Zechariah: Zealous over Zion
Shabbat, December 22, 2007
Zealous over Zion is Zechariah’s overarching theme. To a desolate generation he pours out vision after vision prophesying the restoration of Jerusalem in preparation for her coming glory—the Messiah, Yeshua! (Turn with me to Zechariah.)
Zechariah is one of the few book studies I’ve covered in my sermons—but that was 15 days, shortly after the birth of the congregation— anybody here remember what I said? Me, neither! Zechariah is a particularly appropriate book for a Messianic congregation to study because it is packed with glorious Messianic prophecies and the future of Israel . Today we’ll get started with the first chapter, which ends with a quick peek ahead to chapter 8, which is where Ted Zion got the lyrics for his song, “Zealous over Zion .” Zechariah 1:1. “In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.” Zechariah begins his prophetic ministry during the reign of Darius, ruler of the Persian empire . On our calendar, the second year of Darius would be 520 B.C. In the sixth month of the same year, Haggai gave his first prophecy; so Haggai and Zechariah were contemporaries. So Ezra 5:1 confirms, “Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel.” Haggai was apparently an elderly gentleman and Zechariah was a young man, for an angel refers to him in Zechariah 2:4, “Run, tell this young man….” It was about 15 years since Cyrus has authorized the rebuilding the Temple , back in 535 BC. According to Ezra, about 50,000 Jews had returned to the land to rebuild it. But their Samaritan neighbors thwarted the project by writing a nasty letter to the next king. So, as Ezra 4:16 remembers: “the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia .” The Temple and the city of Jerusalem still lay in ruins. And that’s when the elderly prophet Haggai came onto the scene, followed by the young prophet, Zechariah, urging them to get going again. And they put their backs into it personally, as Ezra 5:2 says, “Then Z'rubavel the son of Sh'alti'el and Yeshua the son of Yotzadak began rebuilding the house of God in Yerushalayim; with them were the prophets of God, helping them.”
Can any of the scholars in our Hebrew class figure what the young prophet’s name means? Zekhar means remembers and Yah is an abbreviated version of the name of the LORD, YHVH. Why is “Yah (or the LORD) remembers” an appropriate name for this prophet? At a time when Jews who had returned to the land may have wondered if the Lord had forgotten them, along comes a prophet who assures them that the LORD remembers. So Psalm 105 proclaims, “He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded,
for a thousand generations.” When you are dealing with a difficult situation and you are wondering where the Lord is, let this name reassure you, Z'kharyah, Yah remembers—it’s one of the most common names in the Bible!
Zechariah 1:2, “The LORD was very angry with your forefathers.” Zechariah was very much aware of his historical context, often alluding to earlier prophets. So he says in verse 4, “Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed.” Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel had all warned them, again and again. Why was the LORD very angry with the forefathers of this generation? The sin and idolatry of earlier generation led to their exile and the destruction of Jerusalem . Remembering what had happened to them, Zechariah calls his generation to repentance.
Zechariah 1:3, “Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Teshuvah —return—is one of the great themes of the Bible. So Yeshua also begins his ministry, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 4:17) The Jews of Zechariah’s day wondered, where is the Lord already? Have you ever wondered? Why does Hashem make “return to me” a condition for the promise, “and I will return to you”? Why does He just return to us? Hashem wants our freely given love, so He prompts us to choose Him and return to Him. Returning to Him is always a choice—remember, no matter how you may have fallen short, you can always return to Him, just as the prodigal son in Yeshua’s parable returned to his father—
and he will always take you back—that’s his promise, which you just read here, in Zech 1:3. Yaakov (James) 4:8 confirms this promise: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” If you feel far from God, it’s not that He has distanced Himself from you. An elderly couple once drove down the road in their car with a front bench seat. As they drove,
the wife noticed that in many of the other cars with couples in the front seat, the woman sat close to the man as he drove. She asked her husband, “Why is it that we don’t sit that close anymore?” He simply answered, “It wasn’t me who moved.” If you are far from God, He hasn’t moved!
Zechariah 1:6, “But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers? Then they repented and said, ‘The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’” The Torah, with its blessings and curses, outlived and outlasted all their ancestors. Seeing that the Lord judged their ancestor, yet showed mercy to them, bringing back to the land, and now promising to return to them, the Jews of this generation, who had returned from Babylon to the land, now returned to God with their hearts. Their teshuvah is what makes possible what comes next—a sequence of remarkable visions about the glorious future of Zion and the coming of Messiah!
Zechariah 1:8: “During the night I had a vision— and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.” In one night, Zechariah has eight visions! These were apparently not dreams, but waking visions, because at one point Zechariah dozes off, and Zechariah 4:1 says “the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep.” In the first vision, he sees a mysterious man standing among myrtle trees. Like other encounters with a “man,” such as the man with whom Jacob wrestled one night,
we later learn that he is something more—verse 11 tells us that he is “the angel of the Lord.” “And they reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees.” The angel of the Lord had also appeared to Hagar, Abraham, to Moses in the burning bush,
to Joshua, Gideon, and the parents of Samson, to King David and the prophet Elijah. As in earlier appearances, this angel appears in visible form, as a man, bringing a message from Hashem (the word for angel, malak, also means messenger), and then speaking as the LORD. Who was this angel, who not only spoke for God, but called himself YHVH, the LORD? Since Torah says, “You cannot see the face of God and live,” he cannot be the Father. Some say he is the pre-incarnate image of God, who came into the world as Yeshua the Messiah. As Colossians 1:15 says, Messiah "is the visible image of the invisible God." Myrtle trees are small evergreens that grow in the valleys around Jerusalem . They bloom with white, pink or purple flowers and twigs of their dark, green, glossy leaves are waved as one of the four species during Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. So Nehemiah 8:15 says, “"Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make booths"” The green myrtle leaves point to Israel 's hope and future. Jerusalem will not fade. It will bloom before the Lord forever. The ravine in which man among the myrtles appears is probably the Kidron Valley , between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives , where Yeshua later prayed, in the Garden of Gethsemane .
Behind the man are four horses or angels that the Lord has sent to scout the earth: Zechariah 1:10-11, “Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth." And they reported to the angel of the LORD,
who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace."” The whole world at rest and in peace was a message of good news for Zechariah’s generation. After the tumult of the Assyrians then the Babylonians then the Persians, they needed stability. Darius had just subdued rebellious provinces including Egypt and set up an orderly transition of power for stable government in the world that would last for many generations. During this time, the Temple would be rebuilt and later (under Nehemiah) the walls of the city.
Zech 1:12, “Then the angel of the LORD said, "LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah , which you have been angry with these seventy years?"” Having heard the reports of the scout angels, the angel of Hashem intercedes with Adonai Tzva’ot. Do any of you see a Messianic prophecy about Yeshua here? He is the one who intercedes for his people. So Romans 8:34, “Messiah Yeshua, who died— more than that, who was raised to life— is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” The seventy years recalls a prophecy of Jeremiah, 29:10-11, “This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Daniel dated the seventy years from when the Babylonians first captured Jerusalem —in 605 BC —at that time, Nebuchadnezzar took Daniel, Ezekiel and many others into exile. Seventy years later, Daniel interceded with the Lord and Cyrus issued a proclamation, in 635BC, that the Jews could return to Zion and rebuild the Temple. But with the Temple as yet unbuilt, the angel of the LORD speaks of another seventy year wait— It was nearly seventy years since Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed, in 586 BC.
In verse 13, Hashem responds to the intercession of his messenger: “So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.” The messenger then reveals the content of these kind and comforting words to the prophet. Then the angel who was speaking to me said, "Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I am very zealous for Jerusalem and Zion , but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.’ "Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem ,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” It is a message of great comfort and encouragement to the Jews living around desolate Jerusalem. Hashem promises that his house will be rebuilt. Indeed, within four years—in 516BC,
the Temple would be completed— seventy years after its destruction! Moreover, “the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem ”—in other words, the city would be rebuilt—as it was when Nehemiah came, with provisions and protection from the King of Persia and the hand of God, to rebuild the walls and the streets. "Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem .’" To be sure, it would be sixty years after the Temple was completed before Nehemiah would come to rebuild the rest of the city. Again, the people might have been wondering when the rest of the prophecy would be fulfilled. Are there times when we wonder when the Lord will fulfill the promises he has given us? The Lord has a longer view than you or I. As he says in Habakkuk 2:3, “The revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Seventy years then sixty more may seem like the Lord is tarrying a bit, let alone two thousand! Nevertheless, “though it linger, wait for it; he will certainly come!”
It will come, because the Lord is zealous over Zion! David Guzik notes that “the word for zealous in ancient Hebrew comes from the idea ‘to become intensely red’ and it has the thought of a face becoming flushed with deep emotion.” God is genuinely and deeply concerned about the state of His people.” The same word can mean either zealous or jealous. Again and again, Hashem describes himself as a bridegroom who is jealous for the love of his bride, Israel, with whom he made covenant in the wilderness of Sinai. Though Israel has been unfaithful, like the adulterous wife of the prophet Hosea, yet the Hashem would remain faithful, always desiring her, calling her back to Him, and promising to restore her. The Lord is not detached or far, far way, but passionate about his promise, jealous for Jerusalem, zealous over Zion. Because the Jewish people of Zechariah’s day returned to him, the Lord returned to them. The worship team may come forward….
The prophet comes back to this theme in chapter 8:2-3, “This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"I am very zealous over Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her." This is what the LORD says:
"I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain." ” We’ll study this chapter in more detail in due time, but for now, let’s sing it!
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