Do you remember what life was like seventy years ago? Most people haven’t lived long enough to remember that far back, and those who were alive then were probably children. They have the limited memories of childhood and we don’t expect them to explain the world as it was then.

What most of us know about life seventy years ago comes from reading history. Things change over time and the world today is very different from the world of the 1950’s. People don’t tend to look at the past to figure out how to live in the present. That’s just ancient history.

So the Lord faced this challenge with Israel when he brought them back to Jerusalem: They were more Babylonian than Judean after seven decades away from home. They hadn’t had a temple to attend to in all that time, they were used to taking care of just themselves and their families.

The Lord needed to get their attention and teach them how to live in harmony with him again.

A Call to Return to the Lord

The Lord had two strong leaders, Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest, and they were very committed to God’s work, but the people were not very focused yet. So God sent Haggai and Zechariah to get their attention.

“The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Zechariah 1:2-3

Sure, God had been angry with the Israelites’ ancestors, but the new generation thought that was past history. Those old people came and went; what did their experiences have to do with current events?

The Lord set them straight on that question. These people needed to learn from the mistakes of the past and pay attention to what God was saying now.

“Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?” Zechariah 1:4-5

Losing God’s Blessing

The Israelites didn’t have much success when they first returned to Judah. They planted but didn’t get a very good harvest. The vineyards didn’t produce enough fruit to make the wine they needed and blight, mildew and hail ruined the fields.

It should have occurred to them that God wasn’t blessing them, but they apparently didn’t recognize the signs. They needed help figuring this out so God spoke through Haggai again.

The Lord pointed out that when one thing is holy and another is defiled, the holy thing can’t make the defiled thing holy by touching it. On the contrary, the holy thing becomes defiled when they touch.

God gave Israel a rich land that should have produced abundant crops, but instead their disobedience defiled it. The blessing departed when they worked the fields. They had to change so the blessing could return.

God gave Israel one task to do when they returned: Rebuild the temple. If they had stayed with that task he would have blessed everything else they did. If they got back on track he would bring back his blessings.

“From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. From this day on I will bless you.” Haggai 2:18-19

Israel had a new benchmark; from that day on they should obey God and watch to see how he blessed them. So they went back to work on the temple.

A Look Behind the Curtain

God gave Zechariah a series of visions that showed him what was going on in the world from the eternal point of view. The prophet saw the Lord and his angels conducting heavenly business while the people of the earth were oblivious to all of this supernatural activity.

The Man Among the Myrtle Trees: Zechariah 1:7-17

In the first vision Zechariah saw a man on a red horse in a ravine full of myrtle trees. He was leading a band of other riders on red, brown and white horses. They were conducting reconnaissance throughout the earth for the Lord.

“And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, ‘We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.’” Zechariah 1:11

The Angel of the Lord was almost certainly a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus and he was personally attending to his people. The long years of Israel’s punishment had ended and the nations were quiet. The stage was set for the Lord to restore and bless his people and the Angel of the Lord brought them good news.

“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty. Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” Zechariah 1:17

Four Horns and Four Craftsmen: Zechariah 1:18-21

The four horns represented four world powers in these prophecies. They each scattered God’s people by conquering them. The four horns were most likely Babylon, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks and the Romans.

The four craftsmen were the powers God brought against each of the empires that oppressed the Jews. The Medes and Persians crushed the Babylonians, and the Greeks crushed the Persians. Then the Romans rolled over the Greeks and after a thousand years God brought down the Roman Empire. The Lord always had “craftsmen” with the strength he needed to accomplish his purposes.

The Man with the Measuring Line: Zechariah 2:1-13

In this vision Zechariah saw a man measuring the dimensions of Jerusalem. Cities are always laid out according to how many people will live in them. But as this man was trying to figure out how long Jerusalem’s wall would have to be to house all of the people and animals expected to live there, a messenger came to tell him there were not going to be any walls around the New Jerusalem.

“Run and tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’” Zechariah 2:4-5

Now that God had his New Jerusalem all planned, he invited his people to come and live there.

“‘Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people.’” Zechariah 2:10-11

This prophecy was a preview of the New Jerusalem at the end of time, when people from throughout the earth will be gathered to the Lord in his holy city.

Joshua, the High Priest: Zechariah 3:1-10

Joshua arrived in Jerusalem with a good heart and a determination to oversee rebuilding the temple, but Satan hindered him. God showed Zechariah the situation playing out in the heavenly realm: Satan stood beside Joshua in front of God and accused the priest of being a sinful man, not fit for the priesthood. But God rebuked Satan.

“The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.’” Zechariah 3:2-4

Satan wasn’t wrong about Joshua’s sin, but he had no power to curse Joshua. God snatched Joshua away from his accuser and made him clean and able to serve in the temple.

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.’” Zechariah 3:7

The Lampstand, Olive Trees, Flying Scroll, and Woman in a Basket: Zechariah 4:1 – 5:11

Zechariah saw the golden lampstand that stood in the Holy Place in the temple. Its seven lamps were supposed to be kept burning day and night, which meant the bowls full of olive oil had be tended constantly. During the exile the lamps had gone out, but for the new temple God had Zerubbabel and Joshua, two servants who would not let that happen again.

In the view from heaven, the governor and the high priest looked like two olive branches standing beside the golden lampstand, constantly re-supplying it and making sure it never went out.

“So he said, ‘These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.” Zechariah 4:14

In the next vision Zechariah saw a large scroll, about 15 feet by 30 feet, flying over the land. It contained two of the Ten Commandments, “do not steal” and “do not lie.” These commandments were an indictment against thieves and liars and there was no way for them to avoid the charges. The scroll flew straight into their houses and confronted them.

The woman in a basket was wickedness. The Hebrew word for “wicked” is a feminine noun so this evil was portrayed as female, but no one assumed that wickedness was confined to women.

The Jews had been exposed to the sins of Babylon for seventy years. Now God decided to pack up those sins and temptations and send them back where they came from. His people had a chance for a fresh start as he delivered them from Babylonian influences.

The View from Heaven

One of the most spectacular things about the Old Testament is that occasionally God let a prophet see things on the earth the way they looked from heaven. Zechariah’s visions show us how intimately God was involved with people. While things were happening in the visible world on earth, things were also happening in the invisible world where God, his angels and Satan live.

This gives weight to the things God says and does in the Bible. The Scriptures aren’t just stories and sayings for us to enjoy, they reveal our God in perpetual motion. He sees us, and he loves us. In all the universe, there is nothing God pays more attention to than people – and, thankfully, the Bible tells us so.