Zechariah 7: religious devotion instead of mercy

 Jews had returned from Babylon and some of them were living in Bethel. In Babylon they used to mourn and fast next August to show sorrow for being there, but now, as circumstances changed they sent a message to the high priest asking if they should continue with the fasting. The Lord sent a message to Zacheriah as an answer:

4-6 God-of-the-Angel-Armies gave me this Message for them, for all the people and for the priests: “When you held days of fasting every fifth and seventh month all these seventy years, were you doing it for me? And when you held feasts, was that for me? Hardly. You’re interested in religion, I’m interested in people.

In a more concrete way, what the Lord wants?

10 ... Well, the message hasn’t changed. God-of-the-Angel-Armies said then and says now:

    “‘Treat one another justly.
    Love your neighbors.
    Be compassionate with each other.
    Don’t take advantage of widows, orphans, visitors, and the poor.
    Don’t plot and scheme against one another—that’s evil.’

11-13 “But did your ancestors listen? No, they set their jaws in defiance. They shut their ears. They steeled themselves against God’s revelation and the Spirit-filled sermons preached by the earlier prophets by order of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. And God became angry, really angry, because he told them everything plainly and they wouldn’t listen to a word he said.


So, the Lord wants me to love people, to be compassionate husband and father, to love and treat well people.

Zechariah 6: A Man Named Branch

In Zechariah 6, the Lord commands Zechariah to crown the high priest Joshua. At this moment, he gives the message to Joshua:

12-13 “‘A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Be alert. We have a man here whose name is Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of God. Yes, he’s the one. He’ll build the Temple of God. Then he’ll assume the role of royalty, take his place on the throne and rule—a priest sitting on the throne!—showing that king and priest can coexist in harmony.’

It is the second time Zechariah (Zechariah 3:8-9) talks about the Branch. Here, we read that He is the one who builds the Temple of God and is king and priest. Jesus was accused of blasphemy for saying that He is Messiah as in Daniel 7. This happened after someone said that He claimed that He would rebuild the temple. In fact, Jesus is the temple of the Lord (where earth and heaven connects), the King and the Priest.

Zechariah 5: cleaning sins

The new temple is to be built. Zechariah 5 has two visions, both about cleaning sins. In the first vision, a book curses thieves and liars.
In the second vision, there is a basket with the sins of the whole earth. Inside this basket there is a woman: Miss Wickedness. This basket is being carried to Babylon. In chapter 1 we read that Babylon will be destroyed.
The Lord lives in clean places, places with no sin. Fortunately, He is the One who clean sins.

Zechariah 4: strength to rebuild the temple

Zechariah has another vision concerning the temple:

6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies. 7 ‘What are you, you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

The great mountain must be great obstacles to rebuild the temple. These obstacles will be removed by the Spirit of the Lord.
I pray that my father trust in the Lord before he dies, but he is demented and can't reason well. I must believe that by the Spirit, the Lord can remove obstacles.

Zechariah 3: the high priest in the new temple

 The temple in Jerusalem is to be restored. Joshua is the high priest in the new temple, but there is a problem: Satan is ready to accuse him because he is not fit to the temple. The Lord rebukes Satan. Although Jerusalem is going up in fire, she will be saved. Joshua filthy clothes are changed.
We read:

8-9 “‘Careful, High Priest Joshua—both you and your friends sitting here with you, for your friends are in on this, too! Here’s what I’m doing next: I’m introducing my servant Branch. And note this: This stone that I’m placing before Joshua, a single stone with seven eyes’—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—‘I’ll engrave with these words: “I’ll strip this land of its filthy sin, all at once, in a single day.”

10 “‘At that time, everyone will get along with one another, with friendly visits across the fence, friendly visits on one another’s porches.’”

The Lord will strip this land of its filthy sin, all at once, in a single day, but how? As a Christian, it is clear that this prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified, but I can't imagine how a Jew reading this passage would interpret it; I suppose there are a multitude of explanations. The prophecy goes on saying that people will get along with one another. The church is the place that gather (our should gather) people that are natural enemies. This happens when we look to Jesus instead to ourselves.

Zechariah 2: time to leave Babylon

The Lord is guiding his people through the prophets. Jeremiah told that the Jews should settle in Babylon and help it prosper; but now, it is time to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem. We read:

8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the One of Glory who sent me on my mission, commenting on the godless nations who stripped you and left you homeless, said, “Anyone who hits you, hits me—bloodies my nose, blackens my eye. Yes, and at the right time I’ll give the signal and they’ll be stripped and thrown out by their own servants.” Then you’ll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission.

Although the people of the Lord were in Babylon, their values and priorities should be different. Now, the Lord is commanding Judah to return to Jerusalem that was devastated. We read:

4 And he said to him, “Run, speak to that young man there, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as open country because of the multitude of people and cattle within it. 5 But I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire to her on all sides, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

Jerusalem was once dead, but now she comes back to life again, protected by the Lord.

Zecheriah 1: a call to repentance.

 Zecheriah 1: a call to repentance.

We read (NASB):

1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying, 2 “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of armies, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of armies. 4 “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me,” declares the Lord. 5 “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, not overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the Lord of armies planned to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”


The Lord, through Zechariah, commands that his people return to him so that the Lord will return to his people. The Lord was with Judah before the exile. At that time, the Lord sent prophets such as Jeremiah who foresaw 70 years of exile. At that time, the prophets called for repentance. Finally, the people of Judah recognized that the Lord is above everything and accepted the punishment for their sins.
The Lord has not abandoned his people in punishment. Now it the time for repentance and restoration.