‘I saw in the night, and, look! a man riding on a red horse, and he was standing still among the myrtle trees that were in the deep place; and behind him there were horses red, bright red, and white.’”​—Zechariah 1:7, 8.

8, 9. Who explained matters to Zechariah, and what questions did the sight of those horses arouse?

⁸ During the vision Zechariah had an angelic guide, who explained things to him, things that we today also want to understand. Those horses with their riders, standing there among the myrtle trees in the hollow alongside Jerusalem​—why were they there? Was war impending against Jerusalem at this stage of temple building? In the Bible horses are a symbol of war. (Job 39:19-25; Proverbs 21:31)

¹¹ Those horse riders proved to be holy angels, sent out by God on scout duty, as it were.