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Day One: A Reminder of God’s Compassion

Before the time of Zechariah, Solomon’s temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It was the pride of the Jewish nation. It took seven years to build, and people traveled great distances just to see it. It was the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal of its day. But to the Jewish nation, it was much more than just a grand building; it was their center of worship.

Things didn’t always go well for the nation of Israel. The Old Testament is filled with stories of the Israelites receiving blessing after blessing, rebelling against God and then being drawn back to him. As a result of their sinful choices, God allowed them to fall into captivity. First, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. Then, 135 years later, the Southern Kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonian Empire. In 586 BC, the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar II plundered the city and burned down Solomon’s temple.

When that temple was dedicated years before, God told the people:

Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. - 2 Chronicles 7:15-16

The nation of Israel lost sight of God, lost their freedom, lost their homeland and lost the temple, which was the physical reminder of God’s presence among them. But as we see all throughout Scripture, God had big plans for the small nation of Israel, and he had a plan to, once again, draw them back to himself.

At this time in history, God spoke to his people by sending messages through trusted prophets, one of whom was Zechariah. After the people of Judah had spent 70 years in exile, a new king allowed some captives to return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and begin the work of rebuilding the temple and the city. Zechariah was one of these captives and was probably a boy or a very young man when he traveled back to Jerusalem. Almost 20 years later, God would use Zechariah to encourage his weary people and to remind them of his compassion and the promise of his mercy.

Zechariah is a book of visions. All of them apply to the people of Judah and describe the future of Jerusalem and the temple. While we are going to spend most of our time in Zechariah 4, we need to consider the visions leading up to it.

Zechariah begins his book with a strong call for the people of Judah to turn from their wrongdoing and back to God. We see this theme of repentance throughout Zechariah’s visions. God tells the people, “Return to me,” declares the Lord Almighty, “and I will return to you“ (1:3). He warns them to not be like their ancestors who didn’t listen to the prophets.

There are two visions in Chapter 1. In the first, Zechariah sees a man and horses among the trees. The man tells him they had gone through the whole earth and found peace. An angel explains that God still loved Israel and that Jerusalem would again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem (1:17).

The second vision involves four horns and four craftsmen (1:18-21). The angel tells him that the horns are four kingdoms that opposed Israel and the craftsmen are coming to throw down these horns. God would defeat Israel’s enemies.

In Zechariah 2:1-13, we see a man holding a measuring line. When the prophet asks what he is doing, the man says he is going to measure the city of Jerusalem. But the man is told that Jerusalem will be so prosperous that walls won’t be able to hold it and that God himself will protect the city.

Zechariah 3:1-10 shares the vision of Joshua the high priest. Zechariah sees Joshua standing in filthy clothes, but God gives him rich, clean clothes. God explains that Joshua will be blessed in his service to the Lord. This vision of Joshua ends with an amazing prediction and promise of an ultimate high priest — the coming Messiah — showing that God will always provide a way for his people to return to him.

In chapter 4, Zechariah has a vision of a lampstand, and the interpretation of the vision was meant for Zerubbabel and his work in rebuilding the temple.

Today’s Lessons for Us: Before we move on to look specifically at Zechariah’s message to Zerubbabel, let’s consider what we can learn from the visions we’ve already read about. Zechariah’s visions apply to the people of Judah, but they also apply to us.

1. According to the visions we’ve looked at so far, what does God want his people to do?
2. What does God want YOU to do?
3. What are you going to do today because of what God has shown you?