Zechariah

Author: Zechariah
Date of Writing: 6th century BC
Type of Book: Prophetic
Theme: The promised Messiah

The book of Zechariah is the second of the three postexilic prophets, written to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem following the seventy-year Babylonian exile. Zechariah was from a priestly family and was most likely a priest himself, as well as a prophet. He was a contemporary of Haggai, although he was younger than Haggai. These prophecies were written around 520 BC.

Some of the children of Israel had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, but they yielded to the opposition and became discouraged. Haggai accused them of being lazy and of putting their interests before God's by building their own houses and neglecting His. Zechariah picked up on this same theme. As the people renewed their efforts to build the house of God, Haggai and Zechariah both encouraged the people to keep up the good work and to finish it. But whereas Haggai was a man who was very practical, Zechariah had his eyes on heaven and on the future.

Zechariah's encouragement was rooted in the ultimate restoration, occurring with the coming of the Messiah and gave many prophecies concerning both of Jesus' comings. Additionally, the book of Zechariah is quoted more in the Gospels and contains more messianic prophecies than any of the other Minor Prophets. He prophesied concerning Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, the price of His betrayal, the piercing of His hands and feet, His substitutionary atonement; as well as future events when Israel will return to the Lord and Jesus will rule in the New Jerusalem.

In the middle of their immediate task of rebuilding, Zechariah called their attention to the distant future and to the ultimate work of Jesus the Messiah, of whom the present events and ceremonies are only a picture. How important it is for us, as we are in the midst of difficult and sometimes tedious tasks, to focus our attention on eternity. We need to realize that what we do here is connected to what will happen later, and that what we endure now pales in comparison to the glory that awaits us in the kingdom of God. The name Zechariah means "Yahweh remembers", and it reminds us that God hasn't forgotten us and that His promises are sure.

-from Pastor Chuck Smith: The Word for Today Bible