Although we don’t know much about Zechariah other than that he came from a family of Temple priests, the one thing we do know is when he made his prophecies. In contrast to all the other major and minor prophets, Zech, can I call him Zech? actually dated his works, which were set down between 520 and 518 BCE. So he was contemporary with Haggai, after the fall of Jerusalem and during the period of rebuilding the Temple. The book, a bit longer than the other minor prophets – a whopping 14 pages – first recounts the history of Jerusalem’s fall, then discusses the continuing mourning for its loss, and ends with prophecies of a Messiah, the first time I recall that topic having come up in these readings.
- Zech has a vision of figures on white horses roaming the land as God reminds him of the downfall of the exiled Israelis in Babylon, and why he sent them into exile. The figures he sees turn out to have been sent by God in order to assess the readiness of the Jews to return to and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. They report back that everything’s a-okay and now, after seventy years in exile, it’s time to return.
- The vision continues, as Zechariah sees angels bustling about. One in particular stands out, as he heads off with a measuring tape. Where is he off to? He’s going to measure the bounds of Jerusalem. Why? Not to rebuild a walled city as it had been, but to surround it with a wall of fire created and maintained by God. I mean, just a preview, but Jerusalem is a walled city, so, someone apparently didn’t get the message…. Is the Iron Dome an attempt to be biblical?
- Zechariah now sees a vision of Joshua, clothed in grimy rags. Angels appear and spiff him up, metaphorically removing his sin. Then they place a stone, with seven eyes, and God tells him that he’s going to use that stone to remove the sin from all the Jews returned from exile, and as long as they follow the rules from now on, they will be graced by the presence of the angels.
- Zech’s vision continues, and he sees a gold lampstand with seven lamps on it, seven pipes stemming from it, and an olive tree on each side. The angel asks him what it means, he says he doesn’t know, the angel tells him that it metaphorically means that God sees all, and that spiritual faith is everything, power and force are nothing. Zech doesn’t see it, but kind of mumbles, “mmm, okay”, which just seems to annoy the angel. I mean, isn’t the metaphor obvious?
- I think Zechariah is just stoned. Now he sees a massive flying scroll with the names of liars on one side and thieves on the other, and the angel tells him the scroll will fly into those people’s homes and destroy them. Then he sees a flying tub with a woman in it, held in place by a lead weight, and the angel says she represents wickedness, at which point two other angels swoop in and carry the tub away. The angel asserts it will be set up as a shrine in Babylonia.
- Copper mountains, four chariots drawn by four horses of different colors. The angel says these represent the four winds, and they bring materials for the rebuilding of the Temple, and crowns for the leaders. I feel like this vision is winding down.
- Yup, the vision has ended. Important folk come to Zechariah to entreat the favor of God. It’s not really clear why, Zech hasn’t been preaching doom and gloom, but rather, rebuilding. Nonetheless, God tells him to tell them that their seventy years in exile, fasting and praying, was really just about them atoning for their sins, and didn’t really do anything for him, so he’s not interested. As best I can tell, they did what he told them to do to get back in his favor, but he doesn’t buy that they really meant it.
- God promises to take up residence – one assumes spiritually rather than physically – in Jerusalem, protecting it and Israel and the Jewish people from harm, making it a wonderful place to live, and the envy of all. A place that people of faith will all want to not just come to, but to become part of, and part of the Jewish faith. One might assume these days that God is on a rather extended sabbatical.
- Not only is God taking up residence in Jerusalem, but, apparently, in all the surrounding capitals. There, he will not just ensure, he says, the continued existence of the Jewish people and Israel, but, will, over time, win over the hearts and minds of all those who surround it, converting them to followers. It might be nice if he’d get on with that. He’s clearly working on a different timescale than we are.
- God tells Zechariah that he’s bringing back all the far-flung exiles, and restoring them to their rightful positions. He’s going to pardon them for their past wayward behavior, and hey, they’re going to love him and worship him as if he’d never disowned them in the first place. Because that’s just the kind of guy he is.
- God plans to destroy Lebanon. Also, to dissolve the bond between Judah and Israel. It’s not clear why he wants to dissolve that bond, at least to me. As a side note, Judah was the area from, basically, Jerusalem south into the Negev desert, while Israel was everything north of Jerusalem to the borders with modern day Lebanon, what was Phoenicia back then.
- It’s still not clear why Judah and Israel have been separated, as God continues to explain that each of them will rise like, well, phoenixes from the ashes of the exile period, and destroy all those around them who participated in the overthrow of Jerusalem. What’s lost in this vision for me is that God doesn’t seem to remember that he’s the one who forced all those neighboring nations to attack and subdue Israel and Judah in order to teach them a lesson. Then again, he considers them all to be evil, and just tools for his use, so, there’s that.
- God tells Zechariah that the day is coming when Israel will be purified. In particular, he notes, that he’s going to kill two-thirds of all shepherd boys. There’s no reason given as to why shepherd boys are singled out. Is it a metaphor for the religious leaders of the people, their flock? Also, he notes, that from that point on, there will never be another authorized prophet, and anyone claiming to be a prophet is a false one and should be put to death. There are a few folk out there today who might just be targets.
- We wind up Zechariah with God’s promise that “on that day”, some time in the future, that appears to still be in the future two millennia later, he will make Jerusalem and Israel secure from all other nations, and if the surrounding nations don’t get with the program and follow his precepts, he’ll wipe them from the face of the earth.