His name, common to more than 29 old testament men, means the lord remembers. Thus, the angel of the lord prayed to god in order to petition for the people zechariah 1. These people point to certain passages in isaiah, ezekiel, zechariah, and the book of revelation, and draw parallels to the reports of observers of alleged ufo appearances. The hebrew word zechariah or zachariah means god remembers. Jan 02, 2020 the book of luke records that zechariah and his wife, elizabeth, were righteous, godhonoring people who had no children and were well past childbearing years luke 1. Watch full episodes for free in the superbook app or on the. Archangel gabriel visits zechariah, father of john the baptist. So far in our study of the book of zechariah, weve seen three visions.
Jerome called it the most obscure book of the hebrew bible, an opinion often cited and widely shared by subsequent readers. Jun 07, 2019 this entry was posted in angels, bible, god, jesus, prayer, theology and tagged angels praying, zechariah 1. Zechariah emphasized that god has used his prophets to teach, warn, and correct his people. Zechariah gives two oracles which look forward to the messiah who is initially rejected but ultimately enthroned as king of the messianic kingdom. Zechariah 1 commentary the expositors bible commentary. Zechariah zechariah is the longest of the minor prophets. In zechariah s first vision, beginning in zechariah 1. If you walk in my ways and keep my instructions, then you will govern my house and will also. Zechariah pictures christ in both his first coming zechariah 9. His story appears right at the beginning of the gospel of luke. While angels generally appear as men in scripture, zechariah 5. They followed all the lords commands and regulations perfectly. Zechariah s prophecies took place during the reign of darius the great, and were contemporary with haggai in a post exilic world after the fall of jerusalem in 5876 bc. The prophecy of zechariah is noted for its rich use of visions, pictures, and symbols.
The book of zechariah has more messianic prophecies than any of the other 11 minor prophets. Zechariah was a prophet of judah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. With this additional short summary of the book of zechariah you can discover the people, places and stories detailed in this holy scripture. His prophecies extended to the final windingup scenes in jerusalem and the coming of the great day of the lord. It has been speculated that his grandfather iddo was the head of a priestly family who returned with zerubbabel, and that zechariah may himself have been a priest as well as a prophet. Book of zechariah overview insight for living ministries.
Haggai reproved the people for their failure to rebuild the temple, while zechariah encouraged the people by presenting to them the coming glory of the lord. I dont recommend this book to the first time reader. Would you please explain zechariahs vision of the four. As with ezekiel, one stands out more clearly than the rest, to be the prophets interpreter, whom, as in the earlier visions of angels, zechariah calls my lord, zechariah 1. This summary of the book of zechariah will help with many different forms of bible study. Let us now compare zechariahs response to that of mary. Not surprisingly, the angels in the christmas story kept dads clued in. In our free booklet, angels, demons and the spirit world, we have explained at length the fact that the four spirits of heaven, as mentioned in zechariah 6, are indeed angelic beings. The book of zechariah was likely written in two primary segments, between 520 and 470 b. Zechariah also applies the term man to angelic beings 1. Mar 26, 2019 zechariah, as a jewish priest, would have been well aware of the torah story of how angels announced that another elderly couple many years beforeabraham and sarahwould bear a son who would play an important role in the story of god redeeming a fallen world. The two women mentioned in this passage are not specifically called angels, but they are clearly agents of god or, as some believe, forces of satan, like angels, good or evil. In the book of revelation, angels play a prominent role. Why, then, did zechariah doubt and was therefore unable to speak, until the day these things occured luke 1.
An angel restores the high priest joshua in zechariah 3. So, for the last year and a few weeks, weve grown accustomed to turning our attention to the book of job. The first part of the book, chapters one through eight, contain eight symbolic visions of zechariah. The dates mentioned in the book confirm that he was a contemporary of haggai zechariah 1. The reason for this supposition is probably that in the hebrew bible the chronicles are placed at the very end. Were going to be studying the fifth vision given to zechariah. From flying scrolls to golden lampstands, and flying angels with wings like storks the lord spoke to zechariah in visions and symbols that defied the prophets. The introduction to the book attributes the work to zechariah son of berechiah son of iddo the prophet zech. The author was born in columbus ohio where he currently lives with his family and enjoys various activites and literature. The prophet zechariah saw the meridian of time and the mission of the lord jesus christ. Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. Book of zechariah, the 11th of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in the jewish canon in one book, the twelve. So, lets turn our attention to the 4th chapter of that book zechariah chapter 4.
Angels in the bible stories of joseph and zechariah guideposts. The book of zechariah contains the clearest and the largest number of messianic about the messiah passages among the minor prophets. He is mentioned as well, along with haggai, in ezra 5. But unfortunately we came to the end of that book and now we need to move on to something else and as i prayed, a few different possibilities were in my mind. In this way it is much like the book of revelation or daniel which also have significant visions. Zechariah 3 commentary verses 15 explaining the book. Zechariah s prophetic ministry took place in the postexilic period, the time of the jewish restoration from babylonian captivity. While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him. The old testament book of zechariah challenges a lot of conventional assumptions about the development of second temple judaism, and its. A thesis of angels is published under a pseudonym and is of scientific and historical fact.
What are the meanings of the various visions in the book of. This is a companion book to the series, and it is difficult to follow even for the most well read earth chronicles fan. From preaching the everlasting gospel, to the binding satan into the pit, angels are in the midst of the program of god at the end times. The first part of the book, chapters one through eight. This zechariah has of old been connected with 2 chronicles 24. This represented the low, melancholy condition of the jewish church. When zechariah was doing this, an angel suddenly appeared to him.
Finally, it seemed that the lord had placed a specific book in my mind as the next subject of our study. Some angels the red horses exercised offices of vengeance. One of the major problems in the book for critical scholars comes in chapter 9 because zechariah names greece as a future enemy of israel. The book of luke, one of the four gospels, opens after a short introduction with the story of zechariah, a priest. The difficulties of the book have spawned many opinions about the date and authorship of various portions as well as the interpretation of the individual pericopes. The man riding upon a red horse is the angel of the lord in vv. The gospel of luke states that while zechariah ministered at the altar of incense, an angel of the lord appeared and announced to him that his wife would give.
Use the links below for other online bible study books and commentaries that will. Consequently, angels have been an important part of gods dealings with humanity from genesis to revelation. The universal tradition of both jews and christians endorses the prophet zechariah as author. Zechariah is a commonly used name in the old testament and means the lord remembers, a meaning that contributes to the hope of the messiahs first and second coming prophesied in zechariahs book. A chapterbychapter study of the old testament book of zechariah. Gabriel may have spoken to daniel again, but it is unclear because the angel of daniel 10 is not named gabriel appears to zechariah. Zechariah gave us more of the story, and showed how god is interested in lives of his people, not only buildings. A number of other angels are reported to be standing by.
Nov 06, 2014 the angel gabriel tells zechariah that elizabeth will give birth to a boy. Well cover only the first 7 verses of this chapter today, but lets go ahead and read the whole chapter for context. Here there is animal symbolism as well as the use of symbolic numbers. But when gabriel tells zechariah that god will do something similar in his own. Both zechariah and haggai ministered to the same people, but from different perspectives. Even aside from the fact that those who are clearly angels in the bible do not appear as winged women, i have not seen any evidence that the winged women that appear in the bible are supposed to be angels. Abel then would be a man out of the first and zechariah a man out of the last book of the old testament. And the message to zechariah and his people through that message was that god was aware that his people were suffering while those who oppressed them were doing just fine. The book of zechariah is possibly the most symbolic of all the minor prophets, with perhaps only the book of revelations in the new testament with as much symbolism as zechariah. An angel then tells the prophet that god still loved israel and would. He went into great detail about christs second coming, providing a treasure trove of information about the end times.
In zechariahs first vision, beginning in zechariah 1. The vision of joshua the high priest 5 then i said, let them put a clean turban on his head. For the first time in the bible the angels in zechariah appear to be acquiring an independent life on their own. This entry was posted in angels, bible, god, jesus, prayer, theology and tagged angels praying, zechariah 1. New living translation then the angel who was with me went to meet a. In that respect, its possible to think of the book of zechariah as a kind of miniature book of isaiah. Zechariah is also one of the most devotional of the prophetic books, dwelling more completely on the person and work of christ than any other of the prophetic writings.
Zechariah was an existing prophet of the day with haggai and. God has ministers of every kind for promoting the interests of his church. Zechariah emphasized that god has used his prophets to teach, warn and correct his people. This summary of the book of zechariah provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of zechariah. The book also bears evidence that even prophecy could be corrupted.
Zechariah 1 commentary a vision of the ministry of angels. It is a brilliant book, but very hard to read because it is just a hard subject to grasp. Angels in the roles of teachers become especially important in jewish apocalyptic literature, in such books as daniel, zechariah, and 4 ezra, which feature enigmatic and terrifying prophetic visions experienced by unknowing humans who need heavenly guidance to understand what they have witnessed. The book is often difficult to understand, packed with symbolism and vivid imagery, yet its predictions about a future savior jump out with crystal clarity. Yet we are not left alone to try to understand these visions. Some angels look like horses we find additional accounts in the bible, describing angels as fiery horses. They were speckled because they were in the shadow of myrtle trees. Zechariah, as part of his priestly duties in the temple, was chosen to enter the holy place to burn incense before the lord verse 8. They take the detailed descriptions, for example, of a highly credible airline crew and lay them alongside ezekiel 10, and put forward a strong case. This is supported by zechariah s interest in the temple and the priesthood, and. The book of zechariah, attributed to the hebrew prophet zechariah, is included in the twelve minor prophets in the hebrew bible.
Outline of the book of zechariah zechariah zechariah was a prophet of a priestly lineage who had returned to jerusalem with zerubbabel that the temple of jehovah may be built cf. Only chapters 18 contain the prophecies of zechariah. A man like a warrior sat on a red horse, in the midst of this shady myrtlegrove. Dec 20, 2017 after all, angel gabriel did mention that he was sent by god to tell zechariah this good news luke 1. The angel of the lord is more prominent in zechariah than in any other of the prophetical writings. Read genesis revisited or the first one, the twelfth planet.
One of these references is the book of daniel which contains four apocalyptic visions. Not much is known about zechariah s life other than what may be inferred from the book. Zechariah was a younger contemporary of haggai and continued the ministry that haggai began. The book reflects determinismthe view that god already had worked out his purposes in heaven, and all that remained was for him to initiate those purposes on earth. The prophet saw a dark, shady grove, hidden by hills. These are the old and borrowed elements in zechariahs doctrine of angels. He is the father to 3 children, and is engaged to his fiance of 3 years. Zechariah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Why does the book of zechariah use such strange visions and symbols.
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