The book of Zechariah is a book of visions and prophecies that God sent to Zechariah when God’s people were captive in the land of the Persians. The Persian empire defeated the Babylonian empire which destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jewish people captive.
Though God’s people were able to return to Judea, God warned them, through His prophets, not to return to the wickedness that caused God to punish them with the Babylonian army. God told His people that He loved them very much but they had to love Him and only serve Him; not to serve idols.
Zechariah is a wonderful book for Christians for God told Zechariah about Jesus who would come to the earth more than 500 years after Zechariah’s prophecy.
Zechariah saw that Jesus, whom he called Branch, would take away sin in one day. Jesus did this when He died on the cross. He also saw that Jesus would be a priest who would sit on the throne.
This second lesson about Jesus might have confused the Jews. Under the Old Law, the priests could only come from the tribe of Levi, and the kings from the family of David who was of the tribe of Judah. Jesus would be from the tribe of Judah but could not be a priest under the Old Law.
This prophecy pointed to the new law, the gospel, in which Jesus could be a priest and king at the same time and the Old Law would be put away. We do not obey the Ten Commandments or any part of the Old Testament today. However, We can learn much from studying the Old Testament.
Zechariah also prophesied about Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a small donkey which Jesus fulfilled, Matthew 21:1-7. He prophesied that Jesus would be sold for thirty pieces of silver. He also saw how Jesus would be the ruler in His new kingdom, which we know as the church.
Throughout the book, God warns the people to put away their idols, to do good instead of wickedness, to take care of the weak among them, and to have love for others. These lessons we should learn and practice today for the gospel teaches us to do this as well.
Zechariah can sometimes be hard to understand but it is not impossible to know what his message is. As you learn more and more about the Bible, this book, and all books of the Bible are easier to understand.
Lessons from Zechariah
- God can punish His people when they are wicked and forgive them when they repent
- God’s plan for salvation through Jesus was revealed by many prophets hundreds of years before Jesus came to the earth
- We must live holy lives before God and obey His commands
