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Book 38 of 39 · Minor Prophets

Zechariah

Visions of the Coming King
Narrated book coming soon

Overview

Zechariah is the longest of the twelve Minor Prophets and one of the most visionary books of the Old Testament. Zechariah, "the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo" (1:1), belonged to a priestly family that returned from Babylon (Nehemiah 12:16). He began prophesying in the eighth month of the second year of Darius (520 BC), two months after Haggai's first message, and like Haggai he encouraged the returned exiles to finish rebuilding the temple (Ezra 5:1; 6:14). His name means "the LORD remembers".

The book has two halves. Chapters 1–8 are dated to 520–518 BC and centre on the rebuilding: a call to repentance, eight night visions, the crowning of the high priest, and a teaching on fasting and justice. Chapters 9–14 are undated and consist of two "burdens" or oracles looking far ahead to the coming King, the rejected shepherd, and the final day of the LORD. Many scholars date these later chapters to a later period or a different hand; others read the book as one prophet's work. The New Testament quotes the second half often in the story of Jesus' last week.

Structure: call to return (1:1–6); eight night visions (1:7–6:8); the crowning of Joshua (6:9–15); fasting and the future of Zion (chapters 7–8); first oracle: the coming King and the shepherds (chapters 9–11); second oracle: the pierced one and the day of the LORD (chapters 12–14).

Part 1 — Return to Me (chapter 1:1–6)

The call (1:1–6). "Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you." The people are warned not to be like their fathers, who ignored "the former prophets". Those fathers and prophets are gone, but God's words "took hold of" them, just as he said.

Part 2 — Eight Night Visions (chapters 1:7–6:8)

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (early 519 BC), Zechariah sees a series of visions in one night, each explained by an interpreting angel.

1. The horseman among the myrtles (1:7–17). A man on a red horse stands among myrtle trees in a hollow, with red, sorrel and white horses behind him. They report that the earth is still and at rest. The angel asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem after seventy years. God replies, "I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it," and the cities will again overflow with prosperity.

2. Four horns and four craftsmen (1:18–21). Four horns represent the powers that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem. Four craftsmen come to terrify and cast them down.

3. The man with the measuring line (chapter 2). A man goes to measure Jerusalem, but it will be a city without walls because of its multitude. "I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." Exiles are urged to flee Babylon: "he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee," and many nations will join themselves to the LORD.

4. Joshua the high priest (chapter 3). Joshua stands before the angel of the LORD in filthy garments, with Satan ("the accuser") at his right hand. "The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan... is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" His filthy clothes are removed, and he receives clean garments and a fair mitre. God promises, "I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH," sets before Joshua a stone with seven eyes, and declares he will remove the land's iniquity "in one day". Everyone will invite his neighbour under the vine and fig tree.

5. The lampstand and two olive trees (chapter 4). A golden lampstand with seven lamps is fed by two olive trees. The message to Zerubbabel: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." The great mountain before him will become a plain; he will bring out the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace unto it." "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it." "For who hath despised the day of small things?" The two olive trees are "the two anointed ones", usually understood as Zerubbabel and Joshua.

6. The flying scroll (5:1–4). A scroll twenty cubits by ten flies over the land: the curse on thieves and on those who swear falsely. It will enter their houses and consume them.

7. The woman in the basket (5:5–11). An ephah (a measuring basket) holds a woman called "Wickedness". The angel thrusts her back and seals it with a lead lid. Two women with wings like a stork's carry the basket to the land of Shinar (Babylonia), where a house will be built for it. Sin is removed from the land.

8. The four chariots (6:1–8). Four chariots with red, black, white and dappled horses come out from between two mountains of bronze. They are the four spirits of heaven going out through the earth. Those going north have "quieted my spirit in the north country".

Part 3 — The Crowning of Joshua (chapter 6:9–15)

Zechariah takes silver and gold from returned exiles, makes crowns, and sets them on Joshua the high priest. "Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD." He will "sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." The crowns are kept in the temple as a memorial. Those far off will come to help build.

Part 4 — Fasting and the Future of Zion (chapters 7–8)

A question from Bethel (7:1–7). In the fourth year of Darius (518 BC), a delegation asks whether they should still weep and fast in the fifth month, mourning the temple's destruction. God replies: "When ye fasted and mourned... did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?"

What God wants (7:8–14). "Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor." Their fathers refused, "made their hearts as an adamant stone", and so were scattered "with a whirlwind" among the nations, leaving the pleasant land desolate.

Ten promises for Zion (chapter 8). "I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem," which will be called "a city of truth". Old men and women will sit in its streets, and "the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing". God will bring his people home from east and west. The people are told to speak truth and judge justly. The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become "cheerful feasts". Many peoples will come to seek the LORD in Jerusalem, and "ten men... out of all languages of the nations" will take hold of a Jew's robe, saying, "We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you."

Part 5 — The First Oracle: The King and the Shepherds (chapters 9–11)

Judgement on the neighbours (9:1–8). The word of the LORD comes against Hadrach, Damascus, Hamath, Tyre and Sidon, and the Philistine cities. Tyre heaped up silver "as the dust" and gold "as the mire of the streets", yet will be devoured by fire. God will camp around his house as a guard.

The coming King (9:9–17). "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (9:9; quoted in Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15). He will cut off the chariot and battle bow, speak peace to the nations, and rule "from sea even to sea". "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope."

Gathering the flock (chapter 10). The people have wandered like sheep without a shepherd. God will punish the false shepherds, strengthen Judah and Joseph, "hiss for them, and gather them", and bring them home from Egypt and Assyria.

The rejected shepherd (chapter 11). Zechariah acts out a parable, shepherding "the flock of slaughter". He takes two staffs, Beauty (Favour) and Bands (Union). Detested by the flock, he breaks Beauty, ending the covenant. He asks for his wages, and they weigh out thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32). "A goodly price that I was prised at of them!" He casts it "to the potter in the house of the LORD" (compare Matthew 27:9–10). He breaks Bands, ending the brotherhood of Judah and Israel. Then he is told to play a "foolish shepherd" who will not care for the flock: "Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock!"

Part 6 — The Second Oracle: The Day of the LORD (chapters 12–14)

Jerusalem besieged and defended (12:1–9). All nations will gather against Jerusalem, but God will make it "a cup of trembling" and "a burdensome stone" for them. The weakest of its people will be like David.

The pierced one (12:10–14). God will pour out "the spirit of grace and of supplications". "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son" (quoted in John 19:37). Every family will mourn apart.

The fountain and the struck shepherd (chapter 13). "In that day there shall be a fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness." Idols and false prophets will be removed. "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd... smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered" (quoted in Mark 14:27). Two thirds will perish, and one third will be refined like silver: "It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."

The LORD comes (14:1–11). Nations will attack Jerusalem, and the city will suffer. Then the LORD will fight for it: "his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives", which will split from east to west, opening a valley of escape. "The LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." There will be continuous light, and "living waters shall go out from Jerusalem", half to the eastern sea and half to the western, summer and winter. "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one."

Nations worship; all is holy (14:12–21). Those who fought Jerusalem will be struck by plague. Survivors from the nations will go up "from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles"; those who refuse will have no rain. "HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD" will be written on the bells of the horses, and every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy as the bowls before the altar. "There shall be no more the Canaanite (trader) in the house of the LORD."

Key themes, and the bridge to Malachi

  • God remembers and returns. God turns back to Jerusalem in mercy, calling his people to turn back to him.
  • Spirit, not strength. The temple and the future are built "not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit".
  • Cleansing. Joshua's new garments, the flying scroll, wickedness carried away and the opened fountain all show God removing sin.
  • Justice over ritual. Fasting means nothing without truth, mercy and care for the vulnerable.
  • The coming King and Shepherd. The BRANCH, the humble King on a donkey, the shepherd valued at thirty pieces of silver and the pierced one all point to a coming deliverer.
  • The nations drawn in. From the ten men clinging to a Jew's robe to the Feast of Tabernacles for all peoples, the book looks to worldwide worship of the one LORD.

Zechariah closes with a vision of a world where even cooking pots are holy and the LORD is king over all the earth. The temple was finished in 516 BC, but that vision lay far ahead. Malachi, the last of the prophets, speaks to the same rebuilt temple a few generations later and finds priests offering blemished sacrifices and a people asking whether serving God is worth it.