Zechariah Introduction and Chapter One

Introduction—Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. He started his prophecy two months after Haggai. He calls himself the son Berechiah, the son of Iddo who was also a prophet, though we don’t know anything else about it. Both Ezra and Nehemiah call Zechariah the son of Iddo, but this is common, i.e., referring to descendants as “sons.” Jesus was the “son of David.” We don’t know much else about Zechariah; his prophecy gives little more information about him. His book is a difficult one, especially the latter chapters where there is a lot of obscure prophetic material. The first half of the book contains a lot of metaphors, symbols, and visions, but many of them are explained for us. Like Revelation, it’s a beautiful book once this symbolic material is understood.

Chapter One

“Do not be like your fathers” (vs. 1-6)—After introducing himself in verse one and dating the beginning of his prophecy, Zechariah gets right into his message from God. “The LORD has been very angry with your fathers” (v. 2). We saw from the book of Haggai that, for the first 16 years of their return from captivity, the Jews had been negligent in their service to Jehovah, so Zechariah follows up with God exhorting the people to return to Him and He would be gracious and return to them (v. 3). People can choose their course of action, and the Lord’s response will be based on ours. Their fathers had been obstinate, even though God’s prophets had preached to them; “do not be like your fathers” (v. 4). The Lord had exhorted them to “turn now from your evil ways,” but “they did not hear nor heed Me” (v. 4). What happened to your fathers? Well, they are all dead, of course, but their message of being disobedient and punished remains. Where are the former prophets? “Do they live forever?” No, they don’t, but their message of repentance and salvation remains, and it is as true now as it was when first preached (vs. 5-6). Everything happened just as the prophets said it would, and the Lord dealt with those former people according to their ways and doings. And, of course, the clear implication is that He will do the same with the current generation of Jews. Thus, return to the Lord.

The four horsemen (vs. 7-11)—This next revelation to Zechariah was approximately three months later (compare verses 1 and 7). The prophet sees four horsemen, which remind us of the four horsemen of the book of Revelation (Revelation 6). Or rather, the four horsemen of Revelation should remind us of the horsemen here because Zechariah was first. The prophet sees (by night, perhaps emblematic of the darkness and affliction the Jews suffered under) a man sitting on a red horse, which probably symbolizes blood and war. But he is sitting under myrtle trees, trees of peace. There were three horses behind him, the significance of which is unknown (v. 8). Zechariah asks the angel, who was talking with him, “My lord, what are these?" (v. 9). The angel said “These are the ones whom the LORD has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth,” (v. 10), apparently observing what was going on because they announce in verse 11 that, having gone “to and fro throughout the earth,” they find peace. The Persian empire dominated the Near and Middle East at the time, and beside sporadic outbreaks in various provinces, largely kept order for about 2 centuries. The Jews, of course, were still in affliction, but they weren’t at war and had been allowed, by the Persians, to return to their homeland.

Zealous for Jerusalem (vs. 12-17)—The angel who spoke with Zechariah then asked Jehovah asking Him how long it would be before He had mercy “on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?” (v. 12). Well, this is a bit of divine pageantry, if you will; the Lord had been merciful to them in allowing them to return home, but yet the people were still dominated by a foreign power. The Lord spoke “good and comforting words” (v. 13), and announced that He was “zealous for Jerusalem” and “angry with the nations at ease” (vs. 14-15). Jehovah had used these nations to punish His people, “and they helped—but with evil intent” (v. 15). Read Isaiah 10 for some interesting information about this. The Assyrians did God’s will, but for their own benefit, not because they were trying to please Him. The Lord will allow His temple to rebuilt and His people to dwell in their former cities. “And will again choose Jerusalem” (v. 17). Jehovah’s choice of the Jews was not because of any righteousness or worth on their part, but in keeping with a promise He had made to mankind back in Genesis 3:15—the coming of the Messiah—which would be filled through the descendents of Abraham (Gen. 12:3). So there is a much larger purpose here than simply the restoration of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah.

The four horns and the four craftsmen (vs. 18-21)—Zechariah then sees four horns (v. 18), which usually represent power. “What are these?” he asks the angel. “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem” (v. 19). Trying to find four specific nations that did that is a bit problematic, so the idea is probably a totality—all those who had played a part in the Jews dispersion. Then Zechariah sees four craftsmen (v. 20, “carpenters,” KJV, “smiths,” ASV). “What are these coming to do.” The craftsmen will be God’s tool in punishing those who had afflicted His people (v. 21). So the promise of God to His people is that He saw their affliction and misery, and those who so abused them would some day have retribution return upon them. It’s always nice to see justice done. These thoughts in the last half of Zechariah 1 remind us much (or should) of the principles found in the book of Revelation. Since Zechariah was written long before John penned the Revelation, some of the signs and symbols of that last book should already be familiar to us, and we should be able to understand them better. It is to our shame that we do not, and that is totally due to our failure to fully study the message of the Old Testament prophets.