Zechariah

Zechariah was a long book. Well I guess fourteen chapters is long when all the rest of them have been two and three lately. This book is again about the rebuilding of the temple.

The first six verses are a call to return to Yahweh (because their fathers had refused to). The cool part is that they did repent (v 6). The next six chapters (1-6) describe eight visions that Yahweh gives to Zechariah, all of which are then interpreted by an angel of Yahweh (1:9). The first vision (1:7-17) tells that Yahweh is returning to Jerusalem, therefore the people should not rest but rebuild His temple. In the second (1:18-21), God says that He will use nations to terrify the nations who came against Judah. The third vision (2:1-13) is of a man with a measuring stick in Jerusalem. It is basically about how prosperous the city will be, so much so that it cannot be measured. The next vision is very cool. It is a picture of the new high priest in dirty clothes, but Yahweh takes away his iniquity (3:4) and gives him pure clothes. And in verse 8, the coming of Christ, the Branch, is promised.

The fifth vision (4:1-14) is also pretty amazing. It is meant to encourage Zerubbabel. In 4:6, Yahweh acknowledges that this (the rebuilding of the temple) can't be done by the might or power of human hands, "but by His Spirit." And He promises that to Zerubbabel. Vision six banishes evil from Judah. The seventh vision banishes wickedness from Judah and kind of cleverly sends it to Babylon (where they were banished before). And the horses come up again in the eighth vision, patrolling the earth.

Chapters 7 and 8 talk about the real reason for fasting. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 talk about the coming of Christ, the king, the cornerstone, the shepherd. And in 11:6 He even talks about how He will be slaughtered. Chapters 12 and 13 also talk about the death of Messiah (12:10 and 13:7). And then chapter 14 talks about the final triumph of Yahweh.

Zechariah is a very interesting book. Again, it deals with the rebuilding of Yahweh's temple in Jerusalem. The promise of the coming Messiah is so awesome to see here though. I'm only one book away. I'm glad I don't have to wait 400 years like they did.

All for His glory,

Mitchell