Zechariah was written, along with the book of Haggai, to encourage the people to rebuild the temple after their return from exile. The people were lacking in spiritual commitment as well as vision for the future of Israel under God. They were disloyal as well as discouraged.
Zechariah calls the people to repentance and gives them a vision for the future. He tells them of the future importance of the temple. It will be inhabited by God, and filled with his glory. When the Messiah comes, it will be his place of dwelling.
What does it say?
Following an impassioned call to repentance and obedience, Zechariah moves to a series of night visions he received from the Lord. These visions describe the judgment of Israel's enemies, the blessings to come to Jerusalem, and the need for God's people to remain pure. The visions provided hope for the people who would stand with God.
This book was intended to encourage the people to complete their work on God's temple in Jerusalem. But Zechariah told them that the Lord would not return as soon as they were finished. Rather, Israel would suffer great difficulty from the nations of the world before the day of the Lord's coming to judge the nations and establish God's glorious kingdom on the earth.
Faces & Places
God's spokesmen for these prophecies is Zechariah, who ministered during the time of the Jewish restoration from Babylonian captivity. Zechariah, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel had the dual roles of prophet and priest.
The same high priest, Joshua, mentioned in Haggai is also mentioned several times in this book.
Zechariah's prophecies are given from and to the city of Jerusalem.
Key Verses & Themes
The Coming Messiah:
Zechariah 9:9-10 "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth."
The Day of the Lord:
Zechariah 14:4 "On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south." (See also 2:11; 3:10; 12:3, 4, 6, 8-9, 11; 13:1-2, 4; 14:4, 6, 8-9, 13, 20-21.)
Rebuilding the Temple:
Zechariah 8:9 "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'You who now hear these words spoken by the prophets who were there when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty, let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.'"
So what?
The book of Zechariah provides the most complete and dramatic description in the minor prophets of the final triumph of God over the evil forces of the earth. It is an awesome picture of God gathering the enemy armies together for one destructive blow that will destroy them forever. It is a prophetic record of the final inning of the game when a decisive victory is assured. It ought to bring us courage and hope that justice will prevail and God will triumph.
It should also bring us hope and comfort to know that God controls the future. It is never out of his hands. He asks us to trust him and remain obedient to his own will no matter what the present or the future may look like to us. We only see the moment and have very little control at all. He knows the future and has total control.
