Zechariah
Book Type
The eleventh book of the Minor Prophets; the thirty-eighth book of the Old Testament; the thirty-eighth book of the Bible. Introduction to the Book of Zechariah
Zechariah’s prophecies were delivered when God’s people had returned to the promised land after their exile in Babylon. Although the messages address a specific situation, they also are timeless. Zechariah encouraged the leaders of Jerusalem and called the Jewish people to rebuild the temple—and he looked forward to the ultimate fulfillment of Yahweh’s promise to restore and save.The people of God who had returned to Judea from exile were being oppressed by neighboring nations. As a result, the people were discouraged and they let their Temple lie in ruins. Zechariah encouraged them with a vision of things to come. God continued to love Jerusalem and Judah, and his unwavering plan was to live there again with his people and establish his rule over all the earth. Zechariah warned Israel not to repeat the sins that had led to exile, and he called those who wavered between God’s truth and human wisdom to return to God, obey the commands of God’s covenant, and practice justice in the land.Zechariah prophesied to a group of discouraged Israelites, announcing that it was a new day for God’s chosen people. He sought to inspire those who had returned from captivity to rebuild the temple and rededicate their lives to the Lord. The message of encouragement involved surrealistic visions and vivid poetic images, focused on a reversal of God’s judgment, and called for a reversal of the people’s behavior.Theme & Overview
The prophet Zechariah rebukes and encourages the discouraged exiles who have returned to Jerusalem from Babylonia to complete the rebuilding of the temple. This book offers you spiritual strength and encouragement. According to the NIV Quest Study Bible, the prophet Zechariah wrote to people who struggled with their own sense of significance, felt unappreciated, and were tempted to give up. So, he spoke words of encouragement and motivation to them, and they picked up the pieces and kept on going. God’s people had been in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. But when Cyrus came to power, he gave permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Many chose to stay in Babylon, but those who returned set about their task with great enthusiasm. They soon encountered many obstacles, however, and became discouraged. Zechariah not only motivated them to finish what they had begun, but he also gave them a vision of God’s purposes beyond the restored temple. Zechariah’s message is one of encouragement: He tells the returned exiles that, in spite of humble appearances, God truly cares about Jerusalem and its temple. When Zechariah looked at the stalled rebuilding project, he saw God’s vision for what it could be and sought to communicate that vision to the people. More important, he encouraged the people so that, just as God had returned to them, they would return to God and follow His ways.Zechariah’s vision of the future contained more than a rebuilt temple and a restored community. The later chapters in Zechariah look forward to the coming of a humble ruler from the house of David. The New Testament writers saw the fulfillment of this prophecy in Jesus (Zech 9:9–11; Matt 21:5; John 12:15).It can be challenging to fully complete a task—especially when we struggle to see beyond our immediate circumstances or are opposed by outside forces. At these times, it can help to refocus and to try to see things from God’s point of view. Zechariah reminds us that when we are discouraged, we must look to Yahweh for direction (Zech 4:10). Yahweh is the ultimate cosmic force—and He is victorious through Jesus.Theme, Purpose, and OccasionNearly 20 years after their return from the Babylonian exile in the time of Cyrus (538 B.C.), discouragement dogged God’s people, replacing their earlier enthusiasm. The foundation of the temple had been laid shortly after the initial return, in 536 B.C., but powerful opposition had prevented any further progress on rebuilding the temple. Though Persian foreign policy accorded a significant role to local traditions—unlike the previous overlords, the Babylonians (prior to 538 B.C.)—life was still hard in the province of Judah (often referred to as “Yehud” in this period). Taxes were high, especially as the Persian king, Darius Hystaspes, prepared for a campaign against Egypt. There was little evidence of the kind of transformation of the state of things that the earlier prophets had anticipated, whether externally in a restoration of Jewish sovereignty, or internally in a moral reformation of the people. In particular, the city of Jerusalem was still only partially rebuilt and was on the sidelines of world significance. Under the circumstances, it was easy for the people to conclude that theirs was a “day of small things” (4:10) in which God was absent from his people. In such a context, faithful obedience was viewed by many as useless: pragmatically, it made more sense to pursue the best life possible in spite of the present difficulties.Zechariah addressed such discouragement by reminding his hearers that, though hidden, God’s envoys were watching everything, and that when the time was right, he would act to reorder the universe (1:8–11). Their forefathers had discovered God’s faithfulness to judge his people if they failed to heed the words of the prophets (1:4–6). If the people would heed the words of the prophets and turn to the Lord, they would discover him turning to them. He would trouble the nations who were enjoying rest and grant rest to his troubled people, making Jerusalem once again the center of the world, a place of universal pilgrimage (1:14–17). The temple that was being rebuilt and the priesthood that would serve in it were signs of the Lord’s commitment to his people, a commitment that would be demonstrated by the ultimate removal of all their sin from the land (3:8–10). This would happen when the promised Davidic king, the Branch, arrived (3:8). The result would be peace, harmony, and prosperity for all the inhabitants of the land, as the Lord once more dwelt in their midst.The latter chapters of Zechariah also show that the coming of this Davidic ruler will not be without challenge. A new ruler will come to Jerusalem, a ruler who will not be like the existing rulers but will be righteous and humble, bringing salvation (9:9–11). In contrast to the shepherds who feed themselves at the expense of the flock, this good shepherd will take care of the flock and provide for them (9:16). He will cleanse them of all their iniquities (13:1). Yet the flock will themselves reject this good shepherd, and the Lord’s own sword will be unleashed against him (11:4–16; 13:7). The sheep will be scattered and left to their oppressors in a time of trial and testing. Yet ultimately God will redeem his flock and rescue his city. Final judgment will come upon all the nations that assaulted God’s people, and the end result will be the complete holiness of Jerusalem. It will be restored as God’s chosen city, to which the nations will come on pilgrimage (ch. 14).The book of Zechariah is densely mined for quotations by the NT, whose authors discerned in it several prophecies concerning the Messiah’s coming. The clearest instances come from Zechariah 8:16 (in Eph. 4:25), Zechariah 9:9 (in Matt. 21:5 and John 12:15), Zechariah 11:12–13 (in Matt. 27:9–10), Zechariah 12:10 (in John 19:37), and Zechariah 13:7 (in Matt. 26:31 and Mark 14:27). In addition to these are numerous allusions, which are sometimes difficult to assess; one estimate, however, finds about 54 passages from Zechariah echoed in about 67 different places in the NT, with the lion’s share of these found in the book of Revelation.Key Themes1. The need for repentance and turning to the Lord (1:1–6).2. The necessity of sincerity in serving the Lord (ch. 7).3. The Lord’s concern and care for the plight of his people (1:8–17; 4:10).4. The future expansion and blessing of Jerusalem (2:4, 12; 8:1–8; 14:16).5. The complete and permanent removal of the sin of the people (ch. 3; ch. 5).6. The removal of false prophecy and idolatry from the land (13:2–6).7. The centrality of the temple as the source of God’s blessing (ch. 4).8. The Lord’s wrath at the nations that plundered Judah and Jerusalem (1:18–21; 14:3–5).9. The return of the Divine Warrior to terrorize Israel’s foes (9:1–8).10. The coming of the Branch, a Davidic ruler who will save his people, cleanse their sins, and establish peace (3:8; 6:9–15; 9:9–10).11. The pouring out of God’s Spirit, resulting in repentance, and the opening of a fountain for the cleansing of sin (12:10–13:1).12. Judgment on the wicked shepherds of God’s people and their replacement by a good shepherd (11:1–17).13. The striking of the good shepherd and the scattering of the flock (13:7–9).14. The final triumph of the Lord over the nations (ch. 14).Author
Zechariah, as noted in Zechariah 1:1.Recipients
Zechariah was a priest and prophet born during the exile in Babylon. He later came to Jerusalem under the first return with Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zechariah, like Haggai, encouraged the people to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Ezra 6:14–15 notes this project soon began and was completed four years later.Zechariah’s messages were intended for the people living in and around Jerusalem after their return from exile (1:3). Within Zechariah’s sermons and visions are words specifically addressed to the governor Zerubbabel, the high priest Jeshua, and the rest of the priests (see Zechariah 3:8–9; 4:6–7; 7:4).Date
Zechariah consists of two major segments taking place between approximately 520 and 470 BC.Background
Like the prophet Haggai, Zechariah appears in 520 BC as a prophet to the Jewish exiles who returned to the promised land. Zechariah’s efforts are set against the backdrop of a trying time for God’s people. The story of Zechariah really begins back in 586 BC, when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took most of its people back to Babylon (2 Kgs 25:1–21). In 538 BC the Persian king Cyrus allowed these deported Jews to return to their land and to begin rebuilding the temple (2 Chr 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–4). The Historical Book of Nehemiah identifies Zechariah as part of a priestly family that returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel the governor and the high priest Joshua (Neh 12:4, 16).Although the returning exiles were initially enthusiastic to rebuild the temple, they soon encountered opposition and persecution from other people living in Judah, and they ceased working. After Haggai and Zechariah urged the people to finish the project, they resumed rebuilding the temple in 520 BC (Ezra 4:24), and in 516 BC they finished its construction (Ezra 6:15).Cyrus, king of Persia, issued a decree in 538 BC permitting conquered peoples who had been deported by the Babylonians to return to their homelands (see Ezra 1). The first Jewish emigrants to return to Jerusalem were led by Sheshbazzar, the first governor of the restored community (Ezra 1:5–11). During his administration, the returning Jews laid the foundation for a new Temple (538~536 BC; see Ezra 5:16), but soon abandoned the project. The construction site lay neglected for nearly two decades as the people experienced economic hardship, political oppression and harassment, and spiritual barrenness.In response to their distress, God raised up two prophets to initiate the physical rebuilding and spiritual renewal of Jerusalem. The prophet Haggai, who preached for only four months in late 520 BC, challenged the Hebrew community to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. The people responded favorably to Haggai’s message and began to reconstruct the Lord’s Temple that year (Hag 1:12–15). The prophet Zechariah complemented Haggai’s message by calling for the spiritual renewal of God’s people (1:3–6; 7:8–14). Zechariah’s ministry in Jerusalem lasted for at least two years.The rebuilding of the Temple was completed in March 515 BC during the reign of Persian king Darius I. It was rededicated to the Lord’s worship at the Passover celebration that same year (Ezra 5:2; 6:13–22).Key Places in Zechariah, 520 BC. Zechariah’s messages gave a vision of hope for God’s people living in Judea, while promising judgment for the neighboring nations.
The Purpose & Audience (Reasons for the letter)
The book of Zechariah calls for repentance, spiritual renewal, and return to right relationship with God (1:1–6). Zechariah’s duty was to comfort and strengthen a small, discouraged remnant of God’s people (1:13; 8:6–15). Zechariah also reinforced Haggai’s summons to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple (8:9, 13).Zechariah’s messages came to him as visions of the future that promised peace to Israel, judgment of the nations, restoration of Jerusalem, responsible government by God’s appointed leadership, and righteousness among God’s people (1:7–6:15). Zechariah emphasized that social justice was Israel’s right response to God (7:8–12; 8:14–17).Zechariah’s last two messages instill hope in God by focusing on the future restoration of Israel (chs 9–14). The prophet forecasts the Lord’s return to his Temple (9:8–10), Israel’s rescue from her enemies (12:1–14), and the establishment of God’s kingdom in Jerusalem (14:9–11). Zechariah presents the Messiah as a suffering shepherd (13:7) and as a righteous king (9:9) who will bring salvation to Israel and peace to the nations (9:10, 16).COVENANT RELATIONSHIP The message of Zechariah was both encouraging and challenging. With God empowering the chosen people, nothing would be impossible, not even rebuilding the temple. But Zechariah was concerned with more than bricks and mortar. The fundamental issue was the covenant between the Lord and the Israelites. God would not be satisfied with just a rebuilt temple and city. He wanted a restored relationship. Because their ancestors had failed miserably in obeying the law—by not worshiping him in spirit and in truth and by not acting justly toward one another—God called on the surrounding nations to punish his people. Now the question was whether the returnees had learned the hard lesson and would do any better at complying with the terms of the covenant.CRITICIZING AND ENERGIZINGZechariah’s message carried high stakes. The remnant that came out of the captivity was the only hope for the future of Israel. Based on the track record of previous generations, strong language would be necessary to penetrate the stubborn shoulders, closed ears, and hardened hearts of God’s people (7:11–12). The method Zechariah adopted was to criticize the worldview that was dominant in the thinking of the Israelites and to energize them with the possibility of a completely new reality. Poetry served this purpose well because it fuses sound and sense in a powerful way.CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIBLEThe book of Zechariah is full of the language of judgment, but it is also full of God’s promises. The Lord challenged his people to undertake an overwhelmingly difficult task, and he assured them of their success through his power. But the nature of these promises extended beyond rebuilding the temple. From beginning to end, the Bible tells the story of God’s redemptive plan, culminating in God’s triumph over evil and salvation for sinners. Zechariah’s prophecies anticipate this grand culmination of history, describing a coming glorious king, a God who triumphs over all, and a world with all wrongs corrected. These promises set the stage for God’s future kingdom, as evidenced by the quotes and allusions to Zechariah in the NT.Key Verses (ESV)
Zechariah 1:3: "Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts." Zechariah 7:13: "'As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,' says the LORD of hosts."Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! \ Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! \ Behold, your king is coming to you; \ righteous and having salvation is he, \ humble and mounted on a donkey, \ on a colt, the foal of a donkey."Zechariah 13:9: "And I will put this third into the fire, \ and refine them as one refines silver, \ and test them as gold is tested. \ They will call upon my name, \ and I will answer them. \ I will say, 'They are my people'; \ and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"Key Passages (NLT)
Zec 1:1–7 In November of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave this message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo: “I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies…Zec 6:12–7:1Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the Lord. Yes, he will build the Temple of the Lord. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also…Zec 9:7–17I will grab the bloody meat from their mouths and snatch the detestable sacrifices from their teeth. Then the surviving Philistines will worship our God and become like a clan in Judah. The Philistines of Ekron will join my people, as the ancient Jebusites once did. I will guard my Temple…Zec 12:8–10On that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who goes before them! For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.…Zec 13:7–14:5“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my partner,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs. Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die,”…Structure & Outline 1
StructureThe book of Zechariah has five sections. It begins with an introductory call to repentance (Zech 1:1–6). The second, and longest, section (Zech 1:7–6:15) describes Zechariah’s eight visions, which he uses to challenge the people to rebuild the temple and affirm the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel. In the third section (Zech 7:1–8:23), four messages highlight the restoration of God’s relationship with His people, as summed up in God’s proclamation that they shall be His people and He will be their God (Zech 8:8).The latter half of the book presents two oracles that use typical features of apocalyptic literature. The term “apocalyptic” comes from the Greek word meaning “revelation” or “uncovering,” and apocalyptic texts often describe visions using symbolic language and angelic interpreters. Other examples of apocalyptic literature within the Bible include the second half of Daniel and the New Testament book of Revelation. The first of Zechariah’s apocalyptic oracles (Zech 9:1–11:17) presents the coming messianic king as a warrior who will fight for Yahweh’s people. In the second oracle (Zech 12:1–14:21), the Messiah’s suffering leads to God’s ultimate victory. The New Testament includes many references to this part of Zechariah.Outline • A call to repentance (Zech 1:1–6) • Eight night visions and Joshua’s crowning (Zech 1:7–6:15) • Four prophetic messages (Zech 7:1–8:23) • Two apocalyptic oracles (Zech 9:1–14:21)Outline 2
Zechariah includes 14 chapters with three main sections. Following a call to repentance (Zechariah 1:1–6) Zechariah is given a series of eight visions (Zechariah 1:17—6:15). The eight visions include a man among myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:7–17), four horns and craftsmen (Zechariah 1:18–21), a man with a measuring line (Zechariah 2:1–13), the cleansing of the high priest (Zechariah 3:1–10), a gold lampstand and two olive trees (Zechariah 4:1–14), a flying scroll (Zechariah 5:1–4), a woman in a basket (Zechariah 5:5–11), and four chariots (Zechariah 6:1–8). The section ends with mention of the consecration of the high priest Joshua (Zechariah 6:9–15). The second main section consists of four sermons or messages from Zechariah. After questions about fasting (Zechariah 7:1–3), Zechariah's four messages condemn the Israelites for sinful motives (Zechariah 7:4–7), demand repentance from the people (Zechariah 7:8–14), preach concerning the favor of the Jews which will be restored in the land (Zechariah 8:1–17), and tell the people their traditional fasts would now be times of feasting (Zechariah 8:18–23).The final section addresses two concerns of Zechariah in chapters 9—14. In chapters 9—11 he predicts the coming of the Messiah, and judgment on those nations who reject Him when He appears. Yet chapters 12—14 note a second coming at which He will be embraced and restore all things. The messages of these chapters have been partly fulfilled in the coming of Jesus as the Messiah, while the yet future predictions of the second coming of Christ remain to be completed in the future.