Overview of the book of zechariah

Book of zechariah overview insight for living ministries. In brief the book im referring to has a number of very interesting accounts. But haggai, zechariah, and malachi latch onto this name for god, with zechariah having more mentions of this name than any book outside of isaiah and jeremiah. This summary of the book of zechariah provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of zechariah. The book is predominantly apocalyptic and eschatological and through his prophesies he manages to put a real awareness and eagerness into the hearts of. It is a postexilic book, meaning it was written after post the return from captivity exile in babylon. The book of zechariah contains the clearest and the largest number of messianic about the messiah passages among the minor prophets. Zechariah was an existing prophet of the day with haggai and. His name, common to more than 29 old testament men, means the lord remembers. They were at peace in zechariah s day, and it was a right time to build the temple. Although not as fully developed as the apocalyptic visions described in the book of daniel, the oracles, as they are titled in zechariah 914, contain apocalyptic elements.

They had no concern for the desperate plight of gods people neither then nor now. Zechariah deals with israels complaint that they have experienced gods chastisement for their sin, but the surrounding nations have gone unpunished. Nearly 20 years after returning from the babylonian exile in the time of cyrus 538 b. He went into great detail about christs second coming, providing a treasure trove of information about the end times.

Personal overview of the prophet zechariah zechariah is the eleventh in order of the twelve minor prophets. But the lord is able to give us understanding and help with this, so well press on. Zechariah s first visions zech 16 the lord calls jerusalem to return to him. Before the temple completed, and then wrote chapters 914 approximately 480 b. The book of zechariah introduction to the book of zechariah in the bible. The messiah is portrayed so often that zechariah falls second only to the prophet isaiah in the number of messianic prophecies mentioned. The book of zechariah contains inspired visions and prophecies related to rebuilding the temple, as well as details of the messiahs coming, betrayal, and death. I will say, they are my people, and they will say, the lord is our god. Zechariah was a contemporary of the prophet haggai, the first postexilic prophet ezra 5. Before the temple completed, and then wrote chapters 9. This theme of repentance is developed more fully through the subsequent eight visions.

Zechariah is among the most precisely dated books in the bible. This outline of zechariah is organized differently than our other overview and outline of zechariah so we decided to include both outlines on our site zechariah was a contemporary of haggai and began to prophesy before the last two prophecies of haggai. Summary of the book of zechariah the story of the bible. Zechariah s ministry took place during the reign of darius the great, and was contemporary with haggai in a postexilic world after the fall of jerusalem in 5867 bce. Book of zechariah, the 11th of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in the jewish canon in one book, the twelve. The universal tradition of both jews and christians endorses the prophet zechariah as author. Summary of the book of haggai the story of the bible. The book of zechariah, attributed to the hebrew prophet zechariah, is included in the twelve. In that respect, its possible to think of the book of zechariah as a kind of miniature book of isaiah. Throughout the strand of scripture, timing is done amazingly which. The traditional view is that this man was a sixthcentury contemporary of haggai and that the entire book was written by him. And the elders of the jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of haggai the prophet and.

God has brought the jews back to jerusalem, and his work of restoration is far from over. Overview of the book of zechariah reformed answers to. The book was meant both to encourage and to provide gods response to the building of the second temple. The visions of zechariah chapters 18 and the prophecies of the lord chapters 914. The prophet zechariah wrote chapters 18 approximately 520518 b. It gives us some unique insight into the very workings of the mind of god, beginning even with the name of the book itself. Book of zechariah, also spelled zacharias, the 11th of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in the jewish canon in one book, the twelve. After 70 years of captivity, persian king cyrus, issued a decree in 538 b. Zechariahs prophetic ministry took place in the postexilic period, the time of the jewish restoration from babylonian captivity. Zechariah is also one of the most devotional of the prophetic books, dwelling more completely on the person and work of christ than any other of the prophetic writings. The last chapter depicts peoples from all over the world coming to worship god, who desires that all people follow him.

No other prophet with the exception of isaiah spoke more about the messiah than zechariah. Every chapter of the bible in 140 characters or less. Only chapters 18 contain the prophecies of zechariah. The book of the twelve prophets was originally on one parchment roll because of the brevity of the text, and together formed one book of the 24 books of hebrew scripture. Chapters 914 of the book of zechariah are an early example of apocalyptic literature. Zechariah is the eleventh of the twelve prophets in the book of the twelve in hebrew scripture. Grandson of the priest iddo, zechariah prophesied to the people of judah after they returned from their seventy years of exile in babylon. To encourage belief in zechariahs predictions not only of trials, but also of the great.

Most modern scholars believe the book of zechariah was written by at least two different people. This fulfills the prophecies of isaiah, jeremiah and others. Key personalities are zechariah, zerubbabel and joshua. In the book of zechariah, the messiah is presented as the shepherd, the stone, the coming king, and the branch who will remove iniquity. Zechariah overview matthew henrys complete commentary. In addition the canonical history of the book of zechariah has always included all fourteen chapters in the book. The book of zechariah teaches that salvation may be obtained by all. After 70 years of captivity, persian king cyrus, issued. And as i prayed, a few different possibilities were in my mind. The book of zechariah has been called the apocalypse of the old testament.

I summarised the bible on twitter between aug 2010 and nov 20 one tweet per chapter, one chapter per day. Watch our overview video on the book of zechariah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Scripture is sufficient in most cases to date books on their own. Introductory information dating of the writing there are a couple different ways to pull the dating of a writing. Zechariah begins his book with a strong call for israel to repent 1. Overview of the book of zechariah reformed answers. The first oracle zechariah 911 gives an outline of the course of gods providential dealings with his people down to the time of the coming of the. This summary of the book of zechariah provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and.

Zechariah overview, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, filling six volumes, provides an exhaustive look at every verse in the bible. Eight dream visions god spoke to his people through dream visions with bizarre images. I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. What are the meanings of the various visions in the book. Zechariah is highly symbolic, instead pointing to the spiritual activities behind the scenes. So, for the last year and a few weeks, weve grown accustomed to turning our attention to the book of job. Overview of the book of zechariah zionlutheranchurch. The book of zechariah is narrative history, prophetic and apocalyptic in genre. Its theme is to set forth the program of god, which is also the theme of the book of revelation. Some modern interpreters believe that what we know as one book was originally two books zech. Abel then would be a man out of the first and zechariah a man out of the last book of the old testament.

In this book, zechariah s visions foster hope in the future promise of. Except for the apocalyptic sections the eight night visions, its basic language and style are simple and direct. To encourage belief in zechariah s predictions not only of trials, but also of the great blessings for jerusalem when the kingdom of god comes in its fullness. But unfortunately we came to the end of that book and now we need to move on to something else. The book is often difficult to understand, packed with symbolism and vivid imagery, yet its predictions about a future savior jump out with crystal clarity. Some would say that the dating should come directly from scripture and nothing else. Outline of the book of zechariah zechariah zechariah was a prophet of a priestly lineage who had returned to jerusalem with zerubbabel that the temple of jehovah may be built cf. Haggai was also mentioned by ezra as a coworker with zechariah in prophesying to the people and they prospered in completing the construction of the second temple.

It is more obvious however to think of the prophet zechariah for primarily the problem with his fathers name disappears and secondly zechariah the prophet lived at the end of the old testaments period. Zechariah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The book of zechariah begins with a challenge for gods people to turn back to him, unlike their ancestors who rebelled, disobeyed and were exiled. Baldwin writes, even the tiny fragment of the greek manuscript found at qumran, which includes the end of chapter 8 and the beginning of chapter 9, shows no gap or spacing whatsoever to suggest a break between the two parts. Zechariah s hebrew name, zekaryah, means yahweh remem. The small book of zephaniah is narrative history and prophetic oracle. These red horses are the gentile nations that have ruled the world by warfare for 2500 years. Like the book of revelation, zechariah is a book of prophecy.

Among all of this predictive prophesy concerning what lay in the future for gods people, zechariah inserts many direct prophesies of the coming savior. To call the people of jerusalem and judah to repentance in the face of the babylonian invasion and hope in a grand restoration after the time of destruction and exile. Bible survey zechariah hebrew name zekaryah yahweh is remembered greek name zacharias greek form. This book has a man with a measuring line, and the high priest joshua standing before the lord being accused by satan. The purpose of this book was to show that god raised up his prophet zephaniah to proclaim a warning of coming judgment and to encourage repentance. Also, it tells the people to promise to try not to do these wrong things in the future. The book of zechariah is an extraordinary and clearly inspired book of the bible. And i will pour upon the house of david, and upon the inhabitants of jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications. An overview of the prophet zechariah which serves as a prologue to the new testament as well as some stunning, confusing and. After the start of the book in verse 1, zechariah began his book with a short speech in verses 26. This means to be sorry for the wrong things that they did. The book of zechariah challenges gods people to remain. In general, these visions speak of gods plans for israel and especially for jerusalem and the temple.