Lesson #01

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
ZECHARIAH
LESSON #01
INTRODUCTION

• WHO WROTE THE BOOK?
• THE PROPHET AND PRIEST, ZECHARIAH, WROTE THE BOOK.
• HIS NAME MEANS = JEHOVAH REMEMBERS”.
• THE MEANING OF HIS NAME TELLS US SOMETHING OF HIS ENCOURAGING MESSAGE TO A DISCOURAGED PEOPLE.
• THE NAME, ZECHARIAH, WAS A COMMON NAME AMONG JEWS. THERE ARE MORE THAN 20 MEN BY THIS NAME IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
• ZECHARIAH WAS BORN IN BABYLON AND RETURN ED TO ISRAEL IN 538 BC WITH ZERUBBABEL TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE AFTER THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.
• ZECHARIAH COMES FROM A FAMILY OF PRIESTS. BECAUSE OF THAT, WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHY THIS GRANDSON OF A PRIEST WAS CONCERNED THAT THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE WAS STILL INCOMPLETE.
• ZECHARIAH’S FATHER (BERECHIAH) EVIDENTLY DIED YOUNG BEFORE HE COULD SUCCEED HIS FATHER, IDDO, AS A PRIEST. (NEH 12:4-16)
• ZECHARIAH SUCCEEDED HIS GRANDFATHER (IDDO) AS PRIEST WHEN HE WAS STILL A YOUTH.
• ZECHARIAH IS A CONTEMPORARY WITH THE PROPHET, HAGGAI, WHO BEGAN TO PROPHESY 2 MONTHS PREVIOUS TO ZECHARIAH’S MESSAGES. (EZR 5:1) HOWEVER, HAGGAI’S MINISTRY LASTED ONLY FOUR MONTHS.

• TO WHOM WAS THE BOOK WRITTEN?
• THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN TO DISCOURAGED JEWISH PEOPLE IN ISRAEL.
• WHAT IS THE DATE FOR THE BOOK?
• IT WAS WRITTEN BETWEEN OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 520 BC TO 518 BC.
• ZECHARIAH MAY HAVE CONTINUED TO PROPHECY AFTER THIS SHORT TWO-YEAR SPAN, BUT OTHER MESSAGES DID NOT BECOME PART OF THE BIBLE. THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT HIS MINISTRY LASTED ABOUT FIFTY YEARS.
• WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE MIDDLE EAST AT THE TIME?
• THE ISRAELITES HAD RETURN ED TO ISRAEL FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY EIGHTEEN YEARS EARLIER. THE LAND WAS DEVASTATED AND SOCIETY WAS IN CHAOS. HOWEVER, THIS LITTLE BAND OF PEOPLE HAD GREAT EXPECTATIONS AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. THEY BEGAN TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE (THE BOOK OF EZRA). THEN SMALL BANDS OF ENEMIES STOPPED THE CONSTRUCTION. THE PEOPLE BECAME DISTRACTED. NOW THE PEOPLE WERE DISCOURAGED AND FELT FORSAKEN BECAUSE ALL PROGRESS HAD STOPPED FOR FIFTEEN YEARS.
• ZECHARIAH LIVED IN THE TIME OF THE REIGN OF DARIUS HYSTASPIS, THE PERSIAN KING OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER.
• IT WAS A GENERAL TIME OF PEACE AND SAFETY IN THE MIDDLE EAST. (ZEC 1:11)
• WHAT IS THE LOCATION FOR THE BOOK?
• ISRAEL.
• WHY WAS THE BOOK WRITTEN?
• THE PROPHET’S PURPOSE WAS TO ENCOURAGE A DISCOURAGED PEOPLE.
• HAGGAI’S PURPOSE WAS TO ENCOURAGE THE PEOPLE TO FINISH REBUILDING THE TEMPLE.
• ZECHARIAH’S PURPOSE WAS TO ENCOURAGE THE PEOPLE TO FINISH REBUILDING THE TEMPLE BUT HE WENT FURTHER TO ENCOURAGE INTERNAL SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
• WHAT IS THE THEME OF THE BOOK?
• THE RESTORATION OF A PEOPLE TO THEIR LAND WITH THEIR MESSIAH:
• THE FIRST AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST FROM A JEWISH VIEWPOINT.
• ZECHARIAH’S PROPHECIES COVER BOTH COMINGS OF CHRIST WITHOUT MAKING ANY DESIGNATION OF THE DIFFERENCES IN TIME.
• THIS WAS COMMON IN OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT THE OLD TESTAMENT JEWS WERE CONFUSED ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE MESSIAH AND DID NOT RECOGNIZE JESUS WHEN HE CAME IN THE FIRST COMING.
• ZECHARIAH’S VIEW OF THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST:
• THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY (PALM SUNDAY)
• HIS REJECTION
• HIS BETRAYAL FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER
• HIS PIERCING
• HIS CRUCIFIXION
• SMITTEN BY THE SWORD OF THE LORD
• ZECHARIAH’S VIEW OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST:
• THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING
• THE PIERCED ONE
• THE SALVATION OF THE JEWS
• CHRIST’S MILLENNIAL REIGN:
• HIS NEW TEMPLE
• HIS PRIESTHOOD
• HIS KINGSHIP
• HIS HUMANITY
• HIS DEITY
• HIS PERMANENT PEACE
• THE KEY VERSE FOR THE BOOK:
• ZEC 12:10
• MAJOR CHARACTERS IN THE BOOK:
• ZECHARIAH, THE PRIEST, PROPHET, AND POET.
• THE MESSIAH
• ZECHARIAH GIVES US MARVELOUS DETAILS ABOUT THE TWO COMINGS OF THE MESSIAH IN HIS MESSIANIC PROPHECIES.
• THE TWO COMINGS ARE TIED TOGETHER BY THE FACT THAT BOTH ARE THE SAME PERSON. THIS FACT MAKES THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO JEWS.
• MANY JEWS BELIEVED THERE WOULD BE TWO MESSIAH’S:
• THE SUFFERING SERVANT
• THE REIGNING KING
• KING DARIUS HYSTASPIS (521 – 486 BC)
• THE BOOK BEGINS IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN OF THIS PERSIAN KING.
• DARIUS WAS THE SECOND PERSIAN KING. THE FIRST PERSIAN KING WAS CYRUS WHO DECREED THAT THE JEWS COULD RETURN TO ISRAEL AFTER THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.
• JOSHUA, THE HIGH PRIEST
• THIS IS NOT THE SAME JOSHUA IN THE BOOK OF NUMBERS WITH MOSES, WHO LED THE PEOPLE INTO THE PROMISED LAND IN THE BOOK OF JOSHUA.
• THE JOSHUA IN THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH IS THE SON OF JOSEDECH. HE WAS THE HIGH PRIEST IN THE TIME OF THE RESTORATION (537 BC) AFTER THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.
• ZERUBBABEL
• THE LEADER IN CHARGE OF REBUILDING THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM. (THE BOOK OF EZRA)
• AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT BIBLE PROPHECY:
• BIBLE PROPHECY IS LIKE A JIG SAW PUZZLE WITH MANY PIECES THAT NEED TO BE PUT TOGETHER TO MAKE SENSE OF THE WHOLE PICTURE.
• OFTEN TIME IS NOT A PART OF THE MESSAGE. IN FACT, GREAT SPANS OF TIME CAN BE JUMPED WITHIN A SINGLE MESSAGE. THAT IS WHAT MAKES PROPHECY DIFFICULT.
• BIBLE PROPHECY ALWAYS HAS A DOUBLE FULFILLMENT:
• THE FIRST FULFILLMENT IS CLOSE IN TIME TO THE DATE WHEN THE PROPHET SPOKE THE MESSAGE.
• THE PURPOSE FOR THIS IS TO VALIDATE THE PROPHET AND HIS MESSAGES AS A TRUE PROPHET OF GOD WHO SPEAKS TRUE MESSAGES FROM GOD.
• THE FIRST FULFILLMENT SERVES AS A WARNING THAT THE SECOND WILL SURELY COME.
• THE FIRST FULFILLMENT SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE SECOND, MORE COMPLETE, FULFILLMENT.
• THE SECOND FULFILLMENT IS FAR DISTANT IN TIME WHEN THE PROPHET AND HIS GENERATION OF LISTENERS ARE DEAD.
• THE PURPOSE FOR THIS IS TO VALIDATE THE WORD OF GOD AS LIVING, ETERNAL, AND INSPIRED BY GOD, AND NOT WRITTEN BY SHORT-SIGHTED, MORTAL MEN.
• THE SECOND FULFILLMENT GIVES US A FINALIZATION AND COMPLETE FULFILLMENT OF BIBLE PROPHECY IN THE WHOLE PLAN OF GOD.
• A BIBLICAL EXAMPLE: ZEC 12:10
• THE FIRST COMING OF THE MESSIAH = “…ME WHOM THEY (THE JEWS) HAVE PIERCED…”
• THIS IS THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST AT THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST.
• THE SECOND COMING OF THE MESSIAH = “AND I WILL POUR UPON THE HOUSE OF DAVID…THE SPIRIT OF GRACE…”
• THIS IS THE SALVATION OF THE JEWS AT THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• OUTLINE OF THE BOOK:
• AN INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE: A CALL TO REPENTANCE (1:1-6)
• A SERIES OF EIGHT VISIONS IN ONE NIGHT AND A SYMBOLIC ACT (1:7-6:15)
• -#1 THE HORSEMAN AMONG THE MYRTLE TREES (1:7-17)
• -#2 THE FOUR HORNS AND THE FOUR CRAFTSMEN (1:18-21)
• -#3 THE MAN WITH A MEASURING LINE (2:1-13)
• -#4 THE CLEANSING OF JOSHUA, THE HIGH PRIEST (3:1-10)
• -#5 THE CANDLESTICK AND THE OLIVE TREES (4:1-14)
• -#6 THE FLYING SCROLL (5:1-4)
• -#7 THE WOMAN IN EPHAH (5:5-11)
• -#8 THE FOUR CHARIOTS (6:1-8)
• THE SYMBOLIC ACT: THE CROWNING OF THE HIGH PRIEST (6:9-15)
• A MESSAGE TWO YEARS LATER: THE OBSERVANCE OF NATIONAL FASTS (7-8)
• A FINAL MESSAGE: A FULFILLMENT OF ALL THINGS (9-14)
• THE FIRST BURDEN (9-11)
• DESTRUCTION OF THE NATIONS (9:1-8)
• THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH (9:9-10:12)
• ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF THE TRUE MESSIAH AND THE RULE OF A FALSE MESSIAH (11:1-17)
• THE SECOND BURDEN (12-14)
• THE DELIVERANCE, CONVERSION, AND PURIFICATION OF ISRAEL (12:1-13:6)
• THE BASIS OF CONVERSION: THE SMITTEN SHEPHERD (13:7-9)
• THE PROCESS OF CONVERSION: THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH (14:1-21)
• SOURCE MATERIAL FOR OUR STUDY:
• ZECHARIAH: A COMMENTARY ON HIS VISIONS AND PROPHECIES

BY DAVID BARON

• ZECHARIAH: ISRAEL’S MESSENGER OF THE MESSIAH’S TRIUMPH

BY FRED HARTMAN

• THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY: OLD TESTAMENT

; JOHN F. WALVOORD AND ROY B ZUCK

• ALL THE PARABLES OF THE BIBLE

BY HERBERT LOCKYER

• ALL THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES OF THE BIBLE

BY HERBERT LOCKYER

• NOTES FROM DOUG BOOKMAN, THE MASTER’S COLLEGE
• MISC. NOTES

• HOMEWORK
  ZECHARIAH 1
  THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FOR CORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF THE INTRODUCTION:
• AS YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, ARE THERE AREAS WHERE IT SEEMS YOU HAVE MADE NO PROGRESS? WHAT ARE THEY?
• ON A SCALE OF 1-10, TEN BEING THE GREATEST, WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL OF DISCOURAGEMENT IN REGARDS TO THESE AREAS OF YOUR LIFE?
• FIND SOME VERSES IN THE BIBLE THAT WILL ENCOURAGE YOU IN THESE AREAS:
• PREPARATION FOR ZEC 1
• READ ZEC 1:1-6
• WHAT IS THE WARNING THAT ZECHARIAH GIVES IN THESE VERSES?
• READ ZEC 1:7-17 VISION #1 THE HORSEMAN AMONG THE MYRTLE TREES
• WHO IS “THE ANGEL OF THE LORD”? (11)
• WHO IS “THE LORD” WHO ANSWERS THE ANGEL? (13)
• WHO IS THE RIDER OF THE RED HORSE? (8)
• WHAT DO THE OTHER HORSES REPRESENT? (19)
• COMPARE ZECHARIAH’S VISION WITH REV 6:2-8. WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES AND WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES?
• THE MYRTLE TREES REPRESENT THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM.
• WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE VISION?
• READ ZEC 1:18-21 VISION #2 THE FOUR HORNS AND THE FOUR CRAFTSMEN
• WHAT DO THE FOUR HORNS REPRESENT?
• WHAT DO THE FOUR CRAFTSMEN REPRESENT?
• WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE VISION?
• MEMORY VERSE: ZECHARIAH 1:3