In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet
Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
Zechariah 1:1
Zechariah
wrote this book around 520 BC that includes a series of visions as the Jews returned to
Jerusalem from Persia. King Cyrus
allowed their return and promised to finance the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
The
Lord spoke to the former exiles to show them he was in charge, he had a plan
and he didn’t want them to mess up like they did before. God promised to live among them one day
(chapter 2) an obvious sign of Jesus’ coming.
He wanted to restore Jerusalem to a place of influence and peace.
Specific
individuals are mentioned: Joshua, the high priest, and Zerubabbel, the builder
of the temple.
The
visions Zechariah saw included:
·
The man on a red horse
standing among myrtle trees with red, brown and white horses with him (1:8)
·
Four horns and four
craftsmen (1:18)
·
Man with a measuring
line measuring Jerusalem (2:1-2)
·
Joshua the high priest
standing before an angel and Satan getting clean clothes (3:3-5)
·
Solid gold lampstand
with bow at the top and seven lamps with two olive trees (4:2-3)
·
A flying scroll (5:1)
·
A woman in a basket
escorted by two flying women (5:7-9)
·
Chariots driven by
multi-colored horses (6:1-3)
God spoke through
Zechariah to make sure the Jews followed the commands and treated others
well. He wanted to make sure their
hearts were right.
God also spoke
against a number of nations who hurt Israel (Assyria, Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, Gaza
and others). God promised to punish
them.
Zechariah also
contains four powerful prophecies fulfilled through Jesus Christ. (9:9, 11:12-13, 12:10, 13:7)
In
the end, God promised to restore Jerusalem to a great nation that others looked
to and saw the Lord working.