Zechariah
Purpose
Zechariah is paired with Haggai in urging the returned exiles to rebuild the temple, but his book reaches far beyond that moment into the widest horizon of any of the so-called "minor" prophets. The opening chapters center on a series of eight night visions — the horsemen among the myrtle trees, the four horns and the four craftsmen, the man with the measuring line, the high priest Joshua cleansed and reclothed, the golden lampstand and the two olive trees, the flying scroll, the woman in the basket, and the four chariots — through which the LORD declares that he has returned to Jerusalem with mercies, that the temple will be completed "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit," and that the high priest's accuser is silenced by grace. The latter chapters open into oracles of a coming king riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, a struck and rejected shepherd, the outpouring of a spirit of grace and mourning, the LORD standing on the Mount of Olives, the cleansing of the land from idolatry, and a final day when "the LORD will be king over all the earth" and "holiness to the LORD" marks even the common pots of Jerusalem. Zechariah stitches together temple-renewal, priestly cleansing, Davidic kingship, and apocalyptic victory into one sustained vision of God's restoring rule.
Author
Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo
Time Period
520-518 BC for chs 1–8; the date of chs 9–14 is debated (often pre-exilic or post-exilic)
Key Themes
- Repentance
- The LORD's return with mercy
- Visions
- The Spirit
- The Branch
- The coming king
- The struck shepherd
- The day of the LORD
- Universal holiness
Outline
Call to return (ch. 1:1–6): do not be like the fathers who ignored the former prophets; "return to me… and I will return to you." Eight night visions (ch. 1:7–6:8): the rider among the myrtles; the horns and the craftsmen; the surveyor and Jerusalem without walls; Joshua the high priest cleansed and the Branch; the lampstand and the two olive trees; the flying scroll of judgement; the wicked woman in the basket carried to Shinar; and the four chariots of the heavens. The crowning of Joshua (ch. 6:9–15): the Branch who builds the temple and rules as priest-king. Fasting and the future (ch. 7–8): the question about fasts; the LORD changes fasts of grief into feasts of joy; and Jerusalem a city of truth. The latter oracles (ch. 9–14): the coming of the humble king on a donkey; the good and the worthless shepherds; the outpouring of grace and the pierced one whom they mourn; the LORD's feet on the Mount of Olives; the living waters from Jerusalem; the nations judged; "the LORD will be one and his name one"; and the final holiness of Jerusalem and the Day.