Delve Into The Prophets预览

DAY 20 – ZECHARIAH

Shortly after the prophet Haggai began urging the returned exiles in Judah to complete the rebuilding of the temple, the prophet Zechariah joined him in challenging them to restore justice and true worship to their community. The book of Zechariah records the messages he brought to them beginning in the second year of King Darius of Persia (520 BC). 

The book begins with a general call to repentance that Zechariah gave at the start of his ministry. It then records a series of eight symbolic visions he received a few months later. These visions encourage the people in rebuilding the temple.

The eight visions are arranged in an intricate order. The first and last describe four differently colored horses whose riders and drivers God sends throughout the earth. They report that conditions are peaceful and right for rebuilding. The second and third visions show that the hostile foreign powers that threatened the country have been neutralized. The sixth and seventh visions show that the sins of the people have been taken away. The two central visions (the fourth and fifth) depict God establishing the community leaders—Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor—in their positions of authority so they can lead the renewal. (This authority is emphasized in an immediately following episode in which Joshua is given a crown.) The overall message is that God has put in place everything that’s needed for the temple to be rebuilt.”

The second sequence of prophecies is also intricately structured. The Babylonians destroyed the temple some 70 years earlier, in the fifth month of the year. Ever since, the Jews have been fasting during that month to show their grief and sorrow. But now that the temple is being rebuilt, some of the returned exiles living in Bethel have sent messengers to inquire of the priests and prophets in Jerusalem whether they should continue this fast. God sends them an answer through Zechariah, in six parts. This answer begins by exposing how insincerely the people have been fasting in the fifth month (and also in the seventh month, when the Babylonian-appointed governor was assassinated). Zechariah then challenges the people to practice true justice as the fast that’s acceptable to God, just as the earlier prophets taught. He then offers God’s assurances that the temple will be restored and God’s presence will once again dwell there.

In light of this last promise, the people are urged to “be strong” in rebuilding the temple. In response to the teaching about the nature of true fasting, they’re then challenged to practice justice. And, finally, in response to the original question, they’re told that all of their fasts (which also included the tenth month, when the siege of Jerusalem began, and the fourth month, when its walls were breached) will become joyful celebrations. In fact, people from all nations will come and join them in worshiping the true God.

The rest of the book has a different character. The messages it contains aren’t dated, and they’re not attributed directly to Zechariah. They include poetic oracles rather than symbolic vision reports, and they address a different situation. The concern is no longer with rebuilding the temple, but with the leadership of the community. The rulers of Judea are described as “shepherds” who prey on the flock instead of protecting and nourishing it. The speaker of the oracles has been a good shepherd, but he’s now being rejected. He predicts that after a time of suffering under the bad shepherds, God will send a righteous king from the line of David to re-establish justice and restore the fortunes of the nation. The messages here, like those in the first section of the book, anticipate God’s future definitive triumph over every enemy, when “the Lord will be king over the whole earth.”

PRAYER: You truly are the King over all the earth, Lord. Thank You for sending Your Son.