Zechariah chapter 8

 

Memory verse: Zechariah 8:9

 

Zechariah was a contemporary of Ezra and Haggai (Ezra 5:1). He writes of the state of Israel at the time, which seemed bleak. It was the early stages of the restoration of Judah after the Babylonian invasion. He prophesies that better days are coming. He uses prophetic symbolism (a red horse – Zechariah 1:8, a golden candlestick and 2 olive trees – Zechariah 4:2-3, a flying roll – Zechariah 5:1, an ephah – Zechariah 5:6, 4 horsemen – Zechariah 6:1-8, 2 staves – Zechariah 11:7). This one of the most Messianic books of the old testament, with many specific details quoted and fulfilled in the new testament:

3:8 – the BRANCH (Mt 2:23)

3:9 – 7 eyes, remove iniquity in 1 day (Mt 26:28, Acts 2:38,  Heb 9:22, Rev 5:6)

4:2 – candlestick (Rev 1:12-13)

4:3 – 2 olive trees (vs 14 – 2 anointed) (Rev 11:4)

4:7 – headstone, grace grace (Jn 1:14-17, 1Pet 2:4-8)

4:10 – 7 eyes

6:1-8 – 4 chariots (Rev 6:1-8)

6:12 - the BRANCH, build temple (Jn 2:19)

6:13 – will bear the glory, sit and rule upon throne (Mt 25:31, Rev 22:3)

9:9 – upon a colt (Mt 21:2-7)

9:14 – God shall blow with a trumpet (1Cor 15:52, 1Thes 4:16)

11:12-13 – 30 pieces of silver, cast unto potter in the house of the Lord (Mt 26:15, Mt 27:3-9)

12:10 – look upon me whom they have pierced, mourn as for only son (Jn 19:34-37)

13:1 – fountain for sin

13:6 – wounds in hands in house of friends (Jn 15:14-15, Jn 20:20-27)

13:7 – smite the shepherd (Mt 26:31)

14:3-4 – feet on Mt. Olivet (Acts 1:9-12)

14:6-7 – no night (Rev 21:23)

14:8 – living waters out of Jerusalem (Rev 22:1-2)

14:9 – one Lord, his name one (Acts 4:12)

Chapter 14 is a prophesy about the second coming of Christ and the battle of Armageddon described in Revelation 16:16 and Revelation 19:11-21.

 

Day 1 – I was jealous, I am returned

Verses 1-5

Atheists like to criticize God for being jealous. Here is an example of His jealousy being a good thing. His jealousy for His people not only caused Him to punish them for their sins, but to return to them in mercy and restoration. Truth and holiness would be restored. Both the elderly and young children will be in the streets of Jerusalem again. This depicts a time of peace, safety, prosperity, and hope for the future.

 

Day 2 – I will bring them

Verses 6-8

God asks if restoration is marvelous (full of wonder, extraordinarily hard). God asked Abraham and Jeremiah if anything is too hard for Him (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:27). God said He would bring back all the Jews that were scattered throughout the world to live in Jerusalem again. When things look their worst is when the stage is set for the greatest miracles. When Satan thinks his strategies are coming together, God can foil them in one moment. Since God did these things for the people of the old covenant that passed away, how much more will He do it for those of the new covenant? The theme of the book of Hebrews is that the new testament is superior to the old one. The word better appears 12 times. We have a better hope (Hebrews 7:19), a better covenant based on better promises (Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6), better sacrifices (Hebrews 9:23), a better country (Hebrews 11:16), a better thing (Hebrews 11:40), and better blood (Hebrews 12:24). God will have the final word in this age (Matthew 24:14, Acts 2:17, Acts 15:14-18), and that which is to come (Matthew 13:39-43, Revelation 14:14-19, Revelation 20-22). His celebration will be full of people (Luke 14:23).

 

Day 3 – ye shall be a blessing

Verses 9-15

During the time of judgment, men were working for nothing, and there was no peace. Now the time of judgment was past, and they were going to prosper. Their lands would again produce harvests. They were a curse, but now would be a blessing. God was going to do them good. Sometimes people get used to things being one way in their life, and don’t know how to adjust to being out from under the curse of sin. There is a transition that must take place, and some don’t know how to do it. They are like the Israelites in the wilderness who had been freed physically from Egypt, but were still there mentally (Exodus 14:11-12, Exodus 16:3, Exodus 17:3, Numbers 11:5, 18, & 20, Numbers 14:2-4, Numbers 20:5, Numbers 21:5, Deuteronomy 1:27). It was not until  the next generation that they were able to embrace their promises. God wants us to receive His blessing because of His grace, and be free to enjoy it without looking over our shoulder to the past. God not only wants to bless us, but to make us a blessing to others. That is the promise of Abraham (Genesis 12:2, Romans 4, Galatians 3).

 

Day 4 – speak the truth

Verses 16-17

Truth has many aspects, and all of them are essential. There is doctrinal truth (Eph 4:4-6, Gal 1:6-9, 1Tim 4:16, Jude 3). There is verbal truth (Ps 119:43, 1Ki 17:24, 2Chr 18:15, Prov 12:1, Zech 8:16, Mal 2:6, 2Cor 7:14, Gal 4:16, Eph 4:15 & 25). There is relational truth. This applies to our relationship with God (1Ki 2:4, 1Ki 3:6, 2Ki 20:3, Ps 26:3, Ps 86:11, 1Sam 12:24, Ps 15:1-2, Ps 51:6, Ps 69:13, Ps 145:18, Prov 16:6, Is 26:2, Is 65:16, Jer 33:6, Jn 3:21, Jn 4:23-24, Jn 14:17, Titus 1:1). It also applies to our relationships with others (Prov 17:15, Prov 14:25, Prov 23:23, Ecc 10:1, Is 5:20-21). Lying is a very dangerous sin with relational, societal, and eternal consequences (Revelation 21:27, Revelation 22:15). Lying destroys trust, which all relationships must be built on. Lying comes back on the liar ( Jacob - Gen 27, Gen 31:7; Ananias and Sapphira - Acts 5:1-11). Lying can spread into all areas of life. Truth is the only remedy.

 

Day 5 – let’s go

Verses 18-23

God was going to restore the joy of their religious holidays. People from one city will go to another and invite them to go with them the temple in Jerusalem to pray and seek God. People from all over the world will come to pray there. Ten Gentiles will take hold of one Jew to go with him. This was literally fulfilled from the days of Zechariah until A.D 70 when the Romans destroyed the last temple. Even now people go to Jerusalem from all over the world to pray at the western wall of the temple area. It is called the wailing wall. Spiritually, when God manifests who His real children are, and people see that God is with then in a time of great darkness, they will do the same (Romans 8:14-22). Not only will this be fulfilled in the next age, but when people see their world crumbling around them, they will realize that what they have been trusting in is not secure, and will turn to those who are with God (Hebrews 12:25-29).