Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 415
IMMERSED IN ZECHARIAH
A F T E R G E T T I N G P E R M I S S I O N F R O M T H E P E R S I A N S , the
new power in
the region, a remnant of Judah’s exiled people had returned to their
homeland to rebuild the Temple. But nearly twenty years after King
Cyrus’s decree, the Temple still lay in ruins. New questions arise for
God’s people: Will they still be able to rebuild the Temple after all this
delay? Is God still with them? Does God still have a plan to use them
to bring about his purposes for the world?
In response, the book of Zechariah sets forth a series of visions and
prophecies revealing that God is still concerned about Jerusalem and
the Temple and that he will continue to work to bring his worldwide
reign of justice and peace through his people, Israel. God punished his
people and has now rescued them. But what’s next for them? Zechariah was a member of a priestly family, so it was natural for him to be
concerned for the Temple. His prophecies emphasize that it’s time for
the people to finish rebuilding the Temple and to move forward with
their God-given mission to be a light to the world.
The strange visions and vivid prophecies of both judgment and promise that we find in Zechariah make it one of the more challenging books
in the Bible to understand. But it provides a crucial link between the
story of Israel in the First Testament and God’s vision for his people that
will unfold in the future.
The book has two main parts, each using a different kind of writing. The
first part focuses on the immediate task in front of the people: to finish
rebuilding the Temple and to reinstitute true worship of God. It consists
of two series of messages, each presented in a highly structured way,
one of which contains a set of symbolic vision reports. The second main
part of the book is about an indefinite future, revealing how God will
use judgment and restoration to bring his saving purposes for Israel
and the world to glorious fulfillment. In this section, the message is
conveyed through oracles that are structured in the classic parallel lines
of Hebrew poetry.
The two sets of visions in the first part of the book each fit into an
intricate pattern called a chiasm, a literary device found in many other
places in the Hebrew Bible. In this structure, the first and last elements
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