The Makers and Teachers of Judaism / From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great

by Charles Foster Kent

Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES

[Sidenote: Zech. 1:7-11] In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month [February], in the second year of Darius [519 B.C.], this word of Jehovah came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo: I saw in the night and there was a man standing among the myrtle trees that were in the valley-bottom, and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what these are. And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to go to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of Jehovah who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, We have gone up and down through the earth and behold, all the earth is still and at peace.

[Sidenote: Zech. 1:12-17] Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long hast thou no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which thou hast been wroth these seventy years? And Jehovah answered the angel who was talking with me with good words, even comforting words. So the angel who was talking with me said to me, Proclaim now, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. But with great wrath am I wroth with the arrogant nations; for I was only a little angry [with Israel], but they helped to make greater the calamity." Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: "I am turning to show mercy to Jerusalem; my temple shall be built in it," saith Jehovah of hosts, "and a measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem. Proclaim again, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity; and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem."'

[Sidenote: Zech. 1:18, 19] Now I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I said to the angel who was talking with me, 'What are these?' And he assured me, 'These are the horns with which he scattered Judah.'

[Sidenote: Zech. 1:20, 21] Then Jehovah showed me four smiths. And I said, What are these coming to do? And he said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that none lifted up his head; but these are come to terrify them, to strike down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.

[Sidenote: Zech. 2:2-5] Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and length. Thereupon the angel who talked with me stood still, and another angel went out to meet him, and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in her midst. For I,' saith Jehovah, 'will be a wall of fire round about her, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.'

[Sidenote: Zech. 2:6-9]
Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, is Jehovah's oracle.
For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, is
Jehovah's oracle.
Ho, escape to Zion, ye who dwell in Babylon.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts to the nations which plundered you:
He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye.
For, behold, I am about to shake my hand over them,
And they shall be a spoil to those who served them;
And ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me.

[Sidenote: Zech. 2:10-13]
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come,
And I will dwell in the midst of thee, is Jehovah's oracle.
And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that among day,
And shall be his people, and he will dwell in the midst of thee,
And thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to thee.
And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land,
And he shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.
Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah;
For he hath waked up out of his holy habitation.

[Sidenote: Zech. 3:1-3] Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of Jehovah and the adversary standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the angel of Jehovah said to the adversary, Jehovah rebuke thee, O adversary; yea, Jehovah, who hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel.

[Sidenote: Zech. 3:4-5] And [the angel] answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him, clothe him with robes of state; set a clean turban upon his head. So they set a clean turban upon his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah was standing by.

[Sidenote: Zech. 3:6-10] And the angel of Jehovah testified to Joshua, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou also shalt rule my house and shalt also keep my courts and I will give thee a place of access among these who stand by. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy associates who sit before me; for they are men who are a sign; for behold, I am about to bring forth my servant the Branch. For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven facets: behold, I will engrave it,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'ye shall each invite his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.'

[Sidenote: Zech. 4:1-6] Then the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I see midst there a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps upon it; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top of it, and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side. And I spoke and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, The eyes of Jehovah, which rove to and fro through the whole earth.

[Sidenote: Zech. 4:11-14] Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon its left side? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

[Sidenote: Zech. 4:6b-10] This is the word of Jehovah regarding Zerubbabel, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of will I make the great mountain before Zerubbabel a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stones with shoutings of, 'Grace, grace, to it.' Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple; his hands shall also finish it; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.

[Sidenote: Zech. 6:9-11]. Now this word of Jehovah came to me: Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, of Jedaiah and of Josiah the son of Zephaniah who have come from Babylon, yea, take of them silver and gold in order to make a crown and set it on the head of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel.

[Sidenote: Zech. 6:12-15] Thou shalt also say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and Joshua the son of Jehozadak shall be a priest upon his right, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. And the crown shall be to Heldai and Tobijah and Jedaiah, and Josiah the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. And they who are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God."'

[Sidenote: Zech. 7:1-6] In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, the city of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men, to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and to speak to the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, should I weep in the fifth month [in memory of the destruction of the temple] separating myself, as I have done these many years? Then this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month [when Gedaliah was murdered], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to me? And when ye eat and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

[Sidenote: Zech. 7:7-14] Should ye not hear these words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the South Country, and the lowland were inhabited? Execute true judgment, and show kindness and pity each to his brother; and oppress not the widow nor the fatherless, the resident alien nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against your brother in his heart. But they refused to heed, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant lest they should hear the teaching, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. And even when I cried they would not hear, so when they cried I did not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts. And I scattered them by a whirlwind among the nations which they did not know. Thus the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed to or fro; for they made the pleasant land a desolation.

[Sidenote: Zech. 8:1-5]
Now this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me:
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,
'I cherish for Zion a great jealousy,
And I am jealous for her with great indignation.'
Thus saith Jehovah, 'I have returned to Zion,
And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
And Jerusalem shall be called, "The City of Truth;"
And the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, "The Holy Mountain."
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
'Old men and old women shall again sit in the broad places of Jerusalem,
Each man with his staff in his hand because of old age.
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys,
And of girls playing in its broad places.'

[Sidenote: Zech. 8:6-8]
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
Because it seemeth impossible to the remnant of this people,
Is it impossible for me? saith Jehovah of hosts.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
I am about to rescue my people,
From the land of the east and the land of the west,
And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
And they shall be my people in truth and righteousness,
And in turn I will be their God.

I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View. Haggai's contemporary, the prophet Zechariah, was evidently a priest. In the genealogy of Nehemiah 12:4, it is stated that he belonged to the priestly family of Iddo. This conclusion is confirmed by the character of his prophecies. Like the priest-prophet Ezekiel he is exceedingly fond of apocalyptic symbolism. He is also deeply interested in the priesthood and in its ceremonial purity. Furthermore, it is exceedingly probable that he was a descendant of one of the many priests carried as exiles to Babylon. This is shown by his keen interest in and exact knowledge of the great political movements that were then shaking the Persian Empire. His conception of Jehovah is also strongly influenced by the analogies drawn from the Persian court. In his thought Israel's God is a transcendental ruler, who communicates with his subjects not directly, but through angelic messengers, and who, like the Persian kings, is dependent for information regarding his great kingdom upon the reports of the different members of his heavenly court. Thus Zechariah marks a wide departure from the simple theology of the pre-exilic prophets who thought of Jehovah as dwelling in the midst of his people and communicating directly with all who turned to him in faith.

II. The Book of Zechariah. The book which records the prophet's sermons contains four distinct divisions: (1) An exhortation addressed to the people in December, 520, three months after Haggai first appealed to them to rise and rebuild the temple, Zechariah 1:1-8; (2) symbolic visions dealing with the problems in the Judean community, 1:7-6:8; (3) practical counsel, exhortations, and promises, 6:9-8:23; (4) a later appendix coming from a prophet who probably lived during the earlier part of the Maccabean period, 9-14. All of Zechariah's recorded sermons probably date from the three or four years between 520 and 516 B.C., during which the temple was being rebuilt. They throw a remarkably clear light upon an exceedingly critical and significant period in the life of the Jews of Palestine. They are also in many ways the best Old Testament source for the study of the unfolding of Israel's messianic hopes.

III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community. Four or five practical problems confronted and disturbed the temple-builders. The first was: Would Jerusalem and the temple, still without walls, be protected from the attack of the hostile foes that encircled them. A second and larger question was: What was to be the outcome of the great tempest through which the Persian Empire was passing, and did it mean for the Jews deliverance from the powerful conquerors who for centuries had oppressed and crushed them? The third was: Would the necessarily modest service of the restored temple, already sadly polluted by heathen hands, be acceptable to Jehovah? Another problem was: What were the relations and the respective duties of Zerubbabel and Joshua, the civil and religious authorities in the community? It was also inevitable that at this time the hope of securing their independence under the leadership of Zerubbabel should come prominently to the front. To each of these problems Zechariah addressed himself, and his book records his convictions and public utterances.

IV. Zechariah's Assurances of Jehovah's Care. In his initial vision concerning the angelic horsemen he recognizes that the storms that have swept over the Persian Empire are beginning to subside, but he tells his fellow-laborers that, if they persist, Jehovah's temple shall be rebuilt and that the lands about Jerusalem shall again be sold to eager buyers, and the cities of Judah shall enjoy their former prosperity, for "Jehovah will surely comfort Zion." In the vision of the four horns and of the four smiths whose mission it is to smite the horns, he assures the people that Jehovah in his good time and way will overthrow the nations that now wrong and oppress them. Although there is no promise that Jerusalem will be surrounded by walls, he declares that it shall enjoy a prosperity and a growth which no walls can confine, and that Jehovah himself will be its protection, as well as its glory, that he will gather the scattered exiles, and that they, together with the nations which shall acknowledge Jehovah's rule, shall yet come streaming back to Judah.

In his next vision the prophet graphically presents a scene in Jehovah's court. Joshua the priest, representing the ceremonial service of the polluted temple, is charged by the adversary with uncleanness. Here for the first time in Hebrew literature we catch a glimpse of Satan, who is regarded not as hostile to God but as the prosecuting attorney of heaven. As in the prologue of the book of Job, he is an accredited member of the divine hierarchy. His task is to search out and report to Jehovah the misdeeds of men. In Zechariah's vision, however, the divine judge acquits Joshua of the charge, and causes him to be clad with clean garments, thus proclaiming the divine approval of the modest yet devoted service of the Judean community.

V. Preparations for the Crowning of Zerubbabel. Regarding Zerubbabel, Zechariah declares, in language highly figurative, that he shall yet be crowned and rule over a happy and prosperous people. He is spoken of as Jehovah's servant, the Branch. The term is probably original with Zechariah, although again used in the supplementary passages in Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15. The word is akin to the term "shoot of the house of Jesse" used in Isaiah 11, to describe a certain scion of the house of David, who in all probability was the young Zerubbabel. Zechariah's figure describes the prince as an offshoot of the same royal tree. The obscure passage seems to mean that upon the stone, with its seven facets, which was to be set in the crown prepared for the head of Zerubbabel, Jehovah himself would engrave a fitting title.

In Zechariah's fifth vision he defined the relations between the civil and priestly authorities. The golden candlestick represented the temple and its service. The two olive trees beside it stood for Zerubbabel, the civil ruler, and for Joshua, the high priest. The duty of each was to contribute his part toward the support of the temple service. They were both Jehovah's Messiahs, that is, men anointed as a symbol of the task which each was to perform.

In this connection Zechariah declared that Jehovah would remove all obstacles from before Zerubbabel, and that he who had begun the work should live to see its completion. In an address recorded in the latter part of the sixth chapter of his prophecy (intentionally revised by a later scribe), Zechariah threw aside all symbolism and gave directions to make a crown for the head of Zerubbabel from the silver and gold that had been brought as a gift by a deputation from the Jews of Babylon. He also plainly predicted that this descendant of David should sit on the throne of Judah and that Joshua the priest should be his minister like the priests in the pre-exilic kingdom.

VI. Disappointment of These Patriotic Hopes. With Zechariah's prediction that Zerubbabel should reign on the throne of Judah the descendants of the house of David suddenly and forever disappear from Old Testament history. Whether the Jews made the attempt to shake off the yoke of Persia Or whether Zerubbabel was quietly set aside cannot be determined. Contemporary history states that within at least six months after Zechariah voiced the patriotic hopes of his people the authority of Darius was fully established throughout the empire. He at once began thoroughly to organize the vast realm. Post roads bound together the distant provinces, and satraps, appointed largely from the ranks of the royal family, unified the whole empire and held it under firm control. As a rule Persian governors were substituted for the native princes. With the institution of this policy Zerubbabel may well have been quietly set aside. The event evidently made a profound impression upon the messianic expectations of the Jews. Henceforth, for three or four centuries, the temporal, kingly type of messianic hope, which had been inspired by the glories of the reign of David, entirely disappeared. It was not revived until the military victories of the Maccabean era had again brought prominently to the front this phase of national glory (cf. Section CXVI). As a result of these disappointments Israel's hopes were universalized and spiritualized. Jehovah, instead of a scion of the house of David, was henceforth regarded as the one supreme King of Israel.

VII. Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. In chapters 7 and 8, which conclude the original sermons of Zechariah, the apocalyptic language with which he clothed his earlier predictions regarding the future of the Judean community disappeared, and he spoke as did Amos and Haggai, plainly and directly regarding the questions which were then stirring the people. When a deputation came from the north to inquire whether or not, now that the temple was being rebuilt, they should continue to observe their fasts in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem and the death of Gedaliah, the prophet raised the searching question of whether their motive in these services was to please Jehovah or to please themselves. He then went on to declare that the only effective way to serve Jehovah was by deeds of justice and kindness, especially to the dependent classes in the community, and that the horrors of the exile had come because their fathers had failed to worship Jehovah by righteous deeds.

The prophet concludes with a brilliant picture of the coming restoration of Jerusalem and of the peace and prosperity which should be the lot of all, because Jehovah was about to gather his scattered people from the east and the west and to establish them in the midst of his sacred city. Other nations should eagerly come to Jerusalem to seek the favor of Jehovah and to ally themselves with his faithful followers, the Jews. In a prophecy, preserved in Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 2:1-4 (which probably comes from this period) the same thought is nobly expressed:

It shall come to pass in the latter days,
That the mountain of Jehovah shall be established,
Even the house of our God on the top of the mountain,
And it shall be lifted above the hills.
All the nations shall flow to it,
And many peoples shall go and say,
Come, let us go up to Jehovah's mount,
To the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
And that we may walk in his paths.
For from Zion proceeds instruction,
And Jehovah's word from Jerusalem.