Expository - OT
Zechariah 1 1
Zechariah 1 2-6
Zechariah 1 7-17
Zechariah 1 18-21
Zechariah 2 1-13
Expository - Zechariah
Zechariah chapter 1by Graham Jones - The Church at Gun Hill
Zechariah - an Introduction
Zechariah was both a prophet and a priest (Nehemiah 12 v 16). When he spoke, he did so by the inspiration of God, as the Word of the Lord came to him. Zechariah was one of the privileged ones who returned from exile to Jerusalem in the days of Ezra to engage upon the work of rebuilding the temple there.Words from Haggai
Although, in Zechariah 2 v 4, he is described as just a lad or a youth, he was, nevertheless, very much concerned about the decline of God's people and sought to encourage them in the temple building work. Haggai had prophesied at the same period as Zechariah, speaking, in fact, in the sixth and seventh months of the same year. The Jews had begun the building work with some enthusiasm, but in the face of local opposition and difficulties, they had given up and settled down to a comfortable existence in the land. Haggai challenged them to examine their lives. Was it time for them to dwell in their well appointed houses and this house, the temple, lie waste? For all their self-indulgence, they had gained little:"Consider your ways. You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages, earns wages to put it into a bag with holes... you looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. 'Why?' saith the Lord of hosts. 'Because of my house that is waste, and you run every man to his own house. Haggai 1 vv 5-9Just after the Jews had been prompted into action by Haggai, Zechariah prophesied in the eighth and eleventh months. Ezra 5 v 1 and 6 v 14 explain:
"Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem... And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zecharah the son of Iddo."
A Word to Nebuchadnezzar
Right at the beginning of the exile, God had already revealed in a vision to the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, that the times of Gentile power would continue until the Messiah comes to establish His kingdom upon earth. In Daniel 2 vv 36-45, there is the account of the mighty king's dream. None but Daniel could tell the king what the dream was and what it meant. The king had seen a huge awe-inspiring image, the head of which was gold, its chest and arms silver, its belly and thighs brass and its legs iron with feet part iron, part clay. In the end, a stone, cut without hands, struck the image at its feet, smashing them to pieces, resulting in the whole image's being smashed to tiny pieces. The stone became a mountain which filled the whole earth.The subsequent interpretation which Daniel gave, revealed that God was showing the span of Gentile dominion in the world in successive empires. This dominion, beginning with the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar, would continue in the Medo-Persian empire, followed by the Greek and Roman empires. Gentile dominion would continue until its final overthrow at the coming of the Messiah (the stone cut without hands). He will then establish His kingdom, encompassing the whole world. Zechariah's prophesy looks across the years from his times and immediate future to the end of Gentile rule at the coming of God's anointed One.
An Earlier Word from Hosea
Well before the exile, Hosea had also foretold that the children of Israel would abide many days without a king, but that in the latter days, they would seek the Lord their God and David their King (Messiah) (Hosea 3 vv 4,5). In the meantime, the Jewish people would remain among the Gentiles "as a vessel wherein is no pleasure." This again was confirmed by Jesus when He declared that Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21 vv 24-27)We are currently living in the last phase of that Gentile dominion. In Europe there is some of the strength, the iron of the old Roman Empire, but just as iron and clay do not mix, so the various parts of this last stage will not firmly bind together. Its unity is a fragile unity. Jesus is coming soon!
