The book of zechariah is narrative history, prophetic and apocalyptic in genre. The efforts of these prophets succeed, and the temple is completed five years later. If one wonders whether his own contemporaries were able to follow his message, the answer cannot be a straightforward yes or no. Zechariah sought to encourage the people to build the temple in view of the promise that someday messiah would come to inhabit it.
Nov 18, 2014 zechariah was a prophet of god who wrote fourteen chapters in his book called, zechariah. This is all part of my personal ministry and dedication to jesus. Chapters 9 to 14 are undated but include material indicating that zechariahs prophetic activity may well have extended into the midfifth century b. The modern reader is likely to ask questions about zechariahs oracles, which are hard to understand today. Several new commentaries on the book of zechariah have appeared during the past few years. What haggai and zechariah proclaimed is recorded in the bible books bearing their names. Zechariah emphasized that god has used his prophets to teach, warn, and correct his people. The book of zechariah, the 11th book of the twelve minor prophets, dates from the same period as that of haggaiabout according to dates mentioned in chapters 18, zechariah was active from 520 to 518 bc. This will take place through divine salvation in a manner above that attributable to. A contemporary of the prophet haggai in the early years of the persian period, zechariah shared haggais concern that the temple.
The ultimate hope for us all was predicted by zechariah this book has more predictions of christ than any of the other minor prophets. But gods message through zechariah was also a message of great hope. The book of zechariah was likely written in two primary segments, between 520 and 470 b. Teaching young children the message of hope in the book of. Dec 10, 2009 the historical situation underlying the book of zechariah is identical in time and place to the one which called forth the oracles of haggai. Zerubbabel started rebuilding this temple and he will complete it.
Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings. The global message of zechariah is that through the judgment that is justly coming upon gods enemies, god is nevertheless gathering a people. So, for the last year and a few weeks, weve grown accustomed to turning our attention to the book of job. In that respect, its possible to think of the book of zechariah as a kind of miniature book of isaiah. Zechariah emphasized that god has used his prophets to teach, warn and correct his people. Im bringing all the godless nations to war against jerusalem houses plundered, women raped, half the city taken into exile, the other half left behind. Haggai is very literal, directly addressing the economic decline and the tangible solution building the temple. The message was for zechariah to tell everybody, verses 1417. The nations attack jerusalem, god intervenes and blesses jerusalem miraculously, god announces curses for jerusalems enemies, and the peoples of the world go up to jerusalem to worship. Because god remembers, there is hope for the people of israel. Preaching pointers from zechariah preaching source.
The title comes from the prophets name, zechariah, which means yahweh remembers. Zechariahs dated visions and messages in chapters 18 all take place in the same general time period as haggais, beginning in octobernovember 520 bc with. Zechariahs ministry began between haggais second and third message. Zechariah is the longest book of the minor prophets. It is a message strongly relevant to twentyfirst century global christianity. In oracles and visions zechariah challenged his hearers. It has been speculated that his grandfather iddo was the head of a priestly family who returned with zerubbabel, and that zechariah may himself have been a priest as well as a prophet. The study of the book of zechariah is bound to be enriching, for it is imbued from beginning to end with the same heartcry that jesus turned into a prayer for all. Return to me, says the lord of hosts, and i will return to you, says the lord of hosts. Book of zechariah overview insight for living ministries. The book of zechariah, attributed to the hebrew prophet zechariah, is included in the twelve minor prophets in the hebrew bible.
The promises of god in the book of zechariah are meant to fuel the faithfulness of gods people and prepare the way for the promised messiah. Zechariah 1 niv bible in the eighth month of the second. Summary of the book of zechariah the story of the bible. Statements that strikes out in this writing in many ways the new testament tells us that zechariahs message about the coming of the kingdom of god finds its fulfillment in jesus christ. The best way to approach an apocalyptic book like zechariah or even revelation is to keep it epic. Zechariah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The message revolves around the meaning of his name, for zechariah means god remembers. Zechariah was a prophet of judah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. As with the message of isaiah, it has become common practice within some circles to challenge the unity of this book and propose a deuterozechariah. They convey a message from the lord through zechariah the son of berechiah to the people, urging them to return to the lord. After the start of the book in verse 1, zechariah began his book with a short speech in verses. Zechariah with book summary interlinear study bible. The demonstration of zechariahs authorial unity has been well defended by others3 and goes beyond the purpose of this argument.
The dates of zechariahs recorded messages are best correlated with those of haggai and with other historical events as follows. The book of zechariah sermon by dennis davidson, zechariah. Not much is known about zechariahs life other than what may be inferred from the book. This is supported by zechariahs interest in the temple and the priesthood, and. A small remnant of the jews who had been torn loose from judah had not taken root in babylon despite their 70 year captivity there dan. It is within this, the books structural core, that we find the interpretive essence of zechariahs entire message. Zacharias was a priest who was serving at the altar of incense when an angel appeared to him with a message from god after four hundred years of silence. Only chapters 18 contain the prophecies of zechariah. But then god will march out against the godless nations and fighta great war. The chief purpose of zechariah and haggai was to rebuke the people of judah and to encourage and motivate them to complete the rebuilding of the temple zec 4.
Oct 18, 2000 we come today to what is the central theme of the book of zechariah. Hag 12, though both prophets were clearly interested in spiritual renewal as well. The main theme of the book is that god is at work and plans to live again with. The prophet zechariahs name means \god has remembered. Message about rebuilding temple, israels future trials, future restoration and king messiah. And the bible is irreverently handled like any old book, seems to be no faith and love for god but not this book. Dec 30, 2003 and the bible is irreverently handled like any old book, seems to be no faith and love for god but not this book. The promises of god in the book of zechariah are meant to fuel the faithfulness of god. The book of zechariah sermon by dennis davidson, zechariah 1. His name means whom jehovah remembers and he was preaching and prophesying at the same time haggai was preaching to gods people. The book also bears evidence that even prophecy could be corrupted. The book of zechariah contains the clearest and the largest number of messianic about the messiah passages among the minor prophets. In fact, the promised restoration and rebuilding of the temple that took place under the leadership of zerubbabel anticipated and looked ahead to the full restoration and blessing to come in the reign of the messiah. The message of zechariah ebook the study of the book of zechariah is bound to be enriching, for it is imbued from beginning to end with the same heartcry that jesus turned into a.
The message of zechariah is that god remembers his covenant and will eventually fulfill all the promises. Four enduring messages growing christians ministries. With this additional short summary of the book of zechariah you can discover the people, places and stories detailed in this holy scripture. Perhaps more to the point, it is crisis literature that particularly conveys a message or messages to a specific people in the middle of their dire situation. The book of zechariah is a prophetic book in the christian old testament. Zechariah was a prophet of god who wrote fourteen chapters in his book called, zechariah. I said, i see a book flying, a huge bookthirty feet long and fifteen wide. The lord used zechariah to encourage the people to rebuild the temple in jerusalem after their captivity in babylon. The global message of zechariah sing and rejoice, o daughter of zion, for behold, i come and i will dwell in your midst, declares the l ord. And the word of the l ord came to zechariah, saying, thus says the l ord of hosts, render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor zech. The historical situation underlying the book of zechariah is identical in time and place to the one which called forth the oracles of haggai. This summary of the book of zechariah will help with many different forms of bible study. In the eighth month of the second year in the reign of darius, gods message came to the prophet zechariah son of berechiah, son of iddo.
Book of zechariah, the 11th of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in the jewish canon in one book, the twelve. If haggai is talking about rebuilding the temple, what do you think zechariah will write about. And many nations shall join themselves to the l ord in that day, and shall be my people zech. Before the temple completed, and then wrote chapters 914 approximately 480 b. And as i prayed, a few different possibilities were in my mind. The study of the book of zechariah is bound to be enriching. Zechariah begins his book zechariah 1 with a reminder that the captivity had been a result of disobedience. Finally, it seemed that the lord had placed a specific book in my mind as the next subject of our study. This is a message of hope for the postexilic community.
We come today to what is the central theme of the book of zechariah. Stir up the people to resume the work of rebuilding the temple. Zechariah had extraordinary visions of things to come at the end of time. Zechariah 18, concerned mainly with the rebuilding of the temple, and zechariah 914, dealing with future events, notably the coming of messiah and the glory of his reign. Here is an excerpt from the hcsb study note on zechariah 14. The books of haggai and zechariah were completed in 520 b. The prophet zechariah wrote chapters 18 approximately 520518 b. But unfortunately we came to the end of that book and now we need to move on to something else and as i prayed, a few different possibilities were in my mind. The bible speaks today bst 9780830824304 by barry g. It is a postexilic book, meaning it was written after post the return from captivity exile in babylon. Sep 15, 2014 the ultimate hope for us all was predicted by zechariah this book has more predictions of christ than any of the other minor prophets.
The study of the book of zechariah is bound to be enriching, for it is imbued from beginning to end with the same heartcry that jesus turned into a prayer for all of us. Zechariahs message focuses on the future and proclaims that god. The message of zechariah paperback the study of the book of zechariah is bound to be enriching, for it is imbued from beginning to end with the same heartcry that jesus turned into a prayer for all of us. Following is a suggested outline of the book of zechariah. Statements that strikes out in this writing in many ways the new testament tells us that zechariah s message about the coming of the kingdom of god finds its fulfillment in jesus christ. That would be important for the returned exiles to know. This is one announcement of the double message referring to the what will happen in second temple times when the children of judah will defeat the children of yavan i. But unfortunately we came to the end of that book and now we need to move on to something else.
Haggai focuses explicitly on the present temple work, while zechariah deals with the larger picture of israels history and future. Zechariah s prophecies took place during the reign of darius the great, and were contemporary with haggai in a post exilic world after the fall of jerusalem in 5876 bc. The message of zechariah ebook the study of the book of zechariah is bound to be enriching, for it is imbued from beginning to end with the same heartcry that jesus turned into a prayer for all of us. The occasion is the same as that of the book of haggai see background. That will be your confirmation that godoftheangelarmies sent me to you. Zechariah pictures christ in both his first coming zechariah 9. This section begins the second of the three divisions of the book. Theyll change their tune when they see zerubbabel setting the last stone in place. The prophet zechariah not only brought a message of hope for the people of his. Webb explores the kingdom of god as the prophet zechariah apprehended it. What we find here is a vision vs14, a message from god 610a, and an explanation, to some extent at least, of the vision 10b14. Zechariah is the most quoted old testament prophet in the new testament.
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