Zechariah Introduction

Zechariah’s eight night visions focus attention both on the Lord’s purposes for his people in Judah and Jerusalem and on his purposes for the nations. The colored horses in the first and last visions represent different aspects of judgment that the Lord intends to carry out on the nations. The central visions speak of how the Lord is prepared to restore his relationship with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Steps toward that restoration include reinstating the priesthood, rebuilding the temple, and cleansing the land of iniquity.

Zechariah, like Haggai, addresses not only the present condition of the land but also its future. Some aspects of the visions relate to the future messianic kingdom, especially in the promise of the coming Messiah (3:8-10). Zechariah taught that the Messiah would combine the offices of priest and king in one person (3:8; 6:12-13) and that he would be the Lord himself (12:10; 13:7). Zechariah clearly stated that the Lord will be “king over the whole earth” (14:9; see 2:10-12; 8:20-23) but also said that the Lord’s messianic representative will be “King” (9:9-10; see 3:8; 6:12-13; 11:4; 13:7). Zechariah also foreshadows the work of Jesus Christ on the cross by emphasizing the rejection of God’s representative (11:4-13) and the subsequent need for cleansing in the land (12:10–13:1).

The Lord abides among his people and desires to bless them, but they continue to disobey him and go their own way. That is the tension that Zechariah (in common with many of the other prophets) raised. And that is a tension that is still with us in the church. Zechariah’s book is needed to direct our thoughts to the Lord’s plan for blessing and also for cleansing.

It is also an encouragement for the believer, as well as a sign to the unbeliever, to realize how much about the ministry and life of Jesus Christ was seen ahead of time in the Old Testament prophets. In this regard Zechariah stands alongside Isaiah and the Psalms as books with a wealth of messianic teaching.