Like Jeremiah and Ezekiel before him, and John the Baptist after him, “Zechariah” was both a priest (Neh. 12:1616Of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; (Nehemiah 12:16)) and a prophet (Ezra 5:1; 6:141Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. (Ezra 5:1)
14And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. (Ezra 6:14)). He was the son of “Berechiah” and the grandson of “Iddo.” He is usually introduced as “the son of Iddo” because (it is assumed) that his father died young and the priesthood fell straight to him from his grandfather.
Zechariah and Haggai were contemporaries; they laboured together to encourage the Jews who had returned from the Babylonish captivity. The themes of their prophecies are slightly different: Haggai’s ministry focused on the building of the house of the Lord, whereas Zechariah’s prophecies focus on the city of Jerusalem and its future blessedness when the Messiah will be received by the people. Zechariah’s prophecies (which began about two months after Haggai’s) are particularly Messianic, touching on both advents of Christ. In fact, he speaks of the Messiah more than any other Minor Prophet.
Zechariah was one of three Minor Prophets (the others being Haggai and Malachi) who were raised up in Jerusalem after the 70 years of captivity. He was sent to unfold the resources of the grace of God to meet the need of the people involved in the work of rebuilding the temple, and thus, to stir them up when they had lost their initial enthusiasm for that work. Zechariah was to fan the sparks of revival dying out in the people, and to encourage them with the bright prospects of a future day when the Lord would intervene on the nation’s behalf. The Lord would deliver them once and for all from their oppressors and reign with glory among them. God would thus strengthen the faith of the remnant who had returned to Jerusalem through the unfolding of His purposes of grace to bless them.
A Brief Division of the Chapters
While Zechariah was a prophet who lived during the Persian period of world dominance in “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:2424And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)), some of his prophecies pertain to when the Greeks and the Romans would rule in those future times.
Chapters 1-8—View the people under the rule of the Medo-Persian Empire.
Chapters 9-10—View the people under the rule of the Greek Empire.
Chapters 11-14—View the people under the rule of the Roman Empire.
The book has three main divisions containing: visions, prophecies, and burdens (oracles).
Chapters 1-6 consist of eight visions given to Zechariah which disclose (symbolically) the whole purpose of God to restore and bless Israel and to make Jerusalem the center of His millennial kingdom operations.
Chapters 7-8 address the state of soul necessary to partake in the kingdom blessings outlined in the eight visions. The prophecies in these chapters rebuke the emptiness of the people’s fasts during their captivity and point them to the future when those fasts will be turned into feasts in the kingdom.
Chapters 9-14 contain two prophetic burdens (oracles) that address the Jews’ responsibility in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. The first burden shows that the anointed King and Messiah of Israel would be rejected by His people at His first Advent (chaps. 9-11). The second burden shows that the same rejected King and Messiah would return in power and glory at His second Advent and would be received by His people, and thereafter, would rule over the world (chaps. 12-14).
The Moral Condition for God’s Blessing—Repentance
Chapter 1:1-6—The Spirit leads Zechariah to begin with an exhortation. After introducing himself as a prophet of the Lord and giving us the date of his inspired prophecies (vs. 1), he immediately establishes the great condition for having God’s blessing when failure has come in among His people. Simply put, there must be a genuine turning to the Lord in repentance. This being the case, Zechariah exhorts the people to that end. He says: “The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore, say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of Hosts; Turn ye unto Me, saith the LORD of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of Hosts” (vss. 2-3). This opening statement explains why the nation was under Gentile dominion and had been in captivity in Babylon. Their fathers had pursued a course of sin and disobedience, and the Lord’s hand had been stretched out against them in judgment. The good news was that even though Israel had failed, all was not over for the nation. A door was open to them, through repentance, wherein they could still have the Lord’s blessing—if they would turn to Him in sincerity.
In an attempt to have the people learn from previous generations, Zechariah reminds them that “former prophets” had spoken the Lord’s Word to their fathers, but it was to no avail; they wouldn’t listen (vs. 4). He then asks them to consider whether the sin and rebellion of their fathers had profited them. Instead of blessing coming out of it, they had suffered under the chastening of the Lord and had been forced to admit that the Lord’s dealings with them had been just and right—saying: “Like as the LORD of Hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath He dealt with us” (vss. 5-6). This is a principle in God’s governmental dealings which all of God’s people would do well to consider, regardless of the dispensation they might live in. If we neglect to walk in obedience to God’s Word, we will be made to feel the consequences of our ways, and sooner or later, we will be forced to confess, as these fathers did, that we have not profited from our course of disobedience.
Such is the great foundation principle on which Zechariah commences his prophetic mission. Namely, that when failure has come in, the condition for blessing is a wholehearted turning to the Lord in repentance. Zechariah’s prophecies in the following chapters of the book show that “the spirit of grace and of supplications” will be poured out upon the remnant of God’s people in a coming day, and they will genuinely turn to the Lord in repentance (chap. 12:10-14). This will be followed by their cleansing and restoration (chap. 13:1-7). Thus, God’s objective with His people will be reached in their promised blessing.
In conclusion, while Zechariah’s immediate intention was to strengthen and encourage the faith of the remnant in his day, we in our day are given a full picture of God’s purpose to restore Israel and to bless them with the Gentile nations under the public reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel and King of all the earth.