Day 38 – Thursday -- The Book of Zechariah

Day 38 – Thursday

The Book of Zechariah

This book, the longest and most complex of the minor prophets, is commonly referred to as “the Revelation of the Old Testament.” It is full of visionary writing, what we might call “fantasy.” Visionary writing suspends the ordinary rules of our normal approach to reality. Visionary and apocalyptic writings usually have a cosmic setting. They putatively “see the future.” There is sometimes a vision of a golden age of peace. So, we must read this book as poetry and symbolism.


Zechariah is really two books: 

First Zechariah – chapters 1-8
   written contemporary with Haggai – ca. 520 BCE
   eight visions
   seven oracles of restoration
   three oracles of hope

Second Zechariah – chapters 9-14
   written a century later, perhaps 325 BCE
   a mosaic of fragments
   poems, narratives, oracles, and parables
   eschatological restoration
   vision of a golden age of peace


On February 15, 519 BCE Zechariah had eight night visions (dreams?):

1.   An army of angels mounted on horses (1.7-17)
2.   Four animal horns and four blacksmiths (1.18-21)
3.   A man with a tape measure to measure Jerusalem (2.1-5)
4.   An angel gives clean clothes to a high priest (3.1-10)
5.   A golden lampstand, seven smaller lamps fueled by olive oil (4.1-14)
6.   A huge, flying scroll (5.1-4)
7.   A woman sitting inside a grain basket that is carried off (5.5-11)
8.   Four chariots (6.1-8)


Satan
For the third and last time in the Hebrew Scriptures Satan is mentioned (see 1 Chron. 21.1; Job 1.6-12, 2.1-7). Some translations say “the adversary” because that is the meaning of “satan.” Here, like in Job, Satan is part of the heavenly court; he functions as the prosecuting attorney, accusing Jerusalem of offenses. But the Lord has decided to acquit Jerusalem “as a brand plucked from the fire” (Zech. 3.1-2).


HOLY WEEK TEXTS:

Palm Sunday – Zechariah 9.9 

Lo, your king comes to you;
    triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  [quoted in Matt. 21.4-5; John 12.14-15]

Wednesday of Holy Week – Zechariah 11.12-13

12 I then said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it into the treasury”—this lordly price at which I was valued by them. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury in the house of the Lord. [alluded to in regard to Judas; Matt. 26.14-16; 27.5]

Maundy Thursday – Zechariah 13.7

Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered… [Jesus quotes this verse: Matt. 26.31]

Good Friday – Zechariah 12.10

when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child…[the side of Jesus was pierced; quoted by John in Revelation: John 19.37; Rev. 1.7]

Covenant/Marriage language:

Zechariah 8.8 – They will be my people, and I will be their God, faithful to bring about justice.

Zechariah 13.9 – I will say, “You are my people,” and they will reply, “You, Lord are our God!”

When Doubting Thomas was invited by the Risen Christ to touch his wounds (see John 20), his exclamation, “My Lord and my God,” is not about the divinity of Christ, but Thomas’ marriage vow spoken to God. In raising Jesus from the dead, God had kept the covenant with Israel and with the world. The death of Jesus did not mean that the marriage was off. The resurrection declared that the marriage could not be stopped. God is saying through the Risen Christ, “I will be your God.” And Thomas is responding, “You are my Lord and my God.” The vows are affirmed, and Thomas acknowledged his union with God.


Peace on earth
The last part of Zechariah presents a vision of a golden age of peace. Jerusalem will have fresh water flowing through it. There will be continuous day (darkness is gone). A remnant of the Jews will come through the final crises. There will be perfect peace. And “the Lord will be King over the whole earth” (14.9). Much of this imagery is used by the Book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22.


“Prisoners of hope”

From chapter 9 according to the NRSV:

As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double (9.11-12).

Other translations have, “prisoners with hope.” But the Hebrew is: הַתִּקְוָ֑ה (hat·tiq·wāh; of hope). The text is speaking of those who are now prisoners who will be set free. They are more literally “prisoners who have hope” of their freedom. But the NRSV translation, which is a literal rendering of the Hebrew as far as I can ascertain, gives us an interesting phrase.

Let me be personal. I struggle with my Christian faith. I go through periods of doubt. I wonder if it is all true. Yet, I can’t get away from the Biblical message. It is as if I am a prisoner of Hope. I can’t set myself free of hope. I am bound by a hopeful attitude. As Paul says in Romans eight, we are “saved by hope.” Perhaps hope is a deeper name for faith. At least that’s how I experience it.

This came home to me in a sermon by Sid Burgess at Edgewood Presbyterian Church (Homewood, AL). He helped me see “hope” (tikvah) as a different way of experiencing faith and grace. It is easier for me to say, “I have hope,” than to say, “I believe.” I am a prisoner of hope.


One of the most quoted verses in Zechariah is 4.6:

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

This verse is part of the Fifth Vision: a lampstand and two olive trees. There had been many obstacles in the way of rebuilding the temple. The people were discouraged. It was as if a mountain stood in their way. Zechariah is telling Zerubbabel that neither the might of the military nor mere human strength were going to be enough to complete the temple. They would need the power of God’s Spirit to accomplish the task. In verse seven the prophet says that “the mountain will be leveled to the ground.” 

God is our bulldozer. Only She can move mountains, or motivate the faith to move mountains. There is a transcendent power that we may call upon. Some people envision this power coming from outside us (upon us); others understand that power to be within each of us. The point is that there is transcendence in the midst of immanence. There are some things we cannot do ourselves. We need God’s help.


Finish this: The mountain in front of me right now is…