#52 On the nature of God: Learning from the prophets: Zechariah; chapters 1-3

Some subjects are difficult. Remember long division being introduced piecemeal? By understanding one step at a time, you learned a hard subject.

Zechariah, the longest of the minor prophet with fourteen chapters, can be hard to understand. After an introduction calling for repentance, eight visions appear in the first six chapters. Questions about days of fasting follow in the next two chapters. After that, the end six chapters talk about God’s judgment on the nations and Israel.

This article discusses the introduction and the first four visions.

Zechariah opens with the theme of the book—a call for repentance, Zechariah 1:2-3:

“The LORD was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you,”

Because God’s people had forsaken the Lord by worshipping idols, He had forsaken them and allowed their captivity. Seventy years later, the new Persian ruler, Cyrus, had allowed the remaining Jews to return to a burned and destroyed Jerusalem.

In these opening verses, God reminds them that they had refused to listen to His prophets that He would punish them. God had kept His prophetic word. They were taken captive by the Babylonians. Now, He urges them to return to Him. Implied in returning would have been repentance and abandoning idol worship.

These verses show that the conditional nature of God’s salvation depends upon obedience. They had to destroy the idols and begin again to worship God only.

God sent eight visions to Zechariah to show what God now planned for Jerusalem.

In the first vision, Zechariah saw men on horses. An angel explained that they patrol the earth for God. They reported all was at rest, and God would once again be the God of His people, Zechariah 1:16-17:

“I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it… and My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”

The second vision was of four horns and four craftsmen. The angel explained that the four horns represented the nations that had scattered Judah. The craftsmen would scatter these nations. (Note that this is also proof that God judges all nations.)

The third vision was a man measuring the size of Jerusalem. But the angel explained that measuring was unimportant, Zechariah 2:4-5:

“Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.”

A wall would not be needed. God would protect her and be her glory.

Then God issued a call for all nations to come and inhabit Jerusalem and rejoice, Zechariah 2:10-11:

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst… And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.”

God loves all nations and wants them in His kingdom.

In the fourth vision, Joshua, the high priest, was seen in filthy rags and Satan ready to accuse. God rebuked Satan and called Joshua a brand plucked out of the fire. This means that Satan may have thought that God’s people were finished—burned up. Not so. God was now ‘plucking them out of the fire.’

The filthy rags of Joshua, symbolic of the sins of the priests during idol worship, were removed and clean clothes substituted. This means that God was forgiving the sins of the priesthood and installing Joshua as the forerunner of a new era where the priests would lead the people to worship correctly.

Note: God did not give them a new religion. Instead, they were to be obedient to the old law He had already given them.

Then the Lord gave Joshua a solemn charge, Zechariah 3:7-10:

“If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here… behold, I will bring my servant the Branch…I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”

If the nation and priests would worship God according to His word, then God would bless them with peace and prosperity, and the Branch (the Messiah), would come to provide forgiveness.

These three chapters and four visions show that God is willing to restore the nation if they will faithfully follow Him. Thus, God intended for a new era of faithfulness to begin.

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