Messages of the Prophets: Zechariah

I'm going very out of order, but for various reasons, I wanted to look at Zechariah today, which dates to the last part of the 500s BC.
______________

1:4 -- turning to the LORD is for Israel to turn from its evil ways.

1:16 -- words of hope to Jerusalem throughout the latter part of Zech. 1. (hope)

Chapter 2 -- return to Jerusalem and judgment of those who scattered it (hope)

Chapter 3 -- promise of a Branch, cleansing of the high priest Joshua and Israel's sin (hope)

Chapter 4 -- two olive branches (Joshua and Zerubbabel?), restoration of the temple (hope)

5:3 -- every thief will be banished, houses of those who swear falsely in Yahweh's name, God was going to cleanse the iniquity of all who live in the land (5:6). (concrete wrongs to others)

Chapter 6 -- a crown for Joshua the high priest (hope)

7:9-10 -- what is true justice -- it is mercy and compassion. Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor. This was part of the law and why Judah was destroyed (7:12) (social justice)

Zechariah 8-14 is often called "second Zechariah." In scholarly circles, this section is often dated to the late 400s, thus about 100 years after Zechariah himself. It becomes a sort of appendix to "first Zechariah." These chapters have been happy hunting ground for dispensational prophecy teaching, although the context may rather be the malaise of late fifth century Judaism at the time of Malachi.

Chapter 8 -- restoration of Jerusalem, the world will come too (hope)

8:17 -- Do not plot evil. Do not swear falsely (concrete wrongs to others)

9:1-8 Destruction of Israel's enemies (judgment on oppressors)

9:9-17 Coming of the king (Jesus on Palm Sunday), God coming to remove Israel's enemy (hope)

Chapter 10 -- restoration of Israel (hope)

10:2 -- the deceitfulness of idols, false comfort (other gods, putting Israel in jeopardy)

10:3 -- false shepherds of Israel

10:5 -- protection from Israel's enemies (hope)

Chapter 11 -- God rejecting the "shepherds" of Israel (11:8), selling it to others for slaughter, especially the oppressed (11:7) (social justice)

• God removed one shepherd of Israel called his "Favor" because of the oppression of Israel (11:10).
• God removed another shepherd called "Union," the bond between north and south in Israel (11:14). Gives them instead a shepherd who doesn't take of them, doesn't care for lost or injured or healthy.

Chapter 12 -- begins the second oracle in second Zechariah. Hope for restoration. God will bring grace on them and supplication, and they will weep for restoration.

13:2 -- God will banish idols on that day. Prophets will be banished; the shepherd will be struck; the sheep will be scattered.

Chapter 14 -- defeat of Jerusalem, but Yahweh will stand on the Mount of Olives and break it open, splitting it in two (earthquake). Living water to Dead Sea. Yahweh will be king of whole earth. The peoples of the world will worship Yahweh.

HOPE!

Summary:

The predominant theme of Zechariah would seem to be hope. We find traces of the other themes as well: social justice, against idols and other gods, ending concrete wrongs to others.