Teacher: Pastor Chet Lowe

Main Scriptures: Zechariah 1, Isaiah 42, 2 Chronicles 36

  • The New Testament quotes Zechariah over 40 times
    • This prophecy is a word from the Spirit for the Jewish nation (2 Peter 1:21 ESV)
      • The church does not replace the Jewish nation—His covenant with Israel is forever
  • The book is broken into 4 sections
    • Return to Me (Zechariah 1:1-1:6)
    • Be encouraged by Me (Zechariah 1:7-6)
    • Celebrate because of Me (Zechariah 7-8)
    • Rule the world with Me (Zechariah 9-14)
  • Zechariah records prophecy about the Messiah, the apocalypse and the Second Coming
  • Zechariah 1:1-3
    • The people had rebelled against God’s word and rejected God’s prophets (2 Chronicles 36:14-16)
    • Context for the book
      • Pre-Exile
        • The people of Israel wanted a king
          • Saul > David > Solomon > Rehoboam and Jeroboam
        • The kingdom divides
          • Jeroboam leads the Northern Kingdom
            • Kingdom of Israel (AKA Ephraim which was the largest tribe)
              • Composed of 10 tribes
              • Was taken over by the Assyrians
          • Rehoboam leads the Southern Kingdom
            • Kingdom of Judah (Which was the largest tribe in the south)
              • Composed of 2 tribes
              • Was taken over by the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar
      • Mid-Exile
        • Assyrian captivity of northern kingdom
        • Babylonian captivity of southern kingdom
        • Babylonians fall to Persians and Cyrus makes decree to return to Israel
        • Timeline
          • 606 BC 1st Captivity (Daniel’s captivity)-Luke 21:24
          • 597 BC 2nd Captivity
          • 586 BC Temple destroyed
            • God spoke Isaiah 40:1 and 43:1-3 to this people
          • 539 BC Babylon falls to Cyrus
            • Cyrus is introduced in Isaiah 41:2-4, 25; 44:24-45:5; 45:9-13
              • This was written 150 years before Cyrus was born (Ezra 1:1-3)
      • Post-Exile
        • 1st Wave: Zerubbabel returns to rebuild the temple at Cyrus’ decree (46,000 Jews came with him)
          • Zechariah is a part of this wave
          • His prophecy was written during this time
        • 2nd Wave: Ezra returns to reestablish worship
        • 3rd Wave: Nehemiah returns to rebuild the wall
        • Then there were 400 years of silence until God speaks to Zechariah the priest in the Gospels
    • v. 1
      • Zechariah’s name has meaning and promises the Messiah’s coming
        • Zechariah means “The Lord remembers”
        • Berechiah means “To bless”
        • Iddo means “At the appointed time”
      • He started his ministry when was a teenager (Zechariah 2:3-4)
      • His ministry was to communicate God’s word to the Jewish nation
        • He was a prophet, a priest (Nehemiah 12:1, 16) and a “type” of Christ
          • He was murdered in the temple for his ministry (Matthew 23:35)
        • He was a part of the first wave
          • The first wave was responsible for completing the altar and laying a foundation. This happened in two years
            • The work was stopped for 16 years by the Samaritans who wrote a letter to the new king—not Cyrus (Ezra 4)
              • The Jews built their own houses when they stopped work on God’s house
                • God raised up Haggai to exhort them to continue work on God’s temple
                  • Two months after this exhortation, Zechariah begins his work of encouragement about the future of the nation
    • v. 2-3
      • His message from God was “Return to me and I will return to you”
        • God wants relationship with us and calls us to draw near Him (James 4:8)
          • The people responded to Haggai’s exhortation and started the work again
            • The Samaritans were upset again and went to King Darius to get the Jews to stop building
              • King Darius found Cyrus’ decree, allowed the Jews to start building again and required the Samaritans to pay for the work (Ezra 4-6)
      • Messengers of repentance must count the cost of preaching the Gospel and depend on the Spirit
        • Zechariah was murdered
        • Jesus was crucified
        • The disciples were martyred