In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah unto Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying,
The book opens with a date, a name and a family line — not a vision. Each detail carries meaning. Zechariah's name means "the LORD remembers," and he speaks to people who had every reason to think God had forgotten them.
Read together, the three names — Zechariah, Berechiah, Iddo — spell out the message of the book.
Zechariah's name means "Jehovah remembers." He was the son of Berechiah ("Jehovah blesses") who was the son of Iddo ("the appointed time"). Israel had been in a low state for a long time. It seemed as though God had forgotten them, but He remembers, and in His own appointed time He returns to them in blessing. But the measure of revival and blessing in Zechariah's day was very limited, and Israel sank back into a low condition that was still there when the Lord Jesus came. By rejecting Christ, Israel has fallen into a worse state than ever, and by the time of the great tribulation they will be brought to feel deeply that God has forgotten them. Only then will the prophecy of Zechariah be fully accomplished. It will be God's appointed time of remembering and blessing Israel with blessings that will never end.
The message arrives at a low moment. The people had come home from exile in Babylon under a decree of the Persian king Cyrus, made a strong start on rebuilding the temple, and then stalled.
Through a decree of Cyrus (whom the prophet Isaiah had announced by name long before — Isa. 44:28), the Jews had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of the Lord there. First they built the altar, the centre of their worship. Then, with great enthusiasm, they laid the foundation of the house... But soon Ahasuerus ordered the work to stop. Seventeen years passed after the decree of Cyrus, and still the temple did not rise on its foundations.
Zechariah does not present the book as his own thinking.
Zechariah also claims a divine source for his most solemn and beautiful words. He says, "The word of the LORD came to Zechariah." He said this again and again. (Zech. 1:1, 7; 7:1; 8:1.)
The year is dated by the reign of Darius, a Persian king, not by an Israelite one.
Verse 1 gives the date and the family line of the prophet. Note the significant fact that here, as in Haggai, the date points to the times of the Gentiles. It was "in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius." The kingdom had failed in man's hand, so God had moved His earthly throne from Jerusalem to Babylon, and then to the empires that followed. By now Babylon had fallen, and Darius was the head of the Gentile empire. That is why his name appears here.
The verse names Zechariah's father and grandfather. Haggai's book names no ancestors.
This prophet started his work two months later than Haggai, who served at the same time (compare Zech. 1:1 with Haggai 1:1). Haggai is simply called "Haggai the prophet," but Zechariah's father and grandfather are both named. We gather from a comparison of the first verse with Neh. 12:4, and Ezra 5:1, that Zechariah was of priestly descent.
One line in this verse has puzzled readers for a long time, and commentators differ over it:
What Matthew 23:35 tells us about Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, who was killed between the temple and the altar at the command of Joash, clearly refers to Zechariah the son of Jehoiada. Some think there is an error in this part of Matthew, because the "son of Berechiah" is confused there with the "son of Jehoiada." In my opinion there is no such error. The names Zechariah and Berechiah were well-known names in the priestly family. In Isaiah 8:2 we find as faithful witnesses of Isaiah: Uriah and Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah, which is Berechiah. Berechiah seems to have been the name of the head of the family. Matthew could therefore refer to Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, also as son of Berechiah, going back to his descent.
Zechariah was not the only prophet speaking to Judah at this time.
These two prophets served together, but they did not have the same goal in view. Haggai spoke almost only about the house. Zechariah's eye reaches farther. He had as subject the city Jerusalem, the remnant of Judah, and the last day, as far as it touched the Messiah. He also gave a general picture of the kingdoms of the nations and their moral condition in the last days. Above all he drew attention to the sufferings of Christ and the many ways in which His glory will appear.
- Remembers — Zechariah's name means "Jehovah remembers," and he stood among people who looked forgotten.
- Blesses — his father's name, Berechiah, means "Jehovah blesses." God does not merely remember; He returns in blessing.
- Appointed time — his grandfather's name, Iddo, means "the appointed time." The blessing comes on God's schedule. Much of the book was still future.
- Darius — the date runs by a Persian king's reign, because Israel's throne is in Gentile hands for now.
- Farther — Haggai pressed the house. Zechariah looks past it to the city, the Messiah's sufferings, and His glory.
Jehovah hath been very wroth with your fathers.
The book of Zechariah does not begin with a vision. It begins with a memory: God's anger at the fathers, pressed on the conscience of their children, who were home from exile and rebuilding the temple.
The opening word is blunt on purpose. It forces the returned exiles to look at their own reduced circumstances and name the cause.
The beginning of this "word of the Lord" is abrupt and solemn. It is meant to remind the people of the Lord's past ways with their fathers, both as a warning and as a ground of appeal. "The LORD was very angry with your fathers." Did not the people know it? Their low state now, compared with the glory and prosperity of the past — was that not evidence of it?
The same writer notes how easily people stop connecting their situation with God's hand: "it is easy, as we all know, to become used to our circumstances, and to ignore the Lord's hand in them, and thus to blame anything and everything, rather than ourselves."
The verse names the anger but not its cause. Zechariah speaks to the survivors who came back from exile, and he tells them what their fathers had refused.
The Lord tells the survivors of Judah why He has been very angry with their fathers: they had not listened to His prophets. Would these few who remain also fall into the errors of their fathers, or would they now listen to the word of the Lord? Here there is no mention of the law, for we ought not to confuse the prophets with the law. The prophets did set the law and the testimony before the people. That was a serious appeal to Israel's conscience in a time of ruin. But at the same time they brought God's grace and mercy to the people's attention. Israel had failed, but the Lord could not fail.
Zechariah speaks of that generation in the past tense. The prophet asks what became of them.
The first utterance of Zechariah concerns the past. "The LORD was very angry with your fathers." They were a disobedient, stubborn people. The prophets before the exile had called them to repentance, but they did not listen. And their fathers, where were they? They had passed away like the disobedient ones in the wilderness. God's judgment and displeasure overtook them, and they perished.
For Israel, "your fathers" was usually a proud phrase. Here it becomes a charge against them. The danger was a habit passed down.
How could Israel boast in their family line, when the Lord was greatly displeased with their fathers? They had become used to the sins their fathers had allowed. They did not have the searching of heart that Josiah had. He heard Scripture read to him, and saw how far his fathers had departed from its rules.
The timing looks strange. The people were already back at work on the temple. Yet God still pressed the point of His past anger.
There came this call to them to remember how direct and certain God's dealings with their fathers had been. He would deal the same way with them if, like their fathers, they turned away from Him... Had they not done this? Yes, indeed, outwardly and in action. But had there been that inward and vital turning of heart, which is what counts in the sight of God?
The same writer draws the line straight to the reader: "How easy for us to be satisfied with correctness of outward behaviour, without that inward heart-turning, of great value in the sight of God."
The verse states God's displeasure. The next words state His offer. This anger is the ground of an appeal, not a final verdict.
Although His judgments had become necessary, He still meant to carry out His purposes of grace toward the people... "Return to Me," we read in these verses, "and I will return to you." That goes much farther than the principle of the law. In this age of grace these words are just as true as they were then. We too should take them seriously.
Even the names in the prophet's family point the same way:
Zechariah's name means "Jehovah remembers." He was the son of Berechiah ("Jehovah blesses"). Berechiah was the son of Iddo ("the appointed time"). Israel had long been in a depressed state. It seemed as though God had forgotten them. But He remembers, and at His own appointed time He returns to them in blessing.
- Cause. The anger was real and earned — the fathers "had not listened to His prophets," and the exile was the proof.
- Consequence. Those fathers are now only a memory: "their fathers, where were they? They had passed away."
- Caution. The children stood in the same danger, since they "had become used to the sins their fathers had allowed."
- Core. Rebuilding the temple was not the test; the test was whether there had been "that inward and vital turning of heart."
- Call. God's displeasure opens into an offer — "Return to Me... and I will return to you" — spoken through a prophet whose very name means "Jehovah remembers."
And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts Return unto me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Zechariah's first message is not a vision but an appeal. God speaks to a small group just home from exile, and what He asks for first is their return.
The verse before this one recalls God's anger with an earlier generation. Dennett explains why the call starts that far back.
God's chosen people had been carried away captive. They were allowed to return only now, and only because a Gentile king willed it. That was surely enough to stir sad thoughts about the cause of their humiliation and sorrow. But it is easy, as we all know, to get used to our circumstances. We ignore the Lord's hand in them, and then we blame anything and everything except ourselves. That is why the prophet goes down to the root of things. He reminds them of their fathers' sin, and of the Lord's displeasure that followed.
The promise has two halves, and they do not rest on the same thing. Dennett shows what holds up God's side, and what His nearness depends on.
"The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29); and so He never gives up the purposes of His grace, whatever the practical condition of His people. Their sin may bring down His chastening hand upon them, but He does not break off His relationship with them on this account… Being what He is, He could not approve their transgressions and iniquities. So He reminds them of the condition. If they want His presence with them, and His acting on their behalf, they must turn to Him. As James says, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." (James 4:8…) The Lord says He will never leave His people or forsake them… yet He will never walk with them, or give them the comfort of His presence, while they go on in backsliding and sin. Keeping up dependence, obedience and communion with Him is the secret of all blessing.
Zechariah's message is not only a warning. Rossier names its other purpose, and what the promise adds to the law.
Although His judgments had become necessary, He wanted to carry out His counsels of grace toward the people. The prophecy is not only a series of words from the Lord to a guilty people, meant to wake the conscience and to announce the judgments coming on them. It also has another purpose: to encourage the hearts of the faithful by making known to them what God will do for them. "Return to Me," we read in these verses, "and I will return to you." That goes much farther than the principle of the law.
Why call people to return when they have already obeyed? Hole tests their obedience against what God looks for.
The call therefore is, "Return to me, says the LORD of hosts." Had they not done this? Yes, indeed, outwardly and in action. But had there been that inward and vital turning of heart, which is what counts in the sight of God? Their later history, as the prophet Malachi shows, makes clear how little this inward turning of heart marked them.
The title lands three times in one verse. Grant weighs what it meant for a people reduced to a few.
Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi press this name of God at a time when Judah was far from a "host" (many people) and had shrunk to a very small number. What a mercy that God was not reduced: He was still "the LORD of hosts."
Dennett adds that the three repetitions aimed at the conscience. They reminded the people of the power and majesty of their covenant God.
Rossier turns the verse into questions for us.
What have we done with the testimony the Lord has entrusted to us? Is there much difference between our decline and that of Judah's fathers?… Did we work on the house of the Lord, or have we built our own houses…? Sadly, like those who came back from Babylon, we have tried to make ourselves comfortable in the world. What are we to do now? Return to Him! The way is open… If we heed this call we will receive a reward: "I will return to you, says Jehovah of hosts."
- Cause. The call starts with the fathers. People get used to a low condition and blame everything except the real root — their own sin.
- Call. The word is return — not restart the building work, but an inward turning of heart, which is what counts with God.
- Gift. God does not change. His purposes of grace never fail, so this call reaches further than law ever could.
- Guarantee. Three times over He signs the message "the LORD of hosts" — the people had shrunk to almost nothing, but He had not.
- Result. The way back is still open; return to Him, and the promise attached is His own returning presence.
Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets cried, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; but they did not hearken nor attend unto me, saith Jehovah.
Zechariah's first message is not a vision but a warning. The people had come home from exile, and God tells them not to repeat the mistake that emptied the land in the first place. The question is whether this new generation will listen where their fathers refused.
The book does not open with a vision. It opens with a challenge to the people who had come back from Babylon.
This book opens with a kind of preface. Before the prophet describes his visions, he challenges the people. He warns them not to treat the Lord's words through him as their fathers treated other words of the Lord through other prophets. Yet those older words still came true against them — they "took hold of them," as he puts it.
The "former prophets" are the ones who preached before the exile. Their message was simple, and the fathers ignored it. The ruin around Zechariah's hearers showed what that cost.
They had slighted the earlier testimony. The prophets had commanded them, in the name of the Lord of hosts, to turn to Him, and He would turn to them. They did not do it. So now the call to the children is this: do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried in vain. "Your fathers, where are they?" The present ruin, and the weakness of the things that made the children groan, ought to be a serious and lasting lesson to their souls.
One writer asks why such a word was needed just then, and answers from what God looks for.
Why was such a word needed at that moment? Had the people not answered the earlier rebuke, and gone back to work on the temple so diligently that a prophetic view of its future glory encouraged them? Yet before Haggai's word of warning in the ninth month, this call came. It told them to remember how direct and certain God's dealings with their fathers had been. The same dealings would surely follow if they, like their fathers, turned away from Him. So the call is, "Return to Me, declares the LORD of hosts." Had they not done this? Yes, outwardly and in action. But had there been that inward and vital turning of heart, which is what counts in the sight of God? Their later history, as the prophet Malachi shows, reveals how little this inward turning of heart to God marked them.
Their fathers took the other road. One writer asks what it gained them.
And what was the result? Have any of the Lord's people found the path of disobedience to be a path of safety or blessing? No; that would be impossible. Their fathers, and the prophets who spoke to them, have passed off the scene, but the word of God has not failed. It never returns to Him empty; it always completes the mission He sends it on. So woe to the one who neglects it and walks by his own will instead of by the light it gives. Sooner or later he will have to confess, as these fathers did, that the word was sure. Despise its warnings, and its threats will surely come true.
Zechariah presses the same charge in chapter 7, and one writer traces it back to Isaiah.
Take Isaiah's first chapter as an example. He accused the people of moral corruption while they kept their religious ceremonies exactly right. The moral evils that had wrecked the nation were still at work among the people who had returned to the land. A remnant may return, but the deep-rooted tendency to develop the old evils remains. Let us never forget that.
One writer turns this call on his own readers.
"Return to Me, and I will return to you." What have we done with the testimony the Lord has entrusted to us? Is there much difference between our decline and that of Judah's fathers?... Alas, just like those who had returned from Babylon, we have sought to make ourselves comfortable in the world. What are we to do now? Return to Him! The way is open. Is it then completely impossible to judge ourselves and to take up again what we should never have let go?
- Warned. The book opens with a challenge. Do not treat God's word through Zechariah the way your fathers treated it through the earlier prophets.
- Called. That earlier message was simple: turn from your evil ways to a God who promised to turn back to you. The prophets cried it in vain.
- Hollow. The call came while the temple work was going well. Outward action is not what counts with God; the inward turning of heart is.
- Proved. The fathers' history settles the argument. Disobedience is never a path of safety, and the word they despised came true to the letter.
- Ours. The same call still stands. A remnant may come home and still carry the old evils. The way back is to judge ourselves and return to Him.
Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
The question comes inside a call to return. God points the generation back from exile to their fathers and to the prophets who once warned them: both groups are gone, so what is left to build on?
Zechariah presses the ruins around his hearers into their consciences.
The children must not be like their fathers, to whom the former prophets had cried in vain. "They did not hear, nor listen to Me, says Jehovah. Your fathers, where are they?" The ruin around them now, and the weakness of the things they were groaning over, ought to be a serious and lasting lesson to their souls... Every time God carried out His chastening on Israel, it ought to call their souls to heed the word of Jehovah now.
Two groups vanish in this one verse, and each loss takes away a false support. The fathers are gone because rebellion does not last long. God sent the prophets for a moment, not for good.
Where are their fathers now? Do the prophets live forever? Men cannot go on long living in rebellion. Death overtakes them and then they realise their rebellion was folly, but too late! God sent the prophets only at specific times, with an urgent message. They did not stay on and on as mere servants the people could treat as they pleased. Israel could not rely on either their fathers or the prophets: they had to put their confidence in the living God.
The next verse answers the question this one raises. The speakers died; the message did not.
Their fathers had passed off the scene, and so had the prophets who had spoken the word of the Lord to them. Zechariah reminds the people that the word of God had not failed... We learn from this that the word of God never returns to Him empty. It must do what He pleases. Heaven and earth may pass away, but His word will never perish. It will certainly carry out the mission He sends it on. So woe to the one who neglects it, who walks according to his own will instead of by the light it gives.
That permanence is not only a warning; it is the one thing a weakened people can build on.
Though men die, "the word of the Lord remains forever" (1 Peter 1:25). This is the only remedy in any day of decline and failure, whether for Israel or for the church.
The people were not idle. They had restarted the temple and taken heart. Yet the call to turn came anyway.
Had they not done this? Yes, indeed, outwardly and in action. But had there been that inward and vital turning of heart, which is what counts in the sight of God? Their later history, as shown by the prophet Malachi, reveals how little they were marked by this inward turning of heart to God.
The fathers did agree with God in the end — but only after the judgment fell. That timing is the sting in Zechariah's question.
He pointed them to the example of their fathers. They repented and said, "As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has He dealt with us" (v. 6). They had repented, but only after God's judgments had come upon them. Would the remnant now walk the same path for as long as He held back His judgment? This question is just as true for us. When we do not listen to God's warnings, He has to chastise us.
The principle did not end with Zechariah. Every generation loses its teachers and must fall back on what does not die. Writers apply this to the apostle to the Gentiles as he said goodbye to the elders at Ephesus.
He had to remember that he was only a servant, and that he was passing off the scene. He could not continue. So we find him commending these Ephesian elders "to God and to the word of His grace." The most faithful, the most tireless servant must go, but God and His word remain. More than eighteen hundred years have passed since the great apostle to the Gentiles went to his rest. Everything he predicted has come true, but God and His word are unchanged. What a comfort!
- Look. The ruins around the returned exiles answered the question. God turns a nation's history into a lesson for its children.
- Lose. Both supports go. Fathers die in their rebellion, and prophets come for a season only. Confidence has to rest on the living God.
- Last. What outlived them both is the word. It never returns empty, and it is the one remedy in any day of decline.
- Look inward. Restarting the temple was not the same as turning the heart. Right action can cover an unchanged heart.
- Now. The fathers repented only after the judgment fell. When we ignore God's warnings, He has to chastise us — so the time to turn is now.
But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? And they turned and said, Like as Jehovah of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
Zechariah opens his prophecy with a look backwards, not a vision. He asks the small group that came home from exile to weigh what happened to their fathers. God's warnings caught up with that generation, just as spoken. So what will this generation do with the same word?
The book does not open with a vision. It opens with a challenge. One writer sums up what the prophet presses on his hearers:
This book opens with a preface. Before the prophet details his visions, he challenges the people. He warns them not to treat the Lord's words spoken by him as their fathers had treated other words of the Lord spoken by other prophets. Those other words were still fulfilled against them — they "took hold of them," as he puts it.
The verse does not say "the prophets' words." It says "my words and my statutes." That difference carries the whole appeal:
The prophets in their turn declare, "Thus says the LORD." The word of the LORD was with Jeremiah. This is Zechariah's appeal to the conscience of the remnant of the people who returned from Babylon: "Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers?" These were the words of the LORD, and they were proved to be such.
The fathers are gone. The prophets are gone. One thing from that time still stands, and verse 6 puts the weight there:
Therefore verse 6 insists on "My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets." Men die, but "the word of the Lord remains forever" (1 Peter 1:25). This is the only remedy in any day of decline and failure, whether for Israel or for the Church.
The verse says God's words "overtake" the fathers. Older translations read "take hold of." The word catches up because it cannot fail:
Their fathers had passed off the scene, and so had the prophets who spoke the word of the Lord to them. But the word of God had not failed... So we learn that the word of God never returns to Him empty. It must do what He pleases. Heaven and earth may pass away, but His word will never perish. It will carry out the mission it is sent on. So it goes badly for the one who neglects it, who walks by his own will instead of by the light it gives. Sooner or later he will have to confess, as these fathers did, that the word was sure. If its warnings were despised, God would still carry out its threats.
The second half of the verse records a real confession from the fathers. Note when it came:
He pointed them to the example of their fathers: "So they repented and said, 'As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has He dealt with us'" (v. 6). They had repented, but only after God's judgments had come over them. Would the remnant now follow the same path as long as He delayed His judgment? This question holds true for us as well. When we don't listen to God's warnings, He must chastise us.
Their circumstances proved the old warnings had come true. That proof could crush them, or move them:
The word of the LORD had therefore received its full confirmation. The circumstances around them proved it true. Instead of being discouraged by them, their place was to profit by the further messages that fit their state. Every fulfilment of His chastening on Israel ought to be a call to their souls to heed the word of the LORD now.
These opening verses are not tied to one moment in Israel's history:
Zechariah starts his mission from foundation principles. First, the condition of all blessing. Second, the evils of disobedience. Third, the unchangeable character of the word of God, as unchangeable in its warnings as in its promises. And last, that God always deals with His people, in His government, according to their ways and doings. These principles are tied to no one period. They hold good and run through every age, because they flow out from what God is in Himself, in His unchanging and unchangeable character and nature.
- Word spoken. The prophets did not bring their own message. God calls it "my words and my statutes," commanded to His servants.
- Word outliving. The fathers died and the prophets died; the word did not. It is the one thing left standing from that generation, and the only remedy in a day of decline.
- Word overtaking. The word ran the fathers down and caught them. It never returns empty, and its warnings land as surely as its promises.
- Word confessed. The fathers did admit God had dealt with them just as He purposed. But that came only after judgment fell. Repentance after the blow is repentance too late.
- Word heeded. The circumstances that proved the word true were meant to drive the remnant to listen now, not to leave them discouraged. The same principles run through every age.