom in terms of their wicked state, a thing that God hated, that had never been in God's plan from the first, and the desire for which had led them in their initial, fatal rejection of God from ruling over them. See 1 Samuel 8.

It is apparent that this vision was exactly what Israel needed. First, and preeminently, it corrected a false notion that they had acquired through misunderstanding the prophecy of Haggai. Yet it showed God's innumerable resources to them, and in connection with the accompanying visions, demonstrated that God would still richly bless his people, provided only, that they continually and faithfully served God.

The angel of Jehovah ..." The very fact of this magnificent Person's appearance to one of Israel's prophets must have been a source of the greatest encouragement to God's people. "The Angel of the Lord had not been appearing to men for a long time ... now, after 200 years, he appeared again."[26] He was associated with all of the great victories in Israel's glorious past, including the occasion when he appeared as "The Captain of the hosts of Jehovah" to Joshua at their entering into Canaan. His is the BIG appearance in this vision.