A study in the book of Zechariah
Chapter 1: Looking Back, Looking Up
Given in Autumn/Winter 2023
By Bob Mendelsohn
Sydney, Australia
Welcome to the final Bible class series I’m leading here in Sydney, after 25 years of continued ministry, as leader of the organization named Jews for Jesus. Over the decades I’ve taught literally hundreds of such classes, sometimes covering topics and most times teaching the Bible in an expositional manner. We will continue that latter method as we learn what Zechariah meant in his 14 chapters, and what God meant as he used that young man. And we will try to learn what God has to say to us as 21st Century people.
My usual method will take us through a chapter each Friday morning, and then we will have plenty of time for discussion and questions in the final half-hour. If you are watching this teaching on YouTube after our class, please feel free to write me (bob@jewsforjesus.org.au) and I will try to answer queries if I’m able.
If you don’t already receive the email invitations to join this class live, please enter your email address just now, type it into the chat box or write our office (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) and ask to be invited. Thanks.
Also if you don’t mind, please read the chapter before you come to the class live, and if you are watching YouTube, pause your playback, read Chapter 1 and then rejoin us. Thanks.
Our theme for the series is “Out of the Chaos” and may well represent how you are feeling, or have been feeling after COVID hit us and the planet 3 years ago. There is so much interpersonal hostility between people, and that boils over into protest we have lately watched in France and in Israel. The war in Ukraine continues as Russia persists. Maybe in your own life things are not exactly as you would like them to be. The word that may well describe your situation is chaos. That may simply describe the condition of your apartment. Or your children’s bedroom. No matter what tsuris you are experiencing, I believe the book of Zechariah will give us a big picture, a helpful way of seeing what is happening as chaos, as being subsidiary, lesser, and not the final answer. My job as Bible teacher the next few months is to help you see the Big Picture, and thus with this in mind, let’s turn to chapter one.
We meet in verse one the author and the date of his encounter with God. I like that. I found a box in my garage the other day and in it are historical books. Not books about the history of Israel or the history of Sydney Australia, but rather my own history. They are called “journals.” And a journal or diary (a journal from Jour (the French for ‘day’) or diary from the Spanish diario (also from the word for ‘day’) means a book of daily memorialization. In the diary of Anne Frank, we meet a little girl who matures in front of us and in the space of two years we see a woman of depth. On 12 June 1942, Anne was given a diary for her thirteenth birthday. Anne's last diary letter is dated 1 August 1944, three days before the arrest. She did not write daily. She wrote when she felt a need to self-express. She also wrote other things in notebooks, but for our consideration today, like Anne Frank, my diaries were not daily. Even though my most significant writing was in a journal that was in my briefcase stolen last May in Sydney, I grew as a person because of it.
Now, I am not thinking that Zechariah is attempting to grow as a person due to his scribing, but I think it’s a good outcome of it. Of significance to us, in this study, though is that the recording is accurate due to his attention to detail and his journaling activity. Eighth month (Cheshvan), 2nd year of Darius of Persia, that’s fairly precise. May I clearly recommend to you that you use your diary as a help in your spiritual journey (note the similarity of language), that is, your daily walk with God. Write down what God said to you, and even when you heard that. Write down that what He said you heard and even disregarded. Write down your failings and your victories. Inventory maintenance is healthy and honesty makes it all work.
Back to our story.
We meet Zechariah. He is the son of Berechiah and the grandson of Iddo. Iddo is titled a prophet. However in Nehemiah 12.1-16 we meet this same Iddo as the head of a priestly family at the time of a High Priest named Joshua. We will meet that Joshua in chapter three here. So Zechariah is both a prophet and a priest. That’s good stock. And makes him the consummate insider. He’s not blasting ‘those people’ when he takes on the priesthood or the shepherds as he will make happen later. He’s speaking of his own family and his own life. Anytime a minister speaks down to his people he missed the point. Correction of the people of God must begin with the corrector. Judge yourself long before you look to fix others. Didn’t Yeshua teach that?
“first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7.5)
Also in verse one we see that time wsa marked by noting the Gentile king Darius. That’s a bit unusual. Some of you were with us when I taught through the book of Jeremiah for a year (there are 52 chapters in that book after all). And each time period was marked in relation to the Jewish king of the day. Isaiah noted time like that, as did most of the prophets. Here, however, Zechariah notes time of Jewish life in relation to Darius. I see another point from that as well. Darius was king over Persia at the END of the time of the 70 years of Jeremiah. For those who don’t know, Jeremiah had predicted that Judah would be taken captive by Babylon for 70 years. (Jer. 25.11) As Darius was the king beginning in the 66th year of captivity, so what will happen is intriguing to be sure.
Oh, another thing. You might have studied the prophet Haggai in the past. He was an elderly prophet whose ministry seemed to overlap with Zechariah. But not by much. Haggai was old and it looks like he passed the prophetic torch to your Zechariah. Look at Haggai 2.10 and 2.20 and you will see the last recorded date, the 24th day of the 9th month in the 2nd year of Darius. Just one month later to our verse one. I’m not sure of the mentoring role or the echo role that might have eventuated, but it’s interesting to ponder.
The name Zechariah means “God remembers.” 31 different men are named that in the OT. If I’m going to come out of my own chaos journey today, if I’m going to land on my spiritual feet upright with confidence that God has the whole world, even my world, in his hands, if I’m going to trust the Lord with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding, then I must know God remembers. It’s not about my remembering God. My success is not tied to my activity or my memories, not tied to my accomplishments or my severe sanctity, but rather to a God who remembers. He remembers the sins of our ancestors (as we read in verse 2) and he remembers his own covenantal promises. (as we read in verse 6). God remembers and establishes his ways (see verse 16) He will return to Jerusalem with gladness and mercies. Rachamim. In mercies. Plural. Man, I need those mercies. They are new every morning. Amen?
Back to verse two. God was VERY angry with the previous generation and that’s why they were scattered and are away from Jerusalem. The Hebrew is double wrath. Katzef. Some other words then Katzef again. Have you ever felt like that. I’m mad… mutter mutter, then I’m mad again. It’s a biblical way of stating emphasis. Tov tov can be very good. You get it.
Verse three the call is to return to God. Practice t’shuva. Shuvu alai. God will turn back to us, not that he has to repent, but he will be there when we do. That’s significant and comforting and gives me hope in my chaotic life in 2023. Does it raise your hopes at all?
Verse five, the earlier prophets are mentioned, and they also called Judah to repent. God’s word is often repeated, not simply regurgitated, but brought back to memory. It’s as if Zechariah is reading Jeremiah’s journal and bringing a freshness to it. Has that happened to you when you heard a story from the Bible, read it again, and it’s as if it’s the first time you are hearing it? Definitely for me. This would be an echo of a previous citation, and it’s important to learn from the mistakes of others and walk the other way.
Like John the Baptist in the NT, Zechariah begins his public ministry with a call to repentance. Not a very easy or winsome message. But it’s a good one, amen?
Verse 6, who is turning? Who repents? Not the generation before his, but Zechariah’s generation. They turned. They acknowledged God’s sovereignty. They ‘got it.’
Verse 7 begins a wild ride for us which will last through chapter 6. It’s a series of 8 night visions and we will only see the first two today. The 8 actually form a type of echo chamber. What do I mean by that? The first is echoed in #8, the 2nd in #7, 3 in 6 and 4 and 5 share together. So although we should look at the real pairs today we’re going to look at 1 and 2. Ah, the problem of taking the chapters as they come. That darn editor who restructured Zechariah’s words.
The rabbis teach that the prophetic visions here are so esoteric that ‘many will not be fully understood until the coming of Elijah the Prophet.’ (Stone Edition, Tenach, p. 1406) But I think we will try to bring a bit of clarity before that day if the Lord allows.
Verse 8, we see Vision #1. A man riding a red horse. Standing among the myrtle trees (Hadassah) in a ravine, (M’tzulah: the word for deep (used in Psalm 69 twice). Three other horses in his entourage. An angel is the guide/ interpreter for Zechariah. (verse 9) He will be involved in 7 of the 8 visions, and he tells Zechariah “I will show you.” Then the red horse rider answers. These are the patrols. Like a modern drone. Then ‘the angel of the Lord’ appears and the three bonus horsemen answer and say the area they surveilled is at rest. All good, boss.
But it’s not all good. The world is normal. The world is seated (yashav) and quiet (sheket). Remember the words of Paul who said of the last days, “While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” (1Thes 5.3). Yeshua taught about ‘normalcy’ in his explanation of what some call the rapture.
“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming" (Matt. 24.38-42)
The problem in Zechariah’s day is the same as today… disregard of God’s demands, really disregard of God himself. Sure, the Jews had abandoned idolatry, but now a more questionable problem was to arise. Normalcy. Taking it further, it could be hypocrisy. In our days, going to church, but not really deeply pondering the God about whom we speak or to whom we sing. Going through the motions. Normalcy. Eating and drinking. Not wrong. Marrying and giving in marriage. Nothing wrong with that, except that we could say, “what is, is, and won’t change.” It’s as if God is irrelevant to our daily life. Indifference. That would become a more painful sin which God will have to address and will do as we proceed.
Verse 12, I like the angel of the Lord asking God a hard question. “How long?” is not a question of acceptance, but rather a cry for change. Peace and safety is not the goal here, not of the angels. They want the Temple rebuilt. Amazing, no, that the angels are involved in such restoration.
Kind and comforting words are sent out (much like Isaiah and Amos I imagine) to assure the people that God is no longer angry with them and will send mercies. That’s great news, amen?
Verses 14-17 says the Jewish people will have grace and compassions and we will be restored.
Think about those comforting words. Barry Webb says, “Comforting words are of no value whatever if the one who speaks them has no power to put them into effect.” (page 69)
The second vision is the shortest of the 8. It involves 4 horns. Zechariah uses the number four like other apocalyptic authors as a symbol of universal, that is, all the nations that have arisen against the Jewish people are in view here. (Zechariah 2.6, 6.5, 6.1) There have certainly been many ‘nations’ and kingdoms that have hated the Jews and sought to eradicate us. Tuesday this week was Yom Hashoah, a month ago was Passover, a month before that was Purim. Shall we continue to litanize the Egyptians and Persians, the Babylonians, the Romans, the Germans, and on and on. Four is not a specific number, but a number that says, “All of the enemies”
But now add in the four craftsmen, the carpenters, the weak who will now take on the powerful horns. How does that work? By God working with them. What are they called to do? Rebuild the Temple! We saw that in verse 16. God will make sure it happens. Join in with God and your work will not be embarrassingly useless, normal or weak. It will be mighty through God.
Chaos of 70 years of exile, subjugated by the power of God.
Friends, this vision of the weak winning over the powerful, is an encouragement to me and hopefully to some of you on this Zoom call. We have much more to glean from this book and I hope you will join me again next week as we read and study chapter 2, and perhaps you will want to invite a friend to participate as well.
Remember, you who are watching today, if you are not yet a follower of Yeshua, and see his love for you, his kindness extended, his offer of forgiveness available, right where you are, submit to him, to his lordship, to his care, and your life will take on new meaning, new substance, and you will have mates on this call, and in your neighbourhood and wherever you travel… the Kingdom is advancing under the King. Chaos is subjugated, life is available.
Resource on video
To see a fun video overview of the book of Zechariah see this from Bible Project:
https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/zechariah/
Bibliography:
Smith, Ralph, Micah to Malachi: Word Biblical Commentary (Volume 32), Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1984.
Stead, Michael, Zechariah: The Lord Returns, Aquila Press, Sydney, 2015.
Webb, Barry, The Message of Zechariah: Your Kingdom Come, Intervarsity Press, Nottingham, 2003.
Wiersbe, Warren, Be Heroic: Demonstrating Bravery by your Walk, David C. Cook Press, Colorado Springs, 1997.
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