The Chapters – Quick Access

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11	12	13	14

Basics

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.

Why Read Zechariah

The book, part of the holy canon of Scripture, takes us first into the period when the Jews had returned to the land after the Exile, when the work of rebuilding the temple had started but then halted for a number of years. Thus Zechariah prophesies alongside Haggai it seems [see Ezra 5:1]. Each of the three sections, we shall shortly see, are designed in different ways to encourage these returned-exiles. In that sense it is a very practical book, although it very clearly lifts us out of the mundane material world into the spiritual world to enable them to catch a much bigger perspective.

As the Contents below shows, after nine visionary prophecies [chapters 1 to 6], Zechariah moves into a series of more traditional prophecies of straight forward encouragement and reassurance, [chapters 7 to 11] but then seems to have received a single long prophecy that lifts us right out of that period into what appears End Times Apocalyptic prophecy [chapters 12 to 14].

One can only suppose that the purpose of that last group of three chapters was intended to lift the eyes of the returned exiles above their existing predicaments to see themselves as part of God’s long-term plan which would have a glorious, triumphant end for His people. 

Dates for the Visions/Prophecies

The historical context is explained with the following dates:

1. 1:1 – 2^nd year of Darius, eighth month [520BC, late October]
2. 1:7 – 2^nd year of Darius, eleventh month
3. 7:1 – 4^th year of Darius, ninth month [518BC, December]

Quoting from our Introduction to Ezra, “according to Ezra 2:64 over 42,000 returned in 538BC after Cyrus was moved upon by the Lord to return them, and records suggest the work of rebuilding the temple started on 537BC, was then delayed, resumed on Sept 21, 520BC (Ezra 3:8) and was finished on Mar 12, 516BC (Ezra 6:15), i.e. approx. three and a half years building.”

Therefore if our dating above is correct, Zechariah started receiving words and visions shortly after the temple building had restarted, and he finished roughly a year and a half before it was completed.

The Visionary Pictures of chapters 1 to 6

The following are the nine visions he received as found in these first six chapters:

1. 1:8 Stationary riders in the woods of a ravine
2. 1:18 Four horns – the nations that had disciplined Israel
3. 1:20 Four craftsmen – who will come to discipline those nations
4. 2:1 A man measuring Jerusalem
5. 3:1 Joshua the high priest being cleansed and reclothed
6. 4:2,3 A golden lampstand and two olive trees
7. 5:1 A flying scroll – God’s curse on unrighteousness in the land
8. 5:6,7 A woman in a basket – the wickedness of the land to be removed
9. 6:1 Four chariots – conveying and imposing the will of God o the earth

Contents

• PART 1: Nine Visionary pictures [see above]
  • Ch.1 – Challenge, Encouragements & Warning
  • Ch.2 – Vision of a man with a measuring line
  • Ch.3 – Joshua the high priest
  • Ch.4 – The Provision & Power of the Spirit
  • Ch.5 – God removing Unrighteousness from the land
  • Ch.6 – Security being brought for Israel
• PART 2: Encouragements & Reassurances
  • Ch.7 – Questions & Challenge over the past and into the present
  • Ch.8 – The Lord promises to bless Jerusalem
  • Ch.9 – God bringing about triumph for His people
  • Ch.10 – The Lord will care for Judah
  • Ch.11 – Glance back – a reminder [?]
• PART 3: A Prophecy of the End Times [?]
  • Ch.12 – Amazing Triumph and yet national mourning
  • Ch.13 – The transformed people and a future purging
  • Ch.14 – The Lord comes and reigns

Concluding Comments

• 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.