Biblical Theology XXXIV: Zechariah

The Book of Zechariah begins with eight visions given only a few months later than Haggai, and is a vision of the new temple and Jerusalem that will encompass the entire world, connecting it to the Book of Haggai’s end vision of the same. Together with Ezekiel, the Book of Zechariah has the distinction of being a semi-prophetic/semi-apocalyptic book. It establishes the stewardship of the position of high priest until the Branch of David comes (6:9-15).

Theology: The Book asks the question, “How long until You have compassion on Judah and the other cities of Judah with which You have been angry for these 70 years?” This is another indication that the exile is not over until the promises of God are fulfilled and the rule of Israel is over all of the earth. 

The answer comes in the form conveying God’s intention to do far more than just rebuilding Jerusalem (1:16-17). The Book of Zechariah argues, however, that all of the temporary restorations are symbols of the larger restoration of creation to come. God will expand the borders of Jerusalem to encompass the entire world, so that the people of all nations will be a part of Israel/God’s people. “Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst,” says the Lord. “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, and they will also be my people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. The Lord will take possession of Judah as his portion in the holy land and he will choose Jerusalem once again. Be silent in the Lord’s presence, all people everywhere, for he is being moved to action in his holy dwelling place.” (2:10-13; also see 8:19-9:10).

The Book argues, therefore, that what is needed until that time is a high priest that stands before the Lord so that the Israel of today can be preserved into the Israel of tomorrow. Without a high priest, Israel cannot survive one minute due to the fact that the Adversary stands always to accuse it of its sins (Chap 3). These are set in contrast to false prophets who are viewed as wicked shepherds looking to deceive the people for profit (Chap 13).

Likewise, Israel’s empire will not come through political or military power, but by the Spirit of God, represented by the menorah and the witnesses of peace He will bring about this vision (4:6). But the wicked of all the nations will be set against God’s people and He will destroy them and redeem His people through the death of the Davidic King (Chaps. 12-13). Before the Davidic King stands victorious on the Mount of Olives, God will send half of Jerusalem back into exile and only redeem the remnant by destroying the nations that attack them, establishing everlasting peace for this eschatological Jerusalem (14:1-11) that expands over the whole earth. The Book ends by arguing that the whole world will observe the Feast of Booths, a memorial feast that commemorates the time in the wilderness journey. The last statement of the book is that there will no longer be any Canaanite, i.e., pagan, in the house of the Lord. They have been all either converted or removed.

Ethics: God must overlook the iniquity of the high priests he installs over His people, so that they can mediate for them. Hence, He strips Joshua of his dirty clothes and puts clean ones upon him instead. Ultimately, this must look forward to the basis for doing this for every high priest, which would be a High Priest who has no sin and removes sin from the people, including all other high priests, so God says that these sinful high priests are only a symbol for the Branch of David who will function as this High Priest (3:8). Through Him, the iniquity of God’s people will be removed in a single day (3:9).

4:10, which is usually taken out of context, “For who dares make light of small beginnings?” actually refers to these rudimentary symbols of the new creation/kingdom to come. An application would be that the work of the church today that does not seem very impressive represents in a very small and imperfect way the world to come.

Whoever does evil, however, and does not obey God’s law will be removed from the community of God to come (5:1-4) and exiled (5-11) as God had exiled Israel for the same before (7:11-14). In contrast, the people who belong to God’s true Israel are those who seek the Lord and do good rather than evil to one another, including taking care of those who are in need within the community (7:1-10).  Hence, to be a part of the future kingdom, one must truly worship YHWH by acting like a member of that future kingdom today (8:14-18).