Zechariah 1
Zechariah 1:1 Zechariah prophesied the same year as Haggai. (Haggai 2:1,2:10)
Zechariah 1:2-6 The message that you reap what you sow was repeated by virtually every minor prophet, in one form or another. Here, at least, is the acknowledgement that the Israelites learned their lesson after the spanking. They ignored God’s commands and warnings, and found out He was serious. The hard way. There a curious contrast between 1:2 and 1:15. Just how angry was the Lord?
Zechariah 1:7-11 The first of eight visions: Zechariah sees several horses that are red, brown, and white, standing among Myrtle trees. Since the Lord sent them to scout the entire earth, they must be angelic. That they found the world at rest and in peace is the opposite of the four horses released when the first four seals will be broken by the Lamb standing before the throne at the end times. (Revelation 6:1-8) Those horses will bring conquest, war, famine, and death as dimensions of judgment on the earth. This peace in Zechariah’s day was under Persia’s rule.
Zechariah 1:12-17 The angel of the Lord appears many times in the Old Testament. Many think this is the pre-incarnate Christ, although he may be the highest ranking of the created angels. A separate discussion. Rather than God speaking directly to the prophet, the angel of the Lord asked a question of Him, and then relayed His answer to the prophet. He will stretch His measuring line over Jerusalem, to give comfort and prosperity to His people. The measuring line returns in the third vision, but in other passages, it appears to signify God’s standards, the eternal metrics that govern eternity and the spiritual realm. (Isaiah 28:17, 34:11; Ezekiel 47:3) That He will bless Jerusalem with prosperity and comfort conveys to us that His eternal standards bring prosperity and comfort. His kingdom is not one of suffering and meager provision, it is just that prospering in the spiritual dimension requires us to shed worldly things that seem to us to be wealth and comfortable.
Zechariah 1:18-21 The second of eight visions: The four horns that scattered the disobedient Jews are not new. Daniel saw them in a vision decades earlier. (Daniel 7:8-11) But here we have the judgment of these nations, who acted as wild beasts in dismembering Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. God raised up skilled laborers to dethrone and destroy those savage warriors in the spiritual realm, who led the other nations against the Jews to scatter them. There is a possible interpretation of this passage relating to spiritual warfare. While humans may not have the powers of demonic fallen angels, if they are faithful to study God’s word and His ways, and commit themselves to faithfully do what He calls them to, they may have authority in spiritual realms to bind, even to cast down those evil spirits. This is not something to be done lightly, but some have this calling. They will need the skill that can only come by spiritual exercise and training. (Mark 10:42; Luke 10:19) The authority belongs to Christ but He shares it with those skilled craftsmen that He can entrust it to. (Colossians 2:10)
Zechariah 2
Zechariah 2:1-2 The third of eight visions: A man with a measuring line is measuring Jerusalem. This seems to signify God’s transcendent standards, that govern the eternal and spiritual realm, as mentioned above. This is perhaps akin to Ezekiel’s vision of the measurement of water trickling from the temple that becomes a mighty river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:1-5) This passage continues in a different direction.
Zechariah 2:3-5 The angel Reveals to Zechariah that Jerusalem would be so populous that walls could not contain it. In Zechariah’s day, there would have been danger in not having defensive walls, but the Lord promises that His defense, as a wall of fire, will protect them. Not only that, but He will reveal His glory within it, which will be seen as fire. (Acts 2:3) This vision clearly was not a description of the returning exiles in Zechariah’s day. But a similar description is later given of the new Jerusalem, after the end of the millennium, when God establishes His kingdom permanently on earth. (Revelation 21:2-4, 10-27)
Zechariah 2:6-9 The Lord calls the people of the diaspora to come. It seems odd that He would call Babylon a daughter, but that is where many of His people are. Zion is His daughter (2:10) He allowed His people to be taken and He now wants them to return.
Zechariah 2:10-13 Adding to this, He will live among them so that they truly will be His people, as promised to Moses. (Leviticus 26:12) In Moses’ day, the Lord was among them as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. (Exodus 13:21-22) Jesus came as a man who walked and taught and showed them God’s true nature and character - the divine in bodily form. (Hebrews 1:3) Since we have the gospel, we are used to the idea of the incarnation, but to the Jews of that day, this was a pagan concept, akin to Greek mythology, of the gods masquerading as humans so they could fulfill their own desires. But Jesus would come (a few hundred years later) to show that what the one true God desires is fellowship and lives lived in accordance with His holiness and His agape love, that Jesus lived.
Zechariah 3
Zechariah 3:1-5 The fourth of eight visions: Joshua, the high priest, is symbolically reclothed with fine garments and a clean turban.
Zechariah 3:1 Jesus is our high priest (Hebrews 8:1-2), Joshua (or Yeshua) being the original Hebrew version of His name, translated into English as Jesus.
Zechariah 3:2-5 This Joshua, the earthly high priest in Zechariah’s day, was symbolically dressed in dirty clothes, as he lived in a culture that was still heavily polluted by sin, as the Jews were recovering from the pre-exilic sins that caused God to allow Babylon to conquer them. They had been spanked, but now had to acquire new lifestyles and behaviors. And the promise given to the returning Jews is that the Lord will not only forgive their sins, He will also clothe their lives with healthy lifestyles through His power. Jesus took away Joshua’s sin. (John 1:29, Romans 11:27, 1 John 3:5) His indwelling His people, through the Holy Spirit (in the New Testament) will empower them. (John 14:15-17)
Zechariah 3:6-7 A conditional promise: If you will walk in obedience and keep His commandments, then you will have your place among the heavenly court. Receive what God has given you, and you will be eternally blessed!
Zechariah 3:8-9 A promise laden with symbols is explained. The Lord’s servant, the branch, is coming. He was also spoken of by other prophets, and then Jesus is explicitly identified in the New Testament. (Isaiah 4:2, Jeremiah 33:5&15; John 15:1-6) Jesus is the vine of true life and He can only give us His life if we are connected to Him. In Revelation, the seven eyes of the Lamb are seven spirits of God sent out to the earth. (Revelation 5:6) God sees everything that happens everywhere on earth - there is no place where you or your enemies can hide from His sight. He will remove sin in a single day, on a hill called Calvary (which means, the skull) five hundred years later.
Zechariah 3:10 Isaiah also invoked the fruit of the vine (grapes) and fig tree, both sweet to the taste (without any refined sugar needed) as symbolic of the fruit in our lives that will flow in that day, from this promised life in Jesus. (Isaiah 36:16; Matthew 26:27-29)
Zechariah 4
Zechariah 4:1-14 The fifth of eight visions: A golden lamp stand and two olive trees.
Zechariah 4:1-5 Zechariah sees the vision and asks the angel what these things are. The angel seemed surprised that he didn’t know. The golden lamp stand’s description matches that of a menorah, which burns olive oil. Olive trees represent peace, so this represents peace through light. In John’s vision of Christ, Jesus is standing in front of seven golden lamp stands. (Revelation 1:12) Not sure what the significance is of the difference.
Zechariah 4:6 Often quoted verse. The point is, we can’t do it by ourselves, no matter how powerful or capable we are. To accomplish God’s purposes and build His kingdom, we need the power of the Holy Spirit.
Zechariah 4:7 Mighty mountains are not a problem for those walking in God’s power. Jesus went further than saying they will become level ground, promising that those with faith could command mountains to be cast into the sea. (Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23) And then, the capstone to the Temple will be blessed. This was fulfilled by Jesus a few hundred years later. (Mark 11:9-10)
Zechariah 4:8-10 After the foundation of this earthly temple is laid and the capstone is brought by Zerubbabel the seven eyes of the Lord will rejoice. (3:9)
Zechariah 4:11-14 The two olive branches are two people who are anointed to serve the Lord. While Joshua and Zerubbabel were thus designated in Zechariah’s day, in the last days, they will be two witnesses who are anointed with power for 1,260 days. (Revelation 11:3-6)
Zechariah 5
Zechariah 5:1-4 The sixth of eight visions: A flying scroll. Zechariah sees an enormous flying scroll, 4.57 meters wide and 9.14 meters long. This scroll is a curse, likely as described by Moses for lawbreakers. (Deuteronomy 27:26, 28:15) Two specific commandments are identified as having been broken: stealing and lying. (Exodus 20:15-16) Exile is prescribed. (Deuteronomy 28:36) This is exactly what had happened to Israel. The warning is not to repeat the same mistake. The curse of the scroll, however, is destruction of the house of the lawbreaker. (Proverbs 14:11) Question - while 5:4 identifies timber and stones, does destroying the house of a person really refer to the persons family, their descendants? A physical house can be replaced, but the loss of all one’s offspring is the irreversible end of that house.
Zechariah 5:5-11 The seventh of eight visions: A basket holding a woman of wickedness. The basket itself represents iniquity, and it contains wickedness. Perhaps this represents Ishtar, if the returning Israelites had brought some Babylonian religion with them. In this case, two women with stork-like wings carry the basket to Babylon. Perhaps this represents cleansing Israel, but at the cost of further contaminating Babylon. At the end times, Babylon will be filled with and represent the epitome of evil. (Revelation 18:1-3) This will happen when the times are ripe, when everything is ready.
Zechariah 6
Zechariah 6:1-8 The last of the eight visions: The four chariots. A notable match to the horses’ colors seen by John on the Island of Patmos. (Revelation 6:1-8) Zechariah asks for an explanation, which is given that these are spirits of heaven that go out into the whole earth. In Zechariah’s case, those in the north have given God’s Spirit rest, represented by the chariot with black horses. In John’s vision, the white horse carried a conqueror, the red horse’s rider had the power to take away peace and make men kill each other, the black horse’s rider brought famine and scarcity, and the pale horse’s rider was named death and brought hades with him. The significance of the chariots that Zechariah saw, as contrasted with riders on horses that John saw, is possibly cultural. Chariots are instruments of war, while riders are more likely messengers or spies.
Zechariah 6:9-15 Zechariah is instructed to get gold and silver from three returning exiles, and take them to a metal smith to have him make a crown for Joshua the high priest. Joshua, Yeshua, will be named the branch. This symbolizes that he will branch out to build the temple of the Lord and sit and rule on his throne. This sounds a lot like Jesus! And during the last supper Jesus identified Himself as the vine, and His disciples as branches. (John 15:1-6)
How does a priest become a ruler? He is clothed with majesty by the supreme power. This is described in the epistle to the Hebrews in which Jesus’ obedience led to Him being designated a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:5-10) This was after He was already identified as having sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:1-4) Jesus did this after having made purification of sins. It was the self-sacrificial love of Jesus that qualified Him to be both king and high priest. Joshua, by name, represents a foretaste of the future work of Christ.
