Another Bible Commentary: Zechariah

The prophet Zechariah is mentioned in Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14. He basically said, “Rebuild the Temple, already!” in the context of Ezra 4:1-5,21. Artaxerxes had said to stop. Zechariah was a priest (Nehemiah 12:16) similar to Ezekiel. The Messiah or The Branch appears again in this book (For more on this common prophetic theme, see Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 33:15, Zechariah 3:8, and Zechariah 6:12). Since the Hebrew for “branch” amounts to the consonants “nzr”, Jesus growing up in Nazareth was not random.

1:7 February 15th, 519 BC.

1:8 These Horsemen return in Zechariah 6. Remember them when we get to Revelation.

1:11 Based on His characteristics elsewhere in the Old Testament, the “Angel of the LORD” represents Jesus. Matthew 24:37-39 and 1 Thessalonians 5:3 suggest that a world resting and at peace is ripe for wrecking.

1:12 like Revelation 6:10.

1:15 Pause to consider that the threats from earlier prophets and covenant curses including cannibalism pale in comparison to what is coming for our enemies on The Day of the LORD. He was only a little angry.

1:18-19 Since a shofar is a ram’s horn played as a trumpet, are these musical horns, stabby creature horns like from Daniel 7, the edges of an altar of sacrifice, four compass directions, or is that even a meaningful difference here? Judah’s scatterers go away, and we don’t have to overthink it.

1:20 “craftsmen” See Zechariah 2:9.

2:1 The measuring line is reminiscent of the one in Ezekiel 40 through Ezekiel 44.

2:4 like Isaiah 49:19.

2:9 darkly echoes Exodus 12:35-36.

2:10 like Jesus.

2:11 “my people” Us.

2:13 like Habakkuk 2:20.

3:1 Joshua and Zerubbabel ran Jerusalem and the Temple after the exiles returned from Babylon.

3:2 The accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) still tries to bring charges against the saved, but see Hebrews 7:25.

3:4 This next bit is like Exodus 29:1-9 and Leviticus 16:3-5. See Galatians 3:27. Even in the shower, you’re wearing Him.

3:7 “If” Here’s one of those conditional performance-based statements people take out of context. Keep reading.

3:8 “symbolic of things to come” Yep, just a symbol. We’re under grace. See Hebrews 10:1 and Hebrews 8:12-13.

3:9 “remove the sin..in a single day” at the Cross. He came to take away all of our sins (John 1:29), and He did it (Hebrews 10:14).

3:10 “neighbor” now includes the Gentiles.

4:2,10 Culturally, the eye was thought of as a lamp (Matthew 6:22).

4:7 This is a promise that rebuilding the Temple uphill would be easy with help from the Spirit. The exclamation “God bless it!” is sometimes translated “Grace to it!”; it is His favor that matters, not our alleged merit.

4:10 “small things” Great things have humble beginnings; don’t get discouraged.

4:14 Joshua and Zerubbabel are possibilities. Revelation 11 has “two witnesses” for those looking for parallels between prophets.

5:1-4 The scroll is as long as the Holy Place in the Temple and has writing on both sides like the Ten Commandments (Exodus 32:15), and misuse of the Name and theft are two of those. Why those sins specifically? They sound like the bad shepherds that were misusing their offices (Jeremiah 23 and many, many others). “Congratulations! You’re getting the Temple back! If you mess this up, it’s going to fall down again in 70 AD just like Jesus will warn you it will.” Compare verse 4 with Matthew 24:2. In Revelation 5 through Revelation 8, the dangerous reading material is doled out a little at a time with seals.

5:6-8 The returners were further purified. “Get back in that pot, woman!” This is the same wife-turned-harlot-to-exile image, Lady Folly, etc., that we’ve seen before.

5:10 Getting sent back to “Babylon” again was still on the table.

5:11 She shows up again in Revelation 17.

6:1-8 Back in Zechariah 1, the horses looked around the world before God said that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt and that Babylon was to be punished. See Zechariah 1:11-17 and Zechariah 2:6-9. Two mountains of bronze (verse 1) near the presence of the Lord (verse 5) seem like 1 Kings 7:15-16 or the heavenly version thereof. He either rests from whipping Babylon in Zechariah 6:8 or hints at Jesus’ coming ministry in Galilee, which was to become a holy roller zone. I’ll explain more in the introductory material to the New Testament.

6:11 Joshua was a historical person in Zechariah’s day, but his role here foreshadows Christ. Jesus is Greek for Joshua.

6:13 Jesus built us into the new Temple. The combined functions of Joshua and Zerubbabel form the priest-king, the Messiah.

7:3 They asked if they should mourn Solomon’s wrecked Temple.

7:4-6 See Isaiah 58. God is critical of scheduled regular fasts. The only fast commanded was the Day of Atonement; people also got serious about specific issues or for mourning. Dinner was their primary source of entertainment, so fasting demonstrated that “they mean business”. Christ said his disciples would fast when He wasn’t with them, and I’m sure that weekend in the tomb was a time of somber reflection, but He’s with us all the time now.

7:10 Deuteronomy 27:19 is one example.

7:14 They oppressed the stranger/foreigner/alien, so they got a semester abroad in being strangers. For those who want to see “aliens” in antiquated language about foreigners, Abraham was hospitable to angels (who are interdimensional/interplanar beings, and therefore “alien”) in Genesis 18. Having seen what humans without the Holy Spirit living in them have said in alleged first contacts with extraterrestrial life online (“F*** off, space n*****! We’re full!”), the ultimate fate of this reality resembling that of Sodom is no surprise (2 Peter 3:10, Genesis 19).

8:4-5 The presence of old and young people is indicative of consistent safety.

8:8 We’ve gone from Exodus 6:7 to Hosea 1:9 and back again.

8:15 like Jeremiah 29:11.

8:19 Since the Temple had been rebuilt, the old fasts became parties. Sorrow became joy (John 16:20), the morning came after the night of weeping (Psalm 30:5)

8:23 like Genesis 27:29. Grabbing the hem was a sign of submission, like in Mark 5:27 and Luke 8:44.

9:3-4 More about Tyre like we saw in Isaiah 23, Jeremiah 25, Ezekiel 26 through Ezekiel 28, and Amos 1. This also sounds like the fate of “Babylon” in Revelation 18. Tyre was a Phoenician city (of decidedly not-genocided Canaanites); the focus on merchants here and in Revelation may be because the same word in Hebrew means “Canaanite” and “merchant” because of these Phoenicians.

9:7 “blood from their mouths…become a clan” They will eventually convert to Messianic Judaism and obey Leviticus 17. We’re still waiting on this one.

9:8 The events of 70 AD occurred, so “my people” that are “never again…overrun” are Christians, who cannot be truly killed. We won.

9:9 “lowly” connotes humble, gentle, poor, or mournful in Hebrew (Luke 19:41). This pertains to the “first coming” of Jesus; He rules the world in Zechariah 14:9. Here, He rode a “donkey” rather than the usual fancy royal mule or war horse (Matthew 21:5, John 12:14-15).

9:10 This happens when He returns for open world domination, like Psalm 46:8-9. There is no need for weapons when everyone is under His hegemony.

9:12 God is known for giving double for trouble, like in Job.

9:13 like Zechariah 10:3.

9:14-16 “trumpet” See the Leviticus 23:24 note if this seems to be especially interesting; “bowl” Now, you know why Revelation speaks of trumpets and bowls. There are a sevenfold upscale of both over there.

10:1 like Matthew 5:45.

10:2 like Matthew 9:36.

10:3 God expressed anger at the political and religious leadership, and He promised to take care of the people. The word for “leaders” here in the Hebrew suggests goats and the KJV, NASB, Amplified, ASV, DR, Tanakh, NET, WEB, and YLT translations just go with the poetic goat reference to signify the leaders. In contrast to normal sheep, bad shepherds/leaders are compared to fat sheep (Ezekiel 34) and goats (Jeremiah 50:8), which is a clue to the “sheep and goats” parable of Matthew 25. The bad shepherds got destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD just like Jesus warned, and the Good Shepherd still rules. (Sheep following their Shepherd’s voice to “just enough” patches of grass in the desert contrasting with goats who go their own way and eat indiscriminately are common sermon examples that can distract believers from the objects of God’s wrath and can make them think that everything is about their own behavior.) Also, for the bit in Zechariah 10:3 about God making His people like a horse, see Job 39:19-25 for some of the attributes this suggests – agile, fearsome, strong, fearless, and energetic.

10:9 like Deuteronomy 30:4-5.

10:11 See Exodus 14.

11:3 The bad shepherds/leaders in Zechariah 10:3.

11:12 This is the same price as a slave in Exodus 21:32 and also what Judas received for betraying Jesus.

11:13 Remember this when we get to Judas’ story (Matthew 27:5-7).

11:16 See Ezekiel 34:1-10.

11:17 like Matthew 5:29-30.

Zechariah 12 – See Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39, and Revelation 20-22.

12:1-9 The cup and/or the gathering of enemies for destruction sound like Isaiah 51:17-23, Psalm 75:8, Jeremiah 25:15-17, Jeremiah 25:27-29, Ezekiel 38, and the ending of Revelation.

12:10 “Me…pierced…firstborn son” They knew that the Messiah would return after being “pierced” and that the Messiah would be God Incarnate.

13:1 See Psalm 46:4, Joel 3:18, Ezekiel 47, Revelation 22, John 4:14, and John 7:37-39.

13:2 These would be false prophets connected with the idols and/or corrupt prophets as in Micah 3:5-7.

13:8 Remember, Zechariah prophesied after they had returned. The nation had already lived through Ezekiel 5:12 conditions before the Exile. A similar disaster happened after Zechariah’s time in 70 AD and multiple fulfillment is possible again in case the futurists object.

Zechariah 14 – See Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39, Mark 13, and Revelation 20-22. This prophecy does not have to occur after Zechariah 12 just because it is recorded after it in the text. This gathering of the nations does not go as clearly in favor of Jerusalem as Zechariah 12. The glorious future had been promised, but the events of 70 AD were still coming. What I’m hinting at is that while both prophecies point to the long-term big picture of God dwelling with us forever, after the thousand year reign with Christ in Revelation a multinational coalition (like several others in the text) is seen coming against us but being utterly destroyed before doing any harm. The story of Babylon, Rome, etc., coming to destroy God’s people eventually gets a new ending.

14:1-3 Turning the other cheek works because the Deuteronomy 32:35 smiting is on the way, but turning the other cheek is about personal insults. If you’re in a situation in which Abraham (Genesis 26:5) or David (1 Kings 15:5) would have fought a war, you are free to do likewise (Genesis 14:6, 1 Samuel 18:7). God will address our enemies either way. The “half” checks out with Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the percentages Jesus stated in Matthew 24:40-41. Zechariah seeing from the eternal perspective allows lots of latitude for when “then” is. Rome and the client kingdoms that participated in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple all fell; intercessory prayer by the righteous has been known to avert or at least delay prophecies of doom (Amos 7:1-6) since God wants to save us (2 Peter 3:9).

14:4 Regarding the Mount of Olives, David followed this route when he left in 2 Samuel 15:23-30. See also Ezekiel 11:23. Jesus pronounced the doom of Jerusalem and the Temple upon it in Matthew 24. Jesus ascended to Heaven from it in Luke and Acts. He’s coming back to it when He returns ( Acts 1:9-12). In Exodus, a sea parted; here, a mountain splits. The Romans built a road along a small valley at the site described in the first century AD.

14:5 That’s the earthquake we talked about in Amos.

14:6-7 See Isaiah 60:19 and Revelation 21:23.

14:8 like Ezekiel 47. We are the new Temple (1 Corinthians 3:16).

14:9 “alone” The false gods will be gone (Deuteronomy 6:4).

14:10 The border mountains will be made low, and Jerusalem will be lifted up.

14:11 You cannot properly kill a Christian; we have eternal life (Christ’s life). We won.

14:12 The flaying, blinding, tongue-cutting, etc., that was common treatment for conquered enemies back then is attributed to a plague here. People who say all this happened already point to the eruption of Vesuvius, but that seems to be too limited in scope. People who say most of biblical prophecy is still unfulfilled make guesses about nuclear warfare.

14:16-19 This is like an annual enthronement ceremony similar to those commanded by neighboring rulers. Revelation 7:9 uses similar imagery for saved Gentiles. This is the festival where Jesus taught about Himself as Messiah and about the Holy Spirit that lives in believers (John 7). This seems to be Zechariah’s Old Testament prophet brain’s vision of having to come to Jesus for salvation. The restoration of David’s “tent” in Amos 9:11-12 to rule the nations was referenced by the apostles in Acts 15:15-18 to refer to the culmination of the promised Gentile inclusion with the coming of Christianity. The similar number of bulls in Numbers 29:12-40’s festival to the number of the nations of mankind in Genesis 10 brings to mind the promises of Genesis 12:3 and Revelation 7:9-10.

14:20 Exodus 19:6 becomes broadly applied. Even the bells on horses become as holy as the High Priest’s headband (Exodus 28:36).

14:21 “Canaanite” or “merchant” is the same word in Hebrew because of the Phoenician (Canaanite) traders from Tyre, etc. If everything is holy, then there’s no need to trade to obtain it to offer, etc. John 2:15 is one fulfillment of this.

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