Zechariah
Zechariah was from the priestly line, being the son of Berekiah, the
son of Iddo who was listed as the head of a returning priestly family
from the exile (Neh. 12:4, 16). He served together with Haggai in
encouraging the exiles to resume the rebuilding of the temple (Ezr. 5:1;
6:14). However, Zechariah appeared to have served long after Haggai and
his prophecies in the first 8 chapters are clearly dated from 520-518
B.C. while those of chapters 9-14 are undated. It is worth-noting that
Zechariah, being fully awake, experienced all eight visions during the
course of one night and not as dreams (1:8).
“The book of Zechariah addresses both the first and second coming of Christ, but clearly demonstrates the first advent to be a necessary preparation for the second. The use of the ‘Branch’ motif (Zech. 3:8; 6:12,13), emphasizing Jesus’ humanity and service, has an unquestionable link to previous uses of that designation in Isaiah and Jeremiah where Christ’s deity and kingship are stressed (Isa. 4:2; 11:1-5)…The smiting of the divine Shepherd is anticipated (Zech. 13:7, cf. Isa. 40:11; Jer. 31:10; Ezek. 34:5-31; Matt. 25;32 [sic*]; Jn. 10:14,15). The betrayal and crucifixion of Christ (Zech. 11:12, 13; 12:10) are connected with Israel’s repentance (Zech. 12:10–14:9).”
(The Hebrew-Greek Study Bible) (*Matt. 26:31)
The name Zechariah means “the Lord remembers”.
The Introductory Message—1:1-6
(1) When did the word of the Lord first come to Zechariah?
a. What is the historical background at the time? (see Ezr. 4:24; 5:1ff; 6:14)
b. Who appeared to be speaking first to those who had returned from exile? (see Hag. 1:1; 2:1, 10, 20)
(2) Reference to their ancestors (vv. 2-6)
a. Why was the Lord very angry with their ancestors? (vv. 2, 4)
b. What eventually happened to their ancestors? (v. 6)
c. Why? (v. 5)
d. What should they learn from their ancestors? (vv. 3-4)
e. What did their ancestors do when they were overtaken by the words of the Lord (i.e. when their nation was destroyed)? (v. 6)
f. What lesson should they also learn from this?
1:7-11—The 1st Vision—Horses among the Myrtle Trees
(3) When was this vision given? (It is quite obvious that the rebuilding work had already been resumed in spite of opposition.)
(4) The man riding on a red horse standing among the myrtle tree appears to be the leader to whom the other riders report back to. It might not be helpful to speculate on the meaning of the different colors of the horses, as their colors (as well as their mission) differ from those in Revelation 6.
a. What have the other riders been doing? (v. 10)
b. What is their finding? (v. 11)
c. What does it mean? (v. 15a)
d. Why is the Lord jealous for Jerusalem and Zion? (v. 14b)
e. What has the Lord done to Jerusalem? (v. 14; see Jer. 25:11-12)
f. What promise does the Lord make in response to the question of the angel? (v.16)
(5) What does the above vision mean to those who have just resumed rebuilding the temple? (It was done in spite of opposition and the risk of disobeying the royal decree.)
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
1:18-21—The 2nd Vision—Horns and Craftsmen
(1) The prophet now sees four horns (vv. 18-19)
a. What do horns normally portray? (see Lam. 2:17)
b. What have these four horns done to the nations of Judah, Israel and Jerusalem? (v. 19b)
c. Who might these four horns be? (see Dan. 2:36-44)
(2) The Lord then shows the prophet four craftsmen (vv. 20-21)
a. What are these craftsmen going to do to the four horns (i.e. world powers)?
b. While no clues are provided here as to who these four craftsmen are:
i. What does the use of craftsmen to overthrow the horns indicate?
ii. Read Revelation 6:1-8 and get a sense of what these four craftsmen might refer to?
(3) How does this vision dovetail with the first one?
(4) What is the message to the post-exilic audience of Zechariah?
2:1-13—The 3rd Vision—The Coming of the Lord
(5) The man with a measuring line (vv. 1-5)
a. In OT prophesies, a measuring line may be used to refer to the judgment of the Lord because of the short-comings of Israel (Isa. 28:17; Lam. 2:8). What is it used to denote here instead? (see 1:16; 2:4-5)
b. What does a city without walls signify? (v. 4)
c. How will a city be protected without walls? (v. 5)
d. What kind of glory will Jerusalem have in the future? (v. 5b)
e. Why should the angel be told to “run” and to speak to this young prophet?
(6) The Judgment of Babylon (vv. 6-9) – Now, many exiles are still scattered around the world, especially in the land of the north (i.e. Babylon).
a. In this vision, what does the Lord tell them to do on the day He returns to Jerusalem? (v. 6)
b. Why are they told to flee? (v. 9)
c. What reason is being given for the plundering of Babylon? (v. 8)
d. V. 8 is a difficult verse to understand concerning this “Glorious one” or the One honored.
i. He has been sent by the Lord (v. 8b)
ii. He will raise His hand against the nations (v. 8c)
iii. He identifies Himself as the speaker, the Lord Almighty (v. 8a)
Who might He be?
(7) The Coming of the Lord (vv. 10-13)
a. Why should the Daughter Zion be glad? (v. 10)
b. Consider how special this coming is:
i. What does v. 10b relate about it?
ii. Who will join the Lord and be His people as well?
iii. Who really is the One that is coming to live among them? (v.11b)
iv. What is the special message to Judah and Jerusalem? (v. 12)
v. What is the special message to all mankind? (v. 13; see Ps. 2)
(8) What does this vision mean to the post-exilic audience of Zechariah who obeyed the command to resume the rebuilding work of the temple?
(9) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
The 4th Vision— Joshua, the High Priest
(1) The court of heaven (v.1)
a. How does this scene remind you of Job? (see Job 1:6-12)
b. What is Satan doing in the court of heaven? (see also Rev. 12:10)
c. What might be Satan’s purposes to accuse Joshua at this time of the resumption of the rebuilding of the temple?
(2) The Lord defends Joshua (vv. 2-5)
a. What word is being repeated by the Lord against Satan? (v. 2)
b. What does it mean?
c. Can the Lord deny that Joshua and the people he represents have not sinned? (v. 3)
d. What does the Lord appeal to? (v. 2b)
e. How does the Lord deal with the filthy clothes (symbol of their sins)? (v. 4)
f. Why can’t Joshua take off his own filthy clothes? Why do they have to be taken off at the command of the angel of the Lord?
g. What is he given instead to put on? (v. 5b)
h. Since Zechariah should only be an onlooker, consider his actions:
i. Why does he ask to have a clean turban (which is actually a tiara—K&D, 527) put on the high priest?
ii. Why does he jump into the action?
(3) A new charge to Joshua (vv. 6-8)
a. What is the charge and promise given to Joshua? (v. 6-7)
b. How meaningful is it given what Joshua and his people are facing at the time?
c. Is this charge given before or after Joshua is cleansed and forgiven?
d. V. 8 gives us an important guideline in how to interpret this vision. (This should also apply to all the other visions in Zechariah.)
i. What is this guideline?
ii. Who is the central figure of these visions? (see also Jer. 23:5; Isa. 11:1)
Who is the “Branch”?
(4) The day of salvation (vv. 9-10)
a. What is being set in front of Joshua in the vision? (v. 9)
b. Who is that stone with seven eyes? (see Isa. 28:16; Ps. 118:22; Rev. 5:6; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6-8)
c. How will salvation be achieved? (v. 9b; Heb. 9:26-28)
d. What will the salvation of the Branch mean to His promise to Israel? (v. 10; see Isa. 11:1-10)
(5) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
The 5th Vision—The Golden Lampstand
(1) The vision (vv. 1-4) ― As Zechariah fell back to sleep, the angel woke him up again.
a. What does the prophet see? (v. 2; it is perhaps helpful to draw your own simple diagram of the golden lampstand)
b. Describe how this golden lampstand differs from the one in the temple in the following ways.
i. Its shape and structure (see Exod. 25:31-40)
ii. Its source of oil (see Exod. 27:20-21)
(2) The Interpretation—Part I (vv. 5-10)
a. While Joshua is the high priest and Zerubbabel is the governor, why is this message directed to the latter? (v. 6)
b. What is the message? (v. 6)
c. How does this picture of a golden lampstand convey this message?
d. What is the mountain that stands in front of Zerubbabel in terms of the rebuilding work of the temple? (see Ezr. 5:3-5)
e. How will this mountain be removed? (v. 6)
f. What is the specific promise given to Zerubbabel concerning the rebuilding project? (vv. 7b-9)
i. When was the foundation of this temple laid? Was it by the hand of Zerubbabel? (See Hag. 2:18; 2:3-4)
ii. What does the bringing out of the “capstone” signify? (vv. 7b, 9)
iii. What or who does this capstone symbolize? (see Ps. 118:22; 1 Pet. 2:8)
iv. Why should we not despise the day of the fulfillment of this vision? (v. 10)
(3) The Interpretation—Part II (vv. 11-14)
a. What is the question asked twice by the prophet? (vv. 11-12)
b. What is the angel’s reply?
c. Since Joshua and Zerubbabel are symbols of the future, consider the following:
i. What might the pouring out of “golden oil” symbolize?
ii. If “oil” symbolizes the Holy Spirit, who might be the one who is anointed by the Holy Spirit and can impart the Holy Spirit? (See Matt. 3:11; Lk. 4:18; Jn. 15:26; 20:22. See Note below.)
(4) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
Some opine that the two olive branches may symbolize the two witnesses in Revelation 11. However, it could refer to the two-fold ministry of Christ as the priest and the king. I think the best conclusion is that we do not really know.
5:1-4—The 6th Vision—The Flying Scroll—Now the angel shows Zechariah a “flying scroll”.
(1) The scroll:
a. What is a scroll usually used for?
b. What does the size of the scroll signify? (v. 2; 30’x15’)
c. What is the purpose of flying over the whole land? (v. 3)
(2) One sin is written on each side (perhaps, symbolic of the two tablets of the Ten Commandments).
a. Which two sins are being singled out? (vv. 3b-4)
b. How do they correspond to the Ten Commandments? (Exod. 20:1-17; 34; 26)
c. Based on the citing of these two commandments (especially the second one) who might be the object of this curse—the Jews or the Gentiles?
(3) What is the message to the immediate audience of Zechariah?
5:5-11—The 7th Vision—The Woman in the Basket
(4) Zechariah sees a “basket”. In Hebrew, the word is “ephah” which is the “dry standard to measure grains”. How appropriate is its use to signify “the iniquity of the people throughout the land”?
(5) Since a woman is the symbol of life-giving, what might the use of a woman to denote wickedness signify?
(6) Since the basket is to be flown to Babylon, what might “the land” in v. 6 denote?
(7) What does the pushing of the woman back into the basket and the putting of its heavy lid on symbolize?
(8) What do the following symbolize? (v.11)
a. The flying of the basket to the land of Babylon
b. The building of a house for it
c. The setting of the basket in its place in the house, when it is ready
(9) This refers to end-time
events. Although we cannot be sure that this vision is tied to that in
Revelation 17:1-13, how might their similarities give us some understanding
concerning the following things?
a. The kind of wickedness being referred to
b. The reference to Babylon
c. The basket being set in place when a house is ready for it (see Note below)
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
“In this vision of the measuring basket there is a blending of elements from Zechariah’s time with those of the far distant future. The basket is employed to indicate how the measure of Israel’s sins had accumulated in that day…For such iniquity there must be first of all, the restraint of God in order that the righteous may be permitted to live in the land; this is symbolized by the basket’s lead cover. Second, evil must be completely eradicated from the land and carried back to the seat of idolatry and defiance of God, namely, Babylon; this is indicated by the flight of the basket to Babylon, its base. Compare Rev. 18.”
(Scofield Study Bible, 947)