Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Book Overview - Zechariah
by Arno Clemens Gaebelein
THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH
Introduction
Zechariah is the great prophet of the restoration, and, as stated in the introduction to Haggai, was contemporary with him. The prophecies in both books are dated. These are as follows:
In the sixth month of Darius’s second year:Haggai 1:1-15
In the seventh month of the same year:Haggai 2:1-23
In the eighth month, the same year:Zechariah 1:1-21
In the ninth month, the same year:Haggai 2:1-23
In the eleventh month, the same year:Zechariah 1:1-21; Zechariah 2:1-13; Zechariah 3:1-10; Zechariah 4:1-14; Zechariah 5:1-11; Zechariah 6:1-15
In the fourth year of Darius, ninth month:Zechariah 7:1-14; Zechariah 8:1-23; Zechariah 9:1-17; Zechariah 10:1-12; Zechariah 11:1-17; Zechariah 12:1-14; Zechariah 13:1-9; Zechariah 14:1-21
Zechariah is named in Ezra 5:1; Ezra 6:14; he was of priestly descent, which we learn by consulting Nehemiah 12:4; Nehemiah 12:16. His name means “Jehovah remembers.” He was the son of Berechiah, which means “Jehovah will bless; ” and his grandfather’s name was Iddo; Iddo means “the appointed time.” These are significant names; one might say the great prophetic message of Zechariah is given in these three names in a nutshell. For the covenant-keeping God remembers His people, which the visions and messages of Zechariah show. When He remembers them He will bless them, but it will be at the appointed time, and the appointed time has not yet come, hence the greater part of Zechariah remains unfulfilled.
He was born in Babylon, and when he returned to the land of his fathers he was a child. In his vision he is addressed as a young man, so that he was quite young when called into the responsible position of a prophet. As to the historical setting of his prophecies, it is the same as Haggai’s, and we refer the reader to what we have said there.
According to ancient sources he lived to be a very old man, and was buried alongside of Haggai in Jerusalem; but this cannot be verified. Jewish tradition says that he was a member of the great synagogue, and took an active part in providing for the liturgical service of the new temple. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament ascribes to him the composition of Psalms 137:1-9; Psalms 138:1-8, and to Haggai and Zachariah Psalms 145:1-21; Psalms 146:1-10; Psalms 147:1-20; Psalms 148:1-14; and the same do other versions like the Peshito and the Vulgate. Some expositors have been so superficial in their statements that they identified him with the Zechariah who was slain by Joash of Judah, between the temple and the altar, as mentioned in 2 Chronicles 24:20-23.
His Great Message
Zechariah in his message does not rebuke the people on account of their slackness in building the house of the Lord, as we learned Haggai did, though his great prophecies were given to encourage the remnant in their work. The horizon of Zechariah’s visions and prophecies is far more extended than the horizon of the other minor prophets. He covers the entire future of Israel and leads onward from his days to the time when Messiah comes to Jerusalem, when His own received Him not. He pictures the condition of the nation after the rejection of Christ, and then leads up to the time of His return and the happy results which follow the repentance of the remnant, when they shall look upon Him whom they pierced.
The Gentile world-powers, as prophetically announced in Daniel’s great visions, are seen by him as domineering over Jerusalem; and how the Lord will finally deal with these powers. The last siege of Jerusalem, and what is connected with that siege, the tribulation, the deliverance by the visible coming of the Lord, and the resultant kingdom, concludes his book. It is indeed a complete prophetic history of Israel and the times of the Gentiles from the captivity to the end of these times. His book has rightly been called by the same name as the last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse--an unveiling. And there are certain features which identify Zechariah in some measure with the book of Revelation. Zechariah may well be placed alongside of Isaiah and Daniel.
The Messianic Predictions in Zechariah
Zechariah has more to say about Christ, His person, His work and His glory than all the other minor prophets combined. We mention here the more direct predictions found in the book; there are others, which will be pointed out in the annotations.
I. He speaks of Christ as “the Branch.” This is one of the names of our Lord revealed to Isaiah and Jeremiah Isaiah 4:2; Jeremiah 23:5. Zechariah speaks of Him twice under this title, in chapters 3 and 4. II. A great prediction concerning Christ is found in the sixth chapter, when the prophet is commanded to order the crowning of the high-priest, symbolical of our Lord, who is the crowned King-Priest. III. In Zechariah 9:9-10 we have the familiar passage quoted in the New Testament concerning Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem. In this passage the first and the second coming of our Lord are blended together. IV. He speaks of Him as the Shepherd, and the price of His betrayal, the thirty pieces of silver, also quoted in the New Testament. Zechariah 11:12-13 and Matthew 27:9-10. V. Another great Messianic prophecy is recorded in Zechariah 12:10. Here His death on the cross is predicted, and that He is the pierced One, on whom they shall look, on account of whom they shall yet mourn. (See John 19:1-42, and Revelation 1:1-20.) VI. Still another prophecy relating to the sufferings of Christ is Zechariah 13:7. The sword is to awake against the Man, who is the fellow of God; that sword is to smite Him. VII. Finally, we mention the passage in the last chapter, where the prophet describes Him as coming for the salvation of His waiting people, and that His feet in that day shall stand on the Mount of Olives. It is He who was seen last standing on the Mount of Olives, with the promise of His return “in like manner.”
As stated before, these passages are the prominent ones, but not by any means all the predictions concerning Israel’s Messiah.