Complete notes on Zechariah

Complete notes on the prophet Zechariah are now available on Dundee Believer.

Zechariah 14:16-21 - Holy to the Lord

14:16,17

The end result will be that all the nations will worship the Lord. It is significant the the Lord of Hosts is seen as the king. This reminds us of Phil 2:5-11 where it speaks of every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. We find the Feast of Booths in Deut 16:13-17. All nations were allowed to come to this, and it was closely associated with the Lord blessing the harvest, hence the reference in v17 to those who refused to come not receiving any rain.

14:18,19

So Egypt is singled out as receiving punishment if she does not honour the Lord. She is seen as emblematic of what will happen to the nations. So why is Egypt singled out? It is because Egypt was not actually that dependent upon rain for her harvest, the flooding of the Nile that was crucial for her. So God is making it clear that there is no escape for Egypt. She could not say “we can survive without rain”.

14:20,21

We see here everything being devoted to the Lord, even the most ordinary of vessels. The words Holy to the Lord were engraved on the plate of gold word on the turban of the high priest. The aim was that everything in Israel was consecrated to the Lord, and at the end of days this will eventually become true. The reference to Canaanites is not racist, indeed some translations have “trader” (eg ESV). They were representative of those who made excessive profits out of worshippers. This helps to explain Jesus’ anger at the presence of money changers in the temple.

Zechariah 14:12-15 - A panic from the Lord will fall on the people

14:12

So the outlook for God’s people is rosy, but for the enemies of Jerusalem it is very bleak. This destruction that will come upon them is very grim indeed, and for us we can think of it in terms of the after effects of a nuclear war, or some deadly virus or nerve agent. In Zechariah’s time there was, of course, no nuclear weapons, but the flaying of the skin, the gouging out of eyes and cutting out of the tongue were all known of by victors over the vanquished. In this case it seems to happen by plague or some other means.

14:13-15

The enemies of Jerusalem will be seized with panic from the Lord and will start to attack one another. “Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem”. The text is ambiguous about whether or not Judah is fighting with or against Jerusalem. The wider context of Zechariah would seem to imply she must fight with, rather than against. The wealth of all the surrounding nations would come to Israel, this reverses the situation described in 14:1. The animals too would be stricken with plague, so no one could escape.

Zechariah 14:9-11 - The Lord will be king over all the earth

14:9

“And the Lord shall be king over all the world”. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done! The Lord’s plan and purpose is for His will to be done upon the earth. This should fill us with immense confidence, along with reverence for the Lord. Nor should we fear when it seems that men are succeeding in their ways, for their kingdoms will not last for long, only the kingdom of God increases without end.

14:10,11

This imagery speaks of Jerusalem being raised up above all the surrounding territory, which shall be a flat plain. Jerusalem would be dominant. There are three consequences of this. Jerusalem shall be inhabited, remember it was desolate after the Babylonian invasion, and would be again after AD70. There would no longer be a decree of destruction against it. Remember that destruction cale upon Jerusalem because of the Lord’s judgement upon it. Finally, the people would dwell in safety.

Zechariah 14:5-8 - You shall flee to the valley

14:5

The valley would provide an escape route. No one knows where Azal is. Amos 1.1 refers to an earthquake in the days of Uzziah. So things will look very bad, but at that point the Lord “and all the holy ones with Him” will come to the rescue. The “holy ones” could either be angels, or God’s people.

14:6,7

These verses talk of a unique day. There are various allusions to the very end of times. For instance “a day known only to the Lord” reminds us of Jesus’ words in Matt 24:36. The cosmic signs do so as well. The light will come only from the Lord. In truth it is the Lord who provides the light now. The only reason the Sun shines is because God makes it so.

14:8

“Living waters” refers to flowing water, remember that Ezekiel 47 had a vision of water flowing from the temple. God’s plan has always been that living water flows from His temple to the world. The western and eastern seas are the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. There would be a constant flow. As the church we need to recognise that the water of life is meant to flow out from us to the world. Remember also Jesus’ words in John 7:37-39. In order to be the conduit for living waters we need to drink from Jesus. We cannot be a source of living water if we follow the world’s ways.

Zechariah 14:1-4 - I will gather all the nations

14:1,2

In some senses it seems a pity that the chapter division is here. It was probably put there because of the opening phrase “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming”, which is the sort of phrase that often denotes a new “chapter”. However, this chapter is a continuation of the theme of the previous one. Nations will be gathered against Israel, and it will not be pleasant. The city will be taken, and all that goes with that. But the remnant would remain.

14:3,4

After the apparent defeat, the Lord would go into battle against the nations. So why do things have to happen this way? Why the initial onslaught? The Lord would stand on the Mount of Olives. This is the only mention of the Mount of Olives in the Old Testament. I really don’t know what the significance of the mountain moving north and south means, and I have to say the commentaries I have looked at are not particularly helpful either. Acts 1:11,12 may be referring to this promise.

Zechariah 13:7-9 - Strike the shepherd

13:7

This verse was quoted by Jesus in Mark 14:27 when Jesus tells His disciples they they will all fall away. In this verse the shepherd is described as the man who is close to the Lord Almighty. This is obviously Jesus. So there is a foretelling of Jesus being handed over to death. There is also a foretelling of the disciples being scattered, deserting Jesus. “against the little ones”. It would not just be Jesus who was persecuted, but His followers as well, and this is part of God’s plan.

13:8,9

Revelation contains echoes of 13:8 with the large swathes of humanity suffering. This could be seen as a cleansing of the people, with only true believers left. This remaining third will be further refined. Peter may well have been thinking of 13:9 when in 1 Pet 5:7 he speaks of our faith being tested like gold. The outcome will be that they will call on the name of the Lord and He will answer them. Then we get the oft repeated refrain of the Old Testament, “God will say ‘they are my people’, and they will say, ‘the Lord is our God’”. We need to remember that part of the outcome of God’s work in our lives is that we will call upon Him and He will answer, and this will happen during a time of testing. Part of the message of Zechariah is that when testing comes we will be strengthened (Zech 12:7-9) and that God will respond to our prayers.

Zechariah 13:3-6 - Every prophet will be ashamed

13:3

The foolishness of the false prophets will be recognised by all, even the members of the false prophets own family. Often a family will support one of their own even when they are clearly in the wrong, but the evilness and delusion of false prophets will become clear even to them. In fact the family would go so far as to kill the false prophet.

13:4-6

The false prophets themselves will go to extraordinary lengths to deny being prophets. Putting on a “hairy cloak” was part of the “act” of a prophet, supposedly adding some authenticity to what they were doing. In these times no one would even dare seek to be a false prophet. Today there are many false teachers and prophets about, of all shades. Some who deny the truth of the Bible, others who pretend to believe God’s word put distort it and preach or prophecy nonsense. A time will come when false prophets and teachers will be abhorred by all. Even with marks that they could not deny being there, they would seek to explain them away.

Zechariah 13:1,2 - On that day there shall be a fountain

13:1

We see hear another common theme of salvation as presented in the Bible, but so often missed in modern presentations of the “gospel”. There is a cleansing from sin and uncleanness. That applies to all of us who are saved, and to all who will be saved. We all need to cleaned, we are filthy with sin. A key element of the preaching of the gospel is the need to repent. Too often we shy away from mentioning sin, and then at others we go to the other extreme and just preach condemnation without any grace. Note that this fountain will be for the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. There is salvation for Israel.

13:2

On that day the names of idols will be cut off. When God’s salvation comes we stop trusting in idols, stop putting our hope in something other than the Lord Himself. On that day we will remember them no more. The prophets will be removed. Now we might think this strange, or if you are a cessationist you might think this supports your view, but that would be terrible exegesis! The prophets at the time were almost universally false prophets. Now today there are many rubbish prophets and the church would benefit greatly from their removal!

Zechariah 12:9-14 - Mourning for the one they have pierced

12:9

Things will not be pretty for the nations that attack Jerusalem, for God will seek to destroy them. We rightly emphasise the love and mercy of God, but we also need to remember the judgement of God. If we experience persecution the ideal outcome is that those who persecute us repent and believe, but if they do not we need to know that God will judge them.

12:10

This is one of the key verses that so clearly points to Jesus. It is also one that has not been fulfilled yet, referring to the Jews looking to Jesus. The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will receive a spirit of grace and supplication. They need grace because of their persistent rejection of God, something that has gone on for thousands of years, but a change will come. There will be a deep sorrow over what they did to Jesus when He came to earth.

12:11-14

On that day the mourning will spread throughout the land, encompassing the whole of Israel. and the mourning will be greater than any other mourning they have experienced, and we should remember the numerous horrific things that the Jews have gone through. They will appreciate the true horror of what they did, and of their rejection of Jesus.

Zechariah 12:7,8 - The Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem

12:7

There will be equality! God does not want the honour of the House of David nor of Jerusalem  to be greater than that of Judah. This is very significant when we consider that the Messiah is often referred to as being the Son of David. We are all given different roles in life, some of them receive much praise and acclamation, others are grossly undervalued, and everything inbetween. Whatever role God gives to us we should do it faithfully, knowing that God will fairly reward all. Jesus said that many who are last will be first.

12:8

There will be a day of battle, a day when many forces come against Israel, but on that day the Lord will help and protect Jerusalem. So the first thing to note is that trouble will come, but God’s people will be protected. The second thing to note is that we are not passive, but the Lord involves us in the battle. Everyone’s strength will be multiplied. Ps 110 says that the Lord’s people will be ready and willing on the day of battle. When trouble comes our strength will increase. We can sometimes look ahead with foreboding, wondering how on earth we will manage, but at the right time God will increase our strength.

Zechariah 12:4-6 - On that day

12:4

We should be wary of interpreting verses like this over literally. It would seem best to take it as simply meaning that God will strike down Israel’s enemies as they attack, throwing them into confusion. However, we should note that the use of horses in battle was seen as a significant advancement at this stage of history. The nations will try many things to destroy Judah, but the Lord is watching over Judah.

12:5

The people of Judah would then become strong. This will happen because they realise that the Lord is their God. We can try all sorts of things to bolster our courage, trusting in ourselves, in others, or something, but true courage only comes when we trust in the Lord, when we know that He is indeed our God.

12:6

Judah will be a source of much destruction to the nations. It will not be so much that Judah attacks them, but the consequence of their attacking Judah, and Jerusalem herself will remain in place. There are some who spiritualise everything in the OT referring to Israel and Jerusalem. Now there are many ways in which this does give important to insights, but to just spiritualise it seems to me to be very dangerous. There are so many promises in the OT referring to Israel and to Jerusalem that it seems almost certain that physical Jerusalem and Israel are involved as well.

Zechariah 12:1-3 - The Lord who formed the spirit of man

12:1

The opening verse of this prophecy gives a clear description of the one who is speaking. “The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, forms the human spirit within a person”, God is uniquely qualified to declare what will happen, and we are wholly unqualified to doubt or question what He says. God is the creator and sustainer of all things. He forms the spirit within a man or woman. God knows what He is talking about, and when we think we know better than God we are fools.

12:2,3

We have here a picture of the battle of Armageddon from Revelation (Rev 16:14). One might have envisaged a glorious victory, but it will start with Judah and Jerusalem being besieged. All the nations of the earth will be gathered against Israel, but they will find her immovable and it will result only in harm for the nations. We do need to understand this, and we can apply it to the nation of Israel and to the church. The world will ultimately want to destroy Israel and to destroy the church. This will not work, but there will be much suffering along the way. We need to appreciate the difficulties, and we need to appreciate the victory.

Zechariah 11:15-17 - Woe to my worthless shpeherd

11:15,16

Zechariah has been playing the role of a good shepherd, only to be rejected by the people, mirroring God’s rejection of His people. Now Zechariah is to play the role of a foolish shepherd. Note that shepherd is foolish not in the sense of doing daft things, but that he does not care for the weak, lost or young, but rules only to exploit the people for his own gratification.

11:17

God then announces a damning judgement upon the worthless shepherd. See that the worthless shepherd is sent as a judgement upon the people for their wrong attitudes, but the shepherd himself will then receive judgement for his wrong actions. God’s actions are usually multi-dimensional, and if we view them one dimensionally we will never understand God.

Zechariah 11:12-14 - Give me my wages

11:12

Zechariah asked for his wages, if it seemed good to them, and was given thirty pieces of silver. This, of course, is the amount Judas was paid for betraying Jesus (Matt 26:15). This was the price of a slave who was accidentally killed (Ex 21:32). There are some who say it reflects an insulting wage in the Near East of the time, but others say it is actually a significant sum.

11:13

The Lord then instructed Zechariah to throw it to the potter. There are various explanations as to why he was instructed to do this. One is simply that there was a pottery nearby, though this explanation seems to have little point to it. Another is that the Hebrew word for potter is very close to the word for treasury, and yet another is that it could actually refer to a metalworker. None of these is particularly enlightening.

11:14

The unity between Judah (the southern kingdom) and Israel (the northern kingdom) was broken after Solomon, and they were not exactly friends. It is difficult therefore to see what this verse is referring to, unless it is looking backwards.

Zechariah 11:9-11 - I will not be your shepherd

11:9

Very severe words are then uttered. “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die”. We focus a lot on the compassion of Jesus, but we also need to remember that Jesus is the judge. When here on earth Jesus also had severe words to say at times. It is clear from the whole of Scripture that there comes a point where chances run out and God says enough is enough, and people get what they want! If they want a world without God, then a world without God they shall have, along with all the consequences. We should note that absolutely terrible things did indeed happen during the siege of Jerusalem.

11:10,11

The judgement may start with Israel, the house of God, but extends to all the nations. Here God breaks the staff called favour, signifying the breaking of the covenant with the nations. However, it is possible that “all the peoples” or “all the nations” refers to the all the Jews scattered in many nations. Zechariah gave a dramatic illustration of the breaking of the covenant. “The sheep traders knew it was the word of the Lord” (ESV) is rather strange. NIV and NKJV have the “oppressed of the flock” or “poor of the flock”. If this latter translation is accepted then it is more understandable, and they knew that God recognised the injustice that they suffered and was taking action. “Sheep traders” is following the Greek version.

Zechariah 11:6-8 - Shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter

11:6

This is a very severe verse, and see that it is directed at the people of the land. Everyone will be given into the hands of their neighbours and of the king, ie of the rulers. There is a large extent to which we see this coming true in the west. There is greater enmity between people groups, especially with identity politics. And rulers are becoming increasingly intrusive in our lives. In some other countries things are much, much worse, with violence between peoples, and violent oppression. We might think that God is being unfair here, but it is true to large degree that we get the leaders we deserve. We all need to take responsibility for ourselves.

11:7,8

This seems to demonstrate the problem with the people. Zechariah himself shepherded the flock, giving special attention to the oppressed of the flock. The two staffs signify what a good shepherd would do, favour and union. The Lord desires to bestow favour on His people and to bring unity. Zechariah even got rid of the “three shepherds”, presumably three bad rulers. So we see that Zechariah was not some other worldly mystic, he received the word of God and was involved in the practical running of the country. However, the flock detested him and Zechariah grew weary. There is an obvious parallel with Jesus here. He came and showed special care to the oppressed, but in the end the people detested Him and He was crucified. God does have a special concern for the poor and the oppressed, but we can often think that because someone is oppressed they are not sinners. All are sinners, the rich, the rulers, the poor and the oppressed. The only difference between the various groups is the extent to which they have had the power to demonstrate that sinfulness. If you don’t believe me just look at situations where there has been a revolution (violent or peaceful). Very soon you find exactly the same degree evil of appearing.

Zechariah 11:1-5 - Shepherds

11:1-3 

 This passage is quite difficult to interpret. It can be seen as a taunting of the nations, or it can be seen as a literal destruction of the Syro-Palestinian land, and this seems to be the favoured interpretation. The whole message of the chapters around this is that the leaders (the shepherds) of Israel have failed her, but that the Lord Himself would become her shepherd and then salvation would come. The supreme failure of Israel’s leaders was their rejection of the Messiah when He came. Soon after that Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD70.

 11:4,5 

 We get a terrible picture here of the way that the shepherds had led Israel. They were supposed to lead the people in the ways of the Lord, but all they did was look after themselves, and seek their own well being. So the flock is marked for slaughter, and slaughter did indeed come. We should note that there is a twofold judgement here. The leaders are the primary guilty ones, but the people themselves will suffer as well. We all have responsibility. Many church leaders today should pay heed to these verses. We are there to lead the people in the way of the Lord, not in the way of the world.  

Zechariah 10:9-12 - I will bring them home

10:9

There is no easy plan of salvation. They would be scattered to many lands, and note that it is the Lord who scatters them. Other nations would be the instruments, but it would be the Lord’s doing. This happened, the Jews were scattered in many lands at the time of the early church, and continued to be scattered throughout the world until today. But in these distant lands they would remember the Lord and be saved. No matter how lost we are, if we remember the Lord, if we repent and believe, we will be saved.

10:10-12

The Lord would gather them from Egypt and Assyria. Just as it was the Lord who scattered them, so it would be the Lord who brought them back. And He would bring them back in large numbers.

They would pass through the surging sea. God may bring us through times of trouble, but He does so to bring us to a place of salvation. The seas would be subdued by the Lord. Passing through the Nile could be an allusion to passing through the Red Sea. The strength and power of the nations that oppressed them would be taken away.

So her enemies would be weakened, but Israel herself would be strengthened. They would be strong in the Lord, and “in His Name” they would live securely. We find security only in the Lord.

Zechariah 10:7,8 - I will whistle for them

10:7
Ignoring the main point for a moment, this verse does make the arguments of some odd folk that the wine in the Bible is non-alcoholic rather vacuous. It does also show that arguments for absolutely no alcohol are rather unbiblical. Getting drunk is absolutely wrong, and there is nothing wrong at all with abstaining from alcohol, and can indeed be a very sensible course of action in some circumstances, but we do need to realise that it is not an absolute. And making absolutes out of non-absolutes is a dangerous road to go down, leading to all the problems associated with legalism. However, back to what the passage is actually on about, which is that joy shall be restored to Ephraim. It is worth remembering that Ephraim were the real bad boys.

10:8
“I shall whistle for them ..” This does invoke images of shepherds with sheepdogs. The point is that God will call and they will respond. Jesus said the sheep would recognise His voice and respond to it (John 10:4,5). God will call us in because He has redeemed us. The calling in of the sheep only really happened after the cross, ie after our redemption. And Israel would be numerous. While the Bible often speaks of remnants, we also need to remember that it often speaks of massive numbers. Not all will be saved, but many, many will be.