Zechariah 1:7-17
The prophet sees a man riding on a red horse, and behind him were red, speckled, and white horses. A horse in Scripture is the symbol of divine energy of government on the earth. Behind all man's scheming, and Satan's malevolence, God is surely evolving His own plan and will.
Seeing that already the Babylonian Empire had passed away, we find symbolized in these three sets of riderless horses the three world-empires—Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman.
The fact of the man riding the red horse—that is to say, the horse is not riderless, but controlled—and the color of the first set of horses being also red, may point to the very distinct way in which God used the second Empire to do His will in making its rulers favorable to His people.
The prophet asks what these horses mean, and he is told, “These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth,” whereupon they report that they have done so, and the whole earth sits still and is at rest.
Remember everything is looked at from the standpoint of God's ancient people. The fact is, the nations into whose hands God has committed the government of the world are content to see God's people scattered and their land despoiled. They use their power, not in relation to God or intelligently as doing His purpose, but for their own lust, power, and ease.
The horses being riderless shows that the governments think they are doing their own unbridled will, but behind them, and unconsciously to the governments, God is carrying out His own purpose, and using them in its fulfillment.
The prophet is thus moved to inquire how long God will delay having mercy on His people, seeing the indignation has lasted seventy years. The answer comes in good and comfortable words, and in the prophet being given a second vision.