365 Reflections

Zechariah 6:1–3 (ESV) Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, 3 the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong. The seventh vision of Zechariah details a new day for the postexilic community, restored to the land and rebuilding the Temple. The image of chariots symbolizes that of warfare. The two mountains are a picture of the gateway of heaven. God is sending His army throughout the earth to trouble the nations that troubled Israel. History tells us that Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians, the Persians by the Greeks, and the Greeks by the Romans.  Zechariah 6:4–7 (ESV) Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before t...

Zechariah 5:1-2 (ESV) Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” It is important that we remember Zechariah's ultimate theme. God is restoring the spiritual life of His people after the long exile concludes, and they rebuild in the land. Each vision builds upon the movements of God's grace at work in the returned community. Here, the image of a flying scroll points both to God's immediate work among them and the Lord Jesus coming centuries later.  The size of the scroll is telling. It is the same size as the Holy Place within the Temple.  In the scroll, we see a picture of God's cleansing from sin. The nation is corrupt. In verses 3 and 4, we find the corruption dwelling within her.  Zechariah 5:3-4 (ESV)  Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shal...

Zechariah 4 opens with another vision for the prophet.  Zechariah 4:1–3 (ESV) And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” Zechariah awakens, but there is no mention of his sleep. What a picture of our need for God's voice to stir our hearts towards things above. For in this world, even while we are awake, we can sleep on spiritual experiences.  Zechariah 4:4 (ESV) And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Zechariah doesn't just receive this strange vision; he inquires about it. This is what it means to be awake. But the angel's answer belies the fact that awakening to God's truth requ...

Big promises of global influence are Israel's at the end of Zechariah 2. The text ends, foretelling a time when nations will seek to be joined to the Lord and to Israel after her trouble is past. The Lord will again choose Jerusalem, and the land of promise will be restored.  But how can returned exiles expect such glorious promises to come to pass? Surely they must have felt unworthy. That is the picture we see in Joshua, the high priest, as he stands before the angel of the Lord.  Zechariah 3:1–2 (ESV)  Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” The next verse stipulates the reason for the rebuke. Satan was attacking Joshua's filth. Zechariah 3:3 (ESV) Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. As high pri...

God always has bigger plans.  In Zechariah, as the prophet is encouraging the Lord's people to return to Him in true worship after their exile, chapter 2 begins with a vision that reveals God's idea for His people is far bigger than their own.  Zechariah 2:1–2 (ESV) And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” The vision is pretty simple. A man with a measuring line is ready to measure the city of Jerusalem. If you're going to build, you need measurements. That's what's being done. But God has bigger plans.  Zechariah 2:3–4 (ESV) And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. The Lord sent a...

God constantly calls His people to Himself. The prophet Haggai called on people to restore the Temple so that proper worship might once again live in the land. As he did this, the prophet Zechariah called the people back to whole-hearted devotion to the Lord.  Zechariah 1:1–3 (ESV)  In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore, say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Yes, God sent them away in His anger over their sin. But the exile was a temporary discipline to destroy idolatry in their hearts and ultimately bring them back to Himself, rightly restored to a proper relationship.  Zechariah 1:4 (ESV) Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways ...