I’m noticing several things in this passage that make me wonder, and several that make me smile. There’s a lot of intrigue in Zechariah.
I notice “right off the bat” Gods declaration of love for Jerusalem. How comforting for the people who have recently returned from exile to hear that God loves them! Wouldn’t it be great to have a prophet appear and tell you that God dearly loves your hometown, and is determined to bless it and make it a destination for people from all over the world? That’s not going to happen to us…even though God loves us as well, because Jerusalem is special in a way that we can only wonder about. Long before the temple was there, before David conquered the city…Abraham wandered in someone else’s land and (we believe) attempted to offer his son as a sacrifice to the Lord. He would have succeeded, but he was stopped by an angel. Jerusalem is special indeed. Any nation that plans to assault it should take to heart the prophecies written here, God fights for this city.
9:9 and 10:4 are foreshadowings of Christ. there are several more as well. One thing I can’t seem to do is put this whole passage into one continuous timeline. It seems that it jumps to end times, and then back to the past, etc. There’s a mention of the Red Sea and the Nile drying up. (10:11) and people will return from Egypt. That isn’t the first crossing..there must be another event.
Speaking of God fighting for the city, I notice that the day is coming when the Mount of Olives will be split in half (Ch 14) and water will flow in two directions. The Dead Sea will become fresh again and there will be a new set of plains below Jerusalem. What I notice is the mention of an altar and sacrifices….which implies priests and a temple. Now, clearly the Mount of Olives hasn’t split yet, so this prophecy is for “end times”. I wonder why there are sacrifices? Surely they must be tributes and gifts to God, but they cannot be sacrifices for sin. Perhaps this whole event takes place during the millennium, I’m not sure.
Sandwiched in between those thoughts this morning is the condemnation Israel’s shepherds…of course if you look it up, you will find many different interpretations…which only means it isn’t clear. I tend to favor the one that implies that the three shepherds where the three governing bodies. Although, there were lots of people who were in charge and died close together. For instance, Saul and his two sons, could they be the three shepherds? Hmmm. This part of today’s passage seems to go back to the beginning, when Israel and Judah were one, and tells the story all the way to present day. But I think it goes beyond, because it’s speaking of “30 pieces of silver” which is the amount that Judas received for betraying Christ. If I try to follow the line of thought it seems to speak of end times, when Jerusalem will be immovable, and the people made strong. It says that Jerusalem will begin to overthrow her enemies…but later in the chapter it’s back to speaking about “looking at the one they have pierced”
Chapter 13 then makes perfect sense, “in that day” would be the day on which they look upon the crucified Christ. On that day a fountain will be opened that will provide forgiveness of all sins. The blood of Jesus Christ atones for all sins! I wonder if Rome killed off 2/3rds of the people in Jerusalem when they stormed the city and destroyed the temple in 70 AD. If they did, that would fit perfectly in the timeline.
And that would make chapter 14 a discussion about the future.
So much to learn here..
Faithfully,
PR