The actions of Torah as the only word: Zechariah 13 The actions of Israel will declare the Lord’s teaching, the Torah, in the eschaton. First, though, he has to cut away humanity’s worst elements, and then he must purify what remains. When the Lord overturns every aspect of society, only then will people be willing…
Category: Zechariah
Mercy frees the people from judgment: Zechariah 11-12
Zechariah 11 begins with unusual pessimism. In the eschaton, everything is supposed to change, but in this chapter, the Lord immediately related how he would destroy everything: the tall, proud trees and the verdant pastures (11:1-3). The powerful and prosperous would suffer. This opening sounds like a return to the harsh language of Micah 1:2-4,…
No more power to oppress: Zecharaiah 10
The eschaton will end people’s suffering as it alters the constant cycle the people find themselves in. Their suffering always came from a systematic process: 1) the people would disobey the Torah and cease to take care of one another and 2) the Lord would use the greed of another nation to oppress them. 3)…
Overthrowing human power, the Lord’s power remained: Zechariah 9
Humanity is its own worst enemy. The separations among nations and their need to establish themselves over one another in attempts to rule the land, cause misery. If humanity would ever prosper, human power and division would have to be eliminated. The Lord planned to initiate just such a state of affairs in the eschaton. …
Focus on Torah, not on the temple: Zechariah 7-8
As the temple was being rebuilt, the people forgot what was most important: living according to Torah. They thought the work was done when the temple was complete. The Lord, therefore, needed to remind them that the destruction and rebuilding of the temple were distractions; the Torah is the correct frame of reference. The temple…
Faithfulness requires the evils of captivity: Zechariah 5-6
These chapters established the moral character of the eschatological land. In ch. 5, the Lord judged every nook and cranny of the land and then removed the unfaithfulness of the people from the land to Shinar, Babylon. In ch. 6, the Lord commanded his spirit to rest in Babylon. His spirit animated the un-people of…
The new leadership for the eschaton: Zechariah 3-4
A new style of rule will dominate the new eschaton. The eschaton showed the priest, in his separation from the temple, to be unclean and the king to be impotent. Essentially, they cannot function. At the same time, the exile offered a unique teaching of humility towards the Lord, qualifying them for rule. The Lord…
An uncreated city for all nations: Zechariah 2
As human beings attempt to achieve, they build up themselves at the expense of others. They build cities full of corruption to protect themselves by their own power. They take land from others, imagining it to be their own. They strike at their enemies to establish their glory. The Lord can only end this cycle…
The Lord’s plan for the nations: Zecharaiah 1
Everything is tranquil in Zechariah 1, the calm before the storm. The people knew that the Lord would overthrow the nations, but were disappointed in a lack of action. Zechariah received visions, explained to him by a heavenly being, that illuminated him with the overarching scheme of history. In this chapter, the prophet learned that…