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.
The church today appears very weak. Huge forces are arrayed against it. Satan is always very busy. He hates God and all that belongs to God. He tries all he can do to hurt the cause of God, the church of God, and he wants to undermine the glory of God. He is the great opponent of the church of God. The overriding ambition of Satan’s life is to lead astray the people of God, and he uses all his followers and all his resources to achieve that end. He is highly intelligent. He is of great experience. He has been learning his trade ever since the fall of man. He knows what is likely to work in tempting people, and he never seems to forget anything. He has thousands of demons at his command, and also millions of wicked men who are his slaves.
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