As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, is going to return to earth to establish the Kingdom promised to Israel and all those who have trusted in Him. We anticipate the reversing of the Adamic curse and the recreating of the earth to become as He originally intended it. Jesus Christ will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Many of the details of that coming Kingdom and of Christ’s return are given in Scripture. In fact, a major element of Old Testament prophecy is of the coming Kingdom. The prophets frequently foretold the ending of history, the judgment of the nations, and the reign of Messiah, thus fulfilling promises made to David (2 Sam. 7:12) and to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). The Messiah will come not only to conquer the nations who oppose God, but also to redeem Israel and establish the Kingdom into which all believing saints of all the ages will be ushered. Similarly the New Testament is full of statements like the coming of “the Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5) and “It is the last time” (1 John 2:18).
A. The Signs of the Times
Christians have always believed they were living in the time of Christ’s return. However things happening today make it reasonable to believe that His return is close. For example, Ezekiel 39 speaks of the great battle of Armageddon, which will occur at the end of the Tribulation right before the Lord returns to establish His Kingdom. All the nations of the world will be at war yet Christ will defeat them all. Warfare of that magnitude was hard to conceive of until the twentieth century.
Ezekiel 39:1-10 says, “Prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee” (vv. 1-2). That may well be a reference to a Soviet army descending from the north upon Israel. God will almost totally destroy it. Verses 4-5 say, “Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy hordes, and the peoples that are with thee; I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.”
Ravenous birds will devour the carcasses of the northern army. In Revelation 19:18-19, a comparative passage in the New Testament, God calls the ravenous birds to come and feed on “the flesh of the kings. and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men” who will have been slain in that great battle.
B. The Setting of the Scene
Zechariah 9-14 foretells the downfall of the nations, the salvation of Israel, and the establishment of the Messiah as King. Chapters 9-14 are divided into two parts: 9-11 deal with the destruction of the nations and the rise of Israel. 12-14 emphasize the spiritual restoration of Israel. And though we see salvation of Israel in the first section also, its main emphasis is on the political scene.
Zechariah was the grandson of Iddo, who had returned to Jerusalem with 43,000 of the children of Israel in 538 B.C. under Zerubbabel following the seventy-year captivity of Israel in Babylon (Ezra 2:64; Neh. 12:4, 6; Zech. 1:1). The former glory of Israel was only a memory. Although the people had begun to rebuild their cities, the work came to a halt in the process. The surrounding nations posed a threat to the Jews, who were unable to defend themselves against an attack. Therefore God encouraged them to rebuild Jerusalem and trust Him to protect them by sending the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
1. The purpose of Zechariah’s prophecy
Zechariah begins his prophecy of encouragement to Israel, saying, “The Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comforting words…. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem” (1:13, 17). Zechariah’s message was a comforting message, like that of Isaiah, who said, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God” (Isa. 40:1). Although the great and glorious city of Jerusalem was in ruins, God would inspire and enable them to restore it. That was the message of the first eight chapters.
The rest of the book focuses on the future. Rather than the immediate rebuilding of Jerusalem in his own time, Zechariah envisions the great restoration of God’s Kingdom in the end times. He takes one giant step from history to the fulfillment of prophecy at the end of the ages. However the two parts of this book are connected with the theme of God’s love for Israel and His faithfulness to fulfill His promise to His people–not only to rebuild Israel historically, but to establish His victorious reign in the end times.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
