Evening, December 5, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.” — Zechariah 1:20

In the vision described in this chapter, the prophet saw four terrible horns. They were pushing this way and that way, dashing down the strongest and the mightiest; and the prophet asked, “What are these?” The answer was, “These are the horns which have scattered Israel.” He saw before him a representation of those powers which had oppressed the church of God. There were four horns; for the church is attacked from all four quarters. The prophet might well have felt dismayed; but all in a sudden there appeared before him four craftsmen. He asked, “What shall these do?”

These are the men whom God has found to break those horns in pieces. God will always find men for his work, and he will find them at the right time. The prophet did not see the craftsmen first, when there was nothing to do, but first the “horns,” and then the “craftsmen.” Furthermore, the Lord finds enough men. He did not find three craftsmen, but four; there were four horns, and there must be four workmen. God finds the right men; not four men with pens to write; not four architects to draw plans; but four craftsmen to do rough work. Rest assured, you who tremble for the ark of God, that when the “horns” grow troublesome, the “craftsmen” will be found. You do not need to fret concerning the weakness of the church of God at any moment; there may be growing up in obscurity the valiant reformer who will shake the nations: Chrysostoms may come forth from our schools for the poor, and Augustines from the thickest darkness of London’s poverty. The Lord knows where to find his servants. He has set in ambush a multitude of mighty men, and at his word they shall start up to the battle; “for the battle is the Lord’s,” and he shall get for himself the victory. Let us abide faithful in Christ, and he, in the right time, will raise up for us a defense, whether it is in the day of our personal need, or in a season of peril to his Church.