Horns And Craftsman

Horns and Craftsman

PPT 1 Message Title

Big idea: horns in the bible represent animals that gore, attack and destroy. In this message we will see God's countermeasures to that which the enemy has torn and destroyed. God has craftsman that can undo the enemies works of darkness.

PPT 2 text

Zec 1:18 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns.

Zec 1:19 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these?" And he answered me, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

Zec 1:20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

Explain the meaning of horns in the bible.

PPT 3,4 text

Da 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Da 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Re 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Horns have a lot of meanings and usage in the bible. An instrument to make noise, it also symbolizes nations and kings, as illustrated in both the Daniel and Revelation passages. But for the purpose of this passage, and as explained here in the book of Zechariah a horn represents a very violent and destructive force against the people of God.

In context the word is a euphemism for strength and power over one's enemies, here is another passage that also shows the word horn used that way: (Prophecy of Joseph and his descendants)

PPT 5 text and pic of charging bull

De 33:17 In splendor he's like a firstborn bull, his horns the horns of a wild ox; He'll gore the nations with those horns, push them all to the ends of the Earth..."

Have you ever been near an angry or aggressive bull, they are very scary creatures!

In general bulls are expected to weigh 1,600 pounds as a 2-year-old, 1,900 pounds as a 3-year-old and 2,200 pounds (1000 kilo's) as a 4-year-old. That is more than 11 of me!!!!!

So "horns" are used of evil power, as in the book of Daniel, Revelation and here in the book of Zechariah it means that the people associated with such horns is acting powerfully to oppress and destroy others, they have attacked and the Jewish nation and decimated its power and strength. It also means that they are acting as agents of war and destroying everyone and everything that gets in their way.

For us it symbolizes forces that come against individuals and the church to destroy its unity, its power and its influence.

Got expresses His anger at how well these horns did their job in this passage:

PPT 6 text pic bull charging

Zec 1:15 "But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster."

Explain what the horns had done to the people of Israel and even went beyond God's intention.

Possessions taken People killed, nation destroyed. Dispossessed and seemingly abandoned by God and cast off. Made slaves to serve their captors. Here is the resulting horrible thing said about that time and the people of Israel:

PPT 7 text

Zec 7:12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.

Zec 7:13 "'When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,' says the LORD Almighty.

They lost faith in God and stopped listening to Him and obeying Him. That is perfectly in line with the devil's mission to steal, kill and destroy.

Even though the people turned their back on God because of much suffering, listen to what God says to them about that:

"When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen," !!!!!

Suffering is no excuse to turn your back on God, and if you do the consequences are terrible. God won't listen to you!

Now it is time to get to the good news.

PPT 8 pic and text

Zec 1:20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.