This book of the Bible is one I struggled with. A lot. Which is why it went so slow. Even now I think, ‘what is this all about?’
It opens with a lot of visions. The main gist of these is that Israel has served her time in Babylon and now it is time to rebuild. The temple needs to be constructed again. They were dragging their feet but no more.
Furthermore there’s a word of the LORD to the nations around them. They will face judgment for how they treated Israel. They may have mocked and laughed and scorned Israel when Israel went into captivity, but now it will be their turn for judgment. They will not escape.
In the midst of this there is Messianic hope. We see several Scriptures that were fulfilled in Jesus. He will come mounted on a donkey (9:9), he will be betrayed (11:12), crucified (12:10) and more.
So what can we learn?
- Don’t mess with God’s people. We see this throughout the Old Testament. The covenant people of God may do evil and may even face God’s judgment, but they are still the covenant people of God. He will not hold guiltless those who treat them poorly. Not immediately, but in time they will face judgment.
- Be about the work of God. They had returned from exile and were no in the land. But they dragged their feet rebuilding the temple. Perhaps they were discouraged or just did not make it a priority. The LORD had to send Zechariah as a messenger of encouragement and to give them a gentle shove forward.
- Worship is central. I’ve been thinking on this lately. When we do not worship, our prayer and our Christianity becomes very self-focused. Worship keeps us in the place of reminding ourselves it is not about us but about Him. Perhaps that’s why it was so important that the temple get rebuilt soon.
- Messiah was coming. This was the hope of Israel. And we see more glimpses of how he was going to come.
- There’s more prophecy to unfold. I don’t understand much of it, but Jesus is coming back. How? With a millenium? Or is that fulfilled? That depends on how one looks at things. But Jesus is coming back with great power and authority. And in those days peace will reign.
There’s so much of Zechariah I don’t understand. That along with Isaiah and Song of Solomon, I may need to add it to my list to revisit. It’s always one thing to breeze through it. It’s another to stop and really think on it.
