The prophecy of Zechariah was written towards the end of the Old Testament time period and is anticipating the coming of the Messiah. It was a dark and difficult time for God’s people, who were in a low state spiritually. They had just returned from 70 difficult years of captivity in Babylon. Eight visions and additional prophecies by Zechariah were given to encourage God’s people to persevere through these dark times. They were instructed by God to rebuild the Temple and the broken walls of Jerusalem. God, through Zechariah, presents a hopeful view of the future. This was not only very encouraging to the Jews 2,500 years ago, but also to us today. This spiritually rich book calls on the Jews to return to God, and God promises to return to them. It proclaims that God is fully in control. He is ruling the nations and the future for his church is bright and encouraging.
Jerusalem, at this time, was in ruins. The Chaldeans from Babylon had broken down the walls, destroyed the palaces, and burnt the temple. The inhabitants had been carried away captive. For seventy years the land had been desolate. Now, a relatively small number of the exiles had returned. They set up an altar and began to worship God again in Jerusalem. They started to build the temple, but became discouraged. They were few in number. They had nothing like the resources which Solomon had when he built the first temple. They were surrounded by enemies who tried to frighten them and stop the work.
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