Through the Bible with Poetry: Zechariah
Jon’s thoughts: God’s dealing with us and his enemies — yes there are those who would make of themselves enemies of God — is often harsh and seems unjust: plunder, rape, destruction, famine, all seem too much for our lack of obedience. Yet, in the aftermath of God’s dealings, his creation is reborn.
In Zephaniah the destruction and afterward the regrowth was likened unto a fire that burns through a forest seemingly destroying everything in its path yet preparing the way for new growth more beautiful than the previous. Here it’s horses that trample the land, loosen the soil, allowing for something new when the rain and subsequent sunshine come.
Zechariah
On That Day
All was quiet, peaceful, a few colored horses, grazing and playing in the dappled sunlight.
The sky began to rumble and shake like the earth beneath the feet of a thousand horses.
They pounded the ground beneath their feet and stirred the air to a violent, dusty storm.
For a time it seemed that it would never end, the many colors, shapes, sounds and textures: vagabonds invading the land.
As quickly as it started it was over. The herd moved on, the dust settled, the air quieted, and the ground stopped shaking.
What appeared was the destruction brought by such a violent invasion, nourishment that only a storm can bring.
The hard and craggy earth had been broken and tilled, making it possible for new growth more easily to take hold.
Then the unveiling of the sun gave life to a once dry land; wetted by streams of living water.
Jon Bannon
© Jon Bannon 2021