Vision Report: Four Horns and Four Smiths: The next vision report is comparatively spare and simple. There is little action and the figures within the vision do not speak. Yet this vision addresses the question of fulfillment of prophecy, divine governance, and the unwelcome quiet reported in verse 15. The vision of four horns and four smiths portrays the missing step between God’s anger at “the nations that feel secure” and the restoration of Jerusalem God promised in the comforting words of verses 16–17.

1:18–20 The prophet looked up—and there before him were four horns! The report lacks any description that would enable the reader to form a mental picture. What kind of horns are they? The text does not say “two pairs of horns,” but just “four horns.” If they are animal horns, they are no…