“In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 29:21
The Ox and Its Horn
Most animals, especially herbivores, wild or tamed, have horns. Because they cannot bite to protect themselves as do the carnivores, their strength to fight lies in their horns.
Anciently, if an ox gored a person to death, it was killed as well as its owner if he had previous knowledge of the animal’s aggressive behaviour but did nothing to keep it enclosed, as we read in the following verses. “If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit. But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.” Exodus 21:28–29
The Horn as a Symbol
When you hear of a horn, biblically, perhaps what comes to the mind of most of you is the “little horn” or the other horns of the prophetic beasts in Daniel 7and 8 and Revelation 13.
In the biblical context, a horn (live) symbolizes or means rejuvenation, ability, enabled, strength, might, control, power or rule. By the horn, an enemy is pushed away, stabbed and heavily wounded or killed. If by some reason, a horn(s) is broken, or cut off (Jeremiah 48:25; Lamentations 2:3), it means withdrawal of support, stripping off of power from the subject thus leading to a hopeless condition, falling easy prey to predators, ripe for easy destruction.
These figures have been widely applied spiritually in a biblical context in relation to the physical and spiritual welfare of God’s people in wrestling with the powers of good and evil.
As you are aware, we were created perfect, with a pure, clean mind, endowed with high moral powers, so elevated and sublime. “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright …” Ecclesiastes 7:9. In the image and after the likeness of God created He them (Genesis 1:26). But after the fall, all changed! Man’s faculties of mind became so weak that by himself alone he became powerless to resist sin.
“After their sin, Adam and Eve were no longer to dwell in Eden. They earnestly entreated that they might remain in the home of their innocence and joy. They confessed that they had forfeited all right to that happy abode, but pledged themselves for the future to yield strict obedience to God. But they were told that their nature had become depraved by sin; they had lessened their strength to resist evil and had opened the way for Satan to gain more ready access to them. In their innocence they had yielded to temptation; and now, in a state of conscious guilt, they would have less power to maintain their integrity.” –Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 61
“From Adam’s day to ours there has been a succession of falls, each greater than the last, in every species of crime.” –Temperance, p. 227
The devil plants and instigates in man unfaithfulness and rebellion. Every sin indulged, or recklessly left unchecked has led to a more desperate condition. The whole head is filled with impure thoughts, desires, and evil images (imaginary or introduced), that make it almost impossible for a ray of light to penetrate and assert its power over the unholy imaginations and the dirt accumulated. It makes the brain feel cloudy, confused, anxious and heavy. Even if the victim wishes to be free, every resolution to stand firm against evil is floored by the power of lustful flesh falling hopeless to the ground.
The Four Carpenters
Countless times, the Israelites, God’s chosen people, had fallen into sins of idolatry, adultery and fornication, injustice and defilement and general degradation. The Lord would then leave them to the horn(s) of their enemies to be tormented so that they come back to their senses and seek after their Creator in sincere repentance. In one instance, after being in captivity for seventy years, an angel pleaded before the Lord [for His sake] on behalf of Jerusalem. In response, the Lord sent four carpenters to cut off the horns of the enemies of His people.
“Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the LORD showed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but 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.” Zechariah 1:18–21
What do carpenters have? –Saws for cutting timber. By these, they cut the horns of the enemies. Just as the enemies are four, (verse 18) so are the carpenters, (verse 20) to deal squarely with the enemies.
How many spiritual enemies (horns) do you personally confront? Is it a struggle against ungratefulness, greed, lasciviousness, being a busybody, lies, unfaithfulness, profanity, no fearful regard for spiritual matters? You are entangled and hurt with a horn of doubt, despair, feeling God has not been kind, falling now and again in the same addiction, a feeling that since God has not given it, I will find it by myself, i.e. trying to help God bring about what you want? These are problems within yourself. Sins that may be so attached to you that the enemy has a stronghold on you and laughs at any efforts you make to free yourself.
Are the horns in the form of obstacles in preventing us from making progress, somehow external in nature? No family unity, no child in the home, or a broken marriage? You struggle with a fruitless life, i.e. only your age has been changing and nothing else for the better? Is it abject poverty, or lack of good health? Spiritual life seems not to yield results? Or you just feel stuck in the same position for a long time? You long to break out and revamp yourself in physical terms and in a spiritual sense, but there is no advancement, and you are sure the backward way is certain?
Regardless of the sin or obstacle, as seen before in Zechariah 1:20–21, God has a carpenter ready for each one of us. Isaiah 49:24–25 is clear. The Lord can, and does, free someone even from what appears to be a hopeless case; hands raised in a token of surrender. “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.” So powerful!
Jesus Our Horn
The altar in the holy sanctuary had four horns. The priest took some blood from the sacrifice and with his finger, put it on the horns. (Leviticus 4:25).
One beautiful picture is found in the last part of the book of Luke’s first chapter. The occasion was the birth of John the Baptist, but the prophecy here given was first about Jesus. Filled with the Holy Ghost, Zachariah declared:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant!” verse 68–69, 71–72
Jesus is our horn. He is our power. He also is our present day carpenter as written in Zechariah 1:20, who is ready to cut the horn of our strongest enemy. We are talking about Jesus’ solutions that are tailored to your situation and are very successful. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations…” 2 Peter 2:9. To qualify for this, you must have a trembling heart, crying to be helped and Christ will do it.
The Budding Horn and Its Results
Before the opening verse, (Ezekiel 29:31) God gave Egypt [our enemy, symbol of bondage] to Nebuchadnezzar as his wages. In his great service for God against Tyrus, he had made “every head bald, and every shoulder peeled,” but had not been paid yet for this service; him or his army (verse 18). God always pays for serving Him! After the enemy had been given as wages to Nebuchadnezzar, God said: “In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth.” That is, make their strength grow back, giving them the needed ability to fight their enemies, and have words to speak in their midst.
This is a wonderful horn for us. When we let Jesus live in us by His Spirit, we now have power to forcefully resist evil. It imparts spiritual strength in areas where one is weak, giving spiritual and physical growth of one’s talents, resulting in a fully sanctified fruitful life. Is this not a beautiful picture of a new life that you have longed for? It will be that “there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 28:24)—the ultimate result of allowing this horn to grow in us. “That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life. Luke 1:74–75. Thus will the enemy and the people know that the Lord, He is God (Ezekiel 29:21).
Our Duty
Studies that have been done have proven that any achievement is a combination of a mentor’s major role, and active action on the part of the mentee. Our duty is to work with the horn as it grows in us, watching that the process does not halt and fail. The spiritual healing and restoration process must be enhanced. What exercises help the horn to grow? Here are seven points to be faithfully mastered by God’s grace.
- Always keep in mind how unfruitful are the works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), Satan’s false promise(s) of seeming enjoyment but hiding the consequences of a sinful act. The dejection that comes to a person who moved up high in all aspects and then was brought so low by one seemingly little act, plunging deep into the miry clay! Not to mention that Satan can kill his subject in the short time he is at his service.
- Look to the goal of following Jesus and you will receive greater riches (Hebrews 11:26–27), joy, protection, abundance provisions and, in the end, eternal life.
- Flee all spiritually and physically contaminated places (1 Corinthians 6:18). Take your eyes away from such scenes. They are the soul’s greatest avenue for sin to enter. Job made a covenant with his eyes, and thus could not think upon a maid (Job 31:1). “Having eyes full of adultery.” 2 Peter 2:14. When your eyes are pure, you are pure.
- Control your tongue (James 3:5–13).
- Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and read the word of God for spiritual food, joy and gladness (Jeremiah 15:16). Prayer and reading God’s word go along with meditation (Genesis 24:63) and attending the prayer meeting (Hebrews 10:25).
- Fasting will enable you (Matthew 17:21) to conquer the power of the flesh, and exalt the moral powers. Thus, instead of the body controlling the will, and the mind, the mind controls the will and the body.
- Share the word with others (Proverbs 11:25).
These are some of the powerful ways the Bible has stated that Christ uses to make one rise above sinful living. As the horn grows little by little, the power to resist evil and do good will be strengthened. From the beginning the Lord will provide grace so you can grow spiritually. Strength will be imparted (sometimes coming as “a little help” Daniel 11:34) to overcome small temptations, then bigger ones, until the mind is completely healed and sin appears unattractive and loathsome, as the trash in the rubbish bin. The discovery will come that, unlike what Satan claims as happiness, one sees instead that the journey with Christ is true happiness, full of fragrance, and advanced achievement in this life. Thus, life eternal is assured.
May the Lord help us as we cooperate with the budding horn. Amen.
Joel Msiska, Malawi