| Zechariah
BOOK
: Zechariah
Description
: Warnings
& encouragements for the returned exiles, not so much in personal
challenges but in portrayal of the great plans and purposes of God.
Prophesied alongside Haggai.
Author:
Zechariah, a prophet or
someone close to him
Date
written : Somewhere between
627 and 609BC but also probably later (he was a young man – 2:4 when
he spoke some of the earlier words)
Chapters
: 14
Brief
Synopsis:
•
Speaking at the same time as Haggai and
on into following years Zechariah spoke into the returning exiles bringing
encouragement but his ‘words' are more often ‘visions' that go far beyond
immediate encouragement for the temple builders.
•
The first part comprises what are usually
referred to as eight visions, although they follow on one after the
other) and some encouragement for Joshua the high priest. There is also
a challenge to face the truth and blessing from the Lord on His faithful
people.
•
Part two comprises two ‘oracles' (an oracle
= a prophetic burden imposed by a master that must be discharged) that
have distinct similarities and which appear to speak of the times to
come in the plans and purposes of God who brings His Saviour who is
rejected but who brings salvation. There is also included judgment on
the nations who dealt badly with Israel , and blessing on God's people
for eternity.
Outline
:
Part
I (chs. 1-8) :
Visions, a Crowning & Fasting
1:1-6
Introduction
1:1
The Date and the Author's Name
1:2-6
A Call to Repentance
1:7-6:8
A Series of Eight Night Visions
1:7-17
The Horseman among the Myrtle Trees
1:18-21
The Four Horns and the Four Craftsmen
Ch.2
A Man with a Measuring Line
Ch.3
Clean Garments for Joshua the High Priest
Ch.4
The Gold Lamp Stand and the Two Olive Trees
5:1-4
The Flying Scroll
5:5-11
The Woman in a Basket
6:18
The Four Chariots
6:9-15
The Symbolic Crowning
of Joshua the High Priest
Ch.7-8
The Problem of Fasting
and the Promise of the Future
7:1-3
The Question by the Delegation from Bethel
7:4-7 The Rebuke by the Lord
7:8-14
The Command to Repent
8:1-23
Ten Promises of Blessing
Part
II (chs. 9-14): Two
Prophetic Oracles: The Great Messianic Future and the Full Realization
of God's Kingdom
Ch.9-11
The First Oracle: The
Advent and Rejection of the Messiah
9:1-8
The surrounding enemies dealt with
9:9-17
The King of Deliverance & Peace comes
10:1-2
Ask of God not idols
10:3-5
Leaders will be removed and a new one arise
10:6-12
Judah restored
11:1-3
Destruction will come
11:4-17
The Lord is rejected by the flock who He disciplines by giving another
Ch.12-14
The Second Oracle : Jerusalem
delivered and saved
12:1-9
Jerusalem besieged but the Lord helps them to judge their enemies
12:10-13
God's people will mourn for their attitude towards Him
13:1-6
Jerusalem is cleansed
13:7-9
God's shepherd struck down and the people scattered
14:1-7
Reiteration: the Lord will fight for besieged Jerusalem
14:8-11
Life will flow from the Lord's presence in Jerusalem
14:12-15
Judgment on the nations against Jerusalem
14:16-19
Survivors submit and worship the Lord in Jerusalem
14:20-21
Everything about Jerusalem will be holy.
Key
Verses :
Zechariah,
grandson of Iddo, who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon (would have
been born in Babylon )
1:1
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
(Neh
12:1,4 These
were the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel
and with Jeshua: ……Iddo)
With
each of the 8 early ‘visions' look for a) the vision, b) the interpretation
and c) sometimes an accompanying word
1:8,10
During
the night I had a vision --and there before me was
a man riding a red horse ! He was standing among the
myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
….. Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They
are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth."
What
must presumably be a prophetic word about the priest-king Messiah (if
not the Lord is inferring the rule of the people is being transferred
to the priesthood)
6:12,13
Tell
him ( Joshua, the high priest )
this is what the LORD Almighty says: `Here is the man whose name is
the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple
of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he
will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And
he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between
the two.'
Zechariah
obviously carried on prophesying for at least 2 years after Haggai
7:1
In
the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah
The
first of ten blessings – each begin with “This is what the Lord says”
8:1-3
Again
the word of the LORD Almighty came to me. This is what the LORD Almighty
says: "I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for
her." This is what the LORD says: "I will return to Zion and
dwell in Jerusalem.
1
st Oracle - God will deal with surrounding enemies
by
sending His king (Messiah)
9:8,9
But
I will defend my house against marauding forces. Never again
will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See,
your king comes to you , righteous and having salvation, gentle
and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
(see Mt 21:5, Jn 12:15)
Oracle
1- more hope for the future
10:6
"I
will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will
restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though
I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer
them.
The
chapter has hints of Israel 's rejection of God (His Messiah) and ending
of the covenant
11:8
The
flock detested me, and I grew weary of them
2
nd Oracle – the end times? Jerusalem besieged but bring down all others
12:2,3
"I
am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the
surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.
On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered
against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all
the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.
2
nd Oracle – end times – Israel will repent for rejecting their Messiah
12:10
And
I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they
have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only
child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Ditto
– in that day Israel will be cleansed
13:1
On
that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem , to cleanse them from sin and impurity. "On that
day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will
be remembered no more," declares the LORD
The
Lord will use Israel to judge other nations
14:2,3
I
will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it;
the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.
Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will
not be taken from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight
against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.
Blessing,
judgment, eventual triumph & submission
14:8,9,12,16
On
that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem ,
half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in
winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth .
On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name…… the
LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem
….. Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem
will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty
•
Zechariah is both a simple and a complex
book. It is simple in that in parts of it the structure is simple and
straight forward; it is complex in that it deals with great swathes
of the Lord's plans and purposes – which includes the future (last days)
– and these are not so clear as we might like them to be.
•
Read it in pieces, e.g. follow the eight
night visions or the ten promises of blessing, and read it in chunks
– the two end oracles – and try and discern God's discipline, His judgment,
and His blessings. Don't be put off if you cannot understand every detail
– it has caused scholars and commentators to scratch their heads.
•
Above all, see the Lord's greatness in
it all. He is the One who oversees all these things and He works all
things towards a glorious climax where peace and blessing reign for
ever.
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