Zechariah
I'm going to state at the beginning of this chapter that I think that the book of Zechariah is a difficult book to understand. For instance, in chapter one, the prophet has a vision of a rider on a horse with different colored horses behind him. The prophet asks who these are. He is told that they are the ones sent out by God to patrol the earth. The question remains as to why God needs horses to patrol the earth. In chapter six there are more horses patrolling the earth. There are a lot of unusual and mystical things like this in the book of Zechariah.
With that said, we do know something about the prophet himself. He ministered around 520 BC. He gave his message during the time when the Persians had allowed the people of Israel to return to the land following their captivity by the Babylonians. In addition to being a prophet, Zechariah was also a priest.
There are three things that I want us to learn from this book. The first of these we find in Zechariah 7:8-10 that reads, "So once again, I the Lord All-Powerful tell you to see that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another. Don't mistreat widows, or orphans, or foreigners, or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other."
This is what God expects from His people. This is what God expects from those who are leaders. Justice is not to be perverted. The justice system is to be fair for rich and for poor alike. Fairness is to be a part of all business dealings and interpersonal relationships. No one in a position of power should use that power to take advantage of another person. We are to be kind and merciful. This reminds me of Paul saying to be kind and tenderhearted to one another.
God looks in an unfavorable fashion on those people or nations who mistreat those who are vulnerable within society. Jesus called them the least of those among us. God cares about the poor, and He expects them to be taken care of. We need to lift one another up and help one another.
The second thing that I want to point out is that Zechariah contains a Messianic prophecy about the ministry of the Lord Jesus. In chapter nine verse 10, we read that the Messiah was to come into Jerusalem in the humble manner of riding on a donkey. At that time, the people would shout and rejoice.
This prophecy from Zechariah was completely fulfilled at the time of Jesus' Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. The disciples of Jesus brought Him a donkey. Jesus rode into the city on the donkey. The people laid palm leaves in His path and shouted Hosanna.
Fulfilled prophecies such as this one are proof that the Bible is reliable. We can know that since the prophecies of Jesus' first Advent were fulfilled, we can count on the fact that the ones concerning His Second Advent will be completely fulfilled as well.
This leads us to our third point from Zechariah. The prophet tells us something of the coming reign of the Messiah Jesus upon this earth.
In chapters 11-14, Zechariah lets us know that Jesus will one day defeat all of the evil that is in the world. He will return and stand on the Mount of Olives. In 14:9, Zechariah tells us Jesus will reign and be worshipped throughout the earth.
Paul tells us about this in Philippians 2. When Jesus returns, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
There are many prophecies in the Bible telling about the return of the Lord Jesus. He told us that one day He would return to judge the world.
We don't know when Jesus will return. Jesus said that no one knows the day nor the hour. However, Jesus told us to be prepared should He come at any moment. While we wait for the Lord Jesus, let us obey that Lord and do as much good in the world as we possible can. Let us spread His message to all.
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