God's Invitation Series

Last week we began a study of the book of Zechariah.

(1) We discovered the THEME of the book in Zechariah’s name. Zechariah means “Yahweh [covenant name of God] Remembers.” God remembers his covenant with his people, even when they forget it. He remembers his promises to them, even when they have lost hope of those promises being fulfilled. In an earlier time,i Isaiah recorded this faithfulness of God to his people by prophetically declaring, “Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted.”ii That was a word of comfort for people who felt discouraged and forsaken. The next verse in Isaiah 49:14 records how they felt: “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.” Then verses 15-16 give God’s response: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.” The NLT paraphrases that last statement this way: “Ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins.” That passage in Isaiah 49 approximates Zechariah’s message to Israel: God Remembers!

(2) Drawing heavily from the book of Ezra, we examined the HISTORICAL CONTEXT of Zechariah’s message. He is a postexile prophet. He is preaching to people who have come out of the 70-year Babylonian captivity. This small remnant who returned to Jerusalem began with great zeal and enthusiasm. But they encountered fierce opposition. The task was more difficult than they thought it would be, and the support from other Jews in Babylon was less than hoped for. They became discouraged and then got distracted by other things.iii

During their first two years back in Jerusalem, they settled into homes, built a temporary altar, faithfully worshipped God, and laid the foundation of the temple by 536 BC. It was an excellent start. But how many know, starting a worthy project is often easier than finishing it. The opposition from the local Samaritans and the limited support from other Jews who remained in Babylon, left them discouraged and disillusioned. Ezra 4:24 says, “Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” For 16 years they made no progress on the work God brought them there to do. They lost their zeal for God. They still claimed Jehovah as their God. They still went through the motions. But their hearts were not in it like it was in the beginning.

That’s where the book of Zechariah begins. In 520 BC God did something to turn that situation around. Ezra 5:1 records it this way: “Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.” That statement corresponds with Haggai 1:1 and Zechariah 1:1, tying the three books together historically.

Born in Babylon in a priestly, devoted family, Zechariah came to Jerusalem as a child. When he reached maturity, he began his public ministry in Zechariah 1:1. “In the eighth month of the second year of Darius [520 BC], the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet. . . .”

Today we will begin with: I. THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

When leaning anything that is complex, it is helpful to identify the individual parts, analyze each part, then make sure we know how those parts connect as a whole. Zechariah is one of the most difficult books in the Bible to interpret.iv It is full of visions, symbolism, and end-time prophecy. That’s why many people skim over it and fail to reap the benefits of what God is saying through this prophet. But God has given it to us as a revelation. He wants to speak to us through this book, and the message is particularly relevant for where we are today as God’s people.

Look with me at the OUTLINE of this book provided below.

First notice the book is organized into two major sections:

(1) Chapters 1-8 reflect Zechariah’s early ministry and

(2) Chapters 9-14 were probably given much later in his life.

The literary style of the two sections is very different. Additionally, chapters 9-14 contain later historical references. For those reasons, some liberal scholars say that portion of the book was written by someone other than Zechariah. But the most likely explanation of the differences is that Zechariah’s prophecies in chapters 9-14 came much later in Zechariah’s life than those in the first eight chapters.v