The Bible: Zechariah

we come now to the book of Zechariah this book has been called the most messianic the most truly apocalyptic and eschatological of all the writings of the Old Testament the name Zechariah means the Lord remembers and he was a contemporary of Hege I he was a Levite who was born in Babylon and like Jeremiah and Ezekiel before him he was both a prophet and a priest when Cyrus the Great gave the Jews permission to return to their land he was among those who returned to Israel with zerubabbel and Joshua the high priest see Nehemiah chapter 12 verses 1 and 16 in chapter 2 verse 4 he's called a young man and the length of his ministry is not known but we do know that his prophetic ministry began two months after hege I delivered his first sermon so the background and setting of this book is the same as a book of Haggai and the prophetic messages of both men were delivered to the same group of people hey guys message was one of rebuke but Zechariah gave them encouragement and he motivated them to rebuild a temple and because of their respective ministries the people completed the temple reconstruction in four years now the book is primarily about Jesus Christ and it is the most christ-centered of all the minor prophets it focuses on his coming glory as a means to comfort the children of Israel but it also deals with repentance salvation and holy living also as his name suggests the Lord remembered his covenant promises to the Jews and he would restore and bless them he had an immediate and long-term commitment to them this book is filled with visions messianic prophecies angelic beings signs and the voice of God an8 visions recorded in the first six chapters he predicted the overthrow of the Gentile world powers the judgment of apostate Jews because of their rejection of Christ the cleansing restoration and glory of a remnant and the future prosperity of Jerusalem no wonder this book is quoted over three dozen times in the New Testament Zechariah also recorded some of the most important prophecies concerning Our Blessed Lord such as his riding into Jerusalem on a donkey chapter 9 verse 9 his betrayal by Judas Iscariot for 30 pieces of silver chapter 11 verses 12 and 13 his death as the stricken Shepherd chapter 13 verse 7 his coming again to the Mount of Olives chapter 14 verse 4 and his millennial reign as a high priest and King chapter 14 verse 9 now there are three major sections in the book chapters 1 through 6 chapter 7 and 8 and chapters 9 through 14 the last section was probably written later on in Zechariah is life because the style is much different than the dated sections and a few decades after the book was written the Old Testament Canon would come to a close and there would be 400 years of silence no prophet of God would be raised up during that time until John the Baptist came on the scene heralding the arrival of the Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ the prophesies and promises of Zachariah would sustain the Jewish remnant through those silent years and finally in Matthew 23 verse 35 our Lord Jesus told us that like many of the righteous prophets before him Zechariah was ultimately killed by the people he was murdered between the temple and the altar no doubt this faithful man of God should be added to those mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 37 and verse 38 says that the world was not worthy of such men so here's the outline in chapter 1 verses 1 through 6 we have a call to repentance and obedience from chapter 1 verse 7 to chapter 6 verse 8 Zechariah receives 8 visions in one night they were designed to encourage the people to rebuild the temple the first vision is of a man riding on a red horse among the myrtle trees that is in chapter 1 verses 7 through 17 the meaning God is displeased with the Gentiles who are at rest while his people suffer the nation's will be punished and his people will be restored and blessed the second vision chapter 1 verses 18 through 21 is of the four horns and the four craftsman the meaning judgment on the nation's that afflict Israel the third vision in chapter 2 is of a man with a measuring line the meaning God's future blessing on restored Israel the fourth vision chapter 3 is of the cleansing and crowning of Joshua the high priest the meaning the priesthood representative of the nation cleansed and restored this is a glorious picture also of sinners being washed by God and being clothed in the righteousness of Christ whereas filthy rags in the sight of God when we trust and believe on the finished work of Christ his perfect righteousness is imputed to us and we stand before the father clothed in the righteousness of his precious son the doctrine of justification by faith is being displayed in this vision by the way Joshua is the same name as Jesus and it means salvation Jesus is our salvation also in this chapter Christ is referred to as my servant the branch and as a stone see psalm 118 verses 22 and 23 isaiah chapter 8 verses 13 through 15 chapter 28 verse 16 daniel chapter 2 verses 34 and 35 and verse 45 matthew chapter 21 verse 42 ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 through 22 and first Peter chapter 2 verses 6 through 8 finally in this chapter the Millennium is spoken of in verse 10 as it was in verses 10 through 13 of chapter 2 the fifth vision chapter 4 is of a candlestick of gold and two olive trees the meaning Israel God's Light Bearer will rebuild a temple by the Spirit of God pictured by the oil verse six is one of the most well known verses in the book the six vision chapters 5 verses one through four is of the flying scroll the meaning divine judgment on those who break the laws of God thieves and perjurers are given as examples the seventh vision chapter five verses 5 through 11 is of the woman in the ephah the meaning the removal of national israel sin of rebellion against god it goes back to Shinar or babylon word originated and it may be a reference to the final babblin spoken of in Revelation chapter 17 and 18 the eighth and final vision chapter 6 verses 1 through 8 is of the four chariots the meaning divine judgment on Gentile nations finally in this chapter Joshua crowned as High Priest this is a picture of Jesus Christ coming as king and high priest when he comes back he will unite the two offices of priest and King now in Chapter seven and eight we have four messages given by Zechariah and they were given in response to a delegation that came to Jerusalem to ask whether the nation should continue to fast in remembrance of Jerusalem's destruction the delegations question implied a desire to discontinue the self-imposed religious observance of fasting in the fifth month which commemorated the burning to the ground of the city and temple by Nebuchadnezzar the first message given by Zechariah was one of rebuke and that is found in verses four through seven of chapter seven the second message was of repentance and that is in verses 8 through 14 the third message is of restoration and that is found in chapter 8 verses 1 through 17 some of the most incredible scriptures dealing with the Millennium can be found in these verses and Zechariah is fourth message one of rejoicing can be found in verses 18 through 23 verses 18 and 19 actually answer the question that the delegation had posed in verses 1 2 & 3 of chapter 7 verses 20 through 23 are clearly millennial in nature now the final division of the book consists of two Oracle's or burdens that look forward to the messianic King and Kingdom chapters 9 through 11 refer for the most part to the first advent of the Messiah and it stresses his rejection but also outlining Israel's prophetic history to the end times chapters 12 through 14 looks forward to Christ's glorious appearing and they emphasize his enthronement and millennial reign the destruction of Israel's enemies and Israel as a head of the nations are also dealt with these six chapters are filled with some of the most incredible prophecies found anywhere in scripture and I will not be able to do them justice there simply is not enough time to go into much detail but I will simply touch in a few highlights and I pray that you will study this portion of Scripture on your own you will be blessed beyond measure so the first Oracle chapters 9 through 11 in chapter 9 verses 1 through 8 deals with Israel's enemies being judged and in verse 9 we have the incredible prophecy dealing with our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey this was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 21 verses 1 through 11 remember this was written at least five hundred and thirty years before it was fulfilled and from verse 10 of chapter nine until the end of chapter ten we have the kingdom of the Prince of Peace in chapter 11 we have the rejection of the Good Shepherd and it's consequences for Israel verses 1 2 & 3 deals with the devastation of Israel verses four through 14 deals with the cause for the devastation the rejection of the true Shepherd verse 12 is a well-known prophecy dealing with Judas's betrayal of our Lord for 30 pieces of silver it was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 26 verse 15 by the way thirty pieces of silver was a redemption price of a slave verse 13 is also a prophecy of what Judas did when he saw that he had betrayed innocent blood he took the money and threw it down in the temple and it was used by the religious leaders to buy field to bury strangers in this was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 27 verses 5 through 10 finally in verses 15 through 17 we see a prophecy of the idol shepherd this is a reference to the Antichrist who will one day rule the world for seven years in verse 17 his arm may indicate strength and his eye intelligence however many see this as a possible assassination attempt on his life because Revelation chapter 13 verse 3 tells us that his head will be severely wounded but would be healed so the withered arm and blind right eye may be the physical effects of what he sustained during the attempt on his life in Revelation chapter 13 verse 3 also makes clear that the whole world will marvel and follow after him now chapters 12 through 14 the second Oracle emphasizing messiahs second Advent in chapters 12 and 13 we see the redemption of Israel two conditions are necessary for the establishment of Israel's future Messianic Kingdom a the overthrow of the Gentile world powers that opposed the establishment of this kingdom and be the regeneration of individual Jews who will constitute the nation when God fulfills the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant both of these conditions will be accomplished by our Lord as seen in chapters 12 and 13 he will deliver Israel physically from her enemies chapter 12 verses 1 through 9 and he will deliver her spiritually chapter 12 verse 10 to chapter 13 verse 9 in chapter 12 verses 1 through 9 Israel will be a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone to all the earth we see that being fulfilled today but it will take on a greatest significance during the coming seven year Tribulation Period the phrase that day is a reference to that period of time and it is used five times in verses three through nine three times in chapter 13 and 7 times in chapter 14 verses 1 through 9 of chapter 12 also shows that God will deliver the people and nation their enemies and in verses 10 through 14 the nation of Israel will mourn over the rejection of their Messiah both leader and commoner will mourn bitterly when they look on the Messiah whom they had pierced this will be their repentance in Romans chapter 11 verses 25 through 27 will finally be fulfilled the nation will be grafted back into the olive tree and our Lord Jesus Christ will finally receive the praise and glory from them that he is always desired now continuing in chapter 13 verse 1 provision will be made for the cleansing of the nation and in verses 2 through 6 idols and false prophets will be banished let me quickly say that verse 6 is not speaking about our Lord but about false prophets who will lie about the source of wounds or scars on their bodies the context of the preceding verses makes that abundantly clear however verse 7 is a prophecy of what would happen when our Lord was crucified his disciples were scattered and they abandoned him this was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 26 verses 31 and 56 it could also be a reference to the Jewish nation being scattered after the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70 also in verses 8 and 9 we see that during the coming tribulation period two-thirds of the Jews will be slain but one-third will be preserved by our Lord these are the remnant Jews spoken of in chapter 12 verses 10 through 14 they will come to know their Messiah in a personal and intimate way finally in chapter 14 the return of the king this chapter depicts in dramatic fashion the return of Israel's Messiah and King this reign is known from other scriptures as a personal reign of the Messiah on the throne of David the chapter progresses from the initial plundering of Jerusalem near the end of the future tribulation through the catastrophic judgment on the Gentile armies at messiahs second Advent and the establishment of his millennial reign to a description of the worship in Jerusalem during the Millennium these events have not yet occurred so they point to a premillennial return of Christ that is his return before the Millennium in verse 4 when our Lord comes back he will stand on the Mount of Olives and it will split into half to the north and the other half to the south and finally verses 16 through 21 speaks about the millennial reign of Christ and the lack of rain that the nation's will experience if they do not go up to Jerusalem yearly to worship our Lord and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles during that glorious time everything will be marked holiness to the Lord there will be no difference between secular and sacred even the bells on the horses and the common pots in Jerusalem and Judah will be sacred all of this will be literally fulfilled sometime in the future and it is on such a high note that Zechariah ends the apocalypse of the Old Testament next we will complete the overview of the Old Testament by looking at the final book written before the 400 years of silence began so our next stop the book of Malachi

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Keywords: Bible, Zechariah, Prophet, Prophecy, Israel, Jews, Babylon, Solomons Temple, Antichrist, Last Days, Judgment, Millennium, Millennial Reign, Feasts, Jerusalem, Priests, Salvation, YHWH, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Gospel, Heaven, Hell

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Length: 19min 28sec (1168 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 21 2012