Zechariah

Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. ...Zechariah’s prophecies, like most of the others, have their origin in the events of his time. A very slight acquaintance with them will show that they were intended to give courage and energy to the returned captives in their work of restoring the temple and rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, although at the same time it will be equally clearly seen that they necessarily lead the mind onward to the larger contemplation of the things concerning the kingdom of God to furnish the proper realisation of his predictions. Probably Zechariah illustrates more clearly than most of the prophets the principle that prophetic declarations often had this double purpose of warning and encouraging in the present, whilst also pointing forward to the then distant future, and the manifestation of the Messiah King.

Of Zechariah, nothing definite can be said, save that he was the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. In Ezra he is called the son of Iddo; the explanation of this being that the word “son” is there used in the general sense, in the same way that Laban is referred to as the son of Nahor, although he was actually his grandson. There is an Iddo mentioned as a priest who came up from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:1–4), and a Zechariah “of Iddo” is referred to in verse 16 amongst the priests in the days of Joiakim, the son of Joshua. If this is the same individual as the author of the book under notice, Zechariah was both a prophet and a priest. It would also involve that he was a young man when, in the second year of Darius, he commenced his prophetic ministry. His name means Yahweh remembers, an appropriate name for one who prophesied of the return of Yahweh’s favour to Zion.

In view of the fact that the visions of the earlier chapters are treated of at length in the first volume of Eureka, it is hardly necessary to dwell upon them much now. All that need be done is to direct attention to the points which indicate how the messages they contain arose out of the situation of affairs as it existed in the period of the return from the Babylonian captivity.

The introductory call of the prophet was “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts” (chap. 1:3). The revival of interest in relation to the temple had but recently taken place, and such a message would undoubtedly tend to help the energies of the people in connection with that work. The reference which follows, to the failure of their fathers, would give the corresponding warning against carelessness in the matter. Very briefly, then, we may proceed to notice the suitability of the visions to these circumstances.

Five months after the resumption of the rebuilding of the temple, Zechariah, apparently in the course of a single night, was accorded the series of visions recorded in chapters 1.–6. The first was that of the horsemen among the myrtle trees, who, having gone to and fro through the earth, reported that “All the earth sitteth still and is at rest.” Such an announcement, while having the future as its final fulfilment, was calculated to show the Jews that God’s over-ruling providence could, and would, overcome the turbulence of man, and enable them to accomplish the task which was before them. It was added to by the declaration “Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem” (chap. 1:16–17).

The second vision, that of the four horns, and the four carpenters who came to fray them, also indicated that Gentile triumph should not hinder the accomplishment of God’s purposes, thus emphasising the then present effect of the first vision.