Christ, most remarkable is his attention to the mediatorial functions of Christ as the ideal Prophet, Priest, and King. His prophetic office as the representative of God is evident in Zechariah 13:7, where the Lord of Hosts refers to the Messiah as “My Shepherd” and the mighty man who is His equal, whom He Himself strikes. Matthew 26:31 links this directly to Christ and the cross. It also parallels Christ’s exposition of the Good Shepherd, where He declares that He lays down His life for the sheep and that He and His Father are one (John 10:30). The priestly ministry is most explicit in the significant messianic title “the Branch” that occurs in Zechariah 3:8 and Zechariah 6:12 in analogy with Joshua, the high priest. In addition, the whole vision of Joshua standing before the court of heaven is a beautiful picture of how God forgives and justifies sinners: the need of justification is great, the act of justification is gracious, the ground of justification (the Branch) is solid, and the demand of justification is logical. Christ’s kingship is seen in Zechariah 10:4 (the corner, the nail, the battle bow, the absolute ruler) and Zechariah 9:9, the prophecy so specifically fulfilled on Palm Sunday. Aspects of kingship associated with Christ’s second coming are also part of the hope (Zech. 14). It would not at all be a stretch to designate this prophecy as “The Gospel according to Zechariah.”

Zechariah 1:1 says that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. One of the ways that the word came was through visions. The first six chapters record a series of visions that give a panoramic view of God’s purpose for His people from the immediate circumstances of the day to the final consummation.

Apart from the message revealed, Zechariah is a casebook on how God revealed His word through visions. First, visions were personal and internal. Only the prophet could see them. Second, the recipient of the vision was an active participant. Zechariah conversed with an interpreting angel who gave him directions as to the vision’s meaning. Third, visions were highly symbolic. The colored horses, four craftsmen, lampstands and olive trees, flying scrolls, and war wagons loaded with horses all pointed to some spiritual reality.

Another feature of Zechariah’s method was the apocalyptic tone, a kind of prediction that addressed the distant future, including the final consummation. Zechariah’s message, therefore, goes beyond post-exilic Israel. He assures the church that God is in control and that everything is on course to accomplish God’s eternal plan and purpose.

This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.

Returning to our chronological overview of the Old Testament prophets, today we come to the second post-exilic prophet whose words are recorded in Scripture. Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, was sent to the people of Judah after the return from Babylon to encourage the people to rebuild God's temple and to give them a vision of things that were still to come.

Zechariah was Haggai's contemporary (Ezra 5:1–2), but whereas Haggai originally delivered his prophecies over several months, Zechariah's ministry lasted for years, beginning in about 520 BC. Because we do not know anything about the prophet except his immediate ancestry and the meaning of his name—"Yahweh remembers"—the duration of his career is not certain. Commentators agree, however, that it lasted until at least 516 BC, when the rebuilt temple was completed, and many of his visions foresee events to come after that year. This has New Testament confirmation. The Gospels' passion accounts quote from Zechariah 9–14 more often than they do any other portion of Scripture. Without at least a basic grasp of Zechariah's prophecy, our understanding of Christ's atonement will be impoverished.

As a contemporary of Haggai, Zechariah was instrumental in awakening the Jews from their slumber in 520 BC to rebuild the temple. As long as God's house remained unfinished, the people were being disobedient to the Lord's commands regarding old covenant worship. And since heartfelt obedience to the Almighty's commands is the fruit of true love for Him (John 14:15), leaving the temple unfinished in and of itself was not the real problem. Instead, an unfinished temple with no evident concern to complete the work indicated that the essential problem was a problem of the heart. Such is the case with all sin.

Due to the problem being one of the heart, we are not surprised to find Zechariah open his book with a call to repentance. Included in this call is a reference to the forefathers of the restored community who were kicked out of the Promised Land for their impenitence (Zech. 1:1–5b). Zechariah asks some rhetorical questions: Where were their fathers? Where were their (false) prophets? Had they not been destroyed? No answers are given because the small, struggling post-exilic community knew the answers—the impenitent forefathers and false prophets were gone, brought to an end in exile for their rejection of God's Word. The implicit warning is that the same judgment was possible for Zechariah's generation should they ignore the Lord's true prophets just as their forefathers did.œ

Upon hearing the warning that God would judge the post-exilic community for impenitence if it were to persist in not rebuilding the temple, the Jews to whom Zechariah first spoke repented (Zech. 1:1–6). This initial warning, however, was not all that the prophet had for the people. As we see in today's passage, the Lord had more to say to the old covenant community by way of night visions given to Zechariah.

Zechariah's vision of a horseman and his vision of horns and craftsmen occurred five months after the people had begun the temple rebuilding effort anew under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest (v. 7; see Hag. 1:12–15). The prophet saw four horses and four riders, probably angels, who had been sent out by God to patrol the whole earth. Zechariah was standing with the "angel of the Lord" in this vision, and the report of these horsemen was that all the earth was at rest, that is, there was not any political upheaval going on (Zech. 1:7–11). This reflects the history of the Persian Empire in 520 BC. Other ancient historical sources report that Persia had just become calm again under the reign of Darius after a period of infighting and other problems. Humanly speaking, one of the reasons the people could rebuild the temple was that the kingdoms that had been causing trouble for the post-exilic community were no longer opposing the temple rebuilding effort (Ezra 4–5).

Under normal circumstances, this message of peace and rest would have been heard as good news. Yet that was not how the angel of the Lord received the report. He asked the horsemen why God was still showing no mercy to the people (Zech. 1:12). The angel received the message as bad news because it indicated that the Lord was not bringing about the end just yet. Remember that Haggai had told the people that there would be a shaking of the heavens and the earth before the arrival of the Messiah to bring about salvation (Hag. 2:20–23). If the earth was at peace and not being shaken, that meant that the end could not come yet, that the conditions of exile persisted, conditions under which the descendants of Abraham were not yet exalted above all the nations. This is confirmed by the angel's remark that God had been angry for seventy years at Judah (Zech. 1:12). When the angel spoke those words in 520 BC, seventy years of exile had come and gone, but by bringing the current situation of the covenant community under that umbrella, we see yet again that even though the people were formally back from exile, the exilic conditions remained.œ

Despite its importance as the first structure wherein God made His presence manifest among the people of Israel, the tabernacle was only a temporary dwelling that King Solomon later replaced with the temple (2 Chron. 7:1–3). Solomon’s temple, however, stood only about four hundred years, being destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. At that point, the vessels used in the temple, including the golden lampstand, were also carried off to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10–17).

We could by no means overestimate the importance of the exile to redemptive history, nor could we overestimate the joy the people felt when, in 538 BC, God appointed King Cyrus of Persia to return His people to their land (2 Chron. 36:22–23). Once in the land, the nation began rebuilding the temple and its furniture, including the lampstand first mentioned in Exodus 25:31–40.

Zechariah the prophet was commissioned during this restoration period to encourage the returned exiles to complete the rebuilding of the temple, which had run into difficulties because of Israel’s lack of faithfulness (Hag. 1:1–6) and opposition from neighboring peoples (Neh. 4:1–14). The immensity of the task and the paltry resources of the Israelites did not help, and the people despaired over the inglorious nature of the kingdom.

Yet the Lord’s determination to build His temple was not thwarted, which is one of the main points of today’s passage. Zechariah’s vision of a new lampstand (Zech. 4:1–3) meant that God would certainly build His house, for the lampstand would be useless without the temple. Though the restoration was troubled and it was a day of meager beginnings, Israel would one day rejoice in fullness (vv. 8–10a).

The restoration, in fact, would be so great that the light of the lampstand would never go out. Zechariah also saw two olive trees, one on either side of the lampstand, which continually dispensed oil to the stand via golden pipes (vv. 10b–14). With a continual supply of oil, the wicks would always burn and the light would continually shine. Ultimately, this points to the true Light who came into the world to shine forth God’s grace and build a living temple to honor our Father (John 1:1–18; 1 Peter 2:1–5). By His Spirit, this Light would restore glory to His covenant people (Zech. 4:4–7).

Related Works Pastors should consider Bryan Gregory’s Longing for God in an Age of Discouragement: The Gospel According to Zechariah. Although not a commentary on the entire book, Glory in Our Midst by Meredith Kline is also well worth consulting. This article is part of the Top 5 Commentaries collection.

Although Zerubbabel, the Persian-appointed governor of Judah, and the Jews who went back with him to the Holy Land after Cyrus the Great released them from exile started work on the temple right away, the rebuilding soon ceased (3:1–4:5, 24). Other peoples in the Persian Empire did not want the Jews to establish a secure foothold in their land, so they harassed the Jews in order to get them to stop working on the sanctuary. The rebuilding stopped around 536 BC, while Cyrus was still emperor, and did not resume until about 520 BC, when Darius I was on the throne.

Before we look at the resumption of the work on the temple, note that Ezra 4:6–23 includes references to Kings Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) and Artaxerxes I, who reigned after Darius I. Since Ezra 4:24 picks up the narrative of what happened during the reign of Darius, we see that most of Ezra 4 has been placed out of order chronologically. The author, who might have been Ezra himself, did this to stress the ongoing opposition that the Jews faced while they were governed by the Persian Empire. Not only was the rebuilding of the temple opposed but also the rebuilding of the city itself. We will read more about this in the book of Nehemiah. The Jewish leaders Ezra and Nehemiah came to Judah during the reign of Artaxerxes I.

Today’s passage tells us that Zerubbabel and the Jews returned to the work of rebuilding the temple because of the prophetic exhortations of Haggai and Zechariah (5:1–2). These are the same prophets who wrote the books of Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai’s work, in particular, focuses on his encouragement of the temple’s rebuilding. Zechariah’s book is filled with calls for repentance and apocalyptic visions of the future of God’s people, showing us again that though the Jews were back in their land, their lack of repentance meant that the full blessings attending the return from exile would be delayed.

This time, “Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River” and others asked the Jews who authorized them to rebuild the temple (vv. 3–5). Tattenai was a Persian official who had jurisdiction over Zerubbabel and the province of Judah as well as Syria. The Jews committed themselves to keep on rebuilding until they heard back from Emperor Darius, for Tattenai wrote him, looking for proof that the work was approved (vv. 6–17). Importantly, the eye of God was upon His people (v. 5). They continued working because He was protecting them as they restored the temple.

In this classic story Dr. R.C. Sproul continues his project of illustrating theological concepts for children. The Priest with Dirty Clothes teaches the concept of imputation, which lies at the heart of the important biblical doctrine of justification.Using the story of Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3:1-5) as his jumping-off point, Dr. Sproul weaves a classic tale about a young priest who is invited to preach his first sermon before the king and his court. But on his way to the palace, he falls from his horse, getting his clothes hopelessly muddy. Jonathan finds that he needs powerful help if he is to stand before the king. This edition of The Priest with Dirty Clothes includes illustrations by Justin Gerard and a "For the Parents" section to help them bring out the truths of the book for their children.

With the donkey and colt secured, Matthew tells us that the disciples laid their cloaks on the animals and Jesus mounted the donkey (Matt. 21:1–5). In no other place in all the Gospels is Jesus ever spoken of as riding a donkey, or any animal for that matter.

Why did this happen? It doesn’t appear that Jesus was injured or unable to walk. There’s no indication that He was sick or wearied or needed the support of an animal. Something more significant was happening.

Jesus made a deliberate choice not to walk but to ride into the Holy City. This choice was intended to make a statement, signaling to all who could see it that the King had come. This is certainly Matthew’s point when he quotes the prophet Zechariah: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” (Matt. 21:5)

The long-awaited King, the Messiah, with crowds lining the highway in a long procession anticipating His coronation, rode into the Holy City on a donkey.

Do not all the great men of history have a trusty horse? There was Alexander the Great and his beautiful black stallion, Bucephalus. There was George Washington and his white-coated Arabian, Blueskin. But here Jesus is riding a donkey. It’s almost comical—can you imagine Alexander the Great on a donkey? From the world’s vantage point, it’s ridiculous. But every move Jesus makes is filled with purpose.

He is not like the Alexanders and the Julius Caesars of the world. He is a different kind of ruler. One who comes in humility, not in pursuit of worldly ambition or men’s accolades. Jesus comes to fulfill a divine mission: “Not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).

Rounding the eastern slopes, Jesus caught a glimpse of the city in the distance. The streets were filling with pilgrims. Some laid down their cloaks, others cut leafy branches, but everyone shouted, “Hosanna . . . ! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 21:9). This is a quote from Psalm 118:26, and it makes sense that these words would be on their lips. It was Passover, after all, and Psalms 113–118 were the traditional psalms sung by Jewish pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for Passover.

The Greek word hosanna *has behind it the Hebrew word *hoshiah na, which means, “Save us!” Traditionally, it was a cry for help. But as words often do, the connotation shifted over time. Less a cry for help, the exclamation hosanna grew into a hopeful shout of expectation. The people were saying, “Save us!” but what they meant was, “Salvation has come!” The coming of Jesus Christ on a donkey to Jerusalem signaled an answer to prayer: God has brought salvation to His people.

Can you imagine how Jesus might have felt? What encouragement

humanity with futility and death. God’s royal image fell into the severe ignobility we all experience.

This tragic fall plunged humanity into a relational abyss. After the fall, humanity was enslaved to idolatry (hatred for God) and violence (hatred for each other). Sin inverts love for God, which in turn becomes idolatry, and inverts love for neighbor, which becomes exploitation of others.

The fallen human heart finds ways to justify its hatred of other people and its desire to exploit them. The result is the multitude of unbiblical views of personhood found throughout human history that dehumanize and exclude people who are made in God’s image. There have been several major non-Christian views of the nature of humanity, such as the rationalistic dualism of Plato, the materialist economic determinism of Karl Marx, the psychic determinism of Sigmund Freud, and the environmental conditioning determinism of B.F. Skinner. Myriad other unbiblical ideologies of personhood have existed, such as tribalism, Social Darwinism, racism, Nazism, and views of superior personhood based on religion, wealth, gender, age, intellect, heredity, and many other factors.

Consequences of Unbiblical Views of Personhood

Without the biblical understanding of human personhood and dignity as image-bearers of God, society is free to degenerate into violence, oppression, and exploitation of the weak by the strong. The Old Testament clearly depicts the cruelty and violence that results from the fall: violence against children (Ps. 137:9), women (Amos 1:13), and the unborn (2 Kings 15:16); rape (Judg. 19:22–30); massacres (1 Sam. 22:18–19); and enslavement (Amos 4:2).

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Throughout history, we see how unbiblical views of personhood are used to exploit and oppress people. The strong oppress the weak, and there is injustice against disliked and lesser-valued groups, from the unborn to the elderly. There is abortion, infanticide, child abuse, and exploitative child labor. There is slavery, gender violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, labor trafficking, racism, genocide, and ethnic warfare. There is class warfare, disenfranchisement, age discrimination, oppression of the poor, and discrimination against the disliked, the disabled, the uneducated, the weak, and the powerless. The injustices and exploitations that occur when personhood is redefined are innumerable and heart-breaking.

The Biblical Call to Justice and Mercy

Though it does not hesitate to depict the harsh reality of violence and oppression, the Bible clearly calls us to fight for justice and mercy for all people as God intended (Ex. 23:2–3, 6; Deut. 24:17–18; Prov. 21:3).

The prophet Zechariah portrays God’s people as a nation that practices justice and mercy in their society: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. (Zech. 7:9–10)

When Israel fails and continues to rebel against God’s law, God threatens judgment, but then pours out grace and restores them. Zechariah envisions God‘s grace leading to repentance and a people who fervently pursue justice and mercy for all. As a result, the unbelieving nations will come asking about the Lord (Zech. 8:20–23). God’s people will

To know that one has died and been raised is far, far more pastorally significant than to know that one has, vicariously, fulfilled the Torah. (N.T. Wright, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision, p. 233)

N.T. Wright in his advocacy of a “new perspective” on Paul and his teaching makes a special plea that “justification” should relate to the question “who belongs to God’s covenant with the world?” rather than “how can you be saved?” Wright’s answer to the question is “Jews and Gentiles alike, who believe in Jesus the Messiah.” This position is discussed widely in the present issue of Tabletalk. The subject of our essay is to consider how the perfect obedience of Christ to the Mosaic law does apply to those who believe in Him. The answer to this question, according to the Reformed understanding of Scripture, is “the active obedience of Christ is imputed to the justified believers as their positive cover in the last judgment.” The Westminster Confession of Faith states, “Those whom God…freely justifieth…accepting their persons as righteous…by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them” (11:1).

First, this position is articulated in an emphatic way in Romans 4:3–24. The pivot of this passage is the word logizomai, to credit, to include in one’s accounting. This word is used ten times in this context in Romans, and the word is used elsewhere in a similar fashion in Psalm 106:31, Galatians 3:6, and James 2:23.

What is credited is not the believer’s good works in obedience to God’s law (vv. 9–11). Not even his faith is meritorious, but one is justified by grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ (3:24).

The effect of justification is that no one can boast of being better than others; rather, each one must own that, being no more worthy of the divine choice, he was saved by God’s grace alone (Eph. 2:5, 9).

Second, the fact that salvation is a blessing apprehended here and now, and not merely a hope to be realized at some point in the future, is made very clear in Scripture (see John 5:24; Rom. 8:1; E ph. 2:5, 8; 1 John 3:14).

This assurance of future salvation could not be had on the basis of perfection in people who have not actually reached perfection, but it is freely appropriated to those to whom the imputation of Christ’s perfection has been applied.

Third, the prophet made this clear in Zechariah 3:1–5. The taking away of the filthy clothes is a metaphor for the divine atonement for sins; the putting on of the rich garments represents the imputation of the perfect obedience of Christ. But if the imputation of righteousness were not taking place, Joshua would have had to appear naked before God. The same concept is found in the parable of the wedding banquet (Matt. 22:11–13).

Commonly, there are three objections that are raised against this understanding of imputation:

• “If God cancels both the iniquity and the insufficient obedience of His people, this wipes out personal responsibility.”

Answer. No, for

In Reformed circles, we hear much about the covenants. We are a people who place our trust in God’s covenant faithfulness. We hear about the covenant of grace and the covenant of works, but we hear very little about the covenant of redemption. We also hear much about the saving work of Christ, but give little thought to the fact that the triune God conceived the work that the second person of the Trinity would do that would save sinners.

Simply stated, the covenant of redemption is a covenant God the Father made with God the Son before the foundation of the world was laid, that if the Son would offer Himself up as an offering for sin, the Father would give Christ all those for whom He would die as a love gift. The elect, then, are a gift from the Father to the Son for suffering and dying to redeem them.

God the Father chose from all eternity past, in His eternal and unchangeable decrees, to save some people. God the Son, from all eternity past, agreed to redeem those people from the fallen state that God ordained, from all eternity past, they would be in. If you ask why God ordained the fall of man and the sinful state into which he would go, the answer is that God ordained sin so that we would know Him in the fullness of His revelation of Himself. If God had not ordained sin, we would know Him only as the Creator; because God has ordained sin we can know Him as the Redeemer. Our knowledge of God is much more complete because of sin.

In Zechariah 6:13, this is referred to as a “counsel of peace … between them both,” that is, between the Father and the Son, between God and “the man whose name is the Branch” (v. 12). It is “the Lord of Hosts” who is speaking about the counsel of peace that will be between Himself and “the Branch.” When Christ speaks in John 17 of having been given people as a gift, He is praying to God, whom, He says, gave them. “Thine they were, and thou gavest them me” (John 17:6 kjv). The “thou” and the “thine” both refer to God the Father.

From all eternity past, God the Father determined to create a race of people, of whom He would save some. It is God the Father who is the Author of the plan of salvation. Christ is indeed the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). 1 Peter 1:20 tells us that He was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.” Ephesians 1:4 is clear that the elect are chosen “in Him.” And grace has been given to them “in Christ Jesus before the world began,” according to 2 Timothy 1:9. But it is God the Father who contrived the plan that Christ would carry out. Whatever Christ encountered in this world happened to Him according to the eternal decree, foreknowledge, and determinate counsel of

At this time of the year, we often reflect on the events surrounding the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. One such event is Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–40; John 12:12–19). The gospel accounts of Christ’s triumphal entry point us back to the prophecy of Zechariah, a prophecy made hundreds of years before this event took place. In Zechariah 9:9–17, the prophet tells God’s people what to expect of their King when He comes.

Zechariah prophesied wonderful things about the character of this coming King. First, this King would be a righteous King, one who does God’s will as a faithful covenant keeper. Jesus comes as a perfectly righteous King, who serves His Father in heaven with absolute and perfect righteousness.

Second, Zechariah describes this coming King as having salvation. We could also translate this phrase to mean “showing himself a savior.” Jesus entered Jerusalem having already shown Himself a powerful Savior. In John’s account of the triumphal entry, we read: “The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign” (12:17–18). Jesus showed Himself a Savior when He raised Lazarus from the dead. Christ comes as the King who can save His own even from the power of death. He enters Jerusalem as one who has salvation and has already shown Himself a powerful Savior.

Finally, for all His righteousness and saving power, Zechariah sees a King who is also humble. Here is a King who does not present Himself with all the worldly symbols of power such as the war horse, glittering armor, sword, and battle-bow. Rather, He rides a simple donkey, unadorned with any of the trappings of worldly might.

But the glory of Zechariah’s prophecy is the reminder to God’s people that this great King is their King: “Behold, your king is coming to you” (Zech. 9:9). In Zechariah’s day, God’s people had been subject to so many foreign kings for so many years that they could hardly remember what it was like to have a king of their own, a king who was truly sovereign over his kingdom and not just a weak servant of a stronger foreign power. Jesus comes not as a foreign king or a vassal-king subject to a greater kingdom. Christ comes as the true King of Israel, King of kings and Lord of lords. He comes for God’s people, righteous and showing Himself a Savior to humble Himself by suffering and dying on the cross for His own. Jesus is our King who came into the world to bring salvation to all who believe in Him.

Is it any wonder that God’s people should rejoice at this King’s coming? No wonder God’s people all these many years later continue to remember the events of that day with joy, praising Jesus and saying, “Blessed is

As we continue our study of Zechariah, who foresaw many things that were to happen beyond his lifetime, we must also remember that his message had an original audienceï¾— the returned Jewish exilesï¾—and an original purposeï¾—to encourage the returnees in rebuilding the temple. Today's passage addresses a specific situation during Zechariah's lifetime, and the prophet's response reveals the returned exiles' commitment to God's work.

Zechariah tells us that in the "fourth year of King Darius" a contingent from Bethel came to him to inquire about fasting. This was two years after the returned exiles had restarted the work of rebuilding the temple after the foundation had been left alone for some time (Zech. 7:1ï¾–3; see Ezra 3:8ï¾–6:12; Hag. 1:1ï¾–6; Zech. 1:1). Since we know that the rebuilt temple was completed in the "sixth year of the reign of Darius" (Ezra 6:13ï¾–15), the visit described in Zechariah 7 occurred about halfway through the temple's reconstruction. Apparently, the people were getting weary from the work of rebuilding and even from their displays of piety, for they wanted to know if they could stop fasting during the fifth month, which was a fast to commemorate Babylon's destruction of the temple (Zech. 7:3; see 2 Kings 25:8ï¾–9).

The prophet's response tells us much about the true spiritual condition of the people. He essentially rebuked them for fasting not unto the Lord during the fifth and seventh months but for fasting to assuage their own consciences and to convince themselves of their devotion (Zech. 7:4ï¾–6). (The fast of the seventh month commemorated the murder of Gedaliah, the first Judean governor that Babylon appointed after the conquest of Jerusalem. See 2 Kings 25:22ï¾–26.) Clearly, the hearts of the people were not in the work and devotion that they were showing, which confirms the Lord's word to Daniel that most of His people had not learned the lesson of exile and so the exilic conditions would continue (Dan. 9).

After this rebuke, Zechariah reminded the returned exiles of what the pre-exilic prophets had told them, namely, that one could not rest in mere religious formalism but had to have true faith that expresses itself in a heartfelt desire to keep God's commandments. In particular, this means taking care of the defenseless and not devising evil against one's neighbor (Zech. 7:7ï¾–14). These were some of the basic stipulations of the Mosaic law, and if the returnees could not obey them, they could be sent away from the Promised Land just as their ancestors were (Lev. 19:18; 26:27ï¾–33; Deut. 24:20ï¾–21).

Post-exilic Judah continued to have problems maintaining its faithfulness to the Lord at the end of the sixth century BC. Although history tells us that the Jews, by and large, did not practice the same rank paganism that characterized the nations of Israel and Judah before their exiles, the Judahites after the exile still fell prey to superstition. We see in today's passage, for example, that the prophet Zechariah had to tell the people to ask the Lord for rain and to stop trusting the fortune-tellers and household idols for guidance (Zech. 10:1–2).

Actually, it seems that the leaders of the people were those most guilty of this sin, for Zechariah refers in the same context to shepherds for God's people, who in truth were no shepherds at all (vv. 2–3). The initial leadership of post-exilic Judah was relatively competent, if not perfect, as both Haggai and Zechariah have some things to say about Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest (Hag. 1–2; Zech. 3). However, this would not last. We do not know whether Zerubbabel and Joshua fell into the sins Zechariah describes in today's passage. Yet even if those two leaders maintained their righteousness and Zechariah refers only to other authority figures in the community, the people's leadership in general was clearly not living up to its high calling, explaining why the sufferings of exile, if not banishment from the land itself, continued. As the New Testament tells us, this suffering would continue right up until the first century, although the leaders of the Jews in Jesus' day treated their non-biblical traditions as idols, not other deities (Matt. 2:16–18; 15:1–9).

Consequently, Zechariah indicates that the return from exile in the sixth century BC was not the return and restoration promised by the earlier prophets (Isa. 25; Jer. 31:31–40). At best it was a meager beginning—almost a false start—to what God had in store for His own. We see this in Zechariah's reference to a return that was yet to come in his day. The full ingathering was yet future, for though many Jews had come back to the Promised Land from Babylon, the prophet foresaw a still greater return. Using Egypt and Assyria as metaphors for subjugation and captivity, Zechariah 10:10 says the house of Judah and the house of Joseph will be strengthened and brought back to Gilead and Lebanon, which are metaphors for fertility and blessing (Song 4:1; Ezek. 31:16). By including Judah and Joseph (the father of Ephraim, the chief tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel), Zechariah shows that the entire company of God's chosen nation—Judah and Israel—would experience this salvation.

In the midst of rebuilding the temple during the late sixth century BC, it was somewhat natural for the people of Jerusalem to become discouraged. Though the exiles were back in their homeland, the conditions of exile continued and the great restoration foreseen by the prophets was not yet evident. Of course, we know that this was not due to any unfaithfulness on the Lord's part but rather the failure of the old covenant community as a whole to fulfill the conditions for restoration—true faith and repentance (Deut. 30:1–10; Dan. 9).

The prophet Zechariah was sent to this discouraged people with a message of warning and comfort. As we saw in Zechariah 7, the prophet warned Judah that it had not yet learned the lesson of exile and that hypocritical piety could lead to their destruction just as it had for the pre-exilic Judahites. Today's passage records Zechariah's words of comfort.

Despite His people's unfaithfulness, the Lord did not abandon Judah but remained jealous for Zion and for Jerusalem. He had, in fact, come back there with His people and would make it a faithful city on a "holy mountain" (Zech. 8:1–3). These words foresee the complete purification of God's people and their land. He will not fail to sanctify His true children fully, and He will give His people a final dwelling place that is clean and fit for habitation. John Calvin writes, "God is never idle while he dwells in his people; for he cleanses away every kind of impurity, every kind of deceit, that where he dwells may ever be a holy place."

Verses 4–15 of Zechariah 8 feature imagery that confirms and develops this promise. People will live to a great age because they will be at peace and have nothing to fear. The full remnant of Israel will return. Great agricultural productivity will follow and there will never again be the crushing poverty wherein people and animals are unable to earn anything for their labor. Moreover, the nation will be a blessing to the rest of the world.

Note that this prophecy is both unconditional and conditional. It is unconditional in that the Lord will surely accomplish His promise. The final restoration is as sure as His promise to destroy Jerusalem for its unfaithfulness in 586 BC (vv. 14–15). However, the prophecy is conditional in that having Jewish blood is not enough to secure participation in the restoration blessings. Verses 7–8 echo the promise to Abraham in Genesis 17 that Yahweh would be God to His faithful children. We will experience the glories of restoration only if we trust in our Creator's promises alone and show forth that true faith in obedience (James 2:14–26).

Joshua, the first high priest of the post-exilic community, represents the entire nation in Zechariah 3:1–5, where God shows His intention to remove the filth of sin from the nation and replace it with cleansing, a garment of purity that means no charge can ever be brought against the Lord's people. Ultimately, this is a picture of Christ Jesus our Lord and our justification by faith alone in Him whereby we receive the gift of His perfect righteousness imputed to our record (Gal. 2:15–16; 2 Cor. 5:21). The Apostle Paul would later pick up on these same themes in Romans 8:33–34: "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us."

In Zechariah's day, the precise manner by which the Lord would accomplish the justification of His people was not understood with the same detail with which we know it today. What the faithful ancient Jew did know, however, was that this work would be accomplished through one whom the prophets sometimes referred to as the "Branch." Today's passage moves from the nation's cleansing by grace to the agent of that cleansing. Our first clue to this is the switch in Zechariah 3:6–8 from the tribal to the individual. Joshua and his successors are promised the priesthood and service in the temple if they remain faithful to the covenant. This is not a contradiction of justification by faith alone because it is clear that Joshua will not finally transgress the covenant and lose his justification. After all, God says that Joshua and the faithful priests of his day will be a sign of the greater salvation and restoration to come (v. 8). Their work will be in keeping with the work of the final Savior—they will be faithful to the covenant and point forward to the One who will not only be generally faithful to the Lord but perfect in obedience to Him. God never justifies a person and leaves it finally up to them to persevere to the end. All whom the Lord justifies, He also glorifies; He keeps all of His true children in faith until the end of their lives (Rom. 8:29–30).

Zechariah 3:8 introduces the Branch, the reality to whom Joshua pointed as a sign. This Branch is also God's servant and can be none other than the final Davidic king, the Messiah promised to the nation of Israel (Isa. 53; Jer. 23:5; 33:15). Although the nation was rebuilding the temple in Zechariah's day, it would be this King who would set the final capstone of God's true temple and bring the divine plan to consummation (Zech. 3:9–10).

Despite the fact that the Lord had not yet shaken the heavens and earth in Haggai's and Zechariah's day to depose the kingdoms of this world and exalt the house of Zerubbabel—the Messiah—the continuing suffering of the Jews under foreign domination was not unfaithfulness on God's part (Hag. 2:20–23; Zech. 1:1–17). Instead, the restoration had only been delayed (from a human perspective and because Judah's repentance was not extensive enough; see Dan. 9). The Lord would still consummate His plan, and He spoke through Zechariah to the post-exilic Jewish community to confirm this.?

John Calvin's comments on today's passage support this interpretation. Calvin notes that the community was depressed by its circumstances and needed encouragement that "God was performing by degrees, and step by step, what he had testified." Zechariah 2 and its vision of Jerusalem as a city whose length and width cannot be measured and as a city without walls demonstrates that the Lord had not forgotten His promises to His people once they had come back to their land in 538 BC. Jerusalem symbolizes the consummated kingdom of God, and it has no walls because its population will be so vast that it would be impossible to contain it within the physical walls of the city (vv. 1–4). The only wall that will exist is nothing other than the "wall of fire all around"—God Himself (v. 5). When the Lord consummates His plan, His people will have nothing to fear because they will enjoy His personal protection. Calvin writes, "Though walls may be high and thick, they may be scaled by enemies; but who will dare to throw himself into the fire?"?

But why will the company of God's people be so large? It is because the community will include not only the ethnic descendants of Abraham but also "many nations" who will join themselves to Yahweh, the covenant Lord of Israel, and become His people as well (vv. 6–12). Zechariah repeats the common prophetic theme that Yahweh is Lord not only over the Jews but also over the Gentiles, that His salvation will be universal in scope, not in that every person will be saved but that all nations, tribes, and tongues will be represented in His kingdom. Isaiah prophesied that all the nations would flow to God's mountain to learn His ways (Isa. 2:1–4). Zephaniah foresaw that the Lord would change the speech of the nations so that they could call on Him (Zeph. 3:9). Zechariah likewise was given a vision of God fulfilling His promise to Abraham to bless all the nations through him.?

We come today to one of the most difficult chapters in Zechariah. Chapter 12 relates an oracle from the prophet that reveals a series of events that are hard to place in time. Did Zechariah reveal what was going to happen to Jerusalem during or shortly after his lifetime? The phrase "I am about to make" in verse 2 seems to answer this question in the affirmative. Or, did Zechariah reveal what lay far in the future, namely, the full and final destruction of all of the enemies of His people? Verse 9 apparently refers to this last battle.

Answering these questions is difficult. On the one hand, because the Bible can use the term Jerusalem to refer to God's people, His bride the church (Rev. 21:1–2), it could be that the text should not be taken as referring to history at all and that Zechariah is referring to the victory that the redeemed covenant community enjoys over its foes. Certainly, such victory is guaranteed; however, it does not seem that the language points in that direction. Although the text uses some metaphors (Zech. 12:2, 6), the overall impression one gets from reading the passage is one of a literal, physical battle. Furthermore, because John 19:37 tells us that Jesus' crucifixion—an actual visible and historical event—fulfills the prophet's words about God being pierced (Zech. 12:10), it seems that we should view the rest of Zechariah 12 as describing visible, historical events.

The main difficulty with seeing the chapter as a reference to the far future is the "I am about to make" of verse 2. Yet, the Hebrew can also be translated "I am making," which would make the time at which the events are to occur indeterminate. We can therefore easily apply this text to a future time, the time of the final battle between God and His enemies. On that day, the Lord will show Himself so powerfully that the weakest Judahite will be like the mighty king David and the mighty Davidic king will be like God Himself (vv. 1–9).

Such strength will come only when the "house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem" mourn for the pierced one (vv. 10–14). This pierced one is none other than the Lord Himself, particularly the incarnate Son of God, as John teaches. The mourning is to come when our Creator pours out a "spirit of grace and pleas for mercy" (v. 10). What we likely have is a prophecy of the restoration of the Jews to their God. Just before the final day and last battle with God, there will be a large number of Jews who turn to Christ, mourn over their sin, and beg for mercy on account of having rejected Him at His first advent.

Visions came frequently to the prophet Zechariah as he encouraged Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem after the exile (Zech. 3–4). Today's passage records two more visions of the prophet—the vision of the flying scroll and the vision of the woman in the basket.

Since the Hebrew term translated with the English word curse is the same one used of the curses in the Mosaic law upon all those who impenitently break the covenant (Deut. 28:15–68), we are to see the flying scroll in Zechariah 5:1–4 as the curses of the Torah revealed to Moses after the exodus. In destroying the houses of sinners, this image is one of destruction—but not of the people themselves, for the vision of the woman in the basket in the same context shows the Lord banishing iniquity from the covenant community (vv. 5–11). After all, if our Creator takes sin away from the people, how then could He justly condemn them? What the curses of the law destroy in Zechariah's vision of the flying scroll is sin itself. Ultimately, we must see this vision as foreseeing the work of Christ, who exhausts the curse of the law on sinners and also curses and destroys the power of sin itself by taking it into the grave and leaving it there when He dies and rises again, being vindicated by His Father as the perfectly righteous Son of God (Rom. 6:1–14; Gal. 3:10–14).

Expiation—the removal of sin and its guilt from a people—is depicted in the vision of the woman in the basket in Zechariah 5:5–11. As noted, the appearance of this basket in the same context as the appearance of the scroll of curses communicates the final purification and not annihilation of God's people. The woman in the basket, who is a symbol of wickedness and evil in this text, is carried off‰ to Shinar by two other winged women, namely, angels. In Scripture, Shinar is another name for Babylon (Dan. 1:2), but given the symbolic nature of Zechariah's vision, the woman in the basket is not taken to a mere geographical area but to that place where wickedness abides. The angels carry evil outside the camp, placing it upon the enemies of God.

Therefore, Zechariah depicts the final destination of sin. Other passages tell us that in the new heavens and the new earth, sin and wickedness will be outside of the gates of God's Holy City, the New Jerusalem (Isa. 66:24; Rev. 22:14–15). In that place, those who love sin and not the Lord will receive what they wanted, an unending bondage to their evil.œ

In our study of Zechariah 12 yesterday, we concluded that the prophet seems to teach that before the final defeat of God's enemies, a large number of ethnic Jews will turn to the Messiah whom they have long rejected. The heartfelt mourning of repentance over the God-man pierced for their sins, however, is not where the Lord's work will end (vv. 10–14). As we see in today's passage, many other benefits will follow.

First, there will be a grand cleansing of sin and corruption. Zechariah 13:1 describes a fountain that will open for "the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem." The Lord is lavishly merciful when He forgives His people. He does not provide a trickle of water but a river that restores life to all those whom it cleanses (see Ezek. 47:1–12). God holds nothing back when He shows mercy to sinners and redeems them from guilt and shame. This is true no matter whom the Lord forgives. As Matthew Henry comments, "There is mercy enough in God, and merit enough in Christ, for the forgiving of the greatest sins and sinners." We who trust in Jesus today already experience this life-giving water, the Holy Spirit Himself who cleanses us from all transgression (John 7:37–39). But we will enjoy it even more fully when the full company of God's elect, Jew and Gentile, finally receive His grace.

The fountain of cleansing removes from creation even the slightest hint of sin. Zechariah refers to the land being cleansed of idols and false prophets on that final day (Zech. 13:2–6). Although the prophet spoke of future events, his message had great significance for his original audience. As we have noted, the type of rank idolatry and false prophecy that led to the exile was not a problem for Zechariah's contemporaries. But as idolatry is the worst of all sins, the reference to it showed the first hearers of Zechariah's message that God's cleansing of His people would know no boundaries. Even the worst sins and sinners would enjoy it.

Verses 7–9 of Zechariah 13 point to the striking of "the shepherd" that is somehow tied to these other events. Since there is no time reference such as "on that day" given, it seems that Zechariah does not see this striking happening alongside the final restoration. It will be necessary to the restoration, but it will not happen at the time of the full renewal of all things. A true shepherd associated with God Himself will suffer, and His sheep will scatter, but the Lord will use that event to purify His remnant, the third of His flock that is left alive when its leader endures pain and agony.

Judah went into exile in Babylon after centuries of suffering at the hands of Assyria, Egypt, and other foreign enemies. One of the great blessings of Judah's return from exile was supposed to be safety from all of the nation's foes (Deut. 30:1–10). However, this did not happen at once in the sixth century BC when the Judahites returned to their land. Many of the surrounding powers opposed the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 3). When Nehemiah arrived in the land, Samaria and other foreign powers attempted to thwart the efforts to rebuild Jerusalem's wall (Neh. 4:1–14). Such problems demonstrated that Daniel was correct when he foresaw the extension of the conditions of exile past 538 BC (Dan. 9).

Although the Judahites had certainly merited the continuation of the exile, the Lord in His grace did not intend for this to last forever. Thus, during the ministry of Zechariah, God gave the prophet visions of the end of the exile. Zechariah 9:1–8 describes this in terms of the defeat of Judah's enemies. Verses 9–17 view the end of exile in terms of the return of the Davidic king to Zion. We read that this king would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The Davidic king's riding on a humble beast of burden has precedent, for Solomon was presented as David's rightful successor by being placed on David's mule (1 Kings 1:33). In any case, the image is one of humility. Final salvation would not come to the people of God through the traditional route of a conquering king on a noble horse. Instead, it would be achieved in an unexpected way through what men typically regard as weak and despised.

In the day of salvation, Ephraim and Jerusalem would no longer trust the war horse and chariot (Zech. 9:10). The prophet is speaking of the reunited kingdom of Israel and pointing out that the salvation achieved by the humble Davidic king would convince the people of God to rest in Him alone and not in the idols of human might that the old covenant community often relied upon (Isa. 31:1; Jer. 42:19).

These promises would be fulfilled because of the blood of the covenant (Zech. 9:11). Once more we see the unconditional nature of salvation—God has committed Himself to redeeming His people despite their unfaithfulness. The "blood of the covenant" likely refers to the covenant of salvation the Lord made with Abraham in which God made a promise to save the patriarch's children and ratified it with the shedding of blood (Gen. 15). Because of this oath, the Lord would not fail to save His own.

Having said much about the future cleansing of God's people and the turning of a large number of Jews to their Messiah just before the last day, Zechariah describes this last day in more detail in chapter 14 of his book. This is perhaps the most symbolic chapter of the prophet's entire work. Using vivid imagery, Zechariah gives us an apocalyptic vision that points us to the end of days while also alluding to realities that occur throughout the history of God's people.

Clues to the symbolic nature of Zechariah 14 are found in the references to the Lord placing "his feet" on the Mount of Olives (v. 4) and the rivers of living water that flow to the east and to the west from Jerusalem (v. 8). Since God is spirit (John 4:24), we know that He does not literally possess a physical body with physical feet. Furthermore, we have also seen that in the prophetic books, including Zechariah, rivers of living water depict new spiritual life and the final restoration of all creation metaphorically (Ezek. 47:1–12; Zech. 13:1).

If the text is largely symbolic, then what is it telling us about the last day? First, it points us to a cataclysmic final battle between the enemies of God's people and the Lord and His saints. Through this war, a remnant will survive (Zech. 14:1–2) and there will be geographic upheaval. The Mount of Olives will be split in half (v. 4). Moreover, just when the people of God seem to be on the verge of losing the war, the Lord and His heavenly army will intervene to save the day (v. 5). One cannot help but think of the upheaval at the consummation that will result in the final redemption of the people whom our Creator has reserved for Himself and the transformation of all creation into the new heavens and earth. The Apostle Peter tells us that this will occur through heavenly fire (2 Peter 3:11–13).

On that day, living waters will flow to the east to the Dead Sea and west to the Mediterranean Sea (Zech. 14:8). The prophet is saying that God will bring renewal to all of His people's inheritance. Since this will "continue in summer as in winter," we see that this life is eternal. Unlike the seasonal rivers that only flow at certain times of the year in the Promised Land, these living waters will never fail to issue forth and do their work.

Finally, "the LORD will be king over all the earth" (v. 9). All people will recognize His full sovereignty and there will never be rebellion against Him again.