Focus: Horns And Carpenters

Text: Zech.1:20

"And the Lord shewed me four carpenters."

Zechariah said, "The Lord shewed me," but before that, he said, "Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns" (Zech.1:18). Problems are all around us in this world, and our eyes quickly see them as soon as we lift them. We need no prophets to tell us that there are problems in our world, because we see them with our own eyes on daily basis. 

Horns are disturbing, harassing, perturbing, scattering, and ruining us. The word 'horns' speaks of powers, and according to Zechariah, these horns are the forces of the Gentiles. By implication, Gentiles are non-believers; they do not believe in our God. They are opposed to our faith. Their value system is morally warped. They are spiritually uncircumcised and they are strangers to the covenant of God. They are idolaters and haters of the God of Israel. They are hostile to us and live contrary to the ways of our God. The forces of evil are up and out against us. They want us morally and spiritually ruined forever. 

Jesus Christ says to His disciples, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you" (Jh.15:18). He says, "Now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father" (Jh.15:24). He says again, "They hated me without a cause… the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (Jh.15:25; 17:14). The word 'Gentiles' speaks of the godless peoples of the world. They are wild, wicked and worldly.

Another point to note is that problems are easily seen by us, but only God can reveal the solutions to our problems. Zechariah says, "And the Lord SHEWED me four carpenters." 

We see horns, but our God shows us the carpenters. Where man sees problem, God reveals solutions and provides answers.

When Zachariah saw the four horns he asked the Lord, "What come these to do?" Then God said to him, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head." The horns are scatterers and destroyers. They fight to keep God's people perpetually down. They make sure that no one dares lift up his or her head. The horns never mean well for any of us. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The one in control of the horns is Satan; the horns do his bidding and carry out his evil plans and schemes.

On the other hand, the Lord reveals and produces four carpenters, and He said to Zachariah, "These are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it" (Zech.1:21). Four horns and four carpenters. 

God provides no less than the troubles in our lives require. God has a carpenter for a horn. For every trouble in our lives God provides a deliverer to secure our freedom. Satan cannot ultimately win the battle of our lives.

God has His four carpenters, working for us, and over these carpenters we find the carpenter from Nazareth. The people asked, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary…" (Mk.6:3). Christ is our carpenter; He has the skill and capability to fray and cast out the horns. The Message Bible translates it this way, "Since the 'horns' scattered Judah so badly that no one had any hope left, these blacksmiths have arrived to combat the horns. They'll dehorn the godless nations who used their horns to scatter Judah to the four winds." Hallelujah!

The carpenters have all it takes to crush the horns.

Here are the carpenters:

*The Blood of Jesus Christ

*The Word of God

*The Name of Jesus Christ

*The anointing of the Spirit

We will never lose any battles with these weapons, and Satan can't stand them at any time.

I pray God to show you the four carpenters that will guarantee your deliverance and prosperity. The enemy shall not continue to put down your head and keep you perpetually face-down. God has come for your rescue and uplifting. Satan is the embodiment of the horns even as Christ is the embodiment of the four carpenters, and God is for us all the time, especially in trying times of our lives.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter