Reference: Zechariah, Prophecy Of
Morish
Nothing personal is revealed concerning the prophet except that he was the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet. The dates mentioned are the eighth and eleventh months of the second year, and the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius, answering to 519 and 517 B.C., Zec 1:1,7; 7:1. Haggai's prophecy was in the second year of the same Persian king, so the two prophets were contemporary, and, according to Ezr 5:1; 6:14, they both roused and encouraged the Jews to go on with the building of the temple. Zechariah's prophecy is much occupied with the great Gentile kingdoms under which the Jews were placed: there is also much respecting Jerusalem, and it reaches on to the time of the Messiah and His rejection, and to the last days when Israel and Judah shall be blessed in the land.
Zech. 1. The introduction calls upon the people to turn to the Lord: not to be like their fathers who refused to hearken to the warnings, but who when God's punishments had fallen upon them, had been forced to acknowledge the truth of the prophet's words. The point of the chapter is that Jehovah had returned to Jerusalem with mercies, and God's providential ordering of the nations would favour the building of the city. The first vision is in Zec 1:7-17. A man, the angel of Jehovah, on a red horse (the horse is a symbol of the energy of God's providential government in the earth) stands in the shade among the myrtle trees, and there were other horses, red, speckled, and white, as symbols of God's agency in the government of the earth: cf. Zec 6:5. "The powers that be are ordained of God" and were used by Him. If the 'red' horse signifies Persia (having the same colour as the horse of the angel, possibly because Persia was at that time ruling and was favouring God's people), doubtless the 'speckled' and the 'white' point to the two nations that were to succeed
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Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel.
The scepter will not depart from Judah, or the staff from between his feet, until He whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to Him.
He found him in a desolate land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, cared for him, and guarded him as the pupil of His eye.
On the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead, in order to fight with him he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco's words from the mouth of God, but went to the Valley of Megiddo to fight. The archers shot King Josiah, and he said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded!" read more. So his servants took him out of the war chariot, carried him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he died, and they buried him in the tomb of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women still speak of Josiah in their dirges to this very day. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.
But when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them,
So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia.
Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
For your waste and desolate places and your land marked by ruins- will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children that you have been deprived of will yet say in your hearing: This place is too small for me; make room for me so that I may settle.
You will be a glorious crown in the Lord's hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king's chief officers, came with 10 men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. They ate a meal together there in Mizpah, but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the 10 men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall all around it.
By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food.
I will bring you from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you were scattered, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath. I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples and enter into judgment with you there face to face. read more. Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God . "I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. And I will also purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they live as foreign residents, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, take a single stick and write on it: Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph-the stick of Ephraim-and all the house of Israel associated with him. read more. Then join them together into a single stick so that they become one in your hand. When your people ask you: Won't you explain to us what you mean by these things?- tell them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph-which is in the hand of Ephraim-and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in My hand. "When the sticks you have written on are in your hand and in full view of the people, tell them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. They will no longer be two nations and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will not defile themselves any more with their idols, their detestable things, and all their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances, and keep My statutes and obey them. "They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live in it forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. When My sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel."
You saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation certain."
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo: "The Lord was extremely angry with your ancestors. read more. So tell the people: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Return to Me"-[this is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts-"and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts. Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to Me"-the Lord's declaration. "Where are your ancestors now? And do the prophets live forever? But didn't My words and My statutes that I commanded My servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? They repented and said: As the Lord of Hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so He has dealt with us." The Night Visions On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo: I looked out in the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the valley. Behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
I looked out in the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the valley. Behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. I asked, "What are these, my lord?" The angel who was talking to me replied, "I will show you what they are." read more. Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the Lord has sent to patrol the earth." They reported to the Angel of the Lord standing among the myrtle trees, "We have patrolled the earth, and right now the whole earth is calm and quiet." Then the Angel of the Lord responded, "How long, Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that You have been angry with these 70 years?" The Lord replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me. So the angel who was speaking with me said, "Proclaim: The Lord of Hosts says: I am extremely jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was a little angry, but they made it worse. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I have graciously returned to Jerusalem; My house will be rebuilt within it"-the declaration of the Lord of Hosts-"and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem. "Proclaim further: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem." Then I looked up and saw four horns. So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these?" And he said to me, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."
So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these?" And he said to me, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. read more. I asked, "What are they coming to do?" He replied, "These are the horns that scattered Judah so no one could raise his head. These [craftsmen] have come to terrify them, to cut off the horns of the nations that raised [their] horns against the land of Judah to scatter it."
For the Lord of Hosts says this: "He has sent Me for [His] glory against the nations who are plundering you, for anyone who touches you touches the pupil of His eye.
"Listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring My servant, the Branch. Notice the stone I have set before Joshua; on [that] one stone are seven eyes. I will engrave an inscription on it"-the declaration of the Lord of Hosts-"and I will take away the guilt of this land in a single day.
The angel who was speaking with me then returned and roused me as one awakened out of sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?" I replied, "I see a solid gold lampstand there with a bowl on its top. It has seven lamps on it and seven channels for each of the lamps on its top. read more. There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."
So he answered me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of Hosts. 'What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it!' "
'What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it!' " Then the word of the Lord came to me: read more. "Zerubbabel's hands have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you. For who scorns the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand."
For who scorns the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand." I asked him, "What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?" read more. And I questioned him further, "What are the two olive branches beside the two gold conduits, from which golden [oil] pours out?" Then he inquired of me, "Don't you know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied. "These are the two anointed ones," he said, "who stand by the Lord of the whole earth."
I looked up again and saw a flying scroll. "What do you see?" he asked me. "I see a flying scroll," I replied, "30 feet long and 15 feet wide." read more. Then he said to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for every thief will be removed according to what is written on one side, and everyone who swears [falsely] will be removed according to what is written on the other side. I will send it out,"-the declaration of the Lord of Hosts-"and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones." Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, "Look up and see what this is that is approaching." So I asked, "What is it?" He responded, "It's a measuring basket that is approaching." And he continued, "This is their iniquity in all the land." Then a lead cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket. "This is Wickedness," he said. He shoved her down into the basket and pushed the lead weight over its opening. Then I looked up and saw two women approaching with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and sky. So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "Where are they taking the basket?" "To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar," he told me. "When that is ready, [the basket] will be placed there on its pedestal."
Then I looked up again and saw four chariots coming from between two mountains. And the mountains were made of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot black horses, read more. the third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses-[all] strong horses.
the third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses-[all] strong horses. So I inquired of the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these, my lord?" read more. The angel told me, "These are the four spiritsof heaven going out after presenting themselves to the Lord of the whole earth.
The angel told me, "These are the four spiritsof heaven going out after presenting themselves to the Lord of the whole earth.
The angel told me, "These are the four spiritsof heaven going out after presenting themselves to the Lord of the whole earth. The one with the black horses is going to the land of the north, the white horses are going after them, but the dappled horses are going to the land of the south."
The one with the black horses is going to the land of the north, the white horses are going after them, but the dappled horses are going to the land of the south." As the strong horses went out, they wanted to go patrol the earth, and the Lord said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth.
As the strong horses went out, they wanted to go patrol the earth, and the Lord said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth. Then He summoned me saying, "See, those going to the land of the north have pacified My Spirit in the northern land."
Then He summoned me saying, "See, those going to the land of the north have pacified My Spirit in the northern land." The word of the Lord came to me: read more. "Take [an offering] from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.
"Take [an offering] from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take silver and gold, make crowns and place them on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. read more. You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; He will branch out from His place and build the Lord's temple.
You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; He will branch out from His place and build the Lord's temple. Yes, He will build the Lord's temple; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. There will also be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two of them. read more. The crown will reside in the Lord's temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah. People who are far off will come and build the Lord's temple, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen when you fully obey the Lord your God."
In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.
"Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh [months] for these 70 years, did you really fast for Me?
As you have been a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Don't be afraid; let your hands be strong."
Tyre has built herself a fortress; she has heaped up silver like dust and gold like the dirt of the streets. Listen! The Lord will impoverish her and cast her wealth into the sea; she herself will be consumed by fire. read more. Ashkelon will see it and be afraid; Gaza too, and will writhe in great pain, as will Ekron, for her hope will fail. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will become uninhabited. A mongrel people will live in Ashdod, and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines. I will remove the blood from their mouths and the detestable things from between their teeth. Then they too will become a remnant for our God; they will become like a clan in Judah and Ekron like the Jebusites. I will set up camp at My house against an army, against those who march back and forth, and no oppressor will march against them again, for now I have seen with My own eyes.
Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, annulling the covenant I had made with all the peoples.
The Lord also said to me: "Take the equipment of a foolish shepherd. I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are going astray, and he will not seek the lost or heal the broken. He will not sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the fat [sheep] and tear off their hooves. read more. Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm wither away and his right eye go completely blind!"
On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
"On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the residents of Jerusalem, [to wash away] sin and impurity. On that day"-the declaration of the Lord of Hosts-"I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. read more. If a man still prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him: You cannot remain alive because you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord. When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through. On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive. He will say: I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man purchased me as a servant since my youth. If someone asks him: What are these wounds on your chest?-then he will answer: The wounds I received in the house of my friends. Sword, awake against My shepherd, against the man who is My associate- the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will also turn My hand against the little ones. In the whole land- the Lord's declaration- two-thirds will be cut off and die, but a third will be left in it. I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say: They are My people, and they will say: The Lord is our God."
You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him. On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish.
Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap Him by what He said. They sent their disciples to Him, with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know that You are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You defer to no one, for You don't show partiality. read more. Tell us, therefore, what You think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" But perceiving their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing Me, hypocrites? Show Me the coin used for the tax." So they brought Him a denarius. "Whose image and inscription is this?" He asked them. "Caesar's," they said to Him. Then He said to them, "Therefore, give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away. The same day some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came up to Him and questioned Him: "Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first got married and died. Having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother. The same happened to the second also, and the third, and so to all seven. Then last of all the woman died. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had married her." Jesus answered them, "You are deceived, because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven't you read what was spoken to you by God: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob ? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came together in the same place. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test Him: "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments." While the Pharisees were together, Jesus questioned them, "What do you think about the Messiah? Whose Son is He?" "David's," they told Him. He asked them, "How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls Him 'Lord': The Lord declared to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet' ? "If David calls Him 'Lord,' how then can the Messiah be his Son?" No one was able to answer Him at all, and from that day no one dared to question Him any more.
Then Jesus said to them, "Tonight all of you will run away because of Me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
I have come in My Father's name, yet you don't accept Me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, "Sir, we want to see Jesus." read more. Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus replied to them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. "I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop.
Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
Then I heard another voice from heaven: Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, or receive any of her plagues. For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.