CIRCUMSTANCES OF WRITING

AUTHOR: Zechariah returned to Judah with the former exiles and was apparently a priest (Neh 12:16). He was a contemporary of Haggai. Though nothing is known of cooperation between the two prophets, they had similar missions and are credited with the successful reconstruction of the temple (Ezr 5:1-2; 6:14). Zechariah gave dates for two periods of his prophetic ministry (520 BC and 518 BC, Zch 1:1,7; 7:1). Whether he was the author of the entire book is debated. Many scholars, impressed with the differences between chaps. 1-8 and 9-14, conclude that Zechariah did not write the last six chapters. The concept of authorship at the time of the Bible, however, was different from modern standards. In the OT, there is evidence of portions of books under a single author’s name that were not written by that author (Nm 12:3; Dt 34:5-12; Jr 51:64c).

BACKGROUND: A key moment in the history of the Israelites came after King Cyrus of Persia granted the captives permission to return to Palestine (538 BC). The chosen people had recently come through one of the worst experiences possible in the ancient world. Their homeland was devastated by invading armies, their capital city and temple were plundered and razed, many of their people and leaders were killed, and most of the rest were carried off into pagan lands. The returnees who made the long trek back to Judah were faced with the challenge of reestablishing Jerusalem and the temple. Based on the account in the book of Ezra, work began immediately. But after the altar was rebuilt and the foundation stones were laid, problems arose and the work stopped (Ezr 3:1-4:24). Though sacrifices were offered on the altar, the temple continued to lie in ruins for almost two more decades.

MESSAGE AND PURPOSE

COVENANT RELATIONSHIP: The message of Zechariah was both encouraging and challenging. With God empowering the chosen people, nothing would be impossible, not even rebuilding the temple. But Zechariah was concerned with more than bricks and mortar. The fundamental issue was the covenant between the Lord and the Israelites. God would not be satisfied with just a rebuilt temple and city. He wanted a restored relationship. Because their ancestors had failed miserably in obeying the law—by not worshiping him in spirit and in truth and by not acting justly toward one another—God called on the surrounding nations to punish his people. Now the question was whether the returnees had learned the hard lesson and would do any better at complying with the terms of the covenant.

CRITICIZING AND ENERGIZING: Zechariah’s message carried high stakes. The remnant that came out of the captivity was the only hope for the future of Israel. Based on the track record of previous generations, strong language would be necessary to penetrate the stubborn shoulders, closed ears, and hardened hearts of God’s people (7:11-12). The method Zechariah adopted was to criticize the worldview that was dominant in the thinking of the Israelites and to energize them with the possibility of a completely new reality. Poetry served this purpose well because it fuses sound and sense in a powerful way.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIBLE

The book of Zechariah is full of the language of judgment, but it is also full of God’s promises. The Lord challenged his people to undertake an overwhelmingly difficult task, and he assured them of their success through his power. But the nature of these promises extended beyond rebuilding the temple. From beginning to end, the Bible tells the story of God’s redemptive plan, culminating in God’s triumph over evil and salvation for sinners. Zechariah’s prophecies anticipate this grand culmination of history, describing a coming glorious king, a God who triumphs over all, and a world with all wrongs corrected. These promises set the stage for God’s future kingdom, as evidenced by the quotes and allusions to Zechariah in the NT.

STRUCTURE

The book of Zechariah is complex, sometimes with seemingly disjointed units, like a series of snapshots that need to be put in order. The apparent lack of organization may reflect the oral origin of the book, a collection of sermons that were patched together in written form. But it may also have been intentional. With the goal of shocking the hearers and bringing them to their senses, rapid-fire movement from one thought to another may have been part of Zechariah’s technique. Chapters 1-8 contain carefully dated visions and sermons, while chaps. 9-14 consist of undated poetic oracles and narrative descriptions of judgment and blessing.

Zechariah used a mix of genres. His sermons, poetry, and oracles of judgment and salvation were typical of the prophetic genre. But his visions had similarities with apocalyptic literature, best represented in the OT by the book of Daniel. The content of some of his oracles, describing divine intervention and a radically different world, are also typical of apocalyptic literature. Thus, Zechariah may represent a stage of development between a prophetic form and an apocalyptic form.

OUTLINE

I.Call to Conversion (1:1-6)

II.Visionary Disclosure of God’s Purposes (1:7-6:15)

A.Vision one: appearances deceive (1:7-17)

B.Vision two: the destroyers destroyed (1:18-21)

C.Vision three: perfect safety of an open city (2:1-13)

D.Vision four: Satan silenced (3:1-10)

E.Vision five: the temple rebuilt (4:1-14)

F.Vision six: the curse destroys sin (5:1-4)

G.Vision seven: sin banished from the land (5:5-11)

H.Vision eight: four chariots (6:1-8)

I.Coronation scene (6:9-15)

III.A Prophetic Message to the People (7:1-8:23)

A.Empty worship and judgment (7:1-14)

B.Incredible blessings (8:1-23)

IV.The Emerging Kingdom (9:1-14:21)

A.The King and his kingdom (9:1-11:3)

B.Two shepherds (11:4-17)

C.Jerusalem attacked and delivered (12:1-9)

D.Inward blessings promised (12:10-14)

E.Threefold purification (13:1-6)

F.Death of the shepherd (13:7-9)

G.The day of the Lord (14:1-21)

625-525 BC

Jeremiah prophesies that the Babylonian exile will last 70 years. 605

Nebuchadnezzar’s three invasions of Judah 605, 597, 586

Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed. 586

Fall of Babylon and rise of Persia 539

Cyrus’s decree allows return of Jews from exile; 42,360 return initially. 538

Second temple construction begins under Zerubbabel’s and Joshua’s leadership. 536

Discouragement reinforced by opposition from transplanted peoples brought work on the temple to a halt. 526

525-520 BC

Aeschylus, (525-456) Greek tragedian, many of whose plays dealt with the Persian invasion of Greece. He participated in the Greek victories at Marathon and Salamis.

Haggai and Zechariah encourage the people to resume construction of the temple. 520-518

Haggai’s first message August 29, 520

Temple building resumes. September 21, 520

Haggai’s second message October 17, 520

Zechariah’s first prophetic message October/November 520

520-460 BC

Haggai’s third and fourth messages December 18, 520

Zechariah’s night visions February 15, 519

Zechariah’s message on fasting December 7, 518

Temple completed March 12, 515

Greeks, outnumbered almost five to one, defeat Persians in Battle of Marathon through superior military intelligence and strategy, forestalling Persian expansion into Europe. 490

Malachi’s prophecy 460

460-425 BC

Second group of exiles returns to Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra. 458

Third group of exiles return under Nehemiah’s leadership. 445

Jerusalem’s walls rebuilt under Nehemiah’s leadership 445

Nehemiah returns to Persia. 432

The second Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and other Greek city-states 431-404

Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem. 425