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<...Go back

A Survey of the Prophets - Zechariah


<<...Intro   <...Previous   Next...>   Epilog...>>
Historical Background of the Book.  See the historical background of the book of Haggai.

The Author and the Audience. Haggai was not alone in encouraging the Jews in Jerusalem to rebuild the temple around 520 B.C. God had also chosen Zechariah to deliver a similar message. Scholars suspect Zechariah, whose name means "The Lord Remembers", was likely born in Babylonian captivity and travelled with Zerubbabel and the other Jews permitted to resettle the land in 536 B.C. He was a priest and the grandson of Iddo (Neh. 12:1, 4, 16).

Outline/Major Themes. The Book of Zechariah has 14 chapters (the most of the Minor Prophets). These chapters are grouped into approximately three major parts:
  • Ch. 1-6 Call for repentance in rebuilding the temple along with eight night visions about an encouraging future.
  • Ch. 7-8 A question about annual fasts and the call for heart-felt genuine worship over outward observances.
  • Ch. 9-14 Reassurances about the future and the coming Messiah. The third part is written very differently than the first two parts (so differently that some scholars question whether it was written by Zechariah). Scholars are somewhat divided over the fulfillment of the various prophetic visions. One view is that they span a period of time including Alexander the Great (330 B.C.), the Maccabees (100 B.C.), and the destruction of Jerusalem (70 A.D.).
Messages for Christians. The Book of Zechariah echos one of the main messages of the Book of Haggai: don't become weary when doing good. In addition:
  • Outward actions without the right attitude and obedience are useless (ch. 7:4-7). For example, we cannot live for Christ on Sunday and live for ourselves (or for Satan) the rest of the week.
  • Salvation and blessings available to us as citizens of the Messiah's Kingdom, the Church (Matt. 16:18-19; Eph. 3:6-10; Eph. 5:22-33; 1 Tim. 3:15)
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